Fun Learning Chinese
Join me and my Chinese tutor as we explore everyday Chinese vocabulary in ways that make sense to an adult learner.
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- Website
- http://funlearningchinese.com/
- Description
- Join me and my Chinese tutor as we explore everyday Chinese vocabulary in ways that make sense to an adult learner.
- Language
- 🇬🇧 English
- last modified
- 2019-07-28 01:44
- last episode published
- 2019-07-27 12:52
- publication frequency
- 28.05 days
- Contributors
- Fun Learning Chinese author owner
- Explicit
- false
- Number of Episodes
- 110
- Rss-Feeds
- Detail page
- Categories
- Society & Culture Education History Language Courses
Recommendations
Episodes
| Date | Thumb | Title & Description | Contributors |
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| 27.07.2019 |
Chinese Lesson Blurb: Can You Politely Say 閉嘴 Shut Your Mouth If you see something on your friend’s teeth and want to save him embarrassment, you might want to politely suggest he shut his mouth. You might think to say in a hushed voice that only he can hear: 閉嘴 ㄅㄧˋ ㄗㄨㄟˇ bì zuǐ shut, close + mouth, lips You might... |
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| 3.06.2019 | It happens all the time. The story stretches beyond believability. That is when you want to be able to use this phrase: 太扯了！ (ㄊㄞˋ)(ㄔㄜˇ)(ㄌㄜ˙) (tài))(chě)(le.) (too, very, extremely)(to tear, to pull)(emphasis) (That is) too far fetched! You will notice ... |
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| 20.05.2019 | A young Taiwanese friend recently shared this Chinese parable with me. It all starts with being asked to take a snail for a walk… but first, some useful vocabulary: Now, what can you learn from a snail? 上帝給我一個任務，叫我牽一隻蝸牛去散步。 (上帝)(給)(我)(一個)(任務)， (ㄕㄤˋ ㄉㄧˋ... |
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| 9.04.2019 | It was time for a very specific Chinese lesson. Here is some important vocabulary involved: We are not sure what happened. The speaker doesn’t come with any specific directions. There is nothing online. Still, it is a very good speaker and so we just s... |
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| 2.03.2019 | Taxes are cross cultural Taxes are one of those things that prove the major things in life are cross-cultural. We talked about love not long ago, so we will just swing to the other extreme! And with taxes comes some basics about politics, because the t... |
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| 21.02.2019 | Politicians are masters of contradiction Politicians have a way of making rules for everyone else and exempting themselves. So it is no wonder that the common use of 卻 ㄑㄩㄝˋ (què) to indicate contrast came up in writing my latest blog on taxes (coming s... |
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| 5.02.2019 | I will go almost anywhere with my husband I have told my husband I will go with him anywhere … except the Amazon jungle. Our vacation in Belize has confirmed to me that this is a good decision on my part! Here is some vocabulary that I use to talk abou... |
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| 20.01.2019 | This is a love story Relationships make the world go round. Most people still like to use some sort of cultural signal to let others know they are ‘in a relationship.’ It is both helpful and fun. Another of my daughters is now “taken.” Before I tell yo... |
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| 31.12.2018 | Squirrels are one kind of wild animal that is not having any trouble adapting to human civilization. Personally, I am conflicted about squirrels. On one hand they are cute. On the other hand, they are just invasive rodents with bushy tails. My Chinese ... |
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| 18.12.2018 | Just a couple of elves to help me? I like Christmas time, but there can be complications. It can take some tricky scheduling to get all the fun things done AND attend to daily responsibilities! Or it can be a festive excuse to put aside some of the mun... |
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| 4.12.2018 | How to get your Chinese tutor to tell you a good story As I was driving my Chinese tutor out to lunch a few weeks ago, a squirrel ran by. She proceeded to tell me about a Secret Society of the Squirrels meeting she had accidentally witnessed. Okay, I m... |
