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6 answers
Does this article claim that Australian citizens of Chinese ethnicity are seeking asylum in China to flee COVID-19? (大多数华裔恐怕只是把中国当成了一处避难所而已)
I saw this on a tabloid-like Chinese news outlet:
不少澳大利亚华裔之所以要离开，很大程度上是因为澳大利亚国内疫情开始呈现爆发迹象，但中国的疫情已经得到了有效控制，所以大多数华裔恐怕只是把中国当成了一处避难所而已，但他们应该清楚的是，拥有澳大利亚国籍的自己早已不是中国公民了。
易有料, Yiyouliao, undated, viewed 3-rd April 2020
I translate it to:
Not a small…
Becky 李蓓
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6
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3 answers
How to come from 二百五 to 二百九?
I know 二百五 stands for foolish/stupid and I assume I have to add up 二百五, 三八 and 二 to it to obtain 二百九. Is this right and if so, what does 二 mean and where did it get it's meaning?
susis strolch
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6
votes
3 answers
Are there any readability measurement tools for Chinese?
For English (and some other languages), it's quite easy to find online tools that give a readability index of a specific text. Naturally, this doesn't necessarily match actual experience of reading the text, but it does seem to be reasonably…
Olle Linge
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6
votes
5 answers
Teaching Pinyin and Characters together vs Teaching Pinyin then Characters
I'm designing a curriculum to teach middle school students elementary Chinese. When I started learning, I began with Traditional Chinese characters and pinyin together on day one. I'm not so sure the typical student would like getting thrown into…
user3871
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6
votes
2 answers
Usage and meaning of "占我的便宜"
My understanding of 占我的便宜 means something similar to 吃豆腐 and I have never heard it used outside of taking sexual advantage. Can this be used in other contexts? Google translate suggests it means "take advantage of me", in English this phrase could…
going
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6
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1 answer
Usage of the phrase '不错用' in Taiwan Mandarin
I heard my Taiwanese friends use the Mandarin phrase 不错用 more than once, but didn't have a chance to ask them:
Is it widely used in Taiwan, or is it used by a certain circle/type of person?
What's the origin of the phrase, is it from a famous…
NS.X.
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6
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3 answers
有一天: past as well as future?
I'm told that to express something as "one day" in the future, it's 「有一天」. For example, 「我希望有一天能够说好华语。」"I hope that one day I can speak Chinese well."
Would you also use this to the English idiom "one day" in the past, such as "One day, the boy went…
nickcoxdotme
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6
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3 answers
沒 simplified to 没: What is the origin of the change?
I've just discovered that the simplified form of the character 没 is different from the traditional form (沒). With them both being nearly identical with exception of a single stroke, why was there a need to alter it at all? Does anyone here know the…
小奥利奥
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6
votes
1 answer
Are there any phonetic pangrams for Mandarin and other Chinese languages?
A phonetic pangram is a bit of text which uses all the sounds, or phonemes, in a language (as opposed to the letters of characters). Very useful for practising pronunciation. This is one in English:
“The beige hue on the waters of the loch…
cannyboy
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6
votes
2 answers
How come 驚 evolves to 惊 in mainland China
Isn't it more intuitive to just replace 馬 with 马 at the base of 驚 to get a well inductive simplified one?
Quite weird, uh? Any historical, geopolitical, or other reason for the simplification of 驚 -> 惊?
Update
What's interesting is, 馬 -> 马 is used…
George
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6
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2 answers
What's the difference between 记录 and 纪录, both pronounced jìlù, and both meaning "record"?
记录 and 纪录 are both pronounced the same, and mean "record". It looks like both can be used as nouns and verbs.
Question: What's the difference between 记录 and 纪录?
I'm using Zhongwen Chinese Popup Dictionary, and it says
纪录: variant of 记录 (but in…
Becky 李蓓
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6
votes
4 answers
Use of 而 preceding verb
I have only been studying a short while in spare time but have seen quite a few simple sentences in which 而 precedes the verb. Are there any basic ideas about the structure of such sentences? Places where this is required, recommended? What really…
daniel
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6
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3 answers
How to express "the" in Chinese
I'm trying to convey the sentence "我不会好好发音四个声调" But that more directly translates as "I cannot pronounce four tones well" which is a bit ambiguous... that begs the question, which four tones? I'm sure anyone I say this to would understand but it…
小奥利奥
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6
votes
3 answers
Are there text-based online roleplaying games which can be used for practicing Chinese writing?
Many years ago I played Cantr II. It's a text-based role playing game, but it's different to most: the aim of the game is not to "level up" or kill monsters. In fact there's no specified "goal". What you do is develop an interesting character,…
Becky 李蓓
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6
votes
3 answers
Can 曾 be used alone instead of 曾经？
曾经 has already been well explained here, but I sometimes see
...曾 verb...
as opposed to
...曾经 verb...
Is there a difference in meaning or usage?
tao
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