The word for ‘difficult’ in Chinese is an interesting one, by itself it’s conveys a simple concept, but as a compound word it’s meaning becomes much more varied and it is truely a versatile character. 難（难） Pinyin: nán English: difficult; … Continue reading
Hey guys, I’m back! This week’s idiom is a really useful one for describing things which may seem easier than they actually are, such as say, learning Chinese for example. 談何容易（谈何容易） Pinyin: tán hé róng yì English: easier said than … Continue reading
When you think of the word ‘kung fu’ in Chinese you’d be forgiven for thinking of Bruce Lee, Jacky Chan, and depending on your age, Kung Fu Panda. Though, in actual fact, this word has many more uses than simply … Continue reading
Continuing the no-nonsense memes series here is a new idiom that uses the Forever Alone meme to help you remember the meaning. 孑然一身（孑然一身） Pinyin: jiérányīshēn English: all alone in the world editors note – we’re gonna have to start doing … Continue reading
Thankfully we have a more positive idiom after last week’s ‘to suffer a crushing defeat‘ example. 自由自在（自由自在） Pinyin: zì yóu zì zài English: Leisurely and carefree; free and easy Image from the movie Free Willy Note: The word in the … Continue reading
From being able to tell someone that you know what they are talking about, to asking someone when the next train is coming, it’s important to be able to express the idea of understanding. In this post we take a … Continue reading
Recently we’ve looked at Chinese idioms, or 成語 （成语 chéng yŭ）(see 10 Chinese idioms to do with animals), but other than this it’s been a part of learning Chinese that we haven’t covered in great detail. So it’s about time … Continue reading
With nuclear power being under the spotlight after the recent earthquake in Japan and possibility of a looming nuclear disaster it’s an opportunity to learn some related keywords to see how Japan is handling the situation and where help could … Continue reading
There’s one thing that Chinese isn’t short of and that’s idioms 成語（成语 chéng yŭ）, so much so that we can even break them down into sub categories. For the moment, though, we’ll have a look at one category of idioms … Continue reading
A useful word for reading news, and one that will come in handy when you are out and about is the word for ‘provide’. Using this word you’ll know that something is on offer and you won’t miss out on … Continue reading
