Key Learning Point (Preview): 刻舟求剑 (kèzhōuqiújiàn) To Mark the Boat to Look for the Sword
Idiom Story:
Yǒu yígè Chǔguó rén chūmén yuǎnxíng. 有 一个 楚国 人 出门 远行。 There was a man from Chu who went out on a long journey.
Tā zài chéngchuán …
Correct Answer: A Weather is very important and has a very big influence on our daily lives. Naturally, we regularly speak about the weather. From study of the following text, you will learn how to talk about the weather in Chinese.
First, if you want …
If you learn mandarin Chinese now, idioms are an important part of it. The mandarin language has developed over a very long period of time in which the idioms are formed, so idioms show fully the extensive and profound Chinese language.
Actually all the Chinese …
“拜年(bàinián),” to pay a New Year’s call, is a traditional Chinese custom during the Spring Festival. “拜年(bàinián)” is a way for the Chinese to say goodbye to the current year and ring in the new one, and it provides Chinese people with opportunities to show …
Correct Answer: A Learning how to ask and answer questions in Chinese is very important in day to day life for a Chinese learner. The text below will help you learn several structures for asking questions in Chinese and how to answer them. First, using …
New Year’s Day 2015 is coming! Happy New Year! New Year’s Day is an official holiday in many countries, but different countries celebrate the day in unique ways So what is New Year in China like? How do Chinese people celebrate it? Let’s take a …
Christmas and the New Year are coming. Have you picked gifts?
Trying to find the perfect gift to buy for friends, relatives, children etc, can be a bit overwhelming at times, and that’s without having to tiptoe around cultural taboos.
Chinese are very careful when …
Correct Answer: A “冬至(dōngzhì)” is the Winter Solstice Festival, which falls on December 22nd, 2014. It is the day of the year that the sun shines weakest and daylight hours are the shortest. This day has long been a very important holiday in China, and …
Correct Answer: B Measure words are kinds of special Chinese words which can be used before nouns to identify specific objects, similar to the “a slice of” in the term “a slice of pie” in English. One such example of a Chinese measure word is …
Yī èr sān sìwǔ liù qī, 一 二 三 四 五 六 七， One, two, three, four, five, six, seven,
Wǒ de péngyou zài nǎlǐ? 我 的 朋友 在 哪里？ Where is my friend?
Zài zhèlǐ, zài zhèlǐ, 在 这里，在 这里， He is here, is …
Chūntiān lǐ yǒu yángguāng, 春天 里 有 阳光， There is sunlight in the spring,
Shùlín lǐ yǒu huāxiāng, 树林 里 有 花香， There are fragrant flowers in the forest,
Xiǎoniǎo xiǎoniǎo, 小鸟 小鸟， Little bird, little bird.
Nǐ zìyóu de fēixiáng. 你 自由 地 …
Liǎngzhī xiǎoxiàng hébiān zǒu, 两只 小象 河边 走， Two little elephants walk along the river. Jiànmiàn yáng qǐ bízi gōu yì gōu, 见面 扬 起 鼻子 勾 一 勾， They raise their trunks and hook them together when they meet. Jiù xiàng liǎnggè hǎo péngyou. …
Correct Answer: B Unless you are superhero, you probably don’t know how to get to each and every one of your destinations. Instead, you have to swallow your pride, approach a stranger, and ask for some help in finding your way. It becomes even more …
After sharing an image of his adorable 3-year-old daughter online for the first time, Chinese writer 韩寒(hánhán) earned the name “国民岳父(guómín yuèfù) Father-in-law of the Nation” or “岳父大人(yuèfùdàrén).”
He jokingly earned the title from netizens who proclaimed their desire to marry his beautiful daughter. You …
Hé lǐ xiǎoyú yóu yóu yóu, 河 里 小鱼 游 游 游， The little fish swims in the river,
Yáo yáo wěiba diǎn diǎn tóu, 摇 摇 尾巴 点 点 头， It shakes its tail and nods its head,
Yíhuìr shàng yíhuìr xià, 一会儿 上 …
All kinds of colors (color words in Chinese)
make our world vivid and beautiful. Like in English, there are also many color words in Chinese, and “黑(hēi)” is one of them. “黑(hēi)” is an adjective that can be used to describe something that …
Correct Answer: A In the Chinese language, there are two sentence structures which are often used in people’s daily conversations. They are “verb + 一下(yíxià)” and “verb + 一会儿(yíhuìr).” In these sentence structures, both “一下(yíxià)” and “一会儿(yíhuìr)” have similar meanings indicating how long the action …
As a Mandarin newbie, the two simple Chinese words “婆婆(pópo)” and “妈妈(māma)” may be familiar to you. “婆婆(pópo)” means mother-in-law and “妈妈(māma)” means mother. However, when these two Chinese words are combined, they create the word “婆婆妈妈(pópomāmā).” Do Chinese people use it to refer to …
Correct Answer: A People often mention locations and place names in their daily communication. However, how do we go about describing where we are or where something takes place in Chinese? And in what order should we use those place words? Chinese place names are …
