Most people believe that Chinese is a very difficult language to learn but this assumption, which has been fostered since the days of Marco Polo, is erroneous and inaccurate. Yes, the Chinese script looks completely unrecognizable to those only familiar with the latin alphabet, and this is one of the reasons that the study of Chinese has long been considered a pursuit for scholars, and […]
The coronavirus has brought the entire world to a standstill, with bars, restaurants, cinemas, schools, offices, shops, factories and airports shut, and curfews requiring millions of people to remain in their homes. While there is understandably some despair at this situation which is impacting the livelihoods of millions, the measures are necessary to lessen the number of lives which could be lost to this dangerous virus. With […]
The world is experiencing an unparalleled lockdown due to the rampant spread of the coronavirus, with schools, airports, cinemas, sports stadiums, city centers, beaches and entire countries closed off, and 70% of the human population urged to stay home, avoid travel and shun social interaction. As the majority of the global population is expected to keep themselves indoors, and ‘socially distant’ for one month, it’s […]
The period between Christmas and New Year provides us with a rare opportunity to step back from the hustle and bustle of everyday life, reflect on the past twelve months and look ahead to the coming year. It’s also a time when many of us make plans and set a resolution for the year ahead. New Year’s resolutions get a pretty bad rap and many people consider […]
It’s been a busy few months for the Domino Chinese team with exciting new courses , a new dictionary , app developments, website updates, interactive flashcards, a new blog and hours of new video content recorded to ensure your Chinese language learning is fully supported. Felix, Ann and the rest of the Domino Chinese team have also recorded dozens of new videos from the streets of Beijing, Shanghai and Yancheng , for our YouTube […]
Some people begin learning a new language as an intellectual challenge, but most of us have more pragmatic reasons – to be able to converse and communicate in a new language. One thing which makes learning a new language fascinating and challenging, is that native speakers love to enriching their language with slang, metaphors and idioms. Slang is often vague, difficult to understand and often downright […]
Previously, the study of Mandarin Chinese was the preserve of linguists, translators and university professors but over the last decade, with China’s growing prosperity and influence , the opportunities for those who speak Mandarin as a foreign language have grown exponentially. These days computer programmers, data analysts, marketing consultants, teachers, CEOs and sports coaches are taking the time to learn Chinese, and the internationally recognised way to assess […]
Movies, television and Netflix are an excellent resource for learning Chinese. There is an ever-growing body of research which confirms that learning with audio and visual media is highly effective. In some countries, such as the Netherlands, high levels of foreign language acquisition have been attributed to local television channels showing all foreign movies and TV shows in their original language. Subtitles are added but these programmes are never […]
Chinese has firmly established itself alongside English as one of the most important languages for 21st Century learners. As Chinese grows in popularity, it is becoming apparent that an international education is incomplete without the opportunity to learn Chinese. Schools in Europe and US teaching Mandarin Chinese Mandarin Chinese is the first language of 873 million people and the second language of 178 million people. […]
Pinyin, or Hànyǔ Pīnyīn as it is formally known, is the Romanization of Chinese characters based on their pronunciation. ‘Pin Yin’ (拼音) translates into English as ‘spell sound’. This is exactly what Pinyin enables us to do, spell how Chinese words sound, using the Roman alphabet. The history of Pinyin During the 1950s, Zhou Youguang, the Father of Pinyin and a team of linguists developed the system […]
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