Tagonketlani ka?

Leon | Uni of Melbourne | Studying Mandarin and French | Linguistics 😍

[linguisticmaps]

Plural Marking typology

How languages mark the plural number on nouns. 

Many Bantu languages use a prefix system (also with gender).

Most Indo-European languages have suffixes, although the Germanic languages, and, to a lesser extent French, have a mixed strategy that involves apophony/umlaut, and in the case of French, many irregular plurals, that totaly change the pronounciation of the word. 

Arabic, Berber, Hebrew, some Nilo-Saharan languages have this mixed strategy with vowel changes in the middle of the words, and suffixes. 

Dinka and Nuer (South Sudan) have only a stem change (apophony). 

A few African languages just change the tone of the word. French, Tibetan, Burmese, Vietnamese, Khmer, Philippines’ languages and many Polynesian languages, and the Mande languages West Africa, use a particle before the noun, usually. In French this is the definite article la/le vs. les, because the final -s of nouns is not pronounced, so the plural is only noun in the spoken language from this particle. 

Indonesian and Malay have full reduplication (orang - person; orang-orang - people). 

Many East Asian languages (Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Thai) don’t mark plural at all. 

[bonjourfrenchwords]

There are silences that mean so much as there are words that mean nothing. • Édith Piaf, French singer and songwriter (1915-1963)

[xiangqiankua]

So I’m still traveling, hence the lack of regular updates, but I met some Chinese exchange students in a hostel in Bosnia a few weeks back who decided I needed to know some slang:

渣男 zhānán / fuckboy

啃老 kěnlǎo / living with and leeching off your parents as an adult

拜金女 bàijīnnǚ / gold digger

[goethesdicksmasher]

whoever is making sentences for chinese duolingo needs to be slapped because there’s way too many literal translations of english idioms and weirdly formal sentences to be good practice. like if you were an actual new mandarin learner and didn’t already have a sense of what normal speech sounds like or know that X or Y cultural concept doesn’t exist in china you wouldn’t notice any of this. 

don’t even get me started on the way they assume 很(adjective) can be safely translated to (adjective) alone in english. 很 isn’t there for decoration asshole it means “very” there’s a pretty big difference between “very quiet” and “quiet”

[lingua-franca]

actually 很 in mandarin has a very neutral tone and is basically obligatory before copula adjectives in positive declarative sentences. so saying 他很高兴 is actually more correct and idiomatic than just saying 他高兴

[learninglinguist]

A linguistic stereotype, explained.

A foreign accent is when someone speaks a second language with the rules of their first language, and one of the most persistent and well-studied foreign-accent features is a lack of L/R contrast among native Japanese speakers learning English. 

It’s so well-known that American soldiers in World War II reportedly used codewords like “lallapalooza” to distinguish Japanese spies from Chinese allies. But American movies and TV shows have applied this linguistic stereotype to Korean and Chinese characters too, like Kim Jong Il in Team America: World Police, or Chinese restaurant employees singing “fa ra ra ra ra” in A Christmas Story. 

However, Japanese, Korean, and Chinese  are completely different languages that each handle L-sound and R-sounds differently. In this episode of Vox Observatory, we take a look at each language and how it affects pronunciation for English-language learners.

[acadiemics]

Chinese for when you’re sad

伤心 shāng xīn - sad

悲伤 bēi shāng - sad, but worse

难过 nán guò - sad but not that sad

抑郁 yì yù - depressed

孤独 gū dú - lonely

低落 dī luò - feeling low

绝望 jué wàng - desolate

不知所措 bù zhī sûo cuò - helpless

心碎 xīn suì - heartbroken

郁闷 yù mèn - glum

[french-ement-votre]

French Youtube Channels.(updated)

Une liste de chaînes Youtube françaises, longue mais non exhaustive.

Mon classement est un peu approximatif. Parfois, certains/es Youtubers/euses se retrouvent dans deux catégories, parce qu’ils/elles proposent des émissions sur des sujets très différents.

Il ne s’agit pas seulement de mes chaînes préférées, mais bien entendu, mes chaînes préférées sont dans cette liste. Et celles que je n’aime pas du tout n’y sont pas. M’en fout, c’est ma liste. Par contre, il se peut que j’aie oublié des chaînes intéressantes, toutes les propositions sont les bienvenues.

