#zhuzhu rambles

[zhuzhudushu]

今天的成语 An Idiom I Learned Today

recently learned about a new idiom and thought i would share! not sure if it counts as a 成语 per se, since it is 8 characters instead of 4. nonetheless here it is.

三天打鱼，两天晒网 sān tiān dǎ yú, liǎng tiān shài wǎng

literally: fish for 3 days, sun-dry the net for 2 days figuratively: to lack perseverance; to not earnestly work toward something

example: 你要是三天打鱼两天晒网，那你永远不会进步。 If you "fish for 3 days but sun-dry the next for 2," then you won't ever improve.

it's the idea that if you work towards something for 3 days but then rest for 2, you're basically wasting your time and not putting in as much effort as you could—since you could be putting that effort in all 5 days.

it's definitely a very chinese concept 😅 i'm pro resting myself LOL

[imyourlocalcryptid]

my parents bought an alexa and sure, it’s freaky that she hears everything, but I’m not really concerned. I just feel sorry for the NSA that has to hear my mad ramblings about old ZhuZhu Pets™️

[zhuzhudushu]

歌词 & 生词 - Lyrics Vocabulary

One of my favorite artists has a new single, and like most of his music the lyrics are quite simple so I thought I would do a vocab list.

持修 [chí xiū] Chih Siou is a singer from Taiwan who is known for his feminine appearance, pop ballads, and loving chicken nuggets. Click here for his instagram!

生词 Vocab：( HSK 4 / HSK 5 / HSK 6 )

到底 / dào dǐ / in the end, finally

为了（為-） / wèi le / for the purpose of, in order to

宇宙 / yǔ zhòu / universe, cosmos, world

欲望（慾-） / yù wàng / desire, longing

驱使（趨勢） / qū shǐ / to urge, to order someone, to spur on

时空（時-） / shí kōng / time and space

伤口（傷-） / shāng kǒu / injury, cut

烂（爛） / làn / to rot, decompose

值得 / zhí de / to be worth, to deserve

留下 / liú xià / to remain, to leave behind

撑（撐） / chēng / to push, to stay, to support

真心 / zhēn xīn / wholeheartedness, sincerity "true heart"

逃避 / táo bì / to escape, to avoid

Here is his newest single with the lyrics below, translated by me! (warning: the video and lyrics are very sad)

没有我的那个宇宙 / A World Without Me

[in brackets are color-coded direct translations]

Please point out any errors!

VERSE 1 到底是为了什么活着 / dào dǐ shì wèi le shén me huó zhe [in the end is for what purpose living] In the end, what are you living for? 为什么我一定要赢呢 / wèi shén me wǒ yī dìng yào yíng ne [why i must going to win (filler particle)] Why must I win? 笑人们被欲望驱使着 / xiào rén men bèi yù wàng qū shǐ zhe [laugh people by desire controlling/urging] Laughing at people who're urged on/controlled by desire 虽然其实我也一样呢 / suī rán qí shí wǒ yě yī yàng ne [even though actually i (emphasis) the same (filler particle)] Even though, actually, I'm the same

VERSE 2 时间又过去了多久 / shí jiān yòu guò qù le duō jiǔ [time again pass (change in state particle) how much] How much time has passed? 伤口都烂掉了 / shāng kǒu dōu làn diào le [wounds all rot (change in state particle)] The wounds are rotting away 还要骗自己会更好吗 / hái yào piàn zì jǐ huì gèng hǎo ma [would lie oneself will be better (question particle)] Would lying to yourself be better? 还有什么是值得留下 / hái yǒu shén me shì zhí dé liú xià [still (have/there is) what is worth/deserve leaving behind] What do you still have that's worth leaving behind? (or) What else is worth leaving behind?

