Tag: in mandarin

5 Mistakes I made when I started learning Chinese

I’ve been studying Mandarin at University for about two years and 3 months. The mistakes I made, might not be mine particularly, but perhaps the way our course is structured. However, these mistakes can be applied to anyone starting to learn Mandarin. These “mistakes” are not necessarily bad, but it’s part of  my current shortcomings in Mandarin that I still struggle with. Perhaps you can learn from me and try to fill those gaps earlier on.

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A guide to Pinyin traps and pitfalls: Learn Mandarin pronunciation

Learning to pronounce Chinese properly comes with a number of challenges, some of which all learners of foreign languages encounter. In general, we need to learn two things. First, we have to learn how to pronounce and distinguish sounds that don’t exist in our own language. It is only natural that we find this difficult sometimes. We also need to understand tones and intonation, both being quite different in Chinese and English. With practise and a good teacher, these challenges can be overcome.

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Chinese Pronouns

There are just a few pronouns in Mandarin Chinese, and unlike many European languages, there are no subject / verb agreements to worry about. Just a few simple rules tell you everything you need to know about pronouns in Chinese.

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Chinese Measure Words

Measure words are very important in Chinese grammar as they are needed before every noun. There are more than a hundred Mandarin Chinese measure words, and the only way to learn them is by memorizing them. Whenever you learn a new noun, you should also learn its measure word. Here is a list of the most commonly used measure words in Chinese to kickstart your growing vocabulary.

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