Archive for 'Vocabulary'
Useful Vocabulary for Shopping in China Posted by Ayana on Oct 21, 2019
When visiting China it is so tempting to go shopping. Every item I buy bears memories from another delightful trip in The Middle Kingdom. 买东西 (mǎi dōng xī) is a general phrase (verb + object) that literally means to buy things. It is a useful phrase, referring to almost any kind of shopping. I use…
7 Awesome Chinese Words That Don’t Translate Posted by sasha on Oct 9, 2019
Have you ever seen that movie “Lost in Translation”? It’s a great movie starring Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson where the two often experience culture shock (文化冲击 – wén huà chōng jí) in Tokyo. I don’t know about you, but I’ve had plenty of experiences with culture shock. This was especially true during my first…
Going Back to School in China Posted by sasha on Aug 21, 2019
Summer holiday is almost finished! (暑假快要结束了- shǔ jià kuài yào jié shù le). Can you believe it? I know I can’t. It seems like just yesterday I was writing my post on talking about summer in Chinese with vocabulary words like water park (水上乐园 – shuǐ shàng lè yuán) and beach (海滩 – hǎi tān)…
Talking About Summer in Chinese Posted by sasha on Jun 20, 2019
Tomorrow is the first day of summer (夏天 – xià tiān). Many students are getting ready to go on summer vacation (暑假 – shǔ jià), so lots of families plan to take a vacation (假期 – jià qī) in the coming months. All over China, people are excited for what the summer months bring. Learn…
Talking about Smoking in Chinese Posted by Ayana on Jun 17, 2019
Smoking (吸烟 xī yān) is a bad habit (坏习惯 huài xí guàn). Cigarettes appear to have originated in Mexico and Central America around the 9th century in the form of reeds and smoking tubes. In the 19th century, the cigarette had crossed into Europe and received the name cigarette (香烟 xiāng yān). Nowadays, the adverse health…
7 Must-Know Questions for Eating Out in China Posted by sasha on May 16, 2019
If you’re at a beginner level of Chinese, one of the most intimidating experiences is going out to a local restaurant. You show up to a crowded, noisy place and glance at the menu on the wall. It’s nothing but Chinese characters. The waiter asks you a question, and you have no idea what he…
5 Must-Know Chinese Adjectives to Describe People Posted by Ayana on May 6, 2019
Adjectives (形容词 xíng róng cí) play an important role in any language. Adjectives are used to describe the noun and they are tremendously useful in daily spoken language. In this post we will focus on five must-know adjectives to describe (mostly but, of course, not only) people. These five traits and their antonyms will help…