Month: July 2022

This edition is (almost) all about the lockdown in Shanghai. Originally I had added and commented some audio recordings of desperate residents. However, these recordings disappeared again during the month, so unfortunately I had to delete them from the article.

I am of course not a journalist, but just an interested blogger. You hear and see many things from Shanghai these days. Some terrible, some things seem not too bad. The news reports from the mainstream media aren’t very helpful. What to believe? I see the most distressing scenes on Twitter, but does that mean whole Shanghai is like that? All in all, I prefer to hear the news directly from the people on the ground, so that I can gradually connect the dots and understand what’s happening.

My first conclusion is that there is a little bit of everything. Human abysses with a touch of Orwell but also warmth, creativity and helpfulness. There’s no need denying that I fundamentally disagree with the idea of “zero-covid”, whether in China or elsewhere. Especially now that I see around me that the once dreaded disease is (at this point) for the most part no more than a cold. That is why the Chinese approach has a delusional character to me. And I don’t need to explain what an absolute “security need” means for individual freedom.

The whole thing has similarities with a mass movement where everyone has to prove that they are on the right side. For example, by putting on a white suit, doing a dance for the helpers or simply standing in line for your daily test. Anyone who does not wear a mask or leaves their home or neighborhood without permission will be called to order or worse. You have to obey and walk in line. Others would call it a cult.

Is all this necessary to prevent the spread of the disease? Can we prevent the spread at all in the long run? At what cost?

Afu: Shanghai Epidemic | Can you get food? What about pets? How are my family members?

A video update from Afu in Shanghai, showing how he is making the best out of the situation. Looking at his account of the lockdown, I more or less got the impression that the whole situation isn’t that bad. After all, if – like Afu- you have a pleasant apartment, plenty of supplies and connections to get more, it just means you have to stay at home and watch Netflix. He doesn’t mention anything about daily Covid-tests and the fear of being tested positive, but the fact that they temporarily sent their dog away does show this is a concern. He doesn’t go in to the Why of the lockdown. On the other hand, he does explicitly state that his lockdown experience isn’t very representative (“可能不是很有代表性”) and that this is purely his personal account (“我今天拍的内容是我个人的情况”).

封城的生活	Fēngchéng de shēnghuó	life in lockdown
宠物的情况	chǒngwù de qíngkuàng	pet situation
囤了什么货	dùnle shénme huò	What are you stocking up
抢菜	qiǎng cài	grab food
调侃	tiáokǎn	ridicule
文化博主	wénhuà bó zhǔ	cultural blogger
物资	wùzī	supplies

郁闷	yùmèn	depressed
足不出户	zú bù chū hù	stay at home
要去方舱医院	yào qù fāng cāng yīyuàn	go to the makeshift hospital
团购	tuángòu	“group buy”
可能不是很有代表性	kěnéng bùshì hěn yǒu dàibiǎo xìng	“probably not very representative”
我今天拍的内容是我个人的情况	wǒ jīntiān pāi de nèiróng shì wǒ gèrén de qíngkuàng	What I’m filming today is my personal situation”

After more than a month of lockdown, how miserable are the entrepreneurs in Shanghai?

How do entrepreneurs in Shanghai experience the lockdown? How well prepared were they and how long will they last? In this compilation of conversations with local business leaders, we hear their side of the story. We learn that no one’s situation is quite the same.

停业	Tíngyè	out of business
亏钱	kuī qián	to lose money
创业者	chuàngyèzhě	entrepreneur
裁员	cáiyuán	to fire people
社保	shèbǎo	social security
零收入	líng shōurù	zero income
活下去	huó xiàqù	to live / to survive
恢复	huīfù	to recover
从零开始	cóng líng kāishǐ	to start allover
面临挑战	miànlín tiǎozhàn	to face challenges

Taiwanese girl studying at Fudan University shares her lockdown experience

Imagine: you are twenty and for the first time in your life you are going to study abroad. A new city, new friends, a completely new life. And just as you start to get used to your new surroundings, the hassle begins. First daily covid tests, then the campus is locked, then you are no longer allowed to leave your residential building, and again a few days later you have to stay in your room. That is in short what happened to this Taiwanese student.

