Mǐ MemoQube

This cube can be used to learn Mandarin Chinese words built of two characters. Mǐ or 米 means 'rice' in Chinese. The scheme to connect the characters corresponds with the structure of the Mǐ character.

There are four tones in Mandarin Chinese plus a fifth neutral tone. The same chinese character may be pronounced with different tones but with different meanings in each case. Thus, it is very important to know in advance the correct pronunciation tone. A very convenient means of knowing a character tone consists in coding the character colour. Here, the selected colour code is as follows: Tone 1: Red, Tone 2: Green, Tone 3: Blue, Tone 4: Black.

While the majour group of the Chinese vocabulary are words composed of two characters, combinations with one, three or four characters are less common.

When in the initial state the stickers of a face are numbered row by row from C1 to C9, 8 words can be built per face (C1-C5, C2-C5, C2-C5, C4-C5, C5-C6, C5-C7, C5-C8, C5-C9) or 48 words per cube. Rotating the faces allows you to build many more words. A database was used to find the most common characters for the centers, corners and edges.

The 成 face (up)

做成 zuòchéng (to make into, to convert into)

老成 lǎochéng (a steady or experienced person)

合成 héchéng (to combine, to compose)

完成 wánchéng (complete)

成 chéng (become, result)

成长 chéngzhǎng (grow, increase)

成就 chéngjiù (achievement)

成家 chéngjiā (founding a family)

成果 chéngguǒ (result)

The 东 face (right)

广东 Guǎngdōng (Guangdong)

近东 Jìndōng (Middle East)

远东 Yuǎndōng (Far East)

房东 fángdōng (landlord)

东 dōng (east, orient)

东北 dōngběi (north-east)

东西 dōng-xī (from east to west, east and west)*

东京 Dōngjīng (Tokyo)

东方 Dōngfāng (orient)

* This word also means:

东西 dōngxi (a thing, an object).

Note that these two words are not pronounced the same way. In the first case, the tone of 西 is in the 1st tone (xī) coded in red color on the cube, whereas in the latter case the tone of 西 is the 5th or neutral tone (xi).

The 中 face (front)

当中 dāngzhōng (among)

高中 gāozhōng (2nd education [high school])

心中 xīnzhōng (at heart)

月中 yuèzhōng (mid-[month])

中 zhōng (center, middle)

中间 zhōngjiān (in the middle)

中等 zhōngděng (average quality)

中午 zhōngwǔ (noon)

中饭 zhōngfàn (lunch)

The 法 face (down)

用法 yòngfǎ (usage)

公法 gōngfǎ (public law)

看法 kànfǎ (opinion)

办法 bànfǎ (method, with the help of)

法 fǎ (law, method)

法文 fǎwén (French [language])

法院 fǎyuàn (court)

法语 fǎyǔ (French [language])

法学 Fǎxué (the law)

The 国 face (back)

出国 chūguó (to go abroad)

大国 dàguó (big country)

贵国 guìguó (your country)

本国 běnguó (this country)

国 guó (country)

国歌 guógē (national anthem)

国民 guómín (national citizen)

国外 guówài (foreign)

国画 guóhuà (Chinese painting)

The 地 face (left)

天地 tiāndì (sky and earth)

田地 tiándì (field)

种地 zhòngdì (cultivating the land)

边地 biāndì (border region)

地 dì (soil, earth)

地区 dìqū (region, prefecture)

地主 dìzhǔ (landlord)

地位 dìwèi (position, rank)

地图 dìtú (map [geography])

This cube was designed in 2008 by André Boulouard.

PDF document with algorithms by André Boulouard for displaying additional words on the cube.

Faces of the cube: 1024 x 1024, 2048 x 2048

Enlarged view