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| 13.11.2018 | Weighty matters Both weight loss and math can seem mysterious at times. After discussing it all with my Chinese tutor, who grew up in Taiwan, I have to think that the subjects of weight loss and math are cross-cultural in many important ways. In today’... |
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| 5.10.2018 | Who’s hungry now!? My Chinese tutor is very concerned about me being hungry. No matter what time of day I go for a lesson, no matter if I tell her I have just eaten, and even if I tell her I’m bringing my own lunch, she prepares some food for me. So on... |
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| 28.09.2018 | 5 Keys to Life This 5 sentence guide to life is full of not only encouragement, but also a lot of useful Chinese vocabulary. Don’t worry, it will be translated below. Here is some specific vocabulary that may help to hear as distinct words in order t... |
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| 11.09.2018 | Reading Facebook in Chinese to get back to English You can probably figure out how to change your Facebook profile to Chinese, but changing it back to your native language could be a challenge. I thought it would be fun to visit my profile in Chinese o... |
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| 27.08.2018 | It all begins in the morning… One thing leads to another, but you do have choices along the way! Here is a humorous look at what might happen if you forget to set your alarm. But first, some vocabulary to tune your mind and ear to Chinese: 設定 ... |
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| 29.07.2018 |
Alaskan Grizzly Bears and Salmon Bones 阿拉斯加灰熊和鬼魚骨頭 in Chinese My husband is an adventurer and he likes to fish. Seriously, I’m glad that he has the chance to go off into the wild and I know he is experienced and smart about being out there. Still, I like to express my concerns. He makes me laugh with his response... |
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| 16.07.2018 | Mosquitoes seem to be everywhere During the summer, you almost certainly need to say some things about mosquitoes! Where are the mosquitoes? What should you wear? And, very importantly, should you slap a mosquito when it lands on another person??!! Her... |
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| 24.06.2018 | If you don’t think goat kids are cute, you haven’t met one. One of the keys to practicing a foreign language is to have things of interest to talk about. Baby goats (kids) are very interesting to me right now, since I just brought two home. Whether you... |
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| 26.05.2018 | I first learned about the character 快 as meaning fast. Another common use of it is to mean soon. My tutor wrote some sentences to help me practice using it that way. First, here is some vocabulary it may be helpful to get more familiar with: 冰箱 ... |
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| 5.05.2018 | One of the meanings of 跟 (see pronunciation and definitions below) has to do with ‘following closely.’ When you add 不 and 上 after it, it means you can’t keep up. The sequence of tones (first tone ⇾ second tone ⇾ fourth tone) make it particularly easy t... |
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| 13.04.2018 |
Experiences That Make Me Feel Very Afraid 那些我想起來就覺得驚心動快的經驗 in Chinese 那些我想起來就覺得驚心動魄的經驗 (那些)(我)(想起來)(就)(覺得)(驚心動魄)(的)(經驗) (ㄋㄚˋ ㄒㄧㄝ)(ㄨㄛˇ)(ㄒㄧㄤˇ ㄑㄧˇ ㄌㄞˊ)(ㄐㄧㄡˋ)(ㄐㄩㄝˊ ㄉㄜ˙)(ㄐㄧㄥ ㄒㄧㄣ ㄉㄨㄥˋ ㄆㄛˋ)(ㄉㄜ˙)(ㄐㄧㄥ ㄧㄢˋ) (nà xiē)(wǒ)(xiǎng qǐ lái)(jiù)(jué de.)(jīng xīn dòng pò)(de.)(jīng yàn) (those)(I)(come to mind)(at once)(to feel)(extremel... |
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| 6.03.2018 | Every language has particular ways you can play with it. The character of the Chinese language makes it easy and normal to make up words. The lack of filler words makes it easier to construct sayings in short patterns. My tutor did this recently when s... |
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| 22.02.2018 | My Chinese tutor and I got a bit philosophical last week. It began when we were discussing vocabulary that had to do with having enough time. (Look for this in a future post). She taught me the idiom in the second sentence, then asked me this question:... |
