New Video Lessons Uploaded!!

New Video Lessons Uploaded!! 

Dear Students,

We've uploaded two latest video lessons recently!

1.Using 把(bǎ) in Chinese 3 

In this lesson, you will learn how to use 把 in a Chinese structure and make sentences such as "Drive your car out of the house" " Drive your car into the house" ..etc.

2. Chinese Result Complement 1

In this lesson, you will learn a new concept of Chinese " Result Complement" to talk about a conclusion or the result of an action. 

We hope to see you in our lessons soon!

SMART Mandarin

Chinese Result Complement 1 - SMART Mandarin

Using 把(bǎ) in Chinese 4

Dear Students,

In this lesson, you'll learn how to use 把 with directional suffix, and make sentences such us,

1. Hang it up.
2. Take it down.
3. Hang up the Chinese painting.
4. Take down that Chinese painting.

Click Here to see the full video lesson

SMART Mandarin

Vegetarian Chinese!

Vegetarian Chinese

Since Buddhism is deeply rooted in Taiwanese culture, vegetarianism isn't a new concept in Taiwan.

Today we're going to touch on some useful vocabulary about vegetarianism in Chinese.

1. "I'm a vegetarian” is

    我吃素。 wǒ chīsù
   This means, " I eat vegetarian food" 
   The word "素 sù “ is a short form for "素食 sùshí”.

2. " vegetarian restaurant” is    

素食餐廳 sùshí canting

3. "I'm a vegan” is
   我吃全素。  wǒ chī quán sù
   The word 全quán means "whole; entire" 

4. Some Buddist vegetarians do not eat garlic, onions, or green onions.

So if you happen to be one of them, you might need to say
    我的素食請不要加蔥蒜，謝謝。
    wǒ de sùshí qǐng bùyào jiā cōng suàn, xièxiè

    This literally means, " Please don't add garlic and onions to my vegetarian food,

thank you."

5. If you are the kind of vegetarian who eats eggs and drink milk, then you can say:
    蛋奶素 dàn nǎi sù  （literary meaning egg, milk vegetarian food）
    You can tell people:    我吃蛋奶素 wǒ chī dàn nǎi sù
     which means, I'm a vegetarian who can have eggs and milk.

6. 鍋邊素  guō biān sù
  Literally means " pot side vegetarian". 
  It's a more casual vegetarian, who can share a pot of meat broth with people, but he/she     only picks the vegetables out of it.

So what type of vegetarian are you?  ;)

                                                                                             (Picture from Google)

We hope you find this interesting and helpful! 
Thanks for reading all the way through.

SMART Mandarin
Katrina Lee

Using 把（bǎ） in Chinese 2

                      Using 把（bǎ） in Chinese 2

把（bǎ）structure is one of the most frequently used 

structures in Chinese. 

Mastering how to use it, will make your daily speech of Chinese

sounds more natural to native speakers' ears!

In this lesson, you'll learn 

1. How to use 把(bǎ) structure with directional suffix

2. Make sentences like "Take the remote control 

    over to me" and "Take the remote control over there" 

    in this new structure.

Click HERE to see the full video lesson!

Enjoy!!

SMART Mandarin

Katrina Lee

Using 把（bǎ） in Chinese 1

Using 把（bǎ） in Chinese 1

把（bǎ）structure is one of the most frequently used structures in Chinese. 

Mastering how to use it, will make your daily speech of Chinese sounds more natural to native speakers' ears!

In this lesson, you'll learn 

1. How to use 把(bǎ) structure.

2. Make sentences like "I drank your tea." sentence

    in this new structure.

Click HERE to see our full video lesson!

See you in class!

SMART Mandarin

Katrina Lee

Action Completion in Chinese! by using 是……的（shì... de）

Action Completion in Chinese! by using 是……的（shì... de） 

When asking people Wh-questions about things that they have completed in

the past, here’s a structure that you need to know in Chinese -是……的（shì... de）

For instance, when a person says to you, “I bought a cup of coffee” you may ask,

“When did you buy the coffee?”, then the是……的（shì... de）structure is here

to help!

This is how we use the 是……的（shì... de）structure

n  I bought a cup of coffee.

我買了一杯咖啡

wǒ mǎile yībēi kāfēi

l  是+ Question Word + Verb + 的

Where did you buy your coffee?

你是在哪裡買咖啡的？

nǐ shì zài nǎlǐ mǎi kāfēi de

When did you buy your coffee?

你是什麼時候買咖啡的？

nǐ shì shénme shíhòu mǎi kāfēi de

For more details, please check out our video lesson 

Here!

Keep up the good work, and see you in cyberspace!

SMARTMandarin

Katrina Lee

Vegetarian Chinese

Vegetarian Chinese

Since Buddhism is deeply rooted in Taiwanese culture, vegetarianism isn't a new concept in Taiwan.

