Wednesday 25 December 2013

Christmas and New Year Vocabs

This Chinese vocabulary word list has everything from “Santa” to “wrapping paper” to “New Year’s resolutions.”
Hope you find it useful this holiday season!

Christmas – People or Tangible Objects

angel —— 天使 —— tiān shǐ
Bethlehem —— 伯利恒 —— bó lì héng
candle —— 蜡烛 —— là zhú
candy cane —— 拐杖糖 —— guǎi zhàng táng
cellophane —— 玻璃纸 —— bō li zhǐ
chimney —— 烟囱 —— yān cōng
Christmas card —— 圣诞卡 —— shèng dàn kǎ
Christmas Day —— 圣诞节 —— shèng dàn jié
Christmas Eve —— 平安夜/圣诞节前夕 —— píng ān yè/shèng dàn jié qián xī
Christmas feast/dinner —— 圣诞大餐 —— shèng dàn dà cān
Christmas gift/present —— 圣诞礼物 —— shèng dàn lǐ wù
Christmas mail —— 圣诞邮件 —— shèng dàn yóu jiàn
Christmas ornament —— 圣诞节用的装饰物品 —— shèng dàn jié yòng de zhuāng shì wù pǐn
Christmas party —— 圣诞派对 —— shèng dàn pài duì
Christmas pudding —— 圣诞布丁 —— shèng dàn bù dīng
Christmas shopping —— 圣诞购物 —— shèng dàn gòu wù
Christmas stocking —— 圣诞袜 —— shèng dàn wà
Christmas toy —— 圣诞玩具 —— shèng dàn wán jù
Christmas tree —— 圣诞树 —— shèng dàn shù
cranberry sauce —— 小红莓果酱 —— xiǎo hóng méi guǒ jiàng
eggnog —— 蛋酒 —— dàn jiǔ
evergreen bough —— 常青树枝 —— cháng qīng shù zhī
fireplace —— 壁炉 —— bì lú
glittering decorations —— 灿烂耀眼的装饰物品 —— càn làn yào yǎn de zhuāng shì wù pǐn
icicle —— 冰柱 —— bīng zhù
Jesus Christ —— 耶稣基督 —— yē sū jī dū
jingle bells —— 铃铛 —— líng dāng
manger —— 马槽 —— mǎ cáo
mistletoe —— 槲寄生 —— hú jì shēng
north pole —— 北极 —— běi jí
package —— 包裹 —— bāo guǒ
poinsettia —— 圣诞红 —— shèng dàn hóng
red ribbon —— 红丝带 —— hóng sī dài
reindeer —— 驯鹿 —— xùn lù
roast turkey —— 烤火鸡 —— kǎo huǒ jī
Santa Claus —— 圣诞老人 —— shèng dàn lǎo rén
sled —— 冰橇 —— bīng qiāo
sleigh bells —— 雪橇铃 —— xuě qiāo líng
snowman —— 雪人 —— xuě rén
Christmas lights —— 圣诞彩灯 —— shèng dàn cǎi dēng
wreath —— 花环 —— huā huán
wrapping paper —— 包装纸 —— bāo zhuāng zhǐ

Christmas – Other

To celebrate Christmas —— 庆祝圣诞 —— qìng zhù shèng dàn
Christmas carol —— 圣诞颂歌 —— shèng dàn sòng gē
Christmas greetings —— 圣诞祝贺 —— shèng dàn zhù hè
Christmas hymn —— 圣诞圣歌 —— shèng dàn shèng gē
Christmas music —— 圣诞音乐 —— shèng dàn yīn yuè
Christmas scene —— 圣诞节景象 —— shèng dàn jié jǐng xiàng
Christmas season —— 圣诞季 —— shèng dàn jì
Christmas spirit —— 圣诞气氛 —— shèng dàn qì fēn
Christmas time —— 圣诞节假期 —— shèng dàn jié jià qī
joyful atmosphere —— 欢乐气氛 —— huān lè qì fēn
“Merry Christmas” —— 圣诞快乐 —— shèng dàn kuài lè
midnight mass —— 子夜弥撒 —— zǐ yè mí sa
to hear mass —— 望弥撒 —— wàng mí sa
to go caroling —— 报佳音 —— bào jiā yīn
White Christmas —— 银色圣诞 —— yín sè shèng dàn

New Years

“A new year brings in new hopes” —— 新年新气象 —— xīn nián xīn qì xiàng
Celebrate new year’s day —— 欢度元旦 —— huān dù yuán dàn
“Happy New Year” —— 元旦快乐 —— yuán dàn kuài lè
New Year —— 新年 —— xīn nián
New Year’s Day —— 元旦 —— yuán dàn
New Year’s Day Evening Party —— 元旦晚会 —— yuán dàn wǎn huì
New year’s day Festival —— 元旦佳节 —— yuán dàn jiā jié
New Year’s holiday —— 元旦假期 —— yuán dàn jià qī
New Year’s resolution —— 新年规划 —— xīn nián guī huà
New Year’s wish —— 新年愿望 —— xīn nián yuàn wàng

Any words you’d add? Other Chinese vocab word lists you’d like to see? Let us know!
Merry Christmas!
If you liked this post, something tells me that you’lllove FluentU, the best way to learn Chinese with real-world videos.

