Month: July 2022

The Irish Polyglot Benny Lewis has published a new book: Language Hacking Mandarin – a conversation course for beginners. It prepares you to have your first basic conversations in Chinese – right away!

• 220 pages
• 10 units or missions
• With downloadable audio and answer key in the book
• Instruction language is English, dialogues or written in pinyin

When I picked the book out of our mailbox, I wasn’t sure what to expect. How should “Language Hacking Mandarin” fit together with “conversation course for beginners”?

Benny Lewis aka The Irish Polyglot

Had I known more about the author I might have guessed. Benny Lewis, aka The Irish Polyglot, is not just anybody. He speaks Mandarin Chinese, Arabic, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Hungarian and American Sign Language(!). Some of you probably heard of his book “Fluent in 3 months” in which he uncovers his language learning philosophy. According to his own account he’s not even especially gifted for languages, he was simply so frustrated after six months of learning Spanish that he had to find an approach that worked.

So what about his approach? The key point of his learning strategy reminds me of Chris Lonsdale’s mantra “Use your New Language as a Tool to Communicate, right from Day 1.” Just like the latter Lewis believes in communicating from the very start. No years of preparation and meditation, no grammar classes and vocabulary drills. Conquer your fears and start speaking Mandarin with natives as soon as you can say 你好.

#LanguageHacking

Although this idea isn’t new, it’s far from universally accepted in the Mandarin learning community – let alone adapted. After all, it’s easier said than done. Fortunately, Lewis does provide us with workable tips and tricks in the 220 pages of his course. It consists of 10 units or missions that build up to different speaking goals, while introducing the reader to the essence of #LanguageHacking at the same time:

#LanguageHacking is a completely different approach to learning a new language. It’s not magic. It’s not something only ‘other people’ can do. It’s simply about being smart with how you learn: learning what’s indispensable, skipping what’s not and using what you’ve learned to have real conversations in Mandarin right away. As a language hacker, I find shortcuts to learning new languages – tricks and techniques to crack the language code and make learning simple so I can get fluent faster. #LanguageHacking is not just a course, It’s a new way of thinking about language learning.

What I like about the book is that it cuts to the chase and is extremely practical: You want to be able to have your first conversation in Chinese? This is what you have to do. Like that. It’s like an adventure. What’s more, the author knows what he’s writing about, because he’s been there himself. He knows the difficulties, the pain and the shame when you asked a question, but can’t understand the answer. He also provides tips to deal with such situations – like having your first conversations online and using translation tools and cheat sheets.

Does #LanguageHacking work for everybody?

This book is really written for self-motivated, autonomous learners, so it’s not meant to be used in class or to prepare for the HSK exam or any other official test. The main goal is to get you to speak and show you ways to go about this process independently and efficiently.

This approach does include leaving your comfort zone sooner rather than later, so if you’re not OK with that, #LanguageHacking probably isn’t what you’re looking for. Speaking from Day One requires a playful state of mind and a huge load of what is usually called tolerance of ambiguity, since you’ll be doing plenty of guesswork during your conversations. It also helps a lot if you don’t take yourself too seriously and accept that you can’t express yourself with the level of eloquence you’re used to.

Challenge yourself

If you want to learn to speak above all else and are prepared to challenge yourself, you might as well give Language Hacking Mandarin a try and go on your own language learning adventure.

Disclosure: These are affiliate links. They help me to support this blog, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a small commission if you click through and make a purchase.

In this edition: lying flat, the Chinese social credit system, the Olympic financials explained and Love Defense Wars (yes). Here are my February Chinese vocabulary notes.

Does hosting the Olympics make money? 聊聊奥运会背后的商业逻辑

What’s the business model behind the Olympic Games? How do they finance the whole thing? Lin walks us through the financial history of the Olympics and names the three main sources of revenue. Interesting to see that more than hundred years ago the Olympics’ core business was sports (!) instead of money-making.

奥运会	Àoyùnhuì	Olympic Games
信托	xìntuō	trust
转播费	zhuǎnbòfèi	Broadcast fee (fee for the broadcast rights)
赞助	zànzhù	sponsorships

世界杯	shìjièbēi	World Cup
商业化	shāngyèhuà	commercialize
核心逻辑	héxīn luójí	core logic
贪腐	tānfǔ	corruption
规模	guīmó	scale
突破	túpò	breakthrough
突飞猛进	tūfēiměngjìn	Advance by leaps and bounds

Teacher Li explains children with autism

This is a quick introduction by 李永乐老师 to autism. His up-tempo teaching style combined with the scientific vocabulary is challenging, but he does give many examples. I wonder how he doesn’t seem to rely on any notes while giving this 25-minute lesson. He covers the discovery of autism, common symptoms, different kinds of autism, treatment, cases in America and China, the causes of autism and the societal acceptance in China.

