Fun Learning Chinese

The photo below showed up in my Facebook feed, so I figured I would try to translate it. It looks like a photo of a section of an ancient Chinese document. (I added the text/explanations to the original photo. There will be a couple more variations of the photo below) click any photo to enlarge […]

Bopomofo or pinyin? When I was first learning Chinese, I asked a semi-native Chinese speaker what her recommendation was for learning to read and pronounce Chinese. Was pinyin sufficient or was bopomofo worth pursuing? Her answer was that she didn’t think bopomofo was necessary and might even be confusing. To put things in perspective, she […]

(Being edited as of August 7, 2018. The only audio is still below) How to Know if You Are Off the Scale Hot in Chinese 怎麼知道你自己熱的指數破表了 (怎麼)(知道)(你)(自己)(熱)(的)❶(指數)(破表)(了) (ㄗㄣˇ ㄇㄜ˙)(ㄓ ㄉㄠˋ)(ㄋㄧˇ)(ㄗˋ ㄐㄧˇ)(ㄖㄜˋ)(ㄉㄜ˙)(ㄓˇ ㄕㄨˋ)(ㄆㄛˋ ㄅㄧㄠˇ)(ㄌㄜ˙) (zěn me.)(zhī dào)(nǐ)(zì jǐ)(rè)(de.)(zhǐ shù)(pò biǎo)(le.) (how)(to know)(you)(oneself)(hot)(adjective marker)(index)(broke scale)(emphasize completion)     My tutor recently showed me a Taiwanese news article that […]

如何知道自己是否糊塗了 (如何)(知道)(自己)(是否)(糊塗)(了) (ru2 he2) (zhi1 dao4) (zi4 ji3) (shi4 fou3) (hu2 tu2) (le.) (how to) (to know) (oneself) (yes or no) (confused) (completed action) How to know if you are confused. My tutor has been teaching me about the word 搞 (gao3). It is a lot like the English word “get,” which is, in fact, […]

如何踩死一隻蜘蛛 (如何)(踩死)(一隻)(蜘蛛) (ru2 he2) (cai3 si3) (yi1 zhi1) (zhi1 zhu1) (how to) (step on and kill) (one/a + measure word for spider) (spider) How to kill a spider   I have a very nice master bedroom and bathroom. 因為在地下室，所以有好處也有壞處。 (因為)(在)(地下室)，(所以)(有)(好處)(也)(有)(壞處) (yin1 wei4) (zai4) (di4 xia4 shi4), (suo3 yi3) (you3) (hao3 chu4) (ye3) (you3) (huai4 chu4) […]

Suppose your child comes up to you and says, 我的肚子餓了！ (我的)(肚子)(餓)(了) (wo3 de.) (du4 zi.) (e4) (le.) (my) (stomach, belly) (hungry) (emphasis) I’m hungry!   It is likely you know the whole story, so can say, 難怪！你沒吃午餐啊！ (難怪)！(你)(沒)❶(吃)(午餐)(啊) (nan2 guai4)! (ni3) (mei2) (chi1) (wu3 can1) (a1) (no wonder)! (you) (have not) (to eat) (lunch) (conversational […]

(being edited as of 12.13.2018) 當你要先做某件事情的時候 (當)(你)(要)(先)(做)(某)(件)(事情)(的時候) (ㄉㄤ)(ㄋㄧˇ)(ㄧㄠˋ)(ㄒㄧㄢ)(ㄗㄨㄛˋ)(ㄇㄡˇ)(ㄐㄧㄢˋ)(ㄕˋ ㄑㄧㄤˊ)(ㄉㄜ˙ ㄕˊ ㄏㄡˋ) (dāng)(nǐ)(yào)(xiān)(zuò)(mǒu)(jiàn)(shì qíng)(de. shí hòu) (just at)(you)(to want)(first)(to do)(some)(measure word)(affair, matter)(when) When you want to do something first     In everyday conversation, there is often the desire to communicate the order of things. What did you do first? What will you do first? In […]

[hr] 討論買一部車子 (討論)(買)(一部)(車子) (ㄊㄠˇ ㄌㄨㄣˋ) (ㄇㄞˇ) (ㄧㄅㄨˋ) (ㄔㄜ ㄗ) (tǎo lùn) (mǎi) (yī bù) (chē1 zi.) (to discuss) (to buy) (a) (car) discuss buying a car     As I promised, here is what I wanted to tell my Chinese tutor I was discussing with my husband. She had also just given me the assignment […]