封校	Fēng xiào	school closure
发货	fā huò	send goods
抗原自测	kàngyuán zì cè	antigen self-test
封楼	fēng lóu	sealed-off building
封户	fēng hù	sealed-off room
阳性病例	yángxìng bìnglì	positive case
恩赐	ēncì	gift
无能为力	wúnéngwéilì	powerless
匡谬	kuāng miù	paradox
三餐的温饱	sān cān de wēnbǎo	three meals a day

She first tells about the anti-covid policy measures chronologically, then she shares her personal feelings. Her initial goodwill soon turns into impotence (无能为力) and frustration. Her precious time, her quality of life are taken away from her. She didn’t even get to experience spring in Shanghai because she was locked inside. She does not only want to complain about herself and also understands that she’s not the only person suffering, but I can’t blame her for her honest words. And let’s not forget, studying costs money for which you want to get something in return. Not only in the form of good education together with your peers, but also in quality of life.

隔离	gélí	isolation
核酸 (检测)	hésuān	nucleic acid (test)
阳性	yángxìng	positive
阴性	yīnxìng	negative
检测	jiǎncè	detect, test

She does not speak freely, but reads her story. Of course with a slight Taiwanese accent as far as I can judge. The subtitles are in traditional characters.

Speak Chinese with Da Peng 大鹏说中文 – Chinese Expression #169

Da Peng explains the meaning of 过来人, as always with plenty of examples and short dialogues and most importantly, without using a single word of English.

过来人	guòláirén	person with experience
资历更深的人	zīlì gēngshēn de rén	more senior person
绝对的	juéduì de	absolute
相对的	xiāngduì de	relative
没有绝对的过来人，只有相对的过来人。	méiyǒu juéduì de guòláirén, zhǐyǒu xiāngduì de guòláirén	To explain 过来人 is always relative
无从下手	wúcóng xiàshǒu	No way to start
天外有天，人外有人	tiānwàiyǒutiān, rén wài yǒurén	In the wider world there are people more talented than oneself (idiom)

10 Years of an Ordinary Chinese Girl’s Life

More people should make this kind of retrospective videos about themselves. It got me thinking about what I was like ten years ago. Ella tells her story of personal growth that include several stages: not finding her way as a student, first unsatisfying jobs, meeting new people, learning English, meeting her future husband, traveling and becoming a professional content maker. It’s an impressive story about courage that ultimately leads to finding confidence and meaning. Ella speaks quite fast though and uses some slang here and there, so I had to slow down the video to extract all the details of what she said.

腿不直	Tuǐ bù zhí	legs not straight
福双眼皮	fú shuāng yǎnpí	double eyelid
典型乖乖女	diǎnxíng guāiguāi nǚ	typical good girl
时髦的人	shímáo de rén	hipster & stylish person
浑浑噩噩的	húnhún’è’è de	murky
第六年开始出现转机了	dì liù nián kāishǐ chūxiàn zhuǎnjīle	Turnaround started in the sixth year
我不要再做咸鱼了，我可以翻身	wǒ bùyào zài zuò xián yúle, wǒ kěyǐ fānshēn	“I don’t need to make salted fish anymore, I can turn over” (咸鱼翻身 – to experience a reversal of fortune, be back in the saddle)
狗血剧情	gǒu xuè jùqíng	melodramatic plot / “dog blood plot”

带牙套	dài yátào	wear braces
空虚的感觉	kōngxū de gǎnjué	feeling of emptiness
我内心清楚	wǒ nèixīn qīngchǔ	I know in my heart
都说时间会摆平一切	dōu shuō shíjiān huì bǎipíng yīqiè	They say time will settle everything
做自媒体	zuò zì méitǐ	do self-media (content published on independently operated social media account)

【电影】《朝鲜世界2019》（北韓世界 North Korea World）

朝鲜	Cháoxiǎn	North Korea
平壤	píngrǎng	Pyongyang
朝鲜劳动党	cháoxiǎn láodòng dǎng	Workers’ Party of Korea
非军事区	fēi jūnshì qū	demilitarized Zone
主体思想	zhǔtǐ sīxiǎng	Juche idea, state ideology of North Korea
坚持社会主义的国家	jiānchí shèhuì zhǔyì	a country that insists on socialism
金正恩	jīnzhèng’ēn	Kim Jong Un

Let’s call it coincidence that we started this month in Shanghai and ended up in North-Korea. I hope you enjoyed the ride though. Let’s see what next month will bring!