自闭症	zìbìzhèng	autism
症状	zhèngzhuàng	symptom
沟通障碍	gōutōng zhàng’ài	communication barriers
基因	jīyīn	gene
干预	gānyù	intervene
补助	bǔzhù	grant
治愈	zhìyù	cure

1144万人用8年时间证明：运动真的防癌！

防癌	fáng ái	Prevent cancer
预防癌症	yùfáng áizhèng	Prevent cancer
有效的效果	yǒuxiào de xiàoguǒ	Effective result(s)
一个大数据的研究发现	yīgè dà shùjù de yánjiū fāxiàn	A big data study found
重度的锻炼	zhòngdù de duànliàn	heavy exercise
休闲型的锻炼	xiūxián xíng de duànliàn	recreational exercise
走到户外	zǒu dào hùwài	go outside

保健品	bǎojiànpǐn	health products
加强锻炼	jiāqiáng duànliàn	take more exercise
在治疗中的患者	zài zhìliáo zhōng de huànzhě	patients under treatment / in recovery
加强恢复的速度	jiāqiáng huīfù de sùdù	Increase the speed of recovery

“Love defense wars”《爱情保卫战》

I just love this show. On the one hand, it’s so painful to watch. In German you’d use the word fremdschämen, meaning you’re ashamed on the other’s behalf, because they’re embarrassing themselves. On the other hand, this program is so immensely educational to watch, especially for foreigners trying to understand Chinese cultural in general and Chinese “love relationships” in particular.

安全感	anquán gǎn	sense of security
异性缘	yìxìng yuán	opposite sex
勾肩搭背	gōu jiān dābèi	bend one’s arm around sb.’s shoulder – indicating an intimate relationship (idiom)
夸张	kuāzhāng	exaggerate(d)
无非	wúfēi	nothing more than
副业	fùyè	side occupation
剥虾	bō xiā	peel shrimps

The conflict of the first couple (00:00 – 25:00): he’s 22 and wants to party; she’s 27 and wants to marry. Soon. Like now immediately. She doesn’t want to become a 剩女 (leftover woman) and feels very 着急 (in a hurry). The guy is “not ready” yet and wants to party with his 哥们 (bro’s) and girlfriends. In 5 years maybe. But how about the woman? She wants to marry, but is she ready? She doesn’t want to be his mother(!), that’s for sure. What does the Chinese jury of grown-up experts have to say about all of this?

侵犯隐私	qīnfàn yǐnsī	invasion of privacy
哄好	hōng hǎo	to coax
幼稚	yòuzhì	childish
压缩	yāsuō	to compress / pressure
成长起来	chéngzhǎng qǐlá	to grow up
担当	dāndāng	to take responsibility

边界感	biānjiè gǎn	sense of boundaries
走一步算一步	zǒu yībù suàn yībù	step by step
共同面对生活	gòngtóng miàn duì shēnghuó	face life together
玩玩乐乐	wán wánlè lè	have fun
审美变化	shěnměi biànhuà	aesthetic change

What Do The Chinese Think Of The Social Credit System? | Street Interview

So what is this so-called social credit system in China exactly? What are the positives and negatives and how does it affect Chinese society? Does the Chinese government really keep track of their citizens’ every move? This is another brilliant street interview from Asian Boss, asking a bunch of people in Shanghai what they think about the social credit system.

In general, I’m not a big fan of technological solutions to social problems like a lack of trust among citizens. I’d prefer we educate ourselves and step up to improve our behavior, instead of having the government or another entity monitor our daily lives. I find it strangely reductionist to define parameters to quantify one’s trustworthiness with a score.

However, I do see a difference between a “social credit rate” provided by a company like HelloBike and your own government. As long as I can freely choose to use the company’s services and products or not, I don’t see a problem. The same goes for loan providers who naturally have an interest in checking my credit history and always have their ways to do so. It’s different with governments.

But at least I’m willing to see the other side. As is stated in the intro, people in the west generally seem to think that every Chinese citizen is subject to “the social credit system” (whatever that entails) and is being monitored every minute and every hour. This is a big misconception. I couldn’t agree more with the final statement from the video: “Many biases actually stem from the fact that you don’t want to step out your bubble.” This is a key reason for me to learn a language like Mandarin btw.

