woaihanyu

[woaihanyu]

#wym thats not how it went

[woaihanyu]

新年快乐!! Happy Year of the Dragon!! 🍊🍊🍊🍊🍊

[woaihanyu]

how i'm studying mandarin (in 2024)

as a low-maintenance language learner working a 9-6 office job, i've been muddling around how to improve my mandarin in my free time and keep it fun! And I've found what works for me (thanks to a lot of lurking on here - appreciate all you mandarin langblrs <3), so wanted to share :)

Evening lessons (or italki) - Self studying is great but I do need a kick up the ass sometimes, so these really help. Plus my teacher is great at giving tips here and there which I probably wouldn't pick up on on my own.

ChinesePod - Their podcasts are really well made and accessible, I can't recommend them enough!

HelloChinese - This is my 'I'm bored waiting for my train/bus but I still want to learn Chinese' option that isn't Duolingo. It's not perfect but it has fairly good grammar explanations and native listening segments. You do have to pay a subscription if you're over HSK1 level FYI.

I am an anki hater first and foremost, so here's the vocab learning / dictionary tools I use instead:

TofuLearn - It's straightforward, uses spaced repetition learning AND teaches you stroke order - so ticks all my boxes. Picked it up due to @marilearnsmandarin's posts about it!

Pleco - Obviously, everyone has it downloaded for a reason.

Yabla Chinese Dictionary - Not seen this one talked about so much, but would recommend! It sometimes has video examples of the hanzi in use, which I find helpful.

A big goal for me this year is to consume mandarin content more regularly! It's all well and good watching Peppa Pig, but I need something that I actively want to engage with:

Bilibili Comics - Currently reading 肉店楼上的工作室 and able to understand a fair chunk, so would recommend as a "easier" option.

Mandopop - Not sure how much I'm picking up from listening, especially at my level, but it's fun to jam out to some good tunes. Faves include TIA RAY, Song Qian, Lexie Liu, No Party for Cao Dong & Shi Shi.

Dramas/Movies - Modern chinese dramas are a lot more hit-or-miss for me, especially compared to historical/fantasy. Recent faves include Accidentally in Love & Stay with Me (on Netflix/Viki). Currently watching Reset :) Any other recs, please send my way!

YouTube - I have a separate YT account just to follow Taiwanese/Chinese creators - it takes a bit of searching but you can find some great youtubers who talk about whatever hobby you're into (whether that's cute golden retriever vlogs, travel vlogs or reading vlogs!)

#oh these are great resources and a great plan!

[woaihanyu]

Life in China: Observations

I've been living here for a while and decided to share some things that I thought were pretty interesting!

Cheese is not really a thing here Unless you go to an international store like Aldi or Walmart (which are pretty much non-existent in smaller cities ), trying to find cheese is pretty difficult.

Class attendance Attendance is really strict. It doesn't matter how ill you are, you still need to go to hospital or a clinic to get a doctors note. Even then you get only half a day excused rather than the entire day.

Studying Maybe you could have gotten away with not doing your reading back at home, but the studying stereotype is true. In my home uni we'd learn around 20 characters per week plus the usual grammar and homework. Here? Try 70-90 characters plus the usual self-studying and quizzes, and I'm not even in the advanced or intensive class!

Classroom vs Real life chinese Obviously the language spoken in real life is different than the one in the textbook, but it can be drastically different, especially the dialects which are pretty interesting, but at times diffult to understand.

Pacing yourself with the food Not to say that you shouldn't enjoy yourself, but the food will take some adjusting to for many people. Not even in terms of spice, just the type of meals and the commonly used ingredients require time to get used to them, especially if you don't have these types of meals regularly.

English isn't widely spoken (duh) Despite the whole "big cities are very international, you'll have no problems" shtick, outside of international communities English isn't that widely used so knowing some basic Chinese is necessary.

Phone is my new appendage From paying at the grocery store to sending your teacher your homework and paying your phone bill, wechat is the multi-functional daily necessity that you can't go without. In short, you will probably be superglued to your phone whether you like it or not as it turns out.

Public transport is the way In the larger cities at least, the metro is really well-developed and air-conditioned! A life-saver during the summer, as crowds of people crammed together like sardines during the hot and humid months of summer and early autumn would be unbearable with the a/c.

[woaihanyu]

市场菜 Farmer's Market Foods

So the farmer's market levels are SO MUCH so I thought I would do a separate list of just the foods!

