The fox borrows the tiger's ferocity
One day, a tiger caught a fox and was about to devour it. The quick-witted fox stopped the tiger, saying: "How dare you eat me? You should know that I was sent by the heavens to be the king of beasts. If you don't believe me, come with me and see for yourself that there is not animal that isn't afraid of me!"
The tiger agreed.
The fox walked ahead of the tiger through the forest. All the animals that they passed - the rabbits, the deer and all the others - ran for cover upon seeing the fox and the tiger.
The tiger was amazed! The other animals really were afraid of the fox! In fact, the tiger thought that he, too, ought to be afraid of the fox and decided not to eat him after all.
Learn more about chinese conversation, idiom and culture on Hello! Mandarin
2008年12月25日星期四
Chinese idiom--Helping seedlings to grow by pulling them up
Helping seedlings to grow by pulling them up
There once was a farmer who lived during the Song Dynasty (960-1279 AD). He was a very impatient man. The anxious farmer measured the size his crops every day. One day, he found that his crops were growing much slower than expected, which upset him a great deal.
The farmer racked his brains trying to find ways to get quicker results. One day, he came up with a solution. He would physically pull the crops out of the ground, thereby making them taller. The farmer worked very hard and at day's end was exhausted but extremely proud of himself because his plan had produced the desired results.
When the farmer went home, he excitedly told his son of his “brilliant” idea. His son went to the fields only to discover that all of his crops had died.
Learn more Chinese idiom, conversation and culture on Hello! Mandarin
There once was a farmer who lived during the Song Dynasty (960-1279 AD). He was a very impatient man. The anxious farmer measured the size his crops every day. One day, he found that his crops were growing much slower than expected, which upset him a great deal.
The farmer racked his brains trying to find ways to get quicker results. One day, he came up with a solution. He would physically pull the crops out of the ground, thereby making them taller. The farmer worked very hard and at day's end was exhausted but extremely proud of himself because his plan had produced the desired results.
When the farmer went home, he excitedly told his son of his “brilliant” idea. His son went to the fields only to discover that all of his crops had died.
Learn more Chinese idiom, conversation and culture on Hello! Mandarin
Chinese conversation-Exchange Currency
Conversation :
Foreigners in China should pay in Renminbi. Mike comes from the United States and works in Beijing now. One day, he goes to the bank to exchange some money.
mài kè: Láo jià, wŏ xiăng bă měi yuán huàn chéng Rénmínbì.
(Mike: Excuse me, I’d like to exchange some US dollars for Renminbi. )
Xiăo jiě: Nín yào huàn duō shăo?
(Miss: How much do you want to change?)
mài kè: Wŭ băi měi yuán.
(Mike: Five hundred US dollars.)
Xiăo jiě: Qĭng nín xiān tiān yī zhāng duì huàn dān.
(Miss: Fill in the exchange form first, please.)
mài kè: Jīn tiān měi yuán hé Rénmínbì de bĭ jià shì duō shăo?
(Mike: What’s the rate for US dollars to Renminbi today?)
Xiăo jiě: Bĭ jià shì yī bĭ bā diăn liù sān.
(Miss: The rate is 1:8.63.)
mài kè: Wŏ tiān hăo duì huàn dān le
(Mike: I’ve finished the form.)
Xiăo jiě: Qĭng shāo dĕng. Zhè shì nín de qián.
(Miss: Wait a moment, please. Here is your money.)
mài kè: Xiè xiè.
(Mike: Thank you.)
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Foreigners in China should pay in Renminbi. Mike comes from the United States and works in Beijing now. One day, he goes to the bank to exchange some money.
mài kè: Láo jià, wŏ xiăng bă měi yuán huàn chéng Rénmínbì.
(Mike: Excuse me, I’d like to exchange some US dollars for Renminbi. )
Xiăo jiě: Nín yào huàn duō shăo?
(Miss: How much do you want to change?)
mài kè: Wŭ băi měi yuán.
(Mike: Five hundred US dollars.)
