American cities in Chinese language

We have already learned how to say America in Chinese language. Ever wondered how different American cities are called in Chinese language? Below are some of the major American cities and their Chinese names:

波士顿 (Bōshìdùn): Boston

华盛顿 (Huáshèngdùn): Washington DC

芝加哥 (Zhījiāgē): Chicago

纽约 (Niǔyuē): New York

旧金山 (Jiùjīnshān): San Francisco

洛杉矶 (Luòshānjī): Los Angeles

And here are some cities from 加拿大 (Jiānádà):

温哥华 (Wēngēhuá): Vancouver

魁北克 (Kuíběikè): Quebec

多伦多 (Duōlúnduō): Toronto

蒙特利尔 (Méngtèlìěr): Montreal

Please feel free to add to this list. And by the way this is how you say city in Chinese language:

城市 (chéngshì): city

Some Chinese proverbs

入乡随俗

rù xiāng suí sú

入 (rù) = enter

乡 (xiāng) = village

随 (suí) = follow

俗 (sú) = custom

When in Rome, do as the Romans do

Meaning: When in a new place, follow the customs of the locals.

今朝有酒今朝醉

jīnzhāo yǒu jiǔ jīnzhāo zuì

今朝 (jīnzhāo) = today; the present; now

有 (yǒu) = have; possess

酒 (jiǔ) = alcohol; wine

醉 (zuì) = drunk

Get drunk while there is still wine

Meaning: indulge oneself for the moment without caring about the future

Arsenal players speak Chinese language

Those who know me know how much I love 足球(football /soccer). Maybe that is why when I told my friends that I am starting a blog they all thought it was going to be about football. Few weeks ago I received an email from a friend of mine with the subject “Good for your blog” and I thought I would share it with you guys.

This is what they are saying:

大家好！我叫CCC你 （斯泽斯尼）

Dàjiā hǎo! Wǒ jiào CCC nǐ (Sī zé sī ní)

Hello, everyone! My name is Szczesny.

支持阿森纳

Zhīchí Ā sēn nà

Support Arsenal

谢谢你们！来场上为我们加油吧!

Xièxiè nǐmen! Lái chǎng shàng wèi wǒmen jiāyóu ba!

Thank you! Come to the field and cheer for us!

The 好 (hǎo) words of Chinese language

好 (hǎo) means good in Chinese language. You must have already seen it in 你好 (nǐ hǎo), which means Hello.

你 (nǐ) = you

你好 (nǐ hǎo) = you good = Hello

As shown above, 好 (hǎo) can be combined with other characters to mean different things. One very common combination is 好 (hǎo) + Verb. Below are some common 好 (hǎo) + Verb words:

好吃(hǎo chī)

吃(chī) = eat

好吃(hǎo chī) = good eat = tasty; delicious

我妈妈做的饭很好吃

Wǒ māmā zuò de fàn hěn hào chī

The food my mom cooks in delicious.

好听(hǎo tīng)

听(tīng) = listen; hear

好听(hǎotīng) = good listen = pleasant to listen

这个音乐很好听

Zhège yīnyuè hěn hǎotīng

This music is very pleasant.

好看(hǎo kàn)

看(kàn)= see; look at; watch

好看(hǎokàn) = good see = fine; nice; good looking

我的女朋友很好看

Wǒ de nǚ péngyǒu hěn hǎokàn

My girlfriend is very good looking.

But 好 (hǎo) + Verb is not the only way 好 (hǎo) can be used. Here are few other 好 (hǎo) words:

好心(hǎo xīn): good intention

好像(hǎo xiàng): look like; seem like

好多(hǎo duō): many; plenty

Chinese words with foreign origin

Like other languages, Chinese language has some words with foreign origin as well. Let’s find out what some of them are:

巧克力（Qiǎokèlì）: Chocolate

逻辑（Luójí）: Logic

芭蕾（Bālěi）: Ballet

沙拉（Shālā）: Salad

麦克风（Màikèfēng）: Microphone

沙发（Shāfā）: Sofa

因特网（Yīntèwǎng）: Internet

奥林匹克（Àolínpǐkè）: Olympic

夹克（Jiákè）: Jacket

比基尼（Bǐjīní）: Bikini

吉他（Jítā）: Guitar

巴士（Bāshì）: Bus

马拉松（Mǎlāsōng）: Marathon

卡（Kǎ）: Card

台风（Táifēng）:Typhoon

However, I have heard some people say that Typhoon came from 台风（Táifēng)

扑克（Pūkè）: Poker

费（Fèi）: Fee

咖啡（Kāfēi）: Coffee

比萨（Bǐsà）: Pizza

酷（Kù）: Cool

I think Qiǎokèlì is my favorite. What about you?