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| 10.02.2018 | More on why 打 can be such a fun character Recently, my tutor went over many ways to use 打 ㄉㄚˇ (dǎ). We also discussed the parts of the character 打 and how they relate to its meaning. Then, for the next lesson I had she had quite a few more ways she wan... |
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| 11.01.2018 | Finding the hand in the action The character 打 has the particle in it that is derived from the character 手. Here are their respective pronunciations, along with basic translations: 打 ㄉㄚˇ (dǎ) to beat, to strike, to hit, to break, to type 手 ㄕㄡˇ (shǒu) h... |
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| 7.12.2017 | When my Chinese tutor was a young girl in school, she remembers being taught about Confucius. When Confucius was quoted, they were always supposed to use the ancient way of saying “says” which is 曰 ㄩㄝ (yuē). (If you aren’t familiar with the Chinese p... |
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| 2.12.2017 | Sometimes English words seem vague to native Chinese speakers. Most of you have learned that there is no direct translation for “yes” and “no” in Chinese. Answers to questions are given by using the verbs involved in the question. The word “available” ... |
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| 14.11.2017 | In English, there is a common saying “Methinks thou dost protest too much.” It is spoken in mock old English because it is a modification of a Shakespeare quote from Hamlet, “The lady doth protest too much, methinks.” The modification makes it applic... |
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| 4.11.2017 |
Translating the Chinese of Deshun Wang the 80 Year Old Model Who is Deshun Wang? Deshun (sometimes spelled Dushun) Wang is an 80 year old Chinese actor. You can listen to his short bio on YouTube here. (disregard the Arabic, it was the only video I could find to embed here.) You can follow along with the transcr... |
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| 8.10.2017 | Do you know what an “almost counting word” is? Do you realize how much everyone uses them in everyday conversation? We all use such words that approximate or hint at counting, but these words are not precise or accurate. Many almost counting words are ... |
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| 26.09.2017 | The English phrase figure it out means to solve, to understand, to reason out This is consistent with the definitions of the word figure, which have to do with both to form or shape and mathematical calculations. This basic concept is still present i... |
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| 12.09.2017 | The Chinese word and character 一 (yī) is one of the first that people learn, and for good reason. My dictionary devotes about 6 pages of words made with it. It not only means “one,” but is used as the equivalent for the English articles “a” and “an.” ... |
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| 11.08.2017 | Why do Chinese people choose English names? Every Chinese person I have met has had an English name. Whether they were living in Taiwan, living in the United States, or on a cruise ship, each one of them has introduced themselves by their English name.... |
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| 21.07.2017 | Idioms in any language are phrases that are not well explained by literal translation. I have been introduced to some counting idioms as my Chinese tutor and I work on translating my (English version) children’s book A Million Rocks. The book is about ... |
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| 16.07.2017 | People are always coming and going. Suppose someone asks you: 你知道我的兒子在哪裡？ (你)(知道)(我的)(兒子)(在)(哪裡) (ㄋㄧˇ) (ㄓ ㄉㄠˋ) (ㄨㄛˇ ㄉㄜ˙) (ㄦˊ ㄗ˙) (ㄗㄞˋ) (ㄋㄚˇ ㄌㄧˇ) (nǐ)(zhī dào)(wǒ de.)(ér zi.)(zài)(nǎ lǐ) (you)(to know)(my)(son)(at)(where) Do you know where my son is?... |
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| 30.06.2017 | A fun word association that came up in my Chinese lesson today is going to help me remember how to say “key chain,” or more accurately “key ring,” in Chinese. 鑰匙圈 means “key chain.” Let me break it down. 鑰匙 ㄧㄠˋ ㄕ˙ (yào shi.) means “key” 圈 ㄑㄩㄢ... |
