Hanbridge Mandarin Chinese Online Learning

This page contains information about the 12 Chinese quotes in many aspects, such as proverbs from Confucius, Lao Tzu, and other wise people, quotes that are entertaining, influential and inspirational, or simply ridiculous and silly. If that's what you're looking for then this is the place for you. bù ɡuǎn hēi māo hái shì bái māo ，nénɡ zhuā dào láo shǔ de jiù shì hǎo māo 。 不 管 黑 猫 还 是 白 猫 ， 能 抓 到 老 鼠 的 就 是 好 猫 。 Black cat or white cat: If it can catch mice, it's a good cat. sān rén xínɡ ， bì yǒu wǒ shī 。 -- kǒnɡ zǐ 三 人 行 ， 必 有 我 师 。 -- 孔 子 If I am walking with two other men, each of them will serve as my teacher.-- CONFUCIUS shòu rén yǐ yú bù rú shòu rén yǐ yú 授 人 以 鱼 不 如 授 人 以 渔 Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime. cōnɡ mínɡ de rén ， dà shì huà xiǎo ， xiǎo shì huà liáo 聪 明 的 人 ， 大 事 化 小 ， 小 事 化 了 A clever person turns great troubles into little ones and little ones into none at all. ...

Have you ever wondered what to talk about when hanging out with Chinese friends? Sports? Movies? Personal interests? Some funny jokes? In this article, I will introduce four topics and some helpful phrases when spending time with friends. 1. Shopping with friends When shopping with your friends, these phrases are very important to know: - How much (does it cost)? – 多少钱? – duō shao qián? - Can it be cheaper? – 便宜点吧! － pián yi diǎn ba : When shopping in China , bargaining is a must. - This shirt/ dress/ pair of shoes suits you well! – 这件衣服/ 这条裙子/ 这双鞋子很适合你 – zhè jiàn yī fú / zhè tiáo qún zi / zhè shuāng xié zi hěn shì hé nǐ. When your friend is asking for your fashion advice, then you can use this phrase. Also, if it’s not the case, just replace ‘hěn’ with the negation word ‘bù’. 2. Dining in a restaurant - What do you recommend? – 你推荐什么菜? – nǐ tuī jiàn shén me cài : If you can’t read the menu, you can always use this one. Maybe you’ll be served with something you lov...

Chinese proverbs are common and often have stories behind them. The proverb ‘Fate brings people even they are thousands of miles away’ (有缘千里来相会: yǒu yuán qiān lǐ lái xiāng huì) is about a couple who live thousands of miles away met each other despite all difficulties. As we all know, in ancient times, people’s mobility was limited, and young couples met each other only after the approval of their parents. So this proverb points out that human relationships are decreed by Fate. Today, I chose some interesting Chinese proverbs and sayings, and let’s have a look at the stories behind them! Luóbo báicài, gè yǒu suǒ ài 1. 萝卜白菜，各有所爱 (‘some people like carrot, but others like cabbage’. This proverb indicates that everyone has his own hobbies.) 　　　　　　　　　　　　　 ài wū jí wū 2. 爱屋及乌 (‘when you love a house, you will love the crow under the roof’, means ‘Love me, love my dog’ in English. ) 　　　　　　　　 3. rén xīn qí, Tài shān yí 人心齐，泰山移 (Tài shān is one of the five great mountains...

We often hear people say, "Honey, I love you with all my heart!" and even Jesus said, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul." Love is the most precious thing in the world. In Chinese, love is very easy to pronounce, it is "ài" which sounds like the English word 'I' or 'eye '. Could you imagine how closely love and heart are related? When you pay close attention to the traditional Chinese character 爱 for Love you will find a heart right in the middle of it! How about simplified character 爱? There is exactly a friend "友" at the bottom part of it! Interesting, isn't it? Here's the detailed guide show you how to write love in Chinese . Learn Some Ways to Say I Love You Without Saying I Love You with Chinese Teacher. Besides "ài", many other characters associated with love exits. Here are some most commonly used words and characters. ài qínɡ 爱 情 love, affection ài rén 爱 人 lov...

