Mandarin for Kids: “Xi Yang2 Yang2 Yu3 Hui1 Tai Lang2”

If you ask what is the most popular cartoon among Chinese kids, the answer will be “喜羊羊与灰太狼(xi3 yang2 yang2 yu3 hui1 tai4 lang2)”. Watching Cartoon is a good way of learning Chinese for kids, so in this class, let us go to find what attraction it has.

As we all know, kids learn Chinese fast when they are at a very young age. So how to make them interested in what they are leaning is significant. Watching cartoon may be a good choice.

Roughly speaking, “喜羊羊与灰太狼(xi3 yang2 yang2 yu3 hui1 tai4 lang2)” is about the story between goats and wolfs. Each time wolfs want to catch the goats for meal, the goats will manage to escape the wolf’s catching and make them embarrassed.

The main character is “喜羊羊(xi3 yang2 yang2)”. He is very clever. No matter when he was in a dilemma or his friend in danger, he would try his best to rescue them. And so he became the little hero in many kids’ eyes. The antagonist of “喜羊羊(xi3 yang2 yang2)” is “灰太狼hui1 tai4 lang2”. Although, he always wanted to eat up all the goats, he was a really cute wolf. Usually, what he did and what he said made us laughing. Some other figures like “美羊羊(mei3 yang2 yang2)”, “沸羊羊(fei4 yang2 yang1)”, “懒羊羊(lan3 yang2 yang2)”, and “村长(cun1 zhang3)” are all the goats in their goat village. Besides, “灰太狼” is also not alone. He has a wife named “红太狼(hong2 tai4 lang2)” and a son called “小灰灰(xiao3 hui1 hui1)”.

This cartoon is a heated topic in many Chinese language courses. For example, the teacher asked the students what their favorite figures in this cartoon are. And many said “喜羊羊”, because he is clever and nimble.

A famous song that originates from this cartoon is “喜羊羊(xi3 yang2 yang2)，美羊羊(mei3 yang2 yang3)，灰太狼红太狼(hui1 tai4 lang2 hong2 tai4 lang2)…”. If you are looking for the mandarin for kids, this song may be good material for them to learn. 

source: http://familylobby.com/smile1xia/journalentry.asp?id=408840

Chinese Teacher: Telling a Chinese Story

As a Chinese teacher, I will tell you an interesting Chinese story, which is “猴子摘桃(hou2 zi5 zhai1 tao2)”.

From the title, we can easily get the English meaning “the monkey picks peaches”. In Chinese primary schools, this story is usually emphasized by the Chinese teachers, because it has revealed an important idea.

So, let us come to the content of it. One day, there was a monkey passing through a corn field. He picked two big corns and moved on. And then he came to a big peach tree with a lot of fresh peaches on it. He threw the corns down and picked two peaches. Later on, a land of watermelons appeared in front of him. Out of great delight, he placed the peaches down and went to the watermelon land and got a big watermelon. When he was carrying the melon home, a rabbit ran across him. Excitedly, he placed the melon down and ran after the rabbit at once. However, it was getting darker and darker and finally the rabbit jumped into a bush and disappeared. What did the monkey do next? Of course, he just went home with nothing in his hand. That is the story of “Monkey picks peaches”. What idea have you got after reading this story?

Usually, when the students read this story, the mandarin teacher would ask the students the main idea of the story. Actually, it mainly tells us not to be half-hearted especially when we are doing something important. Only when we have finished one thing can we get to start another thing, or we will get nothing finally as the monkey above.

Last week, Tom was learning Chinese at home, but he was absent-minded and wanted to play the guitar. His Chinese tutor asked him to be focused and said, “不要拣了芝麻丢了西瓜(bu2 yao4 jian3 le5 zhi1 ma5 diu1 le5 xi1 gua1)”. 

source: http://smile1xia.jigsy.com/entries/education/chinese-teacher-telling-a-chinese-story

Online Chinese Course: La4 Tiao2

Recently, a Chinese food has been one of the most popular words on the internet, which arouses many people’s attention. In this online Chinese course, let us have a detailed discussion of this phrase——“辣条(la4 tiao2)”.

There appears a interesting sentence on the internet that is “有钱吃辣条，就是辣么任性(you3 qian2 chi1 la4 tiao2, jiu4 shi4 la4 me5 ren4 xing4)”. From the perspective of Chinese language, “辣么(la4 me5)” should be replaced by “那么(na4 me5), which means so”. And this sentence means “I am available to eat La4 Tiao2, and I am self-willed”. Maybe you will ask why the “辣条” is connected with someone’s personality? Actually it should be started from the origin of Chinese “辣条(la4 tiao2)”.

In China, “辣条” is a common snack with a quite low price. Almost all the Chinese kids have tasted such a snack. If you come to the gate of a primary school, you will find many students eating “辣条”. Generally, it is sold at the price of “五角(wu3 jiao3)” or “一元(yi4 yuan2)” at most.

