Series for learning Chinese

Today I would like to publish a list of series who would like to learn Chinese not only in a classroom, but also by him/her-self. To my mind watching Chinese soap operas is not the worst way to learn the real Chinese language, the way it is spoken in every day life. So, here are several series which could be not only helpful but also quite interesting to watch.

1.璀璨人生/Shining Days (2013)

It's a story about a girl from a poor family and the other one, who is very rich, about the way they become best friends, and later enemies. And of course it's a story about deep love, broken hearts, people's hypocrisy and forgiveness.

It's quite long (80 episodes in TV version), there are a lot of flashbacks, but that's perfect for those people who learn Chinese.

2. 千金归来 /Daughter's Return (2013)

It's an interesting drama about a girl who lost her mother in childhood, about her relationship with father and a step-mother. She deeply loves one man and hates the other one, but their lives are so intermingled that it's difficult to guess how this drama ends.

3. 童话二分之一 （2012）

It's a drama about two twin sisters who were separated in early childhood, they never knew about one another until one day they are brought together. One of the girls has a terrible disease, and the other is asked to replace her when necessary. It's also about love and overcoming. The most striking is the end of the story. You will never guess.

4. 未婚妻/Fiancee (2013)

It's a drama abour a girl who comes to Shanghai after the man she loves, about their difficult relationship and hardships they meet on their way in this big city. It's a story about love and betrayal, about a strong woman who can overcome everything and be happy. I think it's one of the most close-to-life Chinese dramas. Not a soap opera, not a fairy tale, but life!

5. 如果我爱你／Only if I love you (2014)

It's a very bright and cheerful story about love of two young people, of course they have a lot of difficulties on their way to be together, but they overcome everything. This drama is really full of colours. It takes place mostly in Italy and it's really really beautiful and full of life.

Christmas in China

And once again about Christmas!  We all know that Christmas is NOT a traditional Chinese holiday, but still it's celebrated in this Asian country. Here is a video report about how Chinese celebrate Christmas and if it is important for them.

History of Christmas: Rome to Reformation

Soon it's Christmas time all over Europe. But how did this holiday really start? Here is a short video about the origin of Christmas. Enjoy and be surprised!

В помощь изучающим китайский!

Представляю вашему вниманию полезные сайты для изучения китайского языка, а именно для тренировки 听力 - навыков аудирования!

1) http://www.slow-chinese.com/ - сайт со множеством аудиоуроков, где представлены новости о Китае, а диктор говорит специально очень медленно. К каждому уроку прилагается транскрипция аудиозаписи.

2) http://english.cntv.cn/program/learnchinese/easychinese/index.shtml - множество уроков для изучающих китайский на любом уровне: от начинающего до продвинутого.

3) http://www.imandarinpod.com/hoola/ -  пожалуй, один из лучших сайтов, посвященных аудированию на китайском языке, где представлены интересные материалы о Китае и событиях в мире.

4) http://russian.cntv.cn/program/tvseries_ru/20120213/112616.shtml -  сайт китайского телевидение на русском, где есть много полезного о Китае, а также возможность смотреть китайские фильмы на китайском языке.

5) http://www.atozchinese.com/ -  множество видео уроков для изучающих язык на всех уровнях.

Желаю удачи! 祝你们成功！

Commonly used phrases

Today we are going to talk about what to say when we don't like something, are not satisfied with someone's behaviour or with how something is done.

For example if we tell a partner about some event which has recently happened and which we didn't like (for example, about some party, a new film, a lecture etc), we can usually say:

1) 没意思！(méiyìsi) - meaning "It was boring!"
2）真没劲！(zhēn méijìn) - has the same meaning as the first phrase - "It was not interesting!"
3）不怎么样！(bù zěnme yàng) - meaning "Nothing special"
4）还是老一套！(háishì lǎoyītào) - meaning "All the same! Nothing new!"
5）白浪费一晚上时间！(báilàngfèi yīwǎnshang shíjiān) - meaning "It's just a waste of time"
6) 没什么新鲜的！(méi shénmе xīnxiānde) - meaning "Boring, nothing new!"


