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.

‘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

Measure words: 张 (zhāng) and 条 (tiáo)

As promised earlier, today we will look at two more measure words in Chinese language, 张 (zhāng) and 条 (tiáo) in more detail. So here we go:

张 (zhāng)

张 (zhāng) is a measure word most commonly used for objects with flat surfaces. Few examples:

一张纸 (yī zhāng zhǐ): a piece of paper

一张桌子 (yī zhāng zhuōzi): a table

一张床 (yī zhāng chuáng): a bed

张 (zhāng) can also be used with objects that can be opened and closed:

一张嘴 (yī zhāng zuǐ): a mouth

一张弓 (yī zhāng gōng): a bow

条 (tiáo)

条 (tiáo) is a measure word most commonly used for elongated objects. Few examples:

两条腿 (liǎng tiáo tuǐ): two legs

一条路 (yī tiáo lù): a road

一条河 (yī tiáo hé): a river

条 (tiáo) is also used to quantify some animals

两条鱼 (liǎng tiáo yú): a fish

一条蛇 (yī tiáo shé): a snake

Measure words: 只 (zhī) and 顶 (dǐng)

Couple of posts ago, we watched a video to learn about the measure words in Chinese language, and looked at the most common measure word, 个 (gè), in more detail. In the same post I also introduced few other measure words, 只 (zhī) ，张 (zhāng) ，条 (tiáo) and 顶 (dǐng). Today let’s learn when and how to use the measure words 只 (zhī) and 顶 (dǐng).

只 (zhī)

只 (zhī) is a measure word most commonly used to quantify one of a pair. Few examples:

两只眼睛 (liǎng zhī yǎnjīng): two eyes

两只手 (liǎng zhī shǒu): two hands

一只鞋 (yī zhī xié): one shoe

It is also used to quantify animals, boats and containers:

一只鸡 (yī zhī jī): one chicken

一只船 (yī zhī chuan): one boat

两只箱子 (liǎng zhī xiāngzi): two suitcases

顶 (dǐng)

顶 (dǐng) is a measure word for something with a top. It is most commonly used to quantify hats, caps. Few examples:

一顶帽子 (yī dǐng màozi): a hat

一顶帐子 (yī dǐng zhàngzi): a mosquito net

I hope this post was helpful on learning about the usage of measure words 只 (zhī) and 顶 (dǐng). Next post we will look at the measure words 张 (zhāng) and 条 (tiáo) in more detail.

Chinese relationship tree

I guess we never talked about how to call the different family members in Chinese language. Below I have tried to create a simple Chinese family structure. It shows the Chinese terms for the most immediate family members. Hope this is helpful.

[Click to expand]

Just in case you can't read the above picture properly, I have listed them below:

爷爷 (yéye): Grandfather (father’s father)

奶奶 (nǎinai): Grandmother (father’s mother)

外公 (wàigōng): Grandfather (mother’s father)

外婆 (wàipó): Grandmother (mother’s mother)

爸爸 (bàba): Father

妈妈 (māma): Mother

伯伯 (bóbo): Uncle (father’s older brother)

叔叔 (shūshu): Uncle (father’s younger brother)

婶婶( shěnshen): Aunt (father’s sister)

舅舅 (jiùjiu): Uncle (mother’s brother)

姨妈 (yímā): Aunt (mother’s sister)

哥哥 (gēge): Older brother

嫂子 (sǎozi): Sister in law (Older brother’s wife)

姐姐 (jiějie): Older sister

姐夫 (jiěfu): Brother in law (Older sister’s husband)

弟弟 (dìdi): Younger brother

弟妹 (dìmèi): Sister in law (Younger brother’s wife)

妹妹 (mèimei): Younger sister

妹夫 (mèifu): Brother in law (Younger sister’s husband)

我 (wǒ): Me

爱人 (àirén): Spouse

儿子 (érzi): Son

女儿 (nǚ'ér): Daughter

孙子(sūnzi): Grandson (Son’s son)

孙女 (sūnnǚ): Granddaughter (Son’s daughter)

外孙 (wàisūn): Grandson (Daughter’s son)

外孙女 (wàisūnnǚ): Granddaughter (Daughter’s daughter)

It’s too expensive!!!

We have already learned how to say It’s too expensive in Chinese language. Just in case you forgot, here it is again:

太贵了 (tài guì le): too expensive

贵 (guì ) means expensive, but what does 太 (tài) mean?

太 (tài): excessively; too; extremely

太 + adjective 了 structure can be used to express different kinds of emotional intensity (surprise, disgust, praise, excitement etc). Here are few more examples:

你太棒了！

Nǐ tài bàng le!

You are so great!

人太多了！

Rén tài duō le!

There are too many people!

你太糊涂了！

Nǐ tài hútú le!

You are so confused!

And if someone asks you How are you?, you can always respond:

太好了！(Tài hǎo le!): Great!

You are my rose

Today I will share with you all the first Chinese song I learned. I was hiking Tiger Leaping Gorge with some of my friends (I will write more about it later) and we met this Chinese girl on the way. She was a great entertainer indeed and taught this song to all of us. It is one of my favorite Chinese songs (maybe because it was the first I learned).

This song is You are my rose by Pang Long and below is the English translation of the chorus.

你是我的玫瑰

Nǐ shì wǒ de méiguī

You are my rose

你是我的花

Nǐ shì wǒ de huā

You are my flower

你是我的爱人

Nǐ shì wǒ de àirén

You are my love

是我的牵挂

Shì wǒ de qiānguà

You are the one I care about

你是我的玫瑰

Nǐ shì wǒ de méiguī

You are my rose

你是我的花

Nǐ shì wǒ de huā

You are my flower

你是我的爱人

Nǐ shì wǒ de àirén

You are my love

是我一生永远爱着的玫瑰花

Shì wǒ yīshēng yǒngyuǎn àizhe de méiguī huā

You are the rose I will love forever

The 还 (hái) words of Chinese language

Earlier we looked at the 好 (hǎo) words of Chinese language. Now let us look at the 还 (hái) words.

