大家好! (Hi, everyone!) This is Mandarin Weekly #100, a free newsletter with links and information for those of us learning Chinese.
Thousands of people from around the world now subscribe to Mandarin Weekly. If you enjoy it, please share it with your teacher and/or fellow students:
Full archives are at http://MandarinWeekly.com, as is our list of discounts for students of Chinese.
To receive Mandarin Weekly in your e-mail inbox every Monday, just use the box on our Web site, at MandarinWeekly.com. Or follow us on Twitter, at @MandarinWeekly! We’re also on Facebook, at http://facebook.com/MandarinWeekly, and Medium, at http://medium.com/@mandarinweekly.
Measure words (“classifiers”)
Beginner Measure words are a fundamental part of Chinese grammar; every noun has (at least) one, and learning which word goes with which noun can take some getting used to. Here’s an introduction to measure words, as well as a list of the most common ones:
http://www.saporedicina.com/english/classifiers-chinese-language/#
Hey, dummy!
Beginner Want to call someone an idiot in Chinese? Try the term 白痴 (bái chī):
https://themandarincornerblog.com/2016/12/05/why-you-should-never-try-diy-plumbing-in-china/
Money words
Intermediate Chinese attitudes toward money are easier to understand when you have a few key phrases under your belt:
http://www.yoyochinese.com/blog/Chinese-Culture-Attitudes-Toward-Money-Habits
Twitter: @YoYoChinese
Tongue twisters
Chinese isn’t hard enough to pronounce for Westerners, so here are four tongue twisters designed to make your mouth beg for mercy:
http://blogs.transparent.com/chinese/five-chinese-tongue-twisters/
Twitter: @ChineseLanguage
Translation challenge
Intermediate Time for another Hacking Chinese challenge! Try to translate as much as possible over the next two weeks:
http://www.hackingchinese.com/chinese-translation-challenge-december-10th-31st/
Twitter: @HackingChinese
Preview your lessons
If you arrive at your Chinese lesson without first reviewing the material from the previous time (and even the coming time), you’re losing out on an important way to learn:
http://www.hackingchinese.com/preview-every-chinese-lesson/
Twitter: @HackingChinese
On time
Intermediate Are you generally punctual? Maybe, but how would you describe that quality in Chinese? And how is that different from being on time for something? Here’s a summary of these different time-related terms:
http://www.decodemandarinchinese.com/zhunshi-vs-shoushi-vs-jishi-vs-anshi/
Twitter: @DecodeChinese
Tough characters
Intermediate Differentiating between characters can be hard, especially when they’re complex. Identifying the semantic component can be helpful in remembering and identifying them, as indicated here:
http://www.decodemandarinchinese.com/how-to-learn-similar-characters/
Twitter: @DecodeChinese
Hotel talk
Intermediate Going to China? Planning to stay in a hotel? Here are some useful words and phrases, from ordering to check-in to check-out:
https://www.writtenchinese.com/foolproof-phrases-for-booking-a-hotel-in-chinese/
Twitter: @WrittenChinese
Learning Chinese with YouTube
Intermediate YouTube is full of Chinese learning goodness. Here are some useful channels for learners of all levels:
http://www.fluentu.com/chinese/blog/2016/12/07/learn-chinese-with-youtube/
Twitter: @FluentU
May I?
Beginner The word 让 () talks about letting people do things, and can be used in a number of ways, as shown here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Id-9TuyhabM
Same old, same old
Intermediate Has anything changed? No? Then you can use the expression 大同小异 (dà tóng xiǎo yì):
http://www.e-putonghua.com/zone/index.php/2016/12/09/idiom-20/
Twitter: @eputonghua
Taking HSK5
Advanced Thinking of taking the HSK 5 exam? Here is how it went for one student of Chinese:
http://www.chinese-forums.com/index.php?/topic/52794-what-i-learned-from-taking-the-hsk-5/
Chinese chemical names
There are four new elements on the periodic table? What are their Chinese names? And who establishes them?
http://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/22056/how-are-new-element-names-characters-decided
Special delivery
Beginner There are several words that have to do with sending or bringing; how are they different?
Using 所
Beginner The word 所 has a number of meanings — including as a modifiers for the word (character) that follows it, making it somewhat passive:
https://www.reddit.com/r/ChineseLanguage/comments/5h9iaj/meaning_and_when_to_use_%E6%89%80/
Also published on Medium.
Thankyou