CHORUS 在没有我的那个宇宙 / zai méi yǒu wǒ de nà gè yǔ zhòu [in without me (particle) that (measure word) world] In a world that doesn't have me (or) in a world without me 会不会，会不会 比较好 / huì bù huì, huì bù huì bǐ jiào hǎo [would it, would it, in comparison/comparatively good ] Would it be, would it be better? 在没有我的那个时空 / zài méi yǒu wǒ de nà gè shí kōng [in without me (particle) that (measure word) time and space] In a time and space that doesn't have me (or) without me 会不会你得到 真正的快乐 / huì bù huì nǐ dé dào zhēn zhèng de kuài lè [would it, you to obtain genuine (particle) happiness] Would it be that you're able to reach true happiness?

VERSE 3 到底是为了什么撑着 / dào dǐ shì wèi le shén me chēng zhe [in the end is for what purpose push/stay/support] In the end, what are you holding on for? 为什么我不能逃避呢 / wèi shén me wǒ bù néng táo bì ne [why i can't escape (filler particle)] Why can't I escape? 笑人们找不到真心 / xiào rén men zhǎo bù dào zhēn xīn le [laugh people can't find sincerity] Laughing at people who can't find sincerity 虽然其实我也一样呢 / suī rán qí shí wǒ yě yī yàng ne [even though actually i (emphasis) the same (filler particle)] Even though, actually, I'm the same

Taglist: @blue-grama @burlgoat51-blog @hope-and-sleep @mycatmybaby @nighttime-study @potentiallypolyglot @zeesqueere

[zhuzhudushu]

Chinese Langblr Reintroduction

Well, it's been about a year and my blog has grown a lot. So I figured I was overdue for a new intro.

欢迎回到啊！I'm Julz or 朱朱 and I've been self-studying Chinese since May 2020. I'm currently studying HSK5 level, and I've been here on langblr since August 2021.

This is a side blog. I follow from @ladysieglindes <3

I'm known for answering questions with ridiculous long in-depth answers, sharing vocabulary/grammar notes, doing subtitles on cute Taiwanese baby videos, and discussing Chinese names for hours on end.

Here are some important links. Feel free to look around~

My Discord Server!! All levels welcome :3

Navigation & FAQ Page

Resources & Product Review Page

Chinese Music Recommendation Page

Answered Questions

Grammar notes tag

Welcome and feel free to ask me anything, Chinese-related or not!

加油！

~朱朱

[zhuzhudushu]

2 Year Langblr Anniversary!

That's right, folks. I have been here terrorizing the Chinese langblr community for TWO YEARS!!!

So I thought I would do a little recap of all the things I've accomplished in that time <3 Lately, I have felt like my Chinese study has been dwindling, and just in the past 2 weeks I've revamped my study habits! I'm diving in with HSK 5 level vocab study, and hope to be more active here as well.

Without further ado, here's some quick stats from these past two lovely years on tumblr~

Tumblr Stats

Established: August 8, 2021

Followers: 1395

Total original posts: 160

Total notes: 6.6k

Most popular post: Mandarin LGBT Vocabulary

Most popular recurring topic: 聊天的词

Discord Stats

Established: Sept 2021

Members: 41

Click here to join! Open for all levels of learning and all backgrounds <3

My Studies

Tracked using hsklevel.com

Started studying June 2020

September 2021: 1090 words, HSK 3, TOCFL Novice 2

Today, August 2023: 7500, HSK 5, TOCFL Band B.1

Yoyo Chinese: Completed Beginner and Intermediate Courses; currently on Upper Intermediate Level 4

Most Used App: Tandem

Other Apps: HelloChinese, TOFU, Drops, Du Chinese, Duolingo

[zhuzhudushu]

2023 Learning Update - HSK Level

Here is another follow-up using hsklevel.com !

For reference, I take it twice, once giving myself "yes" if I knew it without looking at the answer or if i guessed the definition accurately based on characters I knew, and "so-so" for if I knew the word after seeing the pinyin, or if I would've inferred the definition accurately in a sentence. The second time I took it I only used yes/no (no so-so) with "yes" only if I knew the pinyin and definition.

