What is your New Year’s resolution?

你有新年愿望吗？

Nǐ yǒu xīnnián yuànwàng ma?

Do you have a New Year’s resolution?

我的新年愿望是学习中文

Wǒ de xīnnián yuànwàng shì xuéxí zhōngwén

My New Year’s resolution is to learn Chinese.

We already learned it last year, but just in case you forgot here is how you say Happy New Year in Chinese.

新年快乐 (Xīnnián kuàilè): Happy New Year

Or you can also say:

新年好 (Xīnnián hǎo): Happy New Year

祝你新年好 (Zhù nǐ xīnnián hǎo): Wish you a Happy New Year

越。。。越。。。(Yuè… Yuè…)

The 越。。。越。。。structure in Chinese language is used as comparative correlatives or adverbial comparatives. What does that mean? Well, let’s look at few examples.

Comparative correlatives are sentences where the first 越 usually precedes an adjective.

越多越好

Yuè duō yuè hǎo

The more the better

苹果越大越甜

Píngguǒ yuè dàyuè tián

The bigger an apple is, the sweeter it is

Adverbial comparatives are sentences where the first 越 usually precedes a verb.

他越跑越快

Tā yuè pǎo yuè kuài

He ran faster and faster

她越唱歌，心情越好

Tā yuè chànggē xīnqíng yuè hǎo

As she was singing, her mood got better and better

My Chinese is getting better

我的中文越来越好

Wǒ de zhōngwén yuè lái yuè hǎo

My Chinese is getting better.

越来越 (yuè lái yuè ) means ‘more and more’ and is used to indicate that something is increasing or getting better. It is commonly used in the 越来越 + adjective formation. Let’s look at another example.

学中文得人越来越多

Xué zhōngwén de rén yuè lái yuè duō

More and more people are learning Chinese.

Below is another way of saying the same thing:

学中文的人渐渐多了

Xué zhōngwén de rén jiànjiàn duōle

More and more people are learning Chinese.

渐渐 (jiànjiàn) means gradually.

Now let’s say the first sentence using 渐渐 (jiànjiàn)

我的中文渐渐好了

Wǒ de zhōngwén jiànjiàn hǎole

My Chinese is getting better.

How to say Chinese leaders’ names

We all agree that Chinese words are difficult to pronounce. I had a blog post earlier which might help with pronounciation of Chinese words. We also have difficulties pronouncing Chinese names.  Not only are they hard to pronounce, but most of the time we are also unsure which one is the given name and which one is the family name. Please check my earlier blog post on Chinese names.

I found an article on the BBC website which I thought was worth sharing. It teaches us how to pronounce the names of the recently appointed new Chinese leaders. Below is an excerpt. Hope this is helpful.

Xi Jinping: SHEE jin PING (-sh as in ship, -j as in Jack, -i as in sit, -ng as in sing)

Li Keqiang: LEE kuh chee-AANG (-ee as in street, -aa as in father, -ch as in church, -ng as in sing)

Zhang Dejiang: JAANG duh jee-AANG (-j as in Jack, -aa as in father, -ng as in sing)

Zhang Gaoli: JAANG gow LEE (-j as in Jack, -aa as in father, -ng as in sing, -ow as in now)

Wang Qishan: WAANG chee SHAN (-aa as in father, -ng as in sing -ch as in church)

Liu Yunshan: LYOH yuen SHAN (-ly as in million, -oh as in no, -ue as in French vu)

Yu Zhengsheng: YUE jung SHUNG (-ue as in French vu, -j as in Jack, -u as in bun, -ng as in sing)

Qing Dynasty

In the previous post we talked about how Tang Dynasty is considered to be one of the most prosperous dynasties in the Chinese history. What about the least prosperous? Opinions will differ, but Qing Dynasty definitely gets a lot of votes. It is also the last imperial dynasty of China.

清朝 (qīng cháo): Qing dynasty

朝 (cháo): dynasty

So what was wrong with the Qing dynasty? Corruption, rebellions, natural disasters and foreign invasion are commonly cited as the reasons behind Qing dynasty’s downfall. The Opium War with the British was also fought during the Qing dynasty.

