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Chinese Level Test – Determine Your HSK Level

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HSK Chinese Level Test

Welcome to SDC’s Chinese level test. Before you start, it’s important that you read the instructions closely so that the test is as accurate as possible.

This test has been created in collaboration with the Chinese school EsChina Space.

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Instructions

  • Test for levels HSK1, HSK2 and HSK3: This test is especially designed to assess Chinese levels up to HSK3 (or A2 of the European Reference Framework). We are currently working on offering other tests for more advanced levels that will soon be available on our website.
  • Maximum duration of one hour: Even though the majority of people can finish the test in a bit more than 30 minutes, we have limited the test time to one hour so that results are as accurate as possible (simulating an official exam). Make sure you have enough time to complete the test!
  • The level test has eleven exercises: We have divided the level test into four listening exercises, three reading exercises, two grammar exercises and two writing exercises.

[Read more…]

Where to study Chinese in Guangzhou – The Complete Guide

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Studying Chinese in Guangzhou

Either if you live in Guangzhou and want to study Chinese or you’re thinking about moving to Guangzhou to study Chinese, this article will help you before making a decision.

This article’s goal is to analyze the best public and private educational establishments for studying Chinese in Guangzhou. In addition, we will go over the pros and cons of studying Chinese in Guangzhou.

You can click on the links below to skip directly to the section that interests you the most:

If you’re interested in a more general overview of studying Chinese in China, you can read this article.

Pros of studying Chinese in Guangzhou

  • Guangzhou is one of the main economic drivers of the country: For students for whom studying Chinese is only the first step towards future jobs or businesses, without a doubt, Guangzhou is a place to keep in mind. Guangzhou was one of the first Chinese cities to open up to global trade, and it currently still has a significant volume of import and export businesses. If you’re interested in working in international trade, Guangzhou offers countless opportunities.
  • International city: Guangzhou has a significant community of ex-pats. In addition, it’s a city that has always had strong ties with the West. Because of that, living in Guangzhou can be quite easy for a Westerner, as you will find many of the services that you’re used to.
  • Relatively pleasant climate: Without a doubt, Guangzhou has a climate that’s a bit more pleasant than cities more to the north. Even so, in terms of climate, cities in the west such as Kunming are much more pleasant. Even though winters tend to be quite mild and pleasant, summers can be asphyxiating and very rainy.

Cons of studying Chinese in Guangzhou

  • Mandarin is not widely used in Guangzhou: If your only goal is to learn Mandarin, Guangzhou is most likely one of the worst places to go. In Guangzhou, almost everybody speaks Cantonese and is proud of doing so. In addition, when the local population does speak Mandarin, they tend to have a strong accent that can be hard to understand for a non-native speaker. Obviously, if you want to learn Cantonese, it’s one of the best places to go and you’ll win the respect of lots of people.
  • High cost of living: Guangzhou is without a doubt one of the most expensive cities in China for living. If you’re learning Chinese on a tight budget, you might be better off looking for other destinations. In China, there are second and third tier cities that are a lot cheaper, with strong growth and which offer equivalent or even better job opportunities than Guangzhou.
  • Immersion is difficult: One of the main reasons to study Chinese in China is immersion in the language, and in Guangzhou, it’s difficult to obtain this. In the city, lots of people speak English, without mentioning the abundant foreign population, which makes it too easy to live in the city without speaking a single word of Chinese. Cantonese isn’t really isn’t much help for this linguistic immersion either.

The best universities for studying Chinese in Guangzhou

Sun Yat-sen University (中山大学)

University NameSun Yat-sen University is considered the best university in southern China. It’s among the top ten universities in the country and tends to appear quite high in global rankings. The university was founded in 1924 by Sun Yat-sen and currently has more than 50,000 students, more than 3,000 of which are foreigners.

Sun Yat-sen University has a Chinese language and culture center at its School of Foreign Languages, where it offers Chinese classes to foreign students. The classes that it offers last for one semester (seventeen weeks) and all levels are available, from beginner to the most advanced. You can apply for classes online by following this link. The School of Foreign Languages is located at its campus in the Haizhu district.

Given the prestige of this university, studying here is always a good option despite the fact that the campus is a little far away from downtown.

Jinan University (暨南大学)

University NameJinan University was founded in 1906 and is one of the oldest universities in China and one of the most prestigious universities in the city. It has more than 50,000 students, almost 14,000 of which aren’t from mainland China. Jinan University was the first university in China to accept foreign students and is currently the university with the highest percentage of foreign students.

