Easy Way To Learn Chinese

October 31, 2009



** Tips: The reds are linked to related pages. Click on them to visit. They should open in new windows. The greens are pinyin. **

I found a very interesting Chinese blog

豆楊, 在巴黎吻百個男人 (豆杨，在巴黎吻百个男人)
"Dòuyáng ，Zài Bālí Wěn Bǎi Gè Nánrén" (Douyoung, Kiss 100 Men In Paris)

Douyoung, I think it's her pen name, a young pretty lady from Taiwan who's studying music in Paris.
I consider her a great pianist and admire her. Her YouTube Video is amazing:



She wanted to know how it would feel about kissing 100 men in Paris so she came up with this "crazy" idea. She teamed up with a photographer and started to look for men to kiss on the streets and have the photos taken. I think she has kissed over 50 men so far. She's going to publish a book about this story so not every kiss will be posted. I think those photos she has posted are beautiful.

第一个吻 dì yī gè wěn ( The 1st kiss)
第五个吻 dì wǔ gè wěn ( The 5th kiss)
第七个吻 dì qī gè wěn ( The 7th kiss)
第八个吻 dì bā gè wěn ( The 8th kiss)
第九个吻 dì jiǔ gè wěn ( The 9th kiss)
第十三个吻 dì shí sān gè wěn ( The 13th kiss)
第十五个吻 dì shí wǔ gè wěn ( The 15th kiss)
第十六个吻 dì shí liù gè wěn ( The 16th kiss)
第三十七个吻 dì sān shí qī gè wěn ( The 37th kiss)
第四十六个吻 dì sì shí liù gè wěn ( The 46th kiss) *This is my favorite.
This one she didn't say the number of the kiss.

What do you think? I'd love to hear from you. Click HERE.

第 dì : prefix indicating ordinal number.
在 zài : in, at.
巴黎 Bālí : Paris.
吻 wěn : kiss.
百bǎi : hundred.
个 gè : classifier for people or objects in general.
男人 nán rén : man or men.

Related blog.

October 20, 2009

** Tips: The reds are linked to related pages. Click on them to visit. They should open in new windows. The greens are pinyin. Green with a hand is also a link. **

Today I'm going to share a famous kid song "Ni Wa Wa" (Mud Doll).
You'll use words for body and family which I posted some in "Big Elephant", "Head Shoulders Knees and Toes" and "2 Tigers".






Lyrics in pinyin, translations and simplified characters:

"Ní Wá Wa" (Mud Doll)

Ní wáwa, (Mud doll,)
泥娃娃
Ní wáwa, (Mud doll,)
泥娃娃
Yīgè ní wáwa, (A mud doll,)
一个泥娃娃
Yě yǒu nà méimáo, (Has the eyebrows too,)
也有那眉毛
Yě yǒu nà yǎnjīng, (Has the eyes too,)
也有那眼睛
Yǎnjīng búhuì zhǎ. (Eyes will not blink.)
眼睛不会眨

Ní wáwa, (Mud doll,)
泥娃娃
Ní wáwa, (Mud doll,)
泥娃娃
Yīgè ní wáwa, (A mud doll,)
一个泥娃娃
Yě yǒu nà bízi, (Has the nose too,)
也有那鼻子
Yě yǒu nà zuǐbā, (Has the mouth too,)
也有那嘴巴
Zuǐbā bù shuōhuà. (Mouth does not speak.)
嘴巴不说话

Tā shì ge jiǎ wáwa, (She is a fake doll,)
她是个假娃娃
Bú shì ge zhēn wáwa, (Not a real baby,)
不是个真娃娃
Tā méiyǒu qīnàide māma, (She does not have dear mother,)
她没有亲爱的妈妈
Yě méiyǒu bàba. (Also has no father.)
也没有爸爸

Ní wáwa, (Mud doll,)
泥娃娃
Ní wáwa, (Mud doll,)
泥娃娃
Yīgè ní wáwa, (A mud doll,)
一个泥娃娃
Wǒ zuò tā māma, (I'll be her mother,)
我做她妈妈
Wǒ zuò tā bàba, (I'll be her father,)
也做她爸爸
Yǒngyuǎn ài zhe tā. (Always love her.)
永远爱着她

Repeat all.

Audio Version: CLICK HERE

Word by word audio, explanation and traditional characters:
Copy any sentence in Chinese above and paste in the box below then hit "Search". The traditional characters are at the right side where it says "Traditional variant". If you see a blank that means the character's traditional version is the same as simplified version.





By the way, if you are interested in learning writing Chinese characters, here's a super cool site:
ArchChinese.com
They have traditional and simplified version, stroke order animation & dictionary including pronunciation and explanation, flashcards, worksheets, tools and Chinese radicals.


Questions? Please comment, I'd love to hear from you. Click HERE.

October 11, 2009

** Tips: The reds are linked to related pages. Click on them to visit. They should open in new windows. The greens are pinyin. Green with a hand is also a link. **

Another beautiful song about moon "Cheng Li De Yueguang" (Moonlight in Town) by Mavis Hee. Visit MavisHee.com for her photos and albums...etc.