社会信用体系	Shèhuì xìnyòng tǐxì	social credit system
监督	jiāndū	supervise
分数	fēnshù	score
贷款	dàikuǎn	loan
社会行为	shèhuì xíngwéi	social behavior
信用度	xìnyòngdù	credit (degree of credit)
支付宝	zhīfùbǎo	Alipay

Mandarin Corner: Why Are Chinese Lying Flat? – Tang Ping Phenomenon – Intermediate Chinese

Another extremely interesting dialogue by Mandarin Corner. It’s a 30 min talk about 躺平 or “lying flat”. As the rat race gets harder and less rewarding, especially for younger generations, new mentalities towards life and work arise. 躺平 is internet slang for this kind of mentality reset. Instead of blindly adapting to dominant behavior patterns like working overtime, marrying, getting children, buying a car and real estate and so on, people are starting to ask questions like “is it really worth all this?” and “what’s in it for me?”. The answer 躺平 basically means quitting or at least drastically reducing the participation in the rat race.

The discussion touches upon many underlying aspects of this mentality change: the extreme working hours, the damaging competition among peers and even children, the failing work-life-balance, gender inequality in the labor market etc. One question that remains unanswered in the podcast is to what extent people are actually “quitting” and to what extent this is mainly an online discussion amongst dissatisfied netizens.

躺平	Tǎng píng	“to lie flat” (in my own words: quitting the rat race)
网络词语	wǎngluò cíyǔ	internet slang
放弃努力奋斗	fàngqì nǔlì fèndòu	give up trying / give up the struggle
拥抱一种低欲望的生活态度	yǒngbào yī zhǒng dī yùwàng de shēnghuó tàidù	embrace a low-desire attitude to life
黑料	hēi liào	leaked information / information that is not supposed to get out
退出	tuìchū	quit / retreat / step out
大小周	dàxiǎo zhōu	Work 5 days, get two days off, work 6 days, get 1 day off (another more, maybe more familiar concept is “996”: work 6 days a week, from 9 to 9)

That’s it for February, folks. I expected to watch more of the Olympics, however, I lost interest pretty soon after the spectacular opening… See you next month!

Chinese learners are often told 成语 (chéngyǔ), the four-character idioms, are essential to reach native-like fluency. What are these idioms exactly and how important are they?

What are Chinese idioms or 成语 (chéngyǔ)?

The word 成语 (chéngyǔ) – taken literally – means so much as “already made words”. The typical English translation is Chinese idioms. If we can believe Baidu quoting the Xinhua dictionary, Chinese has more than 30.000 of them. Usually it’s a fixed combination of 4 or sometimes 8 characters that express a profound meaning that derived from ancients myths, fairy tales, Chinese philosophy, poetry and so on. This means that more often than not – to really grasp their meaning – you have to be familiar with the idiom’s story. To figure out how they are used in daily Chinese is even more complicated.

The benefits of learning Chinese idioms or 成语 (chéngyǔ)

Once you move beyond – say – HSK 4 or 5, it grows harder and harder to avoid learning at least a small number of the most basic of Chinese idioms. For native Chinese speakers they are an essential part of the language and culture, but – that being said – it’s not like they drop a chengyu in every second sentence. If you’re reaching for the higher fluency levels, you need a certain degree of passive knowledge of idioms to improve your comprehension of written and spoken Chinese. And – arguably – to take your “cultural literacy” to the next level, although in most cases that won’t be your priority as a learner. When I learned German for example, I read a great deal of Goethe, Schiller, E.T.A. Hoffmann and others, only to find out that “the common German” doesn’t care that much. In terms of improving my communication skills, I could have spent my time far more productively. I think it’s similar with Chinese idioms, that’s why I don’t want to overstate the benefits.

Let me quote John Pasden from Sinosplice instead:

“The fact is that teaching Chinese to foreigners on any large scale is a relatively new thing, and as such, some kinks are still being worked out. Early efforts at teaching foreigners involved a lot of transference of educational methods used on Chinese children. Memorization of Tang dynasty poems, writing out each new character hundreds of times, and memorizing lists of chengyu long before they’re actually useful are time-honored traditions when it comes to teaching Chinese kids their native language. That doesn’t mean these methods are effective for non-Chinese adults learning Chinese, especially when basic communication is the goal.” (https://www.sinosplice.com/life/archives/2013/11/06/the-chengyu-bias)

By the way, Chinese are impressed if non-native speakers use chengyu, but not always for the right reasons. Just think about how you would react if someone who speaks basic English suddenly answers your question by quoting Shakespeare.

Learn Chinese idioms – start from which level?

