#Mandarin Vocabulary

[chineseffect]

Speak DECENT CHINESE in 4 months - 8 easy tips

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1. Have someone to guide you to get good pronunciation habits. It is almost impossible to re-learn bad habits later so make sure you get your pronunciation right from the beginning. I mean the pronunciation of the sounds, not the tones. Tones take more time to get used to and you can't rush it - but try the best you can. Some tutors don't bother too much about the pronunciation so make sure you find someone who is strict about that, you will be grateful later. Also get confident in pinyin, you will need it.

2. Understand the composition of the sentences. The word order is super easy and it stays the same all the time (the question and informative sentences have the same word order). I have a formula for the word order but I won't reveal it here, it is one of the secrets I keep for my students and people who use my materials.

3. Understand that there are no tenses in the sense we think about them in English and other languages. Learn to express future, potential future, finished action, change of state, experience in the past and circumstances of the event. See the difference between action verbs and verbs of state.

4. Learn to use modal verbs and conjuctions.

5. Build usable vocabulary based on the fact that everything in Chinese is interconnected.

6. Understand 就， 才，的 and 得

7. Don't learn grammar rules and words separately. Learn functional practical sentences that will serve you as examples of the grammar structures (then you just need to change the words in these sentences).

8. Develop your listening skills - that is very important. For that there are Youtube channels and podcasts on Spotify (and in my materials the audio part also plays an important role). You can listen to Chinese radio stations just to get the feeling of the language.

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After 3-4 months you should feel pretty confident in normal conversations if you study regularly under competent guidance.

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R-evolutionary learning materials and resources: https://chineseffect.com

MAGIC PLAYBOOK for beginners

[chineselangblr]

Guys, I swear the source website of this picture had helped me out so much both when I started learning chinese and now!

Link:

I don't usually recommend pinterest to find useful websites but I did find this website there somehow lol. Istg half the links of pinterest are unavailable or something.

[chinesemoribundmurdoch-blog]

"Building Your Mandarin Vocabulary: 10 Words to Get You Started"

Learning a new language can be challenging, but it can also be a rewarding and enriching experience. If you're interested in learning Mandarin, here are ten useful words to get you started.

1. 全部 (quán bù) - This word means "all" or "entire". For example, you can say "全部的书" to mean "all the books".

2. 起 (qǐ) - This word means "start" or "begin". You can use it to indicate the beginning of an action or a process. For example, you can say "从起点走到终点" to mean "walk from the starting point to the end point".

3. 这样子 (zhè yàng zi) - This phrase means "like this" or "in this way". You can use it to describe something or to explain how something is done. For example, you can say "这样子做" to mean "do it like this".

4. 儿子 (ér zi) - This word means "son". It can be used to refer to your own son or someone else's son.

5. 感情 (gǎn qíng) - This word means "emotion" or "feeling". You can use it to talk about how you feel or to describe someone else's emotions.

6. 永远 (yǒng yuǎn) - This word means "forever" or "eternally". It can be used to describe something that will last forever or something that is timeless.

7. 般 (bān) - This word means "general" or "typical". You can use it to describe something that is common or typical for a particular group or situation.

8. 有 (yǒu) - This word means "have" or "there is". It can be used to indicate the existence of something or to describe possession.

9. 带来 (dài lái) - This phrase means "bring" or "take". You can use it to describe bringing something with you or taking something somewhere.

10. 伊拉克 (Yī lā kè) - This is the Mandarin transliteration of "Iraq". It can be used to refer to the country or to things related to the country.

I hope these words and phrases will be useful as you begin your journey to learn Mandarin. Remember to keep practicing and be patient with yourself – learning a new language takes time and dedication.

Could you come up with a title for this blog post?

"10 Essential Mandarin Words for Beginner English Speakers"

[peachycanton]

Writing “Chinese” in Chinese

Here is a little bit of information that I thought would be great to share!

So whenever I’m writing my tags or trying to introduce myself, I think about how I would actually write the name of my target language. So for example, to say “I am learning Spanish” I would write “ Estoy aprendiendo español”. The translation is simple. But for Chinese, that’s not the case.

There are differences in Chinese as it’s written versus when it’s spoken. There’s also differences between Mandarin Chinese and Cantonese Chinese. It was interesting trying to make sense of which ones to use and when, so I looked it up! I used several resources, which will be linked at the end.