Not so long ago, Mandarin Companion surveyed over a thousand Chinese learners worldwide. They discovered six main types of Chinese learners. What kind of Chinese learner are you?

You probably think that’s a rather broad question and rightfully so. In a previous post, I discussed learning styles and the concept of auditory and visual learners, in other words, HOW people learn Chinese. This post is about WHY we learn or what drives us to learn Chinese. All these motivations have finally been mapped out and reduced to 6 main categories. Let’s have a look.

01. Language enthusiasts

The primary driver for language enthusiasts is the enjoyment of language learning. For these learners it’s all about intellectual curiosity, the love for the language, without much regard for how to use them. A typical example would be a polyglot learner like Steve Kaufmann whose love of languages lead him to learn over 20 languages including Chinese. Or someone like “Uncle Hanzi”, an American physicist, who has been obsessed with the origin and history of Chinese characters for most of his life. The language enthusiast’s interest is usually more intellectual or even academic than practical.

02. Cultural connectors

Cultural connectors want to learn Chinese to be able to connect with Chinese culture. This can be anything from martial arts, Chinese cinema, literature, art to – I don’t know – Chinese electronics or street food. It’s not purely about culture of course, but also about people from that culture. A person that comes to mind is the famous YouTuber The Food Ranger whose obsession with Chinese street food inspired him to learn (basic) Chinese to be able to connect with the locals. Chinese culture (or street food) was his primary drive though.

03. Aspirational learners

Aspirational learners admire other non-native, Chinese speakers to such an extent that they want to equal them. I can’t think of an immediate example, but I’ve heard from several highly proficient, Chinese speakers that they were inspired by the legendary DaShan, one of the few western celebrities in China, whose Chinese skills are unparalleled among non-natives. I think that most serious Chinese learners have their personal “hero’s”. I personally admire the fluency of people like LeLe Farley and Afu, although I’ve never met them personally.

04. Functional learners

Functional learners didn’t necessarily plan to learn Chinese, yet have concluded that in their current environment their life will be easier if they do so. For example because of a job opportunity that required them to move to China and/or work with Chinese clients or partners. Functional learners are – in other words – sort of forced by the circumstances to learn Chinese. In many cases, they have fairly tangible language goals – anything from ordering noodles to be able to hold a presentation in Chinese.

05. Career-focused learners

Career-focused learners learn Chinese primarily to advance their career. For them the language is an opportunity, a key to a certain career path or just a big plus on the job market. They typically plan to work with China and Chinese people in the future.

When I studied in China I met other students from Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, several African countries, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and so on. Most of them were learning Chinese to have China-focused careers in the future, in business or tourism for example. In their eyes, China meant career opportunities and these prospects were their strongest motivation.

06. Obligated learners

The final category are the obligated learners. They learn Chinese because “they have to”. Maybe because they are required to learn a second or third language in school, their parents have them participate in a language immersion program or they are so-called “heritage learners”. In this case, their parents may expect them to learn to read and write Chinese characters. The crucial thing is that they’re not (completely) self-motivated.

I know some second generation Chinese people in Germany who fall in this category. On the one hand, they’re native speakers who are fully fluent, but to master the language equally to their peers in China they have to learn how to read and write. In most cases, their parents send them to special Chinese weekend schools or private tutors. Typically, the parents make a fuzz about getting their kids to read and write Hanzi, most kids don’t see the need, so I guess they can be called “obligated learners”.

Motivation and transition

So what type of Chinese learner are you? You’ve probably noted that it’s hard to fit into one single box. What’s more, the categories aren’t mutually exclusive, so you can be several things at once. A Language enthusiast and a cultural connector for example.

You can also evolve into a different type of learner over time, say from a functional learner to a aspirational learner and a cultural connector. For instance because you moved to China and had to learn at least survival Chinese (functional), but then you bumped into several fellow expats with outstanding Chinese skills and you felt the desire to be like them (aspirational) and also to connect with Chinese friends and locals (cultural).

