Mandarin Weekly #142

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Mid-Autumn Festival vocabulary Beginner Culture Video

What are traditional ways to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival? Watching the moon and eating moon cakes, as described here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HSKgHsCJA4

Twitter: @ECLSchool

Mid-Autumn Festival traditions Beginner Culture Vocabulary

Everyone is talking about the Mid-Autumn Festival; here are some more phrases and traditions to learn:

https://www.tutormandarin.net/en/chinese-mid-autumn-festival/

Twitter: @MyTutorMandarin

A Mid-Autumn story Beginner Story Culture

Read a short story about the origins of Mid-Autumn Festival:

http://www.imandarinpod.com/hoola/index.php/podcasts/14-2009-12-02-23-37-05/2960-2017-10-03-11-53-49

Twitter: @imandarinpod

Mid-Autumn dialogues Beginner Culture Vocabulary Video

This introduction to Mid-Autumn Festival goes over vocabulary and traditions includes interviews with native Chinese about how they celebrate the holiday:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AH1SG66VU-k

Twitter: @YoYoChinese

National Day All Culture Vocabulary

Residents of China are celebrating two holidays — Mid-Autumn Festival, and also National Day. This article describes both, but has some great tidbits about National Day, including the Chinese anthem:

https://blogs.transparent.com/chinese/national-day-and-mid-autumn-festival/

Twitter: @ChineseLanguage

Describing textures Intermediate Vocabulary Video

Here’s a fun game: Touch an object, describe it in Chinese, and then guess what it is. Amusing and useful for some additional descriptive words:

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

Twitter: @ChinesePod

Drinking alcohol All Culture Vocabulary Video

Want to drink either 白酒 (bái jiǔ) or 黄酒 (huáng jiǔ)? Here is some background on them, as well as vocabulary and cultural information about making and drinking them:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Du7qliD2lDM

Twitter: @ChinesePod

Chinese vs. Japanese vs. Korean All Learning

Some people want to learn not only Chinese, but also Japanese and Korean. Are these languages similar to one another? And in what order should you pursue studying them?

https://www.digmandarin.com/master-three-languages-chinese-japanese-korean.html

Twitter: @DigMandarin

More measure words! Intermediate Grammar

Measure words are an essential part of Chinese grammar. Here are some measure words that you might not know, along with examples of everyday objects that use them:

https://www.digmandarin.com/chinese-measure-words-size-shape-wrapped-items.html

Twitter: @DigMandarin

You’re really something Intermediate Grammar Video

Want to indicate amazement at someone’s abilities, or (by contrast) their amazing foolishness? In both cases, you can say 你可以呀 (nĭ kĕyĭ ya):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3znEIXI070

Twitter: @ECLSchool

Pinyin and pronunciation All Pronunciation

An important part of Chinese is correct pronounciation. And for most people learning Chinese, that means knowing how to correctly pronounce each of the Pinyin syllables. Here are some hints for how to learn and improve your pronounciation, starting with Pinyin:

https://www.fluentu.com/blog/chinese/2017/10/05/chinese-pinyin-pronunciation/

Twitter: @FluentU

Twitter feeds to follow All Learning

There are lots of great Twitter feeds for people learning Chinese (other than @MandarinWeekly, of course). Here are 10 that you should definitely be watching:

https://www.fluentu.com/blog/chinese/2017/10/02/learn-chinese-twitter/

Twitter: @FluentU

Using vocabulary lists All Learning Characters

Are vocabulary lists useful? Perhaps; a previous post talked about that. But if you have a good list, how can you use it most effectively to learn and absorb new vocabulary?

http://www.hackingchinese.com/different-lists-for-learning-chinese/

Twitter: @HackingChinese

Good morning! Intermediate Culture Vocabulary

What do you do each morning? Get up, brush your teeth, wash your face, have breakfast… Do you know how to say each of these in Chinese? This article takes you through a typical morning for many people, and reviews the vocabulary and phrases you’ll need:

https://blogs.transparent.com/chinese/a-good-morning-routine-in-chinese/

Twitter: @ChineseLanguage

Getting service Beginner Vocabulary

If you’re not sure what (or how) to call the service person where you are, you can use the term 劳驾 (láo jià):

http://www.theworldofchinese.com/2017/10/the-magic-word-for-addressing-strangers/

Twitter: @WorldOfChinese

All about Go Intermediate Vocabulary

The game of Go 围棋 (wéi qí) is ancient and yet remains challenging, and is popular in China. Here are some additional thoughts and vocabulary words about this game:

http://www.theworldofchinese.com/2017/10/on-the-character-%e6%a3%8b/

Twitter: @WorldOfChinese

Tea ceremony Beginner Culture Vocabulary Video

Tea is an iconic drink in China, and serving (and drinking) it includes a ceremony, as describes here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQLJ-w1-oOE

Twitter: @ChinesePod

Teacher’s Day Beginner Vocabulary Culture

You should always show respect to (and appreciation for) your teachers, but here’s information about Teacher’s Day, a holiday in China and Taiwan (albeit on different days):

https://www.tutormandarin.net/en/chinese-teachers-day/

Twitter: @MyTutorMandarin

Idiomatic expressions Intermediate Expressions

Your Chinese will sound more natural and authentic when you use native expressions. Here are some great ones to begin using in your conversations:

http://www.saporedicina.com/english/idiomatic-expressions-chinese/

Pumping gas Intermediate Grammar

How do you say that you want to put gas in your car?

https://forum.wordreference.com/threads/%E6%88%91%E8%A6%81%E7%BB%99%E8%BD%A6%E5%8A%A0%E6%B2%B9.3374100/