#Mandarin Chinese is not an easy language to sub into English

[aurantia-ignis]

Every now and then I see screencaps that people take of C-dramas with English subs and...... Good heavens. The translations are so bad and inaccurate and often sound awkward/unnatural... that I wonder if non-chinese viewers actually understand the writing/story they just watched....

[nitefise-art]

Some more literal translations of the Mandarin in Shang-Chi [spoilers obviously]

Okay so there are lots of nuances missing from the subtitles in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings movie and I know some decisions are for ease of reading but for those interested, here are some more literal translations of some of the Mandarin in Shang-Chi, based on my interpretation:

Above, the Chinese is 火山口, which is specifically a volcanic crater, not any sort of crater.

Above, the meaning of the second line is actually completely different; the emphasis is on the fact that already conquered so much yet wanted more; not what he was chasing.

The proper pinyin of Ta Lo is “Taluo”, which I’ve used here.

Same here, Shang-Chi is actually “Shangqi” in Chinese pinyin.

This one is extremely simplified in the subtitles, not sure why because it can’t be a speed thing, she says three separate sentences that they could have translated.

Not sure why this wasn’t subbed lol

I think this difference is interesting because the subs imply the guy was almost misleading, i.e. you have to sign this to get in the building, but the actual Mandarin is very vague, all he says is to sign there.

The last phrase here is "你别把我扔在这", with the "扔" meaning "throw", so even more literally it translates as "don't throw me away here". It gives an extra sense of abandonment that the subs don’t capture.

Don’t move your head, Wenwu

Guang Bo's line here is harsher in Mandarin, and I think hits especially hard in light of how "Go back to where you came from" is classically thrown at Asian immigrants. There's intense irony in the line coming from the other side, that the subtitles don't convey.

English subs censored his swearing lol

Here Guang Bo says "混账", which is an insult, usually used when someone has just said something extremely disrespectful.

Here Wenwu calls him "小子", "小" meaning "small". “Young man” is a much too polite translation of the phrase there. Then his last line is a Chinese idiom, “我吃的盐比你吃的饭还多” which is used to show how much more experience one has than the person you’re talking to.

I prefer “Come back alive” tbh

Anyway I hope this was interesting, translating is obviously not an easy art so this isn't meant to suggest better subs, I just wanted to share what non-Chinese speakers might have missed out on because the experience was truly better being able to understand both languages. It’s so refreshing seeing such a bilingual movie come out of Hollywood, and this coming from someone who isn’t even really a Marvel fan.

[svt-taehyun]

BASIC INFO

BIRTHNAME choi taehyun

HANGUL 최태현

NICKNAMES

prince charming carats started calling him that because of his charming stage presence and his gentleness.

aegiya it translates to baby. this nickname is used mainly by the members because of his, sometimes, childlike nature

raito this nickname was given to him by japanese fans, because, as they say, the second taehyun steps foot in japan the day becomes brighter

BIRTHDATE june 19th, 1997

ZODIAC SIGN gemini

CHINESE ZODIAC ox

BIRTHPALCE daegu, south korea

HOMETOWN daegu, south korea

NATIONALITY south korean

ETHNICITY korean

SPOKEN LANGUAGE

korean ( native, 100% )

english ( learning, 89% )

japanese ( learning, 85% )

mandarin ( learning, 74% )

french ( learning, 45% )

GENDER male

PRONOUNS he/him

SEXUALITY panromantic asexual

RELATIONSHIP STATUS single

SIGNIFICANT OTHER n/a

HEIGHT 181 cm ( 5’11” )

BLOOD TYPE B

BODY MODIFICATIONS 2x tattoo ( seventeen logo on the left side of his chest, dandelion on his inner tigh ), 2x helix piercing, 2x lobe piercing, upper lobe piercing

CAREER INFO

STAGE NAME taehyun

GROUP seventeen

POSITION main dancer, lead vocalist, sub-rapper

SUB-UNIT performance unit

COMPANY pledis ent. ( 2012- )

TRAINING PERIOD 3 years

DEBUT SONG adore u

DEBUT DATE may 26th, 2015

FACE CLAIM taeyang ( sf9 )

RAP CLAIM lee know ( stray kids )

VOCAL CLAIM han jisung ( stray kids )

DANCE CLAIM taeyang ( sf9 )

INSTAGRAM saythename_17 ( 10,2M followers ), svt_taehyunnie ( 4M )

TWITTER pledis_17 ( 10,3M )

KNOWN FOR crushing other members ending fairies. his dancing skils. being seventeen's biggest softie. his stage presence.

FRIENDS younghoon, hyunjae ( the boyz ), jungkook ( bts ), bang chan ( stray kids ), yugyeom, bambam ( got7 ), eunwoo ( astro ), jaehyun ( nct ) miyeon, minnie ( (g)i-dle ), rose ( blackpink ), mina ( twice ), yeosang ( ateez ), xiaoting, yujin ( kep1er ), yeji ( itzy ), kim lip ( loona )

PERSONAL INFO

MBTI infp

MBTI DESCRIPTION is someone who possesses the introverted, intuitive, feeling, and prospecting personality traits. these rare personality types tend to be quiet, open-minded, and imaginative, and they apply a caring and creative approach to everything they do

STRENGHTS

empathetic mediators don’t just care about other people in an abstract sense. these personalities can actually feel another person’s emotions, from joy and elation to sorrow and regret. Because of this sensitivity, mediators tend to be thoughtful and kindhearted, and they hate the idea of hurting anyone, even unintentionally

generous mediators rarely enjoy succeeding at other people’s expense. they feel called to share the good things in their lives, give credit where it’s due, and uplift the people around them. these personalities want to contribute to a world where every voice is heard and no one’s needs go unmet

open-minded  tolerant and accepting, mediators try not to judge anyone else’s beliefs, lifestyles, or decisions. this is a personality type that prefers compassion to fault-finding, and many mediators feel empathy even for those who have done wrong. because they’re so accepting, mediators often become confidants for their friends and loved ones – and occasionally for total strangers

creative  mediators love to see things from unconventional perspectives. few things give them more pleasure than allowing their minds to wander through all sorts of ideas and possibilities and daydreams. it’s no wonder, then, that many mediators are drawn to creative pursuits – or that this personality type is well represented among writers and artists

passionate  when an idea or movement captures their imagination, mediators want to give their whole heart to it. people with this personality type may not always be outspoken, but that doesn’t diminish their strong feelings for a cause that speaks to their beliefs and convictions

idealistic  mediators strive to follow their conscience, even when doing the right thing isn’t easy or convenient. they rarely lose sight of their desire to live a meaningful, purpose-filled life – one that helps others and leaves the world a better place

WEAKNESSES

unrealistic  nothing in this world is perfect – and that can be a difficult truth for mediators to accept. people with this personality type can be hopeless romantics, with rose-colored visions of what their lives should be like. this can set mediators up for disappointment when reality inevitably falls short of their dreams

self-isolating  mediators long to connect with others, but they don’t always know how. especially in new environments, mediators may be reluctant to put themselves out there in ways that would help them make new friends or become involved in a new community. as a result, people with this personality type may sometimes feel lonely or isolated

unfocused  mediators’ imaginative, introspective nature doesn’t always lend itself to productivity. many mediators get frustrated by how difficult they find it to buckle down and get things done. the problem isn’t that they are incapable – rather, it’s that they run into problems when they become so caught up in different ideas and ideals that they fail to commit to a course of action

emotionally vulnerable  the emotional attunement of these personalities is among their greatest strengths. but unless mediators establish boundaries, they can be at risk of absorbing other people’s negative moods or attitudes

desperate to please  conflict tends to be stressful for mediators, who yearn for harmony and acceptance. when someone dislikes or disapproves of them, these personalities may become fixated on trying to clear the air and change that person’s mind. unfortunately, mediators’ desire to please others can drain their energy, eclipsing their inner wisdom and their awareness of their own needs

self-critical  mediators believe in their unique potential, and they desperately want to live up to it. but this can cause them to have unrealistic expectations for themselves. when mediators fail to live up to these visions, they may accuse themselves of being useless or selfish or woefully inadequate. taken too far, this self-criticism can discourage mediators, leading them to give up on even their dearest dreams

TRIVIAL INFO

HABITS/MANNERISMS/QUIRKS apologizing to inanimate objects. suprisingly good with details. listens to edgy music. kinda bonkers about cats. cherishes gifts forever. doesn't like killing bugs but is okay with gory movies. often loses balanace.

