Daily Chinese Proverb: Silence

Posted by Charlie @ Discovering Mandarin Monday 31 August 2009 2 comments

This 4 character Chinese proverb is most often used in circumstances where it is thought that saying nothing is preferable to speaking. It can also used to describe the meditative thoughts of a person, that emptiness in the mind, which is useful or 'golden'.

沉默是金
chénmò shì jīn
Silence is Golden


It is thought that the full quote is:

说话是银,沉默是金
shuōhuà shì yín, chénmò shì jīn
Speaking is silver, Silence is golden

although the shorter version is much more commonly used.

Chinese Band: PunkHoo (胖虎乐团)

Posted by Charlie @ Discovering Mandarin Sunday 30 August 2009 3 comments

乐队(band): 胖虎乐团 PunkHoo
专辑(album): Life & Live
国家(country): Taiwan, Taipei
发行时间(release date): 2006


PunkHoo (literal translation as far as I can tell works out more like : 'Fat Tiger Orchestra') have a pop punk sound heavily influenced I assume by SUM 41. The band from Taipei has been carving a name for itself on the walls of the city's music scene. Singing mainly in Chinese with the odd line shouted out in English. The melodic offerings of "Life & Live" work towards the sound of pop-punkers like new Green Day, Blink 182. Though the album was released in 2006, the song was reccomended to me by a friend. (@GraceLee0806) Below are a couple of videos.





Daily Chinese Proverb: Reputation

Posted by Charlie @ Discovering Mandarin 0 comments

In China reputation is extremely important. This proverb tells us not only is reputation important in humans but for everything to be. Face here is used metaphorically as in not loosing face (social custom). The Chinese, value reputation highly, thus creating this proverb.

You might use this proverb when someone behaves dishonorably (once or repeatedly), it can be said directly to that person giving advice or a warning in order to rectify or avoid something more.


人要脸, 树要皮
rén yào liǎn ,shù yào pí.
A Person needs a face, a tree needs bark.

New Favourite Mandarin Phrase

Posted by Charlie @ Discovering Mandarin Saturday 29 August 2009 6 comments

I keep finding the odd phrase which when said makes me smile. It isn't that it is actually funny, nor that it sounds funny when in English, or that it is one of the funny things you will have seen written down.

It is just a nice sounding phrase that makes me smile, much like the previous post where I talked about my favourite sounding phrase, here is another one that similiarly is nice to my ears.

我是老师
wǒ shì lǎoshī

It means, I am a teacher. Funnily this week I got an email from someone telling me how much they had learnt through this site, and made me proud that I am making a difference to other people, (and not just helping myself motivate and learn Mandarin). So I guess in fact, wǒ shì lǎoshī. I am a teacher (of kinds). Though I still have a hell of a lot to learn myself, and thank everyone that has bee helping me along the journey so far.

-I am also not as good looking as the picture of a teacher that I found.
:D


The way that phrase flows is what makes me smile. I think it must be the two third tones, followed by the homophone 'shi' that makes it so pleasant. To my ears, the third tone is still one of the best things about the language. Which is something I really struggled to get to terms with intially, but have grown to love it already. I will continue to post here my favourite phrases, and hopefully some of them will be better than this one.

Daily Chinese Proverb: Horse to Water

Posted by Charlie @ Discovering Mandarin 3 comments

This proverb is about how an animal, and by implication a person, will only do what it/he wants to do.


你可以牵着马去找水,但你不能强迫它去喝
nǐ kě yǐ qiān zhe mǎ qù zhǎo shuǐ, dàn nǐ bù néng qiǎng pò tā qù hē
You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink


Chinese Band: Sodagreen (蘇打綠)

Posted by Charlie @ Discovering Mandarin 2 comments

乐队(band): 蘇打綠 (Sūdá lǜ) Sodagreen
专辑(album): 春。日光 (chūn. rìguāng) Daylight of Spring
国家(country): Taiwan
发行时间(release date): March 2008

Sodagreen are a six piece band formed around founders Qing-Weng Fu and Shin-Yi Shien when they were both students at Taiwan’s National Chengchi University. They have been playing together since 2001, but first broke into the public eye in 2004 winning the Grand Jury Award of Hohaiyan Gongliau Rock Festival. Shortly afterwards sodagreen were offered an official contract with Willin Music. Sodagreen is renowned for its vocalist, Qing-Feng's unique voice with a wide voice range.



Qing-Weng Fu's philosophical lyrics have been highly praised not just as lyrics, but as true poetry. While most of the band’s songs have a folk-rock feel, they also incorporate classical components and include a wide range of expression. The band’s sound is also notable for its use of the viola. Sodagreeen sound quite similiar to Sigur Ros, with folky elements and often floating vocals which create a sonic landscape that is both relaxing and tense simultaneously. 'Daylight of Spring' is Sodagreen's 5th album.

I really like these guys and can't thank you enough for reccomending them to me. Below are a couple of videos from their new album, and a link to download their album. If, unlike me, you don't want to download it, and would like to buy it. If you can find somewhere please inform me and I will edit the post with that link. :D



They have more songs up at myspace which is a great place to check them out.