荔枝 / lì zhī / lychee

西红柿，西紅柿 / xī hóng shì / tomato

番茄 / fān qié / tomato

番茄酱，番茄醬 / fān qié jiàng / ketchup*

西红柿炒鸡蛋 / xī hóng shì chǎo jī dàn / tomato & scrabbled eggs

黄瓜， 黃瓜 / huáng guā / cucumber

南瓜 / nán guā / pumpkin

西瓜 / xī guā / watermelon

地瓜 / dì guā / yam, sweet potato

苦瓜 / kǔ guā / bitter melon

冬瓜 / dōng guā / winter melon

葡萄 / pú tao / grape

草莓 / cǎo méi / strawberry

排骨 / pái gǔ / ribs, cutlet (e.g. 猪排骨 pork ribs)

骨头汤 / gǔ tou tāng / bone soup

蘑菇 / mó gu / mushroom

木耳 / mù ěr / fungus

香菇 / xiāng gū / shiitake mushroom (fragrant)

金针菇 / jīn zhēng gū / enoki mushroom (golden needle)

剁 / duò / to chop or mince

炖 / dùn / to stew

Bonus:

傻瓜 / shǎ guā / silly melon, silly goose, idiot

*NOTE: Ketchup can only use 番茄！However 番茄/西红柿 are interchangeable for tomatoes in general

[woaihanyu]

China's Ningbo accent

English added by me :)

[woaihanyu]

song: 漠河舞厅 (Mohe Dance Hall) - 柳爽 (Liu Shuang)

English added by me :)

[woaihanyu]

Strategies for Learning at Home 🏡 PS: Learn Chinese with the best FREE online resources, just click here https://www.chineseclass101.com/?src=tumblr_infographic_learning_home_013123

#top strategies!

[woaihanyu]

七里山塘qilishantang, suzhou, jiangsu province by 小小影月

[woaihanyu]

Bunnies for Chinese New Year/Spring Festival (Chunjie) by 东予薏米

[woaihanyu]

This year I committed myself as part of my new bedtime routine to write two sentences in Chinese and a word in Japanese (which I've started learning recently!). Here's what it looks like in practice - a little notebook by my bedside:

#i sometimes don't write sentences that evening and do replacement ones the next day #i also started getting myself into the habit of doing some Duo every morning whilst I'm lying in bed to get some exposure to Chinese #and review some basics

[woaihanyu]

“Lucky Rabbit” | 6.5"x3.5" | Acrylic Gouache on Wood

The Year of the Rabbit: A Lunar New Year Themed Art Exhibition at @giantrobotstore opens today, Jan 14th, and will run through Jan 29th! Artwork goes live at 11am, plus a Virtual Live tour via Giant Robot’s IG Live. Thanks as always to curator @cassloop and the whole @giantrobotstore crew!

#gryearoftherabbit #yearoftherabbit #lunarnewyear #chinesenewyear #新年快乐 #农历新年 #lucky #rabbit #bunny (at Giant Robot Store) https://www.instagram.com/p/CnZ-IurPETJ/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

#新年快乐🍾️🎉🎆！ #lunar new year

[woaihanyu]

【简易焦糖年糕 Simple Caramel Rice Cake】新年必吃甜品！简单容易制作，过年做来吃吧！

新年必吃甜品！ 简单容易自作，过年做来吃吧！

The dessert of Chinese New Year that must eat every year. Easier and simple make, Try to do yourselves for Chinese New Year😍

———————————————————————————————

Ingredients | 材料

糯米粉-380克/gram Finest Glutinous Rice Flour

白糖-380克/gram Sugar

清水- 250毫升/ ml Clean water

香蕉叶- 1包 / package Banana Leaves

——————————————————————————————

材料准备中 Ingredients preparing part

1) 把洗好的香蕉叶烫过 Blanched the cleaned banana leaves

2)然后, 放在磨具中 Then put it in the molds

——————————————————————————————

焦糖部分 Caramel sugar in preparation

1) 把380克的白糖倒进锅中 Add 380g of sugar into the pot

2) 加点清水，将糖溶解 Add little water to dissolve the sugar easily

3)焦糖变颜色后，搅拌均匀 Caramel sugar slightly changed colour and start to stir well

4)焦糖煮至深色，再加入清水 Caramel sugar boils become darker Color and add some water

5）等待焦糖完全溶解在水中，就可出锅备用 Wait the caramel sugar completely dissolved in water and prepare to use later

———————————————-———————————————

制作部分 Making process

1)把380克的糯米粉放入盆中 Add 380g of glutinous rice flour into bowl

2)分阶段倒入焦糖水，搅直均匀 Pour the caramel sugar stages and mix well

3)用筛子过滤一遍 Filter it with a sieves

4)倒入磨具中 Pour into molds

5)盖上铝箔纸 Cover it with aluminium foil

———————————————-———————————————

烹煮部分 Cooking Part

1) 倒入部分的水进锅中 Pour some water into pot

2) 再放入垫网 Put in cooking grill

3) 把装好的模具放入锅中 Set the prepared molds into the pot

4) 用大火煮至15分钟 Apply high heat and steam for 15mins

5)调制中火煮至一个小时 Apply medium heat and steam it for 1hour

6) 一个小时以过去啦！完成啦 After 1hour and finally done!