Sometimes when a person did something bad or something that made other people angry, not happy, these people can say:

1) 讨厌！（tǎoyàn）- "It's disgusting!", "Hate it!"
2）真可气！(zhēnkěqì) - "It's a scandal!", "Outrageously!"
3）有毛病！(yǒu máobìng) - "It's not right!" ,"Fault"
4）真不文明！(zhēn bùwénmíng) - "It wasn't clever to do so"
5）真不像话！(zhēn bùxiànghuà) - "It's nonsense!"
6）笨死了！(bèn sǐle) - "It was so stupid of him/her to do so!"
7）你真是的！(nǐ zhēnshìde) - "Just look at you!", "My aunt!"
8）你这人怎这样！ (nǐ zhèrén zěn zhèyàng) - "How could you do such a thing?"
9）干吗那么厉害！(gànmá nàme lìhai) - "How could you do such a bad thing?"

Chinese "Halloween" days

Today all the English speaking world is celebrating Halloween. This holiday is well known throughout the world, and I'm sure you know the history of the holiday. Even if not, you can find a lot of information going to Youtube and finding a lot of videos, telling about the way we can celebrate the holiday, the origin of the holiday, and even a lot of instructions of how to make a fancy dress or a scary make-up for the night!

What I am going to tell you about today is not Halloween as we all know it, but about Chinese holidays, which have something in common with this European one.

As we all know on the day of Halloween ghosts and the dead are supposed to come to the world of alive. In China there are 4 holidays which are somehow connected with the dead, ghosts, souls and all things like that. 

All these 4 holidays have one common name 鬼节 (guǐjié) - these are the days when people of China remember the dead.

Today i will tell you about the day which is called 中元节(zhōngyuánjié), or The Ghost Day. It is celebrated on the 15th day of the 7th Lunar month. There is a very interesting legend about the holiday.

Every year on this day Yanwang (the master of Hell) orders to open the gates to Hell so that all the evil creatures dwelling in Hell could come out for a short period of time and enjoy themselves among living beings, killing them and drinking their lives. Because of that the seventh month is considered to be a very bad and unlucky period for getting married or moving to a new house.

During the 7th month and especially on the 15th day of the month Chinese people burn special ritual paper money and make festive food. The food is served for the dead, and a plate with it is usually put on the table in fron of an empty chair for every deceased relative. You can also see a lot of small boats with lanterns on them on every river in China. The lantern is put to show direction to the deceased, ghosts and spirits so that they didn't get lost.

The next time I'm going to tell you about some other traditional Chinese holidays.

How to say "Thanks" in Chinese

There are a lot of ways to say "Thank you" in Chinese, but all in all they usually can be expressed by a single word “谢谢” meaning "Thank you". Here are some examples:
谢谢 － Thanks
谢谢您 - Thank you (addressing to an older person, showing respect)
多谢 - Thank you very much
谢谢大家 - Thank you (addressing to several people)
太谢谢您了 - Thanks a lot

When you ask a person for a favour or to help you with something, you can use the following expressions:
辛苦了 (xīnkǔle) - means "I've bothered you so much"
打扰了 (dǎrǎole) - "Sorry for bothering"
让您费心了 (ràng nín fèixīnle) - "May I trouble you?"
给您添麻烦了 (gěi nín tiān máfanle) - "I gave you not a little trouble"

让您受累了 (ràng nín shòulěile) - "Sorry for having put you into trouble"
劳驾了 (láojiàle) - "Excuse me, may I trouble you?"

When other people say "Thank you" to you, there are also several ways to react to their words “不用谢”， “不谢”， “不客气”，“没什么”，“没事儿”，“没关系”，“不辛苦”. All of these words mean "There is no need to say thank you". Here are some examples of commonly used phrases:
你太客气了 - You are too polite.
哪里，很愿意为您效劳 - Don't thank me, I did it with pleasure.
一点小事，用不着谢 - It's not a big trouble, you don't need to thank me.
谢什么呀，大家都是朋友 - Don't thank me, we'are friends (meaning "friends must help each other")
这是我应该做的 - This is what I must do, so don;t thank me.