The Why and How of ‘怎么’ (zenme)
You probably know that ‘怎么’ (zenme) means ‘how’, but are you aware that it also has the meaning of ‘why’? So how do you know when it means ‘how’ and when it means ‘why’? Also, when it refers...
Category: Blog
Pinyin Challenge! – Pinyin Test (1)
So, how good are you at pinyin? Care to challenge yourself? Pinyin Test 1_QNS 选择正确的答案 填写正确的声调 If you’ve enjoyed this, don’t forget to hit one of the sharing buttons below, and do join me on Google+/...
Watch your fours and tens! – Tongue Twister (1)
Here’s a tongue twister for fun. Try practising it to get your ‘si’ (four) and ‘shi’ (ten), and the 2nd and 4th tones correct. Have fun! Slow speed: si shi si slow Normal speed: si shi si...
Bilingualism slows onset of Alzheimer’s
Learning a new language can indeed be quite a tedious task. But if the conclusion of this study is anything to go by, it seems that all the effort spent memorizing and drilling would eventually be a...
A Song To Remember
While I’ve noticed that Westerners don’t seem to love karaoke as much as Asians, nevertheless, it’d be fun to learn a couple of popular songs, and songs are definitely a good aid in language learning! One song...
What Time Is It Now? 现在几个字？
I was asked by someone from Beijing about the meaning of ‘几个字儿’ that Singaporeans so often use. To begin with, Singaporeans don’t say ‘几个字儿’. It should be ‘几个字jǐ gè zì*’. There’s no retroflex ending ‘儿’ since it...
对猫拉琴 – Playing the Cello to the Cat
I got the little musical cow on a trip to Japan when I was still in university. The beautiful pair of cats was a gift from a student when he was on holiday somewhere. I thought these...
Chinese is an easier language to learn
Finally got down to revamping this blog. Well, as with many other things in life, you can find lots of reasons for things you do or not do, but if they end up sounding like mere excuses...
Paper or Plastic? 我不要纸袋
As many would probably know, Singaporean Mandarin is quite distinct from its counterparts in Mainland China and Taiwan. This is not anything surprising. Language is something created collectively, so it naturally takes on distinct flavours of different...