PHOBIAS claustrophobia

HOBBIES AND SKILLS watching movies. dancing. singing. cooking. shopping. taking selfies. spending time with his members. writing songs. composing.

LIKES taking pictures. shopping. writing music. composing. fashion. interacting with fans. sweets. alone time. traveling. cats. animals in general.

DISLIKES small rooms. shipping. saesangs. getting mobbed. inappropriate questions. fan wars. backhanded compliments. discrediting him or his members.

FAVORITE COLOR green. pink

FAVORITE SEASON autumn

FAVORITE ANIMAL cats.

FAVORITE MUSICIANS dua lipa. anne-marie. adele. beyonce. 5 seconds of summer. conan gray. zayn. niall horan. harry styles. doja cat. billie eilish. cardi b. nicki minaj.

[nct-krown]

❝ 𝐉 𝐀 𝐃 𝐄 ❞

ⓘ BASICS ¡!

STAGE NAME jade ˒ 제이드

BIRTH NAME jade-bella li

CHINESE NAME li ming mei ˒ 里 明媚

KOREAN NAME lee bitna ˒ 이 빛나

REPRESENTATIVE GEM jade / emerald

BIRTHDAY 05 aug 2002

ZODIAC leo ˒ ♌︎

PLACE OF BIRTH paris ˒ france

HOMETOWN paris ˒ france / shenzhen ˒ china

ETHNICITY chinese

NATIONALITY french

LANGUAGES english ˒ french ˒ korean ˒ mandarin ˒ cantonese ˒ japanese ❪ basic ❫

ⓘ PHYSIQUE ¡!

FACE CLAIM ning yi zhou

HEIGHT 163 ˒ 5'4

BLOOD TYPE A+

ⓘ CAREER ¡!

OCCUPATION idol ˒ music core mc ❪ 2019 - 2021 ❫

LABEL sm ent.

GROUP nct ❪ 2019 - ❫ ˒ seraph ❪ 2021 - 2023 ❫

SUB-UNIT nct krown ❪ 2019 - ❫ ˒ nct u ❪ 2020 - ❫

POSITION main vocalist ˒ face of group

TRAINING 10 months @ sm ent

DEBUT 20 may 2019 ❪ nct krown ❫ ˒ 19 oct 2020 ❪ nct u ❫ ˒ 26 june 2021 ❪ seraph ❫

SURVIVAL SHOW seraph ❪ 3rd ❫

ⓘ FAMILY ¡!

MOTHER wong mei ling

FATHER aaron li

ⓘ PERSONALITY ¡!

MBTI estp

POSITIVE fun ˒ charismatic ˒ passionate ˒ ambitious

NEGATIVE manipulative ˒ dramatic ˒ selfish ˒ bitchy

ⓘ HISTORY ¡!

jade-bella li is the only child of mei ling and aaron li. she was born on the 5th of august 2002 in paris , france. the 3 of them moved to shen zen , china for 2 years when jade was 8 to look after her ill grandmother. after her grandmother’s passing they moved back to paris. despite moving around a lot jade found it easy to make friends and was queen b no matter where she was.

she is her parents princess and has been spoilt rotten her entire life. being told no is a foreign concept to her because she is the definition of daddy’s little princess her mom is her best friend she can talk to her about anything and everything , nothing is off limits. her parents showered her with love and praise making her an extremely confident person since she was a baby. as a kid she wanted to be just like hannah montana so her parents enrolled her in singing classes at the age of 10 and it soon became her passion which she showed insane talent for from a young age. every decision she made was fully supported by her parents including moving to korea to be an idol.

jade sent in her cover of chandelier by sia in the summer of 2018 to sm and got accepted almost immediately. she got one of the fasted acceptances into sm entertainment in history. she started training immediately and debuted 10 months later on the 20th of may 2019 as the main vocalist of nct and a member of the all female subunit, nct krown. her love for languages and natural charisma made her a fan favourite and appeared on many variety shows in both korea and china. months after her debut she was announced as the new music core mc alongside sf9’s chanhee and stray kids hyunjin. she was an active mc from 2019 to 2021. in march 2021 jade auditioned for the survival show seraph that aimed to create the next super group. she placed 3rd debuting in the final lineup as the main vocalist and maknae.

[rigelmejo]

So while I’m not fond of Peppa Pig, I do find this discussion interesting. And it did make me go check if I could follow Peppa Pig (I can, easily, I know most of the words if not all - though I’m watching without subs so I might miss a little bit). 

*This is a show that WAS recommended to me, if you want to watch a simple show for kids that’s easy to comprehend - 大头儿子和小头爸爸 (and it is cute, it reminds me a little of Arthur and shows I watched when I was little)  : https://youtu.be/bpO2W9Xaigc

Ok back to Peppa Pig discussion, of all things lol.

So on reddit, someone was discussing how they’d been studying chinese 8 months and still could not understand Peppa Pig. I found the discussion between everyone very interesting. All I really think on my end is like? I also could not understand Peppa Pig (or any shows super well) that early on so it is partly a matter of “you just gotta study chinese for a while.” (The reddit discussion: https://www.reddit.com/r/ChineseLanguage/comments/mk4665/fed_up_with_my_poor_chinese/ )

But also? I am a big believer in “it gets easier the more you practice.” So if you want to do something in a language, try to DO it. And try to keep doing it - because partly yes, you will likely realize you need to learn more words/grammar and the ‘doing’ may just be a catalyst to ‘make you study more’ so that next time you try to DO you know more and its easier. But also, doing it involves building the skills of getting USED to listening, used to recognizing words you studied in a different context, getting used to recognizing and understanding grammar in real time instead of on a delay (like in a textbook when you can slow down and really look at something and figure it out) etc. So partly, how ‘easy’ it is to read or listen has to just do with how often you’ve done it. Have you done it enough that the parts you HAVE studied you can grasp immediately? Or have you done it so little that even things you ‘studied’ don’t click right away - but they might on a rewatch or if you pause and read a subtitle slower, replay a line, etc. The part of the skills you pick up by DOING you really have to just... do to get better.

