Chinese Learners Receiving Chinese Names? I was wondering what the opinions on this are. A few years ago I got a Chinese penpal. After talking for a while, she offered to give me a Chinese name, and eventually gave me the name 宋若芊。It wasn't until I actually started taking an official Chinese class (rather than studying on my own) last semester that I realized most Chinese learners have a Chinese name that is a sort of Chinese version of their real name. Is it considered strange/rude for a Western person to have an actual *Chinese* name? My real name is Makenzie, and a lot of people ask me why my Chinese name isn't just a Chinese version of that. I love having a Chinese name given to me by a friend, but these days I am reluctant to tell people my Chinese name for fear of how it may seem. Can anyone tell me what is considered "acceptable?"

这是一封信 Claire： 你好！好久不见，最近怎么样？我没有给你一封信很久。我很忙了。 我是大学一年级。我的专业是心理学。我除了学专业课以外，还学中文！我的中文怎么样？请别笑我。中文不容易，但是很有意思。我觉得发音有一点儿难，可是愈发不难。中文的语法比德文的语法容易。每天晚上都练习写汉字。虽然常常练习写汉字，可是我平常忘。我得多练习！常常写汉字，就觉得容易。我常常一边看电视，一边练习写汉字。 下个星期有一个考试。因为我很紧张，所以我要准备很多。 暑假到了。下个星期五我回家。 给我一封信吧！祝 好 你的朋友 宋若芊 四月三号 (This is for my Chinese class oral presentation.)

Ich bin krank Heute bin ich krank, also ich ging nicht in die Klasse. Aber das ist nicht zu schlecht, weil ich heute nur Chinesisch und Koreanisch hatte, und ich finde beiden ziemlich einfach. Aber ich hasse Klassen versäumen. :( Ich schlief sehr viel und schaute ein bisschen Netflix. Auch lernte ich Chinesisch, weil ich werde Mittwoch ein Quiz haben.

Help with this grammar? I'm working on my Chinese class homework and I've been stuck for a while on two questions. I'm supposed to translate them but I'm having a hard time grammar-wise and I can't find anything in the textbook/online for how to form these sort of sentences. 1. She was at a meeting when I got to her office. (I am confused by the use of "when" in this sentence and what the sentence order would look like.) 2. At first, I wrote very slowly. But later, my big brother helped me practice. (On this one I don't understand how to translate "at first" and "but later" in this situation.) I would greatly appreciate if anyone could just explain the grammar, I'm not look for the entire thing to be translated (it is my homework, after all)! Thank you!

Was bedeutet der Abkürzung "zew."? Ich fand der Abkürzung "zew" im Wörterbuch aber ich kann das Bedeutung nicht finden. z.B. 位 - Zew. für Menschen oder 节 - Zew. für Unterrichtsstuden Was ist der ursprünglich Wort? Vielen Dank!

"Wie soll ein Mensch das etragen" - trying to understand the lyrics to this song? Lately I've been using song lyrics as a way to improve my German. Basically, I'll take a song I really like and go through the lyrics, looking up words I don't know and trying to understand the lyrics as best I can. Right now I'm really into Philipp Poisel, and I've been working on "Wie soll ein Mensch das ertragen." I know most of the words, but even after looking up the words I didn't know, for some reason I'm having difficulty grasping the full meaning of the lyrics. Any help? It's mainly the lines: "Stell dich vor meine Mitte. Leg dich in jede Figur. Werf dich in jeden meiner Schritte." It's one thing to understand the literal translation, but I want to really feel what he was trying to convey. Danke schön!

Was bedeutet "Schnick, Schnack, Schnuck?" Ich habe das in ein Lied gehört aber ich kenne nicht was es ist. Danke schön!

Looking for Someone with whom to practice German

Hi! I am learning German and will be taking the AP German exam in May. My listening and reading comprehension is okay but I really want to improve my writing and speaking skills. I'm looking for someone who is willing to speak German with me. I can use Skype for speaking and chat, and Kakao Talk, LINE or email for chatting. I've never spoken to anyone using Skype before but I would love to try it out! :) Thank you!