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.

Greetings in Chinese

Today I'm going to tell you about the way people say "Hello" in China. We all know that the most popular way is the phrase "你好“. It's neutral and can be said in different situations. However there is a believe that “你好” is not of Chinese origin and is correlated with the English "Hello" or "How are you". 
Besides ”你好“ there are some other ways to greet each other depending on the situation. Let's learn how we can do it.

1) If we talk to an older person or to our boss, instead of “你” we should say “您“.  And if we greet several people, we say “你们好”.
2) Depending on the time of the day we can also say “你早” or “早上好” (usually addressing to a person whom we know quite well).
3）If Chinese people (friends) are talking not to a foreigner but to a person whom they know very well or who is their friend and if they met just at the time for having breakfast (dinner, supper), they usually say something like ”吃了吗？“，“吃饭了吗？” which can be translated as "Did you have a meal?" It doesn't mean that they really want to know if you have already had dinner. The usual answers for the phrases can be: “刚吃完”，“还没有“, meaning "I have just had dinner" or "Not yet". 
4) In the evening you can often hear such phrases as “还没睡？” meaning "Not sleeping yet?"
5) Sometimes the greeting can sound like that of “去哪儿？” meaning "Where are you going?" The answer is normally as follows “有事”，“出去” ("I've some business" or "Just getting fresh air").

To sum up, if you don't know all these phrases, it's normal just to say “你好".

Немного истории

Приближается еще один очень важный праздник в Китае. 1 октября вся страна отмечает День образования КНР. 1 октября стал официальным днем образования КНР в 1949 году, когда на площади Тяньаньмэнь в Пекине собралась многотысячная толпа народа, а руководитель центрального народного правительства Мао Цзэдун с трибуны объявил об основании Нового Китая. В этом году страна празднует 64-ую годовщину. 1 октября - государственный праздник, а потому всем гражданам страны полагаются трехдневные выходные, которые, соединяясь с обычными выходными, превратятся в так называемую "Золотую неделю", т.е. небольшие каникулы, когда никто в Китае не работает. Как правило, перед такими долгими выходными нужно заранее купить билеты, если вы хотите отправиться домой, иначе вас ожидают многочасовые очереди и возможность провести праздники в здании вокзала или аэропорта, ожидая лишнего билетика.

В 2009 году вышел фильм под названием "Основание Китая", посвященный событиям 1945-1949 годов.

Пища для ума

Изучение любого языка невозможно без проникновения в историю и культуру страны изучаемого языка. То же касается и Китая. Ведь недостаточно просто понимать речь и уметь высказаться на иностранном языке, чтобы по настоящему владеть им, нужно знать его историю. А где, как ни в литературе проявляется все красота и самобытность того или иного языка? Именно в ней отражаются и традиции, и история, и ментальность народа.

Сегодня хочу предложить вам список произведений классической китайской литературы, необходимый к прочтению всем лингвистам, переводчикам и просто любящим этот язык. 

Литературу, как и историю, принято изучать, двигаясь из глубокой древности к настоящему времени. Однако, учитывая специфику китайской литературной мысли, совершенно несвойственную другим народам, считаю, что знакомство с китайскими авторами лучше начинать с современников и заканчивать самыми отдаленными от нас по времени произведениями.

Ниже привожу книги, которые советую вам прочитать, именно в таком порядке!

1) Лао Шэ - "Рикша", "Чайная", "Записки о кошачьем городе" и др.

2) Лу Синь - "Подлинная историю А-Кью", "Дневник сумасшедшего", любые повести и рассказы.

3) Цао Сюэцинь - "Сон в красном тереме" (мое самое любимое произведение из китайской литературы)

4) Пу Сунлин - "Рассказы Ляо Чжая о необычайном"

5) Цзинь, Пин, Мэй, или Цветы сливы в золотой вазе.

6) У Чэнъ-энь. Путешествие на Запад.

7) Ши Най-ань. Речные заводи.

8) Ло Гуань-чжун. Троецарствие.

К этому списку, конечно же, можно прибавить сборники китайской поэзии, в частности поэтов Танской династии, а также сборники мифов, повестей и легенд.

И несомненно, каждый должен ознакомиться с изречениями Конфуция

 

Праздник Середины Осени!

大家好！ Привет всем. 

Мое сегодняшнее сообщение будет на русском языке. 
Завтра в Китае празднуется Середина Осени! По-китайски название праздника звучит как zhōngqiūjié - 中秋节!

Этот праздник очень любим китайцами (почти также, как и Китайский Новый год). Отмечается он в 15 день восьмого месяца по лунному календарю, то есть приходится на сентябрь-октябрь. В 2013 году - на 19 сентября. В этот день члены семьи собираются вместе, съезжаясь из различных уголков страны. Они устраивают семейный ужин, любуются луной и дарят друг другу лунные пряники! 

Почему китайцы любуются лунов в этот день, спросите вы? Может быть, потому, что полная луна символизирует соединение семьи, мир и процветание! А может быть, что когда-то давным давно жила на земле красавица Чан Э, которая, выпив эликсир бессмертия, превратилась в небесное существо и улетела на Луну. Безумно любивший ее муж Хуэй И пролил не мало горьких слез, смотрел на луну в надежде увидеть Чан Э. С тех пор в праздник Середины Осени принято поклоняться Луне и просить у нее милости.

