炒鱿鱼 (chăo yóu yú) Get fired
In China, when people are fired by their boss, they often like to say “我被炒鱿鱼了(wŏ bèi chăo yóu yú le) I am fired.” If foreigners hear this phrase for the first time, they may not understand.
Now take a …
Instructions: Fill in the blanks
Hints:
⑴to lease ⑵children ∕ sons and daughters ⑶child
①to devote ②rent a house (topic of the conversation in the previous issue of Newsletter) ③daughter ④childhood
Instructions: Fill in the blanks
Hints:
①swine flu (a word occurring in the third issue of Newsletter) ②new words (part of the conversation in each issue of Newsletter) ③grammar
⑴popular words ⑵law
Conversation: 租房子 (zū fáng zi)Rent a house
Beginner Level / 初级水平 (chū jí shuĭ píng)：
A: Qĭngwèn nín zhè tào gōngyù duōshăo qián yígè yuè? A: 请问 您 这 套 公寓 多少 钱 一个 月？ A: Excuse me, how much is the apartment a month?…
Chinese Character Series (Part II)
In the previous issue(Jun 10, 2009), three kinds of basic Chinese character strokes were introduced: 撇(piĕ) left-falling stroke, 竖(shù) vertical stroke and 捺(nà) right-falling stroke. In this issue, another three kinds of strokes will be introduced: 横(héng) horizontal …
流行词语 (liúxíng cí yŭ)Popular words
忽悠(hū you) is an often-used word in northern area of China and it originates from the word 胡诱(hú yòu), which means recklessly misleading. It became popular from a witty skit “selling crutches” …
填字游戏 (tiánzì yóuxì ) Chinese Crossword Puzzle
Can you complete the Chinese words by filling in the blanks marked with numbers?
Hints:
①&②every movement and every action ③news ④name
①&④world-famous ②sports ⑤dictionary
Learn to Write Chinese Character 汉字：你(hànzì: nĭ) Chinese Character: you
Chinese Character:
你(nĭ) You
拼音(pīnyīn) pin yin: nĭ
笔画(bĭhuà) number of strokes: 7
含义(hányì) meaning: you
笔顺(bĭshun) stroke order:
词源(cíyuán) Etymology: The right part “尔 (ĕr)”of this character is the old form for “you”. 常用词语(chángyòng …
讲价 (jiăngjià) Bargaining
Gùkè: Qĭngwèn zhè tiáo kùzi duōshăo qián? 顾客：请问 这 条 裤子 多少 钱？ Customer: Excuse me, how much are these pants?
Shòuhuòyuán: Yībăi sānshí yuán. 售货员： 130 元。 Shop Assistant: 130.
Gùkè: Yŏu zhékòu ma? 顾客：有 折扣 …
Super Girl is one of the most popular TV shows in China and is quite similar to the American Idol show in the U.S. The program is a 真人秀(zhēn rén xiù) reality competition to discover new music talent. Super Girl …
成龙(chéng lóng) Jackie Chan is one of the top 功夫(gōngfu) kungfu stars in the world. As an actor, he is respected for his 敬业(jìngyè) high professional devotion. In movie shooting, he never uses …
啃老族 (kĕn lăo zú) Parent-dependent adults
啃老族(kĕn lăo zú) refers to a group of adults who have a common feature: They stay at home instead of searching for jobs. This group is also called NEET (Not in Education, Employment or Training) …
我的神啊 (wŏ de shén a)
“我的神啊”(wŏ de shén a) first became popular from a hot Chinese TV series 武林外传(wŭ lín wài zhuàn “My Own Swordsman”)as a pet phrase of Tong Xiangyu, the owner of Tongfu tavern. Then it has been widely …
Qĭngwèn, qù Zhōngguāncūn ma? A: 请问， 去 中关村 吗？ Excuse me, does the bus go to Zhongguancun? Dào, Shànglái ba. Nĭmen cóng tĭyù dàxué xiàchē, ránhòu zài huàn chē. B: 到， 上来 吧，你们 从 体育 大学 下车，然后 再 换 车。 Yes. Please aboard! You can …
Chinese Pinyin is a Roman-letter based system that China now uses to mark the pronunciation of Chinese characters. With four tones and pinyin, any Chinese characters can be pronounced precisely. In many cases, Pinyin is quite intuitive to English speakers with only a few …
Instructions: Fill in the blanks
Hints:
①celebrate the Spring Festival on the first lunar month ②a greeting used when people meet in the morning ③things like cakes or deserts
⑴breakfast ⑵an auspicious greeting during the Spring Festival ⑶memorial days or traditional …
Imagine this: A beautiful and cool girl is standing opposite a young man. He puts on his new clothes, plays his guitar and sings his favorite songs to attract her attentions. Here is a song expressing a boy’s loneliness and complex feelings in this situation. …
Kobe is one of the best-known NBA players in China. In 2009, he started writing his Chinese blog on Sina.com, the most popular internet portal in China (disclosure: eChineseLearning is also the only Chinese language provider for Sina). He recently wrote: Zhōngguó zhēn de shì …
During the financial crisis (金融危机 jīn róng wēi jī), millions of people are suffering from the psychological problems caused by losing jobs (失业shī yè), and bankrupcy (破产pò chăn) .Ever since the financial crisis, we have seen an increasing amount of unemployment (失业人员shī yè rén yuán). …
You may never doubt the excellence of Yao Ming on the basketball court. In fact, his wisdom and humor off the court are also quite impressing. His Wisdom When he was asked by a Chinese reporter: “are you worried about one day you will be …
