Weather Talk

天气 (Tiānqì) - Weather

The weather in Spring is fairly good.

春天的天气比较好。
Chūntiān de tiānqì bǐjiào hǎo.

It is very hot in summer.
夏天很热。
Xiàtiān hěn rè.

It is very comfortable in fall. It is neither cold nor hot.
秋天很舒服，不冷也不热。
Qiūtiān hěn shūfu, bù lěng yě bú rè.

Although it does not snow often in winter, it is very cold.
冬天虽然不常下雪，可是很冷。
Dōngtiān suīrán bù cháng xià xuě, kěshì hén lěng.

The weather here is very nice.
这里天气很好。
Zhèlǐ tiānqì hén hǎo.

The Fall is the best season in Beijing.
在北京，秋天是最好的季节。
Zài běijīng, qiūtiān shì zuì hǎo de jìjié.

The weather in Spring is very comfortable.
春天天气很舒服。
Chūntiān tiānqì hěn shūfu.

Learning the Tones - this is the first thing you should do!

Tones

Mandarin Chinese has four pitched tones and a "toneless" tone. The reason for having these tones is probably that the Chinese language has very few possible syllables -- approximately 400 -- while English has about 12,000. For this reason, there may be more homophonic words , words with the same sound expressing different meanings, in Chinese than in most other languages. Apparently tones help the relatively small number of syllables to multiply and thereby alleviate but not completely solve the problem. Learning Chinese in context, therefore, is very important.

For example, the Chinese use only one syllable "da" and yet can tell the difference between "to hang over something" ( da1 ), "to answer" (da2), "to hit" (da3), and "big" (da4). The answer in the tones.

The numbers after each of the syllables indicates the tone. In normal text this is indicated as . In the diagram below you can see the tones.

Tone	Mark	Description
1st		High and level.
2nd		Starts medium in tone, then rises to the top.
3rd		Starts low, dips to the bottom, then rises toward the top.
4th		Starts at the top, then falls sharp and strong to the bottom.
Neutral		Flat, with no emphasis.

This diagram helps visualize the pitches of the four tones:

The tone of a syllable may change in some situations. For example, these are the characters for "mother" . As separate characters each is pronounced as "ma," but when put together, the second "ma" becomes toneless: . Rules like this are, however, very few and very easy to remember.

Learning Chinese Grammar

Tips for effectively learning basic Chinese grammar:

Learn basic grammar, but try not to worry and be constrained by the rules. After all, languages are spoken as a way to express meaning.

The basic grammar elements are almost identical with different languages; however, the sequence may be different. Pay particular attention to the differences and practice on them.

The most important points on learning new foreign languages:

• Don't be afraid to make mistakes. Being self-conscious can be an obstacle in learning a language. Remember, most people are willing to helping you rather than laughing at you.
• Don't be discouraged by the difficulties at first attempt. Practice, practice, and practice! you will be amazed by your own progress!
• Be persistent. Allocate a set time on studying and follow the schedule. Studying a little every day is more effective than studying for a long period at once.

Tips on how to quickly learn Chinese characters

Note: As a general prerequisite, study and familiarize yourself with Chinese writing strokes and rules. There's no shortcut to this. This will provide you with a good solid foundation on how Chinese characters are formed.

Tips on how to quickly learn Chinese characters:

1. Only way to learn Chinese characters is to memorize them, practice writing a character on paper until you remember it. Start from easy ones, which also include all the strokes, for example, 一(one), 十(ten), 中(middle),山(mountain), 上(above), 火(fire), 河(river), 入(enter).
2. Rather than writing one word many times before doing the next one, write each word once or twice then go through the whole list again until you've done the required number of repetitions. This will reinforce the new words more firmly in your memory.
3. Read Chinese newspapers, booklets and books found at your local library or Chinese market
4. Watch movies or TV programs with Chinese subtitles, it is a great way to learn Chinese speaking and writing at the same time in a simulated real-life scenario.
5. Use post-it notepaper to write down the characters and stick them on the objects you are about to learn.
6. Write vocabulary words using index or flash cards on one side with the definition on the other side.
7. Use your imagination by linking the shape of the new word by first glancing to something you are familiar with.
8. Play vocabulary by creating a 3-column vocabulary sheet with characters, pinyin, and English definitions. Fold the paper with only one or two columns showing and then take practice written tests.
9. After a while, you will notice that many characters have elements in common, either related to meaning or pronunciation. Note the common elements and use them to help you remember new characters.
10. Take advantage of free learning Chinese resources online.

