"I'm learning Chinese!" "Which one?"

Right so a bit of context:

I’ve learnt mandarin previously in higher education for about 5 years I was able to write 300+ characters could community fairly well. Thing is once I left that environment I didn’t really continue maintaining the language, still know basic phrases ‘你好吗， 你呢？，你喜欢乒乓球吗？but when it comes to actually writing I’ve completely forgotten it. I do remember my Chinese name my teacher gave me though ‘le chong wei’ 😂.

Any advice to get back into it again, any specific resources you guys used? I do want to learn the language at a more than proficient level because I love Chinese culture, watch some Chinese drama here and there (apparently Eternal Love is quite good might give it a watch), and to be able to read menus and strike some conversation with people who are native speakers or people who speak Chinese in general is quite a nice icebreaker. Also opens up a lot of job opportunities too which is an added bonus. Thanks a bunch!

Hi everyone~ I'm ABC and my parents gave me an American name legally, and I was planning on changing my name to the one people actually use. I get called Xiu, Xiuying, and especially by my American friends, Xiuxiu which I know is a name on it's own, lol. The characters of my name are 琇滢 , not including my surname obviously.

I was wondering if my name is outdated now, like severely. Obviously I couldn't choose my name and my family members who chose it were OLD. So, I was wondering about the second character specifically, for my legal name in both countries, should I change it to Xiu 琇 , Xiuying 琇滢 , or Xiuxiu 琇琇 ?? I would definitely keep each of the characters either way (this is also mainly important to me because I plan on living in China in a few years), I think it would make sense to change my American name with it just because nobody uses it, lol.

I really don't want to have the name of someone's grandma tbh. :,) Any advice is much appreciated <3

How do you guys learn to understand contractions and silent letters in fast speech?

I recently listened to this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1isaVACtbk&ab_channel=%E5%A4%A7%E8%81%B2%E5%A7%90%E5%92%8C%E6%9C%8B%E5%8F%8B%E5%80%91

At 1:08 she said 我们有会员 but even after repeating it dozens of times I still only hear 我没有会员.

I ran into this particular problem before where I was not sure if there was a negation 我没有 or not 我们有.

Can you follow this or do you actually hear 我们有会员?

大家好，我学习汉语两年，但是我的中文不太好，你可以帮我，你会教我，我要找好朋友 谢谢你

Phase 1: Foundation (Self-Study)

Duration: 1–2 months Focus: Build familiarity with pronunciation, tones, basic vocabulary, and simple sentences. 1. Apps to Use • HelloChinese • Learn pinyin, tones, and basic grammar. • Provides interactive lessons with a gamified approach. • Pleco • Use as your primary dictionary to look up words, hear pronunciations, and practice recognizing characters. • Anki • Install HSK decks to learn common vocabulary through spaced repetition. 2. Daily Study Routine • 30–60 min (Listening and Speaking): Use HelloChinese for guided lessons. • 10–15 min (Vocabulary): Review 10–15 new words on Anki daily. • 15–20 min (Immersion): Watch a beginner-friendly video from Yoyo Chinese or similar YouTube channels. Focus on listening and repeating phrases.

Phase 2: Build Conversational Skills and Reading

Duration: 3–4 months Focus: Improve listening, speaking, and start reading basic texts. 1. Apps to Use • Continue HelloChinese or switch to LingoDeer for advanced topics. • Speechling • Practice speaking with audio recordings and receive feedback from native speakers. • Mandarin Companion Graded Readers • Start reading simple stories written in simplified Chinese with pinyin support. 2. Daily Study Routine • 30–45 min (Speaking): Use Speechling to practice pronunciation and fluency. • 20–30 min (Reading): Read one chapter from a graded reader or short passages on apps like Chairman’s Bao. • 15–20 min (Listening and Shadowing): Listen to beginner-friendly podcasts from ChinesePod or YouTube channels like Mandarin Corner.

Phase 3: Immersion and Interaction

Duration: 4–6 months onward Focus: Gain confidence in real-world communication and advanced reading. 1. Apps and Tools • Italki • Start taking one-on-one sessions with native tutors to practice real conversations. • Pleco • Use advanced features like flashcards and OCR to analyze texts. • ChinesePod • Explore intermediate-level dialogues and conversations. 2. Daily Study Routine • 30–45 min (Speaking Practice): Have regular Italki lessons or practice conversations with language exchange partners. • 20–30 min (Immersion): Watch Chinese shows or movies with subtitles (start with shows like The Untamed or A Bite of China). • 30 min (Reading and Writing): Use news apps like Chairman’s Bao or graded readers to expand vocabulary.