Finally, it’s worth observing that some of these main types can be connected to certain life phases or life situations, for example the language enthusiast to the student or the cultural connector to the traveler. So they – again – are by no means fixed, after all we all change and so do our motivations.

Multiple learner types identification

Here’s a look at my own case: I identify with all categories, except for the “obligated learner”, and not to the same degree. When I met my wife (who’s Chinese) I became interested in Mandarin for the first time. Unfortunately, love isn’t a category. Let’s reconstruct:

• a part of me was a language enthusiast who always had an interest in languages. I even studied linguistics, so I surely was curious about Chinese and serious about it too.
• a part of it was functional: how could I communicate with her parents and Chinese friends?
• a part of it was “cultural connecting” and connecting with Chinese people. Also I developed an interest in Chinese history, cinema and literature. This became part of my learning process.
• a part of it – later on – was career-focused. I decided to study Chinese and hoped to advance my career opportunities, open new doors etc.
• a part of it was aspirational. In the process, actually quite early on, I met two or three westerners who spoke Chinese almost native-like which made a big impression and encouraged me to aim high.

Nowadays, in a way, I returned to my starting point as a language enthusiast and cultural connector. “Career” isn’t a major factor anymore, although that might change in the future. You cannot step into the same river twice, it is said.

Conclusion

What benefits do these categorizations bring? Do they make you a better learner? I’m not sure. I guess their main purpose is orientation and self-knowledge. Maybe it’s somewhat similar to doing a (serious) personality test. Does this kind of introspection make you a better person? Probably not, but potentially yes. Because knowing who you are is the basis for improvement, can be the inspiration for change. It might also help you to relate to others.

Anyway, let me know what you think in the comment section below.

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This edition could be called “escape from Shanghai”. Bear with me for some more zero-covid refugee talk.

The Chinese government insists that their zero-covid policy is “bringing Covid-19 under control at the minimum social cost in the shortest time possible.” Well, I don’t know about that. My personal observation is that this virus can’t be contained on the long term – not by wearing masks, lockdowns or mass vaccination programs. At this point, it’s hardly more than a common cold for the great majority of people. So why on earth is Shanghai sacrificing its economy to “control” what can’t be controlled?

Anyway, it’s just so frustrating to see governments adopting such destructive policies and it’s no surprise that people want to leave… And that’s what this edition of Chinese vocabulary notes is all about!

By the way, I’d like to recommend this article “Should you learn Mandarin despite China’s zero covid policy?” by Jaap Grolleman, who has been in China since 2018 and currently lives and works in Shanghai. I’ve also been struggling with this question. What’s the point of learning Mandarin if you can’t freely enter the country with most Chinese speakers? I’ll quote the conclusion here:

But most importantly, a career in China may still work depending on your timeline. China will open up, eventually. It’s unlikely to do so before 2024, but even if you put the timeline to 2026, that still gives you four years. The zero covid policy is driven by a lot of things, but not out of hate for foreigners. So if you spend four years learning Mandarin, you may be in a really great position to move to China once it opens up. China will be needing foreign talent and if you can speak Mandarin your life will be much easier here. Also, fewer Chinese students are choosing to study abroad and this may hurt overall English language performance — on top of tutor crackdowns for primary schools. It’s just a matter of whether you can keep up learning motivation if you cannot enter China, and whether you can create an immersive environment for yourself despite not learning in China. But if fewer people choose to learn Mandarin, that may actually work in your favor.

Should you learn Mandarin despite China’s zero covid policy?

And now to this month’s vocabulary notes:

“I escaped from Shanghai”

This guy escaped the madness, because he couldn’t take it anymore. I don’t know why he needs to swear every third sentence, but apart from that he gives a down-to-earth, no-nonsense view on the situation as he experienced it. I like his metaphor of the frog that’s slowly being cooked without ever noticing. Only when he arrived in Europe, he realized how mad things actually were. (I’m not saying that things in Europe are “normal”, although definitely more relaxed than in China – it’s all relative). He also expresses his frustration about the passiveness of Shanghai citizens.