I found a few responses from people who are years into studying chinese and still find Peppa Pig difficult. And I think in that case, it might be the same situation as my japanese was (studied for 2 years and could still barely read a manga for bare gist). I think partly at that point, lack of understanding has to do with not practicing understanding by Doing. Someone who’s studied a couple years, likely knows a few thousands words+? If they practiced listening or reading regularly for a few months, they’d likely see a TON of improvement. Because they probably ‘learned’ a lot already they just need to develop stronger skills to comprehend what they studied when engaging with shows/audios/novels etc. And if they just ‘wait’ to engage with material until it feels ‘easy’ they may be unnecessarily holding themselves back. Because a major part of ‘why’ it might feel difficult is simply that they don’t practice the skills of USING what they learned. If they practice more, it will get easier. But if they wait to immerse until ‘easy stuff FEELS easy’ when they first try? Then they aren’t challenging themselves nearly as much as they can probably handle...

Like? I’m not that good. I still only kinda comprehend a LOT of things. But that doesn’t stop me from watching chinese dramas I wanna watch in chinese only. And I think a big reason I can comprehend ENOUGH now to follow the plots of shows I wanna watch? Is because when i was 8 months, 10 months, 12 months into learning - i would watch 12 minutes and look up lots of unknown words, or watch an episode and pause to read hard sentences, or make myself watch when i ‘just’ got the gist of an ‘easier’ show and hope that the more i did it the more i’d understand. And somehow, that did work out. (Also it motivated me to keep studying new words in other activities lol, hoping that would make watching easier). Now I’m at a point where i can turn on new shows I want to watch, and watch them, and follow the main gist and pick up some details. Its nice. Its nice and its getting a bit easier each time i do it. And if i had ‘waited’ until ‘easy stuff’ like Peppa Pig was easy? Or until stuff like “Granting You A Dreamlike Life” was easy? I probably would not comprehend this much right now. I tried to watch gyadl like 8 months in and it was pretty rough... even rougher because i only paused a handful of times an episode to make things go faster. But now? When i watch a show ‘about that hard’ that’s mostly slice of life? I can pick up a ton more easily than before. Doing the ‘hard’ thing eventually made it easier. 

So if there’s anything I think about all it, its just... don’t be afraid to challenge yourself sometimes. Sometimes doing hard things makes the ‘easier’ things finally Actually easier. And sometimes waiting until you can ‘understand’ the easy things means just never trying the easy things - when its trying and doing, that will eventually MAKE them doable for you. At least that’s advice to myself ToT I wasted a ton of time in japanese when I didn’t do this, and helped myself a lot in chinese by doing this. I also did it with french even though i wasn’t really aware what i was doing back then.

Some links:

Peppa Pig in mandarin (let me know how much YOU can follow an episode! - if you can... sit through one): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1dhSMSAXxI

Konglongmandarin - a site that teaches mandarin utilizing Peppa Pig episodes. Which, while I do not like that cartoon much, I really appreciate the concept behind this site and its lessons. And I think its a really cool way of making comprehensible input lessons (which I think are a quite easy and Direct way to teach things that click well with my learning style and probably some other peoples’). I am checking the site out currently: https://www.konglongmandarin.com/lessons/

AVATAR THE LAST AIRBENDER IN MANDARIN - its on WeTV! I didn’t know that! It’s all just free to watch so like?!! I guess I’m doing a rewatch! The downside is these have no subs. The upside is I guess it makes good listening practice since you can’t rely on reading skills. Also, if you’ve watched atla before like me, then you likely have enough context already you should be able to follow what’s going on and pick up some new words: https://v.qq.com/x/cover/m0t0ud0mjg6td5t/v00225ojbpd.html

Again 大头儿子和小头爸爸 - its a show that was recommended to me by a language partner, and its good if you want a show for kids to practice comprehensible input with (I find it a lot more nice to watch then peppa pig but that’s just my preference): https://youtu.be/bpO2W9Xaigc

Two Souls in One - a cdrama I’m watching right now, its really good! Its only in chinese subs rn but I imagine youku plans to english sub it since its on youtube. Its magical premise mixed with mundane reality, a lot of fun identity and gender shenanigans. At my comprehension level its reasonably easy to follow - since most of its slice of life or actor-genre lingo. I think for most people who know 1k-2k common words this should be very doable to watch (just like Granting You A Dreamlike Life was doable to watch and follow the gist of). https://youtu.be/zaX2pdVpmUY

[bihansthot]

Since I have new followers presumably from the movie I figured I’d just rehash some older headcanons/useful information for my stories.

First and foremost I have a Masterlist which has a TON of Bi-Han/Sub-Zero Bros/Noob Saibot headcanons, asks and fics. Most of the fics are 18+ so please keep that in mind.

Next the eye color inconsistencies, I attempted to fix Midway/NRS’ indecisiveness on whether Bi-Han had brown or blue eyes by having it linked to emotion:

Both Bi-Han and Kuai Liang have naturally dark brown eyes, however; when they are emotional i.e. horny, angry, in battle etc. they are ice blue.

Bi-Han’s eyes are almost always ice blue because he’s almost always horny or pissed off.

Kuai Liang’s eyes are almost always brown because he has a much better control over his desire and anger than Bi-Han does.

Smoke teases both of them relentlessly anytime their eyes are blue.

Next Bi-Han and Kuai Liang are Chinese, yes in the Midway canon he’s born in America and is taken to China a young boy by his Father, who is a Lin Kuei operative. Their Father is Chinese and their Mother is Chinese-American in that timeline, it’s implied their Father is the cryomancer in Midway. They also have a baby sister which was recently confirmed on Twitter by John Tobias, but the whereabouts of their Mother and sister are never know. In the NRS timeline they all just live in China and they’re taken from their parents by the Lin Kuei, neither of their parents seem linked to the Lin Kuei, but the boy are half-Chinese half-Edenian (Cryomancer) in this timeline. Their Grandfather is also the previous Grandmaster of the Lin Kuei (before Sektor’s Father) and was also named Sub-Zero. The name seems to be a mantle that is earned in NRS and I personally headcanon that Bi-Han had to kill his Grandfather in order to be worthy of taking the mantle from him. In the movie universe based off of Joe Taslim’s tweets they seemed to have gone with the Midway backstory but their Mother is Edenia and is the cryomancer.

(Bi-Han and Kuai Liang being abducted in the MK9 Sub-Zero Trailer it’s in the game or here on YouTube)

Since Bi-Han is Chinese no matter how you slice it, his first language is Mandarin (which is what he speaks in the film), he also most likely speaks Cantonese and we know for sure he speaks English too as well as Japanese in the movie universe.

“亲/qīn”, I’m not a fan of using “y/n” as a stand in for a reader insert fic, so Bi-Han almost always refers to the reader as “qīn” which is the Mandarin equivalent of “bae” or “babe”.

“Polar Bear” and/or “白熊/Bàixiòng” the reader/you/my OC often refers to Bi-Han by this nickname. I’ve had some people in the past ask why and it’s super easy and straightforward. It’s Bi-Han’s animality in UMK3, he and Kuai have the same animality, but I’ve been using it as a nickname for Bi-Han for ages.

The temperature thing, they’re cryomancers, they are COLD, cold enough to chill the air around them so much that it becomes visible. I headcanon that Bi-Han is noticeably colder than Kuai mostly because I strongly believe he is/was stronger than his little brother. Though I tend to think his power was more raw and brute force than precise and refined like Kuai Liang’s is, hence why Bi-Han is colder because he has a harder time regulating it. Here’s a HC I wrote about it a while ago.

They are both very susceptible to heat and are extremely bothered by it. In Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero we see how much heat impacts Bi-Han in the fire temple, his special moves require more energy than usual and the fire/lava deals constant damage. Whereas with Kuai in Defenders or the Realm there’s an episode where he and I think Stryker or Nightwolf fall into some crevice and poor Kuai is all sweaty and about to pass out from the heat.

