Mandarin Weekly #78

大家好！ (Hi, everyone!) This is Mandarin Weekly #78, links and information for those of us learning Chinese.

If you enjoy Mandarin Weekly, please share it with your fellow students of Chinese, and with your teacher! This newsletter will always be completely free of charge.

To receive Mandarin Weekly in your e-mail inbox every Monday, just use the box on the left side at MandarinWeekly.com. Or follow us on Twitter, at @MandarinWeekly! We’re also on Facebook, at http://facebook.com/MandarinWeekly.

Using 在

The word 在 (zài) can be used in a variety of ways, to describe location. Here is a description of where to use it, and where you might make common mistakes:

https://www.writtenchinese.com/the-different-uses-of-zai-in-chinese/

Twitter: @WrittenChinese

The five Chinese elements

What are the traditional five elements in Chinese culture? LearnChineseNow.com provides us with insights:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQN_H1LmI34

Twitter: @LearnChineseNow

Funny character associations

If you’re trying to remember characters, it’s often a good idea to make a silly or unusual association that’ll help you remember. Here are some examples:

http://www.digmandarin.com/block-headed-hula-girl-useful-silliness.html

Twitter: @DigMandarin

I really have to go

How can you end a conversation in Chinese? Here are a few good ways to do so. Don’t get trapped in a conversation again!

http://mandarinhq.com/2016/07/5-ways-end-conversation-politely-mandarin-chinese/

Twitter: @MandarinHQ

Eating restrictions

When you’re in China, you might be expected to eat all sorts of things that you wouldn’t see in your own country. And even in your own country, you might have certain eating restrictions, for a vareity of reasons. How can you say, in Chinese, that your eating options are restricted?

http://chinesefor.us/eating-habits-in-chinese/

Twitter: @chinese4us

Paper vs. electronic dictionaries

What kind of dictionary should you use? And what brands are worth trying?

https://zhongruige.wordpress.com/2016/07/08/in-paper-versus-electric-dictionaries-electric-wins/

Twitter: @zhongruige

Little red card

Following the Euro 2016 soccer matches? Want to tell your Chinese friends who got a red card vs. a yellow card? Here’s a full soccer vocabulary list, to talk about the games with your friends:

http://chinesefor.us/soccer-words-in-chinese/

Twitter: @chinese4us