Chinese - Beyond the Textbook

Dirty Chinese

2007-07-06T17:29:00.000+08:00

Hover over any underlined Chinese character to see the pinyin tooltip(note: if you are reading this in an RSS reader, you probably won't be able to see the pinyin tooltips, in which case you should click on the link to the original post.)

(WARNING: Explicit language below. Do not read on or click the link if you are easily offended)

John from ChinesePod just posted a link to a site entitled "Chinese sex words, obscene language, curses and slang"

This stuff is definitely beyond any textbook I've ever seen. One has to wonder how the author learned all this language!!

There's some nice imagery in some of the words:

肉棒 ròubàng = meat stick
肉洞 ròudòng = meat dungeon
蜜穴 mìxué = honey hole
玉门 yùmen = jade door
乳球 rŭqiú = “milk balls”

I'm sure (and I hope) that most of these words will be unfamiliar to learners of Chinese. Don't know if you'll get a chance to use any of them, but it could make a fun conversation between close friends.

I'm not really learning much new Chinese these days, so this blog is pretty much on the back-burner now, but I will continue to post links to interesting Chinese material as and when I come across it.

Quick Tip - Showing off

2007-04-25T18:17:00.000+08:00

Hover over any underlined Chinese character to see the pinyin tooltip(note: if you are reading this in an RSS reader, you probably won't be able to see the pinyin tooltips, in which case you should click on the link to the original post.)

There are a growing number of new Chinese words, transliterated from their English soundalikes. One that springs to mind is 粉丝, which means 'fans' (fan), as in "I'm your biggest fan."

Today's word is 秀， originally used in words like 优秀 (outstanding). Recently people must have noticed it's pronunciation is similar to the English word 'show', and it has come to have the meaning of showing something off.

现在我来秀以下我创作的歌曲 - Now I'll perform a song I wrote.
你会跳芭蕾舞吗？给我们秀以下吧 - You can do ballet? Why not show us some?

You can hear the word used in the Chinesepod dialogue about live music which I posted yesterday.

ChinesePod - Live Music

2007-04-24T18:09:00.000+08:00

Hover over any underlined Chinese character to see the pinyin tooltip(note: if you are reading this in an RSS reader, you probably won't be able to see the pinyin tooltips, in which case you should click on the link to the original post.)

Well, it's been a while. I've had a bit of a break from learning Chinese, but I'm trying to get back into it, and one indispensible resource for me is the ever-popular ChinesePod.com, providing daily podcasts to keep your listening and speaking up to scratch.

Here's a great lesson from ChinesePod.com about finding live music (现场演出). This was one thing that eluded me for the first year and a half in China. I couldn't find any kind of decent live music in Qinhuangdao, and only a little in Dalian. It wasn't until I got to Shanghai that I found a decent music scene, and went to see a few bands, including Crystal Butterfly, who I've posted about before, and the excellent Cold Fairyland. Anyway, here's the podcast:

Learn Chinesepod on Your Terms at ChinesePod.com

Movie Moments 2 - A World Without Thieves （天下无贼）

2006-12-08T01:15:00.000+08:00

Hover over any underlined Chinese character to see the pinyin tooltip(note: if you are reading this in an RSS reader, you probably won't be able to see the pinyin tooltips, in which case you should click on the link to the original post.)

This scene is from the Massively popular Feng Xiaogang （冯小刚） movie A World Without Thieves (天下无贼), starring Andy Lau (刘德华) and Rene Liu (刘若英) as a pair of con-artists.

Lau's character 王薄 has just secretly filmed his girlfriend 王丽 (Liu) being sexually harrassed by an old guy who she is giving English lessons to. The couple then proceed to use the footage to blackmail the guy, who is prepared to do whatever it takes to prevent his wife discovering what he's been up to!

Rene Liu (Wang Li) and Andy Lau (Wang Bo)

王薄：从艺术片的角度来讲，没错，这段录像真的不值什么钱。
From an artistic point of view, you're right, it really has no value.

但是，从写实的纪录片来讲无论它的清晰度还是它反映出来的内容足够震撼你老婆脆弱的神经。
But as a documentary, in terms of clarity and content, it's more than enough to shock your wife's fragile nerves.

王丽：你应该把它给买下来
You should purchase it.

Old man:你们这是敲诈
This is extortion

王丽：别气，别气
Take it easy

王薄：敲诈。对，是敲诈
Extortion . . . you're right, it is extortion.

