
From the team
Blog
Guides, stories, and updates on immersion-based Mandarin learning.
Showing 233 articles

Mid-Autumn Festival: Mooncakes, Legends, and How China Celebrates
What the Mid-Autumn Festival celebrates, when it falls, the Chang'e legend, mooncake flavors, and how Chinese families spend the harvest-moon night.

Chinese Holidays: The Complete Calendar of Major Festivals
Every major Chinese holiday explained: Spring Festival, Qingming, Dragon Boat, Mid-Autumn, and more, with dates, foods, traditions, and what to say.

Days of the Week in Mandarin: The 3 Systems and How to Use Them
The days of the week in Mandarin are just numbers: learn all three systems (xingqi, zhou, libai), Sunday's exception, and the months as a free bonus.

Chinese Colors: All the Color Words, Plus What Each Color Means
All the Chinese color words with characters and pinyin, plus what each color means in Chinese culture: lucky red, imperial yellow, and the green hat rule.

Chinese Numbers 1-10: How to Count, Write, and Pronounce Them
Chinese numbers 1-10 with characters and pinyin, plus the one rule that gets you to 99, the two words for two, lucky numbers, and market hand signs.

How Do Chinese Names Work? Order, Meanings, and Etiquette
How Chinese names work: name order, how parents choose characters, generation names, nicknames, and the etiquette of using names politely.

Chinese Girl Names: 50 Beautiful Names with Meanings and Pinyin
50 beautiful Chinese girl names with pinyin and meanings: today's most popular names, one-character classics, and poetic picks from the Book of Songs.

Chinese Boy Names: 50 Popular Names with Meanings and Pinyin
50 popular Chinese boy names with pinyin and meanings: modern favorites, one-character classics, literary picks, and how to choose one for yourself.

Chinese Surnames: The 30 Most Common Last Names and What They Mean
The 30 most common Chinese surnames ranked, with pinyin, meanings, and alternate spellings, plus why a billion people share only a hundred last names.

Chinese Names: How They Work, with 60 Popular Names and Meanings
How Chinese names work: surname first, meanings built from characters, plus 60 popular names for boys and girls and the etiquette for using them right.

Chinese Anki Setup Guide (and When Not to Use Anki)
A step-by-step Chinese Anki setup: starter decks, card templates, FSRS settings, add-ons, sentence mining, and an honest look at when Anki isn't the right tool.

Chinese Flashcards: The Best Apps and How SRS Works
The best Chinese flashcard apps honestly compared, how spaced repetition (SRS) works, and a daily card routine that makes Chinese words stick for good.

Year of the Monkey: Personality, Years, and Compatibility
Every Year of the Monkey from 1960 to 2031 with exact dates, the Monkey personality and element variations, best matches, and how to say it in Chinese.

Funny Chinese Proverbs: 25 Real Sayings That Get Oddly Specific
25 funny Chinese proverbs that are completely real: playing the lute to a cow, pies falling from the sky, and other sayings with weirdly specific advice.

Chinese Idioms: 40 Common Idioms with Meanings and Examples
40 common Chinese idioms with meanings, pinyin, and examples: everyday chengyu, idioms for describing people, and the ancient stories behind the famous ones.

Chinese Proverbs: 50 Timeless Sayings About Life, Success, and Love
50 Chinese proverbs with pinyin, literal translations, and real meanings: life, success, learning, love, family, plus famous 'Chinese proverbs' that aren't Chinese.

Character to Pinyin: 4 Easy Ways to Convert Chinese Characters
Four ways to convert any Chinese character to pinyin: a free word-aware converter, dictionary lookups, pop-up readers, and handwriting input for mystery characters.

Pinyin to English: How to Turn Pinyin into Meaning
There's no one-to-one pinyin to English translation: one syllable can be dozens of words. How to split syllables, use tones, and look pinyin up the right way.

Learn Pinyin in 7 Steps: A Practical Guide for Beginners
Learn pinyin the practical way: syllable structure, tones first, the four tricky sound groups, spelling rules, and ear training. A weekend plan that sticks.

Pinyin Chart: Every Mandarin Sound in One Place
A complete pinyin chart organized by initial: all ~400 Mandarin syllables, how initials and finals combine, and pronunciation tips for the tricky rows.

Pinyin: The Complete Beginner's Guide to Reading Chinese Sounds
Pinyin is the official system for writing Mandarin sounds with the Latin alphabet. How it works: initials, finals, tones, tricky letters, and spelling rules.

Chinese Particles Explained: 的, 了, 吗, 呢, 吧 and Friends
Chinese particles are tiny words that do heavy lifting: structure (的 得 地), aspect (了 着 过), and mood (吗 呢 吧 啊). How each group works, with examples.

Chinese Grammar Patterns: 40+ Structures You'll See Everywhere
40+ Chinese grammar patterns with pinyin and example sentences: cause and effect, conditionals, comparisons, emphasis, and aspect, from HSK 3 to 7.

Chinese Grammar Made Simple: Every Rule That Matters
Chinese grammar has no conjugation, no tense endings, and no plurals. What it does have: strict word order, measure words, and particles. Full guide.