Below, I have the noted words, with both Mandarin and Cantonese pinyin and jyutping to showcase how it’s pronounced. There are also detailed explanations as well. Anyway, here it goes!

 Chinese (person): 中国人。 Zhōng guó rén / zung1 gwok3 jan4

The main reason why I placed this here is due to how English as a language works. When you look up how to say Chinese in Chinese, this will pop up. It’s only due to the fact that English uses words such Chinese, Spanish, etc to describe the language, people, and objects pertaining to that country. So we use “Chinese” for both “I am Chinese” and “I speak Chinese”. This not the case for other languages though. They have separate words for the language and the people. So in Chinese, to that say a Chinese person you use “中国人”.

This breaks down in multiple ways. 中 means middle and it’s commonly used to as an indication for China. 国 means country so when used with 中， it means middle country, or China. When having 人 , which means person, it becomes the meaning given above. All of this is important to know as 中 and the other characters will be used with this context in mind.

Chinese (written): 中文  zhōng wén / zung1 man4

This is mainly for Chinese as the written language. It can apply to all the languages under it (so mandarin, cantonese, etc). It can also be used for the spoken Chinese as well. This would be the simplest form to use when wanting to say “I’m learning Chinese.” This would not help with specifics though.

This is written like this due to 文  meaning writing, character, script, and language. With 中 meaning China, the two form together to create the meaning of “the written language of China”,  “the Chinese written language,” or even a simple “Chinese writing”. It also can be seen as “Chinese Language” as well. This is why even though you can use this as a simple “Chinese”, it carries the idea of writing in Chinese.

In general, if you don’t mind the vagueness of 中文, then you can use it. But if you want to be specific in whether your learning Mandarin, Cantonese, etc, then use the ones below.

Mandarin Chinese (Han People): 汉语  hàn yǔ / hon3 jyu5

This is used to say the language of the Han people, which make up most of the Chinese population. This is understood to mean Mandarin and is commonly used for it. It is also used by teachers as well so while 中文 is used by everyday people to say Chinese, 汉语 might be used in schools to specify Mandarin.

This is broken down by 汉 meaning the Han people, an ethnic group that makes up most of the population in China, and 语 meaning language, tongue, or expression. This means that with the two combined, it brings the idea of “Han language” or “language of the Han people”. It is used more often to refer to the spoken language of Chinese, such as Mandarin.

Small note: I went back through to double check this post and it seems that for some speakers, this actually does refer to other dialects/languages. Some have noted that people can use this to also mean Cantonese as well, although several articles go against this.

Mandarin Chinese (Common Language): 普通话  pútōng huà / pou2 tung1 waa2

This is used to also say Mandarin Chinese, but through the idea of a “common language” or “common dialect”. It’s from the idea of speaking in the common dialect, which in China and learning settings, would be Mandarin. This is how the Chinese government puts their official language.

This can be broken down by 普 meaning universal, general, widespread, 通 meaning pass through, common, communicate, and 话 meaning speak, talk, communicate, dialect. This all comes together to form the idea of a common dialect.

I am curious if this meaning for Mandarin Chinese changes depending on environment. If one is in an environment where most speakers speak Cantonese, would 普通话 mean Cantonese instead? Would love to know!

Mandarin Chinese (Taiwan): 国语  guóyǔ / gwok3 jyu5

This version is used primarily in Taiwan. It means “language of the country” or “country language”. This doesn’t explain much about the exact language is it, but since Mandarin is spoken in Taiwan, using this word to describe Mandarin makes sense. It’s the idea of speaking the country or national language, aka Mandarin.

This word can be broken down by 国 and 语。Both of which have been explained above.

Mandarin Chinese (Overseas): 华语 huáyǔ  / waa4 jyu5

Now in in the articles I looked at, they note that even in overseas communities there are different words for Mandarin. This version is used mainly in South East Asian countries, such as Singapore and Malaysia. This time though, the ideas behind the characters are a bit more complex in nature.

The characters can be broken down by 华 and 语. While 语 has been explained before, 华 carries a much more complicated history. Just as 中 can mean “Middle” while also being used to mean China, 华  does the same. 华 means splendid, magnificent, and flowery, but it’s not this meaning that 华语 is using. That is due to 华 being used in the word 华夏， which is a concept of the Chinese civilization and nation. It’s an awareness of the Han people and their ancestors.

