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🧨Lively Chinese school in Shanghai & online. 🎓80+ career teachers. 💪Follow for daily resources.

GoEast Language Center is one of Shanghai's premiere Mandarin language schools. Professional instructors, personalized lesson plans, and cultural events are all part of the GoEast experience whether you choose to learn online or in a classroom. We have two campuses, our headquarters in Yangpu and a second campus near Shanghai Library in Xuhui. If you want to get a HSK5 certification or would simply like to become conversational, GoEast can help you reach your goals!

23/09/2026

8 Directions in Chinese 🧭 | North, South, East & West in Mandarin

Can you read a compass in Chinese? 🧭🇨🇳

Once you know just four characters — 东、南、西、北 — you can unlock all 8 directions.

⬆️ 北 (běi) — north
↗️ 东北 (dōngběi) — northeast
➡️ 东 (dōng) — east
↘️ 东南 (dōngnán) — southeast
⬇️ 南 (nán) — south
↙️ 西南 (xīnán) — southwest
⬅️ 西 (xī) — west
↖️ 西北 (xīběi) — northwest

Which direction is your hometown from Beijing? 👇

Learn Chinese effectively and with fun at GoEast: https://goeastmandarin.com

21/09/2026

How to Say “It Hurts” in Chinese⁠
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Ever wanted to say “I have a headache” or “my throat hurts” in Chinese—but didn’t know how? 🇨🇳💡⁠
Good news: Chinese makes this very simple with one common pattern!⁠
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✨ In Chinese, you can say [body part] + 疼 (téng) to express pain or soreness.⁠
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📌 Common examples you’ll hear and use a lot:⁠
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牙疼 (yá téng) – toothache⁠
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脖子疼 (bózi téng) – neck pain⁠
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嗓子疼 (sǎngzi téng) – sore throat⁠
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头疼 (tóu téng) – headache⁠
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🗣️ Example sentence:⁠
我今天头疼。⁠
(Wǒ jīntiān tóu téng.)⁠
I have a headache today.⁠
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This structure is extremely practical for daily conversations, doctor visits, and casual chats with friends.⁠
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Which one have you needed to say before in Chinese? 👇⁠
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Learn Chinese effectively and with fun at GoEast: https://goeastmandarin.com⁠
⁠

18/09/2026

How do you say the world’s most famous cities in Chinese? 🌍🇨🇳

Some Chinese city names sound surprisingly close to their original pronunciation. Can you hear it?

🇬🇧 伦敦 (Lúndūn) — London
🇯🇵 东京 (Dōngjīng) — Tokyo
🇫🇷 巴黎 (Bālí) — Paris
🇦🇺 悉尼 (Xīní) — Sydney
🇮🇹 罗马 (Luómǎ) — Rome
🇺🇸 纽约 (Niǔyuē) — New York

Which city do you live in? Tell us its Chinese name in the comments! 👇

Learn Chinese effectively and with fun at GoEast: https://goeastmandarin.com

15/09/2026

6 Common Nuts in Chinese | Mandarin Food Vocabulary (HSK 2–3)⁠
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Love snacks? 🥜 Let’s learn how to say some common nuts in Chinese — super useful for daily life (and ordering snacks 😋).⁠
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Here are 6 popular ones:⁠
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🌰 核桃 (hétáo) – walnut⁠
我喜欢吃核桃。⁠
(Wǒ xǐhuān chī hétáo.)⁠
I like eating walnuts.⁠
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🥜 腰果 (yāoguǒ) – cashew⁠
腰果很好吃。⁠
(Yāoguǒ hěn hǎochī.)⁠
Cashews are delicious.⁠
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🌰 杏仁 (xìngrén) – almond⁠
杏仁很健康。⁠
(Xìngrén hěn jiànkāng.)⁠
Almonds are healthy.⁠
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🥜 开心果 (kāixīnguǒ) – pistachio⁠
我买了一包开心果。⁠
(Wǒ mǎi le yì bāo kāixīnguǒ.)⁠
I bought a pack of pistachios.⁠
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🥜 花生 (huāshēng) – peanut⁠
他喜欢吃花生。⁠
(Tā xǐhuān chī huāshēng.)⁠
He likes eating peanuts.⁠
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🌰 碧根果 (bìgēnguǒ) – pecan⁠
碧根果有点甜。⁠
(Bìgēnguǒ yǒudiǎn tián.)⁠
Pecans are a bit sweet.⁠
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💡 In Chinese, many nuts end with 果 (guǒ), meaning “fruit” — a helpful pattern for remembering vocabulary.⁠
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Which one is your favorite snack? 👇 Tell us in Chinese!⁠
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Learn Chinese effectively and with fun at GoEast: https://goeastmandarin.com⁠
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11/09/2026

Want to make a casual suggestion in Chinese? 🇨🇳

Use 要不 (yàobù) — a super common expression in everyday spoken Mandarin.

💡 要不 can mean:
👉 “How about…?”
👉 “Why don’t we…?”
👉 “Otherwise…”

It’s often used when suggesting an idea or an alternative.

✨ Structure:
要不 + suggestion?

Let’s see it in action:

🍜 要不我们出去吃饭？
(Yàobù wǒmen chūqù chīfàn?)
How about we go out to eat?

🌙 今天太晚了，要不明天再去吧。
(Jīntiān tài wǎn le, yàobù míngtiān zài qù ba.)
It’s too late today. How about we go tomorrow instead?

✨ More example:

☕ 要不我们先喝杯咖啡？
(Yàobù wǒmen xiān hē bēi kāfēi?)
How about we grab a coffee first?

💡 Key feeling:
要不 makes your suggestion sound casual and natural — you’ll hear it all the time in real Chinese conversations.