I just reviewed a new book on getting fluent in Chinese that states you should start speaking from Day One and skip anything non-essential. If that basic assumption is true, where do Chinese idioms fit into this? Just take a quick look at this Chinese idiom story book for children – is it productive to memorize all of them?

Well, unless you’re into the Chinese classics and ancient literature, the answer is: no, probably not. Others may disagree, but I can’t see why you should learn idioms that are mainly part of the written language and have limited usage. Instead, I’d suggest to focus on those idioms you actually encounter on a (more or less) daily basis in the “ordinary language”. A few of them, you typically learn early on, like:

• 马马虎虎 – so-so, not so bad, “horse, horse, tiger, tiger” (learned this one in my first ever Chinese lesson)
• 乱七八糟 – everything in disorder, all sixes and sevens (a common one, often heard)
• 入乡随俗 – when you enter a village, follow the local customs, “when in Rome, do as the Romans do” (learned that one in Chinese class in China)
• 一路平安 – have a safe trip (quite useful)

These four idioms and a few others will get you a long way. So you don’t even have to worry about the when-question that much – you don’t come to them, they’ll come to you. And when they introduce themselves, you’ll see who’s important and who’s merely an infrequent visitor.

Learn Chinese idioms – what if I like to read?

That’s a different question, although the answer doesn’t really change. Once you start reading books like “To Live” or “Game of Thrones” in Chinese, you’ll need to expand your idiom-related vocabulary or will do so automatically in the process of reading. Here are just a few idiom examples from the first chapters of “Game of Thrones”:

• 措手不及 – be caught unprepared
• 大失所望 – to one’s great disappointment
• 视如无睹 – take no notice of what one sees
• 口无遮拦 – have a loose tongue
• 甜言蜜语 – sweet words and honeyed phrases

Actually, I found dozens of them. Sometimes you can guess their meaning, sometimes you can’t. One thing’s for sure: it’s impossible or – let’s say – not very productive to memorize them all.

Learn Chinese idioms – how?

Efficiency is important, so focus on high-frequency idioms only. One thing to notice is that many idioms are used in fairly specific contexts, much more so than in English for example. As a non-native you might think you grasped the meaning and use the chengyu in the right way, unfortunately, it’s not that simple. That’s why it makes sense to learn them in a phrase, so you see how they are used in a sentence and get a sense of the context. I personally haven’t found this kind of learning material, so the best alternative may be to ask a Chinese friend for help.

Commonly used Chinese idioms

If you’re interested in Chinese idioms or – like me – struggling with reading novels and the like, tackling the most frequently used Chinese idioms can be a step forward. However, as far as I can see, there is no consensus on what the “most frequently used” idioms are.

Here’s the source I use a the moment: I started learning the “Essential Idioms” from the vocabulary trainer app Daily Chinese. Apart from a small number of familiar idioms, this is the most challenging set of vocabulary I’ve done so far. Five new idioms a day and retention is not good. Here are the first 35 to give you an impression (and to help my memory):

• 一无所有 – not having anything at all, utterly lacking
• 马马虎虎 – so-so, not so bad, “horse, horse, tiger, tiger”
• 乱七八糟 – everything in disorder, all sixes and sevens
• 半途而废 – to give up halfway
• 理所当然 – as it should be

• 不可思议 – unimaginable
• 七上八下 – a mess, all sixes and sevens
• 九牛一毛 – unimportant, a drop in the ocean, “one hair from nine oxen”
• 顺其自然 – to let nature take its course
• 自由自在 – carefree, leisurely

• 破财免灾 – a financial loss may prevent disaster
• 脱颖而出 – to reveal one’s talents, to rise above others
• 一丝不苟 – not one hair out of place, “not one thread lose”
• 司空见惯 – a commonplace, a common occurrence
• 一鸣惊人 – to set the world on fire, an overnight celebrity

• 一窍不通 – to not know the first thing about, “doesn’t enter a single hole (of one’s head)”
• 谈何容易 – easier said than done
• 一见钟情 – love at first sight
• 爱不释手 – to love something too much to part with it
• 自相矛盾 – to contradict oneself

• 倾盆大雨 – to be overwhelmed with something, a downpour
• 画蛇添足 – to ruin the effect by adding something superfluous, “to draw legs on an snake”
• 守口如瓶 – tight-lipped, “to guard one’s mouth like a closed bottle”
• 塞翁失马 – a blessing in disguise, “the old man lost his horse, but it all turned out for the best”
• 对牛弹琴 – to preach on deaf ears, “to play the lute to a cow”