________________________________________________________________________

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[woaihanyu]

assorted ramblings之最

absolutely entranced and delighted by the use of 最 as a noun meaning ‘utmost, best, greatest’

you have some very normal and expected sentences like 世界之最 ‘number one / the best in the world’, 中华之最 ‘number one / best in China’， 历史之最 ‘the utmost / best in history’

but then you have some absolutely wonderful usages like 

ok but. there is no word for scenery here. this just says ‘blah blah out country’s Most nature’. just. the most nature

but there’s no interesting! or aspects!!!!! the Most diamond

yes, before anyone yells at me, I am very aware that it is possible to translate these idiomatically and it all makes sense 

however.  

this construction is FASCINATING. because this last one - 世界钻石之最 could be translated (I would translate, if I hadn’t seen it?) to ‘the greatest among the diamonds of the world’, where the 最 automatically references a) the noun previously mentioned, and b) the scope previously mentioned (i.e. the diamonds In the world)

pleco actually has a similar sentences 钻石之最 which it does translate as ‘the best (or biggest) of all the diamonds’, so 最 here roughly functions like the adjective ‘utmost’ in english. you can’t say ‘the most diamond’ in non-meme language, but you CAN say ‘the utmost diamond’, though it’s still marginal (native english speakers below: tell me whether these reads naturally to you or not). 

but in the sentences above, 世界钻石之最, it’s almost like a classical construction in that we’ve got an implied missing noun here. the MOST […] […] of the world’s diamonds. the most what?? fill it in yourself, you bastard. this could also be translated I think as ‘the most interesting aspects’ (keeping their translation) of the world’s diamonds. that means something slightly different to ‘the most interesting aspect in the world’ (which happens to be about diamonds). 

this is a question about scope!! and the relationship between the three ‘nouns’(used loosely because 最 is a noun-y kind of quantifier or a quantifier-y kind of noun? pushing the boundaries of nounhood either way) in this sentences: the world, the diamonds, and the Most. this is Fine.

this is a great example of how funky compounding can get in mandarin, and how it can be very…ambiguous is not the right word, because that implies that there is one correct answer and with access to context it would be clear. but how there can be multiple possible readings available at one time, which context may in fact not clear up at all. a topic for another day, and one I’ve talked about vaaaaaaguely before

(side note: it’s kind of annoying searching for this construction since it mostly appears just as a little more formal version of 最. for example 患难困苦，是磨炼人格之最高学校. here you could just substitute 之最高学校 with 最高学校 and it would mean exactly the same thing)

anyway. there are plenty of vague ones like 人生之最.  the most What in life? just the most????? the best thing? or perhaps if there was another sneaky noun somewhere before it (like the diamond and world example) the best That Thing in life? I honestly don’t know. this is not an informative post. this is a thought, out loud, in real time. expect questions, not answers!!

and then you have other ones which are soooooooo topic-comment that they are just BEGGING for me to put a 也 at the end and whack them in a textbook. for example: 参军当兵光荣之最 ‘participate-army serve-as-soldier honour-之最’ > where is my ‘is’??? where is my verb??? you fool. you coward. in this house we need neither. remember that the A = B, the copula, the most basic relationship between the subject and the predicate can be expressed in chinese by just AB. for example: 宋，小国. song = a small country. this is usually marked with commas in anything from ye olden times when put in textbooks to make it easier to parse. but it could also be 宋小国 and that would mean the same thing. (this is very visible when we look at the way that adjectives work: 山高 or more helpfully punctuated 山, 高 is ‘as for the mountain, it is tall’ or ‘it tall-s’ as 高 is an adjective and technically therefore a stative verb.)

so this sentence could be rephrased 参军当兵, 光荣之最. to translate it with the clunky way japanese-english translators often do when being literal: ‘as for participating in the army and serving as a soldier, it is the greatest honour’ / ‘…, it is the greatest part of the honour’ depending on how you parse the 之最. let’s add the affirmative particle / comment marking particle 也 (no it doesn’t mean also here; remember lwj’s 非也！when defending wwx on the steps of jinlintai) which it is BEGGING for and we get:

参军当兵, 光荣之最也. 

how very classical!!!! how very nice!!!

we could also go one step farther and add a topic-marking particle 者 (yes, you most likely know this as a nominaliser but it has a far greater range of usage than that): 

参军当兵者, 光荣之最也

woweeee. such vibes. truly the Most sentence.

….this got wildly off track. anyway. my point is that in-depth linguistic speculation about how it actually works and musings on translation practices aside, I am going to enjoy thinking about ‘he is truly the Most character’ every time I see this construction

[woaihanyu]

中国奇谭Yao-Chinese Folktales EP 01 Nobody(小妖怪的夏天) eng sub

Yao is 妖yāo. In chinese daoism culture, Yāo refers to natural objects (animals, plants or rocks, etc.) that have acquired sentience (lit. spiritual awareness), the ability to assume human or near-human forms, supernatural or magical powers, as well as the ability to cultivate so as to achieve immortality or transcendence. (sometimes chinese will also use the word 精jīng, synonym of yāo, but they won’t use jīng alone, e.g. 妖精yaojing(yao and jing), 玉兔精yutujing/jade rabbit jing, meaning jade rabbit that cultivates for a very long time and obtains human form). 

[woaihanyu]

rabbit lantern for the year of rabbit in west lake, hangzhou, zhejiang province by 卡斯LV

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Hsin-Yao Tseng