Xiăo jiě: Qĭng nín xiān tiān yī zhāng duì huàn dān.
(Miss: Fill in the exchange form first, please.)
mài kè: Jīn tiān měi yuán hé Rénmínbì de bĭ jià shì duō shăo?
(Mike: What’s the rate for US dollars to Renminbi today?)
Xiăo jiě: Bĭ jià shì yī bĭ bā diăn liù sān.
(Miss: The rate is 1:8.63.)
mài kè: Wŏ tiān hăo duì huàn dān le
(Mike: I’ve finished the form.)
Xiăo jiě: Qĭng shāo dĕng. Zhè shì nín de qián.
(Miss: Wait a moment, please. Here is your money.)
mài kè: Xiè xiè.
(Mike: Thank you.)
Learn Chinese conversation, pinyin, grammar and culture on Hello!Mandarin
Chinese Culture : zodiac sign - ox 十二生肖-牛
Years: 1901, 1913, 1925, 1937, 1949, 1961, 1973, 1985, 1997, 2009, 2021
Overview - You will achieve financial success this year, Ox. Keep your eyes open for new opportunities and cease them when they arrive. Success will not drop from the sky into your lap. Rather, you need to hunt it down and claim it as yours. The advantage you have this year is that you have all of the tools necessary to find it. You’ve learned to communicate and listen to your peers, and this will make all of the difference.
Work - Hard work and devotion will continue to bring your advancement in the workplace, but it is your instinct that will propel you. You will understand what is needed and when it is needed, and make the decisions to get it all done. Your accomplishments will amaze everyone, and your capacity to be a team leader will even impress you.
Money - Your money won’t be easy, but it will be plentiful once you have won it. Determination and ferocity will secure your fortune, so be a player and don’t settle for second best.
Health - Some minor problems with legs and joints will persist this year. Avoid contact sports and high-impact exercise and focus on your aerobics instead.
Love and Family - Your family life will be warm and caring this year. You will find a stable peace of mind within your family, and you will find more time to spend with them. If you are single, your calm disposition will attract the attention of someone special and you will harbor many secret admirers.
More about Ox…
Personality Type - You are strong and silent, always cautious but never inactive. People look at you with respect because of your calm attitude and natural confidence in your own abilities. Within a chaotic world, you provide the anchor to stabilize all situations. You are an important part of any successful team because at the end of the day you are the one who makes sure that the work gets done. You are a realist and never live outside your means and capacity.
Learn More about Chinese culture, please check www.hellomandarin.com
Overview - You will achieve financial success this year, Ox. Keep your eyes open for new opportunities and cease them when they arrive. Success will not drop from the sky into your lap. Rather, you need to hunt it down and claim it as yours. The advantage you have this year is that you have all of the tools necessary to find it. You’ve learned to communicate and listen to your peers, and this will make all of the difference.
Work - Hard work and devotion will continue to bring your advancement in the workplace, but it is your instinct that will propel you. You will understand what is needed and when it is needed, and make the decisions to get it all done. Your accomplishments will amaze everyone, and your capacity to be a team leader will even impress you.
Money - Your money won’t be easy, but it will be plentiful once you have won it. Determination and ferocity will secure your fortune, so be a player and don’t settle for second best.
Health - Some minor problems with legs and joints will persist this year. Avoid contact sports and high-impact exercise and focus on your aerobics instead.
Love and Family - Your family life will be warm and caring this year. You will find a stable peace of mind within your family, and you will find more time to spend with them. If you are single, your calm disposition will attract the attention of someone special and you will harbor many secret admirers.
More about Ox…
Personality Type - You are strong and silent, always cautious but never inactive. People look at you with respect because of your calm attitude and natural confidence in your own abilities. Within a chaotic world, you provide the anchor to stabilize all situations. You are an important part of any successful team because at the end of the day you are the one who makes sure that the work gets done. You are a realist and never live outside your means and capacity.
