🧾 Intro / Reflection
This week wasn’t super difficult for Mandarin, but I made some careless mistakes; mixed up words, forgot vocab, small spelling errors, and that cost me the test. I was close to passing, but not quite there.
A good example: I kept mixing up je ge and zhe ge for “this” in English. Just sloppy mistakes, but I know I can clean that up.
I’ll be more careful this week, review my notes properly, and I’m confident I’ll pass the retest, even with completely different questions, I know the vocab for this rank now.
Still grinding beermoney apps to make money online while I study. Progress feels slow when you’re stuck on the same rank, but at least I’m stacking a little cash on the side. 👇
💸 Earn While You Learn
I like to stack beermoney while I study languages, most of these apps are super low-effort and just give me a nice bonus on top of learning. It’s not job-replacement money, but it adds up, especially since I’ve become more introverted. 👇
💸 Beermoney Earnings – July
🎮 Justplay: $181.55
📝 Paidviewpoint: $62.85
📱 Inboxdollars: $25.00
📱 Surveyjunkie: $25.00
📱 Qmee: $20.00
📱 App Karma: $50.00
💰 Total: $364.40
👉 See my full earnings report
📚 What I Learned This Rank
✅ Bronze 4
| Category | Covered |
|---|---|
| Shopping phrases | ❌ |
| Directions | ❌ |
| Plans | ✅ |
| Clarifications | ❌ |
| Future tense | ✅ |
| Common prepositions | ✅ |
| Polite forms | ✅ |
🧠 Examples of What I Can Say Now
- Zhège duōshǎo qián? – How much is this?
- Qǐngwèn, Wǒ zěnme qù shāngdiàn? – Excuse me, how do I get to the store?
- Míngtiān wǒ yào qù mǎi Shuǐguǒ – tomorrow I will go buy fruit
📝My Mandarin notes
🛒 Shopping Phrases
- Zhège duōshǎo qián? — How much is this?
- Tài guì le — Too expensive
- Yǒu méi yǒu piányi yīdiǎn de? — Do you have something cheaper?
- Wǒ yào zhège — I want this one
- Bù yào — I don’t want it
- Kěyǐ shuākǎ ma? — Can I use a card?
- Wǒ zhǐ yǒu xiànjīn — I only have cash
- Nǐmen yǒu méiyǒu zhè zhǒng? — Do you have this kind?
- Zhège yǒu bié de yánsè ma? — Does this come in another color?
🧭 Asking for Directions
- Qǐngwèn… — Excuse me…
- Wǒ zěnme qù…? — How do I get to…?
- Zhèlǐ — Here
- Nàlǐ — There
- Wǎng qián zǒu — Go forward
- Wǎng zuǒ guǎi — Turn left
- Wǎng yòu guǎi — Turn right
- Yìzhí zǒu — Go straight
- Zài nǎlǐ? — Where is it?
- Zài nà biān — It’s over there
- Jìn — Near
- Yuǎn — Far
- Zài lùkǒu — At the intersection
- Guò mǎlù — Cross the street
📅 Future Plans & Talking About Tomorrow
- Use “yào” (going to) or “huì” (will) to express the future
- Míngtiān wǒ yào qù xuéxiào — Tomorrow I’m going to school
- Wǒ huì chī wǎnfàn zài wàimiàn — I will eat dinner outside
- Xià gè xīngqī wǒ yào qù lǚxíng — Next week I’ll travel
- Nǐ jīntiān yào zuò shénme? — What are you going to do today?
- Wǒ yào xué zhōngwén — I’m going to study Chinese
- Tā huì lái ma? — Will he come?
- Wǒmen huì kàn diànyǐng — We will watch a movie
❓ Asking for Clarification
- Nǐ kěyǐ zài shuō yíbiàn ma? — Can you say it again?
- Nǐ kěyǐ shuō màn yīdiǎn ma? — Can you speak slower?
- Wǒ tīng bù dǒng — I don’t understand
- Zhè shì shénme yìsi? — What does this mean?
- Zhè zěnme shuō? — How do you say this?
- Nǐ huì shuō yīngwén ma? — Can you speak English?
✏️ Grammar Focus
🔮 Future Tense — No Verb Conjugation
- Wǒ yào chūqù — I’m going to go out
- Tā huì lái — He will come
- Wǒ huì shuō yìdiǎn zhōngwén — I will be able to speak a little Chinese
📍 Useful Prepositions
- Zài — At / On / In
- Dào — To (a place)
- Lí… yuǎn — Far from…
- Lí… jìn — Close to…
- Xiàng… — Toward
- Zài… pángbiān — Next to…
- Zài… hòubiān — Behind…
- Zài… qiánmiàn — In front of…
Examples:
- Zài chāoshì lǐ — Inside the supermarket
- Tā zài wǒ pángbiān — He’s next to me
- Wǒ yào qù xuéxiào — I’m going to school
🙏 Polite Phrases
- Qǐng — Please
- Qǐng bāng wǒ — Please help me
- Xièxiè — Thank you
- Bù kèqì — You’re welcome
- Duìbuqǐ — Sorry
- Méi guānxi — It’s okay / No problem
- Qǐngwèn — Excuse me (before asking a question)
🗣️ Real-Life Scenarios
🛍️ At a Store
- Nǐ hǎo, qǐngwèn zhège duōshǎo qián?
