Titles are important in Chinese culture, and they are used more frequently than in most Western countries. One good example of this is that titles can be used to address people, which you might be familiar with from your Mandarin class where you can call the teacher 老師 (lǎoshī). While that can be done in English too, it's usually reserved for younger kids and not as common as in Mandarin Chinese.
Tag: mandarin
Why Learn Mandarin?
Mandarin is “too hard” to learn, right? Despite this widely-held belief, millions of people are studying Mandarin Chinese as a second language.
Recent career experience of Yen
In Year 2011, Donnie Yen(甄子丹Zhēn Zǐdān) revealed that he is venturing into other genres of films, and has taken up two comedy roles in a row, All's Well, Ends Well 2011 and All's Well, Ends Well 2012 and will be working with Carina Lau in the former and Sandra Ng in the latter. Both films obtained huge critical and box-office successes and proved that Yen is a versatile actor.
The Basics About Chinese Characters
There are over 80,000 Chinese characters, but most of them are seldom used today. So how many Chinese characters do you need to know? For basic reading and writing of modern Chinese, you only need a few thousand. Here are the coverage rates of the most frequently used Chinese characters:
“Because” in Chinese
Learning how to say "because" in Chinese will expand your vocabulary by enabling you to answer questions. The Chinese phrase for "because" is 因為, in traditional form, or 因为 in simplified form. Its Mandarin Chinese pinyin is "yīnwèi." 因為 / 因为 can also mean owing to, or on account of.
Pinyin Romanization to Learn Mandarin
Pinyin is a Romanization system used to learn Mandarin. It transcribes the sounds of Mandarin using the western (Roman) alphabet. Pinyin is most commonly used in Mainland China for teaching school children to read and it is also widely used in teaching materials designed for Westerners who wish to learn Mandarin.
The Potential Complement DE
There are three DE particles used in Mandarin Chinese: the possessive de (的), the adverbial , and the potential complement de (得). If you want more general information about how to use these three, check this overview: The three DE particles in Mandarin. In this article, we're going to look at the potential complement, written 得.
The Four Mandarin Chinese Tones
Tones are an essential part of proper pronunciation. In Mandarin Chinese, many characters have the same sound. Therefore tones are necessary when speaking Chinese in order to differentiate words from each other.
How to Address Family Members in Mandarin Chinese
Family relations can reach out over several generations and through many extensions. English terms for family members only consider two factors: generation and gender. While in English, there is only one way to say "aunt," for example, there are multiple ways to say "aunt" in Chinese depending on many factors.
The Mandarin Tone System
The Mandarin language has a fundamental difference from Western languages: it is tonal. Tones are one of the biggest challenges for Mandarin learners, but their mastery is essential. Incorrect tones can make your spoken Mandarin difficult or impossible to understand, but using the correct tones will allow you to express yourself clearly.
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