Old man:你们到底想要什么呀？我这又没现金。
What the hell do you want. I have no cash here.

王丽：来,人家就想要那台车嘛
cmon, cmon. All he wants is that car.

王薄：本人因欠王薄先生跟王丽小姐人民币一百万经双方友好协商同意用宝马汽车一部以物抵债, 决不反悔。来,按个手印
The undersigned owes Mr. Wang and Ms. Wang 1,000,000 RMB. After mutually amicable negotiations, I irrevocably agree to repay said debt with one BMW. C'mon, give us a fingerprint signature. (The old man struggles against Wang Bo)
按一下, 来嘛
Press down here, c'mon (The ink falls to the floor)
哎呦
Oh (Wang Li slaps the man across the face and storms away)

王薄 (to Wang Li)：你给我站住
Come back here
你打人, 不像话
You hit him. So out of line
哎呦, 哇
Oh wow (looking at the man's face)
红到这个程度啦。疼吗？
Look how red it is. Does it hurt?

So what have we learned from this dialogue?
Extortion - 敲诈 - something you may well come across in China from time to time.
Fragile nerves - 脆弱的神经 - something you may end up with if you live in China
Irrevocable - 决不反悔 - Any verbal agreement to teach your Ayi's son English.
So out of line - 不像话 - What your girlfriend might say if you suggest reenacting this scene with your elderly neighbour!

Learning to read with Harry Potter!

2006-11-05T21:39:00.000+08:00

Hover over any underlined Chinese character to see the pinyin tooltip(note: if you are reading this in an RSS reader, you probably won't be able to see the pinyin tooltips, in which case you should click on the link to the original post.)

Sorry, no posts for a while, I've been really busy and haven't had much time to even study Chinese myself. One thing I have tried to keep up though, is reading. While I was still in China I picked up the entire collection (so far) of Harry Potter books in Chinese. I find they are at a really good level for me. If I want to read quickly I can do so, ignoring certain words I don't understand. And if I want to read more thoroughly there is a sufficient number of new words that I can look up. Many of these words tend to be repeated, so they stick in your memory fairly easily. And as I've already read the books in English, I already know what's going on, so sometimes I'm able to intuit the meaning of certain words.

(Side note: after reluctantly being persuaded to start reading Harry Potter around Christmas time, I have just finished the 6th book - The Half-Blood Prince - and now I'm waiting with baited breath for the seventh and final book. I can still hardly believe that a children's book can be so complex and gripping!)

Here's an extract from the first book - 哈利·波特与魔法石 - Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (or the Sorcerer's Stone for you Americans), in which Harry first learns the truth about what he is:

“你总该知道你父母的事吧，”他说，“我是说，他们很有名气，你也很有名气”

"But yeh must know about yer mum and dad," he said. "I mean, they're famous. You're famous."

“什么？我的——我爸妈没有名气，不是吗？”

"What? My -- my mum and dad weren't famous, were they?"

“哦，你不知道……你不知道……”他用手指拢了拢头发，用困惑不解的目光盯着哈利。

"Yeh don' know... yeh don' know..." Hagrid ran his fingers through his hair, fixing Harry with a bewildered stare.

“你不知道你是什么人吗？”他终于问……

"Yeh don' know what yeh are?" he said finally……

……“哈利，你是一名巫师。”

……"Harry -- yer a wizard."

小屋里鸦雀无声，只听见滚滚涛声和狂风呼号。

There was silence inside the hut. Only the sea and the whistling wind could be heard.

“我是什么？”哈利喘着气说。

"-- a what?" gasped Harry.

“一名巫师，当然”海格说着，坐回到沙发上，沙发又嘎吱嘎吱响得更厉害了，“我相信，只要你经过一段时间培训，一定会成为一名优秀的巫师。你有那样的父母，你怎么可能不是巫师呢？我想现在该是你看那封信的时候了。”

"A wizard, o' course," said Hagrid, sitting back down on the sofa, which groaned and sank even lower, "an' a thumpin' good'un, I'd say, once yeh've been trained up a bit. With a mum an' dad like yours, what else would yeh be? An' I reckon it's abou' time yeh read yer letter."

