13 TV-series to learn Chinese [1 of 2]

Hey there, Is learning Mandarin Chinese through TV too good to be true? Well, think about it. If the plot is good, the cast attractive, and the narrative well paced, before long, it’s not just a matter of learning Chinese any longer… you’re suddenly motivated to learn Chinese just to understand what’s going on! But if you haven’t really watched Chinese TV before, how do you know where to get started? What should you watch? In this post, I want to share with you my top techniques for learning Mandarin Chinese by watching TV, as well as my list of top 13 Chinese shows for learning Chinese. How to Learn Mandarin Chinese through TV So, first things first. How do you actually learn Chinese through TV? It’s not enough to just soak up the vocabulary. Using a film to [improve your Chinese]( means watching it actively rather than just sitting back and enjoying. If you hear an unfamiliar word, write it down. Make sure you look up the words in a good dictionary and then review them on a regular basis. This is an effective approach, but like many real things in life, it is going to take time and energy. If you’d like to be even more efficient with this, you might want to check out [FluentU, our site for learning Chinese through videos.]( [FluentU]( was designed to address exactly this problem. FluentU brings together great videos for learning Chinese in one convenient place. It also provides interactive transcripts and a video player designed for learning Chinese. (if you don't see a picture, click "show external images") It tops this off with a review system which takes full advantage of the massive video library. And FluentU remembers your progress in learning vocab and uses it to recommend content from the rest of the FluentU library,[which includes real-world videos like movie trailers, commercials, news, and inspiring talks.]( How We Picked TV Shows for Learning Chinese Okay, next, you might be thinking—what was my criteria for picking? First of all, it had to strike a balance between being a good quality drama to watch and being a show where you can actually learn Chinese. In order to do this, I tried to gauge these dramas on a difficulty scale, and I used the idea of assigning difficulty based on genres. Specifically, I’ve divided the 13 Chinese TV shows into three distinct categories of increasing difficulty: romance, family and Imperial. In my personal experience, TV shows in the romance genre are the easiest to understand. And if you think about it, it kind of makes sense, doesn’t it? Between lovers and couples, only the simplest of words are necessary to express your emotions and thoughts, which really fall under the scope of questions like "what’s happening in life," "how’re you feeling" and "what would you like to do." The result? Simple, easy to understand language. On top of that, variety talk shows / game shows are also pretty good to start with. Apart from the occasional joke where I just don’t get the humor, conversations between the hosts and the guests are usually light, entertaining and simple enough to understand. Family oriented themes are a tad bit harder, the conversations are still colloquial, but occasionally, when someone throws in a philosophical discussion or something, some esoteric Chinese expression might come up that you might never hear again. (Or maybe you will!) Finally, where can we be without our Imperial dramas? Of the three, Imperial dramas are undoubtedly the most difficult to understand. There are often idioms thrown into the mix, and sometimes, you simply won’t know a lot of these words, because Imperial dramas are based in ancient China, where classical Chinese is used. Of course, for modern interpretations on screen, modern Chinese is used, but not without throwing in an idiom here and there first. Also, I tried to be realistic. Unfortunately, even if you watch the simplest types of TV shows, you will have to have a certain proficiency in Chinese before being able to understand what’s going on. Because of that, I have to recommend that your proficiency be intermediate (you have a good range of basic words in Chinese) before watching these shows. Otherwise, you’ll be struggling to even understand basic sentence structure, basic vocabulary—which defeats the purpose of learning some Chinese and actually enjoying the drama at the same time. Learning Chinese through TV shows is not for the faint of heart—but it’s certainly fun when you have a good Chinese foundation. With that said, here’s my top 13 TV shows to learn Chinese with. Let’s dive straight in. The Ultimate Guide to Learning Chinese through TV Shows 4 Great Romance TV Shows to Learn Chinese å‘½ä¸­æ³¨å®šæˆ‘çˆ±ä½ The story starts by introducing us to a plain Taiwanese girl who works in a plain office with plain looks with a plain personality, and even a plain name (陈欣怡). She falls in love with another fellow office worker, but who is really only taking advantage of her by using her, having her clean his home, pay his bills and so forth. Ignorant of this, she goes on a trip with him on a cruise and one night, accidentally goes to the wrong room and sleeps with the wrong guy. After clearing the misunderstanding, and praying that they’ll never meet again, 欣宜 returns to her old life. Little does she know that months after, she will be pregnant with that stranger’s baby, who happens to be the owner and CEO of a large public company she works for… Watch as the series of missteps, misunderstandings and reluctance blossoms into a story of real love in the unlikely turn of events. A romance drama which is also incredibly funny…highly recommended! 