Mandarin Weekly #79

大家好！ (Hi, everyone!) This is Mandarin Weekly #79, links and information for those of us learning Chinese.

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Chinese pronouns

Pronouns are such a part of our everyday conversation, it’s easy to forget how important they are. In this post, we learn about pronouns in Chinese, including in questions:

https://www.writtenchinese.com/you-me-this-that-pronouns-in-chinese/

Twitter: @WrittenChinese

Spit it out!

Is someone hesitating, or unable to tell you what they really think? Here’s a great video from ChinesePod.com, teaching you a useful phrase (吞吞吐吐, or tūn tūn tǔ tǔ):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXQT8FF32V0

Twitter: @ChinesePod

Using 那个 like a native

那个 (nà ge) means “that,” but it can be used in a variety of other ways to make your Chinese sound more fluent. Here are some examples:

http://www.duchinese.net/blog/35-usages-of-not-found-in-textbooks

Twitter: @DuChinese

Bad friends

Don’t like the company someone is keeping? You can describe the friends as 狐朋狗友 (hú péng gǒu yǒu):

http://www.e-putonghua.com/zone/index.php/2016/07/11/slang-hu-peng-gou-you/

Two kinds of “we”

The word 咱们 (zá men) is a way of saying “we,” including the person with whom you’re speaking. It’s only used in northern China, but can help you to understand what a northerner is saying:

https://themandarincornerblog.com/2014/08/11/i-and-we-in-china/

Just passing through

The character 过 (guò) means to “pass,” but can be used along with other characters to create a variety of words:

http://www.digmandarin.com/passing-through-in-mandarin.html

Twitter: @DigMandarin

Days

How do we talk about days in Chinese? (That is, today vs. tomorrow, vs. many other options.) LearnChineseNow.com has a short video on the subject:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akFeB0cWiuM

Twitter: @LearnChineseNow

Avoiding an answer

Don’t want to answer a question? Here are some ways to hedge your response, providing you with some ambiguous cover:

http://chinesefor.us/how-to-say-no-comment-in-chinese-politely/

Twitter: @chinese4us

Using native textbooks

It might seem like a great idea to improve your Chinese by reading textbooks for Chinese children. There are good and bad sides to this, as described here:

http://www.hackingchinese.com/benefits-using-%e8%af%ad%e6%96%87%e5%9c%8b%e6%96%87-textbooks-learn-chinese/

Twitter: @HackingChinese

Apps for learning

Most Chinese learners seem to use a few apps to improve their vocabulary, reading, and general comprehension. Here is a roundup of such apps:

https://www.asianlanguageschool.com/8-best-apps-chinese-language-courses-2016/

Using 也 (yě) and 还 (hái)

These two characters have similar meanings, but are used in different contexts. Here is a (fairly exhaustive!) list of examples of when you might use each one:

http://answers.echineselearning.com/questions/2016-07/15/112234884LDXSAHLJ.html

Ordering street BBQ

When you’re in China, you can’t get away from the many stands selling food of various sorts. Here’s a dialogue that demonstrates how to order from such a stand:

http://mandarinhq.com/2016/07/ordering-street-barbecue-mandarin-chinese/

Twitter: @MandarinHQ

Fruit

A nice list of Chinese fruit, with pictures:

http://www.touchchinese.com/chinese-words/about-fruits-in-chinese.html

http://www.touchchinese.com/chinese-words/about-fruits-in-chinese-2.html

AP Chinese

Are you a US high school students planning to take the AP Chinese exam? Here is what to expect, as well as some hints on how to practice:

http://www.fluentu.com/chinese/blog/2016/07/13/ap-chinese-practice/

Twitter: @FluentU

Animals

Here is a short list (with rather cute drawings) of animals, with their Chinese names:

http://allaboutchinese.tumblr.com/post/147306292207/allaboutchinese-%E5%8A%A8%E7%89%A9-animal

Sing your vegetables

Here’s a short video, aimed at children, to learn the words for some vegetables in Chinese:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMt17QzA1Fo

Reading vs. seeing

There are several different ways to say “read” in Chinese; what’s the difference between them?

http://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/19579/what-is-the-difference-among-%e9%98%85%e8%af%bb-%e8%af%bb-and-%e7%9c%8b

Lending vs. borrowing

When do you use 借 （jiè） and when do you use 贷 (dài)? Don’t they both mean “borrow” or “lend”?

http://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/19544/difference-between-%e5%80%9f-and-%e8%b4%b7

Money money money

What’s the difference between saying 钱 (qián) and 金钱 (jīn qián)?

http://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/19556/what-is-the-difference-between-%e9%92%b1-and-%e9%87%91%e9%92%b1-and-%e6%ac%be

Life

The English word “life” has several meanings, which translate into different words in Chinese:

http://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/19541/difference-between-%e7%94%9f%e6%b4%bb-and-%e7%94%9f%e5%91%bd

Learning without studying

Many Chinese words for “learn” would seem to imply studying or practicing. What about learning just through life, over time?

http://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/19492/how-to-say-learn-without-involving-studying

Frequently confused characters

What characters are frequently confused? How do you distinguish between them?

https://www.reddit.com/r/ChineseLanguage/comments/4sqay1/which_characters_do_you_often_confuse_with_each/