夏 is the name of the very fist Chinese Dynasty, the one that formed the country. Having 华夏 together brings this idea of a great dynasty and the importance it holds for Chinese communities and their shared history. So for Chinese people in places such as Singapore and Malaysia, it’s way for them to connect to their ancestry. They can also connect with their language through this, hence 华语。

This all comes together to bring the idea of Chinese people in Singapore speaking the language of their people or ancestors, which in most cases is understood to be Mandarin. The language of their Han ancestors, 华语，is Mandarin.

Mandarin (Officialese): 官话 guān huà / gun1 waa2

This one is very straight forward, but is also used in many different contexts. 官 means official, bureaucratic, or government. When this is combined with 话, it takes on the meaning of official language, which in China is Mandarin. This isn’t it’s only meaning though. It can also be used to say bureaucratic language or even used to mock or joke about “official language” or “officialese”. So be mindful that this isn’t used to only mean Mandarin.

Mandarin (Northern Dialect): 北方方言 běi fāng fāng yán / baak1 fong1 fong1 jin4

This one is actually quite simple! The first part of this is 北方, which means north or northern. The second part, 方言, means topolect, which is sorta like a dialect. This very easily translates into northern topolect/dialect. This encompasses all the dialects of northern, north eastern, and south westward China into one thing of “Mandarin”. This is only really used in linguistic circles. It wasn’t in the main articles and only brought up in terms of linguistics so using this is not very important. It’s only for technicalities.

So far this is all that I have found for Mandarin but, there are also several ways to say Cantonese as well.

Cantonese (Hong Kong): 粤语  yuèyǔ / jyut6 jyu5

This word is mainly used in Hong Kong. This variation is also complex in it’s meaning as it brings older ideas of the southern provinces in China. 语 has already been explained previously but 粤 carries much more history. When looking up 粤, it doesn’t show much detail other than just “Cantonese” or “Guangdong or Gaungxi province”. But if you look at the radical used in the character, this brings more information.

In the character 粤, there is the radical 米. This radical has the meaning of husked rice or grains of rice. This brings about the ideas of 粤 relating to rice, and in turn the language of things associated with rice. This is amazing because rice was traditionally cultivated in southern china. Rice was made in the south due to the warm and wet climate. Now, the south is associated with Rice. There is even an on going stereotype that southern Chinese people love rice and rice related things.

So Cantonese, which tends to be spoken in southern China, is referred to as 粤语, a word that is related to rice. It all comes together in this cool way that otherwise would not have been known without going into the radical.

Cantonese (Mainland China): 广东话   guǎng​dōng​huà / jim2 dung1 waa2 or 6

This version is used by those in mainland china. The word gains its meaning from the region of 广东, which is a province in southern China where most of the population speaks Cantonese. (Where my Chinese ancestors are from :D ) Because of this, Cantonese is referred to as 广东话, or “Guangdong Language” or “Guangdong Dialect”.

This is very simple to break down as 话 was explained previously. 广东  is simply the name of the region in southern China. The character 广 means wide, extensive, and broad. The character 东 means east, host, or owner. I’m not sure on the history of why the southern provinces are named this way, but it is interesting to know. I will probably make a post explaining this history when or if I find I out.

Cantonese 白话  bái​huà / baak6 waa2

This version of saying “Cantonese” is very very informal. It’s a term that’s very colloquial. It’s reportedly not used in Hong Kong, but can still be used in Mainland China. It’s a term that has many other uses and meanings so it’s not wise to use it only to say “Cantonese”. It can mean gossip, chit-chat, or even baseless claims. This is all derived from it’s characters.

白 means white, but just like many other languages, white isn’t only to say the color. 白 is also used to mean blank, clear, or plain. With this, when combined with 话, it gives off the idea of speaking very plainly and/or having nothing of value to your talk in either gossip or no evidence to back up claims.

It’s versatile in it’s use due to this, but those who use it to mean Cantonese are probably using it to make Cantonese seem like the “common” or “plain” language used. It’s the same idea of 普通话, where it’s the common tongue or dialect. Or at least that’s how I’m interpreting it.

This is all I have in terms of how to say “Chinese” in Chinese. I realize only after making this post that I did not use traditional characters at all. This would only change the appearance of the characters, not the pronunciation or use of the characters. Anyway, besides this I hope this post proved to be helpful and allowed many of you to learn something new! My sources are now listed below!

