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")

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
車 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)

Today's Han-Zi: 緊急出口

Today let's learn a very important term...

jǐn jí chū kǒu
緊急出口

means "emergency exit"

[traditional]  緊急出口
[simplified]  紧急出口

緊急 jǐn jí ＝ emergency
出口 chū kǒu ＝ exit

Today's Word: 房屋 Fang Wu = HOUSE

fáng wū
房屋

In Chinese, both 房(Fang) and 屋(Wu) mean "House"
Chinese people call their house either "房子“ or "屋子" or "房屋"

And inside a house we got...

kè tīng 客廳 = living room chú fáng 廚房 = kitchen

fáng jiān 房間 = room

wò shì 臥室 ＝ qǐn shì 寢室 = bedroom

yù shì 浴室 = bathroom

Click the triangle ("Play" Button) of below image to learn Pronunciations....

fáng 房 = House    wū 屋 = House    fáng wū 房屋  = House    fáng zi 房子 = House    wū zi 屋子 = House    kè tīng 客廳 = Living Room    chú fáng 廚房 = Kitchen    fáng jiān 房間 = room    wò shì 臥室＝qǐn shì 寢室 = Bedroom            yù shì 浴室 = Bathroom

 

Traditional	Simplified	PinYin	Meaning
房	房	fáng	House
屋	屋	wū	House
房屋	房屋	fáng wū	House
房子	房子	fáng zi	House
屋子	屋子	wū zi	House
客廳	客厅	kè tīng	Living Room
廚房	厨房	chú fáng	Kitchen
房間	房间	fáng jiān	Room
臥室	卧室	wò shì	Bedroom
寢室	寝室	qǐn shì	Bedroom
浴室	浴室	yù shì	Bathroom

Today's Han Zi: 圓（yuán）= CIRCLE

In Chinese,  圓（yuán）means "Circle." It also implies a kind of perfect condition.
Today, let's learn how to write 圓（yuán）

Today's Han Zi : 菜單 (cài dān) 價目表 (jià mù biǎo) 飯 (fàn) 麵 (miàn) Some characters you would meet in a restaurant

菜單(cài dān)、價目表(jià mù biǎo)、飯(fàn)、麵(miàn)、湯(tāng)
Try to understand Chinese menu

Some foreign friends says they got problem with ordering food in Taiwan, because they can't read Chinese menu. Today, let's learn some key characters in a Chinese menu.

菜單 (cài dān) = menu
價目表 (jià mù biǎo) = price list / price table
飯 (fàn) = cooked rice
麵 (miàn) = noodle
湯(tāng) = soup

Today's Han Zi : 四季 (Si Ji)、春 (Chun)、夏 (Xia)、秋 (Qiu)、冬 (Dong) Let's learn Chinese characters everyday!

四季 (sì jì)、春 (chūn) 、夏 (xià) 、秋 (qiū) 、冬 (dōng)
Four Seasons, Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter

Today, let's learn how to write "Four Seasons" in Chinese.

Actually, we have already learned how to write "Spring" in the other day.
http://mandarineveryday.blogspot.com/2012/05/han-zi-lesson-day-2-learn-some-chinese.html#links

"Spring" = 春 or 春天 or 春季
"Summer" =  夏 or 夏天 or 夏季
"Autumn" = 秋 or 秋天 or 秋季
"Winter" = 冬 or 冬天 or 冬季
"Four Seasons" = 四季

Chinese is which one? 中文 (Zhong Wen) 華語 (Hua Yu) 漢語 (Han Yu) or 普通話 (Pu Tong Hua) ?

A foreign friend asked me what is the difference between 中文 (Zhong Wen), 華語 (Hua Yu), 漢語 (Han Yu), and 普通話 (Pu Tong Hua). Are they the same?  Generally speaking, they all mean "Chinese."

All of above sentences mean "I am learnng Chinese. (I am learning Chinese language)"

In TenTen's experience, "我在學中文" is the one most people use.
And the other are also very common and correct to Chinese ears
So no matter which one you use, Chinese people will understand you.

If you want to clearly distinguish them, try to undertand each character...

In ancient times, Chinese people thought their country is in the center of the world. Accordingly, they named their country "中國 (China / Central Country)" and their writing and language "中文 (Chinese / Central language)"

"Han" used to be a representative dynasty in Chinese history, so people use "Han Yu" to refer to Chinese language as well. And "Hua" also has its historical meaning in Chinese world. If you are interested in Chinese history, you can refer to: 

http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/华夏族 [Chinese Version] 

Different from 中文, 華語, and 華語 whicn can broadly mean all Chinese dialects, 普通話 is a more specific term. It refers to "Modern Mandarin Chinese"

In Taiwan, people also call 中文 as 國語 (guó yǔ). If there is someone who says "I'm learing Guo Yu," he means he is learning Chinese.

Today's Han Zi : 天氣變暖了 (Tian Qi Bian Nuan Le) Let's learn Chinese characters everyday!

天氣變暖了 (tiān qì biàn nuǎn le)
The weather has become warm!

Hi, everyone! Welcome to Today's Hai Zi Lesson

Just try to memorize about 5 characters a day!
After one year, you will have learned more than 1000 even 2000!
It will be possible for you to read Chinese magazines and newspaper.