In one of the earlier posts, How to say Hello in Chinese?, we learned that one way of responding to the question “How are you?” is 还好 (hái hǎo). 还好 means Okay.

The adverb 还 means “rather; fairly”, implying that something is neither too good, nor too bad. Let’s look at some other 还 words of Chinese language:

还行 (hái xíng): not bad

还可以 (hái kěyǐ): Okay

还不错 (hái bùcuò): not bad

还凑合 (hái còuhé): not too bad

As you can see above, all of these 还 (hái) words mean either Okay or not bad. Now you can also use one of the above instead of 还好 (hái hǎo) you have been using.

How do people park in China?

We all know parking is a problem everywhere, and China is not an exception. So what is the solution? Here is one:

车 (chē): car

开车 (kāi chē): to drive a car

我开车去北京

Wǒ kāichē qù Běijīng

I drove to Beijing

停车 (tíng chē): to park a car

If you don’t want to deal with parking, why don't you take the public transportation then?

地铁 (dìtiě): subway

我是坐地铁来的

Wǒ shì zuò dìtiě lái de

I took the subway here

地铁站 (dìtiě zhàn): subway station

火车 (huǒchē): train

Can you guess how to say train station?

火车站 (huǒchē zhàn): train station

飞机 (fēijī): airplane

机场 (jīchǎng): airport

机票 (jīpiào): plane ticket

出租车 (chūzū chē): taxi

You might find the above in textbooks but the more common way of saying taxi is

打的 (dǎ di): taxi

自行车 (zìxíngchē): bicycle

我骑自行车上班

Wǒ qí zìxíngchē shàngbān

I ride my bike to work

And here is my favorite public transport in China. It might not be fun to ride but it is definitely fun to say.

公共汽车 (gōnggòng qìchē): bus/public bus

I am starving to death

How hungry are you? Well, if you are really hungry then you should definitely learn this.

我饿死了 (Wǒ è sǐ le): I am starving to death

And now that you have eaten a lot:

我吃饱了 (Wǒ chī bǎo le): I am full

As you might have noticed in the first sentence, 死了 (sǐ le) is used to reflect an extreme situation. You need one more example? Here you go:

我累死了 (Wǒ lèi sǐ le): I am dying of exhaustion

How else can you show an extreme situation? How about 极了 (jí le)?

好极了 (hǎo jí le): wonderful; great

This can be your response next time someone asks you “How are you?” Below is one more example:

阿拉斯加冷极了

Ālāsījiā lěng jí le

Alaska is extremely cold

And you can use 腻了 (nì le) when you are sick or bored of doing something.

这道菜我天天吃，都吃腻了

Zhè dào cài wǒ tiāntiān chī, dōu chī nì le

I eat this dish every day, I am sick of it.

Remember 死了 (sǐ le), 极了 (jí le) and 腻了 (nì le).

Qingdao city, Tsingtao beer

Next in the series of talking about different Chinese cities is Qingdao city, one of the major cities located in the eastern part of China. It’s one of my favorite cities in China, and it was also voted the most livable city in China in 2009. This is how you write its name in Chinese language:

青岛(Qīngdǎo): Qingdao

And here is the breakdown:

青 (qīng): green

岛(dǎo): island

青岛市(Qīngdǎo shì): Qingdao city

城市(chéngshì): city

You might not have heard about Qingdao city, but you might have drunk Tsingtao beer. As you might have guessed by now, Tsingtao beer comes from Qingdao city.

青岛啤酒(Qīngdǎo píjiǔ): Tsingtao beer

[Source: Click here]

Here are some words which might be useful while getting a drink in China:

酒(jiǔ): wine/alcohol

啤酒(píjiǔ): beer

白酒(báijiǔ): liqour

酒吧 (jiǔbā): bar

干杯 (gānbēi): cheers

醉了(zuì le): to be drunk

Qingdao city is not only famous for its beer, but it is also the home of the longest bridge in the world, Jiaozhou Bay Bridge.

Body parts in Chinese language

I came across this really catchy song which teaches how to say different body parts in Chinese language. Hope you will enjoy it:

一个土豆	yīgè tǔdòu	One potato
长两只眼睛	cháng liǎng zhī yǎnjīng	With two eyes
长一只鼻子	cháng yī zhǐ bízi	With a nose
和一张嘴	hé yī zhāng zuǐ	And a mouth
一个土豆	yīgè tǔdòu	One potato
有两只手	yǒu liǎng zhī shǒu	With two arms
有两条腿	yǒu liǎng tiáo tuǐ	With two legs
和一顶帽子	hé yī dǐng màozi	And a hat
一个土豆	yīgè tǔdòu	One potato
谁想跳舞	sheí xiǎng tiàowǔ	Who likes to dance
谁想跳舞	sheí xiǎng tiàowǔ	Who likes to dance
谁想跳舞	sheí xiǎng tiàowǔ	Who likes to dance

As you can see the different body parts used in this song are:

眼睛 (yǎnjīng): eyes

鼻子(bízi): nose

嘴 (zuǐ): mouth

手 (shǒu): hand

腿 (tuǐ): leg

Just in case you haven’t figured out yet

土豆 (tǔdòu): potato

[Update: As Alan Chan pointed out in the comments below, at 00:48 instead of saying "two potatoes have four arms" the song says "two potatoes have two arms"]