Sources:

https://goeastmandarin.com/how-say-chinese-language-mandarin-chinese/

https://www.duchinese.net/blog/91-how-to-say-chinese-in-chinese/

https://www.tutormandarin.net/en/5-ways-how-to-say-chinese-in-chinese/

https://www.quora.com/How-do-you-write-Cantonese-in-Cantonese

https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-Mandarin-word-for-Mandarin

https://www.mdbg.net/chinese/dictionary

https://www.pleco.com/

[liu-anhuaming]

狭隘／／狹隘 xia2 ai4 narrow, tight, narrow-minded, lacking in experience

↳ 宽度、范围窄小；形容见识短浅，心胸、气量不宽大／／寬度、範圍窄小；形容見識短淺，心胸、氣量不寬大

战士们沿着狭隘的山道登上山顶。／／戰士們沿著狹隘的山道登上山頂。

心胸狭隘的王后总是嫉妒那位美丽的公主。／／心胸狹隘的王后總是嫉妒那位美麗的公主。

他这个人心胸很狭隘，动不动就生闷气。／／他這個人心胸很狹隘，動不動就生悶氣。

落拓 luo4 tuo4 down and out, in dire straits, unrestrained, unconventional

↳ 穷困不得志；豪放，豪迈，不拘束／／窮困不得志；豪放，豪邁，不拘束

杜牧是一位落拓不羁的诗人。／／杜牧是一位落魄不羈的詩人。

一双凤眼正落拓不羁地扫视我。／／一雙風眼正落拓不羈地掃視我。

因为他那落拓不羁的性格，所以今年已经35岁了，仍然是个单身汉。／／因為他那落拓不羈的性格，所以今年已經35歲了，仍然是個單身漢。

牵扯／／牽扯 qian1 che3 to involve, to implicate

↳ 牵连拉扯；发生关联／／牽連拉扯；發生關聯

这件事也牵扯到了你。／／這件事也牽扯到了你。

这个问题实在牵扯太广，决策部门一时也束手无策。／／這個問題實在牽扯太廣，決策部門一時也束手無策。

不管发生什么，请你相信我绝不会牵扯到你。／／不管發生什麼，請你相信我絕不會牽扯到你。

诋毁／／詆毀 di3 hui3 to vilify, to slander, vilification

↳ 恶意毁谤、破坏／／惡意毀謗、破壞

你应该停止诋毁你的助手。／／你應該停止詆毀你的助手。

他是一个君子，他不会暗中诋毁我。／／他是一個君子，他不會暗中詆毀我。

她经常因诋毁对手而受到指责。／／她經常因抵譭對手而受到指責。

所致 suo3 zhi4 to be cause by

↳ 由于某种原因而造成的／／由於某種原因而造成的

他们认为这是植物生理过程所致。／／他們認為這是植物生理過程所致。

这次事故是由于疏忽所致。／／這次事故是由於疏忽所致。

许多国际间的误会就是彼此不能互相了解所致。／／許多國際間的誤會就是彼此不能互相了解所致。

芥蒂 jie4 di4 an obstruction, barrier, grudge, ill-feeling

↳ 细小的梗塞物；比喻积存在心中的怨恨和不快／／細小的梗塞物；比喻積存在心中的怨恨和不快

同事间心存芥蒂真的会引发一些问题。／／同時間心存芥蒂真的會引發一些問題。

我们以前是仇人，但现在已不存芥蒂。／／我們以前是仇人，但現在已不存芥蒂。

站起来以后，叶孤风心中对自己输掉的事情还是有些芥蒂的，但胜败乃兵家常事，他也不是那种输不起的人。／／站起來以後，葉孤風心中對自己輸掉的事情還是有些芥蒂地，但勝敗乃兵家常事，他也不是那種輸不起的人。

自首 zi4 shou3 to give oneself up, to surrender (to the authorities)

