Important Holidays in China: Celebrations, Traditions, and Dates Compared to many nations, China's holiday calendar revolves less around commemorating wars won and past leaders' deeds and more around cultural values. Throughout the year, Chinese people have days reserved to venerate their ancestors, celebrate legends, and hail the promise of a bright future. The only wholly[…]
25 May 2026∙7 minutes to read
Profiles of Renowned Chinese Figures Throughout History Get ready to travel back in time. Discover more about China's history through our list of the most famous Chinese people. Through this comprehensive guide, discover notable Chinese personalities, spanning from the best martial arts actors to famous entrepreneurs, who have shaped China's rich history. Discover who the most[…]
11 March 2026∙7 minutes to read
Best Way to Learn Chinese by Yourself Thanks to popular media, such as TV shows, movies, and video games, learning Mandarin Chinese on your own is now more feasible and useful than ever! Streaming platforms in the UK offer a vast collection of Mandarin-language material. With the help of these tools, you may improve your[…]
11 March 2026∙7 minutes to read
What Is My Chinese Zodiac Sign? To forget one's ancestors is to be a stream without a source, a tree without roots.Chinese Proverb In Western cultures, zodiac predictions or horoscopes — are commonly viewed as light-hearted guidance. In many Asian cultures, however, zodiac systems hold deeper cultural significance and are closely tied to personality traits[…]
17 December 2025∙26 minutes to read
Chinese New Year Traditions and Other Facts to Know 新年快乐! - xin nian kuai le! (Happy New Year!) Standard Chinese New Year Greeting Around the world, many countries enjoy celebrating two New Years. Yet, somehow, the Chinese New Year gets all the attention, and all the credit. Perhaps it's because China is home to such[…]
22 January 2025∙8 minutes to read
How to Navigate Essential Expressions in Mandarin Native English speakers enjoy a great privilege. English is the language of medicine, science, aviation and many other fields. Thus, practically every nation includes English language lessons in their schools' core curriculum. Almost everywhere you go, speakers of other languages (should) have no problem understanding you. On the[…]
10 January 2024∙7 minutes to read
Planning a Trip to Hong Kong “He who never leaves his country is full of prejudices.” - Carlo Goldoni The world is full of tourist destinations, but there are different places for different people. With its skyscrapers, shopping, nightlife, and unmissable sights, Hong Kong is a pretty versatile destination. This versatility is why most people[…]
28 May 2021∙7 minutes to read
The Enchanting Mythology of China For all that China is thought to be irreligious, the people have religious figures aplenty to pray to. Not just the Buddha or the practice of Taoism - or, for that matter, praying at a Confucian temple, either! The Chinese God in Heaven is an enduring folk tale. Nuwa, the[…]
28 February 2021∙7 minutes to read
A Guide for Those Learning How to Speak Cantonese. There are probably few things in the world to learn that have such an intimidating reputation as the Chinese languages. From the immediately completely unintelligible Chinese characters to the tonal elements of the spoken language, there are few other languages which are so notoriously different from[…]
30 September 2019∙7 minutes to read
How Do You Organise a Trip to China? “To Travel is to Live” - Hans Christian Andersen China’s much bigger than the UK and it attracts millions of tourists every year. Even though 60% of the country is mountains, there are huge modern cities, the Yangtze River (which is nearly 4,000 miles long), and something[…]
29 July 2019∙7 minutes to read
Got Your Flights to Taipei? Here Are Our Unmissable Sights in Taiwan! “The man who seeks to educate himself must first read and then travel in order to correct what he has learned.” - Giacomo Casanova (1725-1798) Like many destinations in Asia, Taiwan is an island with a subtropical and tropical climate, a blend of[…]
29 July 2019∙6 minutes to read
The Tourist’s Guide to Shanghai in China Whether you’re travelling the world or just to China, Shanghai is an essential destination. The city of skyscrapers is home to 26 million people and is representative of China today: a mix of temples and traditional streets with modern buildings and business districts. Shanghai, much like Beijing, Nanjing,[…]
29 July 2019∙6 minutes to read
When Should You Visit Beijing? “The climate is what you expect; the weather is what you get.” If you’ve been looking at travel guides for information on travelling to Beijing for your next holidays, you’ll have probably seen that the best times to go are in spring or the month of September. Most people visit[…]
29 July 2019∙7 minutes to read
Master All The Grammatical Rules Of The Chinese Language When you decide to learn Chinese, you are normally thinking about the Mandarin language. Although we will refer to Mandarin and Chinese interchangeably within this article. There are actually 299 living Chinese languages in China, which is why Mandarin is called mandarin and not just Chinese.[…]
28 November 2018∙9 minutes to read
How Can You Prepare for Chinese HSK Exams? “Knowledge is having the right answer. Intelligence is asking the right question.” - Unknown According to a study on Chinese language teaching, there are around 30 million people in the world learning Chinese. When we say Chinese, we mean Mandarin Chinese, one of the many Chinese languages[…]
19 November 2018∙7 minutes to read
How can you Recognise the Different Types of Chinese? “If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart.” - Nelson Mandela If there’s a language that makes you want to travel, makes you want to[…]