Learn More about Chinese culture, please check www.hellomandarin.com
2008年12月20日星期六
Some Suggestions for Learning Chinese
Some Suggestions for Learning Chinese
Learning Chinese involves remembering many rules about grammar, pronunciation and vocabulary. Although your textbook and teacher will organize this information in certain ways, you will still need to systematize the material for reference and review. Strict self-discipline is essential to mastering any language -- especially Chinese! However, ensure variety in your studies by 'ringing the changes' from time to time. Don't keep on with the same thing until you are bored with it. Here are some helpful suggestions for you:
Vocabulary
Write the vocabulary items on individual cards or slips of paper with their translation on the reverse side. See how many words you can remember from the English definition by turning them over one by one; then try it the other way round. (This game is more fun if played with two or more people!) Separate out the ones you find hard to recall and carry them around with you in your pocket, reviewing them while waiting for buses, standing in line to buy tickets, etc.
a. Learn the words in the context of the sentences in the dialogues of your textbook.
b. Say the words out loud as you study them.
c. Write down the words you find most difficult to memorize on a separate sheet of paper and give extra time to them.
d. Record the words and their definitions; then listen to the tape several times. Use the 'pause' button to test yourself.
e. Associate words with pictures.
f. Group them by generic categories, e.g. furniture, foods, etc.; or according to the situations in which they occur, e.g. under 'Post Office' you can put stamps, aerogram, printed matter, etc. Another way is by function, e.g. greetings, partings, thanking, conversation starters, etc..
g. Make sentences using the new vocabulary (and grammar patterns) ready for use in class.
Note: with Chinese words, it is as important to remember the tone as it is to remember how to pronounce it; if you can't remember the tone, you've forgotten the word!
Dialogue
Always try to obtain cassette recordings of the dialogues and new vocabulary of your textbooks. First listen to the cassette recording of the dialogue just to get a feel for the content of the lesson. Use the 'pause' and 'rewind' buttons on your tape recorder to give yourself time to absorb the content. Only when you have listened to it several times and have understood the meaning should you try reading along with the cassette. This will aid fluency and intonation. Listen to the cassette tape as many times as possible before class -- you can't listen to it too much!
Grammar
Some people perform better when first given a rule and then told to use it to make sentences. Others prefer to be given lots of input and deduce the rules for themselves. Find out which method works best for you. Keep a notebook in which to write down the major grammar patterns. Then use this for review, adding any new information you may acquire. Memorize the key sentences in the dialogues. If there is something in your textbook you don't understand, leave it for a while. A week or so later, you'll suddenly discover that you understand it now!
Learning Chinese involves remembering many rules about grammar, pronunciation and vocabulary. Although your textbook and teacher will organize this information in certain ways, you will still need to systematize the material for reference and review. Strict self-discipline is essential to mastering any language -- especially Chinese! However, ensure variety in your studies by 'ringing the changes' from time to time. Don't keep on with the same thing until you are bored with it. Here are some helpful suggestions for you:
Vocabulary
Write the vocabulary items on individual cards or slips of paper with their translation on the reverse side. See how many words you can remember from the English definition by turning them over one by one; then try it the other way round. (This game is more fun if played with two or more people!) Separate out the ones you find hard to recall and carry them around with you in your pocket, reviewing them while waiting for buses, standing in line to buy tickets, etc.
a. Learn the words in the context of the sentences in the dialogues of your textbook.
b. Say the words out loud as you study them.
c. Write down the words you find most difficult to memorize on a separate sheet of paper and give extra time to them.
d. Record the words and their definitions; then listen to the tape several times. Use the 'pause' button to test yourself.
e. Associate words with pictures.
f. Group them by generic categories, e.g. furniture, foods, etc.; or according to the situations in which they occur, e.g. under 'Post Office' you can put stamps, aerogram, printed matter, etc. Another way is by function, e.g. greetings, partings, thanking, conversation starters, etc..
g. Make sentences using the new vocabulary (and grammar patterns) ready for use in class.
