12 Ways to Say I Speak Chinese | I Know Chinese

How to Say I've Studied Chinese Before

How long have you studied Chinese? Did you start five years, five months or five days ago? How to tell people how long you've been learning?

5. 我学过中文

pinyin. wǒ xué guò zhōng wén literal. I studied Chinese liberal. I have learned Chinese before
我学过中文 does not specify how long you have been learning. It just explains that you've studied Chinese before. Even if you stopped learning a while ago, you can still say 我学过中文, because it only expresses past experience.

6.我学了五年的中文

pinyin wǒ xué le wǔ nián de zhōng wén literal. I studied five years (of) Chinese liberal. I studied Chinese for five years (in the past)
If you studied Chinese for five years in the past, you can say 我学了五年的中文. This does not specify whether you're still studying or not. It could be either way. So we can only be certain that "you have spent five years of your past experience for studying Chinese". Generally, you can use this structure "我学了(number)年的(something)" for other things too. For example: 我学了三年的吉他 (jítā) "I learned guitar for three years".

7.我学中文五年了

pinyin. wǒ xué zhōng wén wǔ nián le literal. I studied Chinese (for) five years already liberal. I have been studying Chinese for five years now
By saying 我学中文五年了, you're basically saying "I have been studying Chinese for the past five years", meaning you started five years ago and are still studying right now. [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

Other Ways to Say I Can Speak Chinese in Chinese

8. 我懂中文

pinyin. wǒ dǒng zhōng wén literal. I understand Chinese liberal. I know Chinese
In Chinese 懂 means to understand, so 我懂中文 just means that you understand Chinese.

9. 我懂一点儿中文

pinyin. wǒ dǒng yì diǎnr zhōng wén literal. I know a little Chinese liberal. I know a little bit Chinese
And again if you want to be modest or you consider yourself a beginner, you can say 我懂一点儿中文, meaning you know Chinese but not a lot.

How to Say I Know Chinese Characters

Chinese is a little complicated because even if one can speak Chinese, it does not mean that they know how to write Chinese characters.If you want to say that you know Chinese characters, here are some useful expressions:

10. 我会写汉字

pinyin. wǒ huì xiě hàn zì literal. I know Chinese characters liberal. I know how to write Chinese characters
If asked what the most difficult part is regarding learning Chinese, writing Chinese characters will probably be the most voted aspect. If you can write characters, don't be shy and proudly say 我会写汉字.

11.我会认汉字

pinyin. wǒ huì rèn hàn zì literal. I know (how to) recognize Chinese characters liberal. I can read Chinese characters
Compare with writing, recognizing Chinese characters are much easier. This is why typing Chinese can be a shortcut than being able to write all characters by heart.

12.我知道怎么写汉字

pinyin. wǒ zhī dao zěn me xiě hàn zì literal. I know how to write Chinese characters liberal. I know how to write Chinese characters
This expression is less common than 我会写汉字, but sometimes we do hear people say it. "我知道怎么 + do something" also means that you know how to do something. [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]