Jinan University’s School of Chinese Language and Culture is responsible for training future Chinese teachers and also teaches language courses to non-native speakers. The school offers a broad range of semester courses: regular courses for all levels, business Chinese courses, preparation for HSK exams, Cantonese courses, and two courses the contents of which aren’t very clear (Crash Chinese Course, Spare-time Chinese Language Class).

Registration for these classes tends to open between October and January for the first semester, and between April and June for the second semester. In addition to semester courses, the university also offers short-term courses that you can register for during the whole year (although groups are only opened up if there are at least ten students).

One of the main advantages of studying at this university is that it’s more or less located downtown in the Tianhe district. In addition to its location, the university is prestigious and very international, which makes it a good option for studying Chinese quite comfortably.

Other universities offering Chinese classes

Private schools in Guangzhou

Coming soon….

We are currently analyzing the offering of Chinese classes in the city of Guangzhou to recommend a few private establishments. If you have a suggestion for a school, please leave us a comment in the comments section below.

[Photo Credits (Creative Commons CC2.0): www.flickr.com/photos/mark-meng/]

Where to Study Chinese in Shenzhen – The Complete Guide

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Study Chineses in Shenzhen

This article is intended for people that live in Shenzhen or are thinking about moving there and want to study Chinese. We will analyze the best public and private schools for studying Chinese in the city. Plus, we will go over the pros and cons of studying Chinese in Shenzhen.

You can click below to skip directly to reading the section you’re most interested in:

If you want a more general overview of studying Chinese in China, I recommend that you read this article first.
[Read more…]

Where to Study Mandarin Chinese in New York

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Studying Chinese in New York

New York is probably one of the best places to study Chinese outside of China, as it has a large number of establishments that teach the language as well as an abundant Chinese community with a high level of education. In this article, we are going to analyze where to study Chinese in New York and what to keep in mind when doing so.

The Chinese community in New York

New York is considered the city with the largest number of residents of Chinese origin outside of China, with more than 800,000 people, and contains at least 6 “Chinatowns.” Its Chinese communities are very diverse. While historically, they mainly came from the rural areas of Fujian and Zhejian, with a limited knowledge of Mandarin, over the past years, many Chinese people from different areas with high levels of education have established themselves in the city. Because of this, today, New York is one of the best places to find quality native Mandarin teachers.

Public schools in New York

The Confucius Institute

Confucius Institude The Confucius Institute is the institution that represents the China National Office for Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language (Hanban), an institution within the Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China, and which is responsible for promoting Chinese language and culture across the globe. The Confucius Institute collaborates with different universities in New York, such as Pace University, SUNY College of Optometry and The State University of New York. At these centers, you will be able to find Chinese lessons taught by the Confucius Institute.

China Institute

China InstitudeThe China Institute was founded in 1926 to promote intercultural collaboration between the United States and China, and is the oldest educational institution of its type in the United States. Since 2006, the China Institute and Hanban have been collaborating, thus creating the first Confucius Institute in the city. Its institution offers all sorts of culture and language classes as well as workshops intended both for native and non-native speakers.

Private schools

Mandarin House

Mandarin HouseMandarin House is an educational establishment specialized in teaching Chinese, with multiple branches in China as well as in the city of New York. It is certified by the Hanban, which means that its students have the possibility of writing official HSK, BCT and YCT exams at its centers. It offers a multitude of courses for adults, children and professionals, as well as both individual and group lessons. Its lessons use its own materials and its teachers hold degrees in teaching Chinese. It also offers the possibility of going to China to study while living with a local family. Without a doubt, this is an establishment to consider, although its price is quite high.

Fast Learning Chinese

Fast Learning ChineseFast Learning Chinese is a small private school located in Manhattan with more than 10 years of experience teaching Chinese. Fast Learning Chinese has a very good reputation and is an ideal option for people looking for more personalized teaching and more close-up treatment. The groups are small and classes have a good price. It is also possible to try out the first lesson for free before signing up for the course.

What to keep in mind before signing up for a Chinese class in New York

There is no doubt that the previous list is missing many schools that also offer quality courses. Even so, there are a few things that you should keep in mind before choosing a center to study Chinese. Below, I list the most common problems that people run into with respect to courses available in the city, and which have a decisive effect on quality.

1. Teachers

One of the main problems that many language academies have is the inability to assess the quality of Chinese teachers. Finding good Chinese teachers in New York can be a bit complicated at times.

