I'd heard of the term 美国时间 (meaning spare/leisure time) before, but I'd never actually encountered it until I was watching the Taiwanese show 忘了我记得, when one of the characters said:
对，有哪一个妈妈有这个美国时间来看演出？
對，有哪一個媽媽有這個美國時間來看演出？
Duì, yǒu nǎ yígè māma yǒu zhège měiguó shíjiān lái kàn yǎnchū
Yeah, what mom has the spare time to go watch a performance?
While I'm not sure what the origins of this term are, it seems to suggest that Americans have a lot of free time. Maybe that's true compared to East Asian work culture, but of course we Americans like to say stuff like Americans live to work, Europeans work to live.
Over the years, I've developed an appreciation for the humble particle 嘛 ma. In the dictionary you'll find 3 uses of this particle, but at least in my experience, I only learned the first one in my Chinese classes. But the other 2 are super useful, and I encounter them often!
(1) Marks a pause in a sentence, to call the listener's attention
用在句中，表示停顿，引起对方注意
Ex: 这个计划嘛，应该可以执行。
Ex: 学生嘛，主要任务就是学习。
(2) Indicates something is obvious (declarative)
用在陈述句末尾，表示理所当然
Ex: 有什么话就说嘛。
Ex: 这是我的家嘛，我当然要回来。
(3) Expresses a hope or advice/persuasion (imperative)
用在祈使句末尾，表示期望或劝阻
Ex: 别生气嘛！
Ex: 留下来吃饭嘛！
Ex: 动作快一点儿嘛!
If the last 2 uses are new to you, I bet you'll start noticing them now!
Simplified Chinese characters vs. Japanese shinjitai
I had always heard that Japanese has simplified kanji, kind of like how Chinese has simplified characters. They are called shinjitai (新字体). When I traveled to Japan (knowing Chinese but not knowing any Japanese), I instantly began noticing shinjitai and comparing them to simplified characters.
It was fascinating how I was able to understand some shinjitai instantly, whereas others took more time to decode. Some are actually identical to simplified Chinese characters. Below are all the shinjitai I noticed on my trip. This has been in my drafts for ages...!
Simplified in Japanese only
(Order: traditional / shinjitai)
冰-氷
乘-乗
舍-舎
拜-拝
窗-窓
Same simplification in both languages
(Order: traditional - simplified/shinjitai)
萬-万
來-来
寫-写
區-区
醫-医
國-国
學-学
當-当
淺-浅
會-会
體-体
Different simplifications in each language
(Order: traditional - simplified - shinjitai)
兩-两-両
單-单-単
傳-传-伝
價-价-価
兒-儿-児
勞-劳-労
營-营-営
團-团-団
圖-图-図
圍-围-囲
賣-卖-売
處-处-処
實-实-実
廣-广-広
從-从-従
對-对-対
檢-检-検
樂-乐-楽
氣-气-気
滿-满-満
龜-龟-亀
麵-面-麺
發-发-発
經-经-経
總-总-総
藥-药-薬
觀-观-観
讀-读-読
豐-丰-豊
轉-转-転
鐵-铁-鉄
藝-艺-芸
關-关-関
險-险-険
齒-齿-歯
廳-厅-庁
鹽-盐-塩
For more, you can refer to these Wikipedia/Wiktionary pages:
Shinjitai
Differences between Shinjitai and Simplified characters
Category:CJKV characters simplified differently in Japan and China
Every learner of Chinese has feelings about the 3 de’s, 的-地-得. Well over the past couple years, I have noticed numerous instances of 的 used instead of 地 in Taiwanese Mandarin dictionaries. But it was a Taiwan Ministry of Education dictionary—they certainly know better than I do, right? So started doubting my understanding of 的 vs. 地.
As I noticed more and more instances, I grew increasingly perplexed. I’ve been studying Chinese for so long, so I was pretty confident I understand how to use 地! Finally, this week I learned the explanation: at some point, the Taiwan MOE decided you can use 的 in place of 地, and the school curriculum was revised.
MOE online dictionary entry:
（4）置于副词后。同「地」。如：「慢慢的走」、「高高的飞」。
(4) Placed after an adverb. Same as 「地」. For example: 「mànmàn 的 zǒu」, 「gāogāo 的 fēi」.
So finally, the mystery is solved. This certainly explains a lot! But how confusing for us learners, especially because, from my understanding, using 的 like this would just be plain incorrect in Mainland China (although I’m sure some native speakers make this mistake).
So what do Taiwanese people think of 的-地? Well some are not a fan.
Facebook post from MOE:
3. 置于副词后，同「地」；如：「慢慢的走」
3. Placed after an adverb, same as 「地」; e.g. 「mànmàn 的 zòu」
Comments from said Facebook post:
副词地已经放弃了吗？
Has adverbial 地 been abandoned?
不要再慢慢“的”走了……只能接受慢慢地走
No more walking slowly with 的...I’ll only accept walking slowly with 地
A: Obviously we were taught in elementary school that for [3.] only “地” can be used and not “的”, and that “的、得、地” must be distinguished clearly; I don’t know when people started saying “All of them can be used.” Is it because they have the same pronunciation with in the neutral tone?
B：国小64课纲就已经取消地了、至今也有45年以上
B: It was already abolished in the 64 elementary school curriculum, it’s been over 45 years
过了几年，教育部发现大家还是不会分：“的”是形容词，“地”是副词。所以干脆废除“地”
After a few years, the Ministry of Education found that people still couldn't differentiate them: "的" is an adjective, and "地" is an adverb. So they simply abolished "地".