哈利终于伸手接过一只谈黄色的信封，上边用翠绿色墨水写着：大海，礁石上的小屋，地板上，哈利·波特先生收。他抽出信读起来：

Harry stretched out his hand at last to take the yellowish envelope, addressed in emerald green to Mr. H. Potter, The Floor, Hut-on-the-Rock, The Sea. He pulled out the letter and read:

霍格沃茨魔法学校
校长：阿不思·邓布利多。（国际魔法联合会会长、巫师协会会长、梅林爵士团一级魔法师）
亲爱的波特先生：
我们愉快的通知您，您已获准在霍格沃茨魔法学校就读。随信附上所需书籍及装备一览表。
学校定于九月一日开始。我们将于七月三十一日前静候您的猫头鹰带来您的回信。
副校长（女）
米勒娃·麦格谨上

HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY
Headmaster: ALBUS DUMBLEDORE (Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)
Dear Mr. Potter,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.
Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.
Yours sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall,
Deputy Headmistress

Obviously, some of the character of the original is lost in translation, but for the most part, I find it translates pretty well. I must confess I'm still only halfway through the first book, but it's still the most enjoyable thing I've read in Chinese so far. If you're interested, you can buy the Chinese language version from Amazon:

Cultural Insight through Chinese sit-com

2006-09-27T00:05:00.000+08:00

Hover over any underlined Chinese character to see the pinyin tooltip(note: if you are reading this in an RSS reader, you probably won't be able to see the pinyin tooltips, in which case you should click on the link to the original post.)

I've been looking for a clip from my favourite Chinese TV show 马大帅 for ages, with little success on YouTube, but I finally found some on one of the Chinese versions of YouTube, tv.mofile.com

If you live or have lived in China, you'll recognise the setting as a KTV room, the number one recreational location for Chinese people. The man sitting down is the owner of the establishment, and he's asked the other guy to set him up with his niece, by arranging for them to sing karaoke together. Only neither of them is very outgoing, so the girl's uncle takes it upon himself to set the atmosphere.

At the end, he says:

唱得不好,请多多指教,给点掌声。
I sing badly, please advise me, give me a little applause.

This show is full of classic moments, I'll try to transcribe some if I can find any more good ones.

English Movie Titles in Chinese

2006-09-08T17:57:00.000+08:00

Hover over any underlined Chinese character to see the pinyin tooltip(note: if you are reading this in an RSS reader, you probably won't be able to see the pinyin tooltips, in which case you should click on the link to the original post.)

Many times during my 3 years in China, I've found myself in the DVD shop, wanting to ask for a certain film, but not knowing the Chinese name for it. Some of the translations are a far cry from what you would expect. I find a good way to find out the Chinese title is to do a Google search for "Movie Title 电影" (e.g - Star Wars 电影). You'll know which is the movie title because they are always enclosed in 《》 signs - 《星球大战》 (Star Wars).

Here's a random selection of movie titles in Chinese. Some are more bizzare than others:

Spiderman 《蜘蛛侠》 - (Spider Hero)
Dodgeball 《疯狂躲避求》 - (Crazy Dodge Ball)
Lord of the Rings 《魔戒》 - (Evil Ring)
Misery 《危情十日》 - (Perilous 10 Days)
Old School 《男子单身俱乐部》 - (Men's Singles Club)
The Matrix 《黑客帝国》 - (Hacker's Empire)
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest 《飞越疯人院》 - (Fly Over the Mental Institution)
Snakes on a Plane 《空中蛇灾》 - (Midair Snake Disaster)
Donnie Darko 《死亡幻觉》 - (Death Hallucinations)
Finding Neverland 《寻找梦幻岛》 - (Looking for Illusion Island)
Gone with the Wind 《乱世佳人》 - (Turbulent Times Beautiful Woman)

Interesting, no?

Some films have a second title, when the translation is ambiguous. This will be written under the main title, with the words 又名：(another name)

Hope you enjoy looking for interesting film titles. Let me know if you've seen any good ones.

麦当劳 - McDonald's in China

2006-08-21T16:36:00.000+08:00

Hover over any underlined Chinese character to see the pinyin tooltip(note: if you are reading this in an RSS reader, you probably won't be able to see the pinyin tooltips, in which case you should click on the link to the original post.)