As opposed to what happens with native speakers of other languages, Chinese people residing abroad largely tend to come from rural areas, where dialects very different from standard Mandarin are spoken, such as from the provinces of Zhejiang and Fujian. Being Chinese does not mean that someone is a native speaker of Mandarin Chinese, and even less so that they know how to teach.

The fact that a school teaches multiple languages does not qualify it to teach Chinese, especially if it doesn’t have a person who is capable of evaluating the teacher’s level of skill in the language. Because of this, I recommend that before choosing a course, you ask yourself: Who chooses the teachers?

2. Study programs

Chinese is a language that is very different from Western languages, which means that to learn it, you can’t use the same system as for other languages. One of the common problems that educational centers have is copying study programs that have given good results for other languages like French or Spanish.

If you combine this with the fact that the majority of Chinese teachers have not been trained in teaching Chinese to non-native speakers, it’s very likely that they won’t have a teaching method and will follow the school’s study program, designed by someone who doesn’t even know how to speak Chinese.

3. Wages

There is a predominant idea that Chinese people don’t mind working for low wages. However, highly-educated Chinese people that therefore have the ability to be good teachers will not be happy with just any salary.

Therefore, before choosing a cheap course with small groups, I recommend that you ask yourself how much they could be paying the teacher. If the salary has to be really low for the school to be able to make a profit, don’t expect the teacher to be very committed to their work, as they won’t care about losing their job at all.

[Photo Credits (Creative Commons License): www.flickr.com/photos/romankphoto/]

How to study Chinese in Shanghai

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study chinese shanghaiFudan University

Are you thinking about studying Mandarin in Shanghai but you aren’t quite sure whether it is the right city for you or not?

Conversely, are you already living in Shanghai and would like to start taking Chinese classes but you don’t know what school to choose?

In this article you’ll find:

P.s. If you’re interested in a more general overview of studying Chinese in China, such as the difference between studying Mandarin at a university or a private school, click here. [Read more…]

Where to Study Chinese in Guilin and Yangshuo

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Study Chinese in Guilin and Yangshuo

This article is dedicated to analyzing the best public and private educational establishments for studying Chinese in Guilin and Yangshuo, two incredible places to live in the Guangxi province. In addition, we will analyze the pros and cons of studying Chinese in these two places.

If you’re interested in a more general overview of studying Chinese in China, you can read
this article.

The pros of studying Chinese in Guilin or Yangshuo

  • Mandarin is quite extensive: Given that they are important tourist destinations, both Guilin and Yangshuo are home to people from different parts of the country, which means that Mandarin is quite commonly used. In addition, the local dialect belongs to the southwestern branch of Mandarin, which is characterized by not having the retroflex consonants (zh, ch, sh, r) that standard Mandarin has. Despite the fact that the dialects of Guilin and Yangshuo can sometimes be incomprehensible for standard Mandarin speakers, they continue to be dialects that are a lot closer than those in the country’s southeast, such as Guangdong or Shanghai dialect.

[Read more…]

Discover new Chinese learning tools with Mandarin Weekly: Interview with the founder Reuven Lerner

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Mandarin Weekly

Today we interview Reuven Lerner, founder of Mandarin Weekly, a website (and weekly newsletter) that provides you the last news and tools for learning Chinese online.

I discovered Mandarin Weekly years ago, while I was researching new Chinese learning tools for updating our articles on “Free Resources to Learn Chinese Online“. I’m a subscriber since then.

But let’s get started!

About Mandarin Weekly

Reuven, thank you for accepting this interview. Can you tell us something about your background and how you got into Chinese language?

I have been a software consultant with my own business since 1995. Over the last decade, most of my work has been as a trainer, going to high-tech companies and teaching their programmers the tools and technologies that I know well – Python, Git, and data science. (If you don’t know what those are, that’s fine!).

About five years ago, a training company based in China asked me to come and teach some courses at their clients’ offices. The courses went well, and I’ve been traveling to China 3-5 times each year ever since. I mostly go to Beijing and Shanghai, but was fortunate enough to go to Nanjing about two years ago, too.

Before my first trip, I asked several friends what I should expect. Two of them said that I should learn some Chinese. That, of course, sounded like crazy talk – after all, we know that Chinese is impossible to learn, right? The friends told me that the language isn’t so bad, and that learning at least a few words would be useful. [Read more…]

Special constructions in Chinese

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Special constructions

In this article we’ll see special constructions, peculiar to the Chinese language that will make your expressions in Chinese more elegant.