• 入乡随俗 – when you enter a village, follow the local customs, “when in Rome, do as the Romans do”
• 胸有成竹 – to plan in advance, a card up one’s sleeve
• 淋漓尽致 – vividly and thoroughly, in great detail, “extreme saturation”
• 庸人自扰 – to get upset over nothing, “silly people get their panties in a bunch”
• 绵里藏针 – a wolf in sheep’s clothing, “a needle concealed in silk floss”

• 迫不及待 – to be unable to wait
• 厚此薄彼 – to favor one and discriminate against the other
• 墨守成规 – unwilling to change because of convention
• 随心所欲 – to do as one pleases
• 和蔼和亲 – friendly, pleasant

Conclusion

That’s pretty much it. If you’re main goal is real-life communication, then you shouldn’t prioritize Chinese idioms over high-frequency vocabulary that you can use to have real conversations. But if you are interested, focus on the most common examples like those from the Daily Chinese app I listed above.

PS Here are some articles about chengyu I found useful:

• https://www.hackingchinese.com/learning-the-right-chengyu-the-right-way/: “Ever since I started learning Chinese, I’ve heard people say that if I want to impress native speakers and show that I really know Chinese, the key is to learn chengyu (成语/成語). They are often presented as magic keys not only to the Chinese language, but also to the culture, the people, the philosophy and so on. However, this approach has always irked me. The way chengyu are presented and taught is, in my opinion, flawed. In this article, I will share my own experience of chengyu and how I think they should be approached, both from a student’s and a teacher’s perspective.” (Must-read article on the subject)
• https://www.sinosplice.com/life/archives/2013/11/06/the-chengyu-bias: “So learners, don’t avoid chengyu, but don’t learn chengyu just because they’re chengyu. Don’t give chengyu special treatment when you could be improving your ability to communicate in Chinese. Just think of chengyu as the low frequency words they are, and when you start to encounter them naturally, learn them. When the time comes, you’ll recognize their usefulness in context and will see them more than once.” (amen : )
• https://www.sinosplice.com/life/archives/2005/12/21/my-chengyu-top-ten: “I decided to put together a list of what I consider the “top ten chengyu.” My top ten is determined by what I think a beginner/intermediate student is most likely to hear in conversation in China. I consider these ten the most useful, and the easiest to use.” (A great top 10)
• http://carlgene.com/blog/2010/07/20-actually-useful-chengyu-%E6%88%90%E8%AF%AD/: “Unfortunately, there are few resources – both on the web or in print – that actually tell you which chengyu are worth remembering. This is actually an important question considering that there are tens of thousands of them. Most textbooks simply give you a list of 100 or so and expect you to memorise them all, without actually telling you how they fit into a modern context. The worst are those massive lists you find on the Internet, often sourced from Chinese schools. These are merely lists of idioms that Chinese students are expected to learn at school and, whilst many of them may be well-known, native speakers simply don’t use them as often as you would expect.” (Another list: 20 chengyu that are actually useful and not just random examples)
• https://www.saporedicina.com/english/list-chengyu/: “So below you will find a list of 148 Chengyu and idiomatic phrases that are among the most used in modern China.” (Interesting list, but I’m not sure the “most used” categorization is accurate.)

Disclosure: These are affiliate links. They help me to support this blog, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a small commission if you click through and make a purchase.

Gaming crackdown, war in Ukraine, badminton, Xi dada, freelance life in China and more. The good news: spring has finally arrived!

What the Chinese Think of the Gaming Crackdown in China | Street Interview

When I went to school (back in say 2007) I had a few friends who were heavily addicted to online gaming. It was beyond doubt that their school results and social life suffered from it. How their parents dealt with this behavior or how effective their countermeasures were, I can’t remember, but the thought that the government would step in to limit gaming time or prohibit certain online games would not only have been inconceivable to us, but also outrageous.

This is exactly what the Chinese government did however, to combat online gaming addiction among minors. Asian Boss writes in its video introduction: “China is the largest video game market in the world and its ongoing freeze on video game licenses is said to have shut down over 14,000 gaming-related companies.” In other words, a surprising step for China to take against its own booming gaming industry. The video reveals what Chinese people in Shanghai think about this government policy.