With 麦当劳 - McDonald's - now doing deliveries in China, you can't rely on pointing at the pictures anymore when you want a Big Mac, so here's your guide to the best McDonald's China has to offer:

巨无霸 - Big Mac
麦香鸡腿汉堡 - McChicken Sandwich
双层吉士汉堡包 -　Double Cheeseburger
麦乐鸡 - Chicken McNuggets
麦香鱼－Filet O' Fish
麦辣鸡翅－Spicy Chicken Wings
特级板烧鸡腿堡 - New Chicken Leg hamburger only available in China

超值套餐 - Extra Value Meal
开心乐园餐 - Happy Meal

大/中/小署条　－Large/Medium/Small French Fries
可口可乐　－Coca Cola
雪碧　－Sprite
芬达 - Fanta
橙汁 - Orange Juice
新地　－　Sundae
奶昔　－Milkshake
（草莓 - Strawberry, 香草 - Vanilla, 朱古力 - Chocolate）

n.b. The usual translation of Chocolate is 巧克力， but sometimes the alternative 朱古力 is used

苹果派　－　Apple Pie
菠萝派 - Pineapple Pie
红豆牌 - Red Bean Pie

早餐 - Breakfast

早晨全餐 - Big Breakfast
猪柳蛋 - Sausage and Egg McMuffin
热香饼 - Pancakes/Hotcakes

That's pretty much all I would ever order at McDonald's (apart from the Filet O' Fish and the Red Bean Pie, but whatever floats your boat). If you think I've missed anything vital, feel free to leave a comment.

Note: China is a huge country. In different areas of China, the menu items may have different names, due to differences in pronunciation etc.

I'm back

2006-08-09T18:24:00.000+08:00

Almost a month without a post, just not good enough is it? But I have an excuse this time, I've finally left China. I travelled for two and a half weeks, then flew back to London last week, so I've been incredibly busy and had no internet access.

But I'm back online now, so I'll keep bringing you useful Mandarin as often as I can. Thanks for your patience!

Recognition from the stars

2006-08-09T17:51:00.000+08:00

A while ago I transcribed and translated the lyrics from Crystal Butterfly's 灵山. Yesterday, I discovered that the lead singer of Crystal Butterfly, 李乓 (Lee Pang), has read the entry, and commented on it on his blog.

Here's what Lee had to say:

很有趣的事情
一个北京朋友给我看一个小英国人的博克
他很认真的在拿我们的歌词做他的英文课教程
我顺便看了看他自己的中文博克
简单的语言，简单的想法
认真的生活
他画电视剧人物的漫画
多好，总是很善意的表达自己的想法
即使英格兰队输了，他还是很客观很礼貌
的确是个好孩子
对生活来说他比我认真
拿他一句话来说
原来我并不是完美的人！

Roughly translated:

Very interesting
A friend from Beijing showed me this little English guy's blog
He's taken our lyrics to use for his English lesson (Chinese lesson actually)
I also had a look at his Chinese blog
Simple language, simple ideas
Earnest life
He draws caricatures of TV stars
Very good, he always expresses his own ideas with good will
even though England lost, he's still objective and polite
He really is a good boy
He's more earnest about life than me
In his own words:
"It turns out I'm not perfect after all"

What a nice guy! I'm not sure that this is the best translation. Some things just don't translate well. For example, we would never say "he really is a good boy" about an adult. And the word 认真 is usually translated as 'earnest', which is also not really in common use these days. Maybe 'serious' would be better.

Anyway, thanks for your comments Lee Pang! I wish you and your band every success.

Take a look at Lee Pang's music diary.

Movie Moments 1 - 求求你，表扬我

2006-07-13T10:53:00.000+08:00

Hover over any underlined Chinese character to see the pinyin tooltip(note: if you are reading this in an RSS reader, you probably won't be able to see the pinyin tooltips, in which case you should click on the link to the original post.)

I'm starting this new section, transcribing memorable scenes from Chinese movies. Here's the first one from 求求你，表扬我（Gimme Kudos). Newspaper reporter 古国歌 (played by 王志文) is interviewing country bumpkin 杨红旗（范伟）：

古：什么叫幸福？ - What is happiness?
杨：幸福啊？ - Happiness?
古：嗯，你怎么看？ - Mmm, in your opinion.
杨：幸福……那就是……我饿了 - Happiness . . . is . . . if I'm hungry . . .
看别人手里拿个肉包子 - and I see someone holding a meat bun . . .
那他就比我幸福。 - then he is happier than me.
我冷了 - I'm cold . . .
看别人穿了一件厚棉袄 - and I see someone wearing a thick coat . . .
他就比我幸福 - he's happier than me.
我想上茅房 - I need the toilet . . .
就一个坑 - but there's only one . . .
你蹲那了 - and you're squatting there . . .
你就比我幸福 - then you're happier than me.

