I wanted to invite everyone here to join Classical East Asian Languages discord. It's a highly active discord filled with a lot of resources on learning Classical Chinese as well as other East Asian classical languages like Classical Japanese, Chữ Nôm, Tangut etc. There's a ton of resources posted on there as well. https://discord.gg/vmfxMAcw72

I have a barely used Hanyu da Cidian cd rom version 1.0 for Windows and a pc if anyone would like to buy it. It doesn't work on my mac!

  Hi everyone! 👋 I’m Yauheniya, the author of Chinese for Beginners: Practice Workbook. This book is designed for kids (6+) and adults taking their first steps into learning Chinese. It focuses on 50 of the simplest and most essential Chinese characters, complete with step-by-step stroke order guides, pinyin pronunciation, English meanings, and plenty of practice grids. To make learning fun and memorable, each character is paired with fascinating cultural facts and cute illustrations that act as visual mnemonics. The book is organized into 10 thematic sections to keep learning structured, and interactive exercises at the end of each section reinforce what you’ve learned. You can take a sneak peek at the content and layout by clicking the "Read Sample" button on the book’s page here: Chinese for Beginners: Practice Workbook on Amazon. I’d love to hear your thoughts! Does the book meet your needs as a beginner? Is there anything you’d like to see improved or added? Your feedback would mean so much to me as I work to make learning Chinese even more enjoyable for everyone. 😊

Hi all, I haven't been here for a very long time.... I find myself a bit out of the loop, so I thought I'd ask if anybody knows good websites to go to for Chinese music. My tastes are fairly broad, I listen to Cui Jian, Xu Wei, Tangchao, also much older stuff like Guo Lanying, or older still... My problem is that the non-Chinese websites I find to be rather weak for Chinese music, while the Chinese services I used to use just aren't there anymore....

please advise on translation 

HELLO, I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW THE ARTIST AND WHAT THE WORDING MEANS ON THE ATTACHED FRAMED PICTURE. I HAVE INCLUDED A PHOTE AND WILL SEND MORE ONCE I GET A RESPONSE.  i AM LIMIED TO WHAT I CAN ATTACH AT THIS TIME.              THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME.             RICHARD ZARCONE  

Hanzi Popup is your ultimate companion for learning Chinese while browsing in Safari in iOS. Simply hover over or tap on Chinese characters to view pinyin, definitions and much more.   Features Instant Character Lookup Pinyin Annotation Colored Hanzi & Pinyin Simplified and Traditional Character Conversion Zhuyin Support Popup Dictionary Customization Auto-Save Words Export Word Lists   Whether you're a beginner or an advanced learner, Hanzi Popup makes learning Chinese immersive, fun, and efficient. Perfect for students, travelers, and language enthusiasts alike. Download Hanzi Popup Safari Extension now and transform your browser into a dynamic learning tool!   How to use this app? - In Settings, go to Safari > Extensions > Hanzi Popup, and toggle it to Allow Extension. - In Safari, tap the button at the bottom of the toolbar, enable the extension, and activate the dictionary for seamless use. Page refresh may required for using it first time.

Hello everyone,   I'm writing my thesis topic on Story of the Stone (Honglou Meng) and I'm having a difficult time figuring out all the different editions. I found a physical copy dated 1979 which I believe is called the "zhongliu chubanshe" although though writers rarely provide the Chinese characters, so I don't know what that means. I've also used Chinese Text project (https://ctext.org/hongloumeng) but the website also doesn't tell me which version it is and it doesn't exactly match my physical copy.   Finally, when I read the David Hawkes translation it doesn't seem to match either my physical copy or the online edition, and I can't figure out which edition Hawkes was using either. I'm pretty confused. Anyone with greater Chinese knowledge know how to figure these things out?   thanks.

