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. https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/3349 4. Flashcards Try... 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

Dear Chinese Students, Today we're pleased to announce the launch of ChineseClass101.com. This is a joint project between Popup Chinese and the folks at Innovative Language Learning. If you're familiar with the Innovative Language approach to teaching, you'll know the strength of their materials has always been tight, step-by-step progressive lessons for beginners. At Popup Chinese, we've historically geared our materials towards more advanced students, so when we had the chance to cooperate with the Innovative team and work together to build something that could take advantage of the powerful system they've already built we leapt at the chance, and began work designing a focused and stepwise program for Mandarin instruction. ... Show more