Yesterday, we have learned
春天來了 (Chun Tian Lai Le) = the Spring has come
Today, let's learn a related sentence and its chracters:
天 (tiān)、氣 (qì)、變 (biàn)、暖 (nuǎn)、了 (le)
The weather has become warm!

The writing principle is:
1. 從上到下 (From the top to the bottom) 
2. 從左到右 (From the left to the right)
http://mandarineveryday.blogspot.com/2012/05/how-to-write-chinese-characters-main.html#links

Reference: http://eword.ntpc.edu.tw/

Today's Han Zi : 春天來了 (Chun Tian Lai Le) Let's learn Chinese characters everyday!

春天來了 (chūn tiān lái le)
The Spring has already come!

TenTen will post about 5 characters a day. Those characters are from the elementary-school Chinese textbooks.vJust try to memorize some characters a day; after one year, you will know more than 1000 even 2000 characters!!!








The writing principle is:
1. 從上到下 (From the top to the bottom) 
2. 從左到右 (From the left to the right)







Today, lets learn 春 (chūn)、天 (tiān)、來 (lái)、了 (le) these chracters

[Traditional] 春天來了
[Simplified] 春天来了
[Pronunciation] chūn tiān lái le
[Meaning] The Spring has come!

Another meaning:
If someone says "Wo De Chun Tian Lai Le, " he means "My love has come / I have already fell in love"


Reference: http://eword.ntpc.edu.tw/

Today's Han Zi : 我想學中文 (Wo Xiang Xue Zhong Wen) Let's learn Chinese characters everyday!

我想學中文 (Wo Xiang Xue Zhong Wen)
I want to learn Chinese

Start to learn Han Zi (漢字) today!

TenTen will post about 5~10 characters a day.
Those characters are from the elementary-school Chinese textbooks.
Just try to memorize some characters a day; after one year, you will know more than 1000 even 2000 characters!!!

Today, let's learn 我 (wǒ)、 想 ( xiǎng )、 學 (xué)、 中 (zhōng)、 文 (wén)  these chracters


[Traditional] 我想學中文
[Simplified] 我想学中文
[Pronunciation] wǒ xiǎng xué zhōng wén
[Meaning] I want to learn Chinese

Just try to memorize their "appearances"
If you have free time, you can practice writing as well...

The writing principle is:
1. 從上到下 (From the top to the bottom) 
2. 從左到右 (From the left to the right)
http://mandarineveryday.blogspot.com/2012/05/how-to-write-chinese-characters-main.html#links

Reference: http://eword.ntpc.edu.tw/

How to write Chinese characters? The main priciple

How to start to write a Chinese character? The main principle is...

1. 從上到下 (From the top to the bottom) 
2. 從左到右 (From the left to the right)


Simple examples:

Let's try to write these characters:
川 (stream / river)、三 (three)、仁 (kind)

1) 川  (chuān)

2) 三 (sān)







3) 仁 (rén)


Reference: http://www.edu.tw/files/site_content/M0001/bishuen/bs1.htm?open

有边读边, 没边读中间 yǒu biān dú biān méi biān dú zhōng jiān (Talking abut repeated elements in Chinese characters / han zi)

In the previous post, TenTen has mentioned... repeated elements (basic elements) exist among Chinese characters (han zi). For example, "言" is a repeated  element, and we can find "言" in many other characters like 說、話、許、註、詛、謝, etc.

If we delete "言" from 說、話、許、註、詛、謝 those characters, the remained parts  are also repeated elements.  Besides, the same with "言" , each of those remained parts 兌、舌、午、且、射 is also an  independent character itself. In fact, most repeated elements (basic elements) are also independent characters themselves and have their own meanings,

Since lots of Chinese characters are combinations of some repeated elements,  most time when we encounter a Chinese character we don't know, we can guess its meaning and pronunciation of this character according to the character's form/appearance.

There is a slang "有邊讀邊, 沒邊讀中間 (有边读边, 没边读中间)" expressing this kind of guessing.
有邊讀邊, 沒邊讀中間 = if (the character) has side, just pronounce based on the side; if there is no side, then... pronounce based on its middle...
This slang is kind of joke~ The most correct way is to check the dictionary :P
'cause guesses would be wrong, although most of the time (over 60%) they are correct.

Is there shortcut to learn Chinese characters ( Han Zi ) ?

My foreign friends keep asking me how to learn Chinese characters (Han Zi)...
Is there any quick way to learn Chinese characters?

To tell the truth, I think there is no shortcut to master Chinese characters...
One has to practice writing every character again and again to memorize it.

It is said that after one has learned more than 3000 characters, he can understand over 90% contents from Chinese magazines or newspaper. 

Since there are lots of characters needed to be memorized, Chinese students have to spend several years on learning writing...

Year / Grade in School	How many characters have been learned?
1st ~ 2nd Grade	700~800
3rd ~ 4th Grade	1500~1800
4th ~ 6th Grade	About 3000

However, fortunately...
Since there are some repeated elements in Chinese characters, once you've learned more and more of them, you will find your learning curve also shortened more and more.

Good luck on your learning!