{"id":14608,"date":"2018-12-19T09:00:01","date_gmt":"2018-12-19T13:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/?p=14608"},"modified":"2018-12-18T15:34:47","modified_gmt":"2018-12-18T19:34:47","slug":"top-10-posts-of-2018","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/top-10-posts-of-2018\/","title":{"rendered":"Top 10 Posts of 2018"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s hard to believe, but another year is about to finish up. As we look forward to the\u00a0New Year<\/strong> (\u65b0\u5e74 – x\u012bn ni\u00e1n), it’s a great time to reflect on the one that’s ending. Here at the Chinese Language Blog, that means looking back on our 100 or so posts from the year and seeing which ones you, our amazing readers, enjoyed the most. We ran the stats and found our Top 10 Posts of 2018, so here they are!<\/p>\n

10. Guess the Chinese Word<\/a><\/h2>\n

I don’t know about you, but I love a good guessing game. In this post, you can play a fun little game by guessing Chinese words based on their literal translations into English. What do you think “cowboy pants<\/strong>” (\u725b\u4ed4\u88e4 \u2013 ni\u00fa z\u01cei k\u00f9) are? How about a “fire chicken<\/strong>” (\u706b\u9e21 \u2013 hu\u01d2 j\u012b)? There are 25+ words in this post that you can guess, and you’ll have a useful vocabulary list at the end!<\/p>\n

9. An Intro to the Chinese Zodiac<\/a><\/h2>\n
\"An<\/a>

Image by GanMed64 from flickr.com. Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0)<\/p><\/div>\n

You’re probably familiar with the\u00a0Chinese zodiac<\/strong>\u00a0(\u751f\u8096 \u2013 sh\u0113ng xi\u00e0o), but do you know the interesting legend of how the twelve animals of the zodiac calendar came to be ordered? There’s also a handy-dandy chart that makes it really easy to find your animal if you don’t already know it. I was born in ’85, meaning I’m a bull<\/strong> (\u725b – ni\u00fa). There’s a lot more to the Chinese zodiac than just the animals, though, so read this post to find out.<\/p>\n

8. Exclamations in Chinese<\/a><\/h2>\n

Once you’ve gotten to a basic conversational level of Chinese, you’ll want to start improving your fluency and sounding more natural. A great way to do this is learning some exclamations in Chinese. These help you show your interest in a conversation. Exclaim “Really<\/strong>?!” (\u771f\u7684\u5417?! – zh\u0113n de ma) or “Of course<\/strong>!” (\u5f53\u7136\u4e86! – d\u0101ng r\u00e1n le) to show that you’re really engaged in what’s being said. Learn several other useful exclamations by studying this helpful post.<\/p>\n

7. English Words That Come From Chinese<\/a><\/h2>\n
\"\"<\/a>

Mmmm.. Mapo tofu.<\/p><\/div>\n

Chinese has definitely made its mark on the English language, thanks to words like\u00a0tofu<\/strong> (\u8c46\u8150 – d\u00f2u fu) and\u00a0\u00a0fengshui<\/strong><\/em> (\u98ce\u6c34 – f\u0113ng shu\u01d0), or expressions such as “Long time no see<\/strong>” (\u597d\u4e45\u4e0d\u89c1 – h\u01ceo ji\u01d4 b\u00f9 ji\u00e0n). If you’re interested in learning more, be sure to check out this post that details several English words with Chinese origins. There are a few good stories as well, including how and why the word “ketchup” actually has Chinese roots.<\/p>\n

6. Chinese Vocabulary for Spring Festival<\/a><\/h2>\n

China has many different holidays throughout the year, but none are more important than Spring Festival\u00a0<\/strong>(\u6625\u8282 – ch\u016bn ji\u00e9). Also known as the Chinese New Year, this holiday will occur on February 5th in 2019. Get talking about it by learning 25 vocabulary words for Spring Festival, including three of the most common greetings that are used around the holiday.<\/p>\n

I always enjoyed celebrating Spring Festival in China, except for the non-stop firecrackers for 15 days! My best experience with the holiday came when we got to visit a friend in his small village in the mountains of Yunnan. You can see what Spring Festival in rural China looks like in this short video:<\/p>\n