1. As mentioned in the lesson, most Chinese festivals follow the lunar (Chinese traditional) calendar, while Western festivals follow the Western (solar) calendar. In addition to 农曆, other names for the traditional Chinese calendar include:
阴历 夏历
In addition to 新曆, other names for the Western / solar calendar include:
阳历 公历
2. 端午节 is a public holiday in both mainland China and in Taiwan. During this time, 赛龙船 are held in public rivers to celebrate the festival.
3. 粽子, commonly eaten during 端午节 is a dumpling containing glutinous rice stuffed with other fillings and then wrapped in bamboo leaves.
4. 龙, in Chinese culture are symbols of power and considered lucky.
1. In addition to their literal meanings, 整天 and 半天 can be used in similar ways to their English counterparts. In both cases they are used to exaggerate a time description such as “I waited all day” or “I waited half a day”.
2. 再来 is another way to say 接下来, as seen in the sentence 我们再来看一些其他的例子.
3. 起来 has a meaning of “to start” in 感觉起来跟白色很像 and 感觉起来就会变得像黑色.
1. You can see a new way of asking “What do you know about” by instead asking “What do you have in common with”, as seen in 那你跟健康的生活有什么关系？
2. 目的 has a more specific range than 目标. It is generally used for much shorter term objectives while 目标 refers to longer term visions.
3. In Chinese, we often refer to “practicing” lifting weights, as seen in 那你常常练习举重吗？
4. The 着 is added to the end of verbs to describe an action that is performed for an extended period, as opposed to just an instance, as seen in 我试着做瑜伽. In this example, the speaker is emphasizing that he was performing yoga for an extended period as opposed to trying for an instance and giving up right away.
5. 就好了 is often used in situations where a conclusion has been reached (possibly prematurely). In the sentence 所以那时候我做了一个决定就是专心做举重就好了 he has now decided just to lift weights, whereas previously his goal may have been to do other exercises as well.
6. 不要 can be added to statements to turn them into the imperative form, as seen in 记得不要吃太多对身体不好的零食跟小吃.
1. In the lesson, the speaker says: 我跟你吵架？ 才不是，是你先开始的. The 才不是 is another way to refute what the original speaker says. It has a slightly less strong meaning than 并不是.
2. In Taiwan, it is common to hear 看起来, as in 为什么你今天看起来心情不太好？ In mainland China however, you are more likely to hear 看上去.
3. As mentioned in the lesson, the 才 in 他昨天晚上很晚才回家 emphasizes the lateness of the person coming home. It can be thought as meaning it was very late before he got home, or he didn’t get home until it was very late.
Later in the lesson however, we see a different occurrence of 才 in 她的男朋友才会觉得他的女朋友不够尊重他. Here it’s being used to show that this action (feeling that his girlfriend doesn’t respect him enough) is a result of a condition that occurred earlier (his girlfriend scolded him).
4. The 又 in 又没有跟我说为什么 is used when describing situations in the past. When talking about the future in this way, one would use 再.
5. 天呀！ is written (and pronounced) in different ways in different regions. Other variations include: 天啊！ or 天哪!
1. One sentence pattern for 不管，is 不管 followed by a question, then the result. In this lesson we saw 不管是不是我的错，我还是会说很抱歉. Note how the 是不是我的错 is a question on its own. Similarly you could say:
2. You may also hear 天呀 pronounced as 天啊 or even 天哪.
3. Like in English, you have a fight with someone, as seen in the question 那你常常跟别人吵架吗？ If the subjects are already known, you can omit this particle as in 难怪你们常常吵架.
4. You use 对 to show respect towards someone as in 一定是因为你对女人都很不尊重.
You can also use 对 to expression emotions about someone as in 我不知道你对我刚刚说的话这么认真.
5. We describe a patient person as someone who has patience as in 我是不是很有耐心啊 and 因为我很有耐心.
6. You can say gossip related to someone as in 你说了跟我有关系的八卦 or you can say “I said your gossip” as in 我说了你的八卦吗.
1. Previously we have defined 叫 as “to call” out. We see it with a different usage of “to order” someone to do something in the sentence 而且我老板还叫我训练她.