Video game Bi-Han is 32 when he dies, his age is confirmed in the MK1 Malibu Comics as well as the MK1 instruction manual. Movie Bi-Han is significantly older and is somewhere in the neighborhood of 430-440. We don’t have a canon ages for the NRS timeline but considering it’s just a retelling of the Midway timeline the ages are presumably the same. Kuai Liang is most likely 2-3 years younger as you can see in the pic form MK9, there isn’t a big age gap between the brothers.

Video game Bi-Han is 6’2” in Midway and is closer to 6’4”-5” based on Noob’s model in MK11. Movie Bi-Han is presumably 5’11” like Joe Taslim but I will 100% write him taller, sorry not sorry.

Last but not least Bi-Han is spelled 壁寒 in Chinese, it’s deliberately a pun, it means “cold wall” while Kuai Liang is 奎良 which means “quick cooling” and Sub-Zero is 絶対零度, which literally translates to “absolute zero”.

I’m sure I missed some things in there somewhere so if you have any questions or something doesn’t make sense feel free to ask.

[skzfairies]

wayv extra member profile

— basics

stage name → jieqiong

birth name → zhong jieqiong

korean name → jung jieun

english name → juliet zhong

nick names → jiji, sneaky cat, baby j, snake

birthdate → april 17th, 1998

nationality → chinese

place of birth → hong kong, people’s republic of china

sexuality → bi-romantic, asexual

languages → cantonese, english, korean, mandarin

zodiac sign → aries

chinese zodiac sign → snake

— career

company → sm entertainment

training → 2012-2019, 7 years.

debut → wayv (2019), nct u (2020), nct femme fatale (2021).

group → nct

sub units → wayv, nct u, nct female fatal

position → main rapper, lead vocalist, lead dancer.

— physical

face claim → gia ge

vocal claim → kim lip from loona

rap claim → tymee

dance claim → momo from twice

height → 162 cm (5’4)

— facts

she has one sibling, a younger step-sister, liu yufei. she was was the child of the women her father married and was born in 2004.

her parents got divorced in 2009, her mom got remarried in 2014, her dad also getting remarried, but in 2016.

she wanted to be a nurse growing up, but now she said she‘s glad she didnt pursue that career, because she gets very squemish around blood and injuries.

she auditoned for SM in the 2011 global audition, she said she wanted to become a singer because of girls generation, she listened to their music a lot growing up, she still does to this day.

it was announced on December 31, 2018 that she would debut in WayV.

her hobbies insist of dancing, writing songs, producing songs, watching netflix, reading, and skateboarding.

she learned to skateboard when she was 15, she would skate on her way home after practice, and learned on her way.

she produced and wrote nct female fatal’s all of the tracks on their first mini album, as well as some songs of WayV, including, king of hearts, we go nanana, unbreakable, up from here, only human, good time and action figure.

she loves strawberry milk, but doesnt like regular milk.

she loves listening to the rain, but is terrified of storms.

qi knows how to play the piano, gutair and the violin. she used to play the violin from ages three to nine, but she quit to take dance lessons.

she took dance lessons for one year before auditioning for SM. she was glad she took them, because they helped a lot.

she had a habit of loosing her phone, she seems to always misplace it, she once left it on top of the toaster.....for some reason.

she doesn’t like coffee, but she will drink it if she needs to stay up longer than normal, which is a lot. she is a morning bird, she wakes up at 7am naturally, unless she is really tired.

her favorite color is red, favorite number is 7, and her favorite season is autumn.

likes: cats, movies, candles, fluffy blankets, oversized hoodies, knee-high socks, cookies, cherries.

dislikes: hendery (just kidding, she loves him....!), bugs, hot weather, crowded places, thunder storms, tight clothes.

random fact, but her tongue can touch her nose!

motto: “never stop getting up, even if it easy to stay down, dont give in to your bully’s.”

she shares a room with ten and hendery!

her insta is @/ jieqong_01 :)

[yourqpids]

basics

stage name : xinyi

birth name : huang xinyi

birthday : oct 11 2000

zodiac : libra

birthplace : wuhan, china

hometown : wuhan, china

ethnicity : chinese

nationality : chinese

languages : mandarin, native | korean, fluent | english, learning

physical

faceclaim : song yuqi

height : 162 cm | 5'3

weight : 43 kg | 94 lbs

blood type : o

piercings : 2x standard lobe, 2x upper lobe

tattoos : 0

career

occupation : idol

group : (currently) QPIDS, (formerly) loona

company : (currently) sm entertainment, (formerly) bbc

training period : 1 and half a years

position : main dancer, sub vocalist, sub rapper

trivia

she moved to korea in 2017 when she decided she wanted to be an idol.

she officialy debuted one june 13th 2018 with the title track "blueming" and the bside "you can't sit with us ft chaerin.

her representative animal was a panda and her color was ivy green.

she's a fan of 2nd gen groups, especially shinee and snsd, and says she'd like to meet them if given the chance.

she's roommates with eunha and closest with her.

while in loona, she was closest with vivi because they were the only foreign members and both chinese. she found it easy to bond with her and they still keeps in contact.

since she never got to produce or work on songs under bbc, she especially was looking forward to moving to a company where she could work on music.

she is an only child.

she's vegetarian.

her english name is faith.

[inmyarmswrappedin]

Is norwegian that simillar to spanish, or do you already know a bit of norwegian that you understand enough of it if you see text written in norwegian?

Hi anon 🎪 Lol I really don’t want to make it seem like if I read something in Norwegian I can immediately get the gist of it or anything. I can hardly do that with German and I actually studied it at school and have done so on my own for years. 

It’s more like... When I became fluent in English a whole world opened up to me in terms of jokes, puns, riddles, etc. that can only work in English. For instance, I loved The Simpsons dubbed to Spanish, but when I was able to watch The Simpsons in English, there were a bunch of new jokes and language-specific details that had to be replaced with other jokes in Spanish. And so that sparked an interest in what a character is really saying when I’m watching something with dubs/subs.

When I first watched Skam, I became really obsessed with it and I wanted to understand all the little nuances that the fansubbers had trouble translating. Things like the bun joke in the clip where Isak first meets Even, or the cheese/key joke in the clip where Isak and Even first hang out. I would read the chats in Norwegian and try to understand what was said before the translation, etc.

But in the end I can only make out a few words here and there. I wouldn’t say I understand “enough of it” or really more than a handful of words lol. 

As for your question, I mean, depends on which two languages we’re talking about. Like I can read Norwegian because they use the Latin alphabet. If they used Cyrillic or Arabic script, I’d be fucked lol. Plus their syntax is easy enough to understand for an English speaker I think. Like, “du er ikke alene” literally translates to “you are not alone”, “jeg elsker deg” literally translates to “I love you”... Both are [subject] [verb] [object] sentences, i.e. SVO. So yeah, compared to like, Mandarin Chinese, I’d say Norwegian is similar enough to Spanish and English that I can make some of it out. Compared to Italian or Catalonian, then not so much, no. 😂

And finally, part of it is also that I studied linguistics in uni. Before uni, I’d have said I was terrible at picking up a language. I’d still say that. However, having a base knowledge of linguistics makes it easier to tell how languages work (like being able to identify SVO sentence structures, for instance!), and picking out patterns is a part of learning a language. 

