Do you know how to say “tweet,” “email” or “blogger” in Chinese? How about the Chinese counterparts of YouTube, Google and Facebook?
Once I reached a certain level of Chinese—enough to have general conversations with native speakers—I found myself unexpectedly searching for all kinds of social media and technology terms to get my point across.
Take a look at my list of over 140 technical terms in Chinese so you already have these words up your sleeve.
Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you
can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)
Types of Internet People English Chinese Pinyin Blogger 博主 bó zhŭ Male tech geek who stays home all the time 宅男 zhái nán Female tech geek who stays home all the time 宅女 zhái nǚ Internet friend 网友 wǎng yǒu Netizen 网络公民 wăng luò gōng mín Human flesh search engine (not a person but the phenomenon) 人肉搜索 rén ròu sōu suŏ Hacker 黑客 hēi kè Venture capital (not a person, but venture capital itself) 风险投资 fēng xiǎn tóu zī User 用户 yòng hù Administrator 管理员 guăn lĭ yuán Moderator 版主 bǎn zhǔ Programmer 程序设计师 chéng xù shè jì shī Computer programming (the activity not the person) 电脑编程 diàn năo biān chéng Developer 开发人员 kāi fā rén yuán
Famous Computer / Internet People English Chinese Pinyin Alibaba founder 马云 mă yún Baidu (China’s most populous search engine) founder 李彦红 lĭ yàn hóng Former Microsoft and Google China CEO 李开复 lĭ kāi fù Foxconn CEO 郭台铭 guō tái míng Lenovo founder 柳传志 liŭ chuán zhì Tencent CEO 马化腾 mǎ huà téng
Internet sites English Chinese Pinyin The internet 互联网 hù lián wăng Baidu (Chinese Google - most popular search engine) 百度 băi dù Sina (Chinese Yahoo) 新浪网 xīn làng wǎng Google 谷歌 gǔ gē Kaixinwang (social networking site, mainly for professionals) 开心网 kāi xīn wăng Renrenwang (social networking site, mainly for students) 人人网 rén rén wǎng Weibo (means "microblogging" and is like Chinese Twitter) 微博 wēi bó Youku (Chinese Youtube) 优酷 yōu kù QQ (Chinese instant messaging program) QQ Taobao (Chinese eBay - site for online shopping) 淘宝 táo băo Search engine 搜索引擎 sōu suŏ yĭn qíng
Things to Do and Types of Sites English Chinese Pinyin Social network 社交网络 shè jiāo wăng luò E-commerce 电子商务 diàn zĭ shāng wù Podcast 播客 bō kè Blog 博客 bó kè Webpage 网页 wăng yè Chartroom 聊天室 liáo tiān shì Internet cafe 网吧 wăng bā BBS 论坛 lùn tán Computer game 电脑游戏 diàn năo yóu xì Video game 电玩 diàn wán Internet game 网游（网络游戏） wǎng yóu Internet shopping 网购（网上购物） wǎng gòu
Internet “Verbs” English Chinese Pinyin Tweet (from Weibo, China's Twitter) 发微博 fā wēi bó A post (on a blog) 帖子 tiě zi Online 上线 shàng xiàn Offline 离线 lí xiàn Comment 评论 píng lùn Reply 回复 huí fù Accept 接收 jiē shōu Decline 拒绝 jù jué Register 注册 zhù cè Login /sign in 登录 dēng lù Download 下载 xià zăi Upload 上传 shàng chuán Click 点击 diăn jī Double-click 双击 shuāng jī
Email English Chinese Pinyin Inbox 邮箱 yóu xiāng An email 邮件 yóu jiàn To send an email 发邮件 fā yóu jiàn To forward 转发 zhuǎn fā To CC 抄送 chāo sòng Spam 垃圾邮件 lā jī yóu jiàn File 文件 wén jiàn Document 文件 wén jiàn Access 接入 jiē rù Attachment 附件 fù jiàn Chart 表格 biăo gé Virus 病毒 bìng dú
Computer Hardware English Chinese Pinyin Hardware 硬件 yìng jiàn Computer 电脑 diàn năo Screen 屏幕 píng mù Keyboard 键盘 jiàn pán Key (on a keyboard) 键 jiàn Desktop computer 台式机 tái shì jī Mouse 鼠标 shŭ biāo Monitor 显示器 xiǎn shì qì CPU CPU Design 设计 shè jì
Computer Hardware Accessories English Chinese Pinyin Software 软件 ruăn jiàn Speakers 音响 yīn xiăng Microphone 话筒 huà tŏng AC adapter AC适配器 AC shì pèi qì Disc 碟 dié Printer 打印机 dă yìn jī Button 按钮 àn niǔ Fax 传真 chuán zhēn Scanner 扫描仪 săo miáo yí External hard drive 移动硬盘 yí dòng yìng pán USB drive U盘 U pán
Mobile Computer Hardware English Chinese Pinyin Laptop 笔记本 bǐ jì běn Touchpad 触摸板 chù mō băn USB Interfaces USB接口 USB jiē kǒu