This is their very crazy but very cool website, I cant quite work it out but do love their take on the tube network amp. Maybe you guys can shed some light on their webpage layout?

融雪之前 (róng​xuě​ zhī​qián​) Before Snowmelt



日光 (rì​guāng)​ Daylight





蘇打綠 (Sūdá lǜ) Sodagreen
春。日光 (chūn. rìguāng) Daylight of Spring

01. 融雪之前 (Before The Snow Melt)
02. 牧神搭上春色的火車 (Faun Take To Spring Train)
03. 日光 (Daylight)
04. 在我們之間 (Between Us)
05. 配樂(曲:蘇打綠) [Instrumental (Music : Sodagreen)]
06. 各站停靠 (Docking Station)
07. 一千座噴泉 (1000 Fountains)
08. 交響夢 (Symphonic Dreams)
09. 異次元的玫瑰 (Rose Of Inner Senses)
10. 配樂(曲:蘇打綠) [Instrumental (Music : Sodagreen)]
11. 嬉戲之後 (After The Play)
12. 早點回家 (Go Home Early)

download daylight of spring

Daily Chinese Proverb: Selfish

Posted by Charlie @ Discovering Mandarin Friday 28 August 2009 0 comments

This proverbial saying is used to describe someone who is selfish and greedy. This idiom originates from Mencius, and is used in stark contrast to the philosophies of Yáng Zhū (杨朱) which according to Mencius is very much ‘Each for himself’.

一毛不拔
yī máo bù bá
'Stingy'



楊子為我, 拔一毛而利天下, 不為也.
Yáng Zǐ wéi wǒ, bá yī máo ér​ lì tiānxià, bù wèi yě .

Yang Zhu teaches to do things purely for the benefit of oneself. If plucking, bá (拔) ,a single feather, yī máo (一毛), would benefit the world, he would not, bù (不), do it.

- He is a stingy person. Don’t even think about asking him to lend money to help someone.

Chinese Solo Artist: Zhang Liyin (张力尹)

Posted by Charlie @ Discovering Mandarin 0 comments

乐队(band): 张力尹 / Zhāng Lìyǐn / Zhang Liyin (known in South Korea as Jang Ri-in)
专辑(album): 星愿 / I Will
国家(country): China
发行时间(release date): March 2008


Zhang Liyin plays violin, piano and sings in both Korean and Chinese on her tracks. She is so far the only solo singer to have broken both Chinese and South Korean music markets. Her powerful soulful vocals could easily be compared to well-known R&B vocalists such as Whitney Houston or Leona Lewis. Her voice is stunning, complete knockout vocal performances in several of her songs are truly incredible and made the hairs on my neck stand on end.

Her 2008 album, I Will contained mainly ballads, although "A Flame For You" was more upbeat and is the theme song for CCTV's drama 'Ding Jia You Nu Xi Yang Yang'. "Timeless" and "Y (Why...)" are her most popular songs. Y being my personal favourite.

You can watch a video of her performing 'Y (Why?...)' on youtube here but embedding is disabled. I include a download link to her album below. Depending on your morals, you may prefer to buy it: but I couldnt find anywhere where it is available.

Zhang Liyin - I Will

1. Intro
2. 初恋 (First Love)
3. A Flame For You
4. 星愿 (I WILL) (Star Wish (I WILL))
5. 幸福的左岸 (The Left Shore of Happiness)
6. 后 (After)
7. 交错的爱 (Wrongly Given Love)
8. 相信爱 (Believe in Love)
9. 纯真的爱 (Pure Love)
10. One More Try
11. Y (Why…)
12. Timeless
13. 星愿 (I WILL) (Star Wish (I WILL)) – Korean version
14. 幸福的左岸 (The Left Shore of Happiness) – Korean version


You can download I Will
(If you are the copyright owner, please email me and I wil take the link down)

New Phrases: Greetings in Mandarin Chinese

Posted by Charlie @ Discovering Mandarin Thursday 27 August 2009 3 comments

There is only one real formal way to say hello in Mandarin Chinese, and whilst you can translate literal meanings from many English greetings the only one that is used is 你好 (nǐ hǎo). Below are some introductory sentences, greetings, how to introduce yourself and how to say bye. There is a lot to take in here, but I hope it useful. Please suggest ways to continue conversations below in the comments.



Ways to say Hello and Greet in Mandarin

Hello
你好
nǐ​ hǎo​

Hello (Polite & Formal: when speaking to someone older or of more importance)
您好 Nín hǎo

Hello (to a group)
你们好
nǐmen​ hǎo​

Hello (more oftenly used on the phone)

wèi​


Instead of saying 'My name is' (我的名字是 / wǒ de míngzi shì) Chinese people usually say I am..... when introducing themselves.

I am...
我是...
wǒ​ shì​...

How are you?
你好吗
nǐ hǎo ma?

How are you doing?
你怎么样?
Nǐ zěnme yàng?

How are you today?
你今天好吗?​
nǐ jīntiān hǎo ma?

Did u sleep well last night?
昨晚睡得睡的好吗?
zúo​ wǎn shùi de hǎo ma?

I am Good
我很好
wǒ hěn hǎo

And You?
你呢?
nǐ ne?

Good Thank You
好谢谢你.
hǎo xiè​xie​ nǐ.