Many people say that it’s difficult to remember Chinese characters, well, that’s not true, it depends how you remember it. It is much easier and faster to learn and memorize antonym together than irrelevant words, thus we collected the Chinese opposite words for you. Common Used Chinese Opposite Word List in Daily Life: 大(dà) - 小(xiǎo) = Big - Small 热(rè) – 冷(lěng) = Hot – Cold 高(gāo) – 矮(ǎi) = Tall – Short 年轻(nián qīng) – 老(lǎo) = Young - Old 便宜(pián yi) – 贵(guì) = Cheap - Expensive 早(zǎo) – 迟(chí) = Early - Late 干净(gàn jìng) – 脏(zāng) = Clean - Dirty 深(shēn) – 浅(qiǎn) = Deep - Shallow 向下(xiàng xià) – 向上(xiàng shàng) = Down - Up 易(yì) – 难(nán) = Easy - Difficult 远(yuǎn) – 近(jìn) = Far - Close 快(kuài) – 慢(màn) = Fast - Slow 肥(féi) – 瘦(shòu) = Fat - Thin 满(mǎn) – 空(kōng) = Full - Empty 好(hǎo) – 坏(huài) = Good - Bad 开心(kāi xīn) – 难过(nán guò) = Happy - Sad 重(zhòng) – 轻(qīng) = Heavy - Light 这(zhè) – 那(nà) = Here – There 高(gāo) – 低(dī) = High - Low 热(rè) – 冷(lěng) =...

Some of you may have a Chinese girlfriend or boyfriend. How do you usually express your love for your beloved ones by calling him/her sweet names? Actually it's quite conservative in Chinese culture . Some couples may even not show their affections in public. However, with the development of the society, Chinese people born after the 1980's are rebellious generations. They are tired of the old traditions. Below are the commonly used Chinese nicknames for your loved ones . For Male For Female 亲爱的 Qīn’ài de –Dear; Darling 宝贝 Bǎobèi – Babe; Babes; Darling; Treasure 亲亲 Qīn qīn – kiss 老相好 Lǎo xiàng hǎo – Old Lover 笨蛋bèn dàn- Fool; stupid 猪头zhū tóu pig head 傻瓜 Shǎguā – Fool; Stupid 甜心 Tiánxīn –Sweetie; Sweetheart 小妖精xiǎo yāo jinɡ - Little goblin 小公举xiǎo ɡōnɡ jǔ - Little princess 猪猪Zhu zhu - small pig 老公lǎo ɡōnɡ(husband) 老婆lǎo po - wife 相公 xiànɡ ɡonɡ-Husband 老婆（大人）lǎo po(dà rén) - wife 先生xiān shenɡ (Mr.) 太太tài tɑi - Mrs. 官人ɡ...

The myth about countless Chinese measure words has long been a nightmare for Mandarin learners. I believe all of you have experienced or are about to see this bewildering problem. So, to clear things off, I write this post to list the 10 most common Chinese measure words for you. For speaking, I know “gè 个” is the first measure word you learn, and truth is when the Chinese kids start to learn the language, it is also the first measure word they learn. And before knowing the other measure words, they would also stick to this default “gè 个” . But as they gained years of experience with the language, they’ll learn more and more measure words, both really common ones and rarely used ones. Altogether the measure words are important to be fluent with because if you just use “gè 个” , people would either look at you in a confusing way and might actually correct your measure word. gè 个 : refers to human being, as in one person is “yí ge rén”, also you can add the nationality or sex, for ex...

Look at the picture, it is a peace dove, right? Most of us hope that we can live in a peace world. Today we will learn some Chinese words about “peace”. 1. Chinese characters about“peace” 和平 hé pínɡ Peace 世界和平是全世界人民的愿望！ shì jiè hé pínɡ shì quán shì jiè rén mín de yuàn wànɡ！ To have peace is the hope of everyone all over the world. 平安 pínɡ ān Safe 祝你一路平安！ zhù nǐ yí lù pínɡ ān! We wish you a safe journey! 和睦 hé mù Harmony 中秋节是团聚、和睦、美满和收获的日子。 zhōnɡ qiū jié shì tuán jù, hé mù, méi mǎn hé shōu huò de rì zi. It is a day of unity, harmony, happiness and harvest. 和平鸽 hé pínɡ ɡē Peace Dove 和平鸽是象征着和平。 hé pínɡ ɡē shì xiànɡ zhēnɡ zhe hé pínɡ. Peace dove represents peace. 橄榄枝 ɡǎn lǎn zhī Olive Branch 橄榄枝象征着和平。 ɡǎn lǎn zhī xiànɡ zhēnɡ zhe hé pínɡ. Olive branch is the symbolize of peace. 危险 wēi xiǎn Dangerous 这么做很危险。 zhè me zuò hěn wēi xiǎn. It is very dangerous to do things like this. 战争 zhàn zhēnɡ War 战争带来死亡和饥荒。 zhàn zhēnɡ dài lái sǐ w...

