Learn Chinese – ChineseClass101 has come to Twitter!

Here at ChineseClass101.com, we think that Twitter is great for communication and sharing information. We also think it makes for a powerful learning tool.  So, starting today, we’ll be introducing daily mini-Chinese lessons on Twitter that follow a set theme. Learn Chinese on Twitter!  Each day we’ll tweet at 10:00 a.m. , New York time.

Our first theme will be Chinese measure words (also known as ‘classifiers’).

Over the next couple of weeks, each day we will introduce you to a new Chinese measure word on Twitter.

So what are measure words and how do they work?  Measure words appear in Chinese between a number and a noun, i.e.

number + measure word + noun

i.e.

一个人
yī gè rén
one person

一棵树
yī kē shù
one tree

In the same way that in English a person says a ‘slice of bread’ or a ‘pair of shoes’, Chinese uses these measure words, or ‘classifiers’ when speaking about a certain number of any object.  This is because in Chinese, a numeral cannot quantify a noun by itself. It has to be accompanied by the measure word that is appropriate for the noun that is being used.

The most common measure word is 个 (ge). Most nouns are associated with a particular measure word.  They are often not predictable from the noun, therefore they must be memorized.  This comes with time.  Our daily tweet will aid you in this endeavor as well!

If you aren’t already following us on Twitter, make sure that you follow us so that you can get access to these daily mini-Chinese lessons. The first one comes out today! If you have any ideas for future lesson themes, please let us know!