2014年1月20日 星期一

What's your Job in Chinese!!

Learning
What's your name?
What's your job?
in Chinese




Time flies in Mandarin!!

時間過得真快! Time flies real fast
下禮拜就過年了!!Next week will be new year!!


 hí jiān guò dé zhēn kuài !
xià lǐ bài jiù guò nián le ! !



Chinese Connections in Mandarin

有關係就沒關係 (traditonal)
沒關係就有關係

有关系就没关系(simplified)
没关系就有关系

...
yǒu guān xì jiù méi guān xì
méi guān xì jiù yǒu guān xì


If you have good guanxi/relationships/connections with people
then everything doesn't matter (your life will get easier)
Vice versa

- this is one of the Chinese sayings, it conveys how we value our relatinships with others, and how we value our connections with people.
- But I don't value 關係/关系 as much as other Chinese/Taiwanese people do. Because it's just too tiring to build up connections with people, and it's too fake to me! I'd rather making friends with people and have relationships with them naturally. What do you think?
 
 

2014年1月12日 星期日

Telling the Time in Chinese



SMART Mandarin

Chinese Learning Tips!

 

(nǐ )(hǎo )Hi!

This is Katrina Lee from SMART Mandarin.

Thank you so much for reading our weekly learning tips.

If you are learning Mandarin, struggling with studying, having questions about learning Chinese, or interested in our tips. You are welcome to contact us to subscribe our free weekly learning tips.



Katrina Lee



SMART Mandarin

 


Telling the Time in Chinese

 

To say “What time is it?” in Chinese is

请问,现在几点(钟)?

qǐng wèn xiàn zài jǐ diǎn zhōng )?

 

点钟 means oclock

diǎn zhōng

 

literally means how many

jǐ

So to answer this question, we can say

现在 + Number + 点(钟)。

xiàn zài                  diǎn zhōng

 

To say it’s 3 o’clock in Chinese

现在三点(钟)。

xiàn zài sān diǎn zhōng

 

To say it’s 12 o’clock in Chinese.

现在十二点钟。

xiàn zài shí èr diǎn zhōng

 

And to say it’s 12:30 we say

现在十二点半。

xiàn zài shí èr diǎn bàn

 

In this sentence above, 半(bàn means half, so it means its 3 oclock and a half.

To say it’s 2:45 we say

现在两点四十五分。

xiàn zài liǎng diǎn sì shí wǔ fēn

 

现在 means now and means used as minute when telling the time.

xiàn zài

There’s am and pm difference in English, so in Chinese, here is how to distinguish the difference between AM and PM.

 

It’s now 9:30am. We say..

现在早上九点半。

xiàn zài zǎo shang jiǔ diǎn bàn

 

We use 早上 morning.

zǎo shàng

 

It’s now 9:30pm. We say..

现在晚上九点半。

xiàn zài wǎn shàng jiǔ diǎn bàn

 

晚上means evening or night.

wǎn shàng

This is how we know it’s AM or PM. Sometimes it doesn’t even need to be mention, because we can tell it’s day time or evening time just looking out the window, right?


 

2014年1月7日 星期二

Accents- Chinese Mandarin VS Taiwanese Mandarin


Making a video about "Chinese Style VS Taiwanese Style Mandarin Accent" video!!
So excited!!! pls stay tuned ... heehee....  :)



2014年1月6日 星期一

IF in Chinese - Common Mistakes made by Mandarin Beginner




SMART Mandarin

Chinese Learning Tips!

 

(nǐ )(hǎo )Hi!

This is Katrina Lee from SMART Mandarin.

Thank you so much for reading our weekly learning tips.

If you are learning Mandarin, struggling with studying, having questions about learning Chinese, or interested in our tips. You are welcome to contact us to subscribe our free weekly learning tips.

 

Katrina Lee



SMART Mandarin

 

2014.01.06

(Simplified Chinese)

 

The Basic Usage of (de)

 

is one of the most common words in Chinese and it’s one of the most annoying grammatical words as well.

For beginners of Chinese, (de) can be translate as the “possession” equivalent to English word “of” or “’s”.

Let’s talk about the basics of in Mandarin!

 

1.      When is following a pronoun or a subject

()(de ) my  - (zhè )(shì )()(de )(shū ) This is my book.

()(de ) your  - ()(bēi )()(fēi )(shì )()(de )(ma ) Is that your cup of coffee?

()(de ) her

()(de ) his

()(men )(de ) their

()(men )(de ) your

()(men )(de ) our

(shuí )(de ) whose

Mary(de) Mary’s

 

2.      Using as the “of” function in English

(zhè )(zhǒng )(chá ) (de ) (wèi )(dào )(hěn )(hǎo )The flavor of this tea is very good.

As the example above, if we use a direct translation. It would be

   “This kind tea   of    taste   very good.”

      (zhè )(zhǒng )(chá )      (de )    (wèi )(dào )   (hěn )(hǎo )

 

  And it’s obvious that Mandarin structure of (de) is very different from English!

  In Chinese, we consider “taste” belongs to the “tea”. So in Chinese thinking it would become “ This kind tea’s taste is very good.” With this idea in mind, we can do more similar sentences with (de).

 

See more examples:

()()(pái )(zi )(de )(xiàng )()(hěn )(guì )The cameras of that bread are very expensive. or “that brand’s cameras are very expensive” (because the speaker is pointing out that “the cameras under that brand” are expensive)

 

3.      When is between an adjective and a noun, using to modify a noun

Example:  (cōng )(míng )(de )(hái )(zi ) Smart kid

聪明 is an adjective the sentence above, but adjectives can’t be used directly modifying the noun like English. Therefore, it is not ok to say “聪明孩子”.

For example: ()()(huān )(cōng )(míng )(de )(hái )(zi )I like smart kids.

                     ()()(huān )(hǎo)(chī )(de )(shí )()I like to eat delicious food.

 

4.      If the sentence is without any nouns after the adjective, then is not necessary to use.

For example: (zhè )(ge )(hái )(zi )(hěn )(cōng )(míng )This kid is very smart.

                     (zhōng )(guó )(cài )(hěn )(hào )(chī ) Chinese food is delicious.