Tag Archive 'Learn Chinese'

Jan 17 2009

Celebrating Spring Festival in China

Published by admin under Learn Chinese

Zài zhōng guó guò chūn jié

Chūn jié shì zhong guó nóng lì xīn nián de kāi shǐ . Nóng lì

xin nián tōng cháng bǐ gōng lì xīn nián wǎn yí gè yuè . Chūn

jié duì zhōng guó rén lái shuō jiù rú tóng shèng dàn jié duì xī

西

fāng rén yí yàng zhòng yào . Àn zhào zhōng guó de chuán tǒng ,

chūn jié de zhǔn bèi hé qìng zhù huó dòng shǐ yú shàng yì nián

zuì hòu yí gè yuè de kāi shǐ , bìng qiě yì zhí yán xù

dào nóng lì zhēng yuè shí wǔ . Shì shí shàng , yóu yú shēng

huó jié zòu de jiā kuài , xiàn zài hěn shǎo yǒu rén bǎ yí

gè yuè de shí jiān dōu huā zài zhè shàng mian . Yīn cǐ zhèng

fŭ jué dìng nóng lì xīn nián de dì yī zhōu wéi gōng jià .

Qìng zhù chūn jié de chuán tǒng fāng shì yǒu hěn duō , jǐn guǎn

yǒu xiē yǐ jīng suí zhe shí jiān de tuī yí ér xiāo shī le .

Zhǔ yào de chuán tǒng huó dòng yǒu : qīng sǎo fáng jiān , gòu

:

zhì nián huò , tiē nián huà hé duì lián , fàng biān pào ,

guàng miào huì děng . Chú xī zhī yè , quán jiā rén jù zài

yì qǐ chī nián yè fàn . Zài zhōng guó běi fāng , rén men

tōng cháng chī jiǎo zi , ér zài zhōng guó nán fāng , rén men

tōng cháng chī nián gāo .         

                  

Zhōng guó de xǔ duō shǎo shù mín zú hé hàn zú rén yì qǐ

guò chūn jié , dàn yě yǒu yì xiē shǎo shù mín zú yǒu zì

jǐ de chuán tǒng xīn nián .        

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Nov 30 2008

Funny Chinese Expression: 不好意思

Published by Turner under Learn Chinese

Here today we would like to learn a funny Chinese Expression:不好意思

My girlfriend and I have been staying with my parents here in San Fransico since the 4th of July. My family has been very generous and hospitable to her during that time. Naturally, her response was, “我觉得不好意思(wǒ juéde bù hǎo yìsi).” Then she asked me how to say 不好意思(bù hǎo yìsi) in English. 

I usually find 不好意思(bù hǎo yìsi) pretty easy to translate, as it can often correspond to “sorry” or “excuse me” in English. When you’re a little late to a meeting, you can say 不好意思 (sorry). When you eat the last cookie and then somone else wants one, you can say 不好意思 (sorry). When you bump someone on the subway, you can say 不好意思 (sorry). 

 But in this case, my girlfriend’s usage was meant to express something like, “your kindness is too much,” or “you’re being so nice that it makes me feel too indebted.” And she wanted me to come up with one easy word or phrase to translate. When I couldn’t, and I asked for help from my sister, and she couldn’t either, my girlfriend just laughed: “you Americans never feel 不好意思(bù hǎo yìsi)!”

_______ 

Actually 意思 (yìsi) has many different meandings as following I have listed. All of them have something to do with what you think. Have you noticed that the bottom parts of the two Chinese characters are (xīn, heart)? Attention, the second character is a light tone. Read aloud after me “意思 yìsi” ,不好意思 (bù hǎo yìsi) !

>>> 意思 yìsi
1.〖meaning;i dea〗∶意义;道理

  例如:不要误会我的意思 Please don’t misunderstand what I mean.
2.〖intention; wish; desire〗∶意图;用意。
  例如:文章的中心意思 the key intention of this article
3.〖a token of affection, appreciation, etc.〗∶略表心意
  例如:这点东西送给您,小意思,别客气 This is a small token for you. I hope you like it.
4.〖suggestion; hint; trace〗∶某种趋势或迹象。
  例如:我发现她对你有的意思呢! I find she has something special feeling to you.
5. 〖interest; fun〗∶情趣;趣味。
  例如:打乒乓球很有意思 It is very interesting to play table tennis. 

6. 不好意思 (bù hǎo yìsi): excuse me; sorry; embarressed
  例如:不好意思,我的中文说得不好。 I am sorry, my Chinese is very bad.

________

When you meet Chinese friends, you can say like this to express how your Chinese is going.

Wǒ zhōngwén shuō de bù hǎo,

 我                      好,

Hěn bù hǎo  yìsi.

          意思。

Dànshì,  xué zhōngwén  hěn yǒu  yìshí.

  是,                               意思

>> I am sorry my Chinese is not good.

>> But, it is interesting to learn Chinese!

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Nov 26 2008

More Youths in UK Learn Chinese

Published by admin under China news

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British educators on a six-day trip to China have said the language of Chinese is becoming much accepted by British youth.

A 110 member-team of UK educational personnel from Kent County and Wales visited the Confucius Institute headquarters in Beijing, set up to promote Chinese language and culture.

Joanna Burke, cultural councillor of the British Embassy in China, applauded the moves of Hanban, China’s Office of Chinese Language Council International, to promote Chinese culture globally.

“I think it’s essential for the UK to engage with China to have more young people who learn Chinese and understand China in order to become full global citizens engaged in the requirement of the 21st century.”

Official figures show 400 middle and primary schools in the UK have Chinese language classes. Lessons are also available for college students in many universities, including Oxford and Cambridge.

Chinese culture can also be learnt at the 12 Confucius Institutes and 14 Confucius Classes in the UK.

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