Note: with Chinese words, it is as important to remember the tone as it is to remember how to pronounce it; if you can't remember the tone, you've forgotten the word!
Dialogue
Always try to obtain cassette recordings of the dialogues and new vocabulary of your textbooks. First listen to the cassette recording of the dialogue just to get a feel for the content of the lesson. Use the 'pause' and 'rewind' buttons on your tape recorder to give yourself time to absorb the content. Only when you have listened to it several times and have understood the meaning should you try reading along with the cassette. This will aid fluency and intonation. Listen to the cassette tape as many times as possible before class -- you can't listen to it too much!
Grammar
Some people perform better when first given a rule and then told to use it to make sentences. Others prefer to be given lots of input and deduce the rules for themselves. Find out which method works best for you. Keep a notebook in which to write down the major grammar patterns. Then use this for review, adding any new information you may acquire. Memorize the key sentences in the dialogues. If there is something in your textbook you don't understand, leave it for a while. A week or so later, you'll suddenly discover that you understand it now!
Basic Chinese Sentence Pattern
Basic Chinese Sentence Pattern
S-V-O 我姓王。 I am surnamed Wang.
S-Adv-V-O 他也姓王。 He is also surnamed Wang.
S-V-O-嗎 你姓王嗎? Are you surnamed Wang?
You will notice a few similarities and some major differences between the structure of Chinese and English. Unlike English, Chinese is not an inflected language, rather it relies on word order to convey meaning. Sometimes, words classified as verbs in Chinese are rendered as other types of expressions in English. Word order can also vary between the two languages, especially with questions. In Chinese, the basic syntax of a question is the same as that of a statement, whereas in English it usually is not.
Here are more examples, with the English rendered somewhat literally so that you can see the structure of the Chinese.
Basic Pattern
N-V-Obj. 我是中國人。 I am a Chinese (person).
他叫王朋。 He is called Wang Peng.
我姓李. I am surnamed Li.
N-Adv-V-Obj. 我不是中國人。 I am not a Chinese (person).
他也不姓李。 He isn't surnamed Li, either. (He also is not surnamed Li.)
N-(Adv)-V-Obj.-嗎?
你也是中國人嗎? Are you also a Chinese (person)?
More infor about Chinese grammar and Learning Chinese, please check www.hellomandarin.com
S-V-O 我姓王。 I am surnamed Wang.
S-Adv-V-O 他也姓王。 He is also surnamed Wang.
S-V-O-嗎 你姓王嗎? Are you surnamed Wang?
You will notice a few similarities and some major differences between the structure of Chinese and English. Unlike English, Chinese is not an inflected language, rather it relies on word order to convey meaning. Sometimes, words classified as verbs in Chinese are rendered as other types of expressions in English. Word order can also vary between the two languages, especially with questions. In Chinese, the basic syntax of a question is the same as that of a statement, whereas in English it usually is not.
Here are more examples, with the English rendered somewhat literally so that you can see the structure of the Chinese.
Basic Pattern
N-V-Obj. 我是中國人。 I am a Chinese (person).
他叫王朋。 He is called Wang Peng.
我姓李. I am surnamed Li.
N-Adv-V-Obj. 我不是中國人。 I am not a Chinese (person).
他也不姓李。 He isn't surnamed Li, either. (He also is not surnamed Li.)
N-(Adv)-V-Obj.-嗎?
你也是中國人嗎? Are you also a Chinese (person)?
More infor about Chinese grammar and Learning Chinese, please check www.hellomandarin.com
2008年12月19日星期五
Basic explaination of Chinese tones
While residents across China use the same written character system, the way the words are pronounced differs from region to region. Standard Chinese is Mandarin, or Putonghua, and it consists of five pronunciation tones.
In 1958, the Chinese government rolled out its Romanized version of Mandarin. Prior to that, there were several different methods to sound out Chinese characters using English letters. Over the years, pinyin has become the standard around the world for those wishing to learn to properly pronounce Mandarin Chinese. This is how Peking became Beijing (which a more accurate pronunciation) in pinyin.