[leafinthewindlanguages]

Youtube Resources

Here are some channels i follow on youtube for listening practice, culture stuff, or for learning lol i’m always open for recommendations and enjoy watching videos of people doing stuff in the language instead of just teaching it to me

Korean

YTN News- Korean News Channel Edward Avila- I follow him for makeup but he will have people that speak korean on his channel and korean subs (but not on all videos i think) Jumi ơi Hàn Quốc- She is korean learning vietnamese and will speak in korean and have korean subs  Beom E 범이-He is korean learning vietnamese and speaks in korean and (i think) has korean subs (i also think he just went in the military so it might be a while for new videos) Prof. Yoon's Korean Language Class - he has reading practice and he teaches grammar MasterTOPIK- pretty self explanatory lol but it’s stuff to help study for the TOPIK 꿀키honeykki- a cooking channel. no talking but korean subs 박막례 할머니 Korea Grandma - not sure how to describe this channel besides it’s just a grandma doing stuff lol i actually made her recipe for the cold noodles and it was good Cooking tree 쿠킹트리-a cooking channel. no talking but korean subs

Japanese

KemushiChan ロレッタ- Probably everyone knows this channel if you’re studying japanese, but loretta lives in japan and talks about life there and more lol. japanese subs and she speaks in japanese often. Watercolor by Shibasaki - this is my favorite channel by far and i recommend everyone watch this even if you aren’t studying japanese (he provides english subs) but this is a kind grandfather that teaches you how to do watercolor. speaks in japanese and also has japanese subs  まーるちゃん���る - I watch her for animal crossing content 꿀키honeykki- a cooking channel. no talking but japanese subs Cooking tree 쿠킹트리-a cooking channel. no talking but japanese subs 日本語の森- one of my favorite channels for self studying japanese JunsKitchen- probably another channel most people are familiar with even if you’re not studying japanese, but he lives in japan with his (american?) wife and they have another channel, but i’m not subscribed to it (jun and rachel i think is the name) he speaks a lot of english but has japanese subs. happyknittingmama/ハピママ- if you’re interested in knitting here’s a good channel lol  일본 서예가 다쿠미 - idk why his name is in korean? but he’s a japanese man that does calligraphy and writing Learn Japanese- an older channel (that i’m not sure if it posts now) and i’ll be honest (i didn’t watch many of his videos lamo) but he does have a lot of anime stuff if people are into that  三本塾Sambon Juku - this guy is great, i found out about him because of Loretta, but he teaches you japanese fully in japanese. i think he’s a japanese language teacher in real life as well  meetang &co. - if you’re into crochet this channel is great

Chinese (Mandarin)

Evany Carr - this is a new channel i just found (like two days ago) but i really enjoy her content so far. i know she has one video where she’s speaking entirely in chinese, but she has some good learning tips and introduced me to other chinese youtube channels 杰里德Jared- one of the channels Evany recommended, and i have enjoyed what i watched. another new one for me, but it’s a foreigner that has lived in china for 10(?) years and almost all his videos are in mandarin (i think again i haven’t watched all of them lol)   Yoyo Chinese-the first chinese youtube channel i followed and then did nothing about that The lady teaches chinese and i like it  李子柒 Liziqi- probably a channel you’re familiar with even if you don’t learn chinese, but this is a girl that basically hand makes, hand cooks everything from scratch. no talking but there are subs (or she writes it on the video itself i don’t remember) Mandarin Corner- Evany recommended this channel and i won’t lie i haven’t watched any of these videos yet but it looks good and this is more of a teaching channel   小��姐的 Magic Ingredients- a cooking channel. she speaks in mandarin and there are chinese subs as well 

Vietnamese

Learn Vietnamese with VietnamesePod101.com- here are my friends lol anyways i’ve talked about them before in another post. they have great free resources and i recommend this channel Jumi ơi Hàn Quốc- She is korean learning vietnamese and will speak in vietnamese sometimes and have vietnamese subs Beom E 범이-He is korean learning vietnamese and speaks in vietnamese sometimes and (i think) has vietnamese subs (i also think he just went in the military so it might be a while for new videos)   Learn Vietnamese With Annie - if you are studying vietnamese you most likely know this channel, but annie is a teacher that helps you learn the language  Learn Vietnamese With SVFF - this channel teaches you vietnamese with the southern accent  Tina Yong-i’m including this channel because she did 3 or 4 beauty videos in vietnamese, but she’s not really a language or vietnamese channel. i do really enjoy her videos so went ahead and included her 

Sign Language (ASL)

Sign Duo- this is a new channel i follow and i love it. basically it’s two people showing videos of their life while using sign language Sheena McFeely- this is an older channel (and idk if they post anymore) but this was a family that helped teach sign language Bill Vicars-when i was in highschool taking sign language all of my teacher’s teaching material came from him (then i got a deaf teacher and the lesson plan changed but anyways he was basically how i learned sign language) 

French

Easy French- They feature a lot of native speakers, and i believe all videos are in french Comme une Française- Geraldine helps teach french

Spanish (Latin America)

De mi Rancho a Tu Cocina- A mexican grandma that teaches you how to cook in spanish 

Miscellaneous 

NativLang- a lingusitics channel?? idk he talks about different languages and what makes them up and where they originated from and similarities and differences to other languages. i enjoy it 시사북스 - okay this channel is completely in korean (with korean teachers) but they teach a lot of different languages (vietnames, spanish, japanese, english) and i really like it Easy Languages- this channel is nice because they feature native speakers and they offer a lot of languages (polish, russian, etc) and if the language you’re looking for isn’t on this channel, it might have it’s own channel like the french does Language Pod 101- again i highly recommend their youtube channels for whatever language you’re learning. 

*I will update this as I find more stuff (always open to suggestions)

**please let me know if the links don’t work

***any corrections, comments, or constructive criticism welcome

[doramaticbites]

Hi, I’m starting a series for upper intermediate to advanced learners of Japanese, basically detailing how I study the language. I’m just a regular learner like you all are out there. I just feel that the gap post-N3 all the way to N1 is pretty huge, and it’s easy to lose motivation, so I’ve had to learn strategies to keep my interest up in the way that motivates my technical learning. What I mean is, I really dislike studying grammar, and a lot of what I do to keep improving on my Japanese is meant to keep my interests up till the next scheduled time I have to touch my grammar/vocabulary textbook.

At the same time, I want to highlight a couple of learning strategies that I’ve avoided based on my experiences as an ESL teacher. Teaching English as a second language, especially here in Japan, has made me keenly aware that some ways of learning a language may not be so effective. As I ponder about why my students can barely string together a simple coherent essay for their college applications, I’ve definitely had a chance to reflect on what I should or shouldn’t do in my own language learning.

I also think that certain strategies I use to teach English to second language learners are definitely applicable to my own Japanese language learning journey. Things like the different ways to read or listen, more effective ways to improve productive skills etc. Learning the process of learning a second language has helped me tremendously.

I’ll also touch a little on using a third language to supplement your learning. Or rather, in my case, I use my second language (Mandarin Chinese) to supplement the learning of my third language (Japanese). I’m not sure how applicable this will be to you all, but it is a part of my learning process. I think this is particularly because my second language is Chinese. It’s not just about knowing kanji but about understanding that looking at any one kanji can convey a number of meanings sometimes at the same time. This has been especially useful in my reading of texts.

Hopefully it’ll be helpful! I’m also always open to hearing about how you learn Japanese. I need all the help I can get! :)

Below is the (tentative) masterlist of topics that I’ll update with links, maybe weekly!

