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Did you ever wonder how Chinese characters are composed? Is every Chinese word just a random combination of strokes or is there some logic behind it? I once asked my Chinese teacher when studying new Chinese vocabulary in class &lsquo;Which letters of the alphabet are in the word 你好?&rsquo;. She looked surprised: &lsquo;Funny girl, there is no such thing as a Chinese alphabet.&rsquo; Really, none??&nbsp;

Let&rsquo;s take a step back. Chinese developed around <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Chinese_language">4000 years back</a> when a person saw a sheep and drew the sheep on a bone or a piece of bamboo, to share the information with his tribe (It probably was a different word, but you get the gist of it.). These ancient drawings tell the story of an agricultural society sharing about what mattered to them &ndash; animals, nature, family, Gods. The most popular drawings of this time, form the foundation of the Chinese language today. We call this group of words &lsquo;components&rsquo; of the Chinese language or &lsquo;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radical_(Chinese_characters)">radicals</a>&rsquo; which you find repeatedly in Chinese characters.

For example, the component 羊 means sheep. You find this component in many Chinese words such as &nbsp;样，养，洋 ， 氧. In fact, you can break down most Chinese words into components and thus their origin. The character &lsquo;养&rsquo; means &lsquo;raise&rsquo; and it consists of the components &lsquo;羊 | sheep&rsquo; and &nbsp;&lsquo;儿 | child&rsquo;. You can imagine that in the ancient Chinese agricultural society sheep were raised alongside children. Sheep and children were even sleeping together in the hut to keep each other warm. Right here you have your version of the Chinese alphabet &ndash; <a href="https://hsk.academy/en/learn/the-chinese-radicals">an alphabet with meaning</a>.&nbsp;

Are components real words? Whilst all components have a meaning, not all components would be regularly used as stand-alone words. For example, &lsquo;冫&rsquo; means &lsquo;ice&rsquo;, but the commonly used word for ice is &lsquo;冰&rsquo;. Mostly short components such as 宀，凵, 冫, are rarely used without combining them with other components today. Having said that, studying the building blocks of the Chinese language will give you the foundations you need to remember hundreds or even thousand Chinese characters without going crazy. You will be able to unpick words and maybe even track their historic stories.&nbsp;

The ingredients of Chinese

Languages are constantly evolving and changing over time, with some dying out and others gaining popularity. But there are some languages that have stood the test of time and continue to be spoken today despite being thousands of years old! 
 
Introduction to World&rsquo;s Oldest Languages 
If you&rsquo;ve ever been curious about what the oldest languages still used today are, you might be surprised to find out that some of them have been in use since the 1st century AD! From the ancient Romans to the ancient Egyptians and beyond, people have been using language throughout history to communicate with each other, and these languages have been passed down through countless generations. This article gives an overview of five of the oldest languages still used today, and gives some insight into why they&rsquo;ve been so successful throughout time.

Here&rsquo;s our list of the oldest languages still used today, including some insight into their histories, how they are learned, and how they are changing in the modern world.

Sumerian Language 
Sumerian, an ancient semitic language, is considered one of the oldest known human languages. The earliest attestations of this language date back to around 3200 BC with inscriptions found in Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq). This fact makes Sumerian one of the first spoken languages, preceded only by its parent language Akkadian. Sumerian continued to be used as a functional spoken and written language for at least another 1,500 years after Akkadian had been superseded by other Semitic and later Indo-European languages. It died out after the end of the Third Dynasty of Ur, but survived as a spoken language for some time thereafter. Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: Assyrian Neo-Aramaic is an East Semitic language that has been historically written using various scripts such as Aramaic and Syriac scripts. It became extinct in 2010 following mass emigration from Iraq due to instability caused by decades of war since 1980s; this includes ethnic Assyrians who are still living in regions controlled by Islamic State.

