It happens to all language learners, even the best of us. It’s your first day of class, and you’re silently panicking, watching in fear as your professor’s chalk dances across the board with lightning speed, producing the swirls and dots of Chinese characters. With each new slash, your heart sinks a little lower. How will you ever memorize and pronounce all several thousands of these?
Tag: to teach
Chinese idioms：拔山举鼎 Báshān-jǔdǐng
拔山举鼎 Báshān-jǔdǐng
秦朝末年有一位著名的反秦将领，名叫项羽。他小的时候不爱学习，认为读书没有用，只要能记住自己的名字就够了。他的叔叔项梁为此非常头疼却又没有办法，只好教他学剑练武。没想到，幼小的项羽非常感兴趣，不喊苦不喊累，日夜不停地勤奋练习，剑法越来越熟练，身体越来越强壮，力气也越来越大。据说，他十二岁时就能把几百斤重的大鼎举起来了。In the end of Qin Dynasty, there was a famous anti-Qin general, named Xiang Yu. He did not like to study when he was young and thought it was useless to read books. He thought it was already enough for himself to remember his own name . His uncle Xiang Liang found it very frustrating and saw no other option than to teach him martial arts. He never expected that young Xiang Yu would have such a strong interest and never complain. He practiced day and night; his swordsmanship became more refined and his body became stronger . It is said that he could lift a bronze tripod with the weight of a few hundred kilos at the age of 12.
后来，项羽渐渐不再满足于仅仅学好剑法了，他立志学习兵法，以成就一番大事业。终于，勤奋和努力使他成为一代名将，并最终和刘邦推翻了秦朝的统治。After awhile, Xiang Yu was no longer satisfied with merely learning swordsmanship. He was determined to learn military strategy and tactics in order to make great achievements. In the end, as a result of his diligence and great efforts, he became a well-known general and overthrew the rule of Qin Dynasty with Liu Bang.
OMG! Chinese Buzzwords! (2)
三手烟(sān shǒu yān)
third-hand smoke
It refers to cigarette particles or the odor remaining in furniture, clothing, hair or skin. Third-hand smoke is an invisible killer hidden on walls, in carpets, bed sets and other places. When babies crawl on the ground or grab things and put them in their mouth, they can get poisoned by the third-hand smoke.
冷妈(lěng mā)
cold-faced mother
Unlike traditional mothers who love their children unconditionally and sacrifice themselves, cold-faced mothers appear relatively detached, cold and strict. They don¡¯t always give unconditionally or remain tender and mild. On the contrary, they tend to teach children to face reality.
TVB体(TVB tǐ)
TVB style
It refers to a recent online trend to comfort others by using lines from TV series produced by Hong Kong Television Broadcasts Ltd, commonly known as TVB.
月饼税(yuè bǐng shuì)
mooncake tax
Tax authorities recently reminded employers that if they give mooncakes to employees as a bonus, it should be included as part of their taxable income. Although the tax has been levied for the past two years, most taxpayers think it is ridiculous and there was a wave of online criticism.
试探性自杀(shì tàn xìng zì shā)
tentative attempts before suicide
The phrase refers to tentative attempts made by a person before he/she has enough courage to commit suicide. The phrase came to light after a Hubei Province government official who had 11 deep knife wounds on his body was ruled to have committed suicide by police. His family and some members of the online community questioned whether it was possible that the official could stab himself 11 times to commit suicide.
格差婚(gé chā hūn)
kakusa marriage
Gecha is a translation from the Japanese word kakusa, which means gap. A kakusa marriage involves a man and a woman that have a great gap in income, family background, temperament, hobbies and outlook on life.
拉黑(lā hēi)
blacklist/block
An expression used to refer to blocking someone from viewing your posts on a social networking site. It also means to blacklist a person or organization.
闪辞族(shǎn cí zú)
speed job-quitter
Some new graduates will use a trivial setback as an excuse to find another position only several months or weeks into the current job.
Making Chinese "Roman"
SystemRomanizationNOTE
To give you a more thorough comparison, in the Pronunciation Appendix, I’ve put together pages wher you can compare these systems side by side, part of the "appendix" to this pronunication overview.
Tongbei Quan(Back-through Chuan )
Tongbei Quan or back-through Chuan, also called Tongbi Quan or arm-through Chuan, is one of the schools popular in north
Chinese Opera Artists 中国戏曲 13 Cao Yu
Cao Yu (1910-1996), originally named Wan Jiabao, was born in Hubei but was raised in Tianjin, where his father was an official. In 1922, he began to study at Nankai Middle School, and became a very active member of Nankai New Troupe. Under the guide of Zhang Pengchun, a famous drama artist, he proved his brilliant talents in drama and his performance was warmly received by the audience.
Shaolin Kung Fu 少林功夫
Shaolin Kung Fu emphasizes Ch’an Buddhism. Ch’an derives its name from the Indian word Dhyana, which simply means ‘Meditation’. Dhyanna
A Poem about Qingming Festival 清明(唐诗)
The Qingming Festival (traditional Chinese: 清明節; simplified Chinese: 清明节; pinyin: Qīngmí ngjié), which means clear and bright in Chinese, falls
Wing chun Chuan(Ode to Spring Chuan)
Yongchun Quan or the Yongchun Chuan is said to have been created by Yan Yongchun of Liancheng County in Fujian Province. It is said that during the reign of Emperor Jiaqing (1796-1820) of the Qing Dynasty, there was a Shaolin Chuan master Yan Si in Quanzhou of Fujian. To escape oppression, he left the city to take refuge with his family, and stayed in seclusion at Liancheng. Yan Si had a daughter called Yan Yongchun. She followed her father to practise martial arts since childhood and later became a Wushu master herself.
纽约孔子学院公众开放日展示中国文化
纽约佩斯大学孔子学院4月29日举办公众开放日暨中国文化日活动，庆祝该校孔子学院成立两周年，向美国师生和当地民众介绍中国文化。 The Confucius Institute at New York’s Pace University marked its two-year anniversary on April 29 with a public event
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