More uses of 起来 (qǐlái)

We have already looked at one of the uses of 起来 (qǐlái). The examples we used were:

看起来不错(kàn qǐlái bu cuò): Looks ok

听起来好玩儿(tīng qǐlái hǎowán er): Sounds fun

In this case it is used to indicate impressions. As one of my readers rightly commented, there are more uses of 起来 (qǐlái). Below are three other uses:

To indicate an upward motion

站起来 (zhàn qǐlái): to stand up

把旗举起来 (bǎ qí jǔ qǐlái): to raise a flag

To indicate the beginning or extension of a motion, an action or a condition

唱起来(chàng qǐlái): to start singing

哭起来(kū qǐlái): to burst out crying

However, please note that it is used only in the cases where the start of an action is very distinct, catching everyone’s attention.

To indicate the fulfillment of a purpose or completion of an action

想起来(xiǎng qǐlái): to remember (something you have been trying to remember)

包起来(bāo qǐlái): to wrap something up

Chinese people, English names

You already know where to get yourself a Chinese name. But if you have a common English name, there might already be a Chinese equivalent of it. Below are the Chinese versions of some of the common English names:

Jack: 杰克 (Jié kè)

Martin: 马丁 (Mǎ dīng)

Ian: 伊恩 (Yī ēn)

Mark: 马克 (Mǎ kè)

Lisa: 丽莎 (Lì shā)

Colin/Colleen: 柯林 (Kē lín)

Dan: 丹 (Dān)

David: 大卫 (Dà wèi)

Bill: 比尔 (Bǐ er)

Tom: 汤姆 (Tāng mǔ)

Sara/Sarah: 莎拉 (Shā lā)

Jeff: 杰夫 (Jié fū)

Ben: 本 (Běn)

Jess: 杰斯 (Jié sī)

Andy: 安迪 (Ān dí)

Just like the Chinese people like to give others Chinese names, they like to get English names for themselves as well. But some of them tend to pick very strange names, so strange that there is even a book about it. Apple, Sprite, Cook, Fish, Dinner are some of the strange ones I know (for some reason, all of them have something to do with food). Do you know any strange names? Please share.

Here is an interesting video on Chinese people’s English names. Do you remember Sexy Beijing?

Chinese nicknames of NBA players

I have already talked about how much the Chinese people love basketball. Yao Ming has to be the most popular NBA player in China, but that doesn’t mean that other NBA players are not popular there. In 2009/10 season, Kobe Bryant had the most popular jersey in China. Here are the top five:

Kobe Bryant - Lakers

LeBron James – Cavaliers (then)/Heat (now)

Dwight Howard - Magic

Kevin Garnett - Celtics

Derrick Rose - Bulls

You must have already gotten yourself a Chinese name by now. Just so that these NBA players do not fall behind, Chinese people have given nicknames to their favorite NBA players. Here are few of them:

Kobe Bryant: 小飞侠 (Xiǎo fēi xiá): Little Flying Warrior

LeBron James: 小皇帝 (Xiǎo huángdì): Little Emperor

Dirk Nowitzki: 德国战车 (Déguó zhàn chē): German Racecar

Carmelo Anthony: 甜瓜 (Tiánguā): Sweet Melon

Richard Hamilton: 面具人 (Miànjù rén): Man in the Mask

Shaquille O’Neal: 俠客 (Xiákè): Warrior

Dwyane Wade: 闪电侠 (Shǎndiàn xiá): The Flash

Tim Duncan: 石佛 (Shí fú): Stone Buddha

Check the NBA website for the Chinese nicknames of more NBA players.