Tu as des questions au sujet d’une chaîne ? Si je peux, je me ferai un plaisir de te répondre :)

Actualité/infos

le fil d’actu : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9hHeywcPBnLglqnQRaNShQ

Société

data gueule : https://www.youtube.com/user/datagueule

point de vue social : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCK6mlWEjd5-wK1aOqL2zKQQ

horizon gull : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGeFgMJfWclTWuPw8Ok5FUQ/discussion

Le point rouge : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4b_V1rVK4kFyszUp6WuIEw

Revenu de base : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBrqCGSd_Jh0GrWDeL1OaXw

Stupid Economics : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyJDHgrsUKuWLe05GvC2lng

Usul : https://www.youtube.com/user/MrUsul2000

le stagirite : https://www.youtube.com/user/LeStagirite

Osons causer : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVeMw72tepFl1Zt5fvf9QKQ

Télébocal : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC76FbSGY-Uqw44mjdvxGXwg

la ringarde  : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCScUARAGiZQkPHpOHuS_drA

Dany Caligula : https://www.youtube.com/user/DanyCaligula/featured

Monsieur Troll : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1MFq9QgUZHsHlsuwGmo7aw

Klaire fait grrr : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXGrPbB-bmAOr_DpI29Phzw

Dans ton flux : https://www.youtube.com/user/danstonflux

Zététique / scepticisme :

Hygiène mentale : https://www.youtube.com/user/fauxsceptique

instant sceptique : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2bt55_J3pQCImOfjO17Q-w

mycéliums : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJ9kIKgFuAB23GkEko1hHDg

la tronche en biais : https://www.youtube.com/user/TroncheEnBiais

Samuel Buisseret : https://www.youtube.com/user/SamuelBuisseret

Handicap / Autism / Asperger (oui, une seule rubrique, pour des raisons pratiques, si tu veux on en discute, hein.)

vivre avec : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCH3Hp3WAm0iGQBi_csusoUg

Super Pepette : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCF-njLWFsgM97UGvScZqH4Q

Genre et sexualité :

Pouhiou Néonaute : https://www.youtube.com/user/pouhiou

Charlie Foxtrot : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjiUCJpfexSyC-plmWJg8UA

Cordélia aime : https://www.youtube.com/user/cordeliaaime

Fujixguru / le papa de l’internet : https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLpnNZ7Jpv6YKtm78j5aF4wyuoLLrDge8I

Princ(ess)e LGTB : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbIOqOXBjp4QYNL2CGRDXLg

Xil’cast : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXy-0GE0pZ25z76hK4lunBA

Parlons peu parlons cul : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChMBRboapaPi9fNnr0O76sg

Histoire

epic teaching of the history : https://www.youtube.com/user/EpicTeachingHistory

pour la petite histoire : https://www.youtube.com/user/PourLaPetiteHistoire

nota bene : https://www.youtube.com/user/notabenemovies

confessions d’histoire : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzj9-ZfpJ74vYv1RZzAWTVg

Histony: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCt8ctlakIflnSG0ebFps7cw/featured

Sciences

e-penser : https://www.youtube.com/user/epenser1

la minute science :https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwBn4dgV3kxzvcCKN3TbQOQ

dirty biology : https://www.youtube.com/user/dirtybiology

Science étonnante : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaNlbnghtwlsGF-KzAFThqA

Podcast Science : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7myUXybJN3i_gLdSBlD_3g

Culture-moi : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcvjxE5lFjyYSuJ1VCUT0GQ/featured

Motorsport Gigantoraptor : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNEWnUoWy0h8_6Fyt_59N1Q

la tronche en biais : https://www.youtube.com/user/TroncheEnBiais/featured

Florence Porcel : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9HapjjoLqdDNwKEWQRaiyA

Laurence Honorat : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGHrO209l9vmCurckpsSZhQ

Espace des sciences : https://www.youtube.com/user/Espacedessciences

Dr Nozman : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWnfDPdZw6A23UtuBpYBbAg

Xil’CAst : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXy-0GE0pZ25z76hK4lunBA

experimentboy :https://www.youtube.com/user/experimentboyTV

Experimentboy2 : https://www.youtube.com/user/experimentORIGINAL

Psy et neuro-sciences

le psylab : https://www.youtube.com/user/lepsylab/about

Kliko Desh : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgC-FuJSUA66Q2cCi3jEXAA

La psychhothèque : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_GkEnNIFPbG2RCzNwDsz6A

Anthropologie :

Anthropodcast : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3_Mqxxv8SONpipOcdXOB0Q

Langue française, langue des signes, langues et linguistique

linguisticae :  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCofQxJWd4qkqc7ZgaLkZfcw

les expressions : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVL_6o–Z1CVSTROLMdLfNA

codemu : https://www.youtube.com/user/codemutv

les langues de Cha : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0efyK_-Athm8yhyjNSqndQ

french sounds : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2L9w7ozDeUl1w5ZjUPCOQA

Accent français : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAbwK2Xp6BlQECGsmbYfm0w

LSF

Signe2mains : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKGWL_pjR6PJC2bWAYf04WQ

Jauvert LAura : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPG4nkydHbGZ_lIZ_bd3zgg

Langue des signes française : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3rbgmQApsfAhvQ5Oa0azsQ

Parlons de surdité : https://www.youtube.com/user/SourdsWaliceo

Pgillot89 : https://www.youtube.com/user/pgillot89

signe2mains : https://www.youtube.com/user/Signe2Mains

la main des sourds : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLTyeUvLSjITMePJN2yyOUQ

les mains balladeuses : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrRTPyznp7lfaEp_DGrgxXw