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| 22.06.2017 | The other day I accidentally told my Chinese tutor that I was perfect. 我說「我完全了！」 (我)(說)「(我)(完全)(了)！」 (ㄨㄛˇ) (ㄕㄨㄛ) [(ㄨㄛˇ) (ㄨㄢˊ ㄑㄨㄢˊ) (ㄌㄜ˙)] (wǒ)(shuō) [(wǒ)(wán quán)(le.)!] (I)(to say, to speak) [(I)(complete, whole, totally, entirely)(intensifies pre... |
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| 31.05.2017 | 你想要多做某件事情 (你)(想要)(多)(做)(某件)(事情) (ㄋㄧˇ) (ㄒㄧㄤˇ ㄧㄠˋ) (ㄉㄨㄛ) (ㄗㄨㄛˋ) (ㄇㄡˇ ㄐㄧㄢˋ) (ㄕˋ ㄑㄧㄥˊ) (nǐ)(xiǎng yào)(duō)(zuò)(mǒu jiàn)(shì qíng) (you)(think to want)(more)(to do)(some + MW for affair)(affair, matter, business, thing) You want to do more of something S... |
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| 18.05.2017 | 破音字 ㄆㄛˋ ㄧㄣ ㄗˋ are kind of like Chinese homonyms. In English, homonyms are words that sound the same, but are spelled differently (look different) and have different meanings. Examples: here and hear. Are you here? I can’t hear you! The translation of 破... |
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| 1.05.2017 |
Just Want 只要, Just Think 只想, Just Have 只有, and Just Am 只是 in Chinese Recently, my Chinese tutor decided to help me understand the possibilities and nuances for using the character 只 ㄓˇ (zhǐ) in combination with some other common verbs. Like many things in language learning, the best way to get a better grasp of usage is... |
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| 21.04.2017 |
Understanding the words he 他, she 她, and it 牠 or 它 in Chinese Understanding the Chinese pronouns that are translated to he, she, or it requires knowing a couple of things. First of all, the pronouns that mean he, she, or it in Chinese all sound the same, but have different characters. 他 ㄊㄚ (tā) “he” 她 ㄊㄚ (tā) “... |
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| 23.03.2017 | 你的蠟筆是什麼顏色 (你的)(蠟筆)(是)(什麼)(顏色) (ㄋㄧˇ ㄉㄜ˙) (ㄌㄚˋ ㄅㄧˇ) (ㄕˋ) (ㄕㄣˊ ㄇㄜ˙) (ㄧㄢˊ ㄙㄜˋ) (nǐ de.)(là bǐ)(shì)(shén me.)(yán sè) (your)(wax + pen, pencil, or brush = crayon)(to be/is)(what)(color) What color is your crayon? The basic colors in Chinese are fairly st... |
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| 13.03.2017 | 當你迷路的時候 (當)(你)(迷路)[(的)(時候)] (ㄉㄤ) (ㄋㄧˇ) (ㄇㄧˊ ㄌㄨˋ) [(ㄉㄜ˙) (ㄕˊ ㄏㄡˋ)] (dāng)(nǐ)(mí lù)[(de.)(sh́í hòu)] (just at)(you)(to get lost)[(adjective marker)(time, when, moment, juncture)] When you are/get lost 我常常很容易地就迷路了。 (我)(常常)(很)[(容易)(地)](就)❶(迷路)(了) (ㄨㄛˇ) ... |
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| 24.02.2017 | Like it or not, there are stereotypes and bantering between men and women of all cultures. Sometimes it can be quite entertaining, like in some of the sentences that my tutor taught me recently as sort of a twist to Valentine’s Day. First, some vocabul... |
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| 13.02.2017 | The use of the letter “i” in pinyin can be confusing. Pinyin is the use of the ABC’s, such as is used in English, to symbolize sounds in the Chinese language. Sometimes the pinyin sounds are fairly similar to the English sounds, and sometimes they are ... |
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| 4.02.2017 |
When the Chicken Tries to Talk with the Duck 雞同鴨講 －a Chinese Idiom 當我跟中文老師聊天關於我在墨西哥度假說不同語言的經驗時， (當)(我)(跟)(中文)(老師)(聊天)(關於)… (ㄉㄤ) (ㄨㄛˇ) (ㄍㄣ) (ㄓㄨㄥ ㄨㄣˊ) (ㄌㄠˇ ㄕ) (ㄌㄧㄠˊ ㄊㄧㄢ) (ㄍㄨㄢ ㄩˊ) (dāng)(wǒ)(gēn)(zhōng wén)(lǎo shī)(liáo tiān)(guān yú) (just at)(I)(with)(Chinese language)(teacher)(chat)(about) …..(我)(在)(墨西哥)(度假)(的)(經驗)... |
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| 1.01.2017 | 在雪地上開車 (在)(雪)(地)(上)(開車) (ㄗㄞˋ) (ㄒㄩㄝˇ) (ㄉㄧˋ) (ㄕㄤˋ) (ㄎㄞ ㄔㄜ) (zai4) (xue3) (di4) (shang4) (kai1 che1) (at, on) (snow) (ground) (on) (drive car) Driving in the snow 在雪地上開車很難。 (在)(雪)(地)(上)(開車)(很)(難) (ㄗㄞˋ) (ㄒㄩㄝˇ) (ㄉㄧˋ) (ㄕㄤˋ) (ㄎㄞ ㄔㄜ)(ㄏㄣˇ) (ㄋㄢˊ) (zai4) (xue3) (... |
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| 5.12.2016 | 準備過感恩節 (準備)(過)(感恩節) (ㄓㄨㄣˇ ㄅㄟˋ) (ㄍㄨㄛˋ) (ㄍㄢˇ ㄣ ㄐㄧㄝˊ) (zhun3 bei4) (guo4) (gan3 en1 jie2) (to prepare) (to celebrate) (Thanksgiving) Preparing for Thanksgiving❶ 上週因為要過感恩節，我們不斷地忙著。 (上)(週)(因為)(要)(過)(感恩節)，(我們)[(不)(斷)](地)(忙)(著) (ㄕㄤˋ) (ㄓㄡ) (ㄧㄣ ㄨㄟˋ) (ㄧㄠˋ) (ㄍㄨ... |
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| 17.11.2016 | Transcript: Me: Today, I am going to interview my Chinese tutor, who I know by the name of Vesta. (turning to Vesta) But what is your Chinese name? Vesta: 黃顗篟 ㄏㄨㄤˊ ㄧˇ ㄑㄧㄢˋ (huang2 yi3 qian4) [you may […] |
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