#RoadToQuestCape + #roadtomaxcash
🎥 Speaking Mandarin:
🧾 Intro / Reflection
This week went pretty smoothly for Mandarin. I passed Bronze 4 after retaking the test a second time. Not too much to say, I already knew a fair amount of the required vocabulary, though I still need to improve my sentence structure and word choices to sound more natural, as shown in my test results below.
I’ve mainly been practicing with ChatGPT since I don’t really have anyone to speak Mandarin with. It’s not perfect, but it works well enough. I like that it suggests more native-sounding alternatives and explains why certain things are off. I’m still experimenting with adding some rules and restrictions to make the chats more useful, but it’s a work in progress.
This week, I practiced conversations around directions, making reservations, and ordering at restaurants.
As usual, I make money online by stacking beermoney apps in the background to make a bit of passive income while I study, not a lot, but it adds up and helps keep the productivity loop going. 👇
💸 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 | ✅ |
🛍️ Scenario: buying something and asking about delivery.
👩💼: Nǐ hǎo! Nǐ xiǎng mǎi shénme?
🙋♂️: Nǐ hǎo wǒ xiǎng mǎi yī tái diànnǎo
👩💼: Hǎo de. Zhè tái diànnǎo shì liǎng qiān kuài. Nǐ xūyào sòng huò ma?
🙋♂️: Wǒ kěyǐ yòng kǎ zhīfù ma? Shì de, wǒ yào
👩💼: Kěyǐ, wǒmen jiēshòu xìnyòngkǎ hé zhīfùbǎo. Nǐ xiǎng shénme shíhòu sòng dào?
🙋♂️: Hǎo de. Nà Wǒmen kěyǐ zuò míngtiān zǎoshang ma?
👩💼: Míngtiān zǎoshang kěyǐ. Dàgài jiǔ diǎn dào shí diǎn zhī jiān. Qǐngwèn, nǐ de dìzhǐ shì shénme?
🙋♂️: Hǎo de. Wǒ zhù zài 123 jiē
👩💼: Hǎo, wǒ jì xiàlái le. Míngtiān zǎoshang sòng dào 123 jiē. Hái yǒu bié de xūqiú ma?
🙋♂️: Méiyǒu, Xièxiè
👩💼: Bù kèqì! Zhù nǐ yītiān yúkuài!
📝My Mandarin Notes
🛍️ Shopping Phrases
💬 Must-Know Questions & Answers
- Zhège duōshǎo qián? – How much is this? ✅ (Careful: it’s duōshǎo, not “duo xiaoqian”)
- Tài guì le – Too expensive
- Yǒu méi yǒu piányi yīdiǎn de? – Do you have a cheaper one?
- 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?
✅ Extra Practice
- Wǒ yào mǎi nà ge – I want to buy that one
- Qǐng nǐ néng bāng wǒ ma? – Can you help me, please?
🧭 Asking for Directions
💬 Questions & Key Phrases
- Qǐngwèn… – Excuse me…
- Wǒ zěnme qù [place]? – How do I get to [place]?
- 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
🔄 Directions (Movement)
- Yìzhí zǒu – Go straight
- Wǎng qián zǒu – Walk forward
- Wǎng zuǒ guǎi / zuǒ zhuǎn – Turn left
- Wǎng yòu guǎi / yòu zhuǎn – Turn right ✅ (Avoid mixing in English like “turn”)
✅ Bonus Vocabulary
- Gōnggòng qìchē zhàn – Bus station
- Dìtiě zhàn – Subway station
- Xǐshǒujiān – Bathroom (not “xishoujain”)
- Túshūguǎn – Library (not “toshugan”)
📅 Talking About Future Plans
Use “yào” (going to) or “huì” (will) to express the future, no verb conjugation needed
💬 Example Sentences
- Míngtiān wǒ yào qù xuéxiào – I’m going to school tomorrow ✅
- Tā yào hé jiārén chī wǎnfàn – He’s going to eat dinner with family ✅
- Wǒmen míngtiān xiàwǔ yào xué Zhōngwén – We’re going to study Chinese tomorrow ✅
- Wǒ huì chī wǎnfàn zài wàimiàn – I will eat dinner outside
- Tā huì lái ma? – Will he come?
- Wǒmen huì kàn diànyǐng – We will watch a movie
✅ Bronze 4 German Test Results
🟡 1. Future Plans
Question:
Translate to Pinyin:
a) I will go see a movie tomorrow night.
b) They are going to eat lunch at a restaurant
c) Are you going to study tomorrow?
ming tian wan an, wo yao qu kan dian ying
✅ Good structure! Slight fix:
- “ming tian wan an” → should be mingtian wanshang (tomorrow night)
ta men yao qu fan guan chi fan
✅ Correct
ni ming tian yao qu xuexi ma?
✅ Perfect!
✔️ Pass — structure, intent, and grammar are all there.
🟡 2. Shopping & Asking for Help
Question:
Translate to Pinyin:
a) The bank is across from the hospital
b) Turn right at the intersection
c) Walk straight, then turn left at the second light
wo bu yao zhege, wo yao na ge
✅ Great — smooth and real
qing wen wo hui qu nali mai shui?
⚠️ Slight wording issue — better phrasing:
- qing wen, wo keyi zai nali mai shui?
(hui qu implies “will go”, but keyi is better for permission or possibility here)
ni hui shuo man yidian ma?
✅ Correct and polite!
✔️ Still a pass, with minor rewording advice for more natural phrasing.
🟡 3. Directions & Prepositions
Question:
Translate to Pinyin:
a) The bank is across from the hospital
b) Turn right at the intersection
c) Walk straight, then turn left at the second light
yinghang zai yiyuan duimian
✅ Correct — very natural
zai lukou you zhuan
✅ Correct
zhizou, ranhou zai di arge hongludeng zuo zhuan
✅ “zhizou” should be zhi zou (walk straight), and “arge” should be erge (2nd), but those are clearly typos.
✔️ Grammar and prepositions all solid. PASS.
🟡 4. Clarification Phrases
Question:
Translate to Pinyin:
a) What did you say?
b) I don’t know what this is
c) Can you write it down?
ni shuo shenme le?
✅ Correct
wo bu jidao zhege shi shenme
⚠️ Small fix: jidao → zhidao (know)
ni hui xue ma?
❌ Incorrect – this means “can you learn?”
✅ You likely meant: ni keyi xie xia lai ma? (Can you write it down?)
Or: ni neng xie yixie ma?
🟡 Minor error here — only this last one was incorrect.
🏅 Verdict: Bronze 4 — PASSED!
You’ve got:
✔️ Future tense
✔️ Asking for help
✔️ Directions & prepositions
✔️ Clarification phrases
Your mistakes were small typos or slight wording issues, not true misunderstandings.
🎯 Next Steps / Goals
Basic conversations, everyday survival topics, repeated phrases, string short thoughts together. Slowly build up more on holding basic conversations.
📚 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