Hey everyone today we are going to show some common mistakes that Chinese learners make so that you guys know what to look out for! Common Error #1: Incorrect word order when forming questions: English speakers tend to use English word order when forming questions with question words. In English, the question word comes at the beginning of the sentence. In Chinese the question word comes at the end of the sentence. Common Error #2: Making verbs past tense: getting the particles 了 and 过 mixed up. Put in a simple way, 了 is used for a completed action. 过 is used to indicate previous experience. Common Error #3: Negating verbs: Getting the 不 and the 没 mixed up. Put in a simple way, the 不 is used to negate action verbs in... Show more

Today we are going to give you our top 5 recomended tools to help you with mastering Chinese. 1.ABC Dictionary by John DeFrancis This is a great pinyin dictionary with great definitions and easy lookup system 2. Adsotrans This is a really good online super-dictionary, found at www.adsotrans.com. Just paste in any Chinese text and let Adso analyze it. Mouse over the results to see what the words mean in English, and how to pronounce them. There are numerous other features that come with this dictionary as well. Check it out! 3. Chinese Pera-kun A firefox plug-in that lets you get translation for Chinese text by putting your mouse over the word. 4. Flashcards Try our flashcards on the site, chineseclass101.com.... Show more

Hey everyone, today we are going to be discussing the social structure of China. Beijing Beijing is also a city of contrasts.  The political, educational and cultural center of China, the history of Beijing can be traced back over 3,000 years.  With such historical relics as the Forbidden City, the Ming Tombs, and the Great Wall in close proximity, Beijing is a place one can get in touch with the China of old.  However, with the recent economic progress and the frenzy of new construction and infrastructure for the 2008 Olympics, Beijing is now a changed city. Family Life Introduction: Families in China are generally still quite traditional, and the family is a focal point of life. Most holidays center around family... Show more

Last week we discussed the basics of Chinese cuisine, well this week we are back to talk about our favorite subject some more, food! This week we will be discussing dishes we strongly recomend, and some other dishes that we recomend for the brave! Top Chinese Foods to Try 小 籠包 (xiǎolóngbāo) - Probably the most famous Shanghai dish: these small steamed dumplings are steamed in a basket and stuffed with meat and a tasty broth inside. The connoisseur bites a little hole into them first, sips the broth, then dips them in dark vinegar (醋 cu) to season the meat inside. 油条 (yóutiáo) lit. oil stick - Long, deep-fried donut. A very popular breakfast in China. Typically consumed in the morning with soy milk (dou jiang 豆浆), the... Show more

The focus of this lesson was to teach about Chinese cuisine Basics of Chinese Cuisine Many people are surprised on their arrival in China to find that what they thought was Chinese food is nowhere to be found. Another challenge is that the names of Chinese dishes, even in Chinese, can be very cryptic, making ordering a challenge, even if you find a menu with English translations. Chinese dish names are generally completely irrelevant to the ingredients. Rice is generally a staple of the south, with noodles featuring in as well. Northern China features dishes made with wheat flour, such as noodles, dumplings, steamed buns, and thin pancakes. Where meat is often the focal point of many western meals, it is... Show more

The focus of this lesson is to test your knowledge about China. This lesson will build your basic knowledge of China by quizzing you on 5 areas of Knowledge: Geography, Pop Culture, Travel, Economics and Myth Busting!! Are you ready? 1)What percentage of China's 1.3 billion people live in urban areas? A) 10%  B) 40% C) 50% D) 90% 2)China has the following number of provinces: A)22 B)23 C)34 3)Following are three famous Chinese people. One is a famous singer, one a politician, and one a sports star. Match the person with their profession: 王菲 刘翔 胡锦涛 (Liú Xiáng)(Wáng Fēi) (athlete)  (Hú Jǐntāo) (politician) (singer) 4) Rank in correct order the most popular travel destination in China: Shanghai Beijing Xi'an  5) What... Show more

The following are 6 essential phrases guaranteed to be the best thing you ever learned in Chinese! 谢谢 (xièxie) 　“Thanks.” The Chinese aren’t big on ‘please’, but they love thank you so much that they’ll often hit you with a barrage of it, ‘xiexiexiexiexiexiexiexie’. 听不懂 (tīngbùdǒng) “I don’t understand what you are saying.” This phrase is going to be your best friend, go-to and solace.  你好 (nǐhǎo) “hello” If you don’t know it yet, we don’t know where you’ve been. 不知道 (bù zhīdào) “I don’t know.” You may hear this phrase more than use it, however learn from the Chinese how to bu zhidao every situation you wish to evade, play dumb about, or avoid. 不好意思 (bùhǎoyìsi) “Sorry.”  Buhaoyisi literally means ‘bad feeling’, and can be used... Show more

The following are 5 essential phrases guaranteed to be the best thing you ever learned in Chinese! 谢谢 (xièxie) 　“Thanks.” The Chinese aren’t big on ‘please’, but they love thank you so much that they’ll often hit you with a barrage of it, ‘xiexiexiexiexiexiexiexie’. 听 不懂 (tīngbùdǒng) “I don’t understand what you are saying.” This phrase is going to be your best friend, go-to and solace. 你好 (nǐhǎo) “hello” If you don’t know it yet, we don’t know where you’ve been. 不 知道 (bù zhīdào) “I don’t know.” You may hear this phrase more than use it, however learn from the Chinese how to bu zhidao every situation you wish to evade, play dumb about, or avoid. 不好意思 (bùhǎoyìsi) “Sorry.”  Buhaoyisi literally means ‘bad feeling’, and... Show more

There are only six vowels used in pinyin, but they are combined to produce a lot of different sounds. we have a pinyin chart with clickable mp3 records of each of the sounds, to aid you in perfecting the pronunciation in the full lesson on ChineseClass101.com. One of the more difficult Chinese vowel is the 'u' vowel sound. This 'u' sound is quite a nasal sound. It is said to be similar to the French 'u' and is made by pronouncing an 'i' when rounding the mouth. Chinese has four different tones they are, five including the neutral tone: The first tone is high and steady: 'mā' The second tone is a rising tone: 'má' and has intonation similar that that used in English to indicate a question, i.e. 'huh?' The ... Show more

The focus of this lesson is to learn about Chinese pronunciation. Each Chinese character can be said to be a syllable. These syllables can be a stand-alone word, or they can be grouped together to make compound words. Each syllable, or character, in Chinese is made up of an initial and a final sound. These intials and finals can be combined to make up around 400 unique word sounds in Chinese. Chinese uses a phonetic system called 'pinyin' to aid learners of Chinese in pronunciation. This pinyin uses Romanized letters to represent the sounds of Chinese. There are 21 initials in Chinese. This is the sound the word starts with. There are about 38 combinations of final sounds. Some of the letters used to represent the sounds of... Show more