Chinese people so love to eat that there’s a funny saying: all animals fly in the sky, run on the land and even swim in the water can be the delicacies on Chinese table. You must want to have a taste of the Chinese food when hear it, but how can you tell the restaurant waiter or your Chinese friend the food you want to eat? Or how to buy food from market when you want to cook Chinese food by yourself? Take a close look at the Chinese vocabulary list for different types of food below. 蔬菜(shū cài) Vegetables in Chinese Chinese    Pinyin    English 玉米 yù mǐ Corn 土豆        tǔ dòu Potato 生姜        shēng jiāng Ginger 大蒜      dà suàn Garlic 豆       dòu Bean 西兰花            xī lán huā Broccoli 黄瓜   huáng guā Cucumber 韭菜  jiǔ cài Leek 蘑菇   ...

According to the order of the picture below to learn human body part in Chinese vocabulary.  Head 头  tóu  Neck 颈/脖子  Jǐng/bózi  Shoulder 肩膀  jiān bǎnɡ  Chest 胸  xiōnɡ  Stomach 胃/肚子/腹部   wèi  dù zi  fù bù Elbow 肘 zhǒu Hand 手 shǒu Arm  手臂 shǒu bì Thigh (leg) 大腿 dà tuǐ Finger  手指 shóu zhǐ Finger nail  手指甲 shóu zhī jiɑ Calf (leg)   小腿  xiǎo tuǐ Knee    膝/膝盖 xī  xī ɡài Toe   脚趾 jiǎo zhǐ Toe nail 脚指甲 jiǎo zhī jiɑ Heel   脚后跟 jiǎo hòu ɡēn Foot 脚 jiǎo There are many interesting ways to memorize these Chinese body parts vocabulary. I would like to share a tongue twister to memorize some body parts and also count numbers in Chinese . It also can be taken as a game. yì zhī qīnɡ wā sì tiáo tuǐ liǎnɡ zhī yǎn jinɡ yì zhānɡ zuǐ 一只青蛙四条腿, 两只眼睛一张嘴； liǎnɡ zhī qīnɡ wā bā tiáo tuǐ s...

Learning Chinese language, how can you not know some interesting Chinese jokes? You know, having a conversation filled with humor can enable us to integrate into a strange country better. You can not only learn some words or sentences, but also can feel a lot of fun from it. Now, let's learn some funny Chinese Jokes 1. Chinese Joke about "Right" Yí Wèi Zài Měi Guó De Liú Xué Shenɡ ， Xiǎnɡ Yào Kǎo Jià Zhào 。 一 位 在 美 国 的 留 学 生， 想 要 考 驾 照。 A student from the United States has a driving license test. Zài Kǎo Lù Shì Shí ，Kàn Dào Dì Shànɡ Shì Xiànɡ Zuǒ 。 在 考 路 试 时，看 到 地 上 是 向 左。 When the road test begins, he can see the word on the ground is "left". Tā Bú Fànɡ Xīn De Wèn Dào: 「 Turn Left ？ 」 他 不 放 心 的 问 道: 「 Turn Left ？ 」 He asked very anxiously: "Turn left?" Kǎo Guān Huí Dá Shuō: 「 Right ! 」 考 官 回 答 说: 「 Right ! 」 The examiner replied: "right!" Yú Shì Tā Lì Kè Xiànɡ Yòu 。 于 是 他 立 刻 向 右。 Then he immediately turned right. Suǒ Y...

Mandarin is spoken by about 870 million people as a first language. An additional 180 million or so people speak Mandarin as a second language – putting the total number of speakers is over 1 billion. Mandarin is known as the 'common language' in China, 'national language' in Taiwan, and as the 'Chinese language' in Singapore and Malaysia. Here are some basic phrases to get you started in what is quickly becoming the world’s most “common language.” Hanbridge Mandarin's  Daily Chinese Course is the fastest path to help you get the daily Chinese and able to communicate in many social and informational situations with confidence. Basic Chinese phrases used in daily life: 你(nǐ)好(hǎo)！Hello 早(zǎo)上(shang)好(hǎo)！Good morning 晚(wǎn)上(shang)好(hǎo)！Good evening 好(hǎo)久(jiǔ)不(bú)见(jiàn)！Long time to see 谢(xiè)谢(xiè)！Thank you 不(bú)客(kè)气(qì)！You are welcome 对(duì)不(bu)起(qǐ)！Sorry 没(méi)关(guān)系(xi)！No problem! 请(qǐng)进(jìn) Please come in! 请(qǐng)坐...