Here are my comparisons !!

From 9/19/21:

Knowing Partial: 3680 words, HSK 4, TOCFL B.1

Knowing Fully: 1090 words, HSK 3, TOCFL Novice 2

From 3/7/22:

Knowing Partial: 5500 words, 1560 characters, HSK 5, TOCFL B.1

Knowing Fully: 3800 words, 1280 characters, HSK 4, TOCFL B.1

Today 4/21/23:

Knowing Partial: 8000 words, HSK5, TOCFL B.1

Knowing Fully: 6750 words, HSK4, TOCFL B.1

And below you can see screenshots <3 I'm very proud, especially since I feel like I've stalled out a lot the past 6 months or so. Even passively studying I keep moving forward!!

Though tbh I do feel like this is probably a bit higher than I actually am. I know I'm much further along than I was a year ago, but doubled seems 😅 a bit generous

[zhuzhudushu]

What advice do you have for beginners?

Well I have some info on my FAQ page here!

I think if I could go back and redo it, I wouldn't focus so much on Duolingo and I would do more videos. More Yoyo Chinese, or other youtubers who have beginner content. I think especially in the beginning, input is the most important thing.

Listen to music, watch youtube videos and c-dramas and Chinese children's TV shows/movies like Peppa Pig (which is on youtube) or even Ni Hao Kai-Lan if you're literally level 0 beginner.

Anything you can do to LISTEN and SHADOW (which is repeating what you hear) would be awesome and I wish I had done more of it in the beginning. Even if you are blindly imitating and you have no idea what you're saying, it'll be helpful in the long run. If you can find videos to imitate beginner-level sentences so you do know what you're saying, that's even better.

INPUT INPUT INPUT! Be a sponge.

Also, pick a transcription early on. Pinyin or Zhuyin (aka Bopomofo) and learn the absolute shit out of it. I mean until it's gut instinct. You should be able to see ANYTHING in pinyin/zhuyin and be able to read it as easily as if it were English. Obviously this will take time, but the sooner you start, listening and repeating it aloud over and over, the better off you'll be. this is including tones, btw. Yoyo Chinese also has tone pair practice which I highly recommend!

On that note: If you do pinyin, really separate the letters from English sounds. Focus on the phonetics, associate "x" with /ɕ/ instead of the English /ʃ/. Look into IPA (international phonetic alphabet) and study exactly how the articulators' placement is different in the Chinese "sh" vs. English "sh" etc. etc. Practice until this is second nature and do listening practice to hear the difference, but also take into account that Chinese has a massive variety of speakers and pronunciations, and it's okay if you mess up or struggle with consistency, or can't do a perfect Beijing Standard™ "r", for example. I still can't and it's fine, I'm intelligible and I can hear the difference so that's what matters.

Once you get to the point where pinyin is readable to you, I would very quickly move away from it. As soon as you start to be able to retain characters in your long-term memory, drop the pinyin entirely. Only write the pinyin next to new words. If you can't read your own notes, look up the words you can't read each time until you don't have to look it up anymore.

I would also recommend that when you can actually begin to put sentences together by yourself, go ahead and start using HelloTalk or Tandem!

Anyone who sees this, feel free to add on! This is just my two cents with hindsight.

~朱朱 :P

[zhuzhudushu]

Hello again! Quite a while back I sent an ask to you about creating a chinese name for my oc. Unfortunately, I have been quite busy the past month to have been able to work much on finding it, but I've done atleast a little searching with the help of your advice!! I've found a few characters I have been considering, but I'm having trouble on deciding which ones sound good, (or which ones I shouldn't use)

I've already decided that I wanted to keep the 灵 character in his name as I think it's very fitting. As for the other part I'm considering 诈，哲，夕，殖，暮，which I found through using mdbg.net along with their definitions and how it's related to the imagery I have for this oc. However I might add more if I find another fitting word to use instead 🤔

For surnames I tried searching through pleco and thought of using 黑，化，霍 (which was one you recommended to me last time!), 环，惠，and 慧 which all came up with thecontext of being surnames (atleast according to pleco).