(some girls behind him snigger)

杨：可笑吗？ - what's so funny?
没上过茅房啊 - you've never been to the toilet?

There are many words for toilet in Chinese, but this was a new one for me when I first saw this film - 茅房 - literally means "straw room" and it's most commonly used in rural areas, which is probably why the city girls in the office were sniggering at him.

坑 means hole or pit, and if you've seen a toilet in rural China you'll know why he used this word. It's often nothing more than a trough dug into the ground, sometimes with a brick on each side for you to put your feet on while you squat!

I love Yang's simple but pessimistic definition of happiness, someone is always happier than him. I think I've mentioned 范伟 before. If you haven't seen any of his movies or TV shows, you should definitely check them out!

Top Search Strings

2006-07-11T22:42:00.000+08:00

Inspired by Talk Talk China, I decided to check out what people search for to end up at this site. Using the excellent free stats tool StatCounter I can see the top keyword searches, and which sites most viewers come here from.

Here are some of the stranger search strings which have sent people my way recently:

ChinesePod password (dodgy folks trying to get stuff for free)
beautiful girl body (I guess from the post about body types)
won't tell you their Chinese name
world cup england players names (from the world cup footballers post)
meaning of haagen-daaz (haha, an old one about ice-cream)
intermediate Chinese, podcasts (must have found ChinesePod)
Chinese characters on Lost season 1 (do they mean the Koreans?)

and the top 5 referring websites this month were:

Thanks to all of those!

Chinese Song - 灵山 - Crystal Butterfly

2006-07-11T15:29:00.000+08:00

Hover over any underlined Chinese character to see the pinyin tooltip(note: if you are reading this in an RSS reader, you probably won't be able to see the pinyin tooltips, in which case you should click on the link to the original post.)

水晶蝶， or Crystal Butterfly, are one of my favourite Shanghai bands, their soulful indie-rock providing welcome relief from the unavoidable Mando-pop you hear everywhere you go in China. Here's one of their songs - 灵山. Translation by me, feel free to offer any corrections.

出月亮的夜晚走路 - walking on a moonlit night
请你不要打着火 - please don't start a fire
要是走路打着火 - if you start a fire
月亮就要伤心了 - you'll break the moonlight's heart

哎，你知道 - Oh, you know
酒香留下我孤单了 - The scent of liquor leaves me all alone
让我一直在想你 - makes me miss you always
哎，你知道 - Oh, you know
爱人的泪就象那一滴江水 - Lovers' tears are like a drop of river water
你就是江水里的鱼 - You're the fish in the river

菜花开放的季节 - In the season when cauliflower blooms
不要提着罗筐去搯菜 - don't take a basket to go and dig them up
要是提着罗筐去搯菜 - if you go and dig them up
菜花就要伤心了 - you'll break the cauliflower's heart

哎，你知道 - Oh, you know
酒香留下我孤单了 - The scent of liquor leaves me all alone
让我一直在想你 - makes me miss you always
哎，你知道 - Oh, you know
爱人的泪就象那一滴江水 - Lovers' tears are like a drop of river water
你就是江水里的鱼 - You're the fish in the river

你要和真心的姑娘好 - If you want to get with a sincere girl
不要三心二意呦 - you can't be half-hearted
要是你三心二意 - if you're half-hearted
姑娘就要伤心了 - you'll break the girl's heart

Cool song eh? Don't get too many English songs about love and cauliflowers!!!

Here's some useful expressions from the song:

伤心了 - hurt or broken-hearted. Obviously the moonlight and the cauliflower are personified in the song, a cauliflower can't really be 伤心了。

三心二意 - half-hearted, or in two minds. Literally three hearts two desires, meaning you're attention is split and you're not giving it your all.

As for the title of the song, 灵山, I'm not too sure what the best translation would be. Maybe Spirit Mountain? For all I know, this is an actual place. Any help would be appreciated.

I plan to post lyrics for more 水晶蝶 songs in the future. Let me know how you like them.

Quick Tip - 蛮

2006-07-07T17:36:00.000+08:00

Hover over any underlined Chinese character to see the pinyin tooltip(note: if you are reading this in an RSS reader, you probably won't be able to see the pinyin tooltips, in which case you should click on the link to the original post.)

