Fun Learning Chinese

[hr] 破音字 ㄆㄛˋ ㄧㄣ ㄗˋ are kind of like Chinese homonyms. In English, homonyms are words that sound the same, but are spelled differently (look different) and have different meanings. Examples: here and hear. Are you here? I can’t hear you! The translation of 破音字 ㄆㄛˋ ㄧㄣ ㄗˋ (pò yīn zì) is humorous to me […]

[hr] Recently, my Chinese tutor decided to help me understand the possibilities and nuances for using the character 只 ㄓˇ (zhǐ) in combination with some other common verbs. Like many things in language learning, the best way to get a better grasp of usage is to hear and try the words in sentences. She gave […]

Understanding the Chinese pronouns that are translated to he, she, or it requires knowing a couple of things. First of all, the pronouns that mean he, she, or it in Chinese all sound the same, but have different characters. 他 ㄊㄚ (tā)  “he” 她 ㄊㄚ (tā)  “she” 牠 ㄊㄚ (tā)  “it” 它 ㄊㄚ (tā)  “it” There are […]

[hr] 你的蠟筆是什麼顏色 (你的)(蠟筆)(是)(什麼)(顏色) (ㄋㄧˇ ㄉㄜ˙) (ㄌㄚˋ ㄅㄧˇ) (ㄕˋ) (ㄕㄣˊ ㄇㄜ˙) (ㄧㄢˊ ㄙㄜˋ) (nǐ de.)(là bǐ)(shì)(shén me.)(yán sè) (your)(wax + pen, pencil, or brush = crayon)(to be/is)(what)(color) What color is your crayon?   The basic colors in Chinese are fairly straight forward. There is a character for the color which is followed by the character 色 […]

[hr] 當你迷路的時候 (當)(你)(迷路)[(的)(時候)] (ㄉㄤ) (ㄋㄧˇ) (ㄇㄧˊ ㄌㄨˋ) [(ㄉㄜ˙) (ㄕˊ ㄏㄡˋ)] (dāng)(nǐ)(mí lù)[(de.)(sh́í hòu)] (just at)(you)(to get lost)[(adjective marker)(time, when, moment, juncture)] When you are/get lost   我常常很容易地就迷路了。 (我)(常常)(很)[(容易)(地)](就)❶(迷路)(了) (ㄨㄛˇ) (ㄔㄤˊ ㄔㄤˊ) (ㄏㄣˇ) [(ㄖㄨㄥˊ ㄧˋ) (ㄉㄜ˙)] (ㄐㄧㄡˋ) (ㄇㄧˊ ㄌㄨˋ) (ㄌㄜ˙) (wǒ)(cháng cháng)(hěn)[(róng yì)(de.)](jiù)(mí lù)(le.) (I)(often)(very)[(easy)(-ly)](right away)(to get lost)(emphasize completion) I often get lost very easily.   […]

[hr] Like it or not, there are stereotypes and bantering between men and women of all cultures. Sometimes it can be quite entertaining, like in some of the sentences that my tutor taught me recently as sort of a twist to Valentine’s Day. First, some vocabulary: 心情              xīn qíng […]

[hr] The use of the letter “i” in pinyin can be confusing. Pinyin is the use of the ABC’s, such as is used in English, to symbolize sounds in the Chinese language. Sometimes the pinyin sounds are fairly similar to the English sounds, and sometimes they are quite different.   When saying some words, the […]

