Archive for 'Vocabulary'
Summer Olympics Posted by sasha on Jul 28, 2012
It’s time again for the Summer Olympics (夏季奥运会 – xià jì ào yùn huì), which means it’s been a whole four years since I came to Beijing and China hosted the games for the first time. How time flies! This year, of course, the games are being hosted by London (伦敦 – lún dūn). Many athletes (运动员 –…
Two Year Anniversary Posted by sasha on Jul 17, 2012
These days Chinese is my 2nd language, but back in high school I was a Latin scholar. Of course, there are only a few Latin phrases that I remember to this day, one of which being “tempus fugit,” or “time flies” in English. This phrase is a little longer and more complicated in Chinese – 时间过得真快…
My Job (我的工作) Posted by sasha on Jul 8, 2012
Get your dictionaries out, because it’s time for another all Chinese post here on the blog! In case you missed them, we’ve already covered some useful topics, such as: introducing yourself, my day, my family, and my city. Today, I’ll tell you about my job: 我的工作是教大人英文。我在北京工作。我一毕业，就开始这个工作。现在我在一个美国公司工作。在中国我们有很多中心。我们的中心都在大城市。在北京我们有十五个中心。我是兼职职员。我每个星期有二十五个小时的工作。周一，周五，和周六我半天工作，周四和周日全天工作。周二和周三休息。我觉得我的工作不太忙。 半天的时候我有三节课。全天的时候有六节课。我每天有一个小时准备上课的材料。我们有很多学生 － 有的是中国人，有的是韩国人，还有的是欧洲人。他们先用电脑自己学习，然后来中心上课。他们也可以随便来中心参观我们的英语角。有时候我们开个晚会，比如：万圣节，圣诞节，或者新年。我觉得我的工作很好玩，也很舒服。 Now, let’s break the post…
My Apartment (我的公寓) Posted by sasha on Jun 25, 2012
Learn how to talk about your home in Chinese with this easy to follow video that teaches you useful vocabulary such as the names of different rooms and furniture. This is my apartment. 这是我的公寓 – zhè shì wǒ de gōng yù In my apartment, there is a storage room… 公寓里有一个储物间 – gōng yù lǐ yǒu…
Xian (西安) – Terracotta Warriors (兵马俑) Posted by sasha on Jun 15, 2012
Certainly the most famous place in Xi’an, the Terracotta Warrior army is a sight to behold. Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of a united China, had these thousands of sculptures buried with him to protect him in the afterlife. Stumbled upon by a group of farmers back in the 70’s, this archaeological wonder is…
Chinese Idioms (Vol. 6) Posted by sasha on Jun 12, 2012
It’s time for another installment of Chinese idioms. Today, we’ll look at a few very common idioms that you’ll encounter in your daily life here in the Middle Kingdom. 马马虎虎 – mǎ mǎ hǔ hǔ – “so-so”; “careless” This everyday Chinese idiom literally translates to “horse horse tiger tiger.” As with most Chinese idioms, there’s…
My Family Posted by sasha on Jun 7, 2012
When chatting with people in any language, the subject of family is bound to come up. In order to help you understand how to talk about your family in Chinese, here’s a short post about mine, all in Chinese characters: 我家有九口人。爸爸，妈妈，四个弟弟，两个妹妹，和我。 在我家里，我是老大. 我今年二十六岁。 第一个妹妹 － 我比我妹妹大两岁。她住在我的老家。她跟她的好朋友一起住。她是大学生。她也有兼职工作。她在一个餐吧工作. 我第一个弟弟比我小四岁。以前他在美国海军陆战队工作。现在他也是大学生。他非常喜欢说唱音乐。 第二个弟弟 － 他今年二十一岁。他刚大学毕业，他的专业跟我一样。过了夏天以后，他打算搬到北京找工作。 第三个弟弟 － 他刚高中毕业，明年他也要去我另外一个弟弟上的那所大学上学。他的爱好是唱歌，他唱歌唱的特别好。 第二个妹妹 －…