So we all know the usuals - 很好，非常好，特别好，挺好 . . .

but I've noticed since coming to Shanghai from the north, people often say 蛮好, meaning quite good, or pretty good.

It's also used for a variety of other adjectives and verbs - 蛮多，蛮喜欢，蛮简单

So listen out for it. I'm not sure if it's a southern thing, or just Shanghai, but I never heard anyone say it during my two years in the north.

Vocab List 5 - World Cup Football Players

2006-06-29T12:09:00.000+08:00

Hover over any underlined Chinese character to see the pinyin tooltip(note: if you are reading this in an RSS reader, you probably won't be able to see the pinyin tooltips, in which case you should click on the link to the original post.)

We're into the quarter finals of the Germany 2006 World Cup now. Here's a list of the Chinese names of some of the big stars still remaining in the tournament:

英格兰队 - England

韦恩·鲁尼 - Wayne Rooney
大卫·贝克汉姆 - David Beckam (nickname - 小贝)
彼得·克劳奇 - Peter Crouch
迈克尔·欧文 - Michael Owen (受伤了 - injured)
斯蒂芬·杰拉德 - Steven Gerrard
乔·科尔 - Joe Cole

巴西队 - Brazil

罗伯特·卡洛斯 - Roberto Carlos
罗纳尔迪尼奥 - Ronaldinho
罗纳尔多 - Ronaldo

意大利队 - Italy

弗兰西斯科·托蒂 - Francesco Totti
卢卡·托尼 - Luca Toni
阿列桑德罗·德尔-皮耶罗 - Alessandro Del Piero

法国队 - France

齐内丹·齐达内 - Zinedine Zidane
蒂埃里·亨利 - Thierry Henry
帕特里克·维埃拉 - Patrick Vieira
利利安·图拉姆 - Lilian Thuram

葡萄牙队 - Portugal

路易斯·菲戈 - Luis Figo
德科 - Deco
保莱塔 - Pauleta
克里斯蒂亚诺·罗纳尔多 - Cristiano Ronaldo

阿根廷队 - Argentina

胡安·里克尔梅 - Juan Riquelme
赫尔南·克雷斯波 - Hernan Crespo
莱昂内尔·梅西 - Lionel Messi
罗伯托·阿亚拉 - Roberto Ayala

德国队 - Germany

米歇尔·巴拉克 - Michael Ballack
巴斯蒂安·施魏因施泰格 - Bastian Schweinsteiger
卢卡斯·波多尔斯基 - Lukas Podolski

乌克兰队 - Ukraine

安德烈·舍甫琴科 - Andriy Shevchenko
安德列·沃洛宁 - Andrey Voronin
沃罗贝 - Vorobey

Obviously this is not an exhaustive list. If you want to know the names of other players, you can visit the Chinese page of the official site of the FIFA World Cup. Click on 球队 (teams) in the left hand menu, then select your country and click on 阵容 (squad) to see a list of players.

Differentiating characters - 或惑咸感

2006-06-27T12:19:00.000+08:00

Hover over any underlined Chinese character to see the pinyin tooltip(note: if you are reading this in an RSS reader, you probably won't be able to see the pinyin tooltips, in which case you should click on the link to the original post.)

A big problem I've always had in reading and writing Chinese is characters which look so similar I can't tell them apart at first glance. It's not until I put the characters side by side and analyse them that I begin to grasp the subtle differences.

For example, look at these four characters - 或咸惑感

At first glance they all look pretty similar, and you could be forgiven for confusing them with each other. But they all have different meanings:

或 - or
咸 - salty
惑 - be puzzled
感 - feel

Take a closer look. 或 consists of a 戈 radical with a 口 on top of a 一， while 咸 has the extra 丿stroke on the left hand side an the 口 is underneath the 一. 惑 and 感 are simply 或 and 咸 respectively, with a 心 radical added underneath.

I'm not going to suggest any mnemonic for remembering these characters, it's usually better to devise your own anyway. But I think just seeing them together like this and analysing their structure can help you to remember which is which. Either that or you'll be even more confused! Let me know. Here's a sentence using all the words so you can practice:

我喜欢吃咸的或者甜的菜，但这个味道让我感到迷惑不解
I like salty or sweet dishes, but this flavour leaves me perplexed

(I know the sentence is pretty meaningless, it's only here to show you the four characters together)

Vocab List 4 - World Cup

2006-06-15T10:57:00.000+08:00

Hover over any underlined Chinese character to see the pinyin tooltip(note: if you are reading this in an RSS reader, you probably won't be able to see the pinyin tooltips, in which case you should click on the link to the original post.)