Nice to meet you!
幸会
Xìng huì!

The weather is nice today, isn't it?
今天的天气真好,是不是?
jīn​tiān​ de tiān​qì​ zhēn​ hǎo​, shì​bù​shì​?

Saying Hello at Different Times of Day


Good Morning
早上好
zǎo​shang​hǎo​

or

早安
zǎo ān
(literally 'early peace')
- mainly used in Taiwan

Good Afternoon
下午好
xià​wǔ​hǎo​

or

午安
Wǔ ān
- mainly used in Taiwan

Good Night
晚上好
Wǎnshàng hǎo

or

晚安
Wǎn ān
- mainly used in Taiwan


Saying Goodbye in Mandarin


I have to go now.
我必须走了。
wǒ bì xū zǒu le.

Goodbye
再见
zài​jiàn​

Byebye
拜拜
Bàibài

See You Later
回头见 jiàn
huí​tóu​

or

待会儿见
dài huìr jiàn

I need to go to sleep
我需要睡觉
wǒ​ xū​yào​ shuì​jiào​

See you Tomorrow
明天见
míng​tiān​ jiàn


Please leave comments below, with other phrases and conversation starters for everyone to share.

Chinese Boy with Night Vision

Posted by Charlie @ Discovering Mandarin 2 comments

A Chinese boy has stunned medics with his ability to SEE in pitch black with eyes that GLOW in the dark. Nong Youhui’s dad, Ling, was always concerned that Nong's eyes weren't 'normal'.

“They told me he would grow out of it and that his eyes would stop glowing and turn black like most Chinese people but they never did,” said Ling.

Medical tests conducted in complete darkness show Youhui can read perfectly without any light and sees as clearly as most people do during the day.

Experts believe he was born with a rare condition called leukodermia which has left his eyes with less protective pigment and more sensitive to light. The precise cause of leukodermia is very complex and not fully understood. It is known that as a result of this auto-immune disorder, eyes are more sensitive to light and without as much protective pigment as would be found in normal eyes.

Daily Chinese Proverb: Time

Posted by Charlie @ Discovering Mandarin 0 comments

Although this proverb brings up thoughts of English King 'King Canute' who tried to stop the tide by ordering it to. Although tide in this case refers to a period of time, remember the saying 'good tidings', the same is of course true of the sea, unless as a man your job is to build sea defences... in which case you could be said to be stopping the tide.

岁月不饶人
suìyuè bù ráorén
Time and tide wait for no man

No one is so powerful that they can stop the march of time.

Daily Chinese Proverb: Forgotten

Posted by Charlie @ Discovering Mandarin Wednesday 26 August 2009 0 comments

This proverb relaes to the idea that something is easily forgotten or dismissed as unimportant if it is not in our direct view. I have started to write down my goals more often so that I can regualrly remember what my goals are, and achieve them. I don't like letting myself down.


不看不觉得
bù kàn, bù juédé
Out of sight, out of mind


Photo Source
Flickr

Chinese Valentines Day

Posted by Charlie @ Discovering Mandarin 2 comments

Qixi Festival (七夕節 qī xī jié) literally "The Night of Sevens" is also known as Magpie Festival or in more modern times Chinese Valentine's Day. It falls on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month on the Chinese calendar, which this year happens to fall today.

On the Chinese Valentine's Day, people in love like to go to the temple of Matchmaker and pray for their love and the possible marriage in China. People still single will do the same thing to ask their luck of love in the Matchmaker temple.

The Chinese Valentine's Day is also called The Daughter's Festival. Long ago, Chinese girls always wanted to train themselves having a good handcrafting skill like the Weaving Maid. The skill is essential for their future family. Young girls traditionally demonstrate their domestic arts, especially melon carving, on this day and make wishes for a good husband.

According to Chinese legend the love story is about the 7th daughter of Emperor of Heaven (织女 zhī nǚ) and an orphaned cowherd (牛郎 niú láng). They were separated by the Emperor. The 7th daughter was forced to move to the star Vega and the cowherd moved to the star Altair. The beloved couple, a cowherder and a weaver, are allowed to meet only once a year in heaven on this day.

In true Chinese style where superstition of numbers is incredibly strong; In Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, a large-scale festival will be held at the Huaqing Pool. Residents have been invited to contribute love stories, with 77 pieces, representing the seventh day of the seventh month, being read aloud. 77 couples will participate in a collective wedding ceremony, Tang Dynasty style.

Cowherd & Weaver Myth

Posted by Charlie @ Discovering Mandarin 0 comments

Qixi Fesitval (七夕 qī xī "The Night of Sevens") sometimes called Chinese Valentine's Day, falls on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month of the Chinese calendar
and thus its name. The traditions of the Qixi Festival day follow this legend:

On the night sky of the late summer days the stars Altair and Vega are high in the night sky and the Chinese tell the following love story, of which there are many variations:

A young cowherd named Niu Lang (牛郎, "the cowherd", the star Altair) happens across seven fairy sisters bathing in a lake. Encouraged by his mischievous companion the ox, he steals their clothes and waits to see what will happen next. The fairy sisters elect the youngest and most beautiful sister Zhi Nü (織女, "the weaver girl", the star Vega) to retrieve their clothing. She does so, but since Niu Lang sees her naked she must agree to his request for marriage. She proves to be a wonderful wife, and Niu Lang a good husband, and they are very happy together. But the Goddess of Heaven (in some versions Zhi Nü's mother) finds out that a mere mortal has married one of the fairy girls and is furious. (In another version, the Goddess forced the weaver fairy back to her former duty of weaving colorful clouds in the sky because she could not do her job while married to the mortal.) Taking out her hairpin, the Goddess scratches a wide river in the sky to separate the two lovers forever (thus forming the Milky Way separating Altair and Vega).