1) Write, not translate (Updated 22 Feb)

2) AERA: The magazine you gotta get (Updated 23 Feb)

3) Using Visual Media I: First off, what should I watch?

4) Using Visual Media II: Intermediate (Listening for Gist)

5) Using Visual Media III: Advanced (Subbing)

6) Conversation Partners: The pros and cons

[yeonchi]

Dynasty Warriors 9: A Bittersweet Tribute to the Old Dub Cast and the Sacrificed Dub Potential

(partial x-post from English Dubbed Game News with expansions)

Dynasty Warriors 9 was released on February 13, 2018 for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One and on PC via Steam with English, Japanese and Chinese (Mandarin) voice options.

However, for some fans of the English dub, this comes with a bittersweet ending. As some of you may know, when I started writing rants and discussions on Tumblr about English dubbing in Japanese games, the initial focus was on games published by Koei Tecmo, particularly Koei Warriors games like Dynasty Warriors. As such, I want to make a special post about the dubbing of this game because I'm tying up some loose ends from back then. The easy part's long over now, so now it's up to you to decide whether you want to read the difficult part.

Now, as such, Dynasty Warriors 9 will contain an English dub, but your favourite characters won't be dubbed by the people who you were used to. Instead, the English voice track was produced by Voxx Studios instead of Voicegroup and the characters have been voiced by new voice actors. Additionally, FOR THE FIRST TIME IN OVER TWENTY FREAKIN' YEARS (sorry for the shouting), the English voice actors have FINALLY been credited alongside the Japanese and Chinese voice actors. You can check them out here (page is in Chinese, but if you’re a fan, I’m sure you’ll know the names anyway).

Koei Tecmo hasn't given us an official explanation as to why this change has been made, however a plausible explanation would be that it happened as a result of the recent SAG-AFTRA voice actors' strike. Many of your favourite voice actors would have been a part of that union and as such, they would have joined their fellow colleagues behind the picket lines in support of better residuals (royalties) for their work. Even though no Japanese publishers were listed among the struck employers list, I have stated before that the English dubbing of Japanese games would be affected in some way as a result of the strike. However, I didn't realise that Dynasty Warriors 9 would be severely affected, resulting in the voice actors for all 83 returning characters being replaced. In comparison to a less-affected game, Erica Mendez replaced Erin Fitzgerald as Cyberdimension Neptunia's Noire from 4 Goddesses Online due to SAG-AFTRA's stipulations of their union actors during the strike (even though the wording on the official strike page did not cover specific details, only which companies are struck). Whether it is one character or 83, the replacement of voice actors can be heartbreaking for the fanbase and as such, I hope that all fans, whether dub or sub, can show sympathy and compassion during these sad times.

I would have given this game a caution rating, but the change in voice actors is not enough a reason for me to do so since this rating is usually only given to partially dubbed games. As far as this page is concerned, this game and its narration are fully dubbed, meaning that it receives an approved rating from us unless notified otherwise. However, if it were up to me, then I would say, "These aren't the voice actors you're looking for."

In addition to this, I would like to pay tribute to all the potential Koei Tecmo game dubs, past or future, that have been sacrificed to pay for Dynasty Warriors 9's English voice track, including partially dubbed games and subbed games that are based on dubbed animes. Among this list are:

Dynasty Warriors 8 (including Xtreme Legends and Empires)

Various Atelier games (that have been partially dubbed so far)

One Piece: Pirate Warriors (all 3 games)

Toukiden (both games including Kiwami)

Warriors Orochi 3 Ultimate

Samurai Warriors 4 (including 4-II, Empires and Spirit of Sanada)

Arslan: The Warriors of Legend

Nights of Azure (all 2 games)

A.O.T. Wings of Freedom (all 2 games, I presume the second game won't be dubbed)

Berserk and the Band of the Hawk

Dynasty Warriors: Godseekers (sorry, but I think this name was just pulled out of Koei Tecmo's ass)

Nioh (I wasn't sure whether I wanted to put this on the list since I don't know if the "situational language change" was intended or not)

Warriors All-Stars (sorry, but just because William from Nioh is dubbed doesn't mean the game is dubbed at all)

Blue Reflection (their TV-Nihon style subs didn't help)

Atelier Lydie and Suelle (which, thanks to a tipoff, will not be dubbed)

I've speculated many reasons as to why so many of Koei Tecmo's games have not been dubbed, but it seems that the main reason is because of budget reasons; they are not willing to future-proof their budget for future dubbed games by allowing their fans to crowdfund the localisation. The theory (or maybe fact) that Koei Tecmo are a non-union company using union actors does not help things at all, though it could explain why the English voice actors have not been credited up until now. Another probable reason I have thanks to a fan on English Dubbed Game News is because Koei Tecmo are more interested in quantity over quality - he also said the same thing about Bandai Namco. Aside from their questionable dubbing reputation, Koei Tecmo's localisations have, year after year, remained average at best with typos in several games and localisation titles that sound like they were pulled out of their ass.

At face value, it may seem that Koei Tecmo only cares about the small percentage of fanboys who either shill for them or support whatever they do without question. While that is not entirely false, companies like them only care about how much money they have and how much money they get in the end. The pecking order starts with their executives, followed by their (major) shareholders, Japanese fans, other Asian fans and finally, Western and international fans. Western fans, particularly the fans who are more vocal in their criticism, are being treated like sheep compared to everyone else.

The main thing I'm angry about, however, isn't the fact that a lot of potential dubs have been sacrificed to fund the dub for this game, nor the fact that the English voice cast has changed. In fact, I'm angry about the division that these changes have caused. Before the trailer for Dynasty Warriors 9 was released, the division was between dub fans and sub fans, but when it was released, another division started between the fans of the old cast and the fans who want others to give the new cast a chance. On top of that, we have fanboy cucks who are always telling people to "get over it and be grateful" (regardless of what side they support) just because they are expressing their thoughts on dramatic changes like this. To make things worse, Koei Tecmo does nothing to stop the flame wars that they caused in their own fanbase because they let their fans speculate what is going on. Some fans on other online forums (particularly GameFAQs) are particularly toxic, ignorant and unenlightened because they like to criticise other fans who disagree with them and like the things they don't like, particularly English dubs.

For some fans, their first reaction might be to put blame on Koei Tecmo for not doing anything to appease their fans, or the fans for being vocal and divided for having nitpicky opinions about their games. Now that the voice actors in this have have been changed following the voice actors' strike, I think there is no more reason for us to blame each other at this point because we have now become victims of circumstance. Nobody could do anything but show their support for their favourite voice actors during the strike, yet we all had to pay the price when we found out that our favourite voice actors weren't able to return to reprise their roles from previous games. Koei Tecmo couldn't do anything about it as well, so presumably, they had to pick another option that was within their budget, yet still allowed them to dub this game fully with a narrator. Much as I hate to say it, we as fans should be grateful for the effort given to dub this game despite the exasperating and untimely circumstances.

On the other hand, I'm not saying that you should blindly show gratitude in the hope that things will be better, because chances are that Koei Tecmo will keep doing what they want within their budget and regardless of what their fans think. If you want to buy this game and support Koei Tecmo, then by all means do that. If you want to voice your feedback on how this game could have been improved, then by all means do that as well. In turn, everyone should accept that people will have different opinions from them and thus, respect the feedback of others. However, if you remain optimistic in the delusion that Koei Tecmo will keep dubbing their games (fully) with the same voice cast from previous games or improve anything to give you a better gaming experience than the average one you have now, then I'm sorry to burst your bubble, but it's probably not going to happen.