↳ 自行投案，承认罪责／／自行投案，承認罪責

由于受不了良心的谴责，他决定投案自首。／／由於受不了良心地譴責，他決定投案自首。

犯罪分子的路有两条：一条是投案自首，一条是越陷越深，非此即彼。／／犯罪分子的路有兩條：一條是投案自首，一條是越陷越深，非此即彼。

到警察局去自首，你应该知道亡羊补牢的重要性。／／到警察局去自首，你應該指導亡羊補牢的重要性。

谩骂／／謾罵 man4 ma4 to hurl abuse, to deride, to call somebody names

↳ 肆意乱骂／／肆意亂嗎

面对评论中潮水般的谩骂，她能岿然不动。／／面對評論中潮水般的謾罵，她能巋然不動。

他破口谩骂一气。／／他破口謾罵一氣。

她用连珠炮似的谩骂来攻击他。／／她用連珠炮似的謾罵來攻擊他。

强悍／／強悍 qiang2 han4 valiant

↳ 强横勇猛／／強橫勇猛

面对那个强悍的大叔，她毫不畏惧，据理力争，看得我惊心动魄。／／面對那個強悍的大叔，她毫不畏懼，據理力爭，看得我驚心動魄。

他们个个都是身材魁梧、强悍有力的人。／／他們個個都是身材魁梧、強悍有力的人。

瑞秋相当强悍，她谁都不怕。／／瑞秋相當強悍，她誰都不怕。

保佑 bao3 you4 to bless and protect, blessing

↳ 指神力的护卫帮助，神灵庇护和帮助／／指神力的護衛幫助，神靈庇護和幫助

有病要找医生，神仙是保佑不了的。／／有病要找醫生，神仙是保佑不了的。

牧师对教徒们说：“愿上帝保佑你们！”／／牧師對教徒們說：”願上帝保佑你們！“

他在神像前打躬作揖，��望可以保佑他女儿能顺利度过难关。／／他在神像前打躬作揖，希望可以保佑他女兒能順利度過難關。

[chineseffect]

山很高，海很深 /shān hěn gāo, hǎi hěn shēn/

MOUNTAINS ARE HIGH, SEAS ARE DEEP

________

Beginner?

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[chineselangblr]

Mandarin Chinese restaurant vocabulary. I found much of the vocabulary these posts really useful for when I ordered food yesterday!

Sources of these pictures and other useful posts:

♤ ♡ ◇ ♧ ☆ ♤ ♡ ◇

[polyglot-thought]

🚨VOCAB ALERT: Dog 🚨

Mandarin: 狗 gǒu ／ 犬 quǎn

Cantonese: 狗 gau2 ／ 犬 hyun2

Japanese: 犬 いぬ

Korean: 개

Indonesian: anjing

Russian: собака

Cherokee: ᎩᏟ gitli

Burmese: ခွေး hkway

Tibetan: ཁྱི khyi

Uyghur: ئىت it

Sinhala: බල්ලා ballā

whenever my friend sends a picture of her dogs i always compress them in mspaint

[slavic-roots-western-mind]

The 然's

突然，虽然，忽然. and the other 然's can often get mixed up, so here's a quick explanation of some of the most common ones!

突然 (Túrán): This means suddenly or unexpectedly

居然 (Jūrán): This kind of means suddenly, but more in the sense of "surprisingly" or to suggest disbelief at something that happened.

忽然 (Hūrán): This also means suddenly or unexpectedly, but it has a more stronger connotation.

既然 (Jìrán): This is a conjunction meaning "since" or "now that"

既然the weather is great, let's go out!

既然 you aren't busy, let's go watch a movie.

不然 (Bùrán): This means "otherwise" or "or else";

You should study, 不然 you won't do well on the exam.

虽然 (Suīrán): This means although or even though.

虽然 I'm not good at singing, I still like to go to the karaoke.

当然 (Dāngrán): 当然 means certainly or definitely and can be used as a reply:

Can you help me with A? 当然!

自然 (Zìrán): This can mean nature or naturally.

China's 自然 is very beautiful.

She speaks Chinese 得很自然.

仍然 (Réngrán): This can mean "still" or "yet".

I仍然 haven't read that book.

依然 (Yīrán): Similar to 仍然, this also means still" or "yet" but it's usually used in more formal and literary works, whereas 仍然 is more often used in spoken language.

果然 (Guǒrán): 果然 can be used to mean "indeed" or "as expected"

This movie is 果然 interesting.

竟然 (Jìngrán): This is an adverb used to suggest surprise or something unexpected.

He竟然forgot her birthday.

显然 (Xiǎnrán): This means "clearly" or "obviously".

This soup 显然 hot.