However, a recent news pointed that the “辣条(la4 tiao2)” has been sold to America, and the price of it is increased to 12 dollars, which shocked many Chinese people. People never know that such a common food should be so expensive in foreign countries. And many web citizens joke and say, “我要去美国卖辣条(wo3 yao4 qu4 mei3 guo2 mai4 la4 tiao2)”. Figuring out the implied meaning of some internet words is an important part in your Chinese language learning. This joke indicates that the price of “辣条”is really high beyond people’s expectation.

In the following Chinese courses, I will tell you how to make Chinese “辣条”. And you will get to know why Chinese people feel astonished by the price of it in America. 

source: http://smile1xia.tumblr.com/post/103847637049/online-chinese-course-la4-tiao2

Chinese Lesson for Studying Chinese Idioms

Studying Chinese idioms is an important part in many Chinese lessons. Today, I will mainly talk about two idioms which have similar meanings but different usages. That is “一举两得(yi4 ju3 liang3 de2)” and “一心二用(yi4 xin1 er4 yong4)”.

If you have attended Chinese language lessons for a long time, you may have known these two phrases have the similar structure and even similar meaning.

There is a equivalent phrase for “一举两得(yi4 ju3 liang3 de2)”. That is “kill two birds with one stone”阿. However, “一心二用(yi4 xin1 er4 yong4)” means absent-minded.

From the perspective of the sense of a word, there are three types of them. They are commentary, derogatory, and neutral senses. When we come across a phrase, it is vital to figure out the real sense of it and the real usage of it. So, let us see whether the two idioms contain “commentary sense”, “derogatory sense”, or “neutral sense”.

From the literal meaning, it is obvious that “一举两得(yi4 ju3 liang3 de2)” is a commentary phrase and “一心二用(yi4 xin1 er4 yong4)” is a derogatory word. Actually, “一举两得(yi4 ju3 liang3 de2)” emphasizes the efficiency of doing something, which is also presented in the phrase of “Kill two birds with one stone”. “一心二用” means doing something absent-mindedly. When it comes to this idiom, we often mention its antonymy——“一心一意(yi4 xin1 yi2 yi4)”. It is the usual case that in a Chinese lesson, the teacher says, “你们上课一定要专心听讲，一心一意学好汉语，不要一心二用.(ni3 men1 shang4 ke4 yi2 ding4 yao4 zhuan1 xin1 ting1 jiang3, yi4 xin1 yi2 yi4 xue2 hao3 han4 yu3, bu2 yao4 yi4 xin1 er4 yong4)” The teacher is reminding the students to be concentrated during the Chinese studying and not be absent-minded.

These are the explanations of the two idioms. To know more knowledge, you can search our Chinese lesson online. 

source: http://smile1xia.kinja.com/chinese-lesson-for-studying-chinese-idioms-1664261368

Study Chinese Online: Some Transliterated Chinese Words

With the development of Chinese economy and Chinese culture, the number of people who is willing to learn Chinese has increased a lot.

To memorize the Chinese characters is not easy for many people especially those phrases that do not have a complete equivalence in English. Actually, there are also many transliterated words coming from foreign countries. Maybe you can find some relevant words in your native language. Comparing Chinese language and your native language is also a good way to study Chinese.

So, in this class, we are going to talk about some transliterated Chinese words.

The earliest frequently used transliterated word may be “酒吧(jiu3 ba1)”. As we all know, there is no such a place in ancient China. We had inn and hotel at that time, but they were not equal to the “bar” in western countries. Later on, according to the pronunciation of “bar”, the Chinese word “吧(ba1)” come into existence. And now, “清吧(qing1 ba1)”, “酒吧(jiu3 ba1)”, “咖啡吧(ka1 fei1 ba1)”, “网吧(wang3 ba1)” and some other places have attracted many Chinese people’s attention. “吧” is usually interpreted as a place that can gather a lot of people who want to skill their time or do something they are interested in.

Another typical transliterated word is “麦克风(mai4 ke4 feng1)”. It is also introduced from western countries. The original word is “microphone”. Sometime, you will hear people say “我的麦坏了(wo3 de5 mai1 huai4 le5)”. That may make you puzzled. What does the “麦(mai1)” mean? Actually, it is an abbreviation for “麦克风” in daily communication. You need get used to some common daily expressions, which is important for you to study mandarin.

There are many other examples such as “拷贝(kao3 bei4), means copy”, “T恤(xu4), means T-shirt”, which will be presented in our following online courses. You can study Chinese online by yourself anytime when you are available. 

source:  <

http://smile1xia.kinja.com/study-chinese-online-some-transliterated-chinese-words-1663616889

Chinese Character Learning: Shou3 Juan4

In this class, we will focus on the Chinese character learning. That is to say, we are going to learn the Character meaning, the Character structure, and also the usage.

“手绢(shou3 juan4)” is a kind of traditional stuff in China. Almost in all the Chinese ancient dynasties, all the women would carry a “手绢(shou3 juan4)” with them, which has been a symbol of women. Because this is a class for Chinese learning (中文學習), we have to figure out the real meaning and usage of “手绢”.