鸦片战争 (yāpiàn zhànzhēng): Opium War

鸦片 (yāpiàn): Opium

People often say that China fell behind during the Qing dynasty

在清朝中国落后了

Zài qīngcháo zhōngguó luòhòule

落后 (luòhòu): fall behind

Chinatown

I am pretty sure almost all of you have been to a Chinatown. But how many of you know how to say Chinatown in Chinese? Have you ever read the Chinese characters on the gate? I know there are some exceptions, but these are the characters you will find on Chinatown gates around the world:

唐人街 (Táng Rén Jiē)

唐 (Táng): Tang dynasty

人 (Rén): people

街 (Jiē): street

[Source: Click here]

So why is Chinatown called Táng Rén Jiē in Chinese? Well it is because Tang dynasty is considered to be the most prosperous dynasty in the Chinese history, and Chinese people take pride in being called 唐人 (Táng Rén). Hence Chinatown is called 唐人街 (Táng Rén Jiē) – street of the ‘Tang’ people.

Chang’an (now Xi’an), the capital during the Tang dynasty is considered to be the largest city in the world at that time. Even though the Silk Road, 丝绸之路 (sīchóu zhī lù), from China to the West was originally formulated during the Han Dynasty, Tang Dynasty is believed to be the golden age of the Silk Road, with the highest amount of trade taking place at that time.

丝绸 (sīchóu): silk

路 (lù): road

Another highlight of the Tang dynasty is literature. Two of the greatest Chinese poets, Du Fu and Li Bai are both from Tang dynasty. I will post their poems in a different blog post.

Reading a Chinese menu

Let’s continue the theme, talk about eating in a Chinese restaurant and use a cartoon. How many of you have struggled in a Chinese restaurant when the menu is in Chinese only? Today’s post will help you at least identify different categories of food in a menu.

In some Chinese restaurants you will find the food divided into two categories:

热菜 (rè cài): hot dishes

冷菜 (lěng cài): cold dishes

But most likely they will be divided into:

荤菜 (hūn cài): meat dishes

蔬菜 (shū cài): vegetable dishes

And some other food categories on a menu

汤 (tāng): soup

饮料 (yǐnliào): beverages

甜品 (tiánpǐn): dessert

And if you care about how the food is cooked

炒 (chǎo): fried

烤 (kǎo): roasted

蒸 (zhēng): steamed

煮 (zhǔ): boiled

And if you are like me, you will go for the:

特别推荐 (tèbié tuījiàn): specialty

你有什么特别推荐？

(Nǐ yǒu shénme tèbié tuījiàn?)

Do you have any special recommendation?

Eating out in China

Have you ever been to a Chinese restaurant and wanted to use some Chinese language? In this blog post we will learn basic Chinese which will enable you to order food in a Chinese restaurant.

First of all how do we say restaurant in Chinese language?

餐厅 (cāntīng)

饭馆 (fànguǎn)

Once you are in the restaurant

服务员 (fúwùyuán): waiter/waitress

菜单 (càidān): menu

点菜 (diǎn cài): to order food

上菜 (shàng cài): to serve food

慢慢吃 (màn man chī): Bon appétit (eat slowly)

请慢用 (qǐng màn yòng): please eat slowly

好吃 (hào chī): delicious; tasty

味道 (wèidào): taste; flavor

And after you are done eating

埋单 (máidān): to pay bill

一起付 (yīqǐ fù): pay together

分开付 (fēnkāi fù): pay separately

小费 (xiǎofèi): tip

Next time you go to a Chinese restaurant, try using these words. 慢慢吃!!!

球迷 (qiúmí)

对不起， 好久不写。最近我很忙。每天看足球， 没有时间。足球比赛结束了， 所以我会常写。

Duìbùqǐ, hǎo jiǔ bù xiě. Zuìjìn wǒ hěn máng. Měi tiān kàn zúqiú, méiyǒu shíjiān. Zúqiú bǐsài jiéshù le, suǒyǐ  wǒ huì cháng xiě.

Sorry I haven’t written in a long time. I was really busy these days. I was watching soccer everyday and had no time. The tournament is over now and I will write more often. 

Below are some useful sports related terms:

比赛 (bǐsài): game; competition; tournament

球赛 (qiúsài): match; ball game

球队 (qiú duì): team

球星 (qiúxīng): star player

球场 (qiúchǎng): field; court

球迷 (qiúmí): fan

Chinese GPS

Have you ever wondered how a chinese GPS might sound? Well it might not say these exact words, but here is a direction from 银行 (Yínháng) to 邮局 (Yóujú) in the map below:

出门往左走，走到河边，左转。沿着河走，你会看到一座桥。走过桥，在第二个路口左转。沿着这条路走过三条街，右转，直走，邮局在左边。

Chūmén wǎng zuǒ zǒu, zǒu dào hé biān, zuǒ zhuǎn. Yánzhe hé zǒu, nǐ huì kàn dào yī zuò qiáo, zǒu guò qiáo, zài dì èr gè lùkǒu zuǒ zhuǎn. Yánzhe zhè tiáo lù zǒu guò sān tiáo jiē, yòu zhuǎn, zhí zǒu, yóujú zài zuǒ biān.