解封	jiě fēng	to “unblock” / end lockdown
物资	wùzī	supplies
隔离	gélí	isolation
房舱	fáng cāng	cabin
魔幻的事情	móhuàn de shìqíng	a magical thing (not a good thing)
清零	qīng líng	zero-covid
做核酸	zuò hésuān	to do a covid-test
团购	tuángòu	“group buy”

控制病毒的方式	kòngzhì bìngdú de fāngshì	Ways to control the virus
大喊大叫	dà hǎn dà jiào	to yell
想不通	xiǎng bùtōng	Can’t figure out / can’t understand
共存	gòngcún	coexist
注射疫苗	zhùshè yìmiáo	to vaccinate
救命	jiùmìng	help
忍受	rěnshòu	to bear
忍耐	rěnnài	to endure
中国泡沫	zhōngguó pàomò	the Chinese bubble
格格不入	gégébùrù	out of place, incompatible

“阿福已经润了？有些细节值得关注” (Afu escaped too)

Some gossip from our German Charles Manson look-a-like 老雷! Hadn’t checked on him in a long time, but this video was one of the first that popped up about the fact that his fellow German YouTuber Afu escaped Shanghai, (阿福润了, the character 润 is a pun on “run” in English). The main reason for his 15-minutes rambling seems to be that Afu somehow is a pawn in the hands of the CCP, but not a very reliable one, for now that things got nasty, he left everything behind, including his wife, and boarded an airplane back to Germany. That’s at least his long-distance interpretation.

一直不断	yīzhí bùduàn	all the time
不让出门	bù ràng chūmén	don’t let you go out
多么想润	duōme xiǎng rùn	how much you want to run
十天以前发布了视频	shí tiān yǐqián fābùle shìpín	Video posted ten days ago
德国大使馆	déguó dàshǐ guǎn	German Embassy
德国航班	déguó hángbān	German flight
德国公民	déguó gōngmín	German citizen
哪怕	nǎpà	even if
太想念了	tài xiǎngniànle	miss it so much

I couldn’t help listening to his ramblings some more in a second video about Afu. Probably because we’re from the same language area, he’s much easier to follow for me than the guy in the first video for example. I picked up some useful expressions like 按照我的理解 and X有什么样. It seems – judging from his channel – that although he left China years ago, linguistically “he’s still there”, almost as if he never went away. That’s impressive.

无语	wúyǔ	speechless
按照我的理解	ànzhào wǒ de lǐjiě	as I understand
我有一些疑问	wǒ yǒu yīxiē yíwèn	I’ve got some questions
八卦	bāguà	gossip, to gossip
尊重他们的隐私	zūnzhòng tāmen de yǐnsī	to respect their privacy
鄙视	bǐshì	to despise
X有什么样	A yǒu shénmeyàng	What about X? (a bit like “so what?”)
招呼父母	zhāohū fùmǔ	Take care of one’s parents

One thing he’s right about though is that Afu’s videos in contrast to his own are heavily edited. 老雷 has a special talent for long, uncut monologues. I’ve never seen Afu doing that. When you watch his videos closely, they’re usually cut sentence by sentence, which – together with the music – creates the upbeat tempo and feeling.

敏感的问题	mǐngǎn de wèntí	Sensitive issues
我不鄙视阿福	wǒ bu bǐshì āfú	I don’t despise
心疼他们	xīnténg tāmen	to feel sorry for them
一旦	yīdàn	once
作为一个人	zuòwéi yīgè rén	As a human being
吐槽	tǔcáo	To roast (slang), to ridicule
晒他冰箱	shài tā bīngxiāng	To show off (the contents of) his fridge (during lockdown)

Afu: 疫情期间，离开上海有多难？

Now we’ve heard 老雷‘s account of Afu’s story, it’s about time to turn over to the man himself and let him tell what’s there to tell. How did he escape from Shanghai and leave everything behind?

