👩🦰 If you’re not ugly…in Chinese
Exploring the realm of online memes in Chinese serves as an enjoyable and highly effective means to acquaint oneself with the authentic and colloquial nuances of the language.
Just the other day, I stumbled upon this delightful online Chinese meme.
Can you decipher its meaning?
Step 1: Pre-test
Try to read the text above without any help.
This step is known as pre-testing and it’s proven to enhance memory by focusing your attention (even if you can’t read much).
Students who pre-test learn significantly more compared to those who don’t, even if they feel like they “bomb” the pre-test.
Step 2: Listen + Read
Next, listen to the audio file below and read along with the characters, pinyin, and translation (shadow). Learn more about how to shadow effectively in my speaking course.
Look up any words you don’t understand (vocabulary list below).
rú guǒ nǐ zhǎng de bù chǒu
如果你长得不丑
如果你長得不醜
If you're not ugly,
yīng gāi tǐng hǎo kàn de bā
应该挺好看的吧
應該挺好看的吧
you should be quite good-looking.
*This meme is a humorous and somewhat self-deprecating way of expressing that if someone is not unattractive or doesn't have a particularly unattractive appearance, then they should be considered good-looking or attractive. It's a playful way of boosting one's self-esteem or humorously complimenting someone's looks.
Chinese internet culture is known for its use of wordplay, sarcasm, and self-mockery, and and it's important to remember that it's not meant to be taken too seriously.
Vocabulary List
Organize all your vocabulary in one hub and learn Chinese faster here.
Step 3: Repetition + Retrieval
Most learners stop here, but they miss the most important step: repetition and active recall/retrieval (proven to enhance memory).
Read the characters out loud without audio. Focus on getting the correct tones/pronunciation.
Try not to look at the pinyin, but use it like training wheels if you forget.
Repeat until you don’t need to look at the pinyin.
rú guǒ nǐ zhǎng de bù chǒu
如果你长得不丑
如果你長得不醜
yīng gāi tǐng hǎo kàn de bā
应该挺好看的吧
應該挺好看的吧
Step 4: Final “Test”
Final stretch. Re-read the original text again.
How does it feel?
Congrats! You just read a piece of real Chinese material.
This is the exact system I used to learn authentic Chinese and build fluency fast.
See you next week for another breakdown!
PS If you’re looking for more help, here are some other ways I can help you:
Speaking Course: This is the step-by-step system I used to go from struggling to speak to knowing what to say, sounding more natural, having better conversations, and making new friends with native speakers.
The Language Learner OS: A multifunctional hub designed to assist in organizing notes, tracking progress, enhancing productivity, and accelerating Chinese language acquisition.
The Monthly Signs: Delve deeper into these lessons with interactive vocabulary lists, flashcards, study trackers, and more.
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