Zhi Nü must sit forever on one side of the river, sadly weaving on her loom, while Niu Lang watches her from afar and takes care of the two kids (his flanking stars β and γ Aquilae).

But once a year all the magpies in the world take pity on them and fly up into heaven to form a bridge (鵲橋, "the bridge of magpies", Que Qiao) over the star Deneb in the Cygnus constellation so the lovers may be together for a single night, the seventh night of the seventh moon.

Picture Source: AsiaThings

Chinese Band: 831 (八三夭)

Posted by Charlie @ Discovering Mandarin 0 comments

乐队(band): 八三夭 831
专辑(album): 拯救世界 Save the World
国家(country): Taiwan
发行时间(release date): March 2009




I just came across this striking band, not usually the music I would listen to, but caught my attention with a cool video and a catchy hook. Taiwanese emo-punk band 831 generated a lot of local buzz after producing the opening theme for the third season of popular Channel V program Circus Action. 831 sing mainly in Madarin, with odd parts of the chorus in English. Signed to Universal in Taiwan, they released their debut in March this year.





(Video Above) Translated Lyrics: 831 - Save the World

是誰 你的主題曲我的夏天
shì shéi nǐ de zhǔ tí qū wǒ de xiàtiān
Who is it? Your theme song. My summer

你的臉 你的眼 讓我融化毀滅
nǐ de liǎn nǐ de yǎn ràng wǒ rónghuà huǐmiè
Your face, your eyes, they make me melt and dissolve.

She says Will you be my boyfriend?

我看不見 卻能感覺 這血流不止的危險
wǒ kànbùjiàn què néng gǎnjué zhè xiě liú bùzhǐ de wēixiǎn
I can't see, but I can feel my blood bleeding nonstop- its dangerous

My god!

如何才能夠分辨 不停墜落的世界
rúhé cáinéng gòu fēnbiàn bùtíng zhuìluò de shìjiè
My god how can I differentiate in this never ending world

懦弱的臉 卻想改變 無法去承認的一切
nuòruò de liǎn què xiǎng gǎibiàn wúfǎ qù chéngrèn de yīqiè
(this) expressionless face actually wants to change, but can't admit to it all

My god!

註定失敗的諾言 我們卻不停的給
nuòruò de liǎn què xiǎng gǎibiàn wúfǎ qù chéngrèn de yīqiè
My god! A promise that's doomed to fail. But we can't stop giving it.

你是我是誰?我頭暈目眩!
nǐ shì wǒ shì shéi ?wǒ tóuyūn mù xuàn !
You are, I am who? My head's dizzy from it all.


是誰 你的主題曲我的夏天
shì shéi nǐ de zhǔ tí qū wǒ de xiàtiān
Who is it? Your theme song. My summer.

你的臉 你的眼 讓我溶化毀滅
nǐ de liǎn nǐ de yǎn ràng wǒ rónghuà huǐmiè
Your face, your eyes, they make me melt and dissolve.

She says Will you be my boyfriend?

你拯救了世界
nǐ zhěngjiù le shìjiè
You've saved the world

我看不見 卻能感覺 這血流不止的危險
wǒ kànbùjiàn què néng gǎnjué zhè xiě liú bùzhǐ de wēixiǎn
I can't see, but I can feel my blood flowing nonstop- its dangerous

My god!

如何才能夠分辨 不停墜落的世界
rúhé cáinéng gòu fēnbiàn bùtíng zhuìluò de shìjiè
My god! How can I differentiate in this never ending world/

懦弱的臉 卻想改變 無法去承認的一切
nuòruò de liǎn què xiǎng gǎibiàn wúfǎ qù chéngrèn de yīqiè
(this) expressionless face actually wants to change, but can't admit to it all.

My god!

註定失敗的諾言 我們卻不停的給
nuòruò de liǎn què xiǎng gǎibiàn wúfǎ qù chéngrèn de yīqiè
My god! A promise that's doomed to fail. But we can't stop giving it.

你是我是誰?我頭暈目眩!
nǐ shì wǒ shì shéi ?wǒ tóuyūn mù xuàn !
You are, I am who? My head's dizzy from it all.

是誰 你的主題曲我的夏天
shì shéi nǐ de zhǔ tí qū wǒ de xiàtiān
Who is it? Your theme song. My summer.

你的臉 你的眼 讓我溶化毀滅
nǐ de liǎn nǐ de yǎn ràng wǒ rónghuà huǐmiè
Your face, your eyes, they make me melt and dissolve.

She says Will you be my boyfriend?