If you've lost your faith in Koei Tecmo because of everything that has happened over the years, including the lack of dubs in their localised games and their indifference to feedback and suggestions to improve their games, then you are, by all means, free to leave. As for me, I've decided to end my fight with Koei Tecmo so I can move on to other ventures because of these very reasons coupled with other commitments in my life. Now that I know Dynasty Warriors 9 will be localised with English voices at a great cost to the old cast and the fans of that cast, I can finally say that I'm done. I've unliked the Koei Tecmo Facebook page, so you’ll no longer see me replying to the comments of dub haters and other naysayers on there. I know that some of my fans have started following me because of my comments on that page, so I would like to thank them for their support. I regret that there were some fans who have either fallen out of or didn't make it into the pack, as they could have done with the advice and discussions from my posts and pages.

A final request to all the cucks who want to deride me and wish me a sarcastic farewell. All I ask of you is that you allow me to move on in peace. Koei Tecmo and their fanbase are like a ship that's about to sink, but they're actually a submarine about to go under the water only to surface again much later. I hope you’re all proud of yourselves for driving away the REAL fans who say things that could have meant A LOT to the fanbase as a whole.

[rigelmejo]

august study routines/goals

In practice, my study routine this month hasn’t gone quite as expected. Here’s the layout of it this month, in reality:

Studying flashcards with anki - goal is to keep increasing my vocabulary, in the context of sentences. Primarily: going through Spoonfed Chinese. Optional: going through HSK vocab deck (has example sentences and character meaning breakdowns which is nice), and going through Grammar vocab deck (I’m rarely touching this one). This one has been mostly review, with reinforcement of my listening skills, reading skills, word recognition skills, exposure to correct usage/grammar, and some new words. The farther I get, the more genuinely new words I’ll hit. I like the structure of this. I’m doing it instead of the memrise reviews mostly - I still do the memrise reviews occasionally, since they cover some frequent words not in HSK. Eventually this will surpass review and become mostly new material, so I plan to continue doing this for a few months.

Reading immersion - goal is to read through some graded readers, some novels, increasing in difficulty, counting chapters read. So far this goal is successfully being met. (I’ve read through Mandarin Companion Sherlock, started Mandarin Companion Journey to the Center of the Earth, and read 1 chapter of MoDu by Priest). Making this a specific goal is definitely helping push me to read more. I am noticing language skill related improvements that are at least partly because of me reading more. And... I did literally get through a chapter of a Priest novel, only looking a handful of words up to follow the gist main ideas. So I think increased reading is definitely helping me out. A possibly unintended side effect - I’ve noticed I’m somewhat getting a bigger active vocabulary of words I can spontaneously think of, although my usage of them in sentences is still often weird. As a branch off of this (and the audio immersion, and production of tones) I’m playing around with the app M Mandarin and it’s comics/lessons - they sort of count as reading immersion. But I don’t plan to count them unless I read maybe - 5 comics? Since they’re relatively short. 

Show watching immersion - goal is to simply improve reading comprehension/speed, watching shows with no english subs. So far, this goal is being met somewhat. I have watched maybe 5-6 episodes so far this month. I am noticing significant progress since December-January comprehension wise. I would like to do more, but realistically the reading immersion covers similar skills and the shows I WANT to watch lately are all dual subtitled (which I am NOT counting for this). 

Audio immersion - goal is to listen to audio often, with the intent to improve listening comprehension and get better at recognizing words I’ve studied/seen before. This is actually going pretty well. I’m not measuring it, just doing it when desired. I’m experimenting with ‘repetitive listening’ but I’ve listened nothing anywhere close to 50-100 times. I listened to Guardian Audiobook chapter 1 and noticed improvements in comprehension a bit each time I listen, and I listened to 2HA audiodrama episode 1 a few times with similar improvements noticed. I also have audio file chunks of the Spoonfed Chinese sentences (with english translations) - which I’m playing a few times, sort of to ‘audio-only’ review those sentences. This last part I’m finding very useful for cementing new words/grammar patterns into my mind so I can recognize them easier. Overall, this task is really fun and easy to incorporate, so I’ll probably keep adding it in general.

Production improvement - goal is to produce tones better. This was not an intended goal for the month, or even for a while into the future. I have some language partners now and I kind of need to talk more. My grammar is still YIKES and I am not planning to actively improve it as a goal for a while (when I do - I’ll focus on reading Basic Patterns of Chinese Grammar, doing the Grammar anki deck, and writing more based on those example sentences). Talking wise - since I am talking more, I might as well improve my tones so I pronounce better. Not a goal I intended for the month, but I’m focusing on it. I have noticed that as an unintentional side effect, my active vocabulary is increasing - more words are more easy for me to spontaneously say and recognize, the drawback being of course that I am still using them in incorrect ways since I don’t know their proper contexts/grammar well enough.

---

What I had planned to focus on, when August started, was just vocab increasing and immersion in reading/shows (focusing on reading chunks of text, and reading speed with subtitles). I did not intend to add audio listening practice, and tone pronunciation practice, but here I am. I do think that, thankfully, these two study goals are pretty easy to tack onto a plan and keep doing (audio practice is just whenever I want, and tone practice is simply me working harder to accurately repeat the sound of new words I learn/sentences I study). Meanwhile... I think I’d planned to do some grammar and hanzi study... those two goals are being moved to farther out in the future. 

A typical day’s study routine:

Do Spoonfed flashcards during down time in the day - may or may not finish. If I finish, and want to keep doing cards, then I do some HSK vocab cards, and if desired some Grammar cards.

Listen to some audiobook/audiodrama/spoonfed-audio-file while exercising or driving or doing work, 5 minutes -1 hr a day, widely varies.

If I have time that day, try to read a chapter of a story, OR watch a show in chinese subs only. If my time is limited, try to prioritize reading. In the end, I do whatever I’m in the mood for. 

When doing anki, try to pronounce some words/sentences as best I can like the audio. When reading, if the file has audio (pleco, talkify, M Mandarin, etc) then I attempt to pronounce it like the audio as best I can. Once in a while - when talking with a language partner, work on this with someone able to help me notice the mistakes.

Takes a minimum of 10-30 minutes active study (either all anki, some anki and some reading), and 5 min - 1 hr passive study (just listening to audio).  Can take longer, like 1-2 hours, if I do all anki possible, then read minimum of 1 chapter, then also watch a full episode (20-40 minutes anki, 20-40 minutes reading, 40 minutes - 1 hour episode). Again, passive study of audio listening is just whenever I can fit it into the day. 

