#mandarin chinese

[linghxr]

If you’ve ever wondered how to express “let them eat cake” in Chinese, I just came across 何不食肉糜 hébùshíròumí.

[ayin-me-yesh]

In light of Duolingo laying off its translators, here are my favourite language apps (primarily for Mandarin Chinese, Japanese, and te reo Māori).

Multiple Languages

Anki is a flashcard programme and app that's not exclusively for languages. While making your own decks is ideal, you can also download shared decks for most languages.

If you're learning Japanese, specifically, Seth Clydesdale has websites for practicing alongside Genki's 2nd or 3rd editions, and he also provides his own shared Anki decks for Genki.

And if you're learning te reo Māori, specifically, here's a guide on how to make your own deck.

TOFU Learn is an app for learning vocabulary that's very similar to Anki. However, it has particularly excellent shared decks for East Asian languages. I've used it extensively for practicing 汉字. Additionally, if you're learning te reo Māori, there's a shared deck of vocabulary from Māori Made Easy!

Mandarin Chinese

Hello Chinese is a fantastic app for people at the HSK 1-4 levels. While there's a paid version, the only thing paying unlocks is access to podcast lessons, which imo are not really necessary. Without paying you still have access to all the gamified lessons which are laid out much like Duolingo's lessons. However, unlike Duolingo, Hello Chinese actually teaches grammar directly, properly teaches 汉字, and includes native audio practice.

Japanese

Renshuu is a website and app for learning and practicing Japanese. The vast majority of its content is available for free. There's also a Discord community where you can practice alongside others.

Kanji Dojo is a free and open source app for learning and practicing the stroke order of kanji. You can learn progressively by JLPT level or by Japanese grades. There's also the option to learn and practice kana stroke order as well.

[whisperglyph]

🐾 Baby-talk Mandarin for Talking to Your Cat

What are you even doing? 你在干嘛嘛～？ Nǐ zài gàn má ma~? You doing what mm? Whatchu doin’, hmm~?

What do you even know? 你知道啥呀～？ Nǐ zhīdào shá ya~? You know what eh? What do you even knooow~?

You don’t even care. 你才不在乎嘞～ Nǐ cái bú zàihu lei~ You totally don’t care eh. You don’t even caaare~

This cat has a death wish. 这只猫咪不想活啦！ Zhè zhī māomī bù xiǎng huó la! This kitty doesn’t wanna live anymore! This kitty’s got a death wishhh~!

Trying to trip me, I see. 你是不是想绊倒我哇～？ Nǐ shì bú shì xiǎng bàndǎo wǒ wa~? Are you trying to trip me eh~? You tryin’ to trip me again, huhhh~?

Why are you trying to trip me? 为啥老是想绊妈妈啦？ Wèi shá lǎoshì xiǎng bàn māma la? Why always trying to trip mama~? Why you always trippin’ mamaaa?

She’s a good girl. 她是个乖乖喵～ Tā shì ge guāiguāi miāo~ She’s a good good kitty~ She’s a gooood girl~

She’s just a baby, your honor. 她她她只是个小宝贝嘛，法官大人～ Tā tā tā zhǐshì ge xiǎo bǎobèi ma, fǎguān dàren~ She she she is just a lil baby, Your Honor~ She’s just a widdle baaaby, your hooonor~

She’s just a baby girl. 她是小小女孩呀～ Tā shì xiǎoxiǎo nǚhái ya~ She’s lil-lil girl~ She’s just a baby girrrrl~

I love you so much, cat. 猫猫，我好爱你呦～ Māomāo, wǒ hǎo ài nǐ yōu~ Kitty, I love you so much yo~ I wuv you soooo much, kittyyy~

She’s purring. 她在呼噜噜噜啦～ Tā zài hūlū lūlū la~ She’s purring-purring~ She goin’ purr purr purr~!

Do you want some snacks? 要不要吃小零零呀？ Yào bú yào chī xiǎo línglíng ya? Wanna eat some lil snackies~? You want some snaccies, hmm?

True to form. 你就是你喽～ Nǐ jiùshì nǐ lou~ You just you, huh~ That’s my lil chaos queen~

Come on (the bed). 来嘛，上床床～ Lái ma, shàng chuángchuáng~ Come eh, get on bed-bed~ C’mere, get on the beddy-bed!

Come on, Paz. Paz宝贝，快点儿嘛～ Paz bǎobèi, kuàidiǎnr ma~ Paz baby, hurry up eh~ Come on, Pazzy babyyy~

👶 Notes on Cutesy Mandarin

Reduplication is often used in baby-talk or pet-talk:

床 → 床床 (chuángchuáng – “bed-bed”)

抱 → 抱抱 (bàobào – “hug-hug”)

吃 → 吃吃 (chīchī – “eat-eat”)

Final particles like:

嘛 (ma), 啦 (la), 呀 (ya), 哇 (wa), 呦 (yo), and 喽 (lou) add playfulness or whining/emotive tone

Small suffixes like 小 (xiǎo – little), 宝贝 (bǎobèi – baby/darling), or 喵 (miāo – meow/kitty) are affectionate and common when talking to pets

[polyglot-thought]

Language Learning Recommendation: Children’s Videos and Playlists for Learning Chinese

Last updated September 5th, 2025

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

Hello everyone, I wanted to share with you all some videos I have used to learn Mandarin Chinese that are geared towards children. I think it’s important to practice using children’s media, especially as an intermediate or beginner because it will create a great foundation to build off of. It also helps with listening and pronunciation because the narrators often speak very clearly and at a medium to slow pace.