不要再後退
bùyào zài hòutuì
Please don't back away anymore.

是誰 我失去了自己的直接
shì shéi wǒ shīqù le zìjǐ de zhíjiē
Who is it? I've lost my straightforwardness

你的臉 我閉上了眼卻看得見
nǐ de liǎn wǒ bì shàng le yǎn què kàndéjiàn
Your face- I blink my eyes but I can still see it.

I say will you be my girlfriend?

你拯救了世界
nǐ zhěngjiù le shìjiè
You've saved the world

是誰 你的主題曲我的夏天
shì shéi nǐ de zhǔ tí qū wǒ de xiàtiān
Who is it? Your theme song. My summer

你的臉 你的眼 讓我溶化毀滅
nǐ de liǎn nǐ de yǎn ràng wǒ rónghuà huǐmiè
Your face. Your eyes. They make me melt and dissolve.

She says Will you be my boyfriend?

不要再後退
bùyào zài hòutuì
Please don't back away anymore.

是誰 我失去了自己的直接
shì shéi wǒ shīqù le zìjǐ de zhíjiē
Who is it? I've lost my straightforwardness.

你的臉 我閉上了眼卻看得見
nǐ de liǎn wǒ bì shàng le yǎn què kàndéjiàn
Your face- I blink but I can still see it.

I say will you be my girlfriend?

你拯救了世界
nǐ zhěngjiù le shìjiè
You've saved the world.

我看不見 卻能感覺 這血流不止的危險
wǒ kànbùjiàn què néng gǎnjué zhè xiě liú bùzhǐ de wēixiǎn
I cant see, but I can still feel my blood flowing nonstop- its dangerous.

My god!

註定失敗的諾言 我們卻不停的給
zhùdìng shībài de nuòyán wǒmen quèbù tíng de gěi
My god! A promise that's doomed to fail. But we can't stop giving it.


Learning Mandarin: 3 ½ years on

Posted by Charlie @ Discovering Mandarin Tuesday 25 August 2009 6 comments

This is a guest post from my Dutch friend Guus. This is his experiences of learning Mandarin. Guus runs a Mandarin school in Singapore and has been learning Mandarin himself for about 3 and a half years. I wanted to add a new perspective to the blog, to give new learners like myself an idea of the stages of transition that you are likely to go through learning Mandarin. Guus also runs a blog about learning Mandarin with tips.

Charlie


My journey of learning Mandarin


A Dutchman in Singapore, I have been learning Mandarin seriously since January 2006. In this post, I’d like to reflect on the various stages that I’ve gone through. Of course, the process by which one learns differs from person to person, but I think that each stage of proficiency and learning has recognizable characteristics.

My motivation

I enjoy learning languages, but I don’t think I would have started to learn Mandarin if it weren’t for my then girlfriend, now wife, who I met when on exchange to the National University of Singapore. It’s my philosophy that you have to have a purpose in mind before you start learning a language. If you don’t, whatever you learn will sink away from your memory in a few months’ time.

Pre ‘Serious learning’

In 2005, I was in the Netherlands, completing my degree and did want to try learning some Chinese. I used the ‘teach yourself’ method, which comes with a CD and textbook that covers many everyday situations and also found materials online. I managed to drill the number 1-10 and some everyday situations like introductions.

The practical focus was nice in the sense that it had a real purpose, but it didn’t yet touch those mysterious characters, which I had a great interest to grasp. I needed more depth (and peer pressure!) to make headway.

Mid-2005 I decided to move to Singapore in 2006 and look for a job there. I would have my degree, and since I had nothing to give up I thought it’d be a good time to move to Singapore and give life there a go.

Four months of full-time learning at NUS

Since I needed a legitimate reason for being in Singapore beyond the normal 1-month tourist allowance, and wanted to learn Mandarin anyway, I enrolled myself into the Mandarin program of NUS extension. I took classes from 9:00am-1:00pm daily and spent the afternoons job hunting.

The four months before I clinched my job turned out to be a great foundation for learning Mandarin. The teachers at NUS approached language learning intuitively, not scientifically, and really pushed us to make the language our own.

We spent hours repeating the 4 tones (always hard for Westerners) and me and my classmates were ‘put on the spot’ by having to make a coherent sentence with whatever limited vocabulary we had. It was intense learning, but learning like a baby does. Not according to rules, but by mindful repetition and reinforcement. As one of my four teachers told us, “I can teach you the rules, and you can understand the rules, but that does not mean you will be fluent. You need to show me that you can make a sentence, and show that you can make it fast enough.”

The breakthrough point was about 6 weeks into learning the language, when I overheard my girlfriend give her friends directions on the phone and got the gist of the conversation. For some of my classmates the 1-month mark was the break-off point, they felt they were putting so much energy into learning the language, but not seeing the pay-off.

While it was sometimes tough to keep up, I really enjoyed the fact that characters were an integral part of my course. After a month or so I could not imagine any more to learn Chinese without learning the characters. It is as if you don’t get the ‘soul’ of the Chinese language if you don’t pick up its written part. Of course, the progress in writing was slow, but in the context of course books, stripped from characters we hadn’t been introduced to, I could see what it might be like some day to be able to read and write freely using Chinese characters. The day I reach that stage is still ahead of me.