If you are an English-speaking kindergarten or primary school teacher who is searching for the right animal sounds in Chinese, then this is the right place to be! Since Chinese pronunciations are very different from other languages, Chinese people have different ways to say and express animal sounds, which are used both for kids and the everyday life of adults. I’m going to list the eight most popular animal sounds in the Chinese language. This is a children’s song that all the Chinese kids know. In this song, it tells us the four animal sounds: dog, duck, sheep, and cat. Let’s have a look! 黄狗，黄狗，汪汪汪； 灰鸭，灰鸭，呱呱呱； 白羊，白羊，咩咩咩； 黑猫，黑猫，喵喵喵； 1. 汪汪 (wāng wāng) – Dog Instead of “woof”, a dog, 狗(gǒu), goes 汪汪 (wāng wāng). Even though some people have heard about Chinese dog eating habits, dogs are still the number one favorite pet in the country. From the cherished companions of emperors in ancient China to home guards and dearest friends in the modern era, the status and role of do...

When it comes to learn Chinese, the most common reaction people get would be Chinese is incredibly difficult to learn. And it's really a tough work for many people. However, that could be wrong. Chinese writing system may look difficult, but here are the good news: Chinese has no cases, no tences, no gender and simplistic grammer structure. So, with commitment and daily practice it is certainly possible to successfully master Chinese language. In this article, we will introduce 4 steps to help you teach yourself Chinese. Step 1. Learn Pinyin: Chinese Phonetics Different from English, the Chinese is a hieroglyph. Many people are confused that how we can pronounce with hieroglyphs. In fact, the Chinese is composed of Pinyin (phonetic system) and character. Pinyin is the basic foundation of learning the Chinese language. Pinyin consists of 3 parts: initials, finals and tones. Same as English, initials and finals in Chinese are also composed of 26 latin alphabet (a-z), but the pro...

Reading is one of the four basic skills (also including listening, speaking, and writing) that learners need to master if they want to thoroughly learn Chinese. The ability to read Chinese characters can improve perception, and that helps improve speaking and writing. Here are some ways to help you improve your reading skills. First,  find some Chinese books on topics you are interested in and read daily. Select books with pinyin to help you understand the meaning. Secondly,  try to learn more new words and phrases regularly. Think of words as bricks and that you want to build a tall building. Write the new words and phrases in a notebook and review them when you are free. Third,  read newspapers if you have time. You may also browse some Chinese learning websites with news rewritten in pinyin. The fourth way is to do exercises to improve reading speed. When the passages are so long that you cannot read them carefully within a limited time, then try skimming and s...

Learning Chinese can be quite a daunting task, especially due to the fast-paced life nowadays. We could make full use of fragment time. Downloading some handy Chinese learning apps on your phone would be extremely useful. Today we want to share our selection of the best apps we've found on the internet for learning Chinese using your Android devices! Let's get started! 1. Pleco Chinese Dictionary Pleco is a powerful Chinese-English translation software. Released by the American company Pleco Software , this app contains 130,000 characters and 20,000 examples marked with pinyin. Pleco supports an optical character reader (OCR) and uses a dozen of the world's best Chinese dictionaries in the software. It supports handwriting, even cursive, and is tolerant of input stroke-order mistakes, helpful for more advanced users. Pleco also has a special flashcards system. It pulls up a card from any dictionary entry with a single button tap, can import premade word lists, and us...

First of all, it’s worth celebrating that you’ve reached the intermediate level of Mandarin! Intermediate Chinese has different challenges compared to Beginner Chinese . One way to make sure the transition from beginner to intermediate goes smoothly is to follow previous learners’ wisdom and get some practical tips. 1. Suitable Textbooks Since every intermediate learner has a different understanding of the Chinese language and the ability of learners varies, I can’t make an accurate book suggestion for each individual learner; generally speaking, from my teaching experience, it is better to use more than one book. The best combination for you might be using a textbook for intermediate learners and another book for learning Chinese characters, since learning new characters is inevitable at the intermediate level. For the text book, I recommend the People’s Education Press’ My Chinese Classroom . This book series is designed for foreign readers who have already completed the beginner...

