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In light of Duolingo laying off its translators, here are my favourite language apps (primarily for Mandarin Chinese, Japanese, and te reo Māori).

Multiple Languages

Anki is a flashcard programme and app that's not exclusively for languages. While making your own decks is ideal, you can also download shared decks for most languages.

If you're learning Japanese, specifically, Seth Clydesdale has websites for practicing alongside Genki's 2nd or 3rd editions, and he also provides his own shared Anki decks for Genki.

And if you're learning te reo Māori, specifically, here's a guide on how to make your own deck.

TOFU Learn is an app for learning vocabulary that's very similar to Anki. However, it has particularly excellent shared decks for East Asian languages. I've used it extensively for practicing 汉字. Additionally, if you're learning te reo Māori, there's a shared deck of vocabulary from Māori Made Easy!

Mandarin Chinese

Hello Chinese is a fantastic app for people at the HSK 1-4 levels. While there's a paid version, the only thing paying unlocks is access to podcast lessons, which imo are not really necessary. Without paying you still have access to all the gamified lessons which are laid out much like Duolingo's lessons. However, unlike Duolingo, Hello Chinese actually teaches grammar directly, properly teaches 汉字, and includes native audio practice.

Japanese

Renshuu is a website and app for learning and practicing Japanese. The vast majority of its content is available for free. There's also a Discord community where you can practice alongside others.

Kanji Dojo is a free and open source app for learning and practicing the stroke order of kanji. You can learn progressively by JLPT level or by Japanese grades. There's also the option to learn and practice kana stroke order as well.

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20 fun Chinese figurative language expressions

A collection of fun figurative expressions I've learned/come across.

【1】 劈腿 pǐtuǐ Literal: to do the splits Figurative: two-timing (in romantic relationships)

【2】 穿小鞋 chuānxiǎoxié Literal: wear tight shoes Figurative: to make life difficult for sbdy

【3】 鸡肋(雞肋)jīlèi Literal: chicken ribs Figurative: smth of little value that one is reluctant to give up

【4】 绊脚石(絆腳石)bànjiǎoshí Literal: stone that trips one's foot Figurative: stumbling block / obstacle / smth that gets in your way

【5】 摸鱼(摸魚)mōyú Literal: to catch fish Figurative: to loaf on the job / slack off

【6】 踢皮球 tīpíqiú Literal: to kick a ball around Figurative: to mutually shirk responsibility / to pass the buck

【7】 乌鸦嘴(烏鴉嘴)wūyāzuǐ Literal: crow's beak Figurative: person who makes an inauspicious remark (jinxes it)

The 然's

突然,虽然,忽然. and the other 然's can often get mixed up, so here's a quick explanation of some of the most common ones!

突然 (Túrán): This means suddenly or unexpectedly

居然 (Jūrán): This kind of means suddenly, but more in the sense of "surprisingly" or to suggest disbelief at something that happened.

忽然 (Hūrán): This also means suddenly or unexpectedly, but it has a more stronger connotation.

既然 (Jìrán): This is a conjunction meaning "since" or "now that"

既然the weather is great, let's go out!

既然 you aren't busy, let's go watch a movie.

不然 (Bùrán): This means "otherwise" or "or else";

You should study, 不然 you won't do well on the exam.

Learning Chinese from Spam Texts

I got a very amusing spam text in Chinese this morning, so naturally I have to turn it into a vocabulary lesson.

生活洋溢甜蜜温馨,周末愉快,今天有什么安排呢? 看你没有回信息,你是在忙还是没有收到我的信息呢?

新词 Vocab:

洋溢 / yáng yì / brimming with

甜蜜 / tián mì / sweet

温馨 / wēn xīn / soft, fragrant and warm

愉快 / yú kuài / happy, pleasant, cheery

安排 / ān pái / plan or arrangements; to plan or arrange

信息 / xìn xī / text message; information

收到 / shòu dào / to receive

翻译 Translation:

Life is brimming with sweetness and warmth, happy weekend, what plans do you have today? I see you haven't replied to my message, are you busy or have you not received my message?

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i haven't seen anyone talk about it before, but there's a site called 21st Century Chinese Poetry that has a massive collection of contemporary chinese poetry, including english translations thereof, for anyone who, like me, is interested in poetry but may feel a bit intimidated by the more literary nature of classical poetry. currently, they have poetry from between 2000-2021, and i, personally, have rather enjoyed poking around the site.

Oh, I forgot to share! I managed to get myself a thing that makes little holes in paper (I literally forgot the word, haha, and in my native tongue it's literally "a hole maker" xD) and well, why is it so important?

It's because I've ended up cutting the big papers into a smaller one. I really, really hate writing on a big paper! I love my papers small! And I love it in my small (A5, I think? Always was bad with paper sizes...) notebook!

And also, with my Ring-Notebook, I can organise papers all neatly and pretty, and change their order anytime I would want to. In the end, its not really matters, it's just a training paper, but oh well.

I am finding joy in little things! (⁠ ⁠◜⁠‿⁠◝⁠ ⁠)⁠♡

And well, the most important thing is that I am doing things! Life is all about movement and doing, haha.

WORDS FOR CAT BRACKET.

THE FINAL SHOWDOWN.

brought to you by: chloe, my sweet evil old baby girl

miu (ancient egyptian) vs 小猫 (mandarin chinese)

FOR THE LAST TIME, I ASK YOU:

WHICH REIGNS SUPREME?

miu

小猫

Voting ended onMar 17, 2024

info and propawganda under the cut!