# Newbie | Is learning Chinese difficult?

An episode of [ChinesePod - Beginner](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1489328856), 2 Mar 2026, 13 min.

Audio: https://anchor.fm/s/109bf914/podcast/play/116255621/https%3A%2F%2Fd3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net%2Fstaging%2F2026-2-2%2F1af60258-182d-e8d9-3b66-de15e6e735ed.mp3

In this newbie lesson, you will hear one of the most common questions that you are asked as a Chinese learner: “Is learning Chinese difficult?” Your immediate response might be, “Yes, learning Chinese is VERY difficult!” But there’s actually a better response to that question! Find out what it is as you join Lyn and Joe for this lesson! Episode link: https://www.chinesepod.com/4266

## Transcript

[0:23] Hi everybody, and welcome to today's Chinese Part Lesson.
[0:26] My name is Joe. That's how.
[0:28] Was she Qingdin Wang Lai Dao Zhong Wen Boku?
[0:32] Today we are going to learn a very important word, which is to
[0:36] learn. Shu Shu.
[0:40] So the second tone, what are you learning these days?
[0:44] Was that Shu Feng shui? Feng shui?
[0:49] You may. Know this word because it's the
[0:51] same in English. In many other languages Feng
[0:54] shui, but you may not know where it comes from.
[0:57] Phone. Wind, water.
[1:05] So wind and water together create some kind of harmony
[1:08] probably. So let's check out the dialogue
[1:11] and see what the guys here. Are.
[1:25] Learning. N.
[2:05] So the dialogue. Is about.
[2:09] Learning. Chinese.
[2:22] But before we talk about it more in detail, let's break it down
[2:25] line by line. Are.
[2:30] You learning Chinese? Are.
[2:35] You learning? Chinese.
[2:45] Yes, at the. University, yes.
[2:52] At the university. Say TA Shi Li Shi Chong.
[2:59] Wen Nan Punan. Is learning Chinese difficult or
[3:03] not? Shi Chong.
[3:06] Wen Nan Punan. Is learning Chinese difficult or
[3:10] not? Shi Chong.
[3:12] Wen Nan Punan. Shi Shi hen.
[3:20] Nan. Learning to speak is OK, writing
[3:25] is difficult. Learning.
[3:34] To speak is OK, writing is difficult.
[3:43] The first question is something that pretty much every Chinese
[3:46] learner will encounter sooner or later.
[3:50] Are. You studying Chinese?
[3:58] Yes, at the university. So we have two zai here in both
[4:04] sentences. There's one, but they're a
[4:06] little bit different because zai is generally A preposition and
[4:09] it's at in English, but it can be used with verbs and it can be
[4:13] used with places or nouns generally.
[4:17] So the first was. Say SH.
[4:21] So. Say SH.
[4:23] So this is say plus a verb and together with a verb it becomes
[4:28] something like the English progressive tense.
[4:30] Like doing something or here would be learning something and
[4:36] the other one was. Say TA SH.
[4:42] TA. SH OK.
[4:45] DA Shu, although it has Shu inside as well, it means the
[4:50] university so here you have a place after the Zai, so it's
[4:53] together as in or at the university.
[4:57] So the sentence here was NI Zai Shu, Zhong Wan.
[5:02] So Zai Shu, as we said, is to be learning something.
[5:07] And zhong Wan is Chinese. So this Chinese here is the
[5:10] object to learning something and you could actually exchange it
[5:15] with any other verb and object combinations.
[5:24] Is to eat and is breakfast. So are you eating breakfast?
[5:34] Is to drink and is coke. So are you drinking?
[5:38] Coke OK. Here, Lynn, exchange the object
[5:47] to Shama, which is what? So it becomes, what are you
[5:51] saying? You could actually say that if
[5:53] you really don't understand what a person says or if you want to
[5:57] be like, kind of say what are you talking about?
[6:00] Like So, Lynn, maybe let's practice the two different
[6:03] usages of Thai together somehow. So we have one Thai which is
[6:06] with a verb and the other one with a place.
[6:13] AM. I eating lunch,
[6:28] so I'm eating lunch at home and actually could put any other
[6:33] place here. So for example, where else could
[6:35] I eat lunch at school or in the company?
[6:47] Maybe you have noticed that Lin sometimes did say that Lee
