r/Chinese

I recently tried looking for name options to go with my surname, 林. I’ve settled on that surname, but I haven't found a first name I like yet. Not even the ones my teacher suggested.

The options I'm considering move away from a purely "phonetic" approach, but i do want it to approach the meaning "to be loved".

The first option my teacher thought was good was 悦宁, but I didn't really like it; I didn't feel it suited me or reflected the true meaning of "Amanda."

So, I went looking for others.

What do yall think of:
林慕爱
林婉爱
or
林爱美

Just received a license plate number 398, so what is the meaning of this number. I couldn’t find information in the internet somewhere.

I know 98 means Good Morning sound like “zao an”, but 398 maybe different story.

Thx in advance 🙏

https://preview.redd.it/1hkq70wfoikh1.png?width=745&format=png&auto=webp&s=1fe5074827f6c3521cee68689d53beb7b2475c51

大家好!

I built an app for learning and practicing Chinese and you can download it on the Google Play Store today!

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Learn Chinese with Balik: Learn Languages today!

My English name translates to Chinese but it gets mistaken VERY often for 拉拉 (lesbian)... since it's only a letter different in English. So should I have a Chinese name for myself or should I just deal with it?

Hi everyone! I'm from China and I've been building a completely free language-learning community called Naoii.

The idea is simple: learners can post something they actually want to say, get corrections and more natural alternatives from other users, understand why a correction sounds better, and save useful expressions for later review.

Since I'm a native Chinese speaker, I'd especially love to invite some Mandarin learners to try it. I'm also happy to personally help with grammar, vocabulary, natural wording, tone, slang, or questions like “Is this correct, and would a Chinese person actually say it this way?”

Right now I'm mainly looking for honest feedback about the idea and the experience.

If you'd like to try it, leave a comment or send me a DM and I'll share the link. It's completely free.

Hi everyone, I know this may sound stupid but please just bear with me.
I am currently living in America but moving near the end of August to Beijing to start my masters program at Peking. I speak some mandarin, but my program is fully in English as well (although I plan on taking extra mandarin courses.)
I know this is silly but I want a social media bio that gives cool girl energy in mandarin and one that would make sense among Chinese students as well.
My current bio for most platforms is literally just “enthusiast of many things” and I’m just looking for something fresh and new lol.
Thanks!

Hi! I’m a foreigner learning Chinese and I chose the name 沈澜清 (Shěn Lánqīng) for myself.

I’ve heard it’s a good idea to ask native Chinese speakers about Chinese names, so I wanted to get some opinions 😂 Does it sound natural? Does the combination of characters make sense, and what kind of impression does it give you?

Any honest feedback is appreciated!

I built a Mandarin pronunciation trainer.

You say a word, and it tells you specifically what was off. Not a score, but feedback like "you didn't rise, tone 2 must finish higher than it started" or "that x sounded like sh, keep the tongue flat." It grades tones and consonants separately against 460 native speakers, handles tone sandhi (so it won't mark a correct 你好 wrong), and shows your pitch curve against the native range so you can see the gap. Any one or two-syllable word works, and most have native audio to compare yourself against.

https://preview.redd.it/3x7tlow8dsih1.png?width=2574&format=png&auto=webp&s=c15b799e3d8d690c74066d692118cf94891f4158

It's a beta, so it will sometimes be wrong. There's a feedback box at the bottom of the page, and I read everything that comes through it. Recordings are stored (with your consent) to improve the grader.

https://tonedrill.com

I've got this idea for a cafe to play Mahjong at, obviously with a twist but as I believe this is a really cool idea I'd hate for someone to take it. Since Mahjong as Chinese roots I'm thinking about having the cafe themed a bit that way as I believe that I could also share history about mahjong and hopefully some about just Chinese culture but as I'm white I don't at all want to offend anyone or come off the wrong way so I've come here to see if it would be ok with you guys. Obviously if it is I'm going to look into the history of everything very deeply before actually making/building the business.