當我跟中文老師聊天關於我在墨西哥度假說不同語言的經驗時， (當)(我)(跟)(中文)(老師)(聊天)(關於)… (ㄉㄤ)(ㄨㄛˇ)(ㄍㄣ)(ㄓㄨㄥ ㄨㄣˊ)(ㄌㄠˇ ㄕ)(ㄌㄧㄠˊ ㄊㄧㄢ)(ㄍㄨㄢ ㄩˊ) (dāng)(wǒ)(gēn)(zhōng wén)(lǎo shī)(liáo tiān)(guān yú) (just at)(I)(with)(Chinese language)(teacher)(chat)(about) …..(我)(在)(墨西哥)(度假)(的)(經驗)(時)， ……(ㄨㄛˇ)(ㄗㄧˋ)(ㄇㄛˋ ㄒㄧ ㄍㄜ)(ㄉㄨˋ ㄐㄧㄚˋ)(ㄉㄜ˙)(ㄐㄧㄥ ㄧㄢˋ)(ㄕˋ), ……(wǒ)(zài)(mò xī gē)(dù jià)(de.)(jīng yàn)(shì) ……(my)(at)(Mexico)(vacation)(adjective marker)(experience)(time) When I was chatting with my Chinese teacher about my Mexican vacation,   她馬上就說： (她)(馬上)❶（就）(說)： (ㄊㄚ)(ㄇㄚˇ ㄕㄤˋ)(ㄐㄧㄡˋ )(ㄕㄨㄛ)： (tā)(mǎ shàng)(jiǔ)(shuō): (she)(immediately)(then)(to say): she immediately said, —————————————————————- 你們是在「雞同鴨講。」 […]

在雪地上開車 (在)(雪)(地)(上)(開車) (ㄗㄞˋ)(ㄒㄩㄝˇ)(ㄉㄧˋ)(ㄕㄤˋ)(ㄎㄞ ㄔㄜ) (zài)(xuě)(dì)(shàng)(kāi chē) (at, on)(snow)(ground)(on)(drive car) Driving in the snow   First, some vocabulary to tune your ears and minds: 雪地上       ㄒㄩㄝˇ ㄉㄧˋ ㄕㄤˋ                   (xuě dì shàng)              snow on the ground 很難            […]

[hr] 準備過感恩節 (準備)(過)(感恩節) (ㄓㄨㄣˇ ㄅㄟˋ) (ㄍㄨㄛˋ) (ㄍㄢˇ ㄣ ㄐㄧㄝˊ) (zhun3 bei4) (guo4) (gan3 en1 jie2) (to prepare) (to celebrate) (Thanksgiving) Preparing for Thanksgiving❶   上週因為要過感恩節，我們不斷地忙著。 (上)(週)(因為)(要)(過)(感恩節)，(我們)[(不)(斷)](地)(忙)(著) (ㄕㄤˋ) (ㄓㄡ) (ㄧㄣ ㄨㄟˋ) (ㄧㄠˋ) (ㄍㄨㄛˋ) (ㄍㄢˇ ㄣ ㄐㄧㄝˊ)， (ㄨㄛˇ  ㄇㄣ˙) [(ㄅㄨˊ) (ㄉㄨㄢˋ)] (ㄉㄜ˙) (ㄇㄤˊ) (ㄓㄜ˙) (shang4) (zhou1) (yin1 wei4) (yao4) (guo4) (gan3 en1 jie2), (wo3 men.) [(bu2)(duan4)] (de.) […]

I recently interviewed my Chinese tutor. You can listen to it in the podcast audio above. In the first part of the interview, she answered my questions in Chinese, which I will have written out for you in the blog. In the second part of the interview, she started answering in English. Transcript: Me: Today, […]

如何製成物品 (如何)(製成)(物品) (ㄖㄨˊ ㄏㄜˊ)(ㄓˋ ㄔㄥˊ)(ㄨˋ ㄆㄧㄣˇ) (rú hé)(zhì chéng)(wù pǐn) (how to, in what way)(to turn out [a product])(thing, object + product, good) How to make things (or How things are made) When we were discussing all the things it is impossible for me to do in Chinese, my tutor decided it was time to […]

[hr] 我的狗不可能說中文。 (我的)(狗)(不)(可能)(說)(中文) (ㄨㄛˇ ㄉㄜ˙) (ㄍㄡˇ) (ㄅㄨˋ) (ㄎㄜˊ ㄋㄥˊ) (ㄕㄨㄛ) (ㄓㄨㄥ ㄨㄣˊ) (wo3 de.) (gou3) (bu4) (ke2 neng3) (shuo1) (zhong1 wen2) (my) (dog) (not) (probably, possible) (to speak) (Chinese language) It is impossible for my dog to speak in Chinese.   有一天我告訴我的中文老師： [(有)(一)(天)](我)(告訴)(我的)(中文)(老師) [(ㄧㄡˇ) (ㄧ) (ㄊㄧㄢ)] (ㄨㄛˇ) (ㄍㄠˋ ㄙㄨˋ) (ㄨㄛˇ ㄉㄜ˙) (ㄓㄨㄥ ㄨㄣˊ) (ㄌㄠˇ ㄕ) […]

