Archive for 'Vocabulary'
Chengdu (成都) – People’s Park and Tianfu Square Posted by sasha on Sep 17, 2012
The capital of southwest China’s Sichuan province, Chengdu is both an ancient and a modern city, with a long history and traditional Chinese culture mixed in with brand new skyscrapers that seem to be sprouting up every few hours. A morning here is well-spent wandering the massive People’s Park, where locals gather to sip tea…
My Last Vacation (Part One) Posted by sasha on Sep 13, 2012
Recently I covered some useful vocabulary and phrases for planning a vacation. Well, today I’m going to tell you about my last vacation… in Chinese. For those of you more advanced folks, or those who are really focusing on practicing your reading of Chinese characters, the first part is for you. It is the first…
Taking a Vacation Posted by sasha on Sep 2, 2012
September is here, which means the summer holiday (暑假 – shǔ jià) has come to an end, and children all around the world are going back to school. Luckily for Chinese students, there’s another holiday coming up in just a few short weeks. As a matter of fact, this year there are TWO holidays back to back…
What’s in a Chinese Character? (Vol. 3) Posted by sasha on Aug 23, 2012
It’s been a while since we’ve taken a closer look at the complexity of Chinese characters. To get you up to speed, here are the links to Volume 1 and Volume 2. So far, we’ve examined quite a few characters dealing with people. Today, we’ll focus more on nature, as we look at the history…
Common Chinese Greetings Posted by sasha on Aug 15, 2012
Learning common greetings is a very important part of studying any language. Of course, there are more words and phrases than the equivalent of “hello” and “goodbye.” With this short video, you’ll learn how and when to use some of the most common greetings in Chinese. 你好 nǐ hǎo Hello nǐ –> ní…
My Hobbies (我的爱好) Posted by sasha on Aug 12, 2012
When making small talk, it’s very common to talk about your hobbies (爱好 – Ài hào). After all, talking about what you like to do in your free time is always more interesting than talking about what you have to do at work or school. To help you build your vocabulary and learn how to talk…
Making Comparisons in Chinese Posted by sasha on Jul 30, 2012
Learn how to make simple comparisons in Chinese with this easy to follow video. Features Chinese characters, pinyin, and English translations, along with explanations. 比 – bǐ compare; contrast 他比我高 – tā bǐ wǒ gāo He’s taller than me. 她比我漂亮 – tā bǐ wǒ piào liang She’s more beautiful than me. 上海比北京大…