Using characters, people simply know that that character is pronounced with a certain tone. In Romanized pinyin, many words suddenly had the same spelling, and it became necessary to designate tones within the word to differentiate them.
Tones are of vital importance in Chinese. Depending on the choice of tone, you could be calling for your mother (mā) or your horse (mă). Here's a brief introduction on the five vowel tones in the Mandarin language using the many words that are spelled "ma".
First Tone: ˉ
This tone is designated by a straight line over the vowel (mā) and is pronounced flat and high like the "ma" in Obama.
Second Tone: ´
This tone's symbol is an upward slant from right to left over the vowel (má) and begins in the mid-tone, then rises to a high tone, as if asking a question.
Third Tone: ˇ
This tone has a V-shape over the vowel (mă) and starts low then goes even lower before it rises to a high tone. This is also known as falling rising tone. It's as if your voice is tracing a check mark, starting at the middle, then lower then high.
Fourth Tone: `
This tone is represented by a downward slant from right to left over the vowel (mà) and begins in a high tone but falls sharply with a strong guttural tone at the end like you are mad.
Fifth Tone:
This tone is also known as the neutral tone. Has no symbol over the vowel (ma) or is sometimes preceded with a dot (‧ma) and is pronounced flatly without any intonation. Sometimes it's just slightly softer than first tone.
There is another tone as well, used only for certain words and is designated by an umlaut or ¨ or two dots over the vowel (lü). The standard way of explaining how to pronounce this is to purse your lips and say "ee" then end in an "oo" sound. It's one of the hardest Chinese tones to master so it may help to find a Chinese-speaking friend and ask them to pronounce the word for green, and listen closely!
As a student of the Chinese language, the hardest part to differentiate is first, second, and fifth tones. Check www.hellomandarin.com to get more tips of learning Chinese tones and Mandarin.
In 1958, the Chinese government rolled out its Romanized version of Mandarin. Prior to that, there were several different methods to sound out Chinese characters using English letters. Over the years, pinyin has become the standard around the world for those wishing to learn to properly pronounce Mandarin Chinese. This is how Peking became Beijing (which a more accurate pronunciation) in pinyin.
Using characters, people simply know that that character is pronounced with a certain tone. In Romanized pinyin, many words suddenly had the same spelling, and it became necessary to designate tones within the word to differentiate them.
Tones are of vital importance in Chinese. Depending on the choice of tone, you could be calling for your mother (mā) or your horse (mă). Here's a brief introduction on the five vowel tones in the Mandarin language using the many words that are spelled "ma".
First Tone: ˉ
This tone is designated by a straight line over the vowel (mā) and is pronounced flat and high like the "ma" in Obama.
Second Tone: ´
This tone's symbol is an upward slant from right to left over the vowel (má) and begins in the mid-tone, then rises to a high tone, as if asking a question.
Third Tone: ˇ
This tone has a V-shape over the vowel (mă) and starts low then goes even lower before it rises to a high tone. This is also known as falling rising tone. It's as if your voice is tracing a check mark, starting at the middle, then lower then high.
Fourth Tone: `
This tone is represented by a downward slant from right to left over the vowel (mà) and begins in a high tone but falls sharply with a strong guttural tone at the end like you are mad.
Fifth Tone:
This tone is also known as the neutral tone. Has no symbol over the vowel (ma) or is sometimes preceded with a dot (‧ma) and is pronounced flatly without any intonation. Sometimes it's just slightly softer than first tone.
There is another tone as well, used only for certain words and is designated by an umlaut or ¨ or two dots over the vowel (lü). The standard way of explaining how to pronounce this is to purse your lips and say "ee" then end in an "oo" sound. It's one of the hardest Chinese tones to master so it may help to find a Chinese-speaking friend and ask them to pronounce the word for green, and listen closely!
As a student of the Chinese language, the hardest part to differentiate is first, second, and fifth tones. Check www.hellomandarin.com to get more tips of learning Chinese tones and Mandarin.
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