Mandarin Weekly #100

大家好! (Hi, everyone!) This is Mandarin Weekly #100, a free newsletter with links and information for those of us learning Chinese.

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Measure words (“classifiers”)

Beginner Measure words are a fundamental part of Chinese grammar; every noun has (at least) one, and learning which word goes with which noun can take some getting used to. Here’s an introduction to measure words, as well as a list of the most common ones:

http://www.saporedicina.com/english/classifiers-chinese-language/#

Hey, dummy!

Beginner Want to call someone an idiot in Chinese? Try the term 白痴 (bái chī):

https://themandarincornerblog.com/2016/12/05/why-you-should-never-try-diy-plumbing-in-china/

Money words

Intermediate Chinese attitudes toward money are easier to understand when you have a few key phrases under your belt:

http://www.yoyochinese.com/blog/Chinese-Culture-Attitudes-Toward-Money-Habits

Twitter: @YoYoChinese

Tongue twisters

Chinese isn’t hard enough to pronounce for Westerners, so here are four tongue twisters designed to make your mouth beg for mercy:

http://blogs.transparent.com/chinese/five-chinese-tongue-twisters/

Twitter: @ChineseLanguage

Translation challenge

Intermediate Time for another Hacking Chinese challenge! Try to translate as much as possible over the next two weeks:

http://www.hackingchinese.com/chinese-translation-challenge-december-10th-31st/

Twitter: @HackingChinese

Preview your lessons

If you arrive at your Chinese lesson without first reviewing the material from the previous time (and even the coming time), you’re losing out on an important way to learn:

http://www.hackingchinese.com/preview-every-chinese-lesson/

Twitter: @HackingChinese

On time

Intermediate Are you generally punctual? Maybe, but how would you describe that quality in Chinese? And how is that different from being on time for something? Here’s a summary of these different time-related terms:

http://www.decodemandarinchinese.com/zhunshi-vs-shoushi-vs-jishi-vs-anshi/

Twitter: @DecodeChinese

Tough characters

Intermediate Differentiating between characters can be hard, especially when they’re complex. Identifying the semantic component can be helpful in remembering and identifying them, as indicated here:

http://www.decodemandarinchinese.com/how-to-learn-similar-characters/

Twitter: @DecodeChinese

Hotel talk

Intermediate Going to China? Planning to stay in a hotel? Here are some useful words and phrases, from ordering to check-in to check-out:

https://www.writtenchinese.com/foolproof-phrases-for-booking-a-hotel-in-chinese/

Twitter: @WrittenChinese

Learning Chinese with YouTube

Intermediate YouTube is full of Chinese learning goodness. Here are some useful channels for learners of all levels:

http://www.fluentu.com/chinese/blog/2016/12/07/learn-chinese-with-youtube/

Twitter: @FluentU

May I?

Beginner The word 让 () talks about letting people do things, and can be used in a number of ways, as shown here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Id-9TuyhabM

Same old, same old

Intermediate Has anything changed? No? Then you can use the expression 大同小异 (dà tóng xiǎo yì):

http://www.e-putonghua.com/zone/index.php/2016/12/09/idiom-20/

Twitter: @eputonghua

Taking HSK5

Advanced Thinking of taking the HSK 5 exam? Here is how it went for one student of Chinese:

http://www.chinese-forums.com/index.php?/topic/52794-what-i-learned-from-taking-the-hsk-5/

Chinese chemical names

There are four new elements on the periodic table? What are their Chinese names? And who establishes them?

http://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/22056/how-are-new-element-names-characters-decided

Special delivery

Beginner There are several words that have to do with sending or bringing; how are they different?

http://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/22125/the-difference-between-%E9%80%81-%E5%B8%A6-and-%E6%8D%8E

Using 所

Beginner The word 所 has a number of meanings — including as a modifiers for the word (character) that follows it, making it somewhat passive:

https://www.reddit.com/r/ChineseLanguage/comments/5h9iaj/meaning_and_when_to_use_%E6%89%80/


Also published on Medium.

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