Today we're going to touch on some useful vocabulary about vegetarianism in Chinese.

(Traditional Chinese)

1. "I'm a vegetarian” is

    我吃素。 wǒ chīsù
   This means, " I eat vegetarian food" 
   The word "素 sù “ is a short form for "素食 sùshí”.

2. " vegetarian restaurant” is    

素食餐廳 sùshí canting

3. "I'm a vegan” is
   我吃全素。  wǒ chī quán sù
   The word 全quán means "whole; entire" 

4. Some Buddist vegetarians do not eat garlic, onions, or green onions.

So if you happen to be one of them, you might need to say
    我的素食請不要加蔥蒜，謝謝。
    wǒ de sùshí qǐng bùyào jiā cōng suàn, xièxiè

    This literally means, " Please don't add garlic and onions to my vegetarian food,

thank you."

5. If you are the kind of vegetarian who doesn’t eat eggs and drink milk, then you can say:
    蛋奶素 dàn nǎi sù  （literary meaning egg, milk vegetarian food）
    You can tell people:    我吃蛋奶素 wǒ chī dàn nǎi sù
   which means, I'm a vegetarian who can have eggs and milk.

6. 鍋邊素  guō biān sù
  Literally means " pot side vegetarian". 
 It's a more casual vegetarian, who can share a pot of meat broth with people, but he/she only picks the vegetables out of it.

So what type of vegetarian are you?  ;)

We hope you find this interesting and helpful! 
Thanks for reading all the way through.

(Picture from Google)

SMART Mandarin
Katrina Lee

Tea

    Tea

I get a sugar rush whenever I have “white gourd” tea(冬瓜茶dōngguā chá). Tea culture in Taiwan: it’s not what you expect. Go to any Taiwanese city, and you will see scooter drivers stopping suddenly and going to a counter to grab a big plastic cup of iced tea. This is hot Taiwan, after all. In addition to “white gourd” tea(冬瓜茶dōngguā chá), they can get a myriad of flavors(口味kǒuwèi) such as mango green tea(芒果綠茶mángguǒ lǜchá), plum green tea(梅子綠茶méizi lǜchá), milk tea with pudding(布丁奶茶bùdīng nǎichá), and Taiwan’s most famous of all, pearl tea(珍珠奶茶zhēnzhū nǎichá)

(Pictures from Google)

One of the most famous tea shops in Taiwan - Coco

冬瓜茶dōngguā chá

芒果綠茶mángguǒ lǜchá            梅子綠茶méizi lǜchá

                          

布丁奶茶bùdīng nǎichá         珍珠奶茶zhēnzhū nǎichá

                    

The younger generations drink tea when they are thirsty. They are concerned about their palate so they demand an ever-changing stock of flavors.

On the other hand, older people regard tea as more than a thirst quencher. They still appreciate a more traditional tea culture which takes a whole set of “tea tools”(一套茶具yī tào chájù). We call this tea ceremony “cha dao”(茶道chádào ), which requires a very specific sequence of procedures.

The good thing for tea lovers of all ages is that tea in all its forms continues to be a central part of Taiwanese culture. Tea has a bright future in Taiwan.

一套茶具yī tào chájù                

                          

 茶道chádào








SMART Mandarin
Katrina Lee

Most Commonly Used Measure Words

Most Commonly Used Measure Words

Chinese measure words is a big lesson for beginners of Chinese, and many people see them as an “impossible challenge”, since there are so many of them.

Here, we collected 12 measure words for you.

(Traditional Chinese)

1.  gè 個- a general measure word, and it’s used the most frequently in daily life.

2.  běn 本 - for bound objects (books, magazines)

3.  zhāng 張 – for flat objects (pieces of paper, tables, CDs)

4.  fèn 份 - for servings of food as well as for multi-page documents

5.  bēi 杯 – for cups (1 cup of tea, 2 cups of coffee)

6.  shuāng 雙 – for pairs (2 chopsticks, 2 shoes, 2 eyes)

7.  píng瓶 – for bottles ( a bottle of water, 3 bottles of wine)

8.  jīn斤 – a weight measurement for fruit, meat, food

9.  wèi 位 - for people (polite)

10. zhī 支- for stick-like objects (pen)

11. kuài 塊 – for money and cake

12. liàng輛- for vehicles with wheels (but not trains)

How do we use measure words?

There are different structures for using measure words in Chinese. The basic one is

Number+ measure word + noun

Example: 一杯咖啡 (a cup of coffee), 兩支筆 (two pens)

Every noun of Chinese has a measure word.

So mastering measure words can make you sound more native, and better understand Chinese conversations.

There are also many tips for using measure words. Just click the links below to see our full video lessons on this big topic!

(Click the lessons below)

Measure Words in Chinese

How to use measure 

Hope you enjoy the lesson!

SMART Mandarin

Katrina Lee