May 21, 2013

There are different types of cousins in Chinese! How to call your cousin in Chinese? Check it out!


Since Chinese people make much of pecking order (長幼有序)~ 
there are several kinds of "cousins" in Chinese language.
Different kinds of "cousins" show the differences in age and gender.
In Mandarin Chinese~ "a cousin" could be...
táng gē 
堂哥 (male cousin, older than you)
táng dì 
堂弟 (male cousin, younger than you)
táng zǐ 
堂姊 (female cousin, older than you)
táng mèi 
堂妹 (female cousin, younger than you)
if this cousin is a child of your father's brother(s).
In General situation, this cousin and you have the same family name.
OR
biǎo gē 
表哥 (male cousin, older than you)
biǎo dì 
表弟 (male cousin, younger than you)
biǎo zǐ 
表姊 (female cousin, older than you)
biǎo mèi
表妹 (female cousin, younger than you)
if this cousin is a child of your father's sister(s)
or a child of your mother's brother(s) or sister(s).
Generally, this cousin's family name and yours are different.
In summary, 
Tang
"堂" + 哥/弟/姊/妹
is a child of your father's brother(s).
Generally, this cousin and you have the same family name.
Biao
“表”
+ 哥/弟/姊/妹
is a child of your father's sister(s) or a child of your mother's brother(s) or sister(s)Generally, this cousin's family name and yours are different.

Other information:

哥  = older brother

弟  = younger brother

姊  = older sister
mèi
妹  = younger sister

Nov 28, 2012

天氣變涼了! The weather is getting cooler

Dear friends, winter is coming~ let's learn some Mandarin sentences we may use in this season...

dōng  tiān  lái  le
冬天來了 Winter is coming! / Winter comes / Winter has arrived

tiān  qì biàn  liáng  le
天氣變涼了 It is getting cooler

tiān  qì  biàn  lěng  le
天氣變冷了 It is getting colder

wǒ gǎn mào le
我感冒了 I got a flu

duō  chuān  diǎn  yī fu
多穿點衣服 Wear more

jiā jiàn yī fu
加件衣服 Add a piece of clothes on you

duō  bǎo  zhòng
多保重 Take care!

tiān  qì
天氣 weather

gǎn mào
感冒 flu

Sep 30, 2012

中秋節快樂 (zhōng qiū jié kuài lè) Happy Moon Festival!


Dear friends,

Today is Moon Festival (so called "mid-autumn festival") in many Asian countries~
Happy Moon Festival!
Enjoy the beautiful full moon!

Today, let's learn how to say "Happy Moon Festival" and some related words in Mandarin.

中秋節快樂 zhōng qiū jié kuài lè
[pronunciation] zhōng qiū jié kuài lè
[traditional writing] 中秋節快樂 
[simplified writing] 中秋节快乐
[meaning] Happy Moon Festival! 

中秋節 zhōng qiū jié
[pronunciation] zhōng qiū jié
[traditional writing] 中秋節
[simplified writing] 中秋节
[meaning] Moon Festival = Mid-autumn Festival


[pronunciation] qiū
[traditional writing] 
[simplified writing] 
[meaning] Autumn


[pronunciation] yuè
[traditional writing]
[simplified writing]
[meaning] Moon

月餅 yuè bǐng
[pronunciation] yuè bǐng
[traditional writing] 月餅
[simplified writing] 月饼
[meaning] Moon cake















During Moon Festival, people eat "Moon cake (月餅)"

Sep 20, 2012

Mandarin Drama: 步步驚心 Startling By Each Step --- The Most Successful Time Traveling Series Ever

"Startling By Each Step (步步驚心 bù bù jīng xīn)"  is definitely the most popular drama in 2011 in China. The beautiful classical clothes and scenes brings viewers back to a brilliant age of Chinese history. The sweet and bitter love story makes thousands of audience wet their handkerchieves.



[STORY]
Suffering from a severe bump (caused by a traffic accident  and electric shock), the 25-year-old office lady "張曉 (zhāng xiǎo)" passed away... When she came to, she found out a startling  fact --- she became another person named "若曦 (ruò xī)", a Mongolian noble girl, living in the Qing Dynasty of China (about 300 years ago)... Then her over-20-year surviving adventure in the palace of Qing Dynasty began...

Sep 19, 2012

Learn Chinese with Manga
看漫画学中文 Kan Man Hua Xue Zhong Wen



English translation for the following illustration: "A mouse without USB. I want to return it to the store."





















Illustration by Oliver Wallbaum
Find more creations from Oliver: http://www.illustratoon.de/

méi yǒu de huá shǔ wǒ yào tuì huò
沒有USB的滑鼠,我要退貨!
A mouse without USB. I want to return it to the store.