Также в этот день принято читать стихи, выражающие тоску по Родине, ведь не всем удается вернуться домой, чтобы вместе с семье встретить Праздник Середины Осени. Вот один из самых любимых стихов, выражающих всю глубину чувств, написанный великим поэтом Ли Бо:

У самой моей постели

Легла от луны дорожка.

А может быть, это иней?

Я сам хорошо не знаю.

Я голову поднимаю —

Гляжу на луну в окошко,

Я голову опускаю —

И родину вспоминаю. 

Chinese Names

Today with one of my Chinese-learning groups we were discussing such an interesting thing as Chinese names. The problem of name-giving in China is really big, because there are so many people and it's very important for a person to have a unique name. 

Today I want to tell you about such prefixes as "Xiao" and "Lao". There are thousands and thousands of people in China who have the surname Wang. It's as common as Smith or Brown in the UK. Very often you can hear that people are called Xiao Wang or Lao Wang. The word "Xiao" means "little, junior". The word "Lao" means "old, wise". It's easy to understand that the prefix "Xiao" is often used when addressing to a child, and "Lao" - to a grown up person. It'd be nice if it were that easy. But in reality there are a lot of hidden dangers.

One and the same person can be called both "Xiao Wang" and "Lao Wang" by different people in different situations. For instance, you can be 50 years old (quite a grown up person, aren't you?) but your GrandPa will still call you Xiao Wang (Little Wang) because your grandfather, of course, is much older than you. When a fifty-year-old-still-called-by-GrandPa-Xiao-Wang man comes to an office, there is no doubt that his colleagues will call him Lao Wang (Old Wang). At the same time if this man's boss (whose surname is also Wang) is younger than he is he can freely call him Xiao Wang, beacuse his position in the company is lower than the bosses. And of course you can't call your boss Xiao Wang (Little Wang) even if he is much younger than you. 

Hope it was interesting and easy to understand. If you understand Chinese you can listen to and read a little more about Chinese names here - Slow Chinese Podcasts.

Bicycles in China

We all rode a bicycle in our childhood, of course. Do you know that for Chinese people to ride a bicycle is not just a good sport, but it's the main means of transportation. You can see thousands of Chinese people going to work by bicycle every morning. For many of them a bicycle is a way to move a house instead of hiring a lorry (because for a lot of people it;s still quite expensive); it's a way to make your small business, such as selling bread or fruit. And of course there are thousands of trishaws in big cities of China. A trishaw is a kind of a bicycle with a cart. So you sit in a cart and a man (trishaw) turns pedals to take you where you wish. 

Here is a short video for you about a trishaw ride through the streets of a city.

Traditional Chinese Wedding Ceremony

Creative Ways | EnglishAgenda | British Council

Creative Ways | EnglishAgenda | British Council

Foot Binding in China

I think all people heard about such ancient tradition in China as FOOT BINDING! All people heard but not all of them have seen. I'm sure.

When we hear the phrase "foot binding", we imagine women with very small feet. We think that Chinese women bound their feet just to prevent them from growing. But that's not quite true. 

Here is a video for you to understand what it looked like.

Terrible, isn't it? How could they do such a thing? What for? Can you imagine some men (a lot of men in Ancient China) went crazy because of this. One of them even wrote an essay describing 58 form of "women-lotus"'s feet. But that is another story, which I'm going to tell you next time.

Chinese gift-giving etiquette

We all know that different peoples have different traditions. As they say: what is good for a Russian is death for a German. Here is a small presentation about taboo gifts in China. So what you can NOT give to your Chinese friends as a present.

Chinese gift-giving etiquette from Tanitta13

Teacher of the 21st century

The 21st Century Educator from Kim Cofino

Twitter

Follow me on Twitter

@Tatyana_Pronina

English in China (Chinglish): Funniest Mistakes in the World

Chinglish

Chinglish

As we know English language is very popular all over the world. A lot of people speak it as a native language and even more as a second language. English is very different due to the fact that it's spoken in absolutely different parts of the world. We know the English language in Britain and the one they speak in Australia can be called two different languages.

Of course China is not the exception. Today a lot of people in China try to learn this European language. The result of it is such a phenomenon as Chinese English, or Chinglish.

So, what is it? It's a strange and sometimes funny combination of English and Chinese. Sometimes the term "chinglish" is applied to ungrammatical English in Chinese context. This kind of English exists almost only in China and can be mostly seen on road signs, advertisments and banners. For those who can speak both Chinese and English, or even for those who speaks only English it can be very funny to read all this nonsense, the translation of Chinese signs and ads into English.
Here are some examples.

Chinglish_1

Chinglish_2

Introduction

Hello!

My name is Tatyana and I'm a teacher of English and Chinese. 

I start this blog for those who are interested in learning foreign languages and cultures. Here you will find lots of interesting information about Chinese people, their traditions, interests and way of life. We will compare such cultures as Russian, British and Chinese.

I hope this blog will be useful for students learning Chinese and English, for teachers who would share their ideas with me and for everyone who is interested.

My first publication will be about the way English is learnt in China and such interesting and funny phenomenon as Chinglish!

See you soon.