Which characters / combination do you think works best? Once again, thank you very much for helping me with this!!

Welcome back! I think we should do a poll!!!

For reference, this is in response to this ask!

Skimming through the names I don't see one that jumps out at me as Bad to use for a name necessarily. Skimming through it doesn't look like 诈 暮 殖 are commonly used for given names, at least according to this site where none were found. That doesn't mean you can't use them though! I just have no reference for how Normal or not they sound.

So let's poll it. I put together a few names that I personally think sound natural-ish as names. Please anyone let me know if some of these sounds better/worse than others!

[zhuzhudushu]

Hi I had previously gone through your post on writing a Chinese name and I was wondering if you could check and tell me if this name sounds good or does it seem out of place?

The name is Jīn Huā Lián - 金花蓮

Well, I mean, 花蓮 is a city in Taiwan. So... that's kind of odd probably?? But I guess there are people in English named Cairo and London and Orlando hahaha

I will say it's definitely a feminine name, if that's what you're going for. I guess for me I would just always think of the city.

Jin is a good surname though, I like it. Not super common but still regular and has a cool meaning.

[zhuzhudushu]

hey i hope you're doing well! i've just come across your blog and think it's such a useful resource, and i just wanted to ask if you could recognise any other chinese langblr blogs on tumblr? sorry if you've already answered this somewhere! have a great day

Lol I'm going to assume you mean recommend here.

Yes I have a lot of mutuals and others I follow! Some are fellow langblrs, some are just blogs with Chinese language/culture content :P Some are super active and some are not but these are a bunch that I follow.

@liu-anhuaming, @rongzhi, @potentiallypolyglot, @lairuidexiaowu, @mandarinmoon, @marilearnsmandarin, @chinese-word-a-day, @bngrc, @tingtingzaixuexi, @linghxr, @xiangqiankua, @langbangpop, @gusustudies, @mikutongzhi, @gwendolynlerman, @woaihanyu, @ruhua-langblr, @betweenthetimeandsound, @5-cz, @mandarinlangblr, @putonghualing, @changan-moon, @meichenxi, @lustforlanguages, @rigelmejo, @ksgsworld, @richang-chinese, @bchinese, @zaobitouguang, @fyeahcindie, @ying-study, @polyglot-thought

This is not an exhaustive list! I went through my most frequent reblogs and wrote the ones that jumped out at me but I'm sure there are some I forgot.

Please anyone feel free to add on! I want to find more langblrs too :D

[zhuzhudushu]

hi ! I'm starting to learn chinese and have gotten the radicals down, but i'm very conflicted on whether to learn simplified or traditional script. I know that traditional conveys more culture and meaning, but more learning resources are in simplified cn and I'm conflicted on what one I should choose.

Be like me and just don't choose 😂 I do both, intermittently.

It's definitely way easier to do simplified because there are more resources for it. Personally, I find myself mostly using simplified since most of the people who text me on a regular basis are Chinese and use simplified. On trends when I talk more with Taiwanese people, I find my traditional recognition improves.

I hear the "traditional has more culture and meaning" a lot but tbh I don't really see that so much? 🤣 Maybe controversial opinion but, both the changes made for simplified and original traditional characters tend to have good rules and hints toward meaning and pronunciation using components/radicals, and both can show a lot about culture.

I would say get a group of language exchange partners (once you feel comfortable) and see which one you need/use more. In my experience, the "use it or lose it" is SO REAL.

Personally I like that I am familiar with both. I am obviously more familiar with simplified because there are more resources and it's easier to recognize, but I see worth in knowing both. I don't think learning one made it harder to learn the other, either. You can always change your mind down the road.