玩游戏 / 打游戏	Wán yóuxì / dǎ yóuxì	play games
自控能力	zìkòng nénglì	self-control ability
培养下一代	péiyǎng xià yīdài	raise the next generation
上瘾	shàngyǐn	addicted
网瘾	wǎngyǐn	internet addiction
国家政策	guójiā zhèngcè	national policy
限制游戏时间	xiànzhì yóuxì	limit game time
刷抖音	shuā dǒuyīn	to “swipe” Douyin
负面的效果	fùmiàn de xiàoguǒ	negative effect

My thoughts: Especially the elder generation seems to approve government interference in this matter. The children’s parents might suffer from smartphone addiction themselves and might not be in the position to credibly correct their children’s behavior. They do perceive the problem though and might even welcome the support of the government, because they can’t do it themselves. China might be the first to drastically address this phenomenon, but they won’t be the last country to do so (if the measures prove effective).

What Do the Chinese Think of Russia? | Street Interview

Another great and important video about what Chinese people in Shanghai have to say about the war in Ukraine. Some commenters note a number of more serious translation issues that blur the meaning of the actual statements. Irony: The old man doesn’t like the USA and expresses sympathy for Putin, but wears an American cap. As to be expected lots of relevant political vocabulary here:

入侵	rùqīn	Invasion
主权国家	zhǔquán guójiā	Sovereign state
乌克兰	wūkèlán	Ukraine
官方媒体	guānfāng méitǐ	official media
干涉	gānshè	to interfere
没有权利干涉	méiyǒu quánlì gānshè	no right to interfere
表示痛心	biǎoshì tòngxīn	express sadness

加入北约	jiārù běiyuē	join NATO
盟友	méngyǒu	ally
谈判	tánpàn	to negotiate
中立的立场	zhōnglì de lìchǎng	neutral position
共同体	gòngtóngtǐ	community

国家的领导人	Guójiā de lǐngdǎo rén	the leader(s) of a country
保护领土安全	bǎohù lǐngtǔ ānquán	protect territorial security
捍卫国家和民族	hànwèi guójiā hé mínzú	defend country and people
独裁	dúcái	autocratic
世界大战	shìjiè dàzhàn	world war
核弹	hédàn	nuclear weapons

YoYo Chinese: 杨哥 The Badminton Master

This is a short clip from the YoYo Chinese YouTube channel about badminton, high quality content for Chinese learners as usual. The video contains authentic Beijing dialect from a amateur badminton player and includes explanations.

融洽	róngqià	harmony, harmonious
团体	tuántǐ	group
团体活动	tuántǐ huódòng	group activity
羽毛球	yǔmáoqiú	badminton
不分年龄的运动	bù fēn niánlíng de yùndòng	a sport for all ages
一个关系融洽的地方	yīgè guānxì róngqià dì dìfāng	a place where relations are harmonious / on good terms

【The New Taiwanese】Ep.3 Being Mixed Race and Dark Skinned in Taiwan 台灣混血兒皮膚黑的優缺點

In this episode of “The New Taiwanese”, Justin shares his experience as a person of mixed race in Taiwan. He has Philippine roots and speaks Mandarin fluently. The host asks about his experience of having a darker skin color in Taiwanese society. Highly interesting conversation and lots of new insights.

混血儿	hùnxiě’er	“person of mixed race”
搭讪	dāshàn	strike up a conversation
小鲜肉	xiǎo xiān ròu	“young fresh meat”
结结巴巴	jié jiē bābā	to stutter
困扰	kùnrǎo	troubled
代沟	dàigōu	generation gap
肤色	fūsè	skin color
面孔	miànkǒng	face

What do the Chinese Think of Xi Jinping?

Disclaimer: Teacher Li Can doesn’t answer the question, instead he shares his personal views about the Chairman. I might be wrong, but it seems to me that his opinions do reflect what “the majority” or a large portion of Chinese citizens think about their current leader – except for the historical comparisons he draws. On the other hand, we simply don’t know “what the Chinese think”. To me that is a reassuring thought.

政治体制	zhèngzhì tǐzhì	political system
个人魅力	gèrén mèilì	personal charisma
口才	kǒucái	eloquence
内敛含蓄	nèiliǎn hánxù	introverted and reserved
主席	zhǔxí	chairman
指手画脚	zhǐshǒuhuàjiǎo	finger pointing
敢说敢为的人	gǎn shuō gǎn wéi de rén	somebody who dares to speak
隐没	yǐnmò	disappear

Teacher Li uses plenty of difficult words, but I managed to filter out most of the key vocabulary. The occasional chengyu he throws in don’t make for easy listening.