Mobile Devices English Chinese Pinyin Mobile device 移动设备 yí dòng shè bèi Device 设备 shè bèi Smartphone 智能手机 zhì néng shŏu jī Touchscreen 触摸屏 chù mō píng Camera 摄像头 shè xiàng tóu Earphones 耳机 ěr jī Headphones 头戴式耳机 tóu dài shì ěr jī Battery 电池 diàn chí Charger 充电器 chōng diàn qì Data cable 数据线 shù jù xiàn Memory card 存储卡 cún chŭ kă Slots 插槽 chā cáo
Mobile Device Related English Chinese Pinyin Text message 短信 duǎn xìn To send a text message 发短信 fā duǎn xìn Signal 信号 xìn hào Power 电源 diàn yuán Wireless 无线 wú xiàn Data 数据 shù jù WiFi 无线局域网 wú xiàn jú yù wăng Bluetooth 蓝牙 lán yá
iPhone English Chinese Pinyin Swipe (on a iphone) 滑动 huá dòng iPhone app iPhone 应用程序 iPhone yìng yòng chéng xù iPhone app (another way to say it) iPhone 应用软件 iPhone yìng yòng ruǎn jiàn App store 应用商店 yìng yòng shāng diàn Apple store 苹果零售店 píng guŏ líng shòu diàn Case 保护壳 băo hù ké Unlock 解锁 jiě suǒ
Browser Interface Terms English Chinese Pinyin Desktop 桌面 zhuō miàn Homepage 主页 zhŭ yè Menu bar 菜单栏 cài dān lán Link 链接 liàn jiē Internet address 网址 wăng zhĭ Address 地址 dì zhĭ Bookmark 书签 shū qiān Keyword 关键字 guān jiàn zì Pixel 像素 xiàng sù Bookmark 收藏夹 shōu cáng jiā Backup 备份 bèi fèn Image 图片 tú piàn Video 视频 shì pín
Technical Internet Terms English Chinese Pinyin System 系统 xì tŏng Network 网络 wăng luò Firewall 防火墙 fáng huŏ qiáng Cloud computing 云计算 yún jì suàn Digital 数码的 shù mă de Broadband 宽带 kuān dài Memory 内存 nèi cún Meg (short for megabyte) 兆 (short for 兆字节 ) zhào (short for zhào zì jié) Gig (short for gigabyte) 千 (short for 千兆字节 ) qiān (short for qiān zhào zì jié)
I hope you find these technical terms in Chinese helpful when you need vocabulary words for computers, the Internet, social media and the like!
Practice them on your own by creating sentences or journal entries, and immerse yourself in authentic Chinese media, like the videos on FluentU .
The videos on FluentU let you hover over words in the subtitles you don’t know so you can learn them in context. This is especially helpful for learning Internet slang and other niche technology terms.
Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you
can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)
And One More Thing...
If you want to continue learning Chinese with interactive and authentic Chinese content, then you'll love FluentU .
FluentU naturally eases you into learning Chinese language. Native Chinese content comes within reach, and you'll learn Chinese as it's spoken in real life.
FluentU has a wide range of contemporary videos—like dramas, TV shows, commercials and music videos.
FluentU brings these native Chinese videos within reach via interactive captions. You can tap on any word to instantly look it up. All words have carefully written definitions and examples that will help you understand how a word is used. Tap to add words you'd like to review to a vocab list.
FluentU's Learn Mode turns every video into a language learning lesson. You can always swipe left or right to see more examples for the word you're learning.
The best part is that FluentU always keeps track of your vocabulary. It customizes quizzes to focus on areas that need attention and reminds you when it’s time to review what you’ve learned. You have a 100% personalized experience.
Start using the FluentU website on your computer or tablet or, better yet, download the FluentU app from the iTunes or Google Play store. Click here to take advantage of our current sale! (Expires at the end of this month.)
Alan Park is the founder of FluentU. He's thankful that he was able to turn a love of learning Chinese and Japanese into a business that helps people learn languages with authentic videos. Dedicated every day to creating language learning content and products that people love.
