Throwback: International relations words + How the internet has transformed how we learn Chinese
Note: Dear Reader, we hope that you enjoy this throwback issue of Giant Mandarin. When it comes to language learning, revision is crucial. What’s more, as a passion project, throwback issues help keep the show running. Thanks for reading and we’re looking forward to bringing you new content!
👋 Welcome to this week’s issue of the Giant Mandarin newsletter. This week I cover words on the topic of international relations. I also include my thoughts on how the internet has transformed how we learn Chinese.
🎯 Words
国际关系 guójì guānxi - international relations
国际 guójì - international 🌐
关系 guānxi - relationship; relations 🤝
国家 guójiā - country; nation
外交政策 wàijiāo zhèngcè - foreign policy
政策 zhèngcè - policy
外交关系 wàijiāo guānxì - foreign relations
外交 wàijiāo - (relating to) foreign affairs; diplomacy; diplomatic
外交事务 wàijiāo shìwù - foreign affairs
事务 shìwù - (foreign, political, business, economic and so on) affairs
贸易 màoyì - trade 📦
国际贸易 guójì màoyì - international trade
全球化 quánqiúhuà - globalization 🌏
国际组织 guójì zǔzhī - international organization
组织 zǔzhī - organisation; to organise
联合国 Liánhéguó - United Nations 🇺🇳
国际货币基金组织 Guójì Huòbì Jījīnzǔzhī - International Monetary Fund (IMF)
世界银行 World Bank - Shìjiè Yínháng
💭 Thoughts
The internet has transformed how we learn Chinese. Over the last two decades, the growing reach and capability of internet technologies has gradually but fundamentally changed how we are able to learn Chinese.
2002
In 2002, if you wanted to learn Chinese and to learn about China, then you would most likely go about it in a couple of ways:
👩🏫 You could find a Chinese teacher in the place that you lived, but that could be difficult depending on where you lived - and especially if you weren’t a student
📚 You could get a hold of books and courses, but would probably need to buy them from a brick-and-mortar store
🐼 You could watch some Chinese movies and TV shows, eat at some Chinese restaurants and shop at some Chinese grocery stores, but your options were probably quite narrow
In any case, you would probably need to put in a quite a bit - or a lot - of effort to get good Chinese language learning resources.
2022
In 2022, the internet has changed our access to language learning resources. Today’s Chinese language student has access to more resources than ever before:
👩🏫 You can now find a Chinese teacher online that’s a good fit for your learning style and do one-on-one classes from wherever you like
📚 You can now buy any Chinese textbook online and have it shipped to your door and have access to an ever-growing world of online course and learning materials - much of which is free
🐼 You can now watch thousands of Chinese movies and TV shows online and, particularly if you live in a major city, order from Chinese restaurants specialising in regional cuisines and Chinese grocery stores using your smartphone
We live in exciting times.
👀 Recommendations
italki (https://www.italki.com/), a popular language learning platform for finding teachers and tutors for one-on-one online classes.
What did you think of this week’s newsletter? Please get in touch to let us know what you think. I’ll read every message.
Thanks for reading and see you next Thursday!
Giant Mandarin (@GiantMandarin) is written by David Wu (@davidwuio).