Tag Archives: colloquial
Basic Spoken English American English Edition 《基础英语口语美式英语版本》
The American English Edition of Basic Spoken English is now ready for download. Check it out! I wrote this textbook last week for Chinese students wishing to improve their spoken English (英语口语), but English teachers in China may also find this a useful resource in the classroom. The first lesson includes a breakdown of all […]
Random Trivia #12 – Interesting Conditions
Test your English and Chinese vocabulary level! See how many of these words you can guess. Today’s theme is interesting conditions. Here’s a tip: most of them (but not all) end in 病 bìng (“sickness”) or 症 zhèng (“disease”). Also note many of these are new and popular expressions in Chinese, and some do not […]
Top 80 Most Common Polite Expressions in Chinese
Polite expressions (礼貌用语 lǐmào yòngyǔ) are often neglected by learners of Chinese. They are rarely covered in textbooks, and there is a general misconception that Chinese does not have many such expressions. While “manners” as we understand them in English-speaking countries are not typically observed in modern-day China, it would be incorrect to claim that […]
Basic Spoken English 《基础英语口语》
Basic Spoken English is now ready for download. Check it out! I wrote this textbook last week for Chinese students wishing to improve their spoken English (英语口语), but English teachers in China may also find this a useful resource in the classroom. The first lesson includes a breakdown of all the basic sounds of the […]
33 Funny Words in Chinese
Let’s try something a bit lighter today. Here’s 33 words in Chinese I’ve collected over the years that I think are pretty funny when translated literally. Some of them also reveal a little bit about Chinese culture and thinking. Enjoy! 33 Funny Words in Chinese A computer is an “electric brain” (电脑). A cactus is […]
Another 45 Mandarin Sentences with Chinese Characteristics
(This post is a continuation from my previous article “45 Mandarin Sentences with Chinese Characteristics“.) The following is a collection of sentences in Mandarin which I believe are special in some way. What do I mean by “special”? Well, let’s just say grammatically and structurally they’re not exactly typical, and in most cases they stand-alone […]
45 Mandarin Sentences with Chinese Characteristics
The following is a collection of sentences in Mandarin which I believe are special in some way. What do I mean by “special”? Well, let’s just say grammatically and structurally they’re not exactly typical, and in most cases they stand-alone as independent expressions. Plus, many of them contain elements of Chinese culture that set them […]
A Detailed Guide to One-Character Verbs in Mandarin
The following is a comprehensive outline of 90 per cent of the advanced one-character verbs you’ll encounter in written and spoken Mandarin. Criteria for inclusion: 1. The verb must be able to function by itself as one-character or with a complement. Compounds will not be included. 2. The verb must either have both an original […]
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