Ancient Egyptian Language 
Ancient Egyptian has often been studied because it is one of the oldest written languages. Coptic, which is a descendant language, can be found in Coptic texts from as early as 200 AD. Even though Coptic is related to Ancient Egyptian, they are not always mutually intelligible. Due to time and contact with other languages such as Greek and Arabic, Coptic evolved into different dialects that cannot be understood by other speakers of Coptic.

There are three major literary dialects of ancient Egyptian, which are called dialects rather than separate languages because all can understand each other; however there are also many more linguistic varieties spoken in Egypt for everyday use.

Hebrew 
Of all of the ancient languages, Hebrew is one that has survived for centuries. Even today, Hebrew is widely used by Jews in Israel and elsewhere as a spoken language and for written communication. Here are some fun facts about Hebrew, which might help explain why it has been able to withstand the test of time. First, as mentioned above, it&rsquo;s still being spoken by people every day&mdash;in fact there are more than 7 million native speakers! Second, over a million Israelis speak Hebrew fluently even though they weren&rsquo;t born into Jewish families. Third, during World War II when Europe was engulfed in war, many Jews fled Eastern Europe to Mandate Palestine (Israel) and found refuge among their own people speaking their own language. In this sense, Hebrew can be seen as a testament to the indomitable power of human ingenuity and perseverance. It continues to be a symbol of hope not only for those who use it but also for others around the world who wish to learn its unique tongue.

Sanskrit 
To start off with, Sanskrit is considered to be among the most ancient languages still in use today. Written texts in Sanskrit first emerged around 1500 BCE, which makes it older than Greek and Latin. Unlike other ancient languages that mostly survived through preserved inscriptions and linguistic data, more than 18 million texts exist today in Sanskrit. Most Sanskrit documents are religious texts, meaning that the language has had a major impact on Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism for centuries. 
 
Latin 
Latin is one of the oldest languages still in use today, tracing its roots back to 400 BC. Despite its age, it is making a comeback in education. In recent years, Latin has seen an increase in popularity due to the push for global language education and international exchanges. Recently, Chile made news when it re-introduced Latin into its school curriculum because many believed that it was fundamental to their national identity.

Chinese Mandarin 
Chinese is spoken by a staggering number of people, 1.35 billion according to the Guinness World Records. With such high numbers, it&#39;s only natural that more than one language would be in use in China! Mandarin Chinese is not only spoken in China but throughout Asia as well and is the second most commonly spoken language just behind English. Which makes it the perfect language to learn! Learning a new language can be difficult and frustrating, but it&#39;s also one of the most rewarding things you can do.

Languages are powerful communication tools that bridge cultural gaps and bring people together. Get started with us today and we will coach you through the journey of learning mandarin.

The oldest languages still used today

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Handsome?

China&rsquo;s male youth is challenging traditional male beauty standards, changing views of what is typically considered &lsquo;handsome&rsquo;. They distance themselves more and more from the &lsquo;Western&rsquo; concept of masculine attractiveness and instead turn towards a less rugged version of beauty culture. They prefer delicate and slim features which could even be described as &lsquo;<a href="https://www.koreaboo.com/lists/korean-chinese-japanese-beauty-standards-taste-popular-handsome-male-celebrities-netizens/">feminine-looking</a>&rsquo;. In addition to that using makeup to cover skin blemishes or to highlight facial features has become an accepted and even expected norm for men.&nbsp;&nbsp;Alibaba, China&rsquo;s version of Amazon even has a name for this new trend &lsquo;the male beauty era&rsquo; because men want to be beautiful too. 

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Makeup Market

Skincare and makeup purchases are soaring across all categories for men in China. It is believed that 75% of men spend on grooming habits and skincare-product making China the biggest skincare market worldwide (3 times bigger than the U.S market). Tiktok and other social media platform have also caught up and teach men how to apply beauty products or how to develop the &lsquo;<a href="https://jingdaily.com/china-male-beauty-market-burberry-perfect-diary/">best skincare routine</a>&rsquo;. 

