Tuesday, January 23, 2007

Tone practices: the fourth tone

Gabcast! learn Chinese #10 - Chinese fourth tone practices

Chinese tone practices



电视 dian4 shi4 ( television )
故事 gu4 shi4 ( story )
数字 shu4 zi4 ( numbers )
面具 mian4 ju4 ( mask )
电话 dian4 hua4 ( telephone )
快乐 kuai4 le4 ( happy )
笑话 xiao4 hua4 (joke )
抱歉 bao4 qian4 ( sorry )
笨重 ben4 zhong4 ( heavy )
害怕 hai4 pa4 ( afraid )
泡泡 pao4 pao4 ( bubbles )
外面 wai4 mian4 ( outside )
地震 de4 zhen4 ( earthquake )
对 dui4 ( right )
错 cuo4 ( wrong )
乐器 yue4 qi4 ( instrument )
外套 wai4 tao4 ( overcoat )
上去 shang4 qu4 ( go up )
下去 xia4 qu4 ( go down )

Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Tone practices: Two third tones

From Chinesepod: Two third tones practice.
This one is tricky but often heard in daily phrases.
The most common phrase:
你好 ni3 hao3 (Hello!!) is two third tones. Practice to make perfect.

Monday, January 15, 2007

Chinese Nursery rhyme: Little Monkey + Second tone in Chinese practices

Gabcast! learn Chinese #9 - Chinese tone practices, nursery rhyme in Chinese

second ton in Chinese practice, nursery rhyme little monkey



小猴子:

小猴子 xiao3 hou2 zi5 (little monkey)
吱吱叫 zi1 zi1 jiao 4 (the sound monkeys make)
肚子饿了 du4 zi5 er4 le5 (She's too hungry...
不能跳 bu4 neng2 tiao4 (to jump.)
给香蕉 ga3 ziang1 jiao1 ( Give her bananas.)
她不要 ta1 bu2 jiao4 (She doesn't want any.)
你说好笑 ni3 shuo1 hao3 xiao4 (You tell me if it's funny...
不好笑 bu4 hao3 xiao4 (or not.)

Second tone in Chinese practices:

猴 hou2 (monkey) 牛 niu2 (cow)蛇 she2 (snake) 羊 yang2 (sheep)
毛虫 mao2 chong2 (caterpillar)葡萄 pu2 tao2 (grapes)
蓝莓 lan2 mei2 (blueberries)红 hong2 (red)
橙 cheng2 (orange)黄 huang2 (yellow)
白 bai2 (white)皮球 pi2 qiu2 (rubble ball)
童谣 tong2 yiao2 (nursery rhyme)邮局 you2 ju2 (post office)
拔牙 ba2 ya2 (pull teeth)回答 hui2 da2 (answer)
行 xing2 (for sure)

Sunday, January 14, 2007

Chinese first tone practices

Origami paper airplane:
the easiest one
For better performance

Note: When flying paper airplane, don't point to people in front of you, since the nose is sharp.

Now for today's lesson: We'll practice first tone in Chinese. Ready? Let's go!!
Gabcast! learn Chinese #8




飞机 fei1 ji1 (airplane)
西瓜 xi1 gua1 (watermelon)
香蕉 xiang1 jiao1 (banana)
咖啡 ka1 fei1 (coffee)
猫咪 mao1 mi1 (cat)
zhu1 (pig)
乌龟 wu1 gui1 (turtle)
青蛙 qing1 wa1 (frog)
ji1 (chicken)
蜘蛛 zhi1 zhu1 (spider)
蜘蛛织蜘蛛丝 zhi1 zhu1 zhi1 zhi1 zhu1 si1 ( The spider spins spider threads.)
公车 gong1 che1 (bus)
书包 shu1 bao1 (backpack)
gao1 (high)
低洼 di1 wa1 (low)
餐厅 can1 ting1 (restaurant)
溜冰 liu1 bing1 (ice staking)
冰箱 bin1 xiang1 (refrigerator)
风筝 feng1 zheng1 (kite)
交通 jiao1 tong1 (traffic)
搬家 ban1 jia1 (moving)
当心 dang1 xin1 (careful)

Thursday, January 11, 2007

at a restaurant, ordering fast food

At a restaurant : from Chinesepod.