偶然 (Ǒurán): This means "accidentally" or "by chance".

We 偶然 met at the same cafe.

How many other 然's do you know about? Drop a comment!

[linghxr]

Chinese Time of Day Vocabulary

I’ve been keeping a list of words/characters related to times of day since last year. You probably know basic words like 早上, 上午, 晚上, etc. But there are so many other words and characters you may encounter in your language journey! Note: this list isn’t meant to be complete.

Sunset (I think) by Tian’anmen Square about 3 years ago.

Dawn/early morning

天亮 tiānliàng - dawn / daybreak

日出 rìchū - sunrise

早 zǎo - early / morning / Good morning! / long ago / prematurely 一大早 yīdàzǎo - at dawn / at first light / first thing in the morning 早上 zǎoshang - early morning

旭 xù - dawn / rising sun

昕 xīn - dawn

晓 xiǎo - dawn / daybreak / to know / to let sb know / to make explicit 破晓 pòxiǎo - daybreak / dawn

晗 hán - before daybreak / dawn about to break

晞 xī - dawn / to dry in the sun

晨 chén - morning / dawn / daybreak 凌晨 língchén - very early in the morning / in the wee hours 早晨 zǎochén - early morning 晨曦 chénxī - first rays of morning sun / first glimmer of dawn 清晨 qīngchén - early morning

朝 zhāo - morning 朝阳 zhāoyáng - the morning sun

黎明 límíng - dawn / daybreak

The single characters above can be found in Chinese names. Some are quite common.

Daytime

午 wǔ - 7th earthly branch: 11 a.m.-1 p.m., noon 上午 shàngwǔ - morning 下午 xiàwǔ - afternoon 中午 zhōngwǔ - noon / midday 午前 wǔqián morning / a.m. 午后 wǔhòu - afternoon

昼 zhòu - daytime 白昼 báizhòu - daytime

白天 báitiān - daytime / during the day / day

白日 báirì - daytime / sun / time

Dusk/evening

晚 wǎn - evening / night / late 傍晚 bàngwǎn - in the evening / when night falls / towards evening / at night fall / at dusk

夕 xī - dusk / evening / Taiwan pr. xì 夕阳 xīyáng - sunset / the setting sun

天黑 tiānhēi - to get dark / dusk

日落 rìluò - sundown / sunset

暮 mù - evening / sunset

汐 xī - night tides / evening ebbtide / Taiwan pr. xì

霞 xiá - rose-tinted sky or clouds at sunrise or sunset 晚霞 wǎnxiá - sunset glow / sunset clouds / afterglow 彩霞 cǎixiá - clouds tinged with sunset hues

黄昏 huánghūn - dusk / evening / nightfall

Night

夜 yè - night 半夜 bànyè - midnight / in the middle of the night 夜晚 yèwǎn - night 夜深人静 yèshēnrénjìng - in the dead of night (idiom) 夜色 yèsè - night scene / the dim light of night 夜里 yèli - during the night / at night / nighttime 夜间 yèjiān - nighttime / evening or night 大半夜 dàbànyè - the middle of the night 深夜 shēnyè - very late at night 黑夜 hēiyè - night

宵 xiāo - night

晚间 wǎnjiān - evening / night

Now hopefully you have some more words to describe beautiful sunrises and sunsets and everything in between 🌄🌇

[budinggou]

小王子 The Little Prince ✎ 生詞 002

著: 安東尼・聖修伯里 / 譯: 墨丸 生詞 002 (第一章 Chapter 01)

描繪 (描绘) miáo huì — describe, depict, portray

長達 (长达) cháng dá — up to, to extend as long as

睡眠 (睡眠) shuì mián — sleep

歷險 (历险) lì xiǎn — go through adventures, experience dangers

叢林 (丛林) cóng lín — jungle, forest

冒險 (冒险) mào xiǎn — take risks or chances

幻想 (幻想) huàn xiǎng — illusion, fantasy

生平 (生平) shēng píng — all one's life, ever since one's birth

傑作 (杰作) jié zuò — masterpiece

巨蟒 (巨蟒) jù mǎng — python

吃飽喝足 chī bǎo hē zú —eat and drink one's fill

無所謂 wú suǒ wèi — indifferent, doesn't matter

[marilearnsmandarin]

倒着 dàozhe

Upside down

Learned today while exchanging pictures of the full moon to wish happy mid-autumn festival; a classmate noticed that the moon seen from China is upside down compared to how we see it from Brazil.