Yes, the World Cup is upon us, so why not learn how to talk about it with your Chinese friends so you won't feel so left out. I never met a Chinese guy who didn't like football! Here are some essential vocab items, some inspired by the recent lessons on ChinesePod.com, and some I gleaned from various other sources. Enjoy:

（足球）世界杯 - (football/soccer)World Cup
开球 - kick-off
上半场 - first half
半场 - half time
下半场 - second half
（球）队 - team
e.g. 英格兰队 - England(team)
前锋 - striker
中锋 - midfielder
后卫 - defender
守门员 - goalkeeper
犯规 - foul
越位 - offside
黄牌 - yellow card
红牌 - red card
点球 - penalty kick
任意球 - free kick
角球 - corner kick
进球 - goal
乌龙 - own goal
机会 - opportunity/chance
浪费机会 - wasted opportunity
裁判员 - referee
好球 - good ball
臭球 - bad ball
黑马 - underdog

I hope that gives you plenty to talk about, if you feel I missed anything vital, feel free to add a comment and I'll update the list.

八卦 - Gossipy

2006-06-13T12:10:00.000+08:00

Hover over any underlined Chinese character to see the pinyin tooltip(note: if you are reading this in an RSS reader, you probably won't be able to see the pinyin tooltips, in which case you should click on the link to the original post.)

八卦 - The Eight Trigrams. As you can see, the 八卦 is this octagonal symbol composed of eight trigrams and the symbol for 阴阳 - yin and yang in the centre. This has a lot to do with divination, spirituality and geomancy, and has applications in 太极拳 - Tai Chi, and 风水 - Feng Shui.

But these days, not so many people still follow this kind of tradition, and the word 八卦 has taken on a new meaning, it is used to describe someone who loves to gossip! You probably know that 阴 and 阳 have a lot to do with the complementary nature of male and female, so the word 八卦 has come to be an adjective associated with the discussion of male and female interaction, or gossip!

e.g. 这个人真八卦 - this guy loves to gossip

Body types

2006-06-05T11:36:00.000+08:00

(note: if you are reading this in an RSS reader, you probably won't be able to see the pinyin tooltips, in which case you should click on the link to the original post.)

Here are some useful expressions to describe somebody's 身材 (figure)

苗条 - slim
高挑 - tall
矮胖 - short and fat
倒梯形 - broad shouldered and slim (see below)
魔鬼身材 - a beautiful slender figure (see below)
天使的面孔 - the face of an angel (nothing to do with the figure, but I thought it was relevant)

梯形 describes the shape of a Chinese ladder, which is wider at the bottom than the top, like a trapezoid. So 倒梯形 is the same shape inverted, wide at the top and narrow at the bottom, hence describing somebody who has broad shoulders and a slim waist.

魔鬼身材 - 魔鬼 is a kind of demon or gremlin (it's actually where the word Mogwai comes from in the Gremlins movies). I guess Chinese demons are all hot chicks! So if you want to compliment a Chinese girl, tell her she has the body of a Gremlin!!!

(Important! Don't get the last two confused. If you tell a girl she has the face of a gremlin and the body of an angel you'll get a slap in the face - apparently Chinese angels are little fat things
. . . with very pretty faces!)

ChinesePod.com

2006-06-05T09:42:00.000+08:00

As you can see, I'm now shamelessly endorsing ChinesePod.com
I know I've written about it before, but I feel it's definitely worth another mention as it has improved considerably over the last few weeks and months. When I first started downloading the mp3s, they had only 4 levels - 菜鸟 (newbie), 初级 (beginner), 中级 (intermediate) and 高级 (advanced). I found the intermediate level much too easy, but with the advanced level I was still slightly out of my depth.

But due to the website allowing you to leave comments about each podcast, they have this kind of constant review system in place. And they actually listen to the customers. A lot of people said that the intermediate level was too easy and contained too much English, so they upped the level and now it's mostly spoken in Chinese. And several people complained that the gap between intermediate and advanced level was too big, so they have recently introduced a new Upper Intermediate level, which I have found to be perfectly suited to my level.

So I strongly urge anyone who wants to improve their Chinese speaking and listening skills to check out ChinesePod.com

As long as we continue to give our feedback, the podcasts can only get better!

