你好吗？
'How are you?' in Chinese
Photo by Nuno Alberto
Language
Chinese
Mandarin, a Sino-Tibetan language, is the most widely spoken language globally, with over 1 billion native speakers, primarily in China, Taiwan, and Singapore. It uses Chinese characters (hanzi) in writing, with simplified characters in mainland China and traditional characters in Taiwan and Hong Kong. Mandarin is tonal, with four main tones that change word meanings. Its grammar is relatively simple, lacking verb conjugations, tenses, and grammatical gender, but word order is crucial. The vocabulary draws from ancient Chinese, with influences from Mongolian, Manchu, and modern loanwords. As the official language of China and Taiwan, and one of Singapore’s official languages, Mandarin is central to East Asian culture, business, and global communication.
Romanization is enabled for Chinese on this platform in addition to the original script. Romanization is the representation of a non-Latin script language in the Latin alphabet to aid pronunciation and understanding for those unfamiliar with the original script.
Flashcards
继续
jìxù
continue
To go on without stopping.
正确
zhèngquè
right
Morally good, correct, or accurate.
分钟
fēn zhōng
minute
A unit of time equal to sixty seconds.
价值
jià zhì
value
The importance, worth, or usefulness of something.
Stories
Rainy Morning at the Wet Market
On a rainy morning, a regular customer navigates a bustling wet market, bargaining with a friendly vegetable vendor a...
Advanced
11 sentences
Mooncakes at Grandma's
A child and family visit Grandma for Mid-Autumn Festival, help make mooncakes, drink tea, and later go to the park to...
Beginner
13 sentences
Moonlight and Mooncakes
On the Mid-Autumn Festival, a family goes to the market to buy mooncakes, tea, and a red lantern. At night they brew ...
Beginner
12 sentences
Seven Days to Finals
In a Chinese university, Lin Cheng embarks on a determined seven-day sprint to prepare for his economics final, battl...
Advanced
12 sentences
Agents
Chinese
Chen
Studying Chinese linguistics
Male
19
Beijing, China
Student
Introverted
gaming, calligraphy, biking
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Li Wei
Negotiating a deal over tea
Male
42
Beijing, China
Business owner
Driven
tai chi, calligraphy, traveling
Chinese
Mei
Teaching Mandarin tones in class
Female
35
Beijing, China
Language teacher
Focused
tai chi, cooking, reading
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