MEotW: jī‐tóng‐yā‐jiǎng

The Mandarin Expression of the Week is:

• jī‐tóng‐yā‐jiǎng

What are some factors affecting whether or not Mandarin field language learners know certain basic truths about the Chinese languages?

Allowing various untruths to continue to divert and bog down the language-learning efforts of those who come to help in the worldwide Mandarin field can have incalculable overall negative effects on the preaching work in this enormous field.

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MEotW: shénhuà

The Mandarin Expression of the Week is:

• shénhuà

What are some common myths about Chinese characters?

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MEotW: Hànzì

The Mandarin Expression of the Week is:

• Hànzì

In the big picture, how should we Mandarin field language learners view Chinese characters?

(The above picture is from near the beginning of the book The Chinese Language: Fact and Fantasy, by John DeFrancis.)

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MEotW: fāngyán

The Mandarin Expression of the Week is:

• fāngyán

What does the Mandarin word often mistranslated as “dialect” actually mean?

“Many of these so-called Chinese ‘dialects’ are in fact, different languages.”
—David Moser (@david__moser), in his book _A Billion Voices: China’s Search for a Common Language_ https://t.co/Ld20t2JQ2W

— Troubadour WW (@troubadourww) November 4, 2020

List of different Chinese languages in which publications are available on jw.org as of 2025-06-02

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MEotW: yǔzú

The Mandarin Expression of the Week is:

• yǔzú

How closely—or distantly—related are Mandarin and Cantonese? Are Mandarin, Cantonese, etc. just dialects of “Chinese”?

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MEotW: yǔxì

The Mandarin Expression of the Week is:

• yǔxì

What is Mandarin’s place in its language family tree? Are Mandarin, Cantonese, etc. just dialects of “Chinese”?

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MEotW: app

The Mandarin Expression of the Week is:

• app

How much should we let it bother us that “app” has been borrowed from English into Mandarin, even being written in Latin alphabet letters? Why might it be that it’s pronounced in Mandarin by saying out its letters?

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MEotW: chǎojià

The Mandarin Expression of the Week is:

• chǎojià

How can we talk in Mandarin about arguing? Should we use the same language to describe how Jesus spoke with the Pharisees, etc.?

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MEotW: jiǎ xiāoxi

The Mandarin Expression of the Week is:

• jiǎ xiāoxi

What myths and misinformation about Chinese characters should Mandarin field language learners be wary of?

Screenshots from the English and Mandarin versions of the video “Protect Yourself From Misinformation”

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MEotW: shìwēi kàngyì

The Mandarin Expression of the Week is:

• shìwēi kàngyì

What connection is there between the Mandarin expressions for “demonstrating (as a protest)” and “Revelation”?

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MEotW: Yuèyǔ

The Mandarin Expression of the Week is:

• Yuèyǔ

Is Cantonese just a dialect of “Chinese”? Is Cantonese just a spoken language?

Publications are now available on jw.org that are written in these Chinese varieties.

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MEotW: yì‐nián‐yí‐dù

The Mandarin Expression of the Week is:

• yì‐nián‐yí‐dù

Are Chinese characters the ultimate clarifiers of meaning in Mandarin?

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MEotW: xiǎnyǎn bāo

The Mandarin Expression of the Week is:

• xiǎnyǎn bāo

In the Mandarin field, should we be afraid of standing out because of using Pīnyīn?

In many workplaces, there are the Big Cheeses who focus on getting the glory, and there are the ones who are actually good at doing the work.

In the work of writing Mandarin, characters are like those Big Cheeses, & _Pīnyīn_ is like those who are actually good at doing the work. pic.twitter.com/98m5B7lEou

— Troubadour WW (@troubadourww) November 2, 2023

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MEotW: jiéle hūn

The Mandarin Expression of the Week is:

• jiéle hūn

Should we Chinese field language learners view the Learn From the Bible book as being “just stories for children”?

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MEotW: Jīdū

The Mandarin Expression of the Week is:

• Jīdū

When it comes to the Chinese languages, are Chinese characters and their visual designs more important than speech and its sounds?

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MEotW: jī‐tóng‐yā‐jiǎng

The Mandarin Expression of the Week is:

• jī‐tóng‐yā‐jiǎng

What can help us to avoid ‘feeling like an idiot’ in the Chinese fields? 🐓 🦆

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MEotW: gāowēn

The Mandarin Expression of the Week is:

• gāowēn

How can we talk to people in the Mandarin field about the record-breaking temperatures that have been reported worldwide?

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MEotW: qiāngjī àn

The Mandarin Expression of the Week is:

• 
• qiāngjī àn

Why might it be that in Mandarin, “àn” is used to mean such varied things as “desk”, “case (of law/etc.)”, “incident”, “file”, and “plan”?

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MEotW: wēijī

The Mandarin Expression of the Week is:

• 
• wēijī

Does the Mandarin word “wēijī” really suggest that we should look for positive opportunities for ourselves in the midst of danger?

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MEotW: xǐshǒu

The Mandarin Expression of the Week is:

• 
• xǐshǒu

Why continue to write “xǐshǒu” as one word in Pīnyīn when the more “experienced” English writing system writes “wash hands” as two words?

An electron microscope image of SARS-CoV-2—also known as 2019-nCoV, the virus that causes COVID-19
 NIAID

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