执政能力	zhízhèng nénglì	governing ability
仁者见仁智者见智	rénzhějiànrén zhìzhě jiàn zhì	the benevolent see benevolence, the wise see wisdom
修养生息	xiūyǎng shēngxī	recuperate
恢复元气	huīfù yuánqì	rejuvenate
尖锐	jiānruì	sharp
反腐堕落	fǎnfǔ duòluò	anti-corruption
官员的力量	guānyuán de lìliàng	power of officials
繁荣兴盛	fánróng xīngshèng	prosperous
脱贫	tuōpín	get rid of poverty

Daily Chinese Expression #168「摆设 | 摆设很好看，但却没什么用。」 Speak Chinese with Da Peng 大鹏说中文

A short podcast by Da Peng, one of the most productive and original content creators for Chinese learners. I don’t know much about him, but I reckon he’s a good teacher, judging from how smoothly he introduces vocabulary in his videos. The element of repetition also is useful. And I learned a new word to call people who aren’t of much value in a team situation.

摆设	bǎishè	decorations
装饰品	zhuāngshì pǐn	decoration
雕塑	diāosù	sculpture
存在感	cúnzài gǎn	presence
贡献	gòngxiàn	contribute, contribution
比喻意义	bǐyù yìyì	figurative meaning
用来比喻人	yòng lái bǐyù rén	use a metaphor to describe a person
轻视	qīngshì	to contempt
真正的实力	zhēnzhèng de shílì	true strength
点缀的作用	diǎnzhuì de zuòyòng	decorative function

Intermediate Chinese Listening Practice｜freelance, work in café, Chinese vlog

I only recently discovered Shenglan’s YouTube channel. She is – among other things – a freelance Chinese teacher with her own podcast and video content for Chinese learners. In this vlog, she gives an impression of a normal working day, blogging at the local Starbucks. Big plus: she speaks slowly and clearly and highlights key vocabulary in her video.

充电线	Chōngdiàn xiàn	charging cable
充电头	chōngdiàn tóu	charger
自由职业者	zìyóu zhíyè zhě	freelancer
博客	bókè	blog
干扰	gānrǎo	interference
传到YouTube上	chuán dào YouTube shàng	upload to youtube
一份工作	yī fèn gōngzuò	a job
维持开支	wéichí kāizhī	to make ends meet

星巴克	xīngbākè	Starbucks
自律	zìlǜ	self-discipline
排斥	páichì	to reject (here: not wanting to do sth.)
有意义的事	yǒu yìyì de shì	a thing that means something
克服自己的懒惰	kèfú zìjǐ de lǎnduò	overcome your laziness

That’s it for this month, folks. See you in the next!

It’s sometimes said that reading the Chinese news shouldn’t be your number one language goal, unless you are a journalist, diplomat, China scholar or a news junkie. If you happen to fall in ones of those categories or – like me – simply like to read news media in Chinese, you might be interested in this practical mini-guide.

I personally spend more time reading the news than I like to admit. I’m the last to deny that in many cases the benefits are doubtful, compared to reading a good book for example, but as a language learning activity it can be very rewarding. When you’re in to it, daily reading the Chinese news is a powerful way to grow your vocabulary in specific areas and increase your reading speed. There are some difficulties though, especially when starting out. In this article, I go into the benefits, challenges and different approaches to reading the news in Chinese.

Why read the Chinese news?

I’m not sure if this is the most original answer, but reading the news in Chinese is – just like learning Chinese itself – about changing perspectives and questioning your own. We live in a complex world and there is no single truth, only different angles and perspectives of “what is”.

Reading the news only from one source, from one country, in one language, is somewhat like staying in the same village for whole your life. Instead, my motto would be “read everything and question everything”. When you read the news in multiple languages, you start to see beyond black and white, incorporate different views and perspectives and appreciate the complexity of things. What’s the Chinese view on the war in Ukraine for example? How do their media cover the subject? Which wordings do they use? If you can’t read the Chinese news, you’ll probably never going to find out, but if you do, you’ll at least know there are different sides to this conflict. That’s where diplomacy starts. You might even discover that there are multiple Chinese perspectives on the matter.

What makes reading the news in Chinese difficult?

One major obstacle reading the Chinese news articles are proper nouns; in particular names of people, places, organizations, brands and institutions. Washington, for example, is 华盛顿, New York Times is 纽约时报 and Reuter’s News Agency is called 路透社. And let’s not forget 拜登, the current president of the United States. Nothing show-stopping, yet still a source of confusion that can slow you down.

Another difficulty – depending on your familiarity with the subject – is lack of context. If I were to read the Armenian news for example, a country I have very little knowledge of, I understand next to zero, not only because of the language barrier, but also since I have no frame of reference whatsoever. I simply don’t know enough about what is going on to make sense of what I’m reading.