Literally, “手绢” is composed of “手” and “娟”. I suppose you have already know “手”, so I am going to talk more about “娟”. It is a kind of cloth in China, which is very smooth and thin. Sometime the “娟” can be made of “丝绸(si1 chou2), which means silk, a Chinese specialized cloth”. “手绢” in English means hanky or handkerchief. It is obviously to know that it has something to do with our hands.

Having knowing the basic meaning of it, let’s come to the function of it. Just as we have mentioned, it is symbolic women, so the girls often pined it onto their waist. It can be used to wipe something or to cover their face, for some ancient Chinese women were really shy.

When it comes to “手绢”, a famous game can not be ignored. That is “丢手绢(diu1 shou3 juan4)”. Usually, it is popular in Chinese schools, especially the primary schools. “Throwing the hanky” is the English translation. The playing rules are like the followings:

Some people squat and form a circle. One of them runs along the circle with a hanky in his hand. And then he is supposed to silently throw the hanky at the back of any other people. And then he has to run away until the people find a hanky behind him. He has to catch the former one.

If you are interested in this game, you can have a try after this Chinese language course.

source: 
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http://smile1xia.tumblr.com/post/103528165174/chinese-character-learning-shou3-juan4

Chinese Language Class: Are you a “Chi1 Huo4”?

Nowadays, a Chinese phrase called “吃货(chi1 huo4)” has been widely used among Chinese people. And in this Chinese language class, let us have a detailed discussion of this phrase.

First of all, knowing the meaning is the first step to learn Chinese characters. So how should we translate it into English? Actually, it is hard for us to find a exactly equivalent word to describe it. “吃货(chi1 huo4)” is composed of “吃(chi1)” and “货(huo4)”. “吃” means “eat” and “货” previously means “commodity”. The “eating commodity” is the literal translation. Actually, the “货” here has become a person but not the commodity. “The one who is fond of eating” is the real meaning of this phrase. As a Chinese teacher, it is my responsibility to make you clear that the real meaning of this phrase. To help you to understand it better, I will give you another word. That is “foodie”, which seems to be closer to the real meaning.

More and more people are willing to call themselves as the “吃货”? So what does this come? In the Wechat, QQ, Weibo, or other social medias, we can often see such utterances like “我是一个吃货(wo3 shi4 yi2 ge4 chi1 huo4), which means I am a foodie.” They think it is fashionable and cute to say so. Or we can say they are “卖萌(mai4 meng2), which means “pretend to be cute or innocent” ”. “吃货” has become a cute word in young people’s eyes.

Apart from saying “吃货”, there is another one having the similar meaning but enjoying the different attitude. That is “饭桶fan4 tong3”. There is a joke on the internet that saying “长得可好看的才叫吃货，不好看的那只能是饭桶(zhang3 de5 hao3 kan4 de5 cai2 jiao4 chi1 nhuo4, bu4 hao3 kan4 de5 na4 zhi3 neng2 shi4 fan4 tong3)”.

To figure out the real meaning of this utterance, you may search it on the internet and learn Chinese characters online. You will find something funny in it. 

source:  <

http://smile123xia.bloggets.net/chinese-language-class-are-you-chi1-huo4/

AP Chinese Practice Test

Nowadays, the number of students learning Chinese in their senior high school is increasing. And most of them will attend the AP Chinese Practice Test, which plays an important role in studying Chinese. Many of them find it really difficult to pass the exam because the there are too many difficult points and key points in the exam.

So in the following mandarin language lessons, we will come to some typical questions that occur in the AP Practice Test.

Tom has just attended the exam. The most impressive question in his mind is to distinguish some characters with similar structure but different usage. Here is an example.

Fill in the following blanks with the best choices.

“（）天白云，（）山绿水，我开心（）奔跑在草原上。”

“A.蓝(lan2), B. 篮(lan2), C清(qing1), D青(qing1), E. 的(de5) F. 地(de5) G. 得(de5)”

If you come across such a question, can you identify these characters and choose the right ones?

So, let us have a detailed analysis of it. “蓝天白云(lan2 tian1 bai2 yun2)” is the correct answer, which means “blue sky and write cloud”. The character “蓝” is really similar to “篮”. Even the Chinese students may confuse them sometimes. Actually, “蓝” is a kind of color. We usually say “蓝色(lan2se4)” that means blue. And “篮” is more frequently used to refer to the basket. So we say “篮筐(lan2 kuang1), which represents basketry” and “篮球(lan2 qiu2), which stands for basketball”. Many people ask how to learn Chinese characters? Learning to identifying the similar ones is very important. 

As for the “清(qing1)” and “青(qing1)”, they are also easily to be confused. As we can see, compared with “青”， “清(qing1)” has “氵” as the left part. So it indicates “清” is related to the water. And that is why we often say “清澈(qing1 che4), which means clear and limpid”. However, “青” refers to a color. We have the phrase “青色(qing1 se4), which is equal to cyan”.

To know the differences between “的”, “得”, and “地”, you can learn these Chinese characters online by yourself. 

source:  <

http://xiaoxiaotong123.blog.com/2014/11/22/ap-chinese-practice-test-2/