When first learning a language, you often have to stick to very simple, straightforward vocabulary. Adding vocabulary is best done by learning words with very specific meanings. One word for happy, one word for earth, one for noodle, one for talk. But then there will come a day when you want to add nuance to […]

How would you explain “so what?” to someone who is learning English? It is an everyday type of vocabulary that I know I say without thinking about the literal meaning. It is obviously not a complete sentence. It begins with a transitional word, “so.” This at least indicates that the phrase is linked to something […]

One of the worst nightmares in speaking a foreign language is saying something really embarrassing. Tones are the typical reason this happens to non-native Chinese speakers. You can’t really fault the native speakers for giggling if you call your mother 媽媽(ma1 ma.) a horse 馬 (ma3) accidentally. There is some consolation in it being a […]

As with most languages, there are some differences in how Chinese is spoken versus how it is written. When speaking Chinese, it is normal and expected that wordless sounds will be added to the end of some sentences. These sounds add connotation to the communication, either emphasizing or softening what is being said. In English, […]

Just like in English, there are ways of saying things in Chinese that are basically the same, with very subtle differences in connotation. For instance, in my new children’s story, 藍色魚 (translated The Blue Fish), the use of the description of “blue” for the fish varies slightly along the way . The book, written with the […]

    Last week, my tutor introduced me to a very helped phrase and grammar structure for Chinese. The gist of the English translation is:   “just when (someone) was going to proceed to do _(this)_, _(this other thing)_happened (to interrupt).”     We both made up several sentences using this, which I hope you […]

  Last week, I practiced reading the Chinese translation of My Grandpa, by Marta Altes, one of the books I mentioned in my post about using children’s books to study Chinese. The title in Chinese is 爺爺我愛你, which is translated literally below:   爺爺我愛你 (爺爺)(我)(愛)(你) (ye2 ye.) (wo3) (ai4) (ni3) (grandpa on your father’s side) (I) […]

This is vocabulary that came up while we were discussing breakfast recently, which I used to write the blog about Deciding What to Eat for Breakfast. To help me practice listening and repeating, my tutor recorded it.   吃過早餐了嗎？(chi1 guo4) (zao3 can1) (le.) (ma.) Have you eaten breakfast? 吃過早飯了嗎？(chi1 gou4) (zao3 fan4) (le.) (ma.) Have […]

唱關於神秘耶利亞女郎 (唱)(關於)(神秘)(耶利亞)(女郎) (chang4) (guan1 yu2) (shen2 mi4) (Ye1 Li4 Ya3) (nü3 lang2) (to sing) (about, pertaining to) (mysterious) (Ye Li Ya) (young woman) Sing about the mysterious young woman Ye Li Ya   My tutor found another song for me to learn. There is a translation of it after the video and vocabulary lists. The […]

決定早餐吃什麼 (決定)(早餐)(吃)(什麼) (jue2 ding4) (zao3 can1) (chi1) (shen2 me.) (to decide) (breakfast) (to eat) (what) Deciding what to eat for breakfast.   My tutor often asks me, 吃過早餐了嗎？ (吃)(過)❶(早餐)(了)(嗎) (chi1) (guo4) (zao3 can1) (le.) (ma.) (to eat) (indicates something has passed or happened) (early meal) (expletive emphasizing completion of action) (question sound) Have you eaten […]

  自己做餅乾 (自己)(做)(餅乾) (zi4 ji3) (zuo4) (bing3 gan1) (self, one’s self) (to make) (cookie) Homemade cookies   I eat a lot of cookies. 我們住在台灣的時候，烤很多餅乾。 (我們)(住)(在)(台灣)(的時候)❶，(烤)❷(很)(多)(餅乾) (wo3 men.) (zhu4) (zai4) (tai2 wan1) (de. shi2 hou4), (kao3) (hen3) (duo1) (bing3 gan1) (we) (to live) (at) (Taiwan) (when), (to bake or roast) (very) (many) (cookie) When we lived […]

什麼時候不關你的事 (什麼時候)(不)(關)(你的)(事) (shen2 me. shi2 hou4) (bu4) (guan1) (ni3 de.) (shi4) (when) (not) (related to, concerning) (your) (affair, matter, business) When it is none of your business.   Busy bodies abound in every culture. 到處都會有人要告訴別人怎麼過生活。 (到處)(都)(會)(有)(人)(要)(告訴)(別人)(怎麼)(過)❶(生活)。 (dao4 chu4) (dou1) (hui4) (you3) (ren2) (yao4) (gao4 su4) (bie2 ren2) (zen3 me.) (guo4) (sheng1 huo2) (to arrive + […]