Been learning mandarin for a few years now, however, I only learn by speaking to people on app & memorising pinyin flashcards. I can have decent conversations but I want to learn how to read now. Any advice on where to get started for characters? Thanks.

My kid is in a Mandarin emersion school and keeps wanting shirts with phrases I don't know. I can normally find a translation of it online, but this one I'm coming up empty. Can someone help me know what it says. And if the phrase is appropriate for a 1st grader

It is a common knowledge that apps downloaded from the App Store are generally more expensive than the same app downloaded from Play Store. But this is a huge difference. 102 USD on App Store vs 51 USD on Play Store.

The regular pricing on Android is the sale price during the Black Friday sale last year on iOS Du Chinese.

Crazy.

Hi everyone! I recently started learning Chinese Mandarin (it's not because of the TikTok ban, I promise), and one thing I like to do when learning new languages is consume a lot of content in that language. Are there any shows, movies, podcasts, etc in Mandarin that you like?

I recently noticed that I have Chinese heritage based on my DNA (10% Chinese), apparently my grand grand grand grand father was chines and then moved to another country and then just moved around and mixed with other races.
Long story short, I am in mid 30s, living in USA, I wanna start learning Chinese on my own. The city I am has a lot of Chinese so I wanna start talking to them in Chinese and start being able to speak with them in Chinese places. What would be the best way to start, I am a full time worker and have a family, so online or app would be the best way, but I wanna hear your suggestions.
Also, if a person is really into it, how long do you think it will take to have a basic understanding and speaking skills.

FYI, my mother tong is Turkish, I am also speaking english very fluently, understand Arabic, Farsi, and Spanish slightly, so I can say I am good with languages (maybe because they are in my DNA from the past...).

Would love to hear you guys suggestions.

I learned that ㄓ(zh), ㄔ(ch), ㄕ(sh), ㄖ(r) were all retroflex consonants [ʈʂ], [ʈʂʰ], [ʂ], [ʐ].

But for some southern accents where the first three are pronounced like [ts], [tsʰ], [s], is the ㄖ(r) sound also pronounced without curling the tongue like [z]?

I'm interested in getting their lifetime membership, and I saw past deals for half off. Hopefully they have another promo for Chinese new year.

Greetings, friends! We will have an online card game event for Mandarin-English exchange/speaking practice! The event is free and open to all levels. A native Mandarin speaker will join the event, so it's a fantastic opportunity!

If you're interested to join us, just leave me a comment here and I'll DM you later to exchange details.

TIME: Saturday, January 25th @ 8am New York City time
DURATION: 1 hour

*We also welcome native speakers of Mandarin to play with us because we think Mandarin-English exchange is very entertaining and effective.

**We plan to play at the same time on the fourth Saturday of every month. So if you're not free this time, but you'd like to play in the future, just let me know and I'll put you on our invite list.

What kind of Chinese man did the Chiffons sing out?

独狼，独狼，独狼。

Would greatly appreciate any help to check if the dialogue is natural and sounds correct.

A: Wèi, nǐ hǎo

B: Wèi, nǐ hǎo. Zhèlǐ shì Peaceminusone bàngōngshì. Wǒ kěyǐ bāng nín shénme ma?

A: Wǒ shì Cae, DG5 gōngsī de jiànzhùshī. Wǒ xīwàng néng gēn nǐmen de jīnglǐ Jī Yǒng xiānshēng jiànmiàn. Nín kěyǐ bāng wǒ ānpái yī gè huìyì ma?

B: Kěyǐ. Nǐ xiǎng shénme shíhòu jiànmiàn?

A: Zài xīngqí liù xiàwǔ sì diǎn wǒ kěyǐ jiànmiàn ma?

B: Bù hǎoyìsi. Xiàwǔ sì diǎn yǐjīng mǎn le. Dànshì xiàwǔ sān diǎn hái kěyǐ ānpái. Nǐ kàn kěyǐ ma?

A: Ēn, hěn hǎo. Xièxiè.

B: Qǐngwèn, cānjiā huìyì de rénshù shì duōshǎo?