→ Hello, may I ask how much this is? - Tài guì le, yǒu piányi yīdiǎn de ma?
→ Too expensive. Do you have a cheaper one? - Wǒ yào zhège, kěyǐ shuākǎ ma?
→ I want this one. Can I pay with card?
🧭 Asking for Directions
- Qǐngwèn, zǒu dào dìtiě zhàn zěnme zǒu?
→ Excuse me, how do I walk to the subway station? - Yìzhí zǒu, ránhòu wǎng yòu guǎi
→ Go straight, then turn right.
📆 Making Plans
- Míngtiān wǒ yào qù chāoshì mǎi dōngxi
→ Tomorrow I’m going to the supermarket to buy things.
Xià xīngqī wǒ huì qù wàidì lǚxíng
→ Next week I’ll go travel out of town.
❌ Bronze 4 Mandarin Test Results
🟡 1. Future Plans
wo mingtian yao qu shangdian – ✅ Perfect
ta yao he jiaren chi wanfan – ✅ Perfect
women mingtian xiawu yao xue zhongwen – ✅ Great structure
✔️ Using “yao” for future intent — fully appropriate at this level. PASS
🟡 2. Shopping & Asking for Help
jege duo xiaoqian? – ❌ Minor corrections:
- “jege” → zhe ge
- “duo xiaoqian” → duo shao qian
✅ Corrected: zhe ge duo shao qian?
wo yao mai na ge – ✅
qing ni neng bang wo ma? – ✅ Solid polite ask
✔️ Small fix needed for that first one, but overall PASS
🟡 3. Directions & Prepositions
xishoujain zai toshugan de pangbian – ❌ Minor spelling issues:
- “xishoujain” → xishoujian (bathroom)
- “toshugan” → tushuguan (library)
✅ Corrected: xishoujian zai tushuguan de pangbian – structure is fine
wang qian zou ran hou, turn zuo – ❌ “turn” isn’t Chinese 😅
✅ Try: wang qian zou, ranhou zuo zhuan
bus station zai nali? – ✅ This is fine! Bonus: bus station = gonggong qiche zhan
✔️ These were very close and understandable. You know the concepts, just watch for slip-ups and keep switching back to Chinese fully.
🟡 4. Clarification Phrases
wo bu ting qu – ❌ Likely meant wo bu ting dong (I don’t understand)
qing, ni shou yi dian – ❌ “shou” should be shuo (say/speak)
✅ Corrected: qing ni zai shuo yi bian
zhe ge shi shenme? – ✅ Perfect
✔️ Conceptually correct, but these are key phrases worth practicing again with proper spelling.
🏅 Verdict: Bronze 4 – ALMOST Passed
You’re clearly understanding the grammar and expressions, but a few typos and non-Chinese words (“turn”) are slipping in. You’re functionally ready, just not clean enough for a full pass yet.
🔁 Here’s a quick fix-up list:
- ❗zhe ge duo shao qian (how much is this?)
- ❗xishoujian (bathroom), tushuguan (library)
- ❗zuo zhuan (turn left), you zhuan (turn right)
- ❗wo bu ting dong (I don’t understand)
- ❗qing ni zai shuo yi bian (please say it again)
🎯 Next Steps / Goals
Review directions, possibly spelling as well. Will do more practice sentences using directions and vocab that have relevance to it.
📚 Resources I Used
- ChatGPT (for sentence practice + explanations + tests)
- YouTube (for pronunciation + listening)
- Google Translate (for fast checks)
- My language language learning structure (coming soon)
🌍 Bonus Resources You Might Like
- 🧠 Duolingo – decent for language base, I personally don’t like it.
- 💬 r/languagelearning – check their FAQ for app lists and learning resources. I rarely browse, but it’s a popular hub.
💸 Beermoney Glossary:
Curious how much money you can realistically make online from surveys, games, ads, and small tasks? Check out my Beermoney Glossary page, where I break down every app and site I’ve tried with videos, payment proof, and my personal experiences. I always recommend doing beermoney while watching shows, anime, gaming, or handling small tasks around the house.
👉 Beermoney reviews
📈 Monthly Earnings Tracker:
Want to see exactly what I cashed out every month? My Monthly Earnings Tracker has screenshots of my app cashouts, plus updates on my trading and investment accounts, all in one place, month by month.
👉 Monthly earnings
🌍 Language Learning Glossary:
Curious what languages I’m learning? Check out my Language Learning Glossary for weekly progress updates. I post short speaking videos, track my progress, share my personal study notes, and break down the rank criteria I follow.
👉 Language progress