Thursday 4 October 2012

Introducing Yourself--自我介绍


Introducing yourself
In China, when people meet for the first time, they ask about surnames before first names. This shows respect.
nín guì xìng?/ 您
May I know your name?

wǒ jiào ... / 我 叫
My name is ...

nǐ zhù zài nǎ er?/ 你 住 在 哪 儿
Where do you live?

wǒ zhù zài / 我 住 在
I live in ...

... Yīng guó / 英 国
... England
... Wēi ' ěr shì / 威
... Wales
... Sū gé lán /
... Scotland
... Ai ’ěr lán /
... Ireland


Did you notice that only the names of countries start with a CAPITAL LETTER in pinyin?
Here are a couple of useful phrases you might need if the speaker talks too fast or you don’t catch what they say!
wǒ bù míng bái / 我 不 明 白
I don't understand.

qǐng zài shuō yī biàn / 一 遍
Repeat that, please.

qĭng shuō màn yī diăn er / 请 说 慢 一 点 儿
Slower, please.

Greetings-问候


Greetings
When Chinese people meet each other, if they are of similar age, they shake hands and say:
nǐ hǎo / 你 好
Hello

Children usually bow to elderly people to show politeness and say:
nín hǎo / 您 好
Hello (polite)

You can also say:
zǎo shang hǎo / 早上 好
Good morning / good day
nǐ hǎo ma / 你 好 吗
How are you?
wǒ hěn hǎo / 我 很 好
I’m fine.
wŏ bù shū fu / 我 不 舒 服
I’m not well (literally, comfortable).
nǐ ne / 你 呢
And you?

To say goodbye, you could use:
zài jiàn / 再
Goodbye
míng tiān jiàn / 明 天 见
See you tomorrow
yí huì er jiàn / 一 会 儿 见
See you later (very soon)
In China, it's important to respect your elders. You'd usually bow to a teacher before speaking to them. You'd also bow to your grandparents and other elderly people.
xiān sheng / 先 生
Mr

nǚ shì / 女 士
Ms

DID YOU KNOW ... if a waiter asks if you'd like more of something, you don't reply 'please' as you would in English but 'thank you'.
xiè xie /
Thanks

Numbers


Numbers 1-10
Numbers are always a useful thing to know - for quantities, measurements, distances; for the time and your age.
yī / 一
one

èr / 二
two

sān / 三
three

sì / 四
four

wǔ / 五
five

liù / 六
six

qī / 七
seven

bā / 八
eight

jiǔ / 九
nine

shí / 十
ten

wǒ qī suì / 我 七
I'm seven years old.
wǒ bā suì / 我 八 岁
I'm eight years old.

Four Tones


Sounds / Phonics
Mandarin is the official language of China. When you listen to Mandarin, you'll hear that there are some sounds that seem unusual to English-speaking ears.
There are two ways of writing Mandarin. One uses letters, which are the same as, or similar to English. This is called PINYIN. The other uses CHARACTERS, which are like pictures made up of lines or STROKES. For example, the PINYIN for 'mother' is mā and the CHARACTER is .
When you are learning Mandarin, PINYIN helps you to say the words, but the goal is to learn to write using the CHARACTERS. Unlike English, in PINYIN, you only use a CAPITAL LETTER for place names, you don't need one at the beginning of a sentence.
Take a look at the PINYIN and CHARACTERS below for some of the 'special' sounds of Mandarin.
Q - qī /       seven
(Sounds a bit like 'ch' in 'cheek'. You have to put the tip of your tongue behind your bottom teeth and really push the sound out hard.)
X - xī / 西      west
(This sounds like 'sh' in 'she'. Do the same thing with your tongue as for Q.)
ZH - zhī / (a measure word)
(Try making a sound that's a cross between 'j' in 'joke' and 'dr' in 'draw'.)
C - cí /       word
(Think of the 'ts' at the end of 'cats'.)
Z - zĭ /        child
(Almost exactly the same as C but stronger, almost like a hiss.)
Did you notice that some of the vowels (a, e, i, o, u) have symbols on top? These are called TONES and they change the sound of the letter AND the word the letter is in.
There are four TONES and a NEUTRAL TONE in Mandarin.
In the FIRST TONE, the symbol is a flat, straight line. The sound is long, like singing a note:
ā ō ē ī ū ǖ    
1st tone
In the SECOND TONE, the symbol is a straight line going up. Make your voice start low and go up at the end:
á ó é í ú ǘ
2nd tone

The symbol goes down, then up in the THIRD TONE. Try to make your voice go as low as it can, then bounce up:
ă ǒ ě ǐ ǔ ǚ
3rd tone

In the FOURTH TONE, the symbol is a straight line going down. Start the word with your voice as high as you can make it and then drop it:
à ò è ì ù ǜ
4th tone

The NEUTRAL TONE doesn't have a symbol and it's short and light.
a o e i u ü
neutral tone

Listen to the words below. They have the same letters, but different TONES:
mā /
mother
má /
linen (cloth)
mǎ /
horse
mà /
tell off
 ma /
question particle (a word to make a question)

Did you notice that each word also has a different CHARACTER and meaning? It's really important to get the TONES right or you could end up talking about a horse instead of your mum!