[6:51] afterwards and sometimes she didn't.
[6:53] Because you can actually leave that out.
[6:56] It's used to emphasize that you are inside a certain place, but
[7:00] sometimes you can leave it out if you feel like it.
[7:02] The next question you may even hear more often than the first
[7:05] question. So is it difficult or?
[7:07] Not to. Learn Chinese.
[7:13] In Chinese, we often have this kind of question pattern where
[7:16] you have an adjective, then Boo, and then the same adjective
[7:19] again. And it means like, is it this
[7:22] adjective or not? And it's a very common thing to
[7:25] ask. And it's like the English yes or
[7:27] no question. So what other questions would
[7:30] you ask somebody who learns Chinese?
[7:34] Shu zhong Wen kui bu kui. Whether it's fast or not.
[7:41] Shu zhong Wen le bu le. Whether it's tiring or not.
[7:48] Shu Zhong Wen. Fun fun.
[7:52] Whether it's annoying or troublesome, the other person
[7:55] here does not simply say yes it's difficult or no, it's not
[7:59] difficult. He explains a little bit further
[8:01] about what actually is difficult in Chinese.
[8:04] Shu haikui Shi. Hanan.
[8:12] Shu hai kuri Shi. Hanan.
[8:21] OK, so we have Shu, which is to talk, and then we have here,
[8:26] which is to write. And then the middle S haikui,
[8:31] which is a common phrase that just means it's all right, it's
[8:34] OK, not that bad. So together it becomes like
[8:38] learning to speak, sure is all right, but writing or learning
[8:45] to write, that's difficult. Hen none.
[8:47] And we have another hen here. Hen.
[8:50] None. Hen Nan and.
[8:54] Hen is used to say something is very difficult or very in
[8:59] general. So after you've learned all
[9:01] this, let's go back to the dialogue again.
[9:03] Greetings everyone and welcome to Chinese Pod Trivia.
[9:11] Our first question is how long will it take you to become an
[9:14] intermediate tiny speaker using the Chinese Pod app?
[9:17] Is it A the rest of your life B you should already be an
[9:21] intermediate speaker C3 months or D Chinese pod has an app you.
[9:28] Should already be in. Oh, that is incorrect.
[9:32] The correct answer is C3 months. That's right, Head over to
[9:35] chinesepod.com now to register for your access to over 4000
[9:39] lessons. Get the Chinese Pod app now on
[9:41] Google Play or the App Store. Nita.
[9:56] Ishiya. Chong Wenma. 3
[10:15] Shiya Chong. Wen. #9.
[10:36] Today. You.
[10:40] Learn. Different.
[10:49] Usages of the word Sai. So for example, we had Sai
[10:53] together with a verb to say that you are doing something, and we
[10:59] used Tai together with a noun to say that you're in or at a
[11:02] certain place. Tai Xu Xiao.
[11:06] And we learned how to ask yes or no questions in Chinese using
[11:10] duplications of adjectives together with BU in the middle.
[11:13] Mei BU Mei hen Mei the. Question.
[11:20] Oh, you mean the questions from before?
[11:22] Yes, I think I have not answered you.
[11:26] Shi Zhong. Wen Nan.
[11:27] Buu, Nan. Nan.
[11:29] Shi zhong Wen le bule. Hi, Koi Shi.
[11:34] Zhong. Wen Fan Fu Fan.
[11:36] Fu Fan. Shi zhong Wen kui bu kui.
[11:40] Kui, if you study with Chinese photo, of course.
[11:43] So if you have any questions from this class or any things
[11:46] that you want to share with us, please let us know in the
[11:48] comments below and we'll get back to you.
[11:50] This is Joe. We're shooting in Saturday.
[11:54] Bye bye bye now. Here's a vocabulary recap.
[11:59] Sure. To learn university.
[12:06] Non. Difficult.
[12:09] Sure. To speak.
[12:12] Hi, Kuri. It's all right.
[12:17] Sure. To write.
[12:20] Fun. Annoying.
[12:23] Lay. Tiring.
[12:26] Quite fast school. As usual, Chinese Pod provides
[12:37] an extensive selection of learning materials for this
[12:40] lesson on its website www.chinesepod.com.
[12:44] You can access this lesson directly with the lesson number
[12:47] 4266. So just go to www.chinesepod.com
[12:53] slash 4266 and you will find a transcript, vocabulary and much
[12:58] more the link again www.chinesepod.com slash 4266.

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