How well do you know Chinese New Year?
Happy Chinese New Year! Here’s hoping the Year of the Goat (or possibly Sheep) is a good one. See how much you know about this important Chinese holiday with our quiz. How many did you get right?
Mandarin
10 reasons to visit… China
China is an amazing country, one that should be on every traveler’s must visit list. Few countries possess the wide variety of experiences you will find in the Middle Kingdom. While you are in this amazing country, be sure to visit the province of Yunnan, one of the lesser known, but most beautiful destinations within … Read more
A language learning love story
Why learn a language this new year? Well, for one thing, you never know where it might take you. Meet Ed. He thought he was just going out for a meal with friends. Little did he know what was about to happen… And if Ed and Mei Li have inspired you to learn a new language, … Read more
Why learn Chinese Chengyu?
Today’s guest post is by Joe Paterson, a student at Keats School in China. Joe explains Chinese chengyu, which are absolutely fascinating and a perfect example of why we love languages so much – they’re all so unique and interesting. Do any Chinese speakers have more examples – or does the language you’re learning have an equivalent? … Read more
I Can Read Chinese, So Can You
Today’s guest blogger, Peter Gokey, is learning Chinese in China at Keats School. In this article, he shares his own learning experience in Chinese, with a particular focus on learning to read the language. If you’re a student or speaker of Mandarin and have any suggestions to add, please do so in the comments below. There … Read more
How Do You Choose Which Language to Learn?
Everyone’s always talking about how useful it is to speak another language – and they’re right, for so many reasons. There’s lots of advice too on how to get started and how to stay motivated when it gets tough. But the first question any aspiring language learner should ask themselves is, ‘Which language do I … Read more
Learning Mandarin: Never call your mother a horse, and other tips
Cameron’s spending a couple of weeks with us here at EuroTalk for work experience. In today’s blog post, he explains why he chose to learn one of the world’s most difficult languages, and gives his suggestions for anyone who’s thinking about taking up the challenge. Are you learning Mandarin? What drew you to the language? And … Read more
Quote of the week: 14 Jun 2014
“To learn a language is to have one more window from which to look at the world.” Chinese proverb For more like this, find us on Pinterest.
Why learn Mandarin Chinese?
In Europe and the United States alike, a growing interest in Mandarin Chinese is leading to big changes in public and private education, with various schools for adults and children now incorporating this language into their curriculum. Many parents are currently encouraging their children, aged as young as four or five, to learn Mandarin, in an attempt to boost … Read more
The challenges of translation
Over the last six months we’ve had our new free app uTalk translated into over 30 languages, and dealt with over 120 native language speakers who’ve either translated or performed the scripts. Along the way we’ve confronted many challenges which really emphasise how one language can be ambiguous whilst another is precise, and vice versa. In … Read more