大家好！ (Hi, everyone!) Welcome to the latest Mandarin Weekly, with yet more links and information for those of us learning Chinese.
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Tomb-Sweeping Day
Last week was Tomb Sweeping Day, a national holiday in China. What are the origins of this holiday, and how is it celebrated? This video from ChinesePod explains a great deal:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0twuz58bD0
Twitter: @ChinesePod
Skritter review
How can you learn to write Chinese characters? One popular app for doing this is Skritter. This post reviews Skritter, and describes how to use it effectively:
http://www.saporedicina.com/english/skritter-review/
Twitter: @SkritterHQ
In the money
How can you describe being rich in Chinese? Here are a number of terms:
http://www.duchinese.net/blog/24-buzzword-about-rich-in-chinese
Twitter: @DuChinese
That tricky 把
The character 把 (bǎ) means “handle,” but it also can be used as a measure word, as well as in some more complex grammatical constructs. Here are some simple uses for 把:
http://www.digmandarin.com/ba-measure-word.html
Twitter: @DigMandarin
Pull that carrot!
A cute children’s song, performed and animated in various styles, with characters, pinyin, and translation:
Twitter: @ChineseToLearn
Getting a Chinese name
Do you have a Chinese name? If not, here are some hints for choosing one:
https://ninchanese.com/blog/2016/04/07/chinese-names/
Hacking Chinese: The Book
Many of us have enjoyed Olle Linge’s many blog posts about learning Chinese on his “Hacking Chinese” blog. Here’s an announcement of a book by the same name:
http://www.hackingchinese.com/hacking-chinese-book-how-to-learn-mandarin/
Twitter: @HackingChinese
Inspirational proverbs
Chinese proverbs are great ways to learn vocabulary and culture, and to make your Chinese sound more natural. Here are some to improve your vocabulary and to also give you a boost in your studies:
https://ninchanese.com/blog/2016/04/05/chinese-proverbs/
What not to ask
What are Chinese people tired of hearing from foreigners? Here is an amusing (and probably accurate) list of phrases that we students should probably avoid:
http://blog.hellochinese.cc/2016/04/04/things-chinese-are-tired-of-hearing/
Twitter: @HelloChineseApp
Reading challenge
Want to improve your Chinese reading? Join the latest Hacking Chinese challenge, in which you try to read as much as possible in the month of April.
http://www.hackingchinese.com/chinese-reading-challenge-april-10th-30th/
Twitter: @HackingChinese
Greetings!
Here are some natural Chinese greetings you can use, when 你好 gets a bit old:
https://www.writtenchinese.com/10-chinese-greetings-that-will-make-you-sound-like-a-native/
Twitter: @WrittenChinese
Chinese snacks
Visiting China? Don’t just have your Western cookies and ice cream; try a local Chinese snack food — if you dare!
http://www.yoyochinese.com/blog/Learn-5-Chinese-Funky-Snacks
Twitter: @YoYoChinese
Finding an apartment
Some basic listening practice, from ChineseClass101: Find your friend’s apartment:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nfdlz9kyMws
Twitter: @chineseclass101
Hunan
Learn all about Hunan Province, in words, pictures, and (of course) Chinese:
http://blogs.transparent.com/chinese/better-know-a-province-hunan/
Twitter: @ChineseLanguage
Which recorded class?
Which online recorded Chinese course should you use? You’ll always get many answers to this question, but this topic had a large number of useful suggestions and comparisons:
https://www.reddit.com/r/ChineseLanguage/comments/4dldvg/pros_and_cons_chinese_pod_vs_yoyo_chinese/
My bad Chinese
How can you tell someone your Chinese isn’t good? Here are some useful phrases and structures to understand:
http://forum.wordreference.com/threads/my-chinese-is-bad.3160814/
That’s great!
What are a few ways to say that something is truly great?
Omitting 的
When must you include 的 (de), and when can you leave it out?
No way!
The phrase 没门儿 (méi mén r) means, “No chance!” Can you write 没门 instead?
http://forum.wordreference.com/threads/%E6%B2%A1%E9%97%A8%E5%84%BF.3163246/
Three-digit dates
Chinese dates are usually YYYY-MM-DD. But what about YYY-MM-DD, with only three digits for the year?
http://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/17647/three-digit-year-in-date-on-chinese-document
Buying vs. planning to buy
The word 买 (mǎi) can mean “buy,” but does it also mean “planning to buy?”
http://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/17620/when-to-use-of-%E4%B9%B0
http://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/17620/when-to-use-of-%E4%B9%B0