Category: Movie

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.)

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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!

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.

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!

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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