沒有(méi yǒu) = no / without
滑鼠(huá shǔ) = mouse (for PC)
我要(wǒ yào) = I want to...
退貨(tuì huò) = return the goods (to the store)

Aug 29, 2012

美麗的高雄 Beautiful Kaohsiung (A city in southern Taiwan)

西子灣 (Sizihwan Bay)
It's a nice place to watch sunset











愛河 (Love River)
To enjoy the full experience of the Love River, one can take a love river boat tour










真愛碼頭 (True Love Harbor)

蓮池潭 (Lotus Pond)

Traveling Information
English --- http://khh.travel/en/
Japanese --- http://khh.travel/ja/

Jul 13, 2012

Proposal in Mandarin Chinese 我們結婚吧 wǒ men jié hūn ba (Let's get married)

Let's learn how to say "Let's get married" or "Please marry me" in Mandarin Chinese!!!

jià qǔ
嫁 娶
Today let's learn two characters 嫁(Jia)and 娶(Qu)
Both of them means "marry" in Mandarin Chinese

Let's watch a video first...
This is a chip from Taiwan Drama "小資女孩向前衝(Office Girls)"
Video info: Three Choices 三個選擇 ﹣a chip from Taiwan Drama "小資女孩向前衝(Office Girls)" 

In this chip, the man makes a proposal 求婚.
He says "you have three choices... "  to his girl friend.

These choices are...
1. I marry you 我娶妳 wǒ qǔ nǐ
2. you marry me 妳嫁給我 nǐ jià gěi wǒ
3. let's get married 我們結婚吧 wǒ men jié hūn ba

In Mandarin Chinese, "marry" is 嫁 or 娶...
Both 嫁 and 娶 mean "marry" in Mandarin Chinese
The difference between 嫁 and 娶 is...

嫁 = marry (a woman marry a man; the subject is the woman; if the subject is female, use "Jia")
娶 = marry (a man marry a woman; the subject is the man; if the subject is male, use "Qu")

Jul 7, 2012

Mandarin Chinese Song: 自從遇見你 (Since I met you)



zì cóng yù jiàn nǐ
自從遇見你 Since I met you
shēng mìng bǐ cóng qián gèng yǒu yì yì
生命比從前更有意義 Life became more meaningful
zì cóng yù jiàn nǐ
自從遇見你 Since I met you
wǒ jiù yǐ ài shàng nǐ
我就已愛上你 I fell in love with you
zì cóng yù jiàn nǐ
自從遇見你 Since I met you
jiù lián fán nǎo dōu bǐ cóng qián yǒu qù
就連煩惱都比從前有趣 Even worries are interesting
zì cóng yù jiàn nǐ
自從遇見你 Since I met you
nǐ shì wǒ de wéi yī
你是我的唯一You are my only one
rèn shi nǐ zhī qián
認識你之前 Before I met you
shì jiè shì yí piàn huāng yuán
世界是一片荒原 The world is a desert
rèn shi nǐ yǐ hòu
認識你以後 After I got acquainted with you
shì jiè biàn chéng le lè yuán
世界變成了樂園 The world became a musement part
shì shàng tiān ān pái
是上天安排 This is our destiny
nǐ hé wǒ xiāng jù zài le bié de shí jiān
你和我相聚在了別的時間 We met at a time
nǐ yǐ ài shàng wǒ
你已愛上我 You are in love with me
yǐ chéng wéi bì rán
已成為必然 With no doubt

Jul 1, 2012

時尚偶像劇場:無懈可擊之高手如林 Mandarin Chinese Drama: Unbeatable [2011]

"Unbeatable" is a popular Mandarin Chinese drama

Following are some clips of my favorite character "危笑(wēi xiào)" in this drama



"危笑(wēi xiào)"is a 26-year-old policeman "警察(jǐng chá)"

He falls in love with a successful businesswoman "女強人(nǚ qiáng rén )" named "叶柔(yè róu )"

Since this lady is older and much richer than him, he spent much time and efforts to pursue her.

Anyway, their romance / love story "愛情故事(ài qíng gù shì)" is quite touching... hope u like it

Jun 13, 2012

Today's Han Zi: 公車 (Bus) / 火車 (Train) /計程車 (Taxi)

Today let's learn some characters which travelers may want to know...


chē
car


huǒ chē
火車 train


gōng chē
公車 bus


jì chéng chē
計程車 taxi


NOTES:

gōng chē     
公車    

gōng gòng qì chē
公共汽車

公車 is the abbreviation of 公共汽車
公車 means public bus (local bus)