2. In the sentence 哇，你好像很期待的样子 and 听起来好像很开心的样子, the 样子 refers to the person’s manner.
3. We see the measure word for people used in 是一位小姐 and 这个男人的工作应该是一位经理.
In 所以在这段时间, the 段 is a measure word for a particular period of time.
4. There are two grammar particles used in the sentence 哇！你太享受你现在的工作环境了吧！
The 了 signifies that the person’s situation has changed, as in he now enjoys his work environment more than he did before. The 吧 indicates that the speaker is merely stating his opinion, as opposed to stating a fact.
5. 像 can be used in multiple ways, such as 像他们会给你免费的健康保险 and 训练漂亮的员工，就像是一种福利.
1. While 最近 has been taught as meaning “recently” it can also be used to describe the future. Compare these two sentences:
a. 我老板最近想要雇用一个新的员工.
b. 其实, 是因为最近很多同事被炒鱿鱼.
2. 并不是 is used in response to a statement that you completely disagree with.
3. We can see another example of the conditional 才 in 其实, 是因为最近很多同事被炒鱿鱼. 所以老板才需要雇用新的员工. The 才 emphasizes that the clause that follows it (my boss needs to hire new employees) is occurring because of the preceding clause (many coworkers have been fired recently).
4. We can see a few examples of 被 in:
a. 其实, 是因为最近很多同事被炒鱿鱼.
b. 那些被炒鱿鱼的员工是真的很不好吗?
c. 所以她想知道这个男人会不会怕他有一天被他老板炒鱿鱼.
d. 而且你也不用担心你会被炒鱿鱼了.
5. In this lesson, you learned two ways to say the term “fired” – note how both of them seem quite indirect.
1. In many cases, when the subject has already been determined, it can be omitted. You can see this in the second sentence of: 今天我们要继续这个题目. 看我们在找工作, 或是面试的时候, 我们可能会听到哪些问题.
2. As mentioned in the lesson, in some countries in Asia, there is a standard application form used by all companies. These forms can be purchased at department stores and convenience stores. A job applicant could then fill them out by himself and drop them off at the companies he is applying for. In Western countries, the job applicant would be expected to prepare his own resume in his own style to be given to the company he is applying at.
3. 帮你 has an alternate meaning of “to do something for you” as seen in 如果是公司帮你准备的履历表, 这样老闆就能比较容易找到他要的资料.
4. Note how a person’s personality “coming out” is described in 我们可以从那些自己做的履历表里面看出一个人的个性.
5. While 才 has many meanings, we see it used in a conditional form in 因为如果老闆要跟你联络, 他需要对的资料, 这样他才找得到你. Here it indicates that the clause that comes after it (the boss can find you) can only occur if the condition that occurred before it (the boss has your correct contact information) took place.
6. While we have seen 考试 before, here we have the verb 考 used by itself in 你也可以去考一些证照.
While in general the metric system is universally used in China and Taiwan, there are also some measures used that are only found in Chinese culture. Many of the measures used in Taiwan are based on Dutch and Japanese colonial history and so aren’t found in mainland China. Likewise there are many traditional measure units that are only used in mainland China, which also differ from those used in Hong Kong. Take a look at the vocabulary page to see some of the other measure units in Chinese.
2. As mentioned in the lesson, while you may recognize many famous brand names like Mcdonald’s and Coca-cola in China and Taiwan, they are not necessarily known by their English names locally, which is why it is important to learn their Chinese names, as taught in this lesson. You can also read more about this subject in this article.
3. When picking a Chinese name, most companies go for a transliteration into Chinese of their approximate English sound, such as 索尼. In other cases they may choose a more literal meaning such as 微软 or a combination of literal and transliteration such as 星巴克.
4. We’ve seen the construction 一边，一边 used before to describe doing two actions at the same time. We see it used here in 很多人喜欢到那里一边跟朋友聊天，一边和好喝的咖啡.