Part-time evening course

I found a job after learning Mandarin full-time for some 4 months and switched to a part-time class. I’ve kept taking 5 hours of Mandarin weekly in the evening hours for approximately 2 years. It was tough sometimes to concentrate, and we had again a teacher that really pushed us, in fun ways.

She would ask us to write a story and present it in front of the (approx. 15-person) class. After one student had told their story, she’d ask someone else to summarize what he’d heard. One day, she came with brochures for property developments and let us do a property viewing role play using new vocabulary about rental terms, fixtures and rooms in houses, etc.

The group was mixed with some Singaporean Chinese, some younger professionals and some older expatriates as well. We had lots of fun, which I think made all of us do that little bit extra, and most importantly, kept us coming for the classes. Let me repeat once again, it takes energy, not in a peak effort, but continuously for a long period of time, to make headway in learning Chinese.

Learning in practice

I am lucky that my wife is Chinese, and while her English is faultless, her parents, uncles and aunts do not speak it that much. I got a great boost in my Mandarin, ironically, when we paid a visit to her family in the US in May of 2007. I was the only white guy between the uncles, aunts and cousins and while the younger generation is perfectly fine with English, several family members kept themselves to speaking Chinese.

Especially funny was the moment where I was in a shop with my newly found Chinese family and the shop attendant approached me as if I were a separate customer, apparently confused by the fact that a white guy was among these Chinese people. These “show-off moments” are great morale boosters that you simply need to keep going.

If you give up too early, you won’t get to the point where you realize you are actually making headway. So the earliest stages are really the hardest, because you are spending a lot of time and effort without being able to reap the fruits of your hard work. It’s like building the foundation of a skyscraper.

Since March 2008 I have stopped attending classes. I’m still using the language every day because of living in Singapore where Chinese is one of the spoken languages and having Chinese family.

A week ago, I was at the cashier of the local supermarket, where the lady thoughtlessly took my stuff, scanned it and bagged it. Without looking up, she mentioned the price in Chinese. When she looked up, she realized that I, being white, shouldn’t understand, but I had the right amount ready. I told her with a smile “be careful, I understand everything you say” and we had a good laugh.

But I do realise that while words may come out more confidently and fluently, my vocabulary is limited and I am still far from the level where I could pick up a Chinese newspaper and read it, let alone correspond in the language. My written Chinese level is actually slipping because I’m not taking time to deliberately exercise it. It may be terribly immature, but I need a certain level of peer pressure to set myself to doing that.

So I am planning to take up a new course again, this time a course focused on business Mandarin with the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce. I have taken the Business Chinese test to assess my level and am now awaiting the result.

Daily Chinese Proverb: Power of Words

Posted by Charlie @ Discovering Mandarin 0 comments

This proverb asks of you to think before you say things. Prompting the realisation that words have tremendous power. With a sentence you can change someones perception and in some cases lives have been changed with little more than a sentence. Yet other examples of how powerful words can be, are dimplomatic relationships between countries which can disintergrate with nothing but words.


一言既出驷马难追
yī yán jì chū sì mǎ nán zhuī
A word once spoken cannot be taken back even by a team of four horses


This will usually be said in the place of 'What has been said cannot be unsaid'
or 'A promise must be kept.' especially important in never losing face.

Photo Source:
Flickr

Chinese Band: Hedgehog

Posted by Charlie @ Discovering Mandarin Monday 24 August 2009 2 comments

乐队(band): HedgeHog
专辑(album): Blue Day Dreaming
国家(country): China (Beijing)
发行时间(release date): 2009


Hedgehog a Beijing 3 piece indie rock band. They also have the priviliage of being the first Chinese band that has stood out to me. Hedgehog, a power pop, indie rock outfit returned to Shanghai to launch "Blue Daydreaming," a 12-track gem in March 2009. They have a quirky electro synth vibe, a powerful backing with strong vocals that create catchy choruses. I wholeheartedly reccomend 'blue daydreaming' as a slightly twee catchy ditty to brighten up your afternoon.


Hedgehog's song (Track : Blue Daydreaming )

In their own words:


Percussionist and vocalist Atom(阿童木) is a tiny girl who just barely peeps over the top of her drum kit but who bangs out explosive rhythms like a monster possessed. Bassist Box(博宣), the person responsible for keeping the band in line, punches out the tight bass lines that hold the songs together while seeming lost in oblivion. Guitarist and vocalist ZO(子健) slashes out huge waves of chords that seemed to fit perfectly within the songs yet at the same time tear them apart - while jumping, twirling, staggering and even falling over several times during his performances without letting up for the slightest pause. Hedgehog is a classic power trio with three of the best performers in Beijing on their respective instruments, but it is their song-writing skills that make this band more than just a great performance band and one of the most important in China.


www.myspace.cn/hedgehog

Song Sourced : Via IndieHeartAttack

Chinese Farmers DIY Helicopter

Posted by Charlie @ Discovering Mandarin 0 comments

A 20 year old Chinese farmer, Jiuxian Town, Songxian County, Henan Province, China has created his own Helicopter. Wu Xizhao, ever since he was a child, dreamed of flying so he wouldn't need to climb mountains anymore. It would appear that he realised his dream using principles that he learned in middle-school physics and other knowledge found by surfing the Internet on a mobile phone to create this helicopter.