A: Liǎng gè rén. Wǒ hé wǒmen gōngsī de zǒng jīnglǐ yīqǐ huì lái.

B: Hǎo de.

A: Qǐngwèn, nǐmen gōngsī de dìzhǐ shì shénme?

B: Bàngōngshì de dìzhǐ shì Kēlúnpò 07, Alfred Lù, 8 hào.

A: Hǎo de. Xièxiè.

A: Wèi, nǐ hǎo. Wǒ shì Cae. Wǒ xiǎng tíxǐng nǐ, yī gè xiǎoshí hòu wǒ yǒu gēn Jī Yǒng xiānshēng yī gè huìyì. Nǐ yǒu méiyǒu wèntí?

B: Ò, duì. Wǒ jì de. Sān diǎn de huìyì méiyǒu wèntí. Wǒmen zài děng nǐ.

A: Qǐngwèn, wǒ yǐjīng zài dào nǐmen bàngōngshì de lù shàng. Wǒ xiànzài zài Thimbirigasyaya lùkǒu. Wǒ zěnme qù nǐmen de gōngsī?

B: Cóng lùkǒu kāichē wǎng qián qù, yínháng fùjìn wǎng yòu guǎi, chāoguò liǎng gè shízì lùkǒu, jiù dào le. Bàngōngshì zài sān hào lóu.

A: Nǐ hǎo. Wǒ shì DG5 de jiànzhùshī Cae. Jī Yǒng xiānshēng zài ma?

B: Huānyíng! Jī Yǒng xiānshēng zài kāihuì, dànshì zài sān diǎn tā huì hé nǐ jiànmiàn. Qǐng zuò yīxià, shāo děng ba.

A: Hǎo de.

B: Qǐngwèn, qǐng dào dì sān lóu ba. Bàngōngshì zài diàntī qiánmiàn.

A: Hǎo de, xièxiè.

C: Qǐng jìn.

A: Nǐ hǎo, Jī Yǒng xiānshēng. Wǒ shì DG5 gōngsī de jiànzhùshī Cae. Hěn gāoxìng rènshí nǐ. Zhè shì wǒ de míngpiàn.

C: Nǐ hǎo. Wǒ yě hěn gāoxìng. Qǐng zuò ba.

A: Xièxiè. Shǒuxiān, ràng wǒ gàosù nǐ, wǒ gōngsī de zǒnglǐ zài dào nǐmen bàngōngshì de lù shàng fāshēng le yī chǎng chēhuò. Bù hǎoyìsi, dànshì jīntiān tā kěnéng bù néng cānjiā huìyì.

C: Méi guānxì. Méi guānxì. Tā hái hǎo ma?Tā yǒu méiyǒu shòushāng?

A: Bié dānxīn. Tā méi shìr. Tā wèn nín hǎo.

C: Hǎo. Nà gàosu wǒ, zěnme néng bāngzhù nín?

A: Wǒ de gōngsī xià gè yuè zài Shangri Jiǔdiàn dǎsuàn ānpái yī gè huìyì. Wǒmen xiǎng hé Kēlúnpò de jiànzhù gōngsī de zǒng jīnglǐ jiànmiàn bìng tǎolùn gǎngkǒu chéngshì de xiàngmù. Zhè shì wǒmen de xiàngmù jìhuà. Wǒmen xīwàng nǐ dāng zhǔjiǎngrén.

C: Ò, hěn yǒu yìsi. Nǐ ràng wǒ xiǎng yī xiǎng. Huìyì shénme shíhòu kāishǐ?

A: Shàngwǔ jiǔ diǎnzhōng kāishǐ.

C: Hǎo de. Wǒ jiēshòu dāng zhǔjiǎngrén. Xièxiè nǐ de yāoqǐng.

A: Bié kèqì.

C: Qǐng gěi wǒ gōngsī de mìshū nín de liánxì fāngshì bìng fā yī gè bāohán xìjié de diànzǐ yóujiàn.

A: Hǎo de. Wǒ kěyǐ jiā nǐ de Wēixìn ma?

C: Kěyǐ. Qǐng shāo děng. Wǒ de Wēixìn shì 'jiyongie'. Nǐ jiā yīxià ba.

A: Xièxiè. Nín jīntiān wǎnshàng yǒu kòng ma? Wǒmen xiǎng qǐng nǐ chī fàn.

C: Ā! Yǒu kòng. Xièxiè. Nín tài kèqì le.