[zhuzhudushu]

It's my 2 year anniversary on Tumblr 🥳

[zhuzhudushu]

how do you know how to write your name in mandarin? sorry if this is a dumb question

No dumb questions!!! Chinese is ridiculous (affectionate) lol

Though I'm not really sure if you're talking about CHOOSING a Mandarin name, or WRITING it (like physically? lol)

I answered an ask about choosing a Chinese name here!! It's VERY long but has links and everything you need to pick a Chinese name!

For a quick summary of how I picked mine---

A lot of standard English names have "official" translations. Examples:

Hannah = 汉娜 (hànnà)

John = 约翰 (yuēhàn)

For me, I used this as a base. My name is Julia, and the formal translation is 朱莉娅 (zhūlìyà), however I wasn't big on the 娅 here, because it's super genderized (with the 女 radical meaning female), I don't like the lìyà (two falling tones back to back is awkward/choppy in my english accent imo) and also this name sounds HELLA foreign.

So, after learning Chinese a year or so, and with feedback from my Chinese language partners, I altered it to: 朱莉雯 (zhūlìwén) which I picked because 1) the characters are more natural to use in a name, 雯 being SUPER common for 90s babies (which I am), 2) it's less genderized, slightly and 3) this combo of character is still unnatural for native Chinese speakers, so it's still fairly clear I'm foreign, but it's not overly eye-catching. In other words, it could be a native name, but it would be unusual/rare.

In terms of physically writing it, then you'll have to know the stroke order. To see what I mean you can watch this video on the stroke order for 朱! Each character has an order like this, so that's how you would write it.

Hope this kinda gives you an idea! Definitely read the post I linked above because I went super in-depth with names there. You can also skim my tag on my blog #chinese names (click) and see what you find there!

[zhuzhudushu]

Could you tell me the source of that adorable cat cartoon on your page header? I've seen it before but was never able to track it down,

ADFJASF YES OFC PLEASE LET ME ENLIGHTEN YOUUU

He is 小黑 (xiǎohēi) who is a very famous kid's cartoon cat-boy spirit in China. He has a TV show, comics, and the gifs/images I use on my blog are from the newest movie 罗小黑战记 (2019) called The Legend of Hei in English.

It's super cute, I highly recommend it.

(which you may or may not be able to watch here with english subs i mean what)

[zhuzhudushu]

Hello, I hope you are having a nice day! I was wondering if you have ever done the HSK courses on Coursera and, if so, whether or not you found them helpful.

I have not!!

Everything I've used I've reviewed under my #zhuzhu reviews tag OR it's on my resources page here!

But I shall post this in the tags and if anyone who sees this has done Coursera, please respond <3

[zhuzhudushu]

Falou — Chinese Review ★1/2

So I paid for Falou (pronounced like Baloo from Jungle Book, but with an F, apparently) so you don't have to. Here is my review! You can also see a quicker summary on my resources page!

What is Falou?

It's an app that's designed to support your language learning journey through listening and speaking tasks.

Click here to see the app!

Pricing:

Free: one language (extremely obnoxious ads)

$149 / year - no ads, multiple languages, and full courses all levels

(Note: if you deny the subscription 2-3x, they give you a year for $30. This is what I did, but ended up refunding it)

My Review / TLDR Version:

I would not recommend this app for anyone, especially not for Chinese. I might recommend it for HSK2 learners who are past the pinyin-memorizing stage and can read pinyin and basic characters without difficulty, but only for muscle memory practice. The voices are bot-like (Duolingo style), the sentences can be awkward, some of the audios were wrong, it grades you harshly forcing 100% accuracy to move on, then gives you no way to review the words you miss, and there is a massive jump from HSK2 vocab to HSK5 vocab, with no transition.

For full rant, see below:

I was going to split this into a pros/cons list, but honestly, I couldn't think of any pros. So here are the issues I have with it, broken down.