11 October 2018∙7 minutes to read
Different Ways to Teach Children Mandarin Chinese “A different language is a different vision of life.” - Federico Fellini Children need to enjoy learning a new language. It’s unlikely that a child will see the worth in learning Chinese for their future career. That said, an increasing number of teens are opting to do Chinese[…]
2 October 2018∙6 minutes to read
What You Need to Know if You Want to Teach Chinese There are 1.3 billion Chinese speakers, China is the 2nd world power, There are approximately 3.8 million Chinese people in the United States, Chinese is the 5th most learned foreign language (Mandarin Chinese)... For academic, professional, and even cultural reasons, every year, more and[…]
20 February 2018∙7 minutes to read
Become a Master of Writing Chinese Characters For those who use the Latin Alphabet on a daily basis, learning to write Chinese characters can be really complicated. While China has made efforts to make the language more accessible to those in the West, it still remains a challenge for anyone wanting to travel to China, participate[…]
20 February 2018∙7 minutes to read
Why Learn Mandarin, the Language of Confucius To demonstrate their open-mindedness and discover a mysterious language, more and more British students are taking to learn Chinese, one of the most practiced languages in schools! A craze which is understandable given Chinese culture, but also because of it's very particular linguistic system. By hiring a private[…]
14 February 2018∙7 minutes to read
What Is the Price of Learning Chinese with a Tutor? In 2012, some 40,000 Chinese immigrants came to Great Britain. They number between 300,000 and 500 000 currently living in England alone, from all walks of life. These numbers bring us to the heart of this article: with almost half-a-million native Chinese with Mandarin or[…]
29 November 2017∙7 minutes to read
Which Chinese Language Learning Apps are Best? While going to the country where the language is spoken is almost always the best way to learn Chinese, your language-learning desire can sometimes be trumped by simply lacking the funds or means to travel and learn through immersion. However, a problem that often gets overlooked by both students[…]
17 November 2017∙7 minutes to read
Dive into the Heart of Learning Chinese Multilingualism... A question a lot of expats ask before moving to China is “Should I learn Mandarin or Cantonese?” Sadly, given how complicated the Chinese languages can be, this question doesn’t have a simple answer. However, it does have an interesting one that we're going to have a[…]
17 November 2017∙7 minutes to read
Ways to Learn Chinese Learning Chinese is an ambitious process. While some people might be shocked by your decision, you should definitely go for it! Stay motivated and do everything in your power to ensure that your language learning is as effective as possible. Mandarin Chinese, after all, isn’t a simple language to learn. Although[…]
13 November 2017∙7 minutes to read
Is Chinese A Difficult Language to Learn?
Mandarin Chinese is said to be one of the most difficult languages to learn.
First of all, you will need to go through an initial learning phase: memorise the Chinese Pinyin alphabet, in other words, the phonetic alphabet. This will allow you to begin to familiarise yourself with the sounds of the Chinese language (including the four tones).
You can then start by saying short phrases to introduce yourself in Chinese from the very first lesson.
You will also need to learn Chinese calligraphy to write your first Chinese characters. With well-made cards, it will be easier. You can then see the Chinese character, its pronunciation and the translation.
Good news for the learner: there is no conjugation, gender or plurals in Chinese. Only the subject changes in a Chinese sentence.
On the other hand, as mentioned above, Chinese is a tonal language. The pronunciation and the tone used influence the meaning of the words.
So this is where you will need help!
Taking private lessons in Chinese with a native teacher will help perfect your Chinese speaking skills. A native tutor will teach you all the subtleties of the language and share with you their knowledge of Chinese culture, including traditions, lifestyle, and art.
Language and culture are inseparable and will help you in your language learning.
Search for experienced Chinese tutors in London.
Reasons to Take Chinese Lessons
Do you want to learn Chinese quickly?
Are you thinking of visiting China, working in China, or doing a language study trip?
You will need patience and perseverance. Group lessons, evening classes, intensive courses, language school, conversation classes… The introduction to Chinese can take different forms, but Chinese lessons will not be enough if you do not use your new knowledge and practise daily.
How to Boost Your Chinese Learning?
With beginner-level lessons, your teacher can tailor the lessons to suit you and your needs.
Personalised courses allow you to concentrate on your specific difficulties and personal progression, saving valuable time.
To accompany your Chinese lessons on a daily basis, diversify your tools!
Chinese online courses, Chinese dictionaries, audio files and mobile apps will help you to develop your language skills in their entirety (expression and listening as well as writing).
When visiting China, you will need to immerse yourself in the heart of the country, rub shoulders with natives, make friends, and even take cultural trips like walking the Great Wall of China.
You can quickly enrich your Chinese vocabulary, but also discover other dialects on your travels. China has many languages including Cantonese, Mandarin and the lesser known, Wu and Min, for example. Travelling is also an opportunity to take calligraphy courses and learn all about Chinese ancestral art.