Go out and go left. When you arrive the river, turn left. Walk along the river and you will see a bridge. Cross the bridge and turn left on the second intersection. Keep walking on this road and take the third right. Go straight and the post office is on your left.

Some vocabulary from the map:

银行 (yínháng): bank

邮局 (yóujú): post office

桥 (qiáo): bridge

河 (hé): river

And few more useful vocabulary:

路口 (lùkǒu): intersection

路灯 (lùdēng): traffic light

超市 (chāoshì): supermarket

电影院 (diànyǐngyuàn): cinema

医院 (yīyuàn): hospital

Jay Chou – Fearless

I know it’s been a while since we learned a song. Today I will share with you all a song which was pretty popular when I was in China. Fearless was sung by Jay Chou as a theme song to Jet Li’s 2006 movie ‘Fearless’.

霍元甲(Huò yuán jiǎ): Fearless

命有几回合擂台等着

mìng yǒu jǐ huíhé lèitái děngzhe

Life has few rounds and the ring is waiting

生死状嬴了什么冷笑着

shēngsǐ zhuàng yíngle shénme Lěngxiàozhe

The death contest wins nothing but hostile sneering

天下谁的第一又如何

tiānxià shuí de dì yī yòu rúhé

Does it matter who is the number one in the world?

止干戈我辈尚武德

zhǐ gāngē wǒ bèi shàngwǔ dé

My generation still respects martial arts as means to stop war

The Chinese Times

We just learned how to say year, month, week and days in Chinese language. One of the readers asked how to write dates in Chinese language. As promised here it is:

(year) 年 (month) 月 (date) 日

So today’s date would be

2012 年 5月 14 日 (2012 nián 5 yuè 14 rì)

And December 31, 2012 would be

2012 年 12月 31 日 (2012 nián 12 yuè 31 rì)

Next we will learn how to say time in Chinese language. Here’s some useful vocabulary first:

点 (diǎn): hour

分 (fēn): minute

刻 (kè): quarter

半 (bàn): half

And some examples:

3:00 – 三点 (sān diǎn)

4:15 – 四点一刻 (sì diǎn yī kè)

5:30 – 五点半 (wǔ diǎn bàn)

6:45 – 六点三刻 (liù diǎn sān kè)

7:14 – 七点十四分 (qī diǎn shísì fēn)

8:41 – 八点四十一分 (bā diǎn sìshíyī fēn)

Day, Week, Month, Year

Last post we learned how to say different months in Chinese language. Now let’s go a step further, and learn how to say days, week and year as well.

天 (tiān): day
星期 (xīngqí): week
月 (yuè): month
年 (nián): year

So how do we say different days of the week? It’s very similar to saying different months; just add the number of the day after 星期 (xīngqí).

星期一 (xīngqí yī): Monday
星期二 (xīngqí èr): Tuesday
星期三 (xīngqí sān): Wednesday

But be careful, this formula applies to all days of the week but Sunday:

星期日 (xīngqírì): Sunday

And how do we say different days like yesterday, today and tomorrow?

昨天 (zuótiān): yesterday
今天 (jīntiān): today
明天 (míngtiān): tomorrow

Now let’s try the same thing with years:

去年(qùnián): last year
今年(jīnnián): this year
明年(míngnián): next year

April Fool's Day

Today is April 1, also known as the April Fool’s Day. But no matter which day it is, we like to learn how to say it in Chinese language. So here is how we say April Fool’s Day in Chinese language:

愚人节 (Yúrén jié): April Fool’s Day
愚(yú): foolish, stupid
愚人(yúrén): fool

Another way to say stupid in Chinese language is

笨 (bèn): stupid

Or you can also say

笨蛋 (bèndàn): fool, idiot

Check out this post to learn how to say Why are you so stupid?

We learned how to say April Fool’s Day but how do we say April?

