Posts on Mandarin Notebook

Using 会 to express ability and possiblity and using 了 to express change of state.

Fri, 12 Jun 2026 08:49:00 +0000

Some grammar studies to start the day. 我和一杯咖啡。

会 + verb indicates ability gained through learning， or that something might happen.

我会说汉语。他会做饭。他回家的时候会买一个蛋糕。

不会 indicating something won’t happen

他今天不会来这儿。我会在机场等你。明天会很冷吗。

Explaining the background image // 青绿山水 (Blue-green shan shui)

Thu, 11 Jun 2026 23:39:00 +0000

I discovered this very attractive blue and green style of landscape painting. There are quite a few examples that are still vibrant in colour, given that the pigments used were actually made from minerals. A thousand years later, the colours still vibrantly pinging off the page.

The image here is a detail from Thousand Miles of Mountains and Rivers (千里江山图) painted by Wang Ximeng (王希孟). You can see an interactive version here.

The Beauty of Hanzi // Countdown to Beijing

Thu, 11 Jun 2026 18:00:00 +0100

Grammar Logs #1: Mastering duration complements before taking off.

2026-06-05

Thu, 04 Jun 2026 00:35:00 +0000

Grammar and Vocabulary: Making comparisons using 比.

Phrases: 桌子比椅子高.
我的杯子比他的小.
这个商场比哪个漂.
这个酒店比哪个酒店好.
这儿的天气比那儿的冷.
明天比今天热.

你会说汉语吗

Tue, 12 May 2026 00:29:00 +0000

你会说汉语吗？

Still practising my writing!

我会说一点儿汉语。

我也会说做中国菜。饺子特别好吃！

我较了我中国的老公做饺子。

我包的饺子比我中国老公还好。

一只猫

Sun, 12 Apr 2026 00:26:00 +0000

这张照片是我们的猫。它叫 Lily，也可以叫它小莉。它的毛有白色、黑色，还有棕色。它是特别可爱。

你家有几口人?

Thu, 12 Mar 2026 00:28:00 +0000

我家有四口人：

我，我老公，我妈妈，我外婆。

还有我们的猫，它叫小莉。

我们都喜欢一起去饭店吃饭。

Uploaded my handwriting, as I’m forcing myself to write more, helps learn the strokes for the hanzi!

大家好

Tue, 03 Mar 2026 00:13:00 +0000

我是大学生。我在 University of Strathclyde 学习中文。这张照片是我和我的朋友。我是苏格兰人，他是中国人。我们住一起在爱丁堡。