Fun Learning Chinese

I first learned about the character 快 as meaning fast. Another common use of it is to mean soon. My tutor wrote some sentences to help me practice using it that way. First, here is some vocabulary it may be helpful to get more familiar with:   冰箱         ㄅㄧㄥ ㄒㄧㄤ    icebox, […]

One of the meanings of 跟 (see pronunciation and definitions below) has to do with ‘following closely.’ When you add 不 and 上 after it, it means you can’t keep up. The sequence of tones (first tone ⇾ second tone ⇾ fourth tone) make it particularly easy to say and fit with the emotion of […]

那些我想起來就覺得驚心動魄的經驗 (那些)(我)(想起來)(就)(覺得)(驚心動魄)(的)(經驗) (ㄋㄚˋ ㄒㄧㄝ)(ㄨㄛˇ)(ㄒㄧㄤˇ ㄑㄧˇ ㄌㄞˊ)(ㄐㄧㄡˋ)(ㄐㄩㄝˊ ㄉㄜ˙)(ㄐㄧㄥ ㄒㄧㄣ ㄉㄨㄥˋ ㄆㄛˋ)(ㄉㄜ˙)(ㄐㄧㄥ ㄧㄢˋ) (nà xiē)(wǒ)(xiǎng qǐ lái)(jiù)(jué de.)(jīng xīn dòng pò)(de.)(jīng yàn) (those)(I)(come to mind)(at once)(to feel)(extremely disturbing, hair-raising)(adjective marker)(experience) Those experiences that make me feel very afraid (or extremely disturbed).   I had a rather horrific and surreal freeway experience on my way to my Chinese […]

Every language has particular ways you can play with it. The character of the Chinese language makes it easy and normal to make up words. The lack of filler words makes it easier to construct sayings in short patterns. My tutor did this recently when she was discussing life with someone. It is not an […]

My Chinese tutor and I got a bit philosophical last week. It began when we were discussing vocabulary that had to do with having enough time. (Look for this in a future post). She taught me the idiom in the second sentence, then asked me this question:   你的人生哲學是什麼？ (你的)(人生)(哲學)(是)(什麼) (ㄋㄧˇ ㄉㄜ˙)(ㄖㄣˊ ㄕㄥ)(ㄓㄜˊ ㄒㄩㄝˊ)(ㄕˋ)(ㄔㄣˊ ㄇㄜ˙) […]

More on why 打 can be such a fun character Recently, my tutor went over many ways to use 打 ㄉㄚˇ (dǎ). We also discussed the parts of the character 打 and how they relate to its meaning. Then, for the next lesson I had she had quite a few more ways she wanted to […]

Finding the hand in the action The character 打 has the particle in it that is derived from the character 手. Here are their respective pronunciations, along with basic translations: 打 ㄉㄚˇ (dǎ) to beat, to strike, to hit, to break, to type 手 ㄕㄡˇ (shǒu) hand Perhaps you have already picked up on why […]

  When my Chinese tutor was a young girl in school, she remembers being taught about Confucius. When Confucius was quoted, they were always supposed to use the ancient way of saying “says” which is 曰 ㄩㄝ (yuē). (If you aren’t familiar with the Chinese phonetic system of bopomofo, click here) Among themselves, the school […]

Sometimes English words seem vague to native Chinese speakers. Most of you have learned that there is no direct translation for “yes” and “no” in Chinese. Answers to questions are given by using the verbs involved in the question. The word “available” is similar. There is no Chinese equivalent. In fact, my Chinese tutor told […]

  In English, there is a common saying “Methinks thou dost protest too much.” It is spoken in mock old English because it is a modification of a Shakespeare quote from Hamlet, “The lady doth protest too much, methinks.” The modification makes it applicable to both genders. There is a similar saying in Chinese that […]

Who is Deshun Wang? Deshun (sometimes spelled Dushun) Wang is an 80 year old Chinese actor. You can listen to his short bio on YouTube here. (disregard the Arabic, it was the only video I could find to embed here.) You can follow along with the transcript below. Using the video to practice listening to […]

Do you know what an “almost counting word” is? Do you realize how much everyone uses them in everyday conversation? We all use such words that approximate or hint at counting, but these words are not precise or accurate. Many almost counting words are comparative, implied or in context. Most almost counting words would need […]

  The English phrase figure it out means to solve, to understand, to reason out This is consistent with the definitions of the word figure, which have to do with both to form or shape and mathematical calculations. This basic concept is still present in the Chinese vocabulary that represents this idea. The basic phrase […]

[hr] The Chinese word and character  一 (yī) is one of the first that people learn, and for good reason. My dictionary devotes about 6 pages of words made with it. It not only means “one,” but is used as the equivalent for the English articles “a” and “an.” Other definitions are related to this […]

[hr] Why do Chinese people choose English names? Every Chinese person I have met has had an English name. Whether they were living in Taiwan, living in the United States, or on a cruise ship, each one of them has introduced themselves by their English name. They would only tell me their Chinese name when […]

[hr] Idioms in any language are phrases that are not well explained by literal translation. I have been introduced to some counting idioms as my Chinese tutor and I work on translating my (English version) children’s book A Million Rocks. The book is about *almost counting words* – words that imply size or amounts without […]

People are always coming and going. Suppose someone asks you:   你知道我的兒子在哪裡？ (你)(知道)(我的)(兒子)(在)(哪裡) (ㄋㄧˇ) (ㄓ ㄉㄠˋ) (ㄨㄛˇ ㄉㄜ˙) (ㄦˊ ㄗ˙) (ㄗㄞˋ) (ㄋㄚˇ ㄌㄧˇ) (nǐ)(zhī dào)(wǒ de.)(ér zi.)(zài)(nǎ lǐ) (you)(to know)(my)(son)(at)(where) Do you know where my son is?   And suppose you saw him leaving the house. How you answer will depend on your location compared […]

A fun word association that came up in my Chinese lesson today is going to help me remember how to say “key chain,” or more accurately “key ring,” in Chinese. 鑰匙圈 means “key chain.” Let me break it down. 鑰匙    ㄧㄠˋ ㄕ˙ (yào shi.) means “key” 圈        ㄑㄩㄢ (quān) means “circle, […]

[hr] The other day I accidentally told my Chinese tutor that I was perfect.   我說「我完全了！」 (我)(說)「(我)(完全)(了)！」 (ㄨㄛˇ) (ㄕㄨㄛ) [(ㄨㄛˇ) (ㄨㄢˊ ㄑㄨㄢˊ) (ㄌㄜ˙)] (wǒ)(shuō) [(wǒ)(wán quán)(le.)!] (I)(to say, to speak) [(I)(complete, whole, totally, entirely)(intensifies preceding clause)!] I said, “I am perfect!”   I was trying to explain that I had finished something.   她覺得好笑！ (她)[(覺)(得)](好笑) […]

[hr] 你想要多做某件事情 (你)(想要)(多)(做)(某件)(事情) (ㄋㄧˇ) (ㄒㄧㄤˇ ㄧㄠˋ) (ㄉㄨㄛ) (ㄗㄨㄛˋ) (ㄇㄡˇ ㄐㄧㄢˋ) (ㄕˋ ㄑㄧㄥˊ) (nǐ)(xiǎng yào)(duō)(zuò)(mǒu jiàn)(shì qíng) (you)(think to want)(more)(to do)(some + MW for affair)(affair, matter, business, thing) You want to do more of something Sometimes we want to do more of something than we are, like practice more or save more. A basic Chinese sentence […]