5. We’ve seen 看起来 and 听起来 before. Here we see 喝起来 in the sentence 嗯，我认为这两种可乐的味道喝起来都很像.
1. 对我来说 is a very useful construct. Similarly you can have:
a. 对你来说
b. 对他们来说, as seen in the sentence 或是他们觉得选举对他们来说不是那么重要.
c. 一般来说
2. We’ve seen 没办法 before. In the dialogue we saw 想办法 in the line 我们的政府应该要想办法.
3. The “If” meaning is sometimes not explicitly stated, as seen in the line 好像真的是这样， 希望新的政府真的能让我们国家的经济变得越来越好.
4. While in English we vote for a person, in Chinese we give our vote to someone, as seen in the lines
a. 人民会投票给他们比较喜欢的人
b. 所以她应该不是投给新的政府.
c. 或许她就会投给别人
A more descriptive way is shown in the line 他们都会把票投给对他们比较有帮助的人.
5. 着 is a suffix added to indicate an action that continues for an extended period, as opposed to a particular moment. We see it in the sentence 他们会等着看结果.
This lesson seemed to be pretty straightforward as far as the language and grammar used, so there are no new notes to add. Take a look at the vocabulary section to see more words related to computers. If there are other useful words that you would like us to add, send us a comment.
1. 着 is used to show an action that is in progress or continuing, as in 然后他们拿着地图. By using 着 here, it indicates that they took the map with them, as opposed to taking out a map, then leaving it there.
2. 只好 is used in 因为么办法，他们只好用走的.
3. 带走, which literally means “take go” is used in 我们每一个人必须从车上带走一个东西.
4. 好 after a verb, can indicate completion of that action, such as 他们都拿好了以后.
5. You can see a couple of different ways used to ask and reply in: 几分钟后，第二个人问第一个人说 and 第三个人回答说
1. Some names of foods in Chinese are transliterations of their English counterparts. Examples in today’s lesson include:
沙拉 豆腐 布丁
2. Meals in traditional Chinese restaurants are usually served in the middle of the table on a revolving platter. Guests each have their own bowls, plates and chopsticks. Serving spoons and common chopsticks are used to pick and choose the foods they want to put on their plate. Rice is usually made available in a separate bucket, that is constantly refilled to make sure it is always plentiful.
3. Cold drinks are usually served at the end of the meal. During the meal, hot tea is usually made available.
4. Fortune cookies while commonly found in Western Chinese restaurants are rarely found in mainland China and Taiwan.
1. These types of lessons are useful for providing a different context for vocabulary you already know. The phrases and expressions you hear in dialogues are different from those used in written articles like this one. Here are some highlights:
a. 在过去
b. 可是, 最近几年
c. 所以现在的人
d. 所以, 想成功的人
2. 就 is used in a couple of different ways in the article.
a. 很容易就可以找到工作
Here it indicates that the second part (finding work) occurs soon after.
b. 在过去, 学生大学毕业后, 他们就会在那个工作做很多年
Here instead of speed, it suggests a definite result. The working at the job for many years is a direct result of graduating.
This lesson introduces some suffixes that are commonly used to describe places. By adding the appropriate suffix to nouns we have already known, we can create the names of some new places.
1. 乡下 refers to the countryside. Cities in Asia can be very crowded, so on weekends it is common for people to go to the countryside to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city.
2. 云海 can be seen from high altitudes, when the weather conditions are right. Clouds form a layer below you, giving the impression of a white sea.
3. 温泉 are common in Taiwan and Japan, and are another relaxing way for people to enjoy their weekends and times off.
洗温泉 literally means “to wash” or “bathe” in the hot springs. You may also hear 泡温泉 meaning “to soak” in the hot springs.
1. While we have taught 另外 in the past, it is being used in a different context in:
我们会先复习一些跟时间有关系的单字， 另外我们也会教你们一些生字.
2. You can see how 一下 can be tacked on to many actions to indicate performing it for a short instance as in:
等一下. 我看一下. 听一下
3. 稍等一下 is a more polite way of saying 等一下 and is commonly used in situations where you have to wait for service.
4. In some regions of China, you may hear 等一会儿 which has the same meaning as 等一下.
5. Since the sun is closely related to the time of day, the word 日 shares the meaning of “day” and “sun.”
6. 中午 and 半夜 differ slightly from their English counterparts as they refer to a two hour time period of 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 11 p.m. to 1 a.m. respectively.
7. Asking “how often” is usually done in a more specific manner as seen in:
