Learn Chinese Blog|learn to speak Chinese

helpful Chinese language learning tips and resources

Correcting news anchors’ pronunciation

Posted on | March 19, 2009 | Comments Off

Stumbled across this website with some hilarious videos about Mandarin. Especially check out the one about the Pinyin Pirate. They also give a snarky but accurate presentation about how to pronounce the name of our fair city.

All campy jokes aside, the videos are actually useful for learning Mandarin. They’re hosted by real university Mandarin teachers.

What web resources have been useful to you in your study of Chinese? Help out fellow students and post in the comments.

Comments: Comments Off
Category: Language
Tags: funny > pronunciation > useful

不会吧? Bú huì ba?

Posted on | March 19, 2009 | 1 Comment

Today I would like to introduce you to a very common saying that is used by Chinese locals everyday. 不会吧? Bú huì ba?, translated roughly means: “No way!”, or “You’re kidding me?”. This is used to express disbelief at what the other person(s) said or did. Below are contexts in which the phrase is used, with some examples following:

Usages:
1. If something very good, bad, and/or unexpected has happened, this expression can be used to simultaneously show excitement and/or disbelief.
2. Sometimes this will be used to express that what has been said by another party is next to impossible.

Examples:
1. A: 今天下午咱们的邻居被警察带走了，好像他跟一起杀人案有关系。
(Zuótiān xiàwǔ zánmen de línjū bèi jǐngchá dài zǒu le, hǎoxiàng tā gēn yìqǐ shā rén àn yǒu guānxì)
Translation: Yesterday afternoon our neighbor was taken away by the police, it seems that he is has some relationship to a murderer.

B: 不会吧？ 他是那么老实一个人。
(Bú huì ba? Tā shì name lǎoshi yígè rén.)
Translation: No way! He is such a good and honest person.

2. A: 他说昨天是因为拉肚子才没来上课的。
（Tā shuō zuótiān shì yīnwèi lādùzi cái méi lái shàngkè de.）
Translation: He said that yesterday he did not come to class because he had diarrhea.

B: 不会吧？昨天晚上我还在烤肉店看见他了呢！
(Bú huì ba? Zuótiān wǎnshàng wǒ hái zài kǎoròu diàn kànjiàn tā le ne.)
Translation: You’re kidding me? Last night I saw him at a barbeque meat restaurant.

References:
刘德联， 刘晓雨。 汉语口语常用句式例解 Exemplification of Common Sentence Patterns in Spoken Chinese
Beijing: Peking University Press, 2005.

Comments: 1 Comment
Category: Language
Tags: useful

Lantern Festival (Yuánxiāojié 元宵节)

Posted on | March 19, 2009 | Comments Off

Did you hear the fireworks last night? Can you still hear?

Yesterday (Feb 9, 2009), the fifteenth day of the first month, was Lantern Festival. Lantern Festival comes 15 days after Chinese New Year, and marks the end of the Chinese New Year celebration. Lantern Festival is also the last day that fireworks are legally allowed.

REASONING BEHIND FIREWORKS

In ancient times, the Chinese would fill bamboo stems with gunpowder that would be burnt to create small explosions to drive away evil spirits. Now, in modern times, firecrackers are used. The myth is that evil spirits are scared away by the loud popping noises and explosions that fireworks emit. Fireworks also indicate a joyful time of year, and have become a very important part of Chinese New Year celebrations.

POPULAR ACTIVITIES DURING LANTERN FESTIVAL

Lantern Festival is not to be confused with Mid-Autumn Festival (aka Moon Festival, “Zhongqiujie” 中秋节), which is held on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese calendar, which is usually around mid or late September.

Lanterns
You will notice that lanterns are hung everywhere. They are usually red in colour and tend to be oval in shape.

Sometimes these lanterns have riddles, and a popular activity is for people to guess these riddles. At other times, these lanterns simply contain messages of good fortune, family reunion, abundant harvest, prosperity and love.

Food (tāngyuán汤圆)
A popular food item to be eaten during this time is “yuanxiao”, which is a glutinous rice ball that has a filling inside. Fillings will vary from the traditional black sesame, or red bean, to green tea or even chocolate fillings.

HISTORY
The 15th day of the 1st lunar month is the Chinese Lantern Festival because the first lunar month is called yuan-month and in the ancient times people called night Xiao. The 15th day is the first night to see a full moon. So the day is also called Yuan Xiao Festival in China.
To the Chinese, the roundness of the moon is important to them because it symbolizes harmony, unity, and “completeness”.

Comments: Comments Off
Category: Culture
Tags: festivals > holidays > useful

Chinese New Year: Popular Greetings

Posted on | March 19, 2009 | Comments Off

A popular greeting to bring in the new year, which is equivalent to “Happy New Year”, is 新年快乐 (Xīnnián kuàilè). I have often heard my Chinese friends say, 元旦快乐 (yuándàn kuàilè), which means the same thing.

Another popular greeting is 恭喜发财 (Gōngxǐ fācái), which translates are “Congratulations and be prosperous”. There is a very popular song that is played every new year almost everywhere you go. Listen to this song:

As a joke, some youth would say the phrase, 恭喜发财，红包拿来 (Gōngxǐ fācái, hóngbāo nálái). This phrase translated in English means, “Congratulations and be prosperous, give me a red envelope”.

Comments: Comments Off
Category: Culture, Language
Tags: festivals > holidays > useful

  • Like Us on Facebook

  • Subscribe-订阅 dìnɡ yuè

     

  • Get updates via E-mail

    Enter your email address:

    Delivered by FeedBurner

  • Recent Comments

  • Write Chinese Characters online

  • Recommendations on Amazon

  • Learn Chinese in iGoogle

    Add "Learn Chinese" to iGoogle
    What's this?