四月 (sì yuè): April
四 (sì): four
月 (yuè): month

As you can see it is pretty easy to say different months in Chinese language, you just need to learn how to count from 1 to 12. Learn how to count up to 10 in this blog post. And below are the remaining two:

十一 (shí yī): eleven
十二 (shí'èr): twelve

Happy Saint Patrick’s Day

I know I am a bit late but Happy St Patrick’s Day everyone (Sorry I was too busy celebrating myself). Or as you would say in Chinese language:

圣帕特里克节快乐
Shèng pàtèlǐkè jié kuàilè
(To learn other kuai le sentences, please check this post)

St. Patrick’s Day is an Irish cultural and religious holiday. It is celebrated on March 17 each year. The major activities include visiting church, parades, wearing green and drinking alcohol.

Below are some useful St. Patrick’s Day words:

爱尔兰 (Ài'ěrlán): Ireland
三月十七日 (sān yuè shíqī rì): March 17
绿 (lǜ): green
喝酒 (hē jiǔ): drink alcohol

Even though it is an Irish festival, it is celebrated all over the world and China is not an exception. Below is a picture of St. Patrick’s Day parade in Beijing that I found on the internet:

It’s been a year…

It’s been a year and I hope there is many more to come. It has definitely been an amazing experience so far. Thank you for reading my blog, leaving comments and sharing it with others. I really appreciate your support.

This is my 72nd post today, so I have written 6 posts a month on average. I have written about Chinese vocabulary, grammar, proverbs, songs, places, food, and places among many others. I have tried to cover as many aspects of Chinese language and Chinese culture as possible. Please let me know if there is anything in particular that you wish I wrote about.

Today I would like to share with you some of the posts I really enjoyed writing, but they somehow failed to make it to the ‘Popular posts’ on the right side.

First, just in case you forgot, here is why I started writing this blog

Why write this blog?

It’s always nice to learn some Chinese grammar, but it’s even better when you are learning about Yao Ming as well

As tall as Yao Ming

America is called the ‘beautiful country’ in Chinese language. But is it because the Chinese think that America beautiful?

Is America beautiful?

We also got a chance to learn how to count in Chinese language. Here is how to count from 1 to 10

Lucky Beijing Olympics

We have learned few Chinese songs, but this song has to be the most popular among all the Chinese language students

Kan Guo Lai

Similarly we learned few Chinese proverbs as well, and this one has always been one of my favorites. And the comic that I found definitely made this one of my favorite posts

Speak of the Chinese devil

Qingdao city may not be as widely known as Shanghai or Beijing, but it is definitely worth a visit. Here is why

Qingdao city, Tsingtao beer

Learning Chinese language is fun, but learning Chinglish is even better

Chinglish

These may not be as bad as Chinglish, but some Chinese people do have some interesting English names. Watch this video

Chinese people, English names

As one of the comments says, I love the ‘extremeness’ of these sentences

I am starving to death

And last but not the least, you haven’t learned Chinese until you know how to say Obama in Chinese language. Maybe not, but here is how you say Obama in Chinese language

How to say Obama in Chinese language?

There were many others I wanted to include, but I had to pick and choose. Which one is your favorite? I would love to know.

Distant water won’t quench your immediate thirst

It’s been a while since we learned a new Chinese proved. So why not do it today? There is a Chinese proverb I would like to share, and this is how it goes:

远水解不了近渴
Yuǎn shuǐ jiě bù liǎo jìn kě
Distant water won’t quench your immediate thirst

远 (yuǎn): far; distant
近 (jìn): near; close

As it is pretty obvious, this proverb implies the need to come up with an immediate solution to a problem. Now let’s see how it can be used:

远水解不了近渴，我今天急需钱。
Yuǎn shuǐ jiě bù liǎo jìn kě, wǒ jīntiān jíxū qián.
Distant water won’t quench immediate thirst, I badly need the money today.

Linsanity !!!