[liu-anhuaming]

Do you have any tips for studying a large amount in a short period of time? Because I have been learning chinese for 2 1/2 years, but i really haven't gotten far and this August 29 (50 days!!) I'm leaving for a 10 month exchange to ZhengZhou!

i’m gonna start out by saying there’s really no fun way to cram a bunch of knowledge into your brain in a short amount of time (i know this really well bc i was a shit student in high school and i still a shit student now, even though i have improved slightly)

but here are my suggestions:

make some kind of schedule. if you do this you don’t need to have a super regimented study plan but just have an idea of what you need to study and make a basic timeline. you leave in 50 days, so that’s about 7 weeks. while you don’t necessarily need to know what you’re going to study every single day, maybe have a general idea about what you want to cover each week so that you can have a general idea of what your goal is

if scheduling isn’t your thing (cuz it sure as hell isn’t mine), form a list of what you want to accomplish in these 50 days. gather up the resources you’re gonna use (i’ll put some suggestions for that below) and figure out what you want to accomplish with them. this list can be as general or specific as you think it needs to be.

whether you make a schedule or a list is really up to you and how you prefer to study and stay motivated, but it’s important to remember to take a few days off (at least once a week). 50 days of straight studying is not an easy thing and if you don’t rest in between you’ll eventually burn out. so yeah, take some days off. but if you still want to get some mandarin practice in, listen to music in the background. here’s some links to music master posts, as well as my mandarin music tag (my personal suggestions for music are, naturally, 苏运莹， 张震岳 （AKA A－Yue，Waa Wei, Hello Nico, Haya 乐团, Frandé/法蘭黛, and 宇宙人). also take a look at the blogs @chinese-lyrics and @fyeahcindie. they have a bunch of great music that you can look through 

so now that you know what you’re gonna be doing, here are some suggestions for how to drill vocab and grammar:

the first is memrise. there are a bunch of memrise courses for mandarin that cover useful vocab from every level of the HSK among other things. since it uses spaced repetition it’s a great resource to help beat vocab into your brain. it is, however, not the best for grammar (imo)

if you need to, take sticky notes and label everything in your house. and make it really visible. when i did this, i didn’t write the pinyin on the sticky notes, just the tone marks but if you feel that you need to write the pinyin, then go ahead and do it. when you do this, you are forced to see the vocab every day and will learn it after having seen it so many times

it is my opinion that the best way to learn vocab (and their corresponding characters) is to write. when i study mandarin i always try to write out my vocab lists and then use this method to practice the characters. depending on how long your vocab list is, this can be an incredibly time consuming method (i’ve had lists that have taken me an hour and a half to finish drilling using this method) but it really pays off

for grammar i’d use websites like this one or this one bc they give examples of the grammar in use. also, the first one (allset learning) has their grammar organized up to B2 (HSK 4) so it’s easy to find grammar by HSK levels. the second one is also organized by level, but they don’t have as many articles yet. if you want to practice by making your own sentences but are afraid of messing up, just hop on over to HiNative. you can ask native speakers of mandarin if something you wrote in mandarin sounds natural or correct, as well as ask for help with translating difficult words or sentences and more.

more than anything, i recommend you find some resources created by native speakers to help you learn

slow chinese 慢速中文 is a podcast series written by native speakers for people learning mandarin. they are a few minutes long each and are spoken at a slightly slower speed than normal, and they cover a variety of topics including chinese culture and food. you can download the podcasts on iTunes, but you can also find them online along with the transcripts. it’s an amazing resource

快乐汉语 (this playlist only goes to episode 75): this is a video series created by CCTV for mandarin learners. it’s basically about an american girl who runs away from home to stay with her family friends in beijing. the acting is super cheesy and the plots are downright weird at times, but it’s an excellent resource because the videos are subbed in both mandarin and english. since susan (the main character) is american, there are a bunch of episodes where the family explains chinese culture to her so it’s pretty cool. warning: a lot of the characters have thick beijing accents, so just watch out for that. they also have a couple of short breaks in each episode to explain certain grammar or vocab that was used in the episode

what i’d do with these and any other native resources you find (song lyrics, blog posts, books, etc.) is break them down sentence by sentence and study the vocab and grammar. once you get that vocab, drill it like you do with all of the other vocab. what my teacher would have us do with 快乐汉语 was listen once nonstop, then go scene by scene and write down what the characters were saying using what we could hear and the chinese subtitles. we’d then go over the scene and find any vocab and grammar patterns that were new to us and make notes on them. once we’d finish with that, we’d listen to the scene once more.

after we’d done that for every scene, we’d watch the whole video again and again to get the hang not only of the new vocab but also of the way the characters said each sentence. when learning a new language, a lot of what makes someone sound unnatural is not only accent, but also rhythm. so my teacher would have us listen to the video over and over and then make us perform certain scenes. she did this so we could practice listening not only for pronunciation but also for the rhythm of each sentence. so i highly recommend you try this (sans the performing). you can just pick a scene or two and listen a bunch and eventually try to repeat after each character until you feel you’ve got the rhythm down.

so that’s really all i can say for now. cramming requires a lot of work so what you’ve got to do is find a way to apply the methods that work best for you and keep plugging away at them until the very end. i hope this helps you in some way, and i hope you enjoy your time in china! 加油!!!

[rhythmelia]

I did the thing! A while back I posted here about finding the Cantonese version of Frozen’s Let It Go 冰心鎖, and how I really liked the poetry of the Cantonese lyrics and how they deepened the meaning and spirit of the song, and basically made it EVEN MORE of a queer anthem than the English lyrics did. :D :D :D (maaaaaaaybe not the lyricist��s intent but I am running with it anyway~)

So here’s my cover of the song, if you go to the YT page I have links to credits, resources for pronunciation, and additional translation notes. Thanks for listening! Recording/process notes below the cut~

So the first fun challenge was finding a backing track, because I am an alto and that high end of the song was painful! I still ended up dropping that final belt the song is known for down an octave so I didn’t sound like the romantic screeching of a squashed tomcat

I initially flubbed a bunch of takes because the lyrics and the particular run of notes in different parts were basically too moving for me to hold it together. Yes, I know, I cry easy. -_-

Especially the entirety of chorus 2

Especially 去又來 昂 然而 自我 wherever I go I will proudly be myself , and 忘掉 昨天 悲歌  Forget the sad songs of yesterday 

And the end of the bridge going into chorus 3 (ugh mY HEART!!11!)

闖新天一個我   再不要 攔住 我 As I rush towards a new day, I won't be held back anymore

放棄 吧 無形鎖   再度黎明 重頭 活過 Give up, invisible lock/shackle! When dawn breaks, a new life awaits (;_;)

I’ve never studied Cantonese formally though I grew up speaking it and I’m halfway between basic BICS and academic CALP fluent, so I don’t know a lot of more formal/academic vocabulary and phrasings. When I heard this song before looking at the video with Chinese and English subs, I understood maaaaaybe 5% of it. Looking up word/phrase meanings and Jyutping romanization was very educational in terms of my vocab building :P

Fun fact: Cantonese song lyrics and poems are often based on more classical styles, and may use a lot of allusions and poetic language, and follow the grammar of written Chinese (spoken Mandarin uses this grammar, Cantonese....has several areas of linguistic divergence) that regular folks don’t use in conversation. Also, song pronunciation/word choice may differ.

For example, 的 is used for possessive, formally pronounced dik1. But in casual conversation, we use/type “D” pronounced di1 (dee)

PowerPoint 2010 does this FUN thing where, if you set rehearsed timings on the slide show, when you convert to a video file the $%#$*&#! program compresses the timings. Cue lots of screaming and pulling of hair as I had to incrementally adjust fractions of seconds on the initial slides, convert the file, and play to see how the timing lined up. Rinse and repeat, working my way through the slides. Incidentally, this 3:41 video took about 5 minutes to convert each time. And no, I don’t have access to fancier video editing technology/software.

My first video on Youtube lol. The first 10 views or so are just me figuring out the formatting in the description box and reloading to see how the changes shake out. How come AO3 can figure out how to not count your pageviews on your own works when signed in and Youtube/Google can’t?

Feel free to chat with me if you have any thoughts/questions/comments about this! :D

[yourswanposts-blog]

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