Watching Mandarin movies is a good way to develop your vocabulary, your listening comprehension, and learn a bit about Chinese culture, all in one go. A few days ago I saw A Thousand Years of Good Prayers, a 2007 movie about an elderly Beijing man visiting his daughter in the US. Dialogues between father and daughter are in Mandarin with English subtitles, but the father's attempts at communicating with other people (in a mixture of Mandarin and broken English) have no subtitles.
This is a good movie that explores the misunderstandings between generations and cultures, and if you are learning Mandarin, the conversations will be an enjoyable vocabulary lesson.
Comments
Hello Qiu,
Ni hao!
I am a regular reader of your blog. Your articles are very interesting. Today, you made a Mandarin movie suggestion “A thousand years of good prayers”. I like watching Chinese movies, but this movie still escaped my attention.
Thanks for the recommendation!
Bests,
Ruppy.
I recommend Kung Fu Movies
http://www.kungfucinema.com/
Qiu, 你好！
I am frequently reading your blogs. They’ve helped me a great deal on expanding my knowledge with the Mandarin langauge. I’ve been studying Mandarin at University for just about a year now. I find that watching movies in Mandarin helps significantly, especially if you aren’t surrouned by the language. This is definitely a great way to expand on your listening skills. Are there any other movies that you would recommend?
Thanks for all your hardwork!
Wish you the best,
马泰乐。
You might want to check out Chinese dubbed movies, the exact Disney / animation movies such as Beauty and the Beast, Toy Story, The Little Mermaid, Peter Pan, or Hollywood style movies such as High School Musical, Wall Street, Titanic, The Sound of Music, etc. These movies have been imported by Chinese for the China market. They are dubbed in Mandarin Chinese.
Recently, Chinese dubbed movies are becoming a great tool for people learning Mandarin Chinese. They can watch the episodes, listen to Chinese conversations (also with English sound track), and reading the English subtitles (also comes with Chinese subtitles too!), thus without getting lost in translation.
A web site that specializes selling Chinese dubbed movies is [ http://www.ChinaExpress.com ].
Great web site. And shipping is fast and very affordable. They offer $4.98 flat rate shipping for orders over $50.
The web site offers a great selection of Chinese dubbed movies, ranging from Disney animation through Hollywood romance or Science Fiction such as Journey to the Center of the Earth!
Mandarin Chinese movies, or Mandarin Chinese dubbed movies, or simply Chinese dubbed movies, are the same thing, movies in Mandarin Chinese.
Each year, about 1/5 of Hollywood and almost all Disney / Pixar / animation movies are being translated and dubbed professionally into Mandarin Chinese, i.e., Chinese dubbed movies. One more complete catalog can be found online at [ http://www.ChineseDubbed.com ] .
Make sure that you understand that you need a region FREE DVD player in order to play these region 6 Chinese dubbed movies, as these movies are made for region 6, the China market. If you purchase such a movie that is not for region 6, chances are that you are buying a illegal copy, and wasting money.