If you can memorize about 1,000 - 2,000 characters, you will feel comfortable with reading and writing modern Chinese.

Feelings - Emotions (Part 2)

B

悲伤 bēi shāng sad / sorrowful

F

烦躁 fán zào ( adj. ) jittery; twitchy; fidgety

G

尴尬 gān gà awkward / embarrassed
高兴 gāo xìng happy / glad / willing (to do sth) / in a cheerful mood

J

激动 jī dòng to excite / to agitate / exciting
骄傲 jiāo ào arrogant / conceited / full of oneself
叫喊 jiào hǎn exclamation / outcry / shout / yell
紧张 jǐn zhāng critical / tension / nervous / intense / strained / tense
惊恐 jīng kǒng appall
惊讶 jīng yà confound

K

哭 kū to cry / to weep
快乐 kuài lè happy / merry
困惑 kùn huò bewilder / perplexity / confused

N

恼怒 nǎo nù ( v. ) be irritated and angry

T

叹息 tàn xī sigh

W

无聊 wú liáo nonsense / bored

X

笑 xiào laugh / smile
兴奋 xīng fèn (be) excited
羞涩 xiū sè shy / bashful

Y

忧虑 yōu lǜ to worry / anxiety (about)
犹豫 yóu yù hesitate
郁闷 yù mèn gloomy / depressed
晕倒 yūn dǎo ( v. ) to faint off

Z

震惊 zhèn jīng to shock / to astonish
自卑 zì bēi ( adj. ) feel inferior
自豪 zì háo (feel a sense of) pride
自信 zì xìn confidence

Numbers, numbers, numbers

一 yi1 one, 1				三十 san1 shi2 thirty, 30
二 er4 two, 2				五十 wu3 shi2 fifty, 50
三 san1 three, 3				六十 liu4 shi2 sixty, 60
四 si4 four, 4				七十 qi1 shi2 seventy, 70
五 wu3 five, 5				八十 ba1 shi2 eighty, 80
六 liu4 six, 6				九十 jiu3 shi2 ninety, 90
七 qi1 seven, 7				百 bai3 hundred, 100
八 ba1 eight, 8				二百 er4 bai3 two hundred, 200
九 jiu3 nine, 9				三百 san1 bai3 three hundred
十 shi2 ten, 10				五百 wu3 bai3 five hundred
十一 shi2 yi1 eleven, 11				千 qian1 thousand, 1000
十二 shi2 er4 twelve, 12				两千 liang3 qian1 two thousand
十三 shi2 san1 thirteen, 13				万 wan4 ten thousand, a great number
十四 shi2 si4 fourteen, 14				千万 qian1 wan4 ten million, millions, very many
十五 shi2 wu3 fifteen, 15				百万 bai3 wan4 million, millions
十六 shi2 liu4 sixteen, 16				亿 yi4 a hundred million
十七 shi2 qi1 seventeen, 17				零 ling2 zero
十八 shi2 ba1 eighteen, 18
十九 shi2 jiu3 nineteen, 19
二十 er4 shi2 twenty, 20

Office Supplies (Part 1)

中文	Pinyin	English
笔筒	Bǐ tǒng	Pencil vase
资料册	zī liào cè	Clear book
标签贴纸	Biaō qiān tiē zhǐ	Label sticker
文档夹	Wén dàng jiā	2-lever file
自动铅笔笔芯	Zì dòng qiān bǐ bǐ xīn	Mechanical pencil leads
铅笔	Qiān bǐ	Pencil
黑水笔	Heī shuǐ bǐ	Black gel link pen
红水笔	Hóng shuǐ bǐ	Red gel link pen
转笔刀	Zhuàn bǐ daō	Pencil sharpener
笔记本	Bǐ jì beň	Note book
便签纸	Biàn qiān zhǐ	Sticky note
透明胶	Toù míng daì	Transparent tape
修正带	Xiū zhèng daì	Correction tape
剪刀	Jiǎn daō	Scissors
订书机	Dìng shū jī	Stapler
订书钉	Diǹg shū dīng	Staple
胶水	Jiaō shuǐ	Glue
键盘清洁膏	Jiàn pán qīng jié gaō	Keyboard cleaning cream
长尾夹	Cháng weǐ jiā	Binder clip
曲别针	Qū bié zhēn	Gem clip
30厘米尺	30 lí mǐ chǐ	Ruler(30cm)
乒乓球	Pīng pāng qiú	Table tennis ball