Teachers from Chinese language school where you learn Mandarin in the city of Kunming will tell you that you should know many Chinese words if you want to learn better. However the difficult point is to remember them firmly and tell the differences with the words similar in meaning.
The words “感到” and “觉得” are often explained in detail when you attend to Chinese school in China. “感到” means “feel”, emphasizing the reaction of the sensory organs or the feeling in the heart when stimulated by the other things. We often say “感到高兴” and “感到失望”.
“觉得” also carries the meaning of “having a certain feeling” but stresses people’s psychic reaction to the objective things felt. It is often used in oral Chinese with the unsure tone. Everybody who comes to study in China should know that another meaning is “to think something is”. For instance, “我认为应该两个人一起去” or “你觉得这个计划怎么样？”.
During the process of learning Mandarin Chinese, students will learn how to express “thanks”. Therefore, we need to learn “感谢” and “感激”, both of which expressing “thanks”. “感谢” is to thank somebody’s help, kindness or convenience by words or actions, mostly giving a gift. It can be used both in the direct conversation and in the objective description. So we can say “感谢你的帮助”, “感谢大家的光临”.
On the contrary, “感激” is a kind of excitement or favorable impression in the heart aroused by other’s help or kindness. Generally speaking, it is not applied to speak to others directly. Here are some examples often seen when you learn Chinese in China: “我感激不尽”, “我很感激他”.
Another group of similar words often taught when foreign learners take qualified Mandarin program in China is “刚” and “刚才”. The appearance is similar but the meanings are very different. “刚才” is a noun to express the time of “just now”. for instance, “他刚才吃了药，现在睡着了”. It also can be placed after the preposition such as “现在比刚才好多了”.
However, “刚” is an adverb to which students should pay more attention when they study Chinese in China. it means the action or behavior is limited in a certain extent, having the same meaning with “only or just”. For example, “洞口刚能容一人进去”. Another meaning is that things are in a proper and perfect degree like “不多不少，刚合适”. It also applied to indicate the action is just happed not long before: “战斗刚结束”.
When we express we have a pleasant mood, we often use “高兴” and “快乐”. But students who learn Chinese language in China may ask what the differences between them. “快乐” is an adjective to emphasize the happy feeling towards life in one’s heart. For instance, “快乐的生活”. It can be repeated as “快快乐乐”.
When “高兴” functioned as the adjective, it means “glad and exciting”, stressing the present mood when meeting a pleasant things. We can say “见到你我很高兴”. The repeated form is “高高兴兴”. When you learn to speak Chinese, you should know when the word used as a verb, it implies “like to do something”. We often hear “你不高兴去就算了” in our daily life.
Last but not least, students should know the differences among “讲”, “说” and”
“告诉” when they learn Mandarin in China. the first meaning of “讲” is “to speak” like “讲话”. It also means to explain such as in the phrases “讲历史”. The last one is “to bargain” like “讲价钱”. “说” is to express meaning by saying, we can say “说话”. “告诉” is the same as “tell” in Chinese. For instance, “告诉大家一个好消息”.
For the purpose of telling the differences clearly, students can make use of the similar words carrying the same meaning in English. It will helpful for learners to remember firmly.