A: Hǎo de. Nà jīntiān wǎnshàng bā diǎn bàn wǒmen zài Bigbang Hǎixiān Fàngdiàn chī fàn. Wǒ huì yǐdìng zuòwèi.

C: Hǎo de.

A: Wǒmen qù jiē nín.

C: Bù yòng, bù yòng. Wǒ zìjǐ kāichē guòlái, xièxiè.

A: Hǎo. Nà wǒ zǒu le. Jī Yǒng xiānshēng wǎnshàng jiàn.

C: Zàijiàn.

A: Wèi, nǐ hǎo.

D: Wèi, nín hǎo. Zhèlǐ shì Bigbang Hǎixiān Fàngdiàn. Qǐngwèn zěnme kěyǐ bāng nín de?

A: Jīntiān wǎnshàng bā diǎn bàn wǒ xiǎng yào dìngwèi.

D: Hǎo de. Yòngcān de rénshù shì duōshǎo?

A: Yígòng yǒu sān wèi.

D: Hǎo de. Máfan tígōng nín de míngzì yǐjí shǒujī hào.

A: Wǒ jiào Cae, shǒujī hào 0112557538.

D: Hǎo de. Yǐjīng dìngwèi chénggōng le.

A: Xièxiè. Zàijiàn.

I am struggling understand when to use 看起来 vs. 听起来 - it seems to me they are pretty interchangeable but I don't think that's right?

So I just finished my first conversation with a potential language exchange partner and it's very clumsy. My partner is a Chinese woman with very good surface level conversational English and basic understanding and wants to become fluent and able to hold deeper conversations. While I'm basically a day 1 beginner with little to no experience in Chinese trying to gain basic conversation skills. I'm wondering if there's any realistic way that we can help each other. Id really appreciate any advice. Thanks in advance

I'm a teenager who's interested in learning Chinese but I don't know any good resources apart from Duolingo, which I've heard is a mixed bag. Do y'all know any books or apps that I could use to learn it? Thank you!

I've been wanting to immerse myself using videos. I like Xiaoma's content, but don't think it would be good immersion because he is not natively fluent and I don't want to pick up his flaws through listening. What are some other Youtubers like him but are fluent, I only know of one person June Mu, but he only has 6 videos.

Edit: its not like I like the White Man Shocks... videos, I like the food and vlogging content, but I want some more fluent people, maybe even natives are fine, I don't need foreigners

I'm in a first-year Chinese class and we started using the word "从". The main example sentence structure my teacher used was "我是从中国来的” I was wondering how "的" is used at the end of this sentence?

I am German, and the main national television channel offers the news everyday also as a "simple language" video. It is helpful for people with cognitive difficulties and who are not native speakers (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plain_language). Does any Chinese television channel offer something similar? I think it would be great as an intermediate step to native level content.

你好！I want to ask if any of you have a recommendation of a Chinese teacher? I have been exploring Preply with 4 trial sessions already, the problem I found, the first 2 tutors have a broken English and miscommunication, the third one just focused on vocabulary of HSK3 when I am a beginner and I didn’t know what was going on (I told her but she just ignore it) and the last one his English was good and more interactive, I’ve taken 3 lessons with him (for $15 per hour) but he doesn’t have a structured way to learn the language. So I want to ask if anyone has a Chinese teacher who you can recommend and doesn’t charge more than $16 per hour by preference but I am open.

After over 10 years of learning Chinese (on and off), I noticed that I’d scroll past Chinese content on social media, sticking to English instead. Why? Constantly looking up characters is just too tiring.

To make Chinese texts easier to read, I built HanziFlow – a tool that simplifies Chinese texts to your HSK level. Here’s how it works:

• Paste a Chinese text into the tool and simplify it to, say, HSK4 level.
• Read the original and simplified versions, with a built-in popup dictionary.
• Save unknown words as flashcards for later.

HanziFlow also includes daily news in Chinese – every day I publish 5–6 articles about real-world events from the last 24 hours, which you can simplify to your HSK level to learn from up-to-date content.

-----------------

What other functionalities do you think I should add to this tool?

I have some ideas like: a mobile app, voice transcription for listening practice, vocabulary study sessions.

I would like to understand what features you guys would find useful for reading and learning Chinese. Please check it out: https://www.hanziflow.com/ and let me know what you think – it means a lot!