explore | Grilled Cheese

did a full long sentence in mandarin today and got it right. Nearly fell off my chair. #aging #mandarin

不要让别人生病。 Bùyào ràng biérén shēngbìng. Don’t get anyone else sick. #Chinese #Mandarin for feeling sick. #LearnChinese #ChineseVocabulary #Languages. thelanguagegarage.com/chinese-voca...

你得了流感。 Nǐ déliǎo liúgǎn. You have the flu. #Chinese #Mandarin for feeling sick. #LearnChinese #ChineseVocabulary #Languages. thelanguagegarage.com/chinese-voca...

"How many Chinese characters do I need?" is the wrong question.

Characters aren't words. 电 diàn and 脑 nǎo are two characters; 电脑 "computer" is one word. Most modern Chinese vocabulary is two-character compounds.

Count words, not characters. #Mandarin #langsky

Three phrases for a Taiwanese night market 🌃
・這個多少錢? → how much is this?
・不要香菜 → no cilantro
・內用／外帶 → for here / to go

The second one is genuinely life-changing for some of you 🌿

#Mandarin #Chinese #Taiwan

The #Chinese 得 de introduces a descriptive complement, like an adverb, but focusing on result, degree, or extent. #ChineseGrammar #Mandarin #ChineseParticles. thelanguagegarage.com/chinese-part...

你有感染。 Nǐ yǒu gǎnrǎn. You have an infection. #Chinese #Mandarin for feeling sick. #LearnChinese #ChineseVocabulary #Languages. thelanguagegarage.com/chinese-voca...

Learning Chinese specifically for Taiwan? The test that matters is TOCFL, not HSK. HSK is mainland-based — simplified characters, pinyin. TOCFL tests traditional characters and actually reflects how Chinese is spoken and written in Taiwan.

#Mandarin #Chinese #Taiwan

If you recognize a Chinese word on paper but miss it when you hear it, you probably don’t need more vocabulary. You need stronger sound → meaning connections. Try: listen → check transcript → listen again → repeat. #LearnChinese #Mandarin

Traditional characters look intimidating until you realize they carry more meaning per character.

愛 (love) contains 心 (heart). The simplified form removed it.

Harder to write, easier to reason about 📖

#Mandarin #Chinese #Taiwan

At a Taiwanese convenience store, "要袋子嗎?" = do you want a bag?

Two answers cover it:
・yes → 要 (yào)
・no thanks → 不用 (búyòng)

That's the whole checkout interaction 🏪

#Mandarin #Chinese #Taiwan