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

Vegetarian Wolf 不吃肉的大灰狼

by Little Chinese Learners

Very simple, beginner friendly language

Has Pinyin as CC subtitles

Very slow pronunciation

Has English subtitles

Only uses simplified characters

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

Mandarin AniBooks by BookBox | Official Playlist

by BookBoxInc

12 videos

Slow and medium paced pronunciation

Has Pinyin and English as CC subtitles, but both cannot be displayed at the same time.

Only uses simplified characters

Book Box also offers many other languages. There are a few for smaller languages indigenous to India, conlangs, and few in other more popular languages that only got one or two videos.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

Little Fox Chinese

I recommend these selected playlists for intermediate learners and above, but this channel has plenty of beginner friendly videos and songs, as well as other playlists of stories I did not include. There is no Pinyin or English subtitles on any of the videos listed, but all of them have simplified Chinese subtitles except for “Journey to the West”.

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland 爱丽丝梦游仙境

Cinderella 灰姑娘

Journey to the West 西游记

Puss in Boots 穿靴子的猫

The Jungle Book 森林王子

The Little Mermaid 小美人鱼

Thumbelina 拇指姑娘

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

[slavic-roots-western-mind]

Types of Rice in China

China has a large variety of different rices, but did you know that not every rice is meant for the same dish? Here are some common types of rice used in China and some dishes you're likely to find them in.

籼米 - xiānmǐ - indica rice Texture: lighter, less sticky, more separate when cooked Grain shape: long-grain Color: usually white Region: usually more common in southern China and central China, in warmer regions Most often used in: fried rice, claypot rice bowls, everyday meals

粳米 - jīngmǐ - japonica rice Texture: softer, slightly sticky, tender Grain shape: short- to medium-grain Color: usually white Region: more common in northern and eastern China, especially cooler regions Most often used in: steamed rice, congee, egg fried rice, everyday meals, rice rolls (this rice is a personal favourite of mine, works really well as porridge)

糯米 - nuòmǐ - glutinous rice / sticky rice Texture: very sticky, chewy, dense Grain shape: usually short-grain or medium-grain Color: usually white Region: used across China in both savory and sweet foods Most often used in: zongzi, Eight Treasure rice, sticky rice dishes, desserts, rice balls, festive dishes etc

黑米 - hēimǐ - black rice Texture: slightly chewy and firmer than ordinary white rice Grain shape: usually short- to medium-grain Color: deep purple-black Region: grows mainly in southern warmer regions Most often used in: black rice cake, black rice porridges, desserts

紫米 - zǐmǐ - purple rice Texture: chewy, sometimes slightly sticky depending on the variety. A type of glutinous rice Grain shape: usually medium-grain Color: deep purple when cooked Region: associated mainly with Yunnan province Most often used in: purple rice porridge, desserts, rice wines (Yunnan's Purple Rice Sealed Jar Wine - 云南紫米封缸酒 -yúnnán zǐ mǐ fēng gāng jiǔ)

红米 - hóngmǐ - red rice Texture: a little firmer and chewier than polished white rice Grain shape: varies depending on type Color: reddish-brown Region: grown mostly in southern China, in locations such as Yunnan, Guangxi, Guangdong, Fujian and other places. Most often used in: to add some color to meals, popular in Fujian cuisine e.g. 红糟鸡 Fujian red wine chicken

糙米 - cāomǐ - brown rice Texture: chewier and firmer Grain shape: depends on the rice type, ranges from short to long Color: brown Region: used across China, though more common in health-focused contexts e.g. managing diabetes due to its low glycemic index Most often used in: brown rice cakes, brown rice wine and other beverages

小米饭 - xiǎomǐ - millet (not to be confused with 小米 the brand) Texture: soft, sometimes fluffy or porridge-like when cooked Grain shape: usually small Color: yellow-ish Region: grown mainly in northern regions of China Most often used in: millet porridge, mixed with steamed rice Note: this isn't exactly rice but as millet is a slightly ambiguous creature, we will consider it as rice.

香米 - xiāngmǐ - fragrant rice Texture: usually light, less sticky than japonica-type rice Grain shape: usually longer, there are quite a few different variations of this type of rice Color: usually white Region: mainly grown in southern regions of China Most often used in: souther Chinese and Cantonese dishes, fried rice e.g. 扬州炒饭 Yangzhou fried rice

大米 - dàmǐ - rice (this just refers to uncooked rice in general) Texture: depends on the type Grain shape: depends Color: usually white Region: used across China Note: this is a general everyday term for uncooked rice grains, rather than one specific type

[kanuorde]

The Chinese periodic table

In Chinese, every element has a monosyllabic name with a character assigned to it. This makes the Chinese periodic table really cool, because every box has a unique character.

However, the monosyllabic names may cause confusion because many are homophones. New characters had to be created specifically for the recently discovered elements. Some of them do not exist in Unicode.

Some patterns can be observed in the table:

All gases have the 气 (steam) radical.

The liquid elements (mercury and bromine) have a 水 or 氵(water) radical.

All metals except mercury have a 金 or 钅(metal) radical.

Solid non-metals and metalloids have the 石 (stone) radical.

(Originally posted on Quora.)

[studyingch]

I'm in a 19-day Chinese streak, which I'mvery proud :-) I'm very busy studying other important things, but I want to show up every day, even for a little bit, to learn something new about Chinese!

At the moment, I'm reviewing everything that I learned before from the beginning. Last year, I was using Superchinese, but I didn't like it very much, so I'm using Hello Chinese once again, which I think is a great app to start Chinese. After reviewing everything, I'm planning to start with a textbook.

[tuulikki]

Love this guy talking about one of the craziest sounds in North American English dialects and also giving northern Chinese dialects the shoutout they deserve.

Linguistically, it’s rarer than clicks!