You have to be prepared to encounter an unfamiliar discourse that embodies new narratives and contexts. This can be unsettling. Compare it to reading about the American elections through the lens of Russia Today: it’s different and often comes with a “that’s not how I see it” feeling. It’s that other, more distant perspective that makes things interesting though.

Strategies to start reading the news in Chinese

My strategy is simple. Its main components are repetition and focus. Stick with your interests and pick articles with a familiar topic or from your area of interest. Especially when starting out, I wouldn’t recommend reading about topics you’re not interested in or don’t understand well. Don’t read about the French elections if you couldn’t care less. Don’t read about the Chinese real estate market if you don’t know anything about the real estate market in your own country. Read about stuff you care about and keep returning to the same topics.

How you adept this strategy largely depends on which tools you use. Here are three of them:

1. The Chairman’s Bao

When it comes to news tailored for Mandarin learners, the Chairman’s Bao is the number one on the market. This news-based graded reader has been around since 2015 and has been very successful. According to their website, they publish more than 1,600 news-based lessons each year (six new lessons every day). The Chairman’s Bao library currently contains around 8.000 lessons, for beginners as well as intermediate and advanced learners. Quality does come with a price though:

That being said, The Chairman’s Bao is an excellent starting point for regular news reading, allowing you to keep track of new vocabulary and what you’ve read. Every article comes with audio and an in-built dictionary. You can switch between simplified and traditional character reading mode. But the greatest advantage probably is that the news-based lessons are graded, meaning you can climb from HSK 2 all the way to HSK 6. This saves you the frustration of reading articles that turn out way beyond your level. Reducing the variety of topics to guarantee your comprehension is less of a necessity using The Chairman’s Bao.

2. DuShu

DuShu is the low-budget reading tool for autonomous learners. I’m a longtime fan as I like low-budget options for learning Mandarin, but most of all, it’s a super tool, because you can copy-paste any text in it and it will break it down for you in readable bits. The app comes with audio, pinyin, flashcards, difficulty rating and other useful features. The only thing it doesn’t do for you is find news articles that you want to read and suit your current level. That’s why it’s an excellent option for more advanced learners who want to choose their own reading diet.

3. Easy Chinese News

The app Easy Chinese News app does offer a daily updated news feed from Mainland Chinese sources. Be prepared to find a rather random mix of news content though, although the mostly short articles can be sorted by topic and difficulty level (easy or difficult). Easy Chinese News includes a multilingual dictionary with example sentences, a favorite word list and reading history. Also worth mentioning is that it supports traditional characters. To get rid of the ads you have to go premium. It’s still an interesting option though, it’s just more raw and random than The Chairman’s Bao.

Which Chinese news media to read?

What you like to read is completely up to you. I put up a short list in more or less random order, distinguishing Global Chinese, Mainland Chinese and Taiwanese news media. It’s worth noting that Mainland China has many, many more (regional) news media. I also find the Global Chinese news like the BBC and Deutsche Welle interesting. Although they’re not local sources, they do share the latest news from China, be it from a more or less western perspective.

Global Chinese news

• BBC news in Mandarin Chinese
• Chinese news from Deutsche Welle
• Australian ABC中文 News
• 纽约时报中文网 – New York Times
• Sputnik News in Chinese

Mainland Chinese news

• Baidu News
• China Daily
• China Economic Daily
• China News Digest
• China.com.cn
• ChinaByte
• Chinanews
• Chongqing Evening Paper
• The Beijing News
• Shanghai Daily
• Shanghai Star
• Toutiao
• Xinhua

Taiwanese news

• Liberty Times (自由時報) – It is one of the most widely read newspapers in Taiwan.
• Apple Daily Taiwan (蘋果日報) – Taiwan’s leading Chinese-language newspaper published by Next Media. The media group based in Hong Kong.
• United Daily News (聯合報) – Daily broadsheet newspaper published in the Republic of China, headquarters in Taipei city.
• China Times (中國時報) – Leading traditional Chinese-language newspaper in Taiwan. The newspaper also published in San Gabriel, California, United States.
• Central News Agency (CNA) – Republic of China’s state news agency. CNA was founded in 1924, providing news in Chinese, English, French, and Spanish.
• The News Lens (關鍵評論網) – Bilingual (English and Mandarin) news & voices from Taiwan.
• Mandarin Daily News (國語日報) – Daily children’s newspaper published in Taiwan.
• Storm Media – Popular online news media in Taiwan.

Which tools and news papers you choose in the end, depends on your budget, taste and priorities. I hoped this article can offer some orientation. Feel free to leave a comment about your experiences reading the news in Chinese. Thanks for dropping by on Kaohongshu.