chinese serotonin

The color red in Chinese culture Colors have a different impact and meaning in every culture. In this case, red is one of the most important color in Chines culture, and it's even considered one of the three lucky colors in China (red, yellow and green). One clear example of its impact is: Chinese new Year, during this festivity all you will see is red and gold. The history of the color red in China  The color red can be traced back to ancient time. In the majority of the caves drawings found, the color red was prevalent, one clear example of this is the Buddhist art in the Cave temples of Dunhuang. It's also said that early pottery, walls, and gates were also painted in the color red. There is not an exact period where the color red became so important. Nonetheless, there are still two myths that try to explain this phenomenon.  The first myth states that red became an auspicious color during the Han Dynasty  It is believed that the first emperor of the Han dynasty was t...

 Learn Chinese through YouTube  Currently, there are so many different resources to learn Chinese, but the one resource I really recommend, because of its accessibility and variety is: YouTube. On YouTube, you can find endless Chinese lessons which is something really helpful, on the other hand it can also be overwhelming, because there are so many options that you simply don't know which video to watch.  Before choosing from which channel to learn from, the first thing you need to take into consideration which study plan do you want to follow: The HSK, TOCFL, are you looking for classes for everyday use, for travel, etc. YouTubers I recommend for the HSK   LichaoChinese : This channel has quite a range of lessons. He teaches from the HSK1 up to lesson 3 of the HSK 4. He mainly focuses on the readings passages (which not a lot of channels do), he gives an explanation and analyzes the grammar, in addition he also gives some examples of how to use the vocabulary and e...

The 把 structure The reason behind why you need he 把 structure The 把 structure is mostly used to add emphasis, the emphasis is added in the verb/result as it changes their usual position. This structure can be quite confusing, because in most western languages we don't have a structure that is remotely similar, so there is not a direct translation.  Even though this structure is quite hard, it's also really important, in my opinion it is fundamental. In addition, you will encounter this structure early on in your language journey. In my case I learned this structure in the GoChinese 400, and I'm also I'm pretty sure it's part of the HSK 3 coursework. What is the infamous 把 structure?  This structure is quite strict, from what I have learned up to now, the 把 structure never changes. It always follows its original pattern, which is : Subject+把+Object+Verb+ Result   The main uses of the 把 structure: 1)To emphasize that an action has finished Subject+把+Object+Verb+好了/忘了 ...

 Streaming Services A streaming service is an on demand online entertaining source for TV shows and movies. The most famous ones are: Netflix, HBO, Disney +, etc. But when you are learning Chinese, it is a bit difficult to find content in these platforms. That's why it's important to start using different streaming services, in addition some Chinese streaming services have a lot of free shows, so it's not necessary to pay a subscription fee. Streaming Services with a lot of Chinese shows  RakutenViki : This platform has a lot of East Asian shows, so you can find dramas in Thai, Japanese, Korean, and the most important in our case: Chinese. Another great thing about this platform is that it has a learning mode, which allows you to have subtitles in Chinese and in English, but it's important to mention that not all shows have this mode. For this platform it is not necessary to pay a subscription fee, because a lot of shows are free, but you will have to watch some commerc...

 All about remembering vocabulary  The importance of vocabulary  Apart from the basic skills that we need to learn a language (reading, writing, listening and speaking), there are also two other aspects: grammar and vocabulary. These two are important, because they are what a language is made up, and to improve our basic skills, we first need to have a certain understanding of this two.  As we improve our knowledge and have more and more vocabulary in each level, there will be a point where you start to forget vocabulary, whether it is because of lack of interaction or simply bad memory, this is something inevitable, but don't give up just yet, because we can find ways to reduce this. How to remember vocabulary  The first thing you need to take into consideration is that what is well learnt is not easily forgotten, so when you are learning vocabulary don't only focus on the character and the translation, you should also try to create sentences this way you can s...

 Podcast Recommendation Improving your listening Listening is a skill that is mainly acquired by practice and exposure to a language, this can be done in many ways like: Music, Shows, AudioBooks, etc. in your target language, but the one I most enjoy are: podcasts. Podcasts are a great way to acquire new vocabulary and train your ear, another great thing about them is that they are free. Why I prefer podcasts The reason I think podcast are so beneficial, is because you can hear real people talking, which is quite helpful, because you can train your ear to be able to understand the speed in which native speaker's talk, and you can also get used to different speech mannerism.  The reason I don't prefer other methods, in songs people don't tend to focus on pronunciations, so it can be a bit harder to understand them. In shows and movies the actors tend to speak a bit slower and the pronunciation is a bit different, because the actor is trying to deliver a certain emotion while...

Cartoons in Chinese  There are a lot of different methods to improve your reading and listening, and one of them is through Cartoons. Cartoons tend to use a simpler vocabulary, because for most of them their target audience are kids.  This method can help anyone, at whichever level you are, the only thing that changes is the type of cartoons that will benefit you. Where to find them You can watch them in platforms like: WeTV or IQIYI, but most of the cartoons in those platforms are Anime, which is a bit harder than normal cartoons, because their target audience is much older. If you are a beginner or intermediate learner (like me) I recommend you to watch children's cartoons, the main place where you can find them is on YouTube. Cartoons on YouTube for beginner level  Peppa Pig: This show is one of the most recommended in the Chinese learning community. The dialogues tend to be quite simple, because the plot is based in a child's life. There are two YouTube channels I rec...