Archive for 'Vocabulary'
Chinese Idioms (Vol. 5) Posted by sasha on Apr 9, 2012
It’s been a while, but it’s time for another installment of Chinese idioms, or 成语 (chéng yǔ). For this edition, we’ll look at three very different animals – a horse, a mantis, and a bird: 按图索骥 – Àn tú suǒ jì – “judge a horse by the book” Once upon a time, in the Spring…
A Day in the (Chinese) Life Posted by sasha on Mar 28, 2012
To help you learn about telling time in Chinese and describing daily activities, I’m going to describe a typical day in my life, all in Chinese: 我早上九点起床，然后吃早餐。早餐的话我喜欢吃水果和面包，喝果汁和咖啡。我十点去健身房做运动。我喜欢打篮球，跑步，或者游泳。我中午十二点回家吃午饭。我常常吃三明治或者沙拉。饭后我洗澡，然后去公司上班。如果天气好，我骑自行车。如果天气不好，我坐公交车。我下午一点上班。我的工作是教大人英语。我先有三节课，然后休息。休息的时候我喜欢上网或者看书。从六点到九点我还有三节课。我晚上九点下班回家。有时候我在家里做饭，有时候我去饭馆吃中国菜。我的公寓附近有很多好饭馆，比如桂林米粉，东北菜，麻辣烫，什么的。吃晚饭以后我喜欢看电视。因为我是夜猫子，我很晚睡觉。 For beginner learners of Chinese, I realize that can be a lot to digest, so let’s break down my daily routine sentence-by-sentence, with pinyin and English to assist…
Chinese Pronouns and the Verb “To Be” Posted by sasha on Mar 26, 2012
This basic video teaches you personal pronouns, the verb “to be”, and how to use them together to describe jobs in Chinese. With Chinese characters, pinyin, and English.
20 Questions Posted by sasha on Mar 14, 2012
We’ve already covered how to introduce yourself here on the Chinese blog (click here for the written post, and check out the video here), so now it’s time to equip you with some questions that you will certainly come in handy when you meet people in China: 1. 你叫什么名字? (nǐ jiào shén me míng zì)…
Swear Words in Chinese Posted by sasha on Mar 6, 2012
Normally, we try to keep it pretty PG around here on the Chinese blog, but the readers have spoken, and people want to learn how to say bad words (坏语 – huài yǔ) in Chinese. That should come as no surprise, since I’m sure most of us would admit that we always seek out the…
What’s in a Chinese Character? (Vol. 2) Posted by sasha on Mar 3, 2012
It’s been a while since we talked about Chinese characters (find Vol. 1 here), so let’s look at a few more examples. Last time, we looked at the character for person (人 – rén), so now let’s take a closer look at a person. Take a look in the mirror at your beautiful face (面…
Introduce Yourself in Chinese (Video) Posted by sasha on Feb 25, 2012
Last month I made a post about how to introduce yourself. In a follow-up to that, here’s a video you can use to follow along with my basic self-introduction. Use the video to practice making sentences about yourself, and before you know it you’ll be confidently introducing yourself to new friends in Chinese. 自我介绍 –…