The Facebook comments reminds me of how older generations complain about young people using “like” and “literally” too liberally in English. I’m sure your language has something similar that gets people riled up! We are all so very human.
My least favorite Chinese character is 着 (著) because its many pronunciations are always tripping me up 😭
【1】 着（著）zhe - aspect particle indicating action in progress or ongoing state
【2】 着（著）zháo - to touch / to come in contact with / to feel / to be affected by / to catch fire / to burn / (coll.) to fall asleep / (after a verb) hitting the mark / succeeding in
【3】 着（著）zhuó - to wear (clothes) / to contact / to use / to apply
【4】 着（著）zhāo - (chess) move / trick / all right! / (dialect) to add
If you're learning traditional characters, you’ve got a 5th pronunciation to contend with.
【5】 著 zhù - to make known / to show / to prove / to write / book / outstanding
Some words have multiple pronunciations for different varieties or standard vs. colloquial speech. I'm always second guessing myself with these words.
着想（著想）zhuóxiǎng or zháoxiǎng - to give thought (to others) / to consider (other people's needs)
着落（著落）zhuóluò or zháoluò - whereabouts / place to settle / reliable source (of funds etc) / (of responsibility for a matter) to rest with sb / settlement / solution
着急（著急）zháojí or zhāojí - to worry; to feel anxious / to feel a sense of urgency; to be in a hurry
着凉（著涼）zháoliáng or zhāoliáng - to catch cold
怎么着（怎麼著）zěnmezhāo or zěnmezhe - what? / how? / how about? / whatever
Zháo vs. zhuó is quite tricky for me. When I see a brand new word, I will usually guess zhuó but am not very confident.
That being said, the worst offender IMO is 穿着 (穿著). Is it chuānzhe (wearing) or chuānzhuó (attire)? This one has tripped me up so many times.
他穿着一身黑衣。 -> chuānzhe
对我来说，穿着打扮很重要。 -> chuānzhuó
Usually I can figure it out from context, but if I'm confused about other parts of the sentence, I struggle with the pronunciation.
这件衣服穿着太小气。
穿着太小气，显现不出你的身份来。
I'm not fully grasping the meaning of 小气 here, so I'm not sure if 穿着 is chuānzhe or chuānzhuó 🥲 Honestly I would have guessed the first one is chuānzhe and the second is chuānzhuó, but I feel like that doesn't make any sense 🆘
Last year I learned the word 时事, and it struck me how many shishi words there are. For fun, I listed out all the ones I'm familiar with. You can see more at MDBG (but a Chinese-Chinese dictionary would probably have many more).
世世 shìshì - from age to age
世事 shìshì - affairs of life / things of the world
事事 shìshì - everything
事实 | 事實 shìshí - fact
失事 shīshì - (of a plane, ship etc) to have an accident (plane crash, shipwreck, vehicle collision etc) / to mess things up
时事 | 時事 shíshì - current trends / the present situation / how things are going
时时 | 時時 shíshí - often / constantly
试试 | 試試 shìshi - to have a try
逝世 shìshì - to pass away / to die
I ran some stats based on my Anki deck, and there also a lot of qishi words: 其实、气势、骑士、启示、歧视、启事. But not as many as shishi. Maybe we need a poem of shishis to go alongside the 施氏食狮史 poem?
I came across the word 决绝 juéjué recently and thought it was interesting that it's comprised of two different characters with the exact same pronunciation. Here are some other examples, just for fun. Definitions are from MDBG.
【2】 翻番 fānfān - to double / to increase by a certain number of times
公司利润年年翻番。
【3】 各个（各個）gègè - every / various / separately, one by one
从各个方面来说，他是很用功的。
【4】 决绝（決絕）juéjué - to sever all relations with sb / determined / decisive
听他语气这样决绝，恐怕很难说服他改变心意。
【5】 实时（實時）shíshí - (in) real time / instantaneous
用户可查询实时天气信息及未来5天天气预报。
【6】 逝世 shìshì - to pass away / to die
今天是祖父逝世周年的日子，因此全家都到祖父的坟前祭拜。
See similar posts:
All the shishi words I know
Plus see below for many additional words (ones I have not learned) that I found via MDBG.
意译（意譯）yìyì - meaning (of foreign expression) / translation of the meaning / paraphrase / free translation
异义（異義）yìyì - differing opinion
义译（義譯）yìyì - to translate a term into Chinese using a combination of characters or words that suggests its meaning
岩盐（岩鹽）yányán - rock salt
玩完 wánwán - (coll.) to end in failure; to come to grief; to bite the dust
魣鱼（魣魚）yúyú - perch
订定（訂定）dìngdìng - to set / to designate / to stipulate / to provide / to draw up / to formulate (rules etc) / stipulation
都督 dūdū - (army) commander-in-chief (archaic) / provincial military governor and civil administrator during the early Republic of China era (1911-1949 AD)
陆路（陸路）lùlù - land route / overland route
股骨 gǔgǔ - femur *Well...not really with 3rd tone sandhi
和合 héhé - harmony
辑集（輯集）jíjí - to anthologize
寄迹（寄跡）jìjì - to live away from home temporarily
结节（結節）jiéjié - nodule / tubercle
全权（全權）quánquán - full powers / total authority / plenipotentiary powers
屈曲 qūqū - crooked
泄泻（泄瀉）xièxiè - diarrhea
行刑 xíngxíng - to carry out a (death) sentence / execution
