Interesting article that I couldn't help but comment on.  From Laowai Chinese: 

Does Dating a Native REALLY Help Your Chinese?

(opens in new…

Just a few quick words that are frequently used and related to one another, both in English and in Mandarin.

The first is secret - 秘密 mì mì.  It can be hard to see but at least on my iphone, it looks like both of the characters contain the character /…

I read this idiom on tumblr blog of codylanguages, who posts about learning quite a few different languages.

天无绝人之路

tiān wú jué rén zhī lù

 …

I just wanted to share this link because it's pretty hilarious and may make you feel better about the occassional 'challenges' inherent in learning Chinese.  

Chinese student’s rant over the French language becomes viral

From…

The word 'pinkest' sounds really strange for some reason. I don't know if I have ever said something was the 'pinkest'. This store, Candie's, is in a mall in Shanghai and the photo does not do it justice for just how pink it is. Everything in the store is covered in pink, even the shop girls' outfits.…

I wanted to share this article that was on the nytimes recently, highlighting the techniques that "memory athletes" use.  The article is interesting but especially…

This post is part 2 of Mandarin characters we can learn from Snoop Dogg's Gin and Juice.  I highly suggest reading part 1 here before you read this.…

http://wechoosethemoon.org/

这是John F Kennedy图书博物馆的交互的太空网页。可以看到，学习Apollo 11号的十一个阶段飞从地球到月球。

zhè shì <John F Kennedy> túshū bówùguǎn de jiāohù de tàikōngwǎngyè. kěyǐ kàn dào, xuéxí <Apollo> shíyī hào de shíyī ge jiēduàn fēi cóng dìqiú dào yuèqiú.

This is the interactive website of the John F Kennedy Library and Museum. You can see and learn about the Apollo 11's 11…

In the song Gin & Juice, Snoop Dogg (photo, video, …

20% of the material I'm to be tested over isn't covered in our book (or in our class, or at all). Fun stuff.

I'm determined to work 长筒橡胶靴 into my dialogue, if it kills me.

Anyone have any good vocabulary words related to the weather and/or eating out (restaurants)?

Funny phrases especially appreciated.

The traditional Chinese characters for the word huàidàn (壞蛋/坏蛋), a Mandarin Chinese profanity meaning, literally, "bad egg"

Image and copy from Wikipedia…

Chinese New Year is coming!

Then you start to hear the same melodies come out from the radio or TV over and over.In the beginning, you'll feel excited because the melodies bring the mood of new year, but soon you'll feel sick of hearing them.Like in Christmas,I heard almost hundred times of Jingle bells in different…

This a rather random set of associations that happened when working with my teacher 老师 - lăo shī on a Mandarin conversation about how to ask for a raise.

The conversation went something like this:…

Today’s entry is based around the character 差 chà which has quite a few meanings (of course) but basically means ‘to lack, short of, differ from’.

 …

http://www.flickr.com/photos/isaacmao/5368755686/

via @isaac, twitter.com/isaac

We just got a new phrase in class that I thought was pretty amusing. Apparently in extremely polite situations where you don't know someone's name, you can say 'Hello comrade' 您好同志 - nín hăo tóng zhì.



I'm sure this is a throwback…

A 同学 - tóng xué (classmate) of mine said this when talking about why he had to miss class and go to a training session for work instead.

这是 bull shit - zhè shì bull shit - This is bullshit.

 …

First word means strange or odd.

奇怪 - qí guài

On my first weekend in Shanghai, I used the term 'bizarre' about 70 times.  I've now started migrating towards…

http://www.yellowbridge.com/chinese/chinese-memory.php

i stumbled upon this a while ago, it is a game with flashcards that helps you go through you vocabulary and have fun at the same time. it is very good for everyone because you can choose the level you're at or a specific grammar book, or the examination hsk  vocabulary

have fun playing

One month later, it's our traditional festival----Spring Festival(春节)! It is the most important festival to us!During Spring Festival,we get together, children wear new clothes,old people paste red couplets on the doors,we set off firecrackers,eat dumplings.......It's amazing!There is another way to say Spring Festival, 过年 guó nián,of course there is a story behind it, let me tell you.In this story you will know why we…