Sharing our Experience in Learning Chinese

Saying Already in Chinese

2009-10-26T21:54:00.000-07:00

How to say already in Chinese

The most common word for expressing "already" in Chinese is 已经 (yi3jing1).
However to make the meaning deeper, we say 都...了 (dou ... le); or we can use both of them.

已经十二点了, 你怎么还不睡觉?
yı3jing1 shi2 er4 dian3 le, ni3 zen3me hai2 bu4 shuı4jiao4?
It’s already twelve o’clock. Why haven’t you gone to sleep?

都十二点了, 你怎么还不睡觉?
dou3 shı2 er4 dian3 le, ni3 zen3me hai2 bu4 shuı4jiao4?
It’s already twelve o’clock! How come you still haven’t gone to sleep?

都已经十二点了,你怎么还不睡觉?
dou3 yı3jing1 shı2 er4 dian3 le, ni3 zen3me hai2 bu4 shuı4jiao4?
It’s already twelve o’clock! How come you still haven’t gone to sleep?

Source: Qingwen Chinesepod

让 - rang4

2008-12-22T01:57:00.000-08:00

The word 让 (rang4) has interesting multi meaning in Chinese.
Let's dig it together.

Telling somebody to do something (a command)
让他在外面等一下
rang4 ta1 zai wai4mian5 deng3 yi1xia4
Tell him to wait outsize

公司让我来中国
gong1si1 rang4 wo3 lai3 zhong1guo2 gong1zuo4
Company had me come to China to work

To let / to allow somebody to do something
让我看一下
rang4 wo3 kan4 yi1xia4
Let me have a look

让一下
rang4 yi1xia4
let me go through

让坐
rang4zuo4
Let me sit down

给他让座
gei3 ta1 rang4zuo4
Let him sit down (by give up one's seat for somebody else)

让我想一想
rang4 wo3 xiang3 yi1 xiang3
Let me think about it

To cause someone to feel someway
让我很难过
rang4 wo3 hen3 nan2guo4
To make me feel sad

让我很生气
rang4 wo3 hen3 sheng1qi4
To make me feel angry

让我感到很尴尬
rang4 wo3 gan3dao4 hen3 gan1ga4
To make me feel embarrased

Source: ChinesePod - Qingwen

Saying politely in Chinese Language

2008-12-04T21:54:00.000-08:00

For being polite in Chinese conversation, we can say 谢谢 - xie4xie5 (thank you). Actually there are several other words for saying polite in.

麻烦 ma2fan5
Its actual meaning is "hustle" or "trouble", however we can use this word for other polite meaning:

Please
麻烦你让一下
ma2fan5 ni3 rang4 yi1xia4
Please get out of the way (if you want to step out of the crowd)

Need a favor
麻烦你帮我我拿一下
ma2fan5 ni3 bang1 wo3 na2 yi1xia4
Troubling you to please help me pick this up

可不可以麻烦你帮我一下
ke3 bu4 ke3yi3 ma2fan5 ni3 bang1 wo3 na2 yi1xia4
Can I or not to trouble you to please help me pick this up?

可不可以麻烦你修一下
ke3 bu4 ke3yi3 ma2fan5 ni3 xiu1 yi1xia4
Can I or not to trouble you to repair this?

麻烦你告诉他，我打个电话给他了
ma2fan5 ni3 gao4su5 ta1, wo3 da3 ge4 dian4hua4 gei3 ta1le5
(Sorry to trouble you) please tell him, I phoned him

Saying thank you after someone did something nice
啊, 这是太麻烦你了
a1 zhe4 shi4 tai4 ma2fan5 ni3 le5
Ooh, this really troubled you (Ooh, thank you)

Saying thank you before someone does something for you
那就麻烦你了
na4 jiu4 ma2fan5 ni3 le5
That really will trouble you (Thank you in advance)

Let's see how to say the real meaning of 麻烦 (trouble)
办签证真麻烦
ban4 qian1zheng4 zhen1 ma2fan5
Apply visa is very troublesome

你真麻烦
ni3 zhen1 ma2fan5
You are really troublesome

Source: Qingwen, ChinesePod

Meanings of 请 (qing3) in Chinese

2008-12-01T02:28:00.000-08:00

The most common meaning of 请 (qing3) is "please", however it has lots of other meanings.
Let's dig it together

PLEASE
请 qing3 :please go ahead (before starting meal together, or to let somebody go first)
请进 qing3 jin4 : please come in
请坐 qing3 zuo4 : please sit down
请喝茶 qing3 he1 cha2 : please drink some tea
请安静 qing3 an1jing4 : please be quite
请让一下 qing3 rang4 yi1xia4 : please let me go (among the crowd)
请说的慢一点儿 qing3 shuo1 de5 man4 yi1dian3er5 : please speak slower

请客 (qing3 ke4) TO TREAT (MEAL, MOVIE etc)
我想请你吃饭
wo3 xiang3 qing3 ni3 chi1 fan4
I want to treat you a meal

请你看电影
qing3 ni3 kan4 dian4ying3
Treat you seeing movie

邀请 (yao1qing3) TO INVITE
我想请你参加我的生日晚会
wo3 xiang3 qing3 ni3 can1jia1 wo3 de5 sheng1ri1 wan3hui4
I want to invite you joining my birthday party

我可以请你跳舞吗？
wo3 ke3yi3 qing3 ni3 tiao4wu3 ma5 ?
Can I ask you to dance?