The blades are 1.8m-radius propeller made from Elm tree wood, and a 150CC motorcycle engine provides the power. The frame is reinforced with steel pipes, and he claims that his single-seat copter can fly up to 2,600 feet. I am guesing that it 2600 feet length not height...


His father, Wu Xizhao, said his son had spent less than £1,000 on developing the helicopter.

"He loves machines. At one time or another, he has taken apart and put back together every gadget in the house," he said.

The trail flight of the villagers helicopter in Jiuxian Town, Henan Province, China was on August 1, 2009. It drew many villagers out to watch the contraptions trail flight. Sadly, the Chinese government won’t let Wu fly for safety reasons, which I guess is a sign of our times.

At 20 years old, this whole story does make you wonder what you are doing with your life? He has invented and built a functionable helicopter realising his dream.



What do you do?

Daily Chinese Proverb: Will-power

Posted by Charlie @ Discovering Mandarin 0 comments

This is a proverb which transcends all struggles, with the notion that if you want something enough, you will find a way to make what you want happen. If we have the determination to do something, we can always find the path or method to do it.


有志竟成
yǒu zhì jìng chéng
Where there's a will, there's a way


You might say "where there's a will there's a way" to someone who says that something
  1. can't be done
  2. shouldn't be done
  3. will be done immediately

Photo Source
Flickr

China View today reported that 44 Chinese Characters (many of which are in common use) are likely to be amended. This has caused widespread criticism from Chinese nationals who think the change is "瞎折腾" (blind torment: meaning similar to a ‘pain in the neck’) Whilst some complain that one billion people will have to learn Chinese characters anew.


However ministry officials and some experts said the revisions would only target 44 characters printed in the Song typeface on publications, in other words, the revised characters would only be used by computers and printing machines. These changes from the governments perspective is that it will unify the typeface and printing standards of Chinese characters, whilst not affecting the Chinese public too badly.

These 44 characters are to change from the Kai typeface to the Song typeface, most often in these cases a slight change of only one or two strokes are changed. "The characters printed in our textbooks adopt the Kai typeface, and we don't need any change. But students would be easily confused by the revised characters on other publications," said Wang Jiayu, a Chinese language teacher at a primary school in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.


Among the 44 characters in question are:

琴 (qín) violin,
征 (zhēng) musical instrument,
魅 (mèi) demon/magic,
籴 (dí) buy grain,
褰 (qiān) to lift clothes,
巽 (xùn) part of the trigram,
瑟 (sè) Se (type of harp),
琵琶 Pipa (lute),
亲 qīn parent、
杀 (shā) kill、
条 (tiáo) ribbon 'item'、
茶 (chá) tea 、
新 (xīn) new、
杂 (zá) miscellaneous、
寨 (zhài) camp / village,
恿 (怂恿) (sǒngyǒng) instigate,
瞥 (piē) glimpse,
蓐 (rù) mattress,
溽 (rù), muggy,
缛 (rù), elaborate,
褥 (rù) mattress (again),
耨 (nòu) hoe 'weeding tool',
薅 (hāo) to weed,
唇 (chún) lip,
蜃 (shèn) mythical sea creature, and
毂 (gǔ) hub.

Another 55 characters are considered allogeneic (异体), and to be recovered or unified in some way, among them 淼 (miao, flood), 喆 (zhe, same meaning as 哲), and 堃 (kun, same meaning as 坤, female).

There is always conservatives and moaning regarding any change, especially with regard to unification where some people feel they are loosing identity through the changes. However this small amount of changes are unlikley to cause any real loss of identity and arent anywhere near as big as the simplification in 1965 to the Printed General-use Chinese Character Table. (the proposed changes are just 0.57% of all the characters in the ‘Printed General-use Chinese Character Table')

The changes being made to the Song typeface are a technological based upgrade as Song is a typeface thats origins are from when block printing flourished in China. Because the wood grain on printing blocks ran horizontally, it was fairly easy to carve horizontal lines with the grain. However, carving vertical or slanted patterns was difficult because those patterns intersect with the grain and break easily. This resulted in a typeface that has thin horizontal strokes and thick vertical strokes. To prevent wear and tear, the ending of horizontal strokes are also thickened. Song typeface is characterized by design with thick vertical strokes contrasted with thin horizontal strokes; triangular ornaments at the end of single horizontal strokes; and overall geometrical regularity. This typeface is similar to Western serif fonts such as Times New Roman in both appearance and function.

This is different to the Kai (Kaiti) typeface which is more even with the strokes looking more like the caligraphy that we are used to with both horizontal and vertical strokes being fairly consistant.

字型寫法比較 (Font Comparison)


Despite this criticism and controversy that surrounds this move by the governemnt to unify the print into an understandable and universally understood set of characters there seems to be a lot of confusion around it. Personally I think it is much ado about nothing, there seems to be very minor changes proposed and won't really affect people in the way that they think it might.