I recently discovered the ACTFL OPI exam, which is a speaking exam for many popular languages, including Mandarin.   The Exam   The ACTFL OPI is a proctored phone call lasting between 15 and 30 minutes.   There is also an OPIc (computerized exam) but I know nothing about it and am not interested.   ACTFL, if you were not familiar already, consists of 11 levels, from Novice to Distinguished, although the OPI (speaking) exam only goes up to Superior (CEFR C2).     Why ACTFL OPI is Better than TOCFL Speaking and HSKK   The reason this exam stands out to me as having some value, is that unlike the TOCFL band C exam and the HSKK Advanced exam, the ACTFL OPI exam does not require you to read any questions, therefore your speaking grade is not held back by your reading ability.   For me personally, this is a big sell, because with the TOCFL, I have been limited to level 4 (CEFR B2), despite my actual speaking ability being somewhere between C1 and C2, purely because my reading ability is still stuck at around B2. I want to get some kind of certificate to prove my C1/C2 speaking proficiency, and until I can improve my reading, the ACTFL OPI exam is my best shot.   Mock Exams   There are no official ACTFL OPI mock exams, as far as I know, but there are some Chinese teachers who have been trained in the ACTFL standard who offer unofficial mock exams. I found one such teacher on a website called Cafetalk. I don’t know if she is comfortable with me posting her link directly here, but if you search for “ACTFL Chinese” on the site, you will find her. She is extremely knowledgeable about ACTFL, so I highly recommend her if you want to do a mock test.   My Mock Exam   In my exam, we spoke for the full 30 minutes at least, and I think it was actually more like 45 minutes. I have heard that this can happen in the real exam too. With ACTFL OPI, the questions get harder and harder until the examiner thinks you aren’t able to answer anymore and then the test ends, so the longer the test goes on for, the higher result you are likely to get.   There were two parts of the exam that were particularly hard and memorable:   In one question, somewhere around the middle of the session, after I had mentioned that Taiwan’s summer is too hot to do many activities, she asked me what the government could do to cool Taiwan down. This question kind of stumped me, purely because I couldn’t think of any reasonable solution for bringing down Taiwan’s temperature… In the end, I talked a bit about the typical ways governments abroad are trying to stop global warming, e.g., adoption of EVs, and then went on to explain why many of these are not suitable for Taiwan.   Another question involved me explaining a recent news event that caught my attention, and I happily explained the UK’s recent election and how the electoral system works (or should I say doesn’t work!) there. That was easy, but her follow up question was a bit of a bigger challenge: roleplaying. I had to pretend that I was a politician who just won a seat in my local constituency and give a 3 minute victory speech to my constituents. I managed to do the whole 3 minutes, but stoping to think about what I actually wanted to say to my imaginary constituents probably hurt my score a little. Ultimately, I think I could have answered this one better, and roleplaying is definitely something I need to practice before I do the real exam.   The next day (today), she got back to me with the feedback on the mock exam:   Quote Strengths:   Fluency: Elliott spoke with a natural flow, using appropriate pausing and intonation with minor tone variations that did not impede comprehension. He maintained extended turns, participate actively in discussions, and effectively articulated comparisons between different circumstances.   Accuracy: His speech was generally accurate with minimal grammatical errors. He demonstrated a good command of complex sentence structures, including conditionals, passive voice and aspectual particles.   Vocabulary: Elliot displayed a wide range of vocabulary, including idiomatic expressions and nuanced terminology, particularly in the context of political discourse. He use language precisely to convey his thoughts and perspectives with clarity and sophistication.   Pronunciation: Elliott had a good command of pronunciation, making it easy to understand his speech. He was able to produce a variety of sounds accurately with minimal minor variations that did not affect listener comprehension.   Interactive Communication and Task: Elliott actively participated in the conversation, answering questions appropriately and demonstrating strong interactive communication skills. He effectively expressed his observations and delivered narration with precise terms, demonstrating a clear understanding of the task and the context.   Areas for Improvement:   Precision: While generally accurate, Elliott occasionally used minor imprecision in his language, such as the occasional use of imprecise vocabulary or the omission of connecting words. These instances, while infrequent, suggest a slight room for improvement in achieving the highest level of precision.   Complexity: While capable of using complex structures, Elliott could further enhance his speech by incorporating more sophisticated language and discourse features. This could include organizing his speech with a clear introduction, body and conclusion at a paragraph-length speech on a larger scale topics that are no longer part of his everyday experiences.   Fluency in Spontaneous Speech: While generally fluent, there were occasional instances where Elliot needed a brief pause to search for the right word or to formulate his thoughts. To further enhance his fluency, he could focus on improving his ability to generate and express ideas more spontaneously, potentially through increased exposure to native-speaker conversations related to topics he is less familiar with, and practice in impromptu speaking.   Recommendation:   Elliott has demonstrated a strong foundation in oral proficiency. With continued practice and exposure to Mandarin Chinese, focusing on the use of advanced connecting words, phrases and discourse patterns, he can further refine his fluency, accuracy and complexity in his spoken language.   Now I know where I stand and where to improve, I plan on practicing a lot and then taking the real ACTFL OPI exam sometime in the next few months, with the aim to get Advanced High (C1). Has anyone else taken the ACTFL OPI exam? If so, how did it go and what advice do you have for those taking it for the first time?

The first mock tests book for HSK7-9 is out.    A little unintuitively, you can scan a QR code on the translation page of each test to get audio for the listening part and speaking part, as well as PDF's for the translation (since at least my book has it in Korean rather than English). Unfortunately it's all in a WeChat mini app, so I downloaded everything to make it available here.   Translation: attached to this post for download (English, Russian, Spanish, and Japanese)   Audio: Available here in a YouTube playlist. (I'd like to make the audio files available, but they are too big to post on the forum. PM me and I'll email them to you directly)     全真模拟题 01 - 翻译 - 俄语.pdf 全真模拟题 01 - 翻译 - 日语.pdf 全真模拟题 01 - 翻译 - 英语.pdf 全真模拟题 01 - 翻译 - 西班牙语.pdf 全真模拟题 02 - 翻译 - 俄语.pdf 全真模拟题 02 - 翻译 - 日语.pdf 全真模拟题 02 - 翻译 - 英语.pdf 全真模拟题 02 - 翻译 - 西班牙语.pdf 全真模拟题 03 - 翻译 - 俄语.pdf 全真模拟题 03 - 翻译 - 日语.pdf 全真模拟题 03 - 翻译 - 英语.pdf 全真模拟题 03 - 翻译 - 西班牙语.pdf 全真模拟题 04 - 翻译 - 俄语.pdf 全真模拟题 04 - 翻译 - 日语.pdf 全真模拟题 04 - 翻译 - 英语.pdf 全真模拟题 04 - 翻译 - 西班牙语.pdf 全真模拟题 05 - 翻译 -俄语.pdf 全真模拟题 05 - 翻译 -日语.pdf 全真模拟题 05 - 翻译 -英语.pdf 全真模拟题 05 - 翻译 -西班牙语.pdf