I first learned about the character 快 as meaning fast. Another common use of it is to mean soon. My tutor wrote some sentences to help me practice using it that way. First, here is some vocabulary it may be helpful to get more familiar with: 冰箱 ㄅㄧㄥ ㄒㄧㄤ icebox, […]
Can’t Keep Up 跟不上 in Chinese
One of the meanings of 跟 (see pronunciation and definitions below) has to do with ‘following closely.’ When you add 不 and 上 after it, it means you can’t keep up. The sequence of tones (first tone ⇾ second tone ⇾ fourth tone) make it particularly easy to say and fit with the emotion of […]
Experiences That Make Me Feel Very Afraid 那些我想起來就覺得驚心動快的經驗 in Chinese
那些我想起來就覺得驚心動魄的經驗 (那些)(我)(想起來)(就)(覺得)(驚心動魄)(的)(經驗) (ㄋㄚˋ ㄒㄧㄝ)(ㄨㄛˇ)(ㄒㄧㄤˇ ㄑㄧˇ ㄌㄞˊ)(ㄐㄧㄡˋ)(ㄐㄩㄝˊ ㄉㄜ˙)(ㄐㄧㄥ ㄒㄧㄣ ㄉㄨㄥˋ ㄆㄛˋ)(ㄉㄜ˙)(ㄐㄧㄥ ㄧㄢˋ) (nà xiē)(wǒ)(xiǎng qǐ lái)(jiù)(jué de.)(jīng xīn dòng pò)(de.)(jīng yàn) (those)(I)(come to mind)(at once)(to feel)(extremely disturbing, hair-raising)(adjective marker)(experience) Those experiences that make me feel very afraid (or extremely disturbed). I had a rather horrific and surreal freeway experience on my way to my Chinese […]
Celebrating Over 500 FB Followers Fun Learning Chinese Book Giveaway!
Enter to win both Fun Learning Chinese books! The raffle (run with Rafflecopter) will begin Wednesday, March 21 at midnight (12:00 AM) Mountain Standard Time (MST) and end at midnight on Saturday, March 24 MST. If you are already on my email list, you will be automatically entered in the raffle. Both Fun Learning Chinese […]
What is Happiness 什麼是幸福？
Every language has particular ways you can play with it. The character of the Chinese language makes it easy and normal to make up words. The lack of filler words makes it easier to construct sayings in short patterns. My tutor did this recently when she was discussing life with someone. It is not an […]
What is Your Life Philosophy 你的人生哲學是什麼？
My Chinese tutor and I got a bit philosophical last week. It began when we were discussing vocabulary that had to do with having enough time. (Look for this in a future post). She taught me the idiom in the second sentence, then asked me this question: 你的人生哲學是什麼？ (你的)(人生)(哲學)(是)(什麼) (ㄋㄧˇ ㄉㄜ˙)(ㄖㄣˊ ㄕㄥ)(ㄓㄜˊ ㄒㄩㄝˊ)(ㄕˋ)(ㄔㄣˊ ㄇㄜ˙) […]
More Ways to Use 打 ：「打」有更多用法
More on why 打 can be such a fun character Recently, my tutor went over many ways to use 打 ㄉㄚˇ (dǎ). We also discussed the parts of the character 打 and how they relate to its meaning. Then, for the next lesson I had she had quite a few more ways she wanted to […]
Favorite Podcasts for Chinese Listening Practice
Why you should listen to other podcasts (besides mine) Listening to a variety of voices is important to get better at listening comprehension. That is why I have been trying out several other podcasts. Of course, I want to remind you that you can listen to my podcast on-the-go for review and practice on either […]