我要订---。 wo3 yao4 ding4... (I'd like to make a reservation.)
今天的午饭 jin1 tian1 de5 wu3 fan4 (today's lunch)
今天的晚饭 jin1 tian1 de5 wan3 fan4 (today's dinner)
明天的--- ming2 tian1 de5...(tomorrow's...)
后天的--- hou4 tian1 de5 (the day after tomorrow's...)
请问几位?qing3 wen4 ji3 wei4? ( May I ask how many people?)
我们有---位 wo3 me5 you3 ... wei4 ( There are .... people.)
我们想---点到 wo3 me5 xiang3 ... dian3 dao4. ( We'd like to arrive at...)
谢谢 xie4 xie5 Thank you!
不客气 bu2 ke4 qi4 You are welcome!

Ordering fast food: from Chinesepod.

汉堡 han4 bao3 (hamburger)
鱼堡 yu2 bao3 (fishburger)
鸡块 ji1 kuai4 (chicken nuggets)
薯条 shu3 tiao2 (French fries)
可乐 Ke3 le4 (coke)
奶茶 nai3 cha2 (tea with milk)
牛奶 nieu2 nai3 (milk)
咖啡 ka1 fei1 (coffee)

Sunday, January 07, 2007

Most common Chinese expressions

Gabcast! learn Chinese #0 - Most common expressions in Chinese




Most frequently used expressions
你好 ni3 ha3o? (Hello!!)
你好吗? ni3 ha3o ma1 (How are you?)
我很好. 谢谢. 你呢? wo3 he3n ha3o xie4 xie4 ni3ne1
(I’m very well. Thank you. And you?)
是的 shi4 de (Yes)
不是 bu2 shi4 (No)
你是不是 ? ni3 shi4 bu2 shi? (Are you --- or not?)
好 ha3o (good)
不好 bu4 ha3o (not good)
好不好? ha3o bu4 ha3o? (OK?)
对不起 dui4 bu4 qi3 (Sorry!)
不客气 bu2 ke4 qi4 (You’re welcome.)
你说什么? ni3 shuo1 she2 me? (What did you say?)
我不懂 wo3 bu4 do3ng (I don’t understand.)
我懂 wo3 do3ng (I understand.)
你懂不懂? ni3 do3ng bu4 do3ng (Do you understand ?)
--------中文怎么说? zho1ng we2n ze3n me shuo1 (-----how to say that in Chinese?)
请你说慢一点 qi3ng ni3 shuo1 ma4n yi4 dia3n (Please speak more slowly.)
我是美国人 wo3 shi4 me3i guo2 re2n (I’m an American.)
你叫什么名字? ni3 jia4o she2 me mi2ng zi (What is your name?)
我的名字是--- wo3 de1 mi2ng zi shi4--- (My name is…)
你知道吗? ni3 zhi1 da4o ma1? (Do you know ?)
我不知道。 wo3 bu4 zhi1 da4o (I don’t know?)

Wednesday, January 03, 2007

Two systems learning Chinese phonetics

Here are two links that you can visit to learn Chinese pronunciation.

Taiwanese BoPoMo

Chinese Pinyin

Just by clicking some of the buttons and listening to the sounds and familiarizing yourself with different tones should help with your spoken Chinese.

Tuesday, January 02, 2007

青蛙: qing1 wa1 (Frogs) Chinese Nursery Rhyme

青蛙: qing1 wa1 (frog) Make Origami frog

Gabcast! learn Chinese #6 Counting frogs





This nursery rhyme is good for practicing multiplication table.


中文PINYINTranslation
一只青蛙一张嘴yi4 zhi1 ging1 wa1 yi4 zhang1 zui3one frog, one mouth
两只眼睛四条腿liang3 zhi1 yan3 ging1 si4 tiao2 tui3two eyes,four legs
扑通跳下水pu1 tong1 tiao4 xia4 shui3kerplunk it jumps into the water
两只青蛙两张嘴lian3 zhi1 ging1 wa1 liang3 zhang1 zui3two frogs, two mouths
四只眼睛八条腿si4 zhi1 yan3 jing1 ba1 tiao2 tui3four eyes, eight legs
扑通扑通跳下水pu1 tong1 tiao4 xia4 shui3Kerplunk kerplunk they jump into the water
三只青蛙三张嘴san1 zhi1 qing1 wa1 san1 zhang1 zui3three frogs, three mouths
六只眼睛十二条腿liu4 zhi1 yan3 jing1 shi2 er4 tiao2 tui3six eyes, twelve legs
扑通扑通扑通跳下水pu1 tong1 pu1 ton1 pu1 tong1 tiao4 xia4 shui3kerplunk,.. they jump into the water