Author name: Armando Turturici

Born in Italy in 1992, he graduated in Chinese and English Language from the University of Enna Kore, in 2014. Currently, he's a Professor of Chinese Mandarin in Caltanissetta, while he also keeps studying Japanese and Classic Chinese at the University of Torino.

Our Complete Guide to Pinyin (拼音)

Our Complete Guide to Pinyin (拼音)

A long time ago, Mao Zedong said: “Latinization is an excellent tool for defeating illiteracy“. Chinese characters Chinese is a language without an alphabet that uses instead the so-called hanzi (汉字), or “Chinese characters”. To state it briefly – and in a very non-technical way – there are tens of thousands of characters and each …

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Quantitative complements in the Chinese language

Quantitative complements – which fall under the category of verbal complements (together with resulting complements and directional complements) – are used to quantify the action or state that the verb expresses.

These complements are divided into: complements of incidence, which specify how many times a particular action is taken; complements of length, which specifies the length of an action or a state expressed by the verb; and complements of extension, which quantifies the action derived from the verb.

Rhetorical questions in Chinese

Rhetorical questions in Chinese

Rhetorical questions – are a linguistic figure that consists in posing a question that doesn’t represent an actual request for information, but implies a sort of predetermined response. A linguistic figure that isn’t lacking in any language and whose importance is unequivocal. In fact, as Umberto Eco ironically asked: “is there really a need for …

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Complements of degree in the Chinese language

A complement of degree – which makes up part of the verbal complements – serves two functions: first of all it describes the way an action takes place or took place in the past.

In this case, the verbal complement is, most times, a predicative adjective; the complements of degree also specifies the intensity of the action or state expressed in the phrase, citing the consequences produced.

The use of the particle 了 (le) in Chinese grammar

The use of the particle 了 (le) in Chinese grammar

Cong zi wu bi, zhi shi, 从子无臂,指事 (From the character “baby” without arms, an abstract symbol) According to many students of the Chinese language, the particle le (了) is among the most difficult Chinese grammatical particles to master. 了is not an element to represent the past tense (like many think); it is a particle that …

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Guide to the HSK 6 Test – Advanced Chinese for Foreign Students

Guide to the HSK 6 Test – Advanced Chinese – Index Premise Exam structure Find the error Particular constructions Uncommon words List of frequent chengyu The differences between 口面用语 and 书面用语 Reading The final exercise: the summary Listening Recommended manuals P.S. Click here to test your HSK level with our free quiz! Premise Before taking …

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Similiarties diferences Japanese Chinese

Similarities and Differences Between Chinese and Japanese

Similarities between Chinese and Japanese – Index Main similarities between Chinese and Japanese Main differences between Chinese and Japanese Frequently asked questions Conclusion A frequent question asked of students of Chinese or Japanese is “what’s the difference between Chinese and Japanese?” This question, if asked by someone who hasn’t had the good fortune to learn …

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Interrogative Substitutions and the Structure 以…为 in Chinese

Interrogative substitutions谁 (shéi/shuí),什么 (shénme),哪 (nǎ) Interrogative substitutions are similar to the “wh – question words” in English, or the interrogative pronouns in Italian. When using interrogative substitutions, the order of the phrase doesn’t change. The interrogative substitutions, precisely, substitute the word that should be found in the answer. When formulating a question through the use …

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Dragon Ball: The origins of manga and the meaning of its most common terms

The birth of Dragon Ball For those, alas, who still don’t know, Dragon Ball (ドラゴンボール)is a manga written and illustrated by the very famous Japanese designer Toriyama Akira 鳥山明 (also the creator of the manga and anime Dr. Slump and Arale), originally published in installments in the famous magazine Weekly Shonen Jump around 1984, with …

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Traveling to Anhui: Province of the Yellow Mountain (Huang Shan)

Traveling to Anhui – Index A little history Location and climate The prefecture city of Huang Shan Hongcun and around Tunxi and around Hefei Huang Shan Jiuhuashan A little history The province of Anhui 安徽 – abbreviated as Wǎn 皖 (a character used on car license plates for example) – located in eastern China halfway …

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List of 148 well-known Chengyu

List of 148 well-known Chengyu (or idiomatic expressions)

The Chengyu, in Chinese 成语, are four character expressions that express a particular meaning, taken from the stories of classical China. There are lots of Chengyu in the Chinese language and they get used quite a bit. When a foreigner manages to master the Chengyu – along with idiomatic expressions – both in written and …

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Traveling in Jilin, the Province at the Border with North Korea

Are you fed up with the “usual” China? In this article I will present to you one of the most unique provinces in the Middle Kingdom: The Province of Jilin. Jilin 吉林, with its Western-style architecture, its ancient Korean ruins and mix of old and new, is a Chinese Province located in the northeastern part …

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Traveling to Ningxia, the Smallest Province in China

Traveling to Ningxia, the Smallest Province in China

Glowing temple by Carsten Ullrich Ningxia (宁夏), whose capital is Yinchuan (银川), is technically the smallest Chinese province, but also an autonomous region in China on the border with Inner Mongolia with a population exceeding six million three hundred thousand inhabitants. In Yinchuan, there’s an airport with a discreet network of connections, but this shouldn’t …

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Traveling to Hubei, Province of the Three Gorges Dam

Lesser Three Gorges Boat Trip032 by Paul B Doherty Traveling to Hubei – Index Why visit Hubei Province? When to visit Hubei? Wuhan – what’s there to see? The city of Jingzhou and Mount Wudang Shennong Jia National Park The city of Yichang Frequently asked questions The capital of Hubei Province (湖北) is Wuhan (武汉). …

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Comparitives of greater than, equal to and less than in the Chinese language

Comparitives of greater than, equal to and less than in the Chinese language

The greater than comparative In Chinese there are two ways to form a greater than comparative. The first, quite simply, is by inserting adjectives with an opposite meaning in a phrase. In this case, the adjectives have an intrinsic comparative value. When using this form of comparative, the intensifier 很 (hěn) – or any other …

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Chinese culinary culture

Chinese culinary culture

Chinese culinary culture (饮食文化, yinshi wenhua) is an indispensable aspect of Chinese life. As Confucius said: “food is the very first necessity of man”. Not to mention that, in China, it’s around the lunch table that business takes place. Food and the language 吃了饭没有?(chi le fan mei you?), “Have you eaten?”, has always been one …

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