Chinese speaking practice: language islands
Prepare answers to the questions people really ask you, then repeat them until they come out automatically. Each island has 8 everyday questions in Mandarin and English.
People
Core words
Home
Food
- Food & drink basics
- Breakfast
- Drinks
- At the coffee shop
- Tea
- Eating out
- At the table
- Chinese dishes
- Hotpot & barbecue
- Regional cuisines
- World cuisines
- Fast food
- Snacks & street food
- Desserts & sweets
- Fruit
- Vegetables
- Meat & seafood
- The kitchen
- In the fridge
- Cooking
- Cooking 2: prep & methods
- Seasonings & tastes
- Eating habits
Shopping
Getting around
Free time
Body & mind
Education
Work
World around us
Society & culture
Talk & social life
- Small talk
- Gossip & rumours
- Giving compliments
- Giving your opinion
- Agreeing & disagreeing
- Complaining & moaning
- Apologising & making excuses
- Asking for favours
- Saying no politely
- Giving advice
- Encouragement & cheering someone on
- Jokes & banter
- Teasing & roasting
- Filler words & sounding natural
- Exclamations & reactions
- Chinese internet slang
- Texting & WeChat chat
- Memes & viral phrases
- Telling a story
- Arguing & making up
- Annoyed & frustrated
- Congratulations & good wishes
- Happy birthday & birthday wishes
- Sympathy & condolences
- Saying goodbye & keeping in touch
Love & dating
- Flirting & rizz
- Pick-up lines & cheesy lines
- Texting your crush
- Dating apps
- First dates
- Cute, pretty & handsome
- Pet names & terms of endearment
- Saying I love you
- Being in a relationship
- Jealousy & couple fights
- Red flags & dating drama
- Breaking up & heartbreak
- Meeting the parents
- Long-distance relationships
- Proposals & engagement
- Married life
Film & TV
- Film genres
- TV show genres
- C-drama tropes
- Romance tropes
- Movie clichés & stock lines
- Horror films
- Superheroes & villains
- Action films & thrillers
- Comedies & sitcoms
- Anime & manga
- Variety & reality shows
- Binge-watching & streaming
- Reviews, ratings & spoilers
- Characters & plot
- Behind the camera
- Awards shows & the red carpet
Gaming
Sport & fitness
Living in China
Business Chinese
- Negotiating a deal
- Contracts & agreements
- Sourcing & suppliers
- Manufacturing & quality control
- Shipping & logistics
- Import, export & customs
- Invoices & payments
- Accounting & finance
- Marketing
- Sales & clients
- Selling online (e-commerce)
- Startups & investors
- Giving a presentation
- Business dinners & toasts
- Business etiquette
- Networking & guanxi
- HR & hiring
- Performance reviews & promotions
- Managing a team
- Office politics
- Quitting & resigning
- Legal matters & intellectual property
- Business email phrases
- Business phone calls
Money & tech
Events
- Canton Fair
- The Olympics
- The World Cup
- Football leagues
- Basketball leagues
- UFC & MMA
- Boxing
- Sumo
- Marathons
- Formula One
- Tennis Grand Slams
- The Super Bowl & American football
- Elections
- The gaokao (university entrance exam)
- New Year's Eve & Day
- New Year's resolutions
- Winter holidays & skiing
- Christmas
- Christmas dinner
- Christmas shopping & markets
- Secret Santa & office Christmas parties
- Company annual party (Nianhui)
- Halloween
- Valentine's Day & Qixi
- International Women's Day
- Mother's Day & Father's Day
- May Day Golden Week
- Children's Day
- Teachers' Day
- National Day Golden Week
- Lantern Festival
- Qingming Festival
- Spring Festival travel
- Chinese New Year's Eve dinner
- Red envelopes (hongbao)
- The Spring Festival Gala
- Chinese New Year greetings & wishes
- Chinese New Year customs & taboos
- Temple fairs
- Singles' Day (Double 11)
- Black Friday & the sales
- Thanksgiving
- Bonfire Night & fireworks
- Remembrance Day
- Winter Solstice (Dongzhi)
- Laba Festival
- Ramadan
- Eid al-Fitr
- Eid al-Adha
- Hajj
- Easter
- Diwali
- Buddha's Birthday (Vesak)
- Hanukkah