如 and 不如

如 (rú) “to be equal to, like a” is used more in the formal written form than in the spoken language. The comparison is created when it’s mainly used metaphorically.

Here are a few examples:

她如花一样漂亮。
Tā rú huā yị̄yàng piàoliang.
She is as pretty as a flower.

她如月亮一样明亮。
Tā rú yuèliang yị̄yàng míngliàng.
She is as bright as the Moon. [Read more…]

Where to Study Mandarin Chinese in Memphis, Tennessee

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study chinese memphis

In this article, we analyze where to study Chinese in Memphis and what to keep in mind.

The Chinese community in Memphis

Memphis has a relatively small Chinese community compared with other cities in the country, consisting of less than 2,000 people. In addition, many of the Chinese residents in the city are native speakers of dialects other than Mandarin. Finding good native Mandarin teachers is therefore quite difficult. Nonetheless, over the past years, the University of Memphis has managed to attract a considerable number of Chinese people who are native speakers of Mandarin and who are highly-educated.

Public schools in Memphis

The Confucius Institute at the University of Memphis (CIUM)

Confucius Institude The CIUM is a collaboration between the University of Memphis and the China National Office for Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language (Hanban), an institution that is a body of the Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China, in the goal of creating the first Confucius Institute in Tennessee. The CIUM’s goal is to promote Chinese culture and it is responsible for the degree program in Asian Studies and International Trade. In addition, it is responsible for Chinese programs at multiple public and private schools in the area, such as Barbara K. Lipman School, The Campus School, St. Mary’s Episcopal School, Lausanne Collegiate School, Hutchison School and The Bodine School.

Chinese Academy of Memphis

The Chinese Academy of Memphis is a non-profit organization responsible for promoting Chinese language and culture in the city. The Chinese Academy of Memphis collaborates with multiple educational centers in the city, such as White Station High School, Cordova High School and Rhodes College.

Private schools in Memphis

Memphis Chinese School

Memphis Chinese School is a private school specialized in teaching Chinese language and culture to children. The school offers lessons on Sundays, mainly for children that are native speakers of Chinese, but it also offers classes for non-native speakers.

What to keep in mind before signing up for Chinese classes in Memphis

Without a doubt, the previous list is missing other schools that also offer quality classes. Nonetheless, before signing up for Chinese lessons in Memphis, you should consider some of the aspects that can have a clear effect on the quality of courses.

1. Teachers

The majority of educational establishments are incapable of evaluating the quality of Chinese teachers. Finding good Chinese teachers in Memphis can be very difficult.

The majority of Chinese people living abroad are from rural areas in the country’s southeast, where people speak dialects that are very different from standard Mandarin, such as the provinces of Fujian and Zhejiang. Being Chinese doesn’t mean that someone is a native speaker of Mandarin, and even less so that they know how to teach. Because of this, I recommend that before signing up for classes, you ask yourself: who chooses the teachers?

2. Study programs

Chinese is very different from Western languages, which means that you can’t use the same system as for other languages. Many schools use study programs based on the programs that have worked for other languages, and this is a huge mistake, especially when combined with teachers that have little experience teaching.

3. Wages

Lots of people think that Chinese people are happy to work hard for little money. However, Chinese people from large cities that are highly-educated will not be happy with just any salary.

Before choosing a cheap course with only a few students, you should ask yourself how much money they could be paying the teacher. If the wages have to be really low for the school to be able to turn a profit, don’t expect the teacher to make much of an effort to offer quality classes.

[Photo Credits (Creative Commons License): www.flickr.com/photos/romankphoto/]

Interrogative substitutions and the structure 以…为 in Chinese

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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 of interrogative substitutes, 吗 (ma) is never put at the end of the phrase.

谁 (shéi/ shuí) “who”

他是谁？他是我们的老师。
Tā shì shéi? Tā shì wǒmen de lǎoshī.
Who is he? He’s our professor.

你想跟谁去？我想跟我妈妈去。
Nǐ xiǎng gēn shéi qù? Wǒ xiǎng gēn wǒ māma qù.
Who do you want to go with? I want to go with my mother.

你去谁那里？我去朋友那里。
Nǐ qù shéi nàli? Wǒ qù péngyou nàli.
Where are you going? I go to my friend’s house.

Note that 谁 (shéi) can also be inserted into phrases in the affirmative or negative form and with the value , respectively of “all” and “none”. 谁 must be followed by 都 (dōu) “all” or 也 (yě) “even”. [Read more…]