聘请 (pin4qing3) TO HIRE
Bobby 请我去工作
Bobby qing3 wo3 qu4 gong1zuo4
Bobby hire me for a job

我想请一位阿姨帮我
wo3 xiang3 qing3 yi1wei4 a1yi4 bang4 wo3
I want to hire an auntie (maid) to help me

ASKING FOR A FAVOR
我可以请你帮忙吗？
wo3 ke3yi3 qing3 ni3 bang4mang4 ma5?
Can I ask you to help?

Note:
Do you need to know the precise Chinese pronunciation? Especially for Pinyin pronunciation? You can visit the following URL, http://chinesepod.com/resources/pronunciation

Source: ChinesePod, Qingwen.

Chinese Set Up on Palm Centro (Interesting Feature for Chinese Learners)

2008-11-12T21:01:00.000-08:00

In this opportunity, I would like to share my experience with Palm Centro smartphone device. Palm Centro has a very interesting feature, especially for anybody who is studying Chinese language.
I just got my first Palm mobile phone a few weeks ago, i.e. Palm Centro. I try to get accustomed with the astonishing feature on it. Previously I always chose Nokia mobile device, because mostly Nokia device is compatible with Chinese character, reading and writing.
While trying all the Palm Centro feature, I got to know that we can activate the Chinese language on it, either for Simplified Chinese of Traditional Chinese. Only, the main problem is once we activate the Chinese language, all the display menu turns to Chinese. This is a problem for me as my Chinese reading is still poor.
Fortunately, a friend of mine who is an Palm expert told me that we can turn on the Chinese language feature while we can still keep all the display menu in English. Thanks to him, even though he does not understand Chinese but his knowledge of Palm OS is remarkable. Actually he is the one who introduce Palm Centro as well. Based on his advice, I try to find the related setting. Finally I got it.
Once we activate it, the feature is really very interesting. We can read Chinese, write Chinese with Pinyin input method or even with stylus hand writing. Last not least, we can also write Japanese Hiragana and Katakana.

Chinese setting of Palm Centro:

Push HOME button and choose / click Preference (Prefs)

Choose / Click CJK OS (Chinese Japanese Korean Operating Systems)

Check the ENABLE CJKOS

Choose “Chinese GB” or “Chinese GBK” for Simplified Chinese or "Chinese BIG5" for Traditional Chinese setting.

Choose the 2nd TAB (增强), then UNcheck the bottom box (中文化). This is to change the display menu to English

Choose the 3rd TAB (Input), then check the box Enable CJK Keyboard. This is for activating the Chinese input with Pinyin method.

Return to Preference menu, and choose PenP. This is to activate the stylus hand writing input method.

Check the following box: [常用字] activates stylus handwriting for the common Chinese character, [日文字] for Japanese Hiragana/Katakana and [英文字] for the English alphabet.

After finishing above set up, then we can start writing Chinese character with following method:

Direct handwriting on the monitor

Using Keyboard with Pinyin entry method. Push Menu and choose Keyboard.

Enjoy your time.....

My Childhood Experience in Learning Chinese

2007-03-21T08:44:00.000-07:00

When I look back to my childhood time in mid of 1970’s, I clearly remember how my mother taught me to learn Chinese (Mandarin). Not so serious, of course, as I was still about 6 years of age at that time.

I still remember some of the rhyme she taught me:

妈妈，妈妈来。来看弟弟。弟弟哭了。弟弟要妈妈抱。
Mama, Mama lai. Lai kan didi. Didi kule. Didi yao mama bao.
Mommy, Mommy come. Come and see little brother. Little brother is crying. Little brother wants Mommy to hold him.

When I was 7½ years old in early 1976, my mother enrolled me to have a Mandarin course in a church called Ka Im Tong (Jia Yin Tang) - in a small city of Tasikmalaya, West Java, Indonesia. On the first day I entered the Chinese class, I was the youngest pupil in the class. On that day, the class was teaching one Chinese word, Xin 信 (letter). I studied Mandarin three times a week, i.e. Monday, Wednesday and Friday; from 3.00 to 5.00 pm.

During that day, official Chinese school/course was banned in Indonesia due to political matter. All Chinese culture was prohibited in Indonesia from mid of 1960’s until late of 1990’s.

That’s why I had to study Mandarin in a church. The Mandarin course was masked by Christianity teaching in church. Actually my parents were Confucians follower, not Christian.

I studied Mandarin from 1976 until end of 1978. I asked my mother to quit from the Mandarin course. Actually it was fun to study there. I had lots of friends there.

Since then, I never learned Mandarin again until end of year 2002; it’s about 24 years after I stopped my Mandarin course! In Nov 2002, after I got married, I enrolled myself to study Mandarin in an official course with native teachers from China. I learned Mandarin until early 2004, and then I stopped again.
Since late 1999 and early 2000 Chinese courses are not prohibited again in Indonesia. Lots of Chinese teachings are open, in courses and also in public school.

This time I need to study Chinese again (even by self-study), I have to accompany my children to study Mandarin. My children get Mandarin lecture in their public school.

Dear All, please wish me to study Mandarin language until I, at least, understand and able to communicate in Mandarin!!