Everyone has been talking about him and I couldn’t resist either. So here is my official blog post on Jeremy Lin. By now you must have already heard about how lincredible Jeremy Lin is, but did you know that he is lintellectual as well? Yes, and that is exactly the reason why he has been playing so well. Here is a video that I found through a friend of mine:



Jeremy Lin is the first American player of Taiwanese descent to play in the NBA. Just in case you are wondering this is how you say Taiwan in Chinese language:

台湾 (Táiwān): Taiwan


And here are two other names you might be interested in:

香港 (Xiānggǎng): Hong Kong
澳门 (Àomén): Macau

Use of 每 (měi) in Chinese language

We just learned that measure words are reduplicated in Chinese language to emphasize commonality among different members of a group. And you must be thinking, isn’t that what每 (měi) is used for? Yes, just like reduplicated measure words, 每 (měi) can be used to stress commonality. See example below:

每个学生都学习中文
měi gè xuéshēng dōu xuéxí zhōngwén
All the students study Chinese language

However, unlike reduplicated measure words, 每 (měi) can also be used to emphasize individuality among different group members:

我们十个学生，每个人学习的语言不同
wǒmen shí gè xuéshēng, měi gèrén xuéxí de yǔyán bùtóng
Each one of us ten students study different languages

We also learned that reduplicated measure words and nouns cannot be used as objects. But每 (měi) can be:

你要把书给每一个学生
nǐ yào bǎ shū gěi měi yī gè xuéshēng
You should give a book to every student

Reduplication of measure words and nouns

We have already learned the reduplication of verbs and reduplication of adjectives in Chinese language. And we have also learned what the measure words are. Now why not learn a bit about the reduplication of measure words.

Reduplicated measure words denote the inclusion of the entirety without exception. It is used to emphasize that all the individual members of a group share the same qualities or exist in the same state. See the example below:

他们个个都喜欢用筷子
tāmen gè gè dōu xǐhuan yòng kuàizi
They all like to use chopsticks

Similarly some nouns like 人，年 and 天 can also be reduplicated for the same purpose:

现在人人都关心北京的绿化
Xiànzài rén rén dōu guānxīn běijīng de lǜhuà
These days everyone is concerned about Beijing’s greenery.

However please note that reduplicated measure words and nouns cannot be used as objects. The sentence 我告诉人人 would be incorrect.

Chinese New Year

I recently wrote a blog post on How to say ‘Happy New Year’ in Chinese language. But is that when the Chinese people celebrate New Year? Actually the Chinese New Year this year is on January 23. So how do you say Chinese New Year in Chinese language?

春节 (chūn jié)
春(chūn): spring
节(jié): festival

So in China it is known as the Spring Festival. There is a weeklong holiday during this period, allowing Chinese people to travel home and celebrate the new year with the family. The Chinese new year is also known as the Lunar New Year, because it is the first day of the lunar-solar Chinese calendar.

[Source: Click here]

Each new year is marked by the characteristics of one of the twelve zodiacal animals, and this is the year of the dragon.

龙 (lóng): dragon

Last year was the year of the rabbit and next year is the year of the snake

兔 (tù): rabbit
蛇 (shé): snake

Measure words: 把 (bǎ) and 本 (běn)

Let’s pick up where we left off and look at couple more measure words in Chinese language. We have already learned 个 (gè), 只 (zhǐ), 顶 (dǐng), 张 (zhāng) and 条 (tiáo). Today let’s learn when to use the measure words 把 (bǎ) and 本 (běn).

把 (bǎ)

把 (bǎ) is a measure word most commonly used to quantify objects that can be grasped or objects with a handle. Few examples below:

一把刀 (yī bǎ dāo): a knife
一把椅子 (yī bǎ yǐzi): a chair
一把茶壶 (yī bǎ cháhú): a teapot

It can also be used to quantify a handful of something:

一把米 (yī bǎ mǐ): a handful of rice
一把花 (yī bǎ huā): a bunch of flowers

本 (běn)

本 (běn) is a measure word used for books.

一本书 (yī běn shū): a book
一本小说 (yī běn xiǎoshuō): a novel
一本字典 (yī běn zìdiǎn): a dictionary

It can also be used to quantify bound documents or paper products:

一本相册 (yī běn xiàngcè): a photo album

‘Happy New Year’ in Chinese language

Happy New Year 2012. I hope you have had a great start to the year, but have you learned how to say Happy New Year in Chinese language yet?

新年快乐 (Xīn nián kuàilè): Happy New Year

Now let’s break it down:

新 (xīn): new
年 (nián): year
快乐 (kuàilè): happy

And how do you say Merry Christmas?

圣诞快乐 (Shèngdàn kuàilè): Merry Christmas

Let’s look at few other examples:

周末快乐 (Zhō mò kuàilè): Happy weekend/Have a great weekend
生日快乐 (Shēngrì kuàilè): Happy birthday

Or you can also say

祝你生日快乐 (Zhù nǐ shēngrì kuàilè): Happy birthday to you
祝 (zhù): wish