冒险的故事	màoxiǎn de gùshì	adventure story
70岁大寿	70 suì dàshòu	70th birthday
庆祝	qìngzhù	celebrate
改签	gǎi qiān	rebook (flight)
到现在还没有一个明确的解封日期	dào xiànzài hái méiyǒu yīgè míngquè de jiěfēng rìqí	There is no definite “release date” yet
给我爸妈一个惊喜	gěi wǒ bà mā yīgè jīngxǐ	Surprise my parents
浦东机场	pǔdōng jīchǎng	Pudong Airport
通行证	tōngxíngzhèng	certificate that allows you to pass
静默期的上海	jìngmò qí de shànghǎi	Shanghai “in the silent period”
国际航班	guójì hángbān	International Flights
流浪在机场	liúlàng zài jīchǎng	To be stuck at the airport / “homeless” at the airport

That’s it for this month. See you in June!

Want to read more authentic content in Chinese? Chinese novels, short stories and children stories written for native readers? For more intermediate and advanced learners the app Readibu has plenty of good reads to offer.

In a previous post, I discussed Weixin DuShu which could be called Tencent’s version of Kindle. Great for reading all kinds of books in Chinese, yet lacking a Chinese-English pop-up dictionary and other simple features that support people like you and me in their endeavor to read “native” content. A real pity, because a potentially fantastic app becomes next to unusable for the vast majority of Chinese learners.

Then there’s also DuShu which I discussed at length on this blog. It has those extra language learning features, but since it works by copy-pasting content from websites, DuShu is not optimized for reading longer texts like novels or even long interviews or essays. The same goes for the Pleco clipboard reader, assuming you don’t want to be bothered to repeatedly select the text on your mobile device, copy it, open the app and load it. It’s simply not very practical – not only does it cost a lot of time, but you also tend to lose track of the last page you read.

Readibu – web reader for reading Chinese web novels

There is a solution though, since Readibu tackles all these deficiencies rather well. In short, Readibu is a reading app for Chinese web novels, short stories and children stories, specially designed for Chinese learners. No more, no less. It extracts the text from almost any given website and presents it in reader mode with a special pop-up dictionary.

The idea behind it is very clever, after all there’s an overwhelming quantity of Chinese online novels you can read for free. In a way, “all” that Readibu does, is sorting (a selection of) them by HSK level, giving a short introduction and present them in reader mode. At least, now you know where to start. If you don’t feel up to reading a complex novel with countless characters that all have their own Chinese names, you can give the short stories a try first. They too come in different genres like philosophy, relationships, work & career, life, horror, mystery, legends and history.

Main features

All the rest is sort of self-explaining: I randomly picked my first novel called “Romance on the Road of Officialdom”. (I was warned it was cliché-ridden and written by “students”. My main concern is it has more than 500 chapters.) With the support of the pop-up dictionary, I was able to read the first chapters fairly quickly, not catching everything, but enough to enjoy the story and go forward.

Page stats

The page stats give a more or less solid indication of the difficulty level, although familiar characters have a tendency to emerge in strange combinations and contexts, so you can’t be too sure about the actual readability. A “chengyu counter” would be appreciated as well. I encountered countless idioms, 98 % of which I couldn’t understand without tapping on them for their meaning. Nonetheless, these page stats are a welcome feature.

Dictionary history

The same can be said about the dictionary history, especially the frequent words, which allow you to keep track of the most difficult and relevant new words. You can also star special words and expressions to study them later. If you want, you can even export your vocabulary lists and use them in other apps like Pleco or Anki.

Simplified or traditional characters

Another big plus for serious learners is that Readibu allows you to read simplified as well as traditional characters. Other settings like showing or hiding pinyin and underlining words and phrases to make the text more readable are useful too. The pinyin feature could be even better if you could customize it to hide, say, HSK 1 – 5 vocabulary and other familiar words and characters.

Bugs – broken links?

One serious bug I encountered using the app is that some URL’s don’t work. This was mostly the case when opening one of the short stories from m.xiaogushi.com, a website that currently seems to be offline. In other words, some broken links need to be fixed to avoid disappointment from users.

Best feature: read from any custom website

A big plus on the other hand, is that you can read almost any Chinese text in Readibu by copy-pasting the URL and loading the page. Their FAQ explains how it works: “Yes, any content that is publicly accessible on the internet can be read on the app, assuming it is not blocked or obfuscated with anti-scraping code. Navigate to Bookmarks tab and select the plus icon (+) to add a custom site URL as a new bookmark.” The bookmark section is where you find your reading list with saved novels, stories and your own content.

