We're Starting a Blog! But Why?
Beer in Chinese is 啤酒 (píjiǔ). Memorized it? Now read on.
Welcome to the Beautiful Mandarin blog! Here we'll share good reads on Chinese language and culture that will expand your knowledge and understanding of China and the Chinese people.
We believe that learning as much as one could about Chinese culture is as important as learning the language itself. A diplomat who spoke fluent German once told me that when he just started learning the language, his teacher would use German products to introduce new words, for example showing Krombacher instead of Budweiser when teaching how to say beer in German. The teacher also taught them as much as he could about German society, tradition and customs, even the seemingly mundane specifics.
Why did the teacher do this? In order to be truly fluent in a German, in the diplomat's case, he needed to be able to think like a German. Research show that bilinguals can shift personalities when they speak in different tongues. Likewise, to be proficient in Mandarin, you need to understand the Chinese speaker's worldview.
We here at Beautiful Mandarin want to help you on that path to proficiency and even fluency, so we created a platform that can teach you everything about Chinese culture big and small. You'll learn so much about China and the Chinese people, so please check our blog or social media for updates every day!
