Fun Learning Chinese

Recently my Chinese tutor heard a song that reminded her of a major turning point in her life. She told me about it and I thought it was a beautiful story, well worth sharing. You will find a version of the song to listen to after the story. Meanwhile, here is some vocabulary that will […]

If you see something on your friend’s teeth and want to save him embarrassment, you might want to politely suggest he shut his mouth. You might think to say in a hushed voice that only he can hear: 閉嘴 ㄅㄧˋ ㄗㄨㄟˇ bì zuǐ shut, close + mouth, lips You might try to say it in […]

It happens all the time. The story stretches beyond believability. That is when you want to be able to use this phrase: 太扯了！ (ㄊㄞˋ)(ㄔㄜˇ)(ㄌㄜ˙) (tài))(chě)(le.) (too, very, extremely)(to tear, to pull)(emphasis) (That is) too far fetched! You will notice that the literal translation for 扯 is different than the translation for the whole phrase. That […]

A young Taiwanese friend recently shared this Chinese parable with me. It all starts with being asked to take a snail for a walk… but first, some useful vocabulary: Now, what can you learn from a snail? 上帝給我一個任務，叫我牽一隻蝸牛去散步。 (上帝)(給)(我)(一個)(任務)， (ㄕㄤˋ ㄉㄧˋ)(ㄍㄟˇ)(ㄨㄛˇ)(ㄧ ㄍㄜ˙)(ㄖㄣˋ ㄨˋ), (shàng dì)(gěi)(wǒ)(yī ge.)(rèn wù), (God)(to give)(me)(one + general MW)(mission, assignment) …..(叫)(我)(牽)(一)(隻)(蝸牛)(去)(散步) …..(ㄐㄧㄠˋ)(ㄨㄛˇ)(ㄑㄧㄢ)(ㄧˋ)(ㄓ)(ㄍㄨㄚ […]

It was time for a very specific Chinese lesson. Here is some important vocabulary involved: We are not sure what happened. The speaker doesn’t come with any specific directions. There is nothing online. Still, it is a very good speaker and so we just started trying things to get the microphone to work for the […]

Taxes are cross cultural Taxes are one of those things that prove the major things in life are cross-cultural. We talked about love not long ago, so we will just swing to the other extreme! And with taxes comes some basics about politics, because the two subjects in tightly intertwined. Let’s see if we can […]

Politicians are masters of contradiction Politicians have a way of making rules for everyone else and exempting themselves. So it is no wonder that the common use of 卻 ㄑㄩㄝˋ (què) to indicate contrast came up in writing my latest blog on taxes (coming soon). The dictionary fails us in this regard, my tutor explains. […]

I will go almost anywhere with my husband I have told my husband I will go with him anywhere … except the Amazon jungle. Our vacation in Belize has confirmed to me that this is a good decision on my part! Here is some vocabulary that I use to talk about fishing in the swamps […]

This is a love story Relationships make the world go round. Most people still like to use some sort of cultural signal to let others know they are ‘in a relationship.’ It is both helpful and fun. Another of my daughters is now “taken.” Before I tell you about it, here is some vocabulary that […]

Squirrels are one kind of wild animal that is not having any trouble adapting to human civilization. Personally, I am conflicted about squirrels. On one hand they are cute. On the other hand, they are just invasive rodents with bushy tails. My Chinese tutor has been having some trouble with squirrels lately, but is it […]

Just a couple of elves to help me? I like Christmas time, but there can be complications. It can take some tricky scheduling to get all the fun things done AND attend to daily responsibilities! Or it can be a festive excuse to put aside some of the mundane parts of life and be more […]

How to get your Chinese tutor to tell you a good story As I was driving my Chinese tutor out to lunch a few weeks ago, a squirrel ran by. She proceeded to tell me about a Secret Society of the Squirrels meeting she had accidentally witnessed. Okay, I made up the part about the […]

Weighty matters Both weight loss and math can seem mysterious at times. After discussing it all with my Chinese tutor, who grew up in Taiwan, I have to think that the subjects of weight loss and math are cross-cultural in many important ways. In today’s post, I attempt to combine the themes in a way […]

Who’s hungry now!? My Chinese tutor is very concerned about me being hungry. No matter what time of day I go for a lesson, no matter if I tell her I have just eaten, and even if I tell her I’m bringing my own lunch, she prepares some food for me. So one week, I […]

5 Keys to Life This 5 sentence guide to life is full of not only encouragement, but also a lot of useful Chinese vocabulary. Don’t worry, it will be translated below.   Here is some specific vocabulary that may help to hear as distinct words in order to understand this better.   幸福      […]

Reading Facebook in Chinese to get back to English You can probably figure out how to change your Facebook profile to Chinese, but changing it back to your native language could be a challenge. I thought it would be fun to visit my profile in Chinese once in a while, so I asked my Chinese tutor […]

It all begins in the morning… One thing leads to another, but you do have choices along the way! Here is a humorous look at what might happen if you forget to set your alarm. But first, some vocabulary to tune your mind and ear to Chinese: Now, is this anywhere close to how it […]

My husband is an adventurer and he likes to fish. Seriously, I’m glad that he has the chance to go off into the wild and I know he is experienced and smart about being out there. Still, I like to express my concerns. He makes me laugh with his responses. Here is the type of […]

Mosquitoes seem to be everywhere During the summer, you almost certainly need to say some things about mosquitoes! Where are the mosquitoes? What should you wear? And, very importantly, should you slap a mosquito when it lands on another person??!! Here is some vocabulary you will find in the sentences about the pesky mosquito: Vocabulary […]

If you don’t think goat kids are cute, you haven’t met one. One of the keys to practicing a foreign language is to have things of interest to talk about. Baby goats (kids) are very interesting to me right now, since I just brought two home. Whether you have goats or not, I think you […]