Compared to DuShu and Pleco clipboard reader where you have to switch between apps to copy-paste the text you want to read, this is a real advantage. I tested it with some news articles and it works smoothly. This also allows you to read other works of literature, in case you’re not completely convinced by the literary quality of the web novels in Readibu or have your own reading list. Works like “To Live” by Yu Hua for example or “Stories of the Sahara” by Sanmao – to name two extremely interesting and readable books.

Premium features

Readibu is a freemium app. These extra features you get when you pay for subscription:

• Smart name recognition – Detect likely names of people, places and organizations
• Sentence Translation – Access unlimited translation with Google Translate
• Image Search – See image search results for selected text
• Offline Reading – Download pages for reading offline

In my opinion, they are welcome extra features, yet not essential to use and enjoy the app. At this point, I wouldn’t be willing to pay for them. Even better learner content, in-built audio to read texts out loud and flashcards functionality might convince me though.

Conclusion

Long story short: Readibu is great for those who’ve moved beyond HSK 4 and are hungry for longer, authentic content to read. The app is free, offers a variety of popular novels and stories, sorted by HSK level. If you’re the kind of autonomous language learner that enjoys a reading adventure to expand your vocabulary, increase your reading speed or simply “explore” the Chinese language, you should certainly give it a try.

What’s your favorite app to read Chinese texts? Have you tried Readibu? Let me know in the comments below!

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In this month’s edition: Chinese as a global language, Chinese drinking culture, cat slaves, financial advise, computerized chopsticks and last but not least: finally understanding the Chinese news.

June has been a good month in terms of extensive listening for me. Recently I’ve been visiting Dong Chinese Media a lot to find interesting content for my Chinese vocabulary notes. Because their mostly short videos come with transcript, they make good study material. Even to practice pronunciation, since you can simply click on a sentence to repeat it. Their media feed is being updated regularly and offers a great variety of topics for almost all levels. Also, I’ve been listening to the German YouTuber 老雷’s fascinating story about his walking adventure from Beijing to Germany.

And I heard about the new Harry Potter Chinese audiobook, recorded by professional Chinese voice actors and available on Ximalaya. The first chapters are free of charge. Much better of course than the amateur recordings you find on YouTube.

Will Chinese Replace English as the Global Language?

Will Chinese replace English as a global language? And why did English become a global language, where as Chinese doesn’t have and never had this status? Li Can discusses these and other questions. This video got a HSK 3 classification by the Dong Chinese team, although HSK 5 is closer to the mark. There’s no way to discuss such a complex topic with a HSK 3 vocabulary, Li Can does a great job though.

全球性的语言	quánqiú xìng de yǔyán	global language
霸主	bàzhǔ	overlord
霸主语言地位	bàzhǔ yǔyán dìwèi	language with a dominant position
文化输出了	wénhuà shūchūle	cultural export / (American) culture has been “exported”
海外探索	hǎiwài tànsuǒ	overseas exploration / to explore overseas
扩张	kuòzhāng	to expand
一带一路	yīdài yīlù	Belt and Road / historical silk road
取代英文	qǔdài yīngwén	to replace English (as a global language)

Chinese University Girl Studying in US Shocked By American Culture!

If this is Chinese-American culture shock, I’m amused but far from flabbergasted. Americans drink tap water, Americans give tips in bars, Americans look very differently from each other, not all Americans streets are safe at night… Could it be that American culture is so present in China that this Chinese graduate student in the interview has been mentally prepared to such an extent that there are no real surprises left, apart from micro-level differences? She might even have a bigger culture shock moving to Inner Mongolia to live with local horse breeders. Nonetheless, ninety minutes of completely transcribed conversation about cultural differences between the US and China.