下一站，幸福 A touching love story which starts off with the main character, 任光晞, a son from a wealthy family, materialistically well off, but spiritually empty, who passes every day without much purpose. After witnessing his own parents’ failed marriage when he is a child, he bears a deep mistrust for women until one day, he meets a simple delivery girl, 梁慕橙, who also has a complicated past. She comes from a wealthy family who later goes bankrupt, leaving her to do odd jobs on her side to survive. Through a series of frequent encounters, the pair falls in love. Having found someone he can confide in and genuinely connect with, 光晞 overcomes his distrust of women. Just as love permeates through the air, a routine medical exam reveals a brain tumour in 光晞’s brain. Through a series of events, he miraculously gets better, but at a heavy price: the love between 光晞 and 慕橙 vanishes into nothingness from a bout of amnesia after being operated on. The real love story begins. é†‰åŽå†³å®šçˆ±ä¸Šä½ A story about a hidden romance between a an architect, 宋修杰, and a celebrity, 艾薇, where the latter wishes to keep the relationship quiet, to the increasing dissent of the boyfriend. One day, a hotel room service representative stumbles upon them and helps them out of a tight spot by pretending to be the architect’s secret lover in front of the paparazzi, allowing 艾薇 to slip discreetly out of the room. After the incident is publicised across tabloid magazines, 艾薇 proposes that they continue this "fake marriage" until she finishes her current film work, after which she will be ready to accept 修杰’s advances. A very interesting and comedic love triangle, where an unlikely relationship develops between the simple hotel clerk and the famed architect… 巨轮 A Hong Kong drama that tells the story of a pair of half-brothers born in Hong Kong, but due to the mother losing her temper and tearing up the elder brother’s birth certificate, both brothers have no choice but to follow her back to FoShan, where her mother comes from. In the 1980s, they become stowaways on a journey to Hong Kong, but become separated along the way. The older brother manages to reach Hong Kong, while the younger brother reaches Macau with his father and mother. With the determination of realizing their dreams and making a name of themselves, they work hard, the older brother later becomes a Hong Kong policeman and the younger brother starts a snacks shop that is growing increasingly successful. Through a series of circumstances, the estranged brothers are finally able to reunite, and they rejoice at being able to become family again. Just as things are sailing smoothly, the older brother makes a series of bad decisions and lands himself in a precarious position, and is in the verge of losing everything in his life that he fought for. We'll send you the rest of the tips next week, but if you want to learn with video in the easiest way, we recommend you try [FluentU](. FluentU takes real-world Chinese videos—like [music videos, movie trailers, documentaries, news and inspiring talks]( turns them into personalized language learning lessons. It’s an entertaining method to immerse yourself in Chinese the way native speakers really use it, while actively building your vocabulary. FluentU has a wide range of contemporary videos, as you can see here: Don’t worry about your skill level being an issue when it comes to understanding the language: FluentU makes native Chinese videos approachable through interactive transcripts and subtitles. You’ll see definitions, in-context usage examples and helpful illustrations. Simply tap "add" to send interesting vocabulary words to your personal vocab list for later review. The powerful learning program turns every video into a language learning lesson. You can always swipe left or right to see more examples for the word you’re learning. The powerful learning program turns every video into a language learning lesson. You can always swipe left or right to see more examples for the word you’re learning. The best part is that FluentU always keeps track of your vocabulary. It suggests content and examples based on the words you’re learning. You’re delivered a 100% personalized experience. [Try it now with a 14-day free trial!]( [Get started with FluentU]( What do you think about FluentU's emails? [Thumbs up]( [Thumbs down](  Copyright © 2018 FluentFlix Limited, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you opted in via our website, blog, or app. Our mailing address is: Enux Education Limited 21st Floor, Yat Chau Building Sheung Wan Hong Kong [unsubscribe from this list](  [update subscription preferences](