To me it seems that the 44 characters that are due to be 'changed' aren't really being changed so much as look slightly different in the different font. It is like us having a font where the a has a curl, and a font where the a doesnt have a curl. The differences seem to be in the majority where dots turn into strokes. For example on the bottom of 茶 (chá) the different fonts mean the symbol looking slightly different, but certainly not unrecognisable.


Maybe living in the West has adapted me to seeing lettering in different ways with the several standard fonts. Or it could be that my personal learning of Chinese has not yet given me the ability to write characters properly, nor learnt enough to see characters that are very similiar already.

What do you think about the propsed 44 character changes?

Daily Chinese Proverb: Persistance

Posted by Charlie @ Discovering Mandarin Sunday 23 August 2009 0 comments

This proverb talks about the habits and peoples perception and influence.


我行我素
wǒ ​xíng ​wǒ ​sù​
To persist in one's old ways no matter what others say





Photo Source:
Flickr

Struggling to find Time

Posted by Charlie @ Discovering Mandarin Saturday 22 August 2009 2 comments

This past week has been a tough week for me personally, I have had arguements and spent more time than anticipated doing everything other than learning Mandarin. I didn't even participate in #MandarinMonday on twitter, half as much as I had intended.

I am hoping that tomorrow I will write some more content after having spent more time getting back into the learning process. The time is an issue, because I live in a shared house, and when learning have to concentrate and lock myself away for an hour at a time.

Finding time for Mandarin is something that is becoming an issue with the amount of projects and other things that I am commited to. The arguements have stemmed from this point usually with me spending time craving Mandarin fixes, or actually writing a post for the blog or researching a recipe, when I should actually be doing work. The time that goes into this blog, news research and writing is growing as the topics I learn about and want to write about grow. And time so it seems is an ever decreasing commodity.

Anyone got any tips how to squeeze an extra half hour out of every day?

Tomorrow then, I will try and write some more posts and learn something new to share.


Charlie
Discovering Mandarin

Daily Chinese Proverb: Reciprocity

Posted by Charlie @ Discovering Mandarin 0 comments

Perhaps Confucius' most famous teaching was the Golden Rule stated in the negative form, often called the silver rule:

子貢問曰、有一言、而可以終身行之者乎。子曰、其恕乎、己所 不欲、勿施於人。
zǐ gòng wèn yuē, yǒu yī yán, ér kěyǐ zhōngshēn xíng zhī zhě hū. zǐyuē,
qí shù hū, jǐ suǒ bù yù, wù shī wū​ rén.

Adept Kung asked: "Is there any one word that could guide a person throughout life?"

The Master replied: "How about 'shu' [reciprocity]: never impose on others what you would not choose for yourself?"


I found a great collection of World religions that share this belief.

Firecracker Beef: Recipe

Posted by Charlie @ Discovering Mandarin Friday 21 August 2009 0 comments

Firecracker Beef w/Rice Noodle Salad
Serves 4



This recipe includes double cooking Beef skirt steak. It is to be served on a tangy cold noodle salad. A great mix of flavours ranging between the cold and the hot, and the sweet and the sour, and the spicy and the salty. The cut of Beef is vital in keeping the Beef juicy and succulent when cooking twice.

Prep time: 30 mins
Cooking Time: 15 mins

You Will Need:
600g Beef Skirt

For Marinade:
1 tsp of soy sauce
2 tbsp of rice vinegar
2 tbsp of chilli garlic sauce (you'll find that in an Asian Store)
1/2 tsp of 5-spice
1/2 tsp of ginger puree or grated ginger
4 cloves of roughly chopped garlic
some black pepper to taste
1 tbsp of sesame oil


For Cold Noodle Salad:
400g Rice noodles
2 Carrots shredded
4tbsp Rice Wine Vinegar
2tbsp Fish Sauce
1tbsp Vegetable Oil
Chopped Cashew Nuts
Chopped Coriander Leaves
2 Spring Onions


1. Cut Beef skirt into four pieces. Marinade Beef adding all ingredients and mix well. Place marinade and Beef in a bag in fridge for 1 hour.


2. Cook rice noodles in boiling water for 3 minutes, rinse with cold water. Drain well to prevent a wet salad.



3. Add 2 tsp of fish sauce, which is a fermented condiment, kind of like soy sauce. We're going to add 1 tbsp of vegetable oil, we're going to add 2 tbsp of rice vinegar, shredded carrot. Mix it up and refrigerate until needed.

4. Take the Beef, and save the marinade. Sear Beef in a flat dry pan for 2-3 minutes on each side until caramelised. Save beef drippings with marinade for later.



5. Leave Beef to cool to room temperature. Now slice the Beef against the grain, the center will still be pink and juicy.




6. We're going to add 2 more tbsp of rice vinegar, chopped cashews, chopped coriander leaves, chopped spring onions and toss together. The salad is ready as a base for this delicious firecracker beef.

7. Preheat the pan well, sear the beef slices for just a minute or two. Caramelize the outside of the beef and the inside is still going to be really juicy and delicious.

8. Add the hot slices back to the drippings and marinade briefly.

9. Serve and top the cold tangy noodle salad with the hot, spicy firecracker beef, maybe a little sprinkle of chopped cashews



As I Serve it:


Enjoy your Firecracker Beef and Cold Rice-Noodle Salad

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