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Celebrity Culture

Male celebrities and pop idols are fuelling the trend by pulling off full facial makeup including red lipstick, earrings and other types of jewellery. It is important to note that they are not transsexual or androgynous. On the contrary, their female fans love and admire them for their soft and delicate features, their white skin and &lsquo;cute&rsquo; wibes. This is sometimes difficult to grasp for foreigners who are surprised or even shocked when coming in contact with the new Chinese beauty culture. &nbsp;

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Beauty in ancient China 

Interestingly, some scholars argue that that this is not a new trend but that China is merely rediscovering its roots. They argue that male beauty was always expressed in an extravagant way in ancient China and that it is coming to live once again because China has finally found the economic strengths and pride to express itself fully. According to some records it is indeed true that men of high social status used skin foundations or balm-based to make their lips shinier. However according to Confucian philosophy nobility and honor had a much higher value than outward appearance. What do you think? Would teen-celebrities have had a chance to raise to fame in ancient China because of their extraordinary appearance? 

Whether you feel surprised, shocked, amazed or puzzled, we can surly agree that learning about other cultures is always fascinating! 

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Men want to be beautiful too, the male Beauty Era in China.

Chinese is one of &nbsp;five &nbsp;languages which is most difficult to learn for westerners. But why is this the case?

<ol>
	<li class="nitro-offscreen" style="margin-left:8px">Strokes instead of letters: A word is formed of 1-3 characters, each consisting of 10 strokes on an average while characters do not represent sounds. If a character is unknown, its pronunciation is unknow as well. </li>
	<li class="nitro-offscreen" style="margin-left:8px">Pronunciation: Everything sounds similar! Manadrin has 40 times fewer sound combinations than English. Sounds used in Chinese are unique from other languages (chi, zhi, ji, qui, chui, etc.).</li>
	<li class="nitro-offscreen" style="margin-left:8px">Meaning: It&rsquo;s difficult to grasp word meanings Many Chinese words can&rsquo;t be directly translated to English. A word may have multiple meanings or change its meaning based on successor or predecessor words. For example: &lsquo;laugh out loud&rsquo; means the same as &lsquo;smile&rsquo; in Chinese. </li>
</ol>

As with most things in life to reap big rewards big effort is needed. Learning Chinese makes you smart!

According to research in brain science, it has been discovered learning Chinese makes you smart. Mastering the characters and pronunciation in Chinese requires brain functions that otherwise would lie fallow. 

As your brain might think, when learning Chinese you become a child again. You can&rsquo;t build on previous knowledge such as the alphabet or familiar sounds. Instead your brain has to establish completely new processes and connections from scratch, like for example linking the stroke combinations of a character to a visual image. 

In other words, when learning Chinese you tap into new areas of your brain power that boost your creativity, concentration skills and visualisation skills. That&rsquo;s why many seniors have started to learn Chinese &ndash; not primarily to enhance their CV but to train their brain and have fun. 

Learning Chinese opens new doors!

China is the world&rsquo;s 2nd largest economy, the biggest exporter and the fastest-growing consumer market. To achieve this China has undertaken much effort to embed herself in the world and communicate with it. For example, past few&nbsp; decades Chinese people started to &nbsp;learn English in kindergarten. On the other hand, the West has only started to take interest in the Chinese language very recently. 

To communicate effectively with China means that their people, culture and markets are suddenly also accessible to you. You can be a connector from the West to bring two distinct worlds closer together. 

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Learning Chinese makes you smarter!

This unique methodology will entice your brains existential memories cognitive processing of colours, strokes, movements with intuitive and interactive graphical interface ​​​​​​making this fun to learn

Effortless and Fun! 

Pictorial characters require memory-based learning, So breaking down hundreds of characters to their historical origins helped create a unique memory-based learning specifically curated to learn it as a foreign language for non-native learners.

Why you will never find this technique anywhere else

Chinese is one of the hardest language to learn, for a good reason! Each word is formed of 1-3 characters, each consisting of 10 strokes on average. 40 times fewer sound combinations than English. with each word having multiple meanings&nbsp; 
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Learning Chinese has never been so easy!

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Learning, Recalling and Thinking - Why this works best for Chinese

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