P.S. Sorry I haven't posted for a while, I've been switching servers and didn't want to lose any posts in the transition. I'll be back later today with a fresh lesson.

Quick tip - It takes all sorts

2006-05-17T17:35:00.000+08:00

(note: if you are reading this in an RSS reader, you probably won't be able to see the pinyin tooltips, in which case you should click on the link to the original post.)

Sticking with the bird theme, here's a comment I received recently on my Chinese blog - 英国人在上海 - in response to an article about David Blaine's recent tomfoolery in the human goldfish bowl:

林子大了, 什么样的鸟都有。

Literally translated this means "the forest is big, and has all kinds of different birds." It's pretty close to the English expression "it takes all sorts (to make a world)", although this also implies that you should be accepting of all people, no matter how strange. I don't think the Chinese expression carries this implication, it's merely an observation that the world is full of freaks like Blaine!

Remembering Characters 2

2006-05-11T15:28:00.000+08:00

(note: if you are reading this in an RSS reader, you probably won't be able to see the pinyin tooltips, in which case you should click on the link to the original post.)

集 (gather; collection; volume)

The top part is 隹（a kind of short-tailed bird), you probably know it already as the main part of 谁 (who).

The bottom part is 木 which here depicts a tree.

The original form of this character showed 3 of these birds (a gathering or collection) sitting on top of the tree: 雧 (if you can't make it out, try increasing your browser's text size in the View menu)

Related words:
集合 (gather together)
集会 (gathering; assembly)
集中 (concentrate; focus)

and another place you'll see this character is on your Chinese DVD collections, where it means episode (not to be confused with 季 (season), which has the same pronunciation.)

i.e. if you want to buy Lost Season 1, you need to look for 迷失第一季, and when you look on the disc it might say 1 - 4 集 (episodes 1-4).

So when you're struggling to remember how to write the character for gather, just think of a gathering of birds in a tree and it will all come flooding back. (Remember there's only one bird now, not three - they had to kill off the other two . . . population control . . . or something.)

Quick tip - Take the Sofa

2006-05-10T15:55:00.000+08:00

(note: if you are reading this in an RSS reader, you probably won't be able to see the pinyin tooltips, in which case you should click on the link to the original post.)

Here's a good one for bloggers:

抢沙发: take the sofa

meaning to be the first one to comment on a blog entry!

second commenter gets the 板凳： stool
while third place has to make do with the 地板： floor

Nice analogy eh?

那么，谁来抢沙发呢？

Thanks to Remy for this one!

Learn Chinese with Skype

2006-05-05T10:47:00.000+08:00

Sorry, 3 weeks without a post, there's no excuse (although I do have plenty).

My friend Simon came to visit from Nanjing this week and told me about his new website - www.chinesetutor.net - which offers personal Chinese tutoring by means of internet phone programs such as Skype and MSN. You buy the lessons on the website through PayPal, then arrange a time for your lesson with one of the tutors. Then simply log on at the scheduled time and enjoy your personal Chinese lesson!

I think it's a great idea, especially for students outside of China, who might find it difficult to converse with native Mandarin speakers. They also offer a wide range of Chinese textbooks, electronic dictionaries and other accessories. Check it out.

Oh, for some reason the site is blocked in China, you may need to use a proxy. Try anonymouse.

Vocab List 3 - Computers (part 2)

2006-04-06T11:38:00.000+08:00

(note: if you are reading this in an RSS reader, you probably won't be able to see the pinyin tooltips, in which case you should click on the link to the original post.)

This part will focus on internet vocab:

网吧 - net bar
上网 - Go online
浏览 - to browse/surf the net
下载 - download
上传 - upload
搜索引擎 - search engine
注册 - register
登录 - login
登录名 - login name
密码 - password
网虫儿 - computer nerd
聊天室 - chat room
网友 - internet friend
网恋 - internet romance!
黑客 - hacker
病毒 - virus

Ok, enough vocab to go on with. Finally here's some common shorthand you can see in chat rooms or if you chat with someone on an instant messenger program. (like ttyl, brb, lol ....):

88: Bye bye (八八 sounds similar to 拜拜)
3Q: Thank you (三Q: maybe this explains why so many Chinese can't pronounce 'th')
7456: 气死我了 (see previous vocab tip)
5555: 呜呜呜呜 (onomatopeia - crying)
521: 我爱你 - (sounds a bit like 五二一)