Lyrics in pinyin and translation:

"Chéng Lǐ De Yuèguāng" (Moonlight in Town)

1.
Měi kē xīn shàng mǒu yīgè dìfāng, (Each mind a certain place,)
Zǒng yǒu gè jìyì huī bú sàn. (Always has a memory that can not wipe away.)
Měi gè shēnyè mǒu yīgè dìfāng, (Each late night a certain place,)
Zǒng yǒuzhe zuì shēn de sīliang. (Always has the deepest thoughts.)
Shìjiān wàn qiān de biànhuàn, (Thousands of changing in this world,)
Aì bǎ yǒuqíngde rén fèn liǎng duān. (Love to seperate the lovers.)
Xīn ruò zhīdào língxī de fāngxiàng, (If the hearts know the direction to the meeting of the minds,)
Nǎ pà bú nénggòu zhāoxī xiàngbàn? (Why be afraid of not being able to accompany day and night?)
2.
Chéng lǐ de yuèguāng bǎ mèng zhàoliàng, (The moonlinght in town lights up the dream,)
Qǐng wēnnuǎn tā xīnfáng. (Please warm his heart.)
Kàntòu le rénjiān jùsàn, (Seeing so many meeting and parting in the world,)
Néngbùnéng duō diǎn kuàilè piànduàn? (Can't we have some more happiness?)
Chéng lǐ de yuèguāng bǎ mèng zhàoliàng, (The moonlinght in town lights up the dream,)
Qǐng shǒuhù tā shēn páng. (Please guard beside it.)
Ruò yǒu yītiān néng chóngféng, (If one day meet again,)
Ràng xìngfú sǎ mǎn zhěnggè yèwǎn. (Let the happiness scattered throughout the night.)
Repeat 1, 2, 2
Ruò yǒu yītiān néng chóngféng, (If one day meet again,)
Ràng xìngfú sǎ mǎn zhěnggè yèwǎn. (Let the happiness scattered throughout the night.)

Lyrics in traditional Chinese:

1.
每顆心上某一個地方
總有個記憶揮不散
每個深夜某一個地方
總有著最深的思量

世間萬千的變幻
愛把有情的人分兩端
心若知道靈犀的方向
哪怕不能夠朝夕相伴

2.
城裡的月光把夢照亮
請溫暖他心房
看透了人間聚散
能不能多點快樂片段

城裡的月光把夢照亮
請守護它身旁
若有一天能重逢
讓幸福撒滿整個夜晚

Repeat 1, 2, 2若有一天能重逢
讓幸福撒滿整個夜晚

Lyrics in simplified Chinese:

1.
每颗心上某一个地方
总有个记忆挥不散
每个深夜某一个地方
总有著最深的思量

世间万千的变幻
爱把有情的人分两端
心若知道灵犀的方向
哪怕不能够朝夕相伴

2.
城里的月光把梦照亮
请温暖他心房
看透了人间聚散
能不能多点快乐片段

城里的月光把梦照亮
请守护它身旁
若有一天能重逢
让幸福撒满整个夜晚

Repeat 1, 2, 2

若有一天能重逢
让幸福撒满整个夜晚


Yesterday was Shuang Shi Jie (Double Tenth Day), Taiwan's 98-year-old birthday. Due to Typhoon Morakot in August, the government canceled the celebration activities they used to do every year. They use the funds for the activities to help the disaster reconstruction. I think they did the right thing.

Please comment, I'd love to hear from you. Click HERE.

October 03, 2009

** Tips: The reds are linked to related pages. Click on them to visit. They should open in new windows. The greens are pinyin. Green with a hand is also a link. **

** New: Move your cursor on the greens, you'll see the traditional Chinese characters.
Well, it's one of my favorite festivals - "Zhōngqiū Jié" ( Moon Festival or Mid-Autumn Festival ), falls on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese calendar.
Why? Because those mooncakes and pomelos! But most importantly, being together with our love and family while enjoying all kinds of fine food and appreciating the beautiful full moon.

There are different versions of stories behind the festival. Please click on the links above to visit.

One of the fun things to do is to make pomelo hat for your pets, kids or yourself, visit here, here and here. Pomelo hat creation, visit here.

The best song for this day is of course "Yuèliàng Dàibiǎo Wǒde Xīn " (The Moon Represents My Heart). Visit HERE. But I'll post another song next time.

Vocabularies of the day:

Zhōngqiū Jié: Mid-Autumn Festival
Zhōngqiū Jié kuàilè: Happy Mid-Autumn Festival
yuèbǐng: mooncake
yòuzi: pomelo
yòuzimào: pomelo hat


Conversation of the day:

Nǚhái ( The girl ): Yuèliàng hǎo měi a! ( The moon is so beautiful! )
Nánhái ( The boy ): Wǒ dài nǐ qù! ( I'll take you there! )
Nǚhái ( The girl ): Zhēn de ma? ( Really? )
Yuèliàng ( The moon ):
Zhù nǐ yǒu gè měihǎo de Zhōngqiū! ( Wish you have a fine Mid-Autumn Festival! )


Please comment, I'd love to hear from you. Click HERE.