[hr] 四十四隻石獅子 ，一個中文繞口令 (四十)(四)(隻)(石)(獅子) ，(一個)(中文)(繞口令) (ㄙˋ ㄕˊ) (ㄙˋ) (ㄓ) (ㄕˊ) (ㄕ ㄗ) ， (ㄧ ㄍㄜ˙) (ㄓㄨㄥ ㄨㄣˊ) (ㄖㄠˋ ㄎㄡˇ ㄌㄧㄥˋ) (si4 shi2) (si4) (zhi1) (shi2) (shi1 zi.), (yi1 ge.) (zhong1 wen2) (rao4 kou3 ling4) (four tens) (four) (MW❶ for lion) (rock, stone) (lion), (a, one) (Chinese) (to go around + mouth + to cause) Forty-four […]

[hr] 你喜歡看什麼電視節目？ (你)(喜歡)(看)(什麼)(電視)(節目) (ㄋㄧˇ) (ㄒㄧˇ ㄏㄨㄢ) (ㄎㄢˋ)(ㄕㄣˊ ㄇㄜ˙) (ㄉㄧㄢˋ ㄕˋ) (ㄐㄧㄝˊ ㄇㄨˋ) (ni3) (xi3 huan1) (kan4) (shen2 me.) (dian4 shi4) (jie2 mu4) (you) (to like) (to watch) (what) (TV) (program) What TV program would you like to watch?   You can also ask it like this:   你想看什麼電視節目？ (你)(想看)(什麼)(電視)(節目) (ㄋㄧˇ) (ㄒㄧㄤˇ ㄎㄢˋ) (ㄕㄣˊ ㄇㄜˊ) (ㄉㄧㄢˋ […]

[hr] If you are asking generally what sorts of things that someone is not used to, you ask:   你對什麼不習慣？ (你) (對) (什麼) (不) (習慣 (ㄋㄧˇ) (ㄉㄨㄟˋ) (ㄕㄣˊ ㄇㄜ˙) (ㄅㄨˋ) (ㄒㄧˊ ㄍㄨㄢˋ) (ni3) (dui4) (shen2 me.) (bu4) (xi2 guan4) (you) (toward, with regard to) (what) (not) (used to, habit) What are you not used to? […]

[hr] 如何獲得男朋友 (如何)            (獲得)❶            (男)        (朋友) (ㄖㄨˊ  ㄏㄜˊ)  (ㄏㄨㄛˋ  ㄉㄜˊ)  (ㄋㄢˊ)  (ㄆㄥˊ  ㄧㄡˇ) (ru2 he2)       (huo4 de2)         (nan2)   (peng2 you3) (how to)        (obtain, get)       (boy)      (friend) […]

I have been using bopomofo more in my Chinese learning lately. In case you haven’t heard of it, it is a phonetic system for Chinese sounds that was designed to teach Chinese-speaking children how to read. I wrote a few weeks ago about how using bopomofo helps my brain switch to Chinese more thoroughly. When […]

談論關於把馬子 (談論)                (關於)❶         (把)❷    (馬子) (ㄊㄢˊ ㄌㄨㄣˋ)  (ㄍㄨㄢ  ㄩˊ)  (ㄅㄚˇ) (ㄇㄡˇ ㄗ˙) (tán lùn) (guān yú) (bǎ) (mǎ zi.) (to discuss, talk about) (pertaining to, a matter of)(girl, chick, babe)   談論關於把妹❸ (談論)                (關於)     […]

[hr] [hr] 如何拍照片 (如何)     (拍)  (照片) (ㄖㄨˊ ㄏㄜˊ) (ㄆㄞ) (ㄓㄠˋ ㄆㄧㄢˋ) (ru2 he2) (pai1) (zhao4 pian4) (how) (to pat, to clap, to take) (photograph)   You can speak of taking photos generally, as in the above sentence, or you can speak very specifically of taking a photo at the moment by saying:   如何按下快門拍照片 (如何)  […]