ChineseClass101.com Blog

Just like the Chinese national flag, Chinese national anthems have great symbolic meanings that have a special place in every Chinese person's heart. The Chinese national anthem 《义勇军进行曲》Yìyǒngjūn jìnxíngqǔ is translated to "March of the Volunteers" in English. It's a "fight song" in its essence. Both the tune and the lyrics are uplifting, motivating, and powerful. Keep reading, and you'll get a chance to hear the Chinese national anthem, study the Chinese lyrics and the English lyrics, see the sheet music, and find out the history and some of the "surprising" facts behind the Chinese national anthem! Table of Contents The Tune and the Lyrics The Occasions The Facts The Final Words 1. The Tune and the Lyrics Here is... Show more

Imagine you are sitting in a Chinese classroom with Chinese students at a Chinese high school. Would you be able to use proper classroom greetings to greet your teacher and classmates in Mandarin Chinese? Would you be able to understand your Chinese teacher's classroom command phrases? Would you have enough Chinese classroom vocabulary words and phrases to communicate with classmates and teachers? Would you have confidence in your Chinese grammar skills to produce phrases and express yourself accurately and freely?  If any of your answers are "no," you've come to the right place! In this article, you will learn all about Chinese classroom phrases and school-related basic Chinese words and phrases. Our goal is to make your Chinese... Show more

Being able to speak and converse with native speakers is the ultimate goal of many Chinese learners. You may find numerous Chinese language learning materials to learn Chinese vocabulary and grammar and improve reading and writing skills, but not so much to improve your Chinese conversation skills. Bringing your Chinese to the next level takes a little more than diligence and time.  You may have tried to immerse yourself in a Chinese language learning environment, you may have set up a goal of practicing 10 minutes of Chinese every day, and you may even be learning from a Chinese native speaker. These are great tactics to improve your Chinese speaking. What you may not have are a few tips and tricks to step up your game at a faster... Show more

If you are an introvert like me, you might feel nervous in many social situations where you have to make conversations with total strangers. You might also be uncomfortable with the presence of awkward silence during conversations and struggle to find what to say next to keep the conversation going. As if it's not challenging and nerve-racking enough, you have to start conversations in the Chinese language! Don't worry, you've come to the right place. In this article, I'll show you how to start conversations in Chinese with more than 20 phrases to ask questions and make comments on basic conversation topics. In addition to the conversation starters, you'll learn the most common responses to those starters, so you know what to say when... Show more

"What country are you from?"  "Are you American?" "Can you speak Chinese?" Get ready for these incoming questions when you go to China, especially when you don't look Chinese, or don't sound Chinese. As annoying as they might sound, these are actually great icebreaker questions to strike a conversation, and get to know people. Knowing how to tell people about your nationality, and understanding the questions about nationalities in Chinese are one of the first things Chinese learners should learn. It's also a good idea to learn a few other common nationalities, so you can make friends wherever you go! In this article, you'll find useful phrases about nationalities in Chinese, and other related phrases for travelers! Table... Show more

Let's compare the following two sentences, which describe the same pretty girl: 这个女孩儿很漂亮。 Zhège nǚháir hěn piàoliang. "This girl is very pretty." 这位姑娘长发飘飘，亭亭玉立，宛如仙女下凡。 Zhè wèi gūniang chángfà piāopiāo, tíngtíng yùlì, wǎnrú xiānnǚ xiàfán. "This girl, with her long hair flowing in the wind, is so slender and elegant that she is like a goddess descending to the earth." Which one has the WOW effect?  The second one, without any doubt, thanks to those carefully chosen and beautifully stacked four-character phrases.  Advanced Chinese phrases like these not only help depict vivid images and express deep meanings with few characters, but they also create a brisk and flowy rhythm.  Being able to properly use advanced... Show more

First of all, a virtual high five for your hard work in getting to the intermediate level! We know it's not easy to get where you are, especially for those who are learning Chinese outside of China and without constant guidance from a teacher. But no need to worry—we're here to help. In this article, you'll find a list of the most common intermediate Chinese phrases and sentence patterns for a variety of situations: daily communication, business meetings, travel, and more. We hope this guide will help you move a few steps closer to speaking Chinese fluently and confidently. Even though this article is meant for intermediate learners, beginners and advanced students can also get something out of it. You may want to get your pencil and paper... Show more

Chinese isn't the easiest language to learn. Maybe you're tired of studying Chinese from your lengthy and grammar-heavy textbooks. Maybe you want to speed up your Chinese learning but can hardly find the extra time to study in your busy day-to-day life. Or maybe you're running out of Chinese learning materials and don't know where to find more resources. Look no further: It's time to try Chinese podcasts!   Not only are podcasts easy to access, but they also make learning convenient, mobile, and fun! Better still, there’s something for everyone: beginners, intermediate learners, and even more advanced students. Keep reading to find the right Chinese podcast for you! Table of Contents Best Chinese Podcasts for Beginners ... Show more

For beginners with limited speaking and listening skills, answering the phone in Chinese can be a scary thing.  While phones allow us to communicate across great distances, they do have their drawbacks. For example, you cannot read body language or see changes in facial expression when talking on the phone with someone.  These inconveniences can make it even more difficult for you to come up with the right Chinese phone conversation phrases when you need them.  If this is something you’re worried about, this guide will be your savior.  There’s a very limited number of Chinese phone phrases you’ll need to learn. As long as you put in the effort, you’ll start seeing improvements before you know it.  In this perfect collection... Show more

If you’ve just started learning Chinese from scratch, you’re probably still adjusting to the learning curve. At this point in your studies, memorizing basic vocabulary should be one of your top priorities.  You may have already sniffed out some basic Chinese words for beginners from other sources, but some of the words you’ve come across may not be that helpful in real life. In this guide, we’ve collected over 200 important Chinese words for beginners tailored for your needs. Look no further, and start mastering these basic Chinese words right away! Table of Contents Pronouns Numbers 1-10 Nouns Verbs Adjectives Conjunctions Classifier Conclusion 1. Pronouns Pronouns are an essential component... Show more