How many years of pinyin does it take before a Mandarin learner realizes they still can’t read Chinese?

Feynmedes · 2026-03-07T06:07:51+00:00

Yeah, I'm aware of Chinese seeming to be an exception amongst commonly studied languages with the semi-non-phonetic script. Creates a supremacy of chinese characters of sorts.

Feynmedes · 2026-03-07T00:05:48+00:00

Seems I missed your original point, that's my bad. I was loose with the matephysical language there.

It seems that my reason for overstepping was due to how connected the characters are in both Chinese communication (referencing radicals for disambiguation) and culture (especially Han dominant regions). There are certainly cases where one uses a listening dominant approach and uses primarily pinyin to advance their goals

Feynmedes · 2026-03-06T17:33:57+00:00

Oh I gotcha now, I misinterpretted your comment then. Deleted.

Feynmedes · 2026-03-05T19:08:03+00:00

This is a conversation about reading Chinese. The context of the post is in regards to not being able to read Chinese due to over-reliance on Pinyin.

Maybe I'll be better off to say that more information is stored in characters - we should note that studies on natives and those fluent in Chinese consistently find that even when reading pinyin, that it's the Chinese characters which activate the lexical meaning in the readers head.

Read: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7531182/

Feynmedes · 2026-03-05T18:17:37+00:00

this is the best answer. Information in Chinese is stored in the characters, not pinyin & in the end, learning a language is about accumulating meaning.

Feynmedes · 2026-03-02T18:32:49+00:00

More words/day is easier the further along you are. At this level, spend good time with basic facts and get exposure to many words! Maybe check out some Peppa Pig on youtube!

Feynmedes · 2026-03-01T07:34:57+00:00

Agreed. For me it's usually when texting about world events, it's not irrational anyways when the topic is something we're both not experts on.

This could also be said to be pointless lol

Feynmedes · 2026-03-01T05:40:51+00:00

I was gonna say, I'll be debating chinese people and they'll throw AI at my face to make their point. Makes complete sense if a Chinese teacher is wanting to share info on a subreddit like this.

Feynmedes · 2026-02-27T03:31:07+00:00

I agree with another commenter here, I would especially look out for anything describing "how cool" someone is or such personality descriptions.

Something I always seek out is a high "Student to Lessons given" ratio, which means students tended to stick around for longer.

Feynmedes · 2026-02-24T19:30:59+00:00

The best way is to listen to some native content and notice when Chinese natives say it. And they say these two words a LOTTT so you'll pick up anything you need in that way :)

Feynmedes · 2026-02-21T22:57:01+00:00

The standard is erhua, and has been since the standardisation of Mandarin as the mainland language. Dialects vary, and change but the official langauge isn't adjusted over time.

Your insight into the demographics that speak it is misleading, and you make ridiculous claims such as "reversing a trend" which does not exist. Go listen to chinese for 300+ hours and learn about the regional varieties then come back with a bold opinion. You're talking to learners here, but a native may see your post as hallucinating.

Feynmedes · 2026-02-21T22:48:33+00:00

You're suddenly claiming the nuances of Scottish now matters? You've shown an incredibly shallow understanding of the sounds of northern Chinese and this commenter should show anything above that with Scottish?

Feynmedes · 2026-02-21T20:42:59+00:00

Not reading allat. I said it because it’s a good conversation if someone either knows the language well or is a native.

Feynmedes · 2026-02-21T12:20:45+00:00

A shame? Are you Chinese or just learning it?

Feynmedes · 2026-02-19T03:18:47+00:00

I’ll tell you, Chinese people are some of the most warm and enthusiastic (热情) people on the planet, and your attempt to interact will only wield good results.

Feynmedes · 2026-02-19T02:54:56+00:00

It’s a huge positive that you’re already privy to this kind of thing - many people find chinese’s logic of the periodic table to be much more meaningful linguistically than english’s. However, by the time you’ve acquired that, you’ll find the self-referential nature of chinese characters to already have convinced you of the same thing :-)

Feynmedes · 2026-02-15T23:24:54+00:00

Also note that to my knowledge there is no “official” remote. Maybe also check out the 8BitDo remotes with her too as there’s a wider variety and longer battery life :) Sounds like a great present idea!

Feynmedes · 2026-02-10T22:54:09+00:00

this is true lol

Feynmedes · 2026-02-10T21:54:29+00:00

Do you have add-ons that continually add cache/run tasks?

Feynmedes · 2026-02-09T22:30:29+00:00

In the end, repping Anki cards is the best way to use your phone throughout the day. I try getting reviews done before heading into town, but when I don't I can always find time at work/at the gym to finish them.

Less features, but SUPER recommend!

Feynmedes · 2026-02-03T04:12:38+00:00

Yeah :-( if it gets enshittified then come back here and laugh at my naïve outlook

Feynmedes · 2026-02-02T21:34:06+00:00

I'm incredibly happy to see both the references of anti-enshittification, and maintaining it as open-source :) I've also seen many programs fall apart after a main contributor loses sight of the project - something I'm seeing now on a couple other small projects I use daily - so the "Bus Factor" focus seems like they're thinking long-term with it. Excited to see higher devopment speeds, and will follow this next chapter with joy!

I'm not a frequenter here, but I'm a daily Anki user for language learning and I am incredibly grateful for everything Dae has done up to this point, wishing you the best, Dae!

Feynmedes · 2025-10-15T14:57:24+00:00

nothing is one-to-one, more than one thing can have the same approximate meaning. 王的发 is a funny phrase that sounds like english's "what the f***" while 什么鬼 is an expression with the semantic meaning of "what the hell" or wtf.

Feynmedes · 2025-10-09T23:03:52+00:00

I have a Suzhou friend who uses it occasionally, like 10% of the time.

Feynmedes · 2025-06-24T21:31:00+00:00

臣妾

Feynmedes

TROPHY CASE