Can you read this laundromat sign in Chinese?

Hi friends, Danyo here 👋.

Every week I encounter lots of real examples of Chinese being used in daily life and I want to share it with other learners who don't have the opportunity to live in a Mandarin-speaking environment.

Today I'm going to share and break down a real Chinese sign I saw recently at a local laundromat.

Being able to read signs in Chinese is very useful since these are the same signs that native speakers interact with every single day. If you want to be like native speakers, you have to consume what they consume.

Unfortunately, most people skip learning how to read Chinese or they learn to read the wrong stuff and thus, easily lose motivation. Below is the 4-step method I use for breaking down real Chinese material for improved comprehension and retention.

Step 1: View original text & try to read as much as you can.

How much can you understand?

This will help you gauge your current knowledge so that can you fill in the gaps as you move forward.

Step 2: Study original text with pinyin + translations.

Look up every word you don't understand. View this on your chrome browser so you can turn on pop-up Chinese definitions whenever you hover over characters. Click on the pinyin below to hear the correct audio pronunciation.

Step 3: Read out loud a third time without pinyin.

Most people stop at the second step. This third repetition will help you consolidate your knowledge further using the power of active recall. Did you get your tones right as you read out loud?

Step 4: Read the original text again without pinyin + translations.

Finally, read the original text one more time without the help of translations and pinyin and observe how much more you understand now.

Were you able to read & understand it without the pinyin and translations?

👍 Yes - Congrats, you've just read a real sign in Chinese!👎 No - No worries, go back to step two and try again.

Vocabulary List

The above is based on my 4-step method that harnesses the power of repetition and active recall that significantly improved my reading comprehension and confidence and is still a method I use regularly as an advanced learner.

Why I avoided learning to read "native" material like signs:

1. I thought reading Chinese characters was too hard to learn

2. I thought reading from a traditional textbook would prepare me for the real world

3. I didn't have access to real Chinese material until I moved to a Mandarin-speaking environment

4. I didn't have a system to help me break down native material

Benefits of reading signs in Chinese:

1. They are practical (useful for daily life rather than reading from textbooks)

2. They are interactive (helps engage with environment rather than rote memorizing canned phrases)

3. They have a pattern (learn once & transferable to other native material)

4. They are ubiquitous (lots of opportunities for spaced repetition)

If you implement this into your study routine, I'm confident you will retain more of what you learn and be more confident interacting with real Chinese material.

See you again next Monday for more real examples.

Looking for more authentic Chinese resources?

1. Get the Real Taiwan Mandarin Art + Phrasebook here.

2. My favorite apps/resources and Notion templates to help you study here.