What would you suggest with 要不? 👇

Learn Chinese effectively and with fun at GoEast: https://goeastmandarin.com

10/09/2026

Great teaching isn't something you're born with. It's something you build. 🌱

Every year on Teachers' Day, we host the GoEast Teaching Skills Competition. This is our 4th! 🏆

Here's the thing — knowing Chinese and teaching Chinese are two very different skills. So every year our teachers team up to design, test, and refine a real lesson, then share it with the whole school.

It's how we help our teachers grow. And it's how we make sure every GoEast class is the best it can be for you. 💛

Huge congrats to this year's winning teams, and to every teacher who joined in 👏

Today is Teachers' Day in China 🇨🇳 Happy Teachers' Day to all our incredible teachers 💐
Got a teacher who's helped or inspired you? Drop them a thank-you below ⬇️

📺 All the teaching videos — link in bio
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAOQT_xU51bc&utm_source=instagram&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=teachers_day_2026

08/09/2026

6 Essential Chinese Location Words | 上面下面里面前面后面旁边 (Beginner Mandarin)
Want to describe where things are in Chinese? 🇨🇳 These location words are used constantly in everyday Mandarin.

Learn these 6 essential position words:

📍 上面 (shàngmiàn) – above / on top
书在桌子上面。
(Shū zài zhuōzi shàngmiàn.)
The book is on the table.

📍 下面 (xiàmiàn) – below / under
猫在桌子下面。
(Māo zài zhuōzi xiàmiàn.)
The cat is under the table.

📍 里面 (lǐmiàn) – inside
包里有手机。
(Bāo lǐ yǒu shǒujī.)
There is a phone inside the bag.

📍 前面 (qiánmiàn) – in front
学校在我家前面。
(Xuéxiào zài wǒ jiā qiánmiàn.)
The school is in front of my house.

📍 后面 (hòumiàn) – behind
车在房子后面。
(Chē zài fángzi hòumiàn.)
The car is behind the house.

📍 旁边 (pángbiān) – next to / beside
咖啡店在银行旁边。
(Kāfēi diàn zài yínháng pángbiān.)
The café is next to the bank.

💡 Notice the common structure in Chinese:

A 在 B + 位置

Example:
书在桌子上面
The book is on the table.

Which one do you use the most? Try making your own sentence below! 👇

Learn Chinese effectively and with fun at GoEast: https://goeastmandarin.com

31/08/2026

You know 牙 (yá) is related to “teeth” 🦷—and learning this one character can help you understand a whole family of useful Chinese words!

🧑‍⚕️ 牙医 (yáyī) — dentist
牙= tooth + 医= doctor
👉 “Tooth doctor” = dentist

🦷 牙齿 (yáchǐ) — teeth
A common everyday word for your teeth.

🪥 牙膏 (yágāo) — toothpaste
牙 = tooth + 膏 = paste
👉 “Tooth paste” = toothpaste

🪥 牙刷 (yáshuā) — toothbrush
牙= tooth + 刷 = brush
👉 “Tooth brush” = toothbrush

😁 牙套 (yátào)— braces
牙 = tooth + 套 = cover / set
👉 Commonly used to talk about dental braces.

💡 See the pattern? Once you recognize 牙, you can start guessing the meaning of new Chinese words before you even look them up.

Which **牙** word did you already know? Can you think of another one? 👇

Learn Chinese effectively and with fun at GoEast: https://goeastmandarin.com

28/08/2026

If someone says “别吃醋!”, they're probably not telling you to stop drinking vinegar. 😏

In Chinese, 吃醋 (chīcù)literally means **“to eat vinegar,”** but in everyday conversation, it means **to feel jealous**, especially in a romantic relationship. 💚

🥢吃 (chī) = to eat
🍶 醋 (cù) = vinegar
💚 吃醋 (chīcù)** = to be / get jealous

📌 Example 1

他看到女朋友和别人聊天，就吃醋了。
Tā kàndào nǚpéngyou hé biérén liáotiān, jiù chīcù le.**
He saw his girlfriend talking to someone else and got jealous.

📌 Example 2

别吃醋，我们只是朋友。
Bié chīcù, wǒmen zhǐshì péngyou.
Don't be jealous. We're just friends.

💡 吃醋is a very common and natural expression in spoken Chinese. It's usually used for jealousy involving love, dating, or someone's attention—not every kind of jealousy.

So if your Chinese friend asks “你吃醋了？”, they're asking: **“Are you jealous?”*👀

Have you heard **吃醋** before? What other Chinese expressions sound funny when translated literally? 👇

Learn Chinese effectively and with fun at GoEast: https://goeastmandarin.com

27/08/2026

Social Media Vocabulary in Chinese

Scrolling Chinese social media? 📱 Here are 6 words you'll see everywhere on apps like Xiaohongshu, Douyin, and WeChat. 🇨🇳

👍 点赞 (diǎnzàn)— like
Literally “give a like.”

💬 私信 (sīxìn)** — direct message / DM
Used for sending someone a private message.

➕ 关注 (guānzhù)— follow
Tap 关注 when you want to follow an account.

🔖 收藏 (shōucáng) — save / favorite
Use 收藏 when you want to come back to a post later.

📤 分享 (fēnxiǎng)— share
Send or share content with someone else.

💭 评论 (pínglùn)— comment
Leave your thoughts under a post.

💡 If you use Chinese social media, learning these words is especially useful—you'll see them on buttons, menus, and posts all the time.

And now you know exactly what to do with this post:
👍 点赞 · 🔖 收藏 · 📤 分享 · 💭 评论

Which Chinese social media word did you already know? 👇

Learn Chinese effectively and with fun at GoEast: https://goeastmandarin.com

Address

801 Changle Road, Xuhui District
Shanghai
200433

Telephone

+1 613-720-4588

Website

https://goeastmandarin.com/

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