1. The Entire Learning Method

It is solely speech-based and takes points off for missed tones and makes you redo it over and over until you get 100% accuracy on each sentence. At intermediate level, it is totally normal to miss 1-2 tones per sentence, and even more at beginner level. Also, sometimes it doesn't recognize tones well and will count off for the simplest words like 了，好， etc. and so it tells you to review the easiest words in the sentence, while ignoring the new vocab.

Basically this is each "course":

"Conversation" - a bot talks to you and you respond, mimicking what you hear with reading both characters & pinyin. You must achieve 100% accuracy on all of it to move on to the next sentence.

"Writing" - you listen and build the sentence fill-in-the-blank style (or from Chinese keyboard with typing). You must achieve 100% accuracy on each one before moving on to the next sentence.

"Challenge" - you must verbally say what you hear from memory and you have one try before losing hearts (you have plenty of hearts to finish, but you must achieve a perfect score to get gold). If you mess up, it gives you the pinyin, and if you mess up again it gives you the characters too.

For beginner sentences like "I like tea" this might be fine. But once you you get into the "intermediate" section, sometimes you would have to say 2-3 sentences without a break. Especially with the challenge section, this is a near-impossible task even in one's native language unless you have genius-level working memory and attention.

Also, you can click on the words in your dialogue to see definitions, however you can't do that with the other person's dialogue. So if the person you're talking to uses a new word and you can't tell what the pinyin is?? You're shit outta luck.

2. There is no true intermediate.

At the beginning, it asks you you're level. You can chose nothing, understanding basic sentences, understanding basic conversation, and being comfortable speaking. I chose "basic conversation" and it started me with HSK5 level vocab, with 4+ new words per sentence. This was obviously frustrating. I had to delete the app and re-download it to choose "understand sentences" but then it was HSK 1-2 and so simple like "what do you like to eat?"

I even went to the highest level right before "intermediate" started, and it was painfully easy. It literally jumps from "would you like brown shoes?" (hardest beginner level) to "you have to press the blue button on the screen in order to download the regulatory file into the database" (first intermediate level).

That's absolutely preposterous.

3. There is no way to review words from the lessons

They do have a vocab section, however it is simply flashcards with audio and they only teach you 4 words per section. Also, I could not find any HSK5 level words in the vocabulary section that corresponded with the level that I struggled with that was supposedly intermediate. The vocab sets seem completely separate from the lessons.

At the end of each lesson, it tells you which words you struggled the most with (which, again, might not be any new vocab at all and for me was often the easiest words like 好) but then... there is no way to review these words in the app? Especially if you're paying money, they should be able to make personalized flashcards for you with new words per level. Really, each level should have a set of vocab to learn before you go in trying to use them in conversation. But no, the only way to review the vocab is to do the lesson over again.

4. The goal isn't functionality, it's to perfectly mimic a bot

This is the main reason I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. The goal is to sound exactly like the bot does. This means perfect tones, no tone reductions/neutral tones, and awkward sentences structures. Using this app will not make you fluent in any way that's functional, in my opinion. It might be an okay supplement to practice speaking if you are already familiar with pinyin and tones well enough that you can tell if the bot is wrong. Because sometimes pronunciation and tones were wrong.

Functionally, there is nothing wrong with missing 1-2 tones in a long sentence, especially for beginner/intermediate learners. Functionally, it is not realistic for most learners to build or produce sentences that have 4+ HSK5 level words in them without first breaking down those new words. Functionally, a conversation where you are pretending to be a retail worker or gas station employee isn't really relevant—most learners are not learning the language so they can go work at a Chinese gas station. There are way more functional conversations that could include vocab about cars and clothing.

Basically, run for the hills with this one. If you're a high level but want to review easy sentences to practice pronunciation and muscle memory, maybe this might benefit you. Other than that, avoid like the plague.