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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Dragon Boat history
Last week was the Chinese Dragon Boat Festival. What is this holiday, and what are its origins? Here is the story in Chinese characters and pinyin (and also translation, if you get stuck):
https://www.writtenchinese.com/the-history-of-the-chinese-dragon-boat-festival/
Twitter: @WrittenChinese
Dragon Boat phrases
Want to talk about Dragon Boat with Chinese friends? Here are some key phrases you can use to chat with them:
http://www.hanbridgemandarin.com/article/chinese-culture/chinese-phrases-about-dragon-boat-festival/
Dragon Boat vocabulary
Here are some more vocabulary words, descriptions, and sentences you can use around the time of Dragon Boat:
http://www.duchinese.net/blog/32-the-duanwu-festival-aka-the-dragon-boat-festival
Twitter: @DuChinese
Zongzi and Dragon Boat
Why eat zongzi? How are they related to Dragon Boat? Learn all about it, as well as how to make zongzi, in this video from LearnChineseNow:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-znx5a-7Vc
Twitter: @LearnChineseNow
Chinese ebooks
Want to improve your Chinese reading? Perhaps some ebooks will be useful to you:
http://www.fluentu.com/chinese/blog/2016/06/08/chinese-ebooks/
Twitter: @FluentU
Some common characters
This week, we have a video lesson from chelseabubbly.wordpress.com in which we learn all about how to use 是 and 很
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hNKO58jGBk
Twitter: @Chelseabubbly
Mind your tones
There are countless examples of how tones can completely change the meaning of a sentence. Here’s a good one:
https://themandarincornerblog.com/2016/06/06/dont-make-this-mistake-speaking-mandarin/
Homophonic poetry
Lots of Chinese characters sound the same, and many others sound the same except for their tones. This article presents a few poems whose words all have the same sound, albeit with some different tones:
http://www.theworldofchinese.com/2016/06/the-stone-lions-tongue-twister/
Twitter: @WorldOfChinese
Under the knife
The character 刀(dāo) means “knife,” and is used in a component of many other characters and words:
http://www.touchchinese.com/chinese-words/about-dao.html
Cheaters never win
LearnChineseNow describes the GaoKao entrance examination for universities, and the lengths to which China is going to stop cheating:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxwSGuF4-Qk
Twitter: @LearnChineseNow
Chinese in 140 characters
Addicted to Twitter? You can use it to improve your Chinese, with this list of high-quality Chinese-learning Twitter feeds:
http://www.hackingchinese.com/best-twitter-feeds-learning-chinese-2016/
Twitter: @HackingChinese
In the neighborhood
Can you describe your neighborhood in Chinese, including the stores and other locations? Here’s a useful list:
http://blogs.transparent.com/chinese/my-neighborhood-in-chinese/
Twitter: @ChineseLanguage
Pinyin is your friend
Most (all?) of us who learn Chinese do so with Pinyin, the Romanized version of Chinese pronunciation. Pinyin is crucial and helpful, but it can also be quite surprising and frustrating. Here are some hints for improving your Pinyin use and understanding:
https://journeymandarin.wordpress.com/2016/05/17/pinyin-is-your-friend/
The time bank
A short essay about our use of time, in Chinese characters (and English).
http://www.e-putonghua.com/zone/index.php/2016/06/08/life-lesson-time-is-a-bank/
Crazy English names
Chinese people usually choose an English name, in order to work with the West. LearnChineseNow shares some of the odder ones they’ve found:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kKktfF9qLA
Twitter: @LearnChineseNow
Chinese words you wish English had
Do you sometimes learn a Chinese word and say, “Wow, I wish English had that word”? This discussion provides many such examples:
I think it’s true…
How can you say “I believe,” but not in the sense of believing, but rather in the sense of not being sure?
http://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/19213/how-to-express-i-think-not-i-feel
Brown rice
True, rice in China is normally white… but how you would say “brown rice”?
https://www.reddit.com/r/ChineseLanguage/comments/4mtzrp/how_does_one_say_brown_rice_in_mandarin/
Mistakes were made
How can you use the passive voice in order to indicate that something ws done, without indicating who did it? An interesting discussion of the passive vs. active in Chinese (and English):
Again vs. both vs. also
A number of characters have similar meanings, but are used differently. If you’ve ever wondered when to use each of them this discussion should help:
Less, please!
Want less sugar in your drink? Learn to ask for “less” in Chinese:
http://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/19238/how-do-say-less-when-modifying-a-noun
Improving your tones
How can you ensure your tones are as good as possible? Here is some advice:
https://www.reddit.com/r/ChineseLanguage/comments/4ngbey/tonesmy_archnemesis/