A short post about Christmas in Chinese! Christmas is not a national holiday in China, nor is it widely celebrated as a religious festival there (although there are Chinese Christians who will celebrate it as such). It’s most celebrated as a commercial holiday. One way that people celebrate Christmas is by gifting apples, often with messages carved into them or with decorations. I’ve attached some images below! This is because of a play on words, which are very common in Mandarin!: 平安夜 píng ān yè = peaceful night = Christmas Eve. 苹果 píng guǒ = apple. Both characters for píng in these words shared the same component 平. (The one in apple just has the ‘grass’ radical on top of it too). These Christmas apples are known as 平安果 (Peace apples). Some other Christmas key words: 过 guò - to pass/celebrate 庆祝 qìng zhù - to celebrate 圣诞节 shèng dàn jié - Christmas 祝你 zhù nǐ - wish you 圣诞快乐 shèng dàn kuài lè - Christmas happy > Happy Christmas 和家人一起 hé jiā rén yī qǐ - with family 送礼物 sòng lǐ wù - give presents/gifts 吃圣诞大餐 chī shèng dàn dà cān - eat Christmas dinner 教堂 jiào táng - church So, to everyone celebrating Christmas, 我祝你们 圣诞快乐！🎄🎉

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谢谢大家！Thank you to everyone who joined us for the session today! @Lina Nang @Lavanya Karthik @Ionut Diaconu @Ewelina Pietkiewicz @Jessica Barten @Amanda Smith @Hadjar Haddou We talked a lot in Mandarin and practiced lots of different topics including: 1. Describing yourself - different adjectives + structures to build more complex sentences. 2. Describing hair + eyes, using colours (including 2 different ways to structure those sentences). 3. Describing what you like + dislike, and why. The notes from the session are attached below. Please use them to practice if you wish! Also, feel free to comment with a sentence using some words / grammar we learnt and practiced today. 下次见！ See you next time!

Welcome to Trusty Chinese, I’m so glad you’re here. This is a calm, supportive space for beginners and early learners who want to actually speak Mandarin, not just memorise words. You don’t need to be “good at languages." You don’t need lots of time. You just need the right structure and consistency. This community is here to help you: - Build real, usable Mandarin - Speak with more confidence - Stop feeling overwhelmed by too much content - Follow a clear learning path, step by step ✅ Your First Steps (Please Do These First) 1️⃣ Watch the Welcome video below. This shows you how to use the community, courses, and calls properly. 2️⃣ Introduce yourself below 👇Just a few lines is perfect: - Your name - Your current Mandarin level (total beginner is welcome!) - Your main goal with Mandarin 3️⃣ Join a free Mandarin practice call. We run regular live sessions where you can practise speaking in a relaxed way. No pressure, cameras optional — everyone is welcome. ⭐ Want More Support? (Reach your goals faster) Some members want extra structure, guidance, and speaking practice. To really boost their learning. For those learners, I also offer a Premium tier with: - Guided speaking classes - Structured video courses (including the 7 Power Verbs strategy) - Extra learning resources and personal support from me  If you’re curious, you can learn more here: 👉 https://www.skool.com/trustychinese/plans Book a free 1:1 call with me we’ll see if it’s the right fit: https://calendly.com/trustychinese/15-minute-intro-meeting I’m really happy you’re here! I look forward to talking with you. — Natasja

Hi everyone! I’ve been working on something really valuable that will help everyone with their learning. I have created a ‘Mandarin Weekly Focus Checklist.’ 👉 https://trusty-weekly-flow.lovable.app It's a Weekly Checklist that gives Mandarin learners a clear process to work toward fluency, one week at a time. This will help people with busy lives, who don't feel they have enough time to make the progress they want with learning Mandarin. The Checklist is something you can go back to weekly, and update. Making sure that even the smallest amount of practice daily is all it takes to make progress, week on week. The Checklist will also help you keep up good habits, and build consistency. Please take a look and let me know your thoughts, I think this will be really helpful for a lot of you! If you have any questions please just ask :) P.S - You can also find it in the "classroom" section tab, at the top. This is where it will stay so you can find it.