Image explanation: 权力的游戏 means Game of Thrones, the popular American fantasy drama series, that is actually translated as "Game of Power" in Chinese.
- 权力 quánlì: power (hsk 5, more about 权力)
- 的 de: of (hsk1, 的)
- 游戏 yóuxì: game (hsk 3, 游戏)
Are you fan of television series? If yes, that's good news then. If not, it is still time to watch the most amazing ones, like Game of Thrones, or House of Cards, and change your mind about.
Why? Here are the facts:
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we love American series but feel guilty not watching enough Chinese ones.
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we dream to improve our Chinese reading skills, but we sometimes do read again and again the same text books, or non-bilingual online texts.
To get the best of both: watch American series, with English audio, and Chinese subtitles.
Thanks to this, you will be able to enjoy the action, understand what is going on, while reading a lot of Chinese, picking up here and there words and characters you understand. For the words you think are of interest, just press "pause" and reach out your favorite Chinese dictionary and keep learning. It's exciting. It pays off.
Can you read the Mandarin subtitles? In one simple sentence here, Daenerys was able to use one word from each HSK level! Click on words or characters to access audio:
你 把 我 的_ 秘密 出卖 给 杀 死 我 父亲 的_ 人_
- 你 nǐ: you (informal) (hsk 1, 你)
- 把 bǎ: to hold (hsk 3, 把)
- 我 wǒ: I (hsk 1, 我)
- 的 de: of (hsk 1, 的_)
- 秘密 mìmì: secret (hsk 5, 秘密)
- 出卖 chūmài: to offer for sale (hsk 6, 出卖)
- 给 gěi: to (someone) (hsk 2, 给)
- 杀 shā: to kill (hsk 5, 杀)
- 死 sǐ: to die (hsk 4, 死)
- 我 wǒ: my (hsk 1, 我)
- 父亲 fùqīn: father (hsk 4, 父亲)
- 的 de: of (hsk 1, 的_)
- 人 rén: man / person (hsk 1, 人_)
See how quickly you can review characters and words whatever your level.
Beyond just watching, you can also find multiple ways to leverage your interest for series. For instance, you could discover amazing parallels between the stories of Game of Thrones and Chinese history. Watch this:
Also, the more you will make progress, the more you will be able to read the original books of the series. When will you be able to read George R.R. Martin's best-selling 'A Song of Ice and Fire' series, translated in Chinese? We hope soon!
Keep enjoying your learning experience of Chinese, diversify your sources and look for untapped ones! 加油!