巴西的月亮是倒着的。

[liliran]

在银行 At the bank

some vocabulary i taught my student the other day

银行 yínháng, bank

取款机 qǔkuǎnjī, ATM

汇率 huìlǜ ，兑换率 duìhuànlǜ, exchange rate

柜台 guìtái, counter

出纳员 chūnàyuán, teller

换钱 huàn qián, to exchange money

收到钱 shōudàoqián, to receive money

提款 tí kuǎn ，取钱 qǔqián, to withdraw money

存款 cúnkuǎn, to deposit money

账户 zhànghù, bank account

开户 kāi hù, open a bank account

货币 huòbì, currency

外汇 wàihuì, foreign currency

硬币 yìngbì, coin

纸币 zhǐbì, note

找零 zhǎolíng, change

零钱 língqián, small change

现金 xiànjīn, cash

支票 zhīpiào, check

信用卡 xìnyòngkǎ, credit card

借记卡 jièjìkǎ, debit card

刷卡 shuā kǎ，划卡 huákǎ, to swipe card

[cynosurus]

I also tried to look for that mystery character without result. There must be a historical dictionary like OED for Chinese somewhere?

But I did find a gem which I perhaps wouldn't have learned from danmei otherwise:

腟 zhì vagina

So the character for vagina is 月 yuè​ (moon) + 室 shì (room).

Guys, I just now noticed one more interesting little detail in the Untamed!

You know the names of the buildings in the Cloud Recesses: the lecture room/hall Lanshi (兰室, Lánshì, "Orchid Room"); Yashi (雅室, Yǎshì, "Elegant Room") – the reception room/hall; the spirit-summoning room/hall Mingshi (冥室, Míngshì, "Underworld Room" or "Room of Darkness"); Hanshi (寒室, Hánshì, "Frost Room") - Lan Xichen's residence; and Lan Wangji's Jingshi (静室, Jìngshì, "Quiet Room"), right?

The character used to write the "shì", room, in the names is 室, here seen in the Lanshi and the Yashi (the names are read from right to left):

As a side note, the Lan seem to use the traditional rather than the simplified characters, so the "lán" in the Lanshi is written with 蘭 rather than 兰.

BUT. Not so in the Jingshi! Instead of the 室, a slightly different character is used for the "room":

My trusty dictionary did not know the character in question, so I started to look at what was different:

As such, the character 凶 (xiōng) means act of violence, murder, evil. An evildoer. A murderer. And as Lan Xichen told Wei Wuxian, we know who lived in the Jingshi before it became Lan Wangji's residence: "It is the place where our mother lived in the Cloud Recesses".

So, it seems that when the house became Madam Lan's prison, the character was changed to reflect her crime, denoting the place as the quiet room of a murderer. Accentuated by the reversed colours of the sign:

This has probably been quite self-evident to anyone who actually speaks and reads Chinese, but was quite an oooff! to me as I realised. One more killer detail in CQL 😟.

And while I was at it, I just had to check what it says above the gate (seen here when LWJ returns home with the Emperor's Smile):

As far as I can read it, the characters are 影竹堂 (yǐng zhú táng), which I freely translate as "Bamboo Shadow Court". An apt name for the place.

Hopefully it offered some solace to Madam Lan.

And oh, I just have to add! As Hanshi is the Sect Leader's residence, Lan Xichen is living in their father's house, while Lan Wangji is living in their mother's. And the two houses are more or less identical, down to the furnishings (just check the scene where Lan Xichen confronts Wen Chao and his muddy boots in ep8 vs. The Wangxian Scene in ep43). So did Qinghen-jun have the house built for his wife, identical to the house she was not allowed to live in? That is quite plausible, in universe. Out universe, they probably had only so many buildings to shoot in :).

[daily-spanish-word]

to send mandar

Imagine a high government official in China: a mandarin, sending a crate of very rare mandarins. Or: ‘The Mandarin’ in the Iron Man 3 movie (played by Ben Kingsley) sending these precious mandarins,.. or crating a Mandarin Duck.

He sent me a present. Me mandó un regalo.

Picture by Iryna Yeroshko on Flickr

[chineseffect]

Chinese is like a puzzle :)

Have fun with it at CHINESEFFECT.COM