Mandarin Review: 成／to become

One of the chapters in New Practical Chinese Reader is called 你快要成“中国通”了/you are almost becoming a "China hand". It is pronounced as chéng, and the character has the same pronunciation and tone as 诚 (indeed/if).

Example sentences of 成 also include 成了明星/he became a star. In the meaning of "accomplish," example sentences are 成不了大事/cannot achieve great deeds; 他是个能成大事的人/he is a great achiever. You can also use 成 to indicate that something is alright. E.g.成！就这么办 / ok, go ahead or 没有你可不成 / (we) are not ok without you. 成 can also mean "one tenth" as in 三成／ thirty percent.

Synonyms include

• 成为 （為）： 成为热门话题／become a hot topic (conversation).
• 变成: 把水力变成电力/the water was changed into electrical power .
• 为/為: 一分为二 ／ divide into two。
• 做： 用这间（這間）房子做教室／turn this room into a classroom.In Japanese 成 (the na in nasa) can mean to achieve or make. e.g. 大事をなす / to achieve greatness, and 意味をなさない / doesn't make sense.

In Cantonese, 成 means "succeed" and is used in the word 䏲成 ／regard as.

It seems to have a positive connotation of completion.

下年我成四年级学生。也留学生。所以，我会在大学宿舍住。

Mandarin Review: 宿舍 (dormitory/hostel)

宿舍 means “dormitory,” or  “hall of residence.”（I'm writing this with with the pinyin keyboard and trying very hard not to inadvertently write characters).

It is pronounced sùshè, which, if one wants to be clever in the literary sense, has the same pronunciation as 速射，which means "rapid fire."

宿 on its own means "stay," basically, as in 借宿一晚, to rent for or ask for a night (of lodging). 宿 can serve as a phonetic marker (as in they all have the same pronunciation) for 缩（contract），樎（rare character），蹜（also rare).

舍, on the other hand, does not have its own meaning and generally comes at the end of words that are associated with some kind of building, such as a hotel 旅舍，school building 校舍, personal home 舍下，or a humble abode 寒舍.

The two of them combined together come to meaning something like "a building to stay in."

Other means include use as a precursor for younger siblings (Oh! now I can say 我有三个（個）舍弟妹 — I have three younger siblings), or with a third tone, "give up," e.g. 舍药（藥).

A synonym includes 招待所 ／ Zhāodàisuǒ ／ guest house. I suppose the 所 is generic term for some sort of place, but whatever place it is, because of 厕所, it sounds like it might be a hole. But it is certainly not! They are much like the the famous Japanese 旅館/ryokan, usually very upmarket, and sometimes especially marketed for sexual deviants. It seems that 所 is just a very generic word for "place." This is mirrored by the Japanese 宿屋/yadoya which is specifically a Japanese style 旅館 (nice to know! Even if the etymology is Chinese *evil grin*)

Another synonym is 旅店, which means hostel. It literally translates as "travel spot," but it actually seems to mean "motel" based on a quick Google Image search I did.

In terms of writing, I always found 宿舍 difficult to remember because it has few phonological similarities with other characters. This, however, makes it easy from the point of view that you can't confuse it with other words. When I was first learning it,  I always remembered 宿 as the character that had "100 people under a single roof" and 舍 as a tongue wagging under a different type of roof. 宿 means "inn," which is self-explanatory, but 舍 actually means "cottage," and it is a type of place in which communication occurs.

Alas, there is no written equivalent in Cantonese (or my dictionary, which only offers 饭店 for "hotel," just sucks). Like, how am I supposed to talk about my awesome international dorm with the new Cantonese friends I make?