中美文化差异	Zhōng měi wénhuà chāyì	cultural differences between China and the United States
学籍	xuéjí	student status
申请	shēnqǐng	application
录取	lùqǔ	admission
间隔年	jiàngé nián	gap year
衣着	yīzhuó	clothes
多样性	duōyàng xìng	diversity

给小费	gěi xiǎofèi	to give tips
小费文化	xiǎofèi wénhuà	tipping culture
烘干机	hōng gān jī	dryer
杀菌	shājùn	to sterilize
犯罪率	fànzuì lǜ	crime rate
流浪汉	liúlàng hàn	tramp
被震惊到	bèi zhènjīng dào	to be shocked
水龙头的水	shuǐlóngtóu dé shuǐ	water from the tap
过滤	guòlǜ	filter

Learn Chinese Through News

Always when I felt confident about my level of “listening comprehension”, watching the CCTV news woke my from my dream, because it seemed like a related, yet different language than what I had been learning so far. If you have the same experience, this video might be helpful. It explains the CCTV news on a word by word basis in a way that even the tiniest details start making sense.

收看	shōukàn	to watch
新闻联播	xīnwén liánbò	Chinese news broadcast (network news broadcast)
本轮	běn lún	this round
上海本轮疫情以来	shànghǎi běn lún yìqíng yǐlái	Since the current round of epidemic in Shanghai
平凡	píngfán	ordinary
行动	xíngdòng	action
无私	wúsī	selfless
奉献	fèngxiàn	to dedicate
抗击疫情	kàngjí yìqíng	fight against the epidemic
守护	shǒuhù	to guard
共同	gòngtóng	together

「 智能筷子 」 Speak Chinese with Da Peng

Japanese researchers have developed computerized chopsticks that enhance salty tastes. The idea is to help those who need to reduce sodium in their diets. Da Peng explains this new development in his clear and unique way.

智能	zhìnéng	intelligent, smart
智能筷子	zhìnéng kuài zǐ	smart chopsticks
清淡无味	qīngdàn wúwèi	light and tasteless
装置	zhuāngzhì	device
饮食习惯	yǐnshí xíguàn	eating habits
一饱口福	yī bǎo kǒufú	A real treat
魔法	mófǎ	magic
犯困	fànkùn	sleepy
口味	kǒuwèi	taste

酒桌上的中国

Chinese drinking culture was the topic from my latest online Chinese lesson and we covered some common drinking vocab like 嗜酒如命 and 灌酒 or 喝趴下了. I had to slow down the video and repeat it several times to get all the details.

嗜酒如命	shì jiǔ rú mìng	drink like a fish; alcoholic
劝酒	quànjiǔ	Persuade to drink
灌酒	guàn jiǔ	lit. to pour wine / alcohol, meaning “drinking fast and in large quantities”
给面子	gěi miànzi	Give face
看不起	kànbùqǐ	to look down on
干一杯	gàn yībēi	to drink up
趴下	pā xià	to fall; to get drunk
商场	shāngchǎng	business field
官场	guānchǎng	officialdom; official circles
尽情享受	jìnqíng xiǎngshòu	to enjoy oneself to the full

Cat slave

Are you a 猫奴 or do you know people around you who are? Another short dialogue from the “课本上学不到的汉语” series by GoEast Mandarin. They are great at creating this kind of both original and “snackable” learning content.

猫奴	māonú	cat slave
过敏	guòmǐn	allergic
对 X 过敏	Duì X guòmǐn	allergic to

如何在经济衰退中挣钱？

Did somebody say economic recession (经济衰退)? If the economic recession indeed is inevitable, then we might as well face the fitting Chinese vocabulary. This video covers how to deal with the new economic climate by taking a look at some “smart money” tactics and 暴富机会 in particular, because our optimistic friend Peng Peng believes that where others are losing money, you can get rich.

经济衰退	jīngjì shuāituì	economic recession
财务	cáiwù	finance
财务危机	cáiwù wéijī	financial Crisis
失业	shīyè	unemployment
房贷	fángdài	mortgage
房贷断供	fángdài duàn gōng	mortgage Suspension
暴富机会	bào fù jīhuì	get rich opportunity
大佬们	dà lǎomen	big guys

投资股市	tóuzī gǔshì	to invest in the stock market
股票	gǔpiào	stock
熊市	xióngshì	bear market

That’s it for this month. Enjoy the summer, learn Chinese and see you in July!