Chinese Lesson Online: Do You Know What is “铁哥们(tie3 ge1 men5)”?

As we all know, each language has its own conventional expressions. The special ways of addressing others have been mentioned in the formal Chinese language lessons. And today, in this Chinese lesson online, I would like to tell you how to address those people who have a really close relationship with you.

The first phrase mentioned is “铁哥们(tie3 ge1 men5)”. You may be familiar with “哥们(ge1 men5)”, which is equivalent to “buddy” or “guys” in English. It is usually used to describe the male friends group. However, if “铁(tie3)” is added to this phrase, some puzzlement may occur. You can not understand it as “iron buddy”, because no one knows what it means. Actually, “铁” is a special word in Chinese. And it can be used as a adjective sometimes which refers to “very good or very tight”. Here this phrase should be explained as “very good friends” or “the male friends enjoying a tight relationship”. That is the right understanding of “铁哥们(ti3 ge1 men5)”.

This Chinese lesson will not only tell you the meaning of “铁哥们” but also make you master the special usage of “铁”. Some Chinese people like to say “我们关系够铁(wo3 men5 guan1 xi4 gou4 tie3)”. Can you guess the meaning? Yes. “铁(tie3)” here means good and tight. This sentence can be interpreted as “we are really tight” or “we are on good terms”.

Another common word containing “铁” is “铁饭碗(tie3 fan4 wan3)”. We say “国家公务员真是个铁饭碗(guo2 jia1 gong1 wu4 yuan2 zhen1 shi4 ge4 tie3 fan4 wan4)”, which means the national public servant is a good and stable job. “铁饭碗” can be understood as “good and stable position”.

As you can see, we have learned the special usage of “铁”. There are many other interesting characters with special usages will be explained in the following Chinese lessons. See you later.

source:  http://smile1xia.over-blog.com/2014/12/chinese-lesson-online-do-you-know-what-is-tie3-ge1-men5.html

Learn Chinese Games

Nowadays, the number of people who want to learn Chinese is increasing. Many people would like to learn Chinese well and pass the HSK test. Someone finds it a little difficult to learn it well. Actually, if you can study Mandarin by joining in some games, it will be efficient to learn the language. And today, I want to introduce a popular Chinese game that is concerned with the Chinese characters. It is “心有灵犀(xin1 you3 ling2 xi1)”.

At the first sight of this game, you may not know what kind of games it belong to. Actually, we can call it a word game. To put it in a more common word, it may be equal to “act and guess”. Generally speaking, there are two people or more joining this game. One person is supposed to express the word on the board without direct hints but only sound or actions. And the other people need to guess his action according to his performance. It is a game that is not only related to the person’s reaction and performance but also concerns their understanding of the characters.

To make it clearer to you, I will list an example. How to express “左顾右盼(zuo3 gu4 you4 pan4)” only by action? First of all, you can tell others it includes four characters and then act the characters one by one. The first one “左” is easy to be expressed. Just point at the left direction. The second one “顾(gu4)” is equal to the last one “看(kan4)”, which means “look”. You can act it easily. And the third one is “右”. Pointing at the right direction is ok. In this way, the phrase can be clearly expressed. Divining the phrase into several characters is often applied in such a game. You just need to guess each single character and combine them together. Finally the answer is apparent. Joining in such a game is a good way to study Chinese.

The way of learning Chinese is various. Some people study Chinese online; some others attend the Chinese courses. No matter what methods you take, interest is the most important factor during your study. 

source:  http://smile1xia.weebly.com/blog/learn-chinese-games

Chinese Language Learning: Tang2 Lang2 Bu3 Chan2 Huang2 Que4 Zai4 Hou4

As we all know, the Chinese idiom is always an important part in Chinese language learning. In this online Chinese course, we will come to a Chinese idiom learning that is “螳螂捕蝉黄雀在后(tang2 lang2 bu3 chan2 huang2 que4 zai4 hou4)”.

You may have already heard it during the daily communication, but many people do not know the exact meaning of it especially for those Chinese newly-learners. This idiom comes from a history allusion. To make it more clear to you, I will explain the general meaning in the following paragraphs.

The thorough plot is like the following: there was a tree in the garden with a cicada chirping on it. It did not notice that a mantis waiting behind it wanted to eat it. The mantis bent its body dying to eat up the cicada. However, it did not know there was a siskin behind it. The mantis stretched its neck to catch the cicada without knowing a slingshot aiming at it.

That is the origin meaning of the idiom. As for Chinese language learning, we need to know its practical meaning and usage. Actually, the idiom tells us to be thoughtful rather than shortsighted. Sometimes it refers to those who only focus on the short-term interest but neglect the long-term one, which may cause some potential danger or bad effects.

So this is what we need to know about this idiom. To know more about the Chinese idioms, you can join our other Chinese courses.

source:http://www.blogster.com/smile123xia/chinese-language-learning-tang2-lang2-bu3-chan2-huang2-que4-zai4-hou4

Chinese Teaching Stories by a Chinese Teacher

Being a Chinese teacher, I have met a lot of Chinese learners. Some of them are really interested in Chinese learning and some other ones may be not that concentrated and usually make some jokes. That is fine when you make mistakes. What kind of Chinese teachers do you prefer to? Actually, I usually teach them Chinese by telling a story or playing a game. I would rather learn something over having fun.

So today, I want to share some interesting things with you during my Chinese teaching.

First of all, let me ask you a brain twist that is “脑筋急转弯(nao3 jin1 ji2 zhuan3 wan1)”. Pay attention please. “为什么狼群里有一只羊？(wei4 shen2 me5 lang2 qun2 li3 you3 yi4 zhi1 yang2)”. The general meaning of it is that “why is there a sheep in the wolf pack?” On hearing the question, many students were thinking it over. And someone said that the sheep lost its way home and got sucked into the wolfs. And others said because the sheep was already dead. However, those are not the answers I wanted. Now, you the wise, tell me what are you thinking about. I can give you a hint. Try to focus on the characters structure, and you will find the answer.

Mike is a Chinese tutor whose Chinese family name is “单”. His student Tom called him Mr. Dan. Actually, “单” should be pronounced as “shan4”. “单(dan1)” is without question the right pronunciation, but some characters’ pronunciation need to be changed when applied into one’s name. However, Tom is still puzzled about it. It is hard for him to understand the transferring of the pronunciation of the same characters.

As a Mandarin teacher, I feel it honored to teach other people to speak Chinese. I want to tell you the efficient way to learn it. I want you can gain something by learning it. Thank you. 

source: http://smile1xia.jigsy.com/entries/education/chinese-teaching-stories-by-a-chinese-teacher-2