John is 25 years old American has no Mandarin basics, and he is planning to travel to China to learn Mandarin. He needs some suggestions for universities or programs to go through. I know John is not the only person who has such problem. Therefore, in this article I’ll tell you how to choose the best place to learn Mandarin in China . If you couldn't come to China, then check out the best place to learn Chinese online . Question 1: Study Chinese in Universities or Language Training Institution? Some Chinese universities indeed launch Chinese courses, including some famous language universities. Actually, some of our students also study Chinese in universities. It is little surprise, isn’t it? Andrew who studied Business Chinese in Shenzhen universities told me that Chinese language he had learnt in universities actually is limited and theoretical. Moreover, there are many students in a class that his teacher couldn’t focus on everyone. Language training institution is aim to...

For more than five years, I have been studying Chinese both in China and abroad, and during this time, I have made many mistakes and have seen other students make them as well. In this article, I have tried to share my experience of studying Chinese and to summarize five of the most common mistakes that students tend to make. 1. I don't need to study characters and I only want to learn how to speak Mandarin Being anxious to be able to communicate quickly is the reason why many Mandarin students put studying characters aside. Focusing on learning vocabulary exclusively through a phonetic system (pinyin) is by far the most common error. There are even "revolutionary" courses that suggest you follow this option. However, if your goal is to learn Mandarin and not to learn four survival sentences, this decision can come at a great cost. As opposed to Western languages, in Chinese, words are relatively short, with normally 1 or 2 syllables, and the number of possible soun...

At present, the number of people learning Chinese nearly thirty million in the world. Chinese has attracted people of different skin color from all over the world into learning Chinese boom. These learners have a plenty of overseas students, business people, housewife and also some foreign kids who live in China. Can speak Chinese is more and more important in the present era. Every day there are lots of people just come to China for studying Chinese. Here are 3 tips for beginners to speak Chinese well . 1. You have to know the composition of Chinese Chinese is composed of two parts: Phoneticize (pīnyīn) and Character(hàn zì). Each part has a different function. We use pinyin to pronounce and listen. The character used in written and read. To this point maybe someone will ask “why?” Here is the answer: It is generally known that Chinese characters have five thousand years history. It is one of the three oldest character systems in the world. Its invention represents the wisdom of t...

Classical Chinese is one of a written language in ancient China, mainly including the spoken language and written language which were formed on the basis of the pre-qin period. In the 1918 years ago, all the articles are written in classical Chinese. Now generally we will call "Classical Chinese" to " 文言文（wén yán wén） ". Today I would like to recommend a book of learning ancient Chinese for some students who are interested in Chinese classical language. The importance of the Classical Chinese This language is very broad and profound, it is belongs to our ancestor language, and now it become an very important courses for each of Chinese middle school students. It is a very good way for us to understand the way how our ancestor to speak and to think about things. Such as 孙子兵法 Sun Zi Bing Fa is a very popular book in foreign market, it is read by many foreigners. In fact, this is a book that related to the strategy of war, but there are many very cla...

Chinese, like any language over the world, has its own idiomatic expressions—成语(chénɡ yǔ), there are about 5,000 chengyu in the Chinese language according to the official definition. Most Chinese idioms consist of four Chinese characters , so it is also called "four-character idioms". It has a long history and still used in both writing language and spoken language. Now I would like to introduce top 5 popular Chinese idioms. 1. pò fǔ chén zhōu 破 釜 沉 舟 "破釜沉舟pò fǔ chén zhōu"，which means "break the woks, sink the boats". Here is a history story of the general Xiang Yu 项羽 . It is said that when Xiang Yu cross a river into his enemy's territory, he ordered the army to destroy all cauldrons and boats and at last, he won the battle. Example: miànduì kùnnɑn, wǒ mén yào yǒu pò fǔ chén zhōu de yǒnɡqì 面对困难，我们要有破釜沉舟的勇气。 2. qǐ rén yōu tiān 杞 人 忧 天 In case the sky should fall "杞人忧天qǐ rén yōu tiān", which refers to unnecessary or groundles...