大家好！ (Hi, everyone!) This is Mandarin Weekly #80, links and information for those of us learning Chinese.
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Tour words
Want to learn some basic words for touring around China? Here is a short video with some of the basics:
Twitter: @chineseclass101
A day in the park
One of my favorite activities when traveling in China is to go to a public park: Not only are older people often dancing or singing, but it’s generally a quiet, green space with relatively few people. Here are some great words to describe public parks, and what people do there:
http://blogs.transparent.com/chinese/a-day-in-the-park/
Twitter: @ChineseLanguage
5 ways to say “cannot”
How do you say “I cannot”? Chinese have five ways, as we see here in the latest video from chelseabubbly.wordpress.com:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MouRqGdWZIU
Twitter: @Chelseabubbly
Using 多 as “multi-“
The word 多 can be used in a few ways, but one of them is analogous to the “multi-” prefix in English, as these examples show:
http://www.decodemandarinchinese.com/learn-better/formula-of-duo
Twitter: @DecodeChinese
Getting help from strangers
Lost in China? You might need to ask someone for help. How can you do that in Chinese?
http://www.digmandarin.com/get-help-from-strangers-in-china.html
Twitter: @DigMandarin
Chinese math
How do you express different mathematical ideas in Chinese? This vocabulary list is particularly useful for those of us in the sciences and engineering:
How many?
How do you use 几 (jǐ) to ask number-related questions? This video from EChineseLearning.com offers many examples, and then a quiz:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8A07fitHavI
Twitter: @ECLSchool
Big bike crash
What can we learn from a huge pedestrian-bicycle accident in China? Some vocabulary, as well as some street-crossing skills, as we hear from LearnChineseNow.com:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3dLOKiNOFs
Twitter: @LearnChineseNow
Classic novels
There are four classic Chinese-language novels, whose content and language permeate the language to the present day. LearnChineseNow.com provides us with some background and vocabulary from these:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGe0wtjgak0
Twitter: @LearnChineseNow
Wedding etiquette
Invited to a Chinese wedding? Great! What should you do when you’re there, and what can you expect? This article will tell you:
https://www.writtenchinese.com/the-6-etiquettes-of-a-traditional-chinese-wedding-ceremony/
Twitter: @WrittenChinese
How do you practice?
All of us (presumably) practice our Chinese, even when not in class. But are you practicing the right way? This post not only suggests how to practice, but also how to identify where you’re weakest, and thus get the biggest bang for the buck:
http://www.hackingchinese.com/are-you-practising-chinese-the-right-way/
Twitter: @HackingChinese
Short story
Read (or listen to) this short story in Chinese, with characters and pinyin:
http://chinese-at-ease.com/learn-chinese-story-online-a-story-about-a-little-village/
Twitter: @ChineseAtEase
One ringy dingy
Want to use the phone in Chinese? Here are some phrases you can use to make and receive calls:
http://mandarinhq.com/2016/07/8-common-phrases-phone-calls-mandarin-chinese/
Twitter: @MandarinHQ
Books
Want to describe different types of reading materials in Chinese? Here is a short, helpful vocabulary list:
http://allaboutchinese.tumblr.com/post/147558332168/allaboutchinese-%E4%B9%A6-books
Beijing summer must-haves
In Beijing for the summer? You’re probably hot. Here are some must-have items for a Beijing summer — in Chinese, of course:
http://blog.hellochinese.cc/2016/07/19/5-things-must-summer-beijing/
Twitter: @HelloChineseApp
Popular Chinese apps
Want to use your phone like people in China do? Here are some apps that are super-popular there, which you might want to install on your phone:
http://www.duchinese.net/blog/36-ten-popular-apps-the-chinese-use-part-1
Twitter: @DuChinese
Using 把
The 把 (bǎ) character is used in a grammar pattern that many Westerners find hard to understand and use. Here are some tips for internalizing its use:
https://www.reddit.com/r/ChineseLanguage/comments/4uchq8/when_to_use_%E6%8A%8A/
Simplified 只 is lots of traditional characters
If you’re learning simplified characters, then you’ll find that 只 is used in place of several different traditional ones. Here is a description of how that happened, and when to use them:
Radical rooms
The radical for 屋 (wū) is a bit surprising, as described here:
Radical animals
Why do some animals’ characters lack the animal radical (犭)?