Philosophie

Cyrus North : (playlist le coup de phil)

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJ6RDhT0IVEDJdKDDJQXliA0xPopgp_TR

Littérature

la brigade du livre : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCO-YDXoZJNVJFmF1UJ17rEw

Entre mes couvertures : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCy6r387MQ28-EvApxraTDLQ

Miss Book : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_9Z28lA28JxAgFv-m4_nlw

Carbon Copy : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWh-WOr-hIl3IbhxhJAo7eA

Cordélia aime : https://www.youtube.com/user/cordeliaaime

margaud Liseuse : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCP2X3cVGXP0r56gOGhiRDlA

Musique :

pvnova : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCB0qpLkjzVlVZ4c8nKiCEyw

éléonore costes : https://www.youtube.com/user/eleonore75

les soeurs costes : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_QWJh_5R7O41d6cpJ5gNUQ

comité des reprises : https://www.youtube.com/user/ComiteDesReprises

Partoche : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCW2y2m-mgYg4Y7VLyjIQWWg

Silla BO : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCk-gLaqukzL7MCVSv6oOhLA

Cinéma

ginger force : https://www.youtube.com/user/GingerForce01

in the panda : https://www.youtube.com/user/INTHEPANDA

durandal : https://www.youtube.com/user/Durendal1

le fossoyeur de film : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zapGuPI1Ft4

Fabien Campaner : https://www.youtube.com/user/betatestmode/featured

la fille aux soufflés : https://www.youtube.com/user/SmoothLullaby

La psychothèque : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_GkEnNIFPbG2RCzNwDsz6A

Sexy and dumb (les nanarchistes) : https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1xKWSGsIJQu8_QrN7rVQ3aTuk8YLQqwa

Cinéastuces : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC–84qgkrqqqYivuuXuQIQg

Séries

Pilote, la chronique série : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvHft8Duo4NaHsxQr2l9TOA

Ya plus de saisons : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXeFGMYmnHQJd7Yu4B_gxXA

les shows runners : https://www.youtube.com/user/lesshowrunners

Laurine Sassano : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAAF-RcPGghehhrzvHI–sw

Buffy Mars : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3yJG3DNkuLOo1MUfiQrQDw/featured

les ShowRunners : https://www.youtube.com/user/lesshowrunners

Revue du Web

Mathieu Sommet : https://www.youtube.com/user/Salutlesgeeks/about

Mr Antoine Daniel : https://www.youtube.com/user/MrAntoineDaniel

Sexy and dumb : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCge0-wea222H1HsvpeNMqLA

Chaînes généralistes : cinéma,vidéos, technologies,culture geek, musique, séries…

VoxMAkers : https://www.youtube.com/user/VoxMakersChannel/featured

Links the sun : https://www.youtube.com/user/LinksTheSun/about

Plus ou moins geek : https://www.youtube.com/user/plusoumoinsgeekTV

Le Geektionnaire : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSuUjbDxQFO5wNcPyLbUGBA

Jeux vidéos, mangas, comics, pop culture

l’ermite moderne : https://www.youtube.com/user/ErmiteModerne

joueur du grenier : https://www.youtube.com/user/joueurdugrenier

le chef otaku : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5sbGkJ_Fuzn_NCxFfX0zLw

les chroniques de Vesper : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCD-52EoL9ZktR3OaOsDXeLg

spatule force : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9caG252-x7i3K1JR1d3HyQ/featured

Geek librairie : https://www.youtube.com/user/Jalvan06

Amicale du geek : https://www.youtube.com/user/amicaledugeek

la chaine du canapé : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNGW-hPzzOqGpl-Dqa7_OyQ

Pause process : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0JUkXAVVA4qWH1BQRs5N3A

Jeannot Nymouce : https://www.youtube.com/user/JeannotNymouce/featured

Studio gaming : https://www.youtube.com/user/studiogamingofficiel/featured

V garou : https://www.youtube.com/user/leVgarou/featured

Un drop dans la mare : https://www.youtube.com/user/UnDropDansLaMare/featured

Usul MAster : https://www.youtube.com/user/usulmasta/featured

la zone geek : https://www.youtube.com/user/lazonegeek

Fake : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCh2YBKhYIy-_LtfCIn2Jycg

GillusZG : https://www.youtube.com/user/Gillus99

PXLBBQ : https://www.youtube.com/user/PXLBBQ

Web séries / humour

le visiteur du futur : https://www.youtube.com/user/watchthevisitor

Golden Moustache : https://www.youtube.com/user/GoldenMoustacheVideo

Bloqués : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCd0V9SfenWqlPsTt5-AyN8A

French Ball : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQ5nOq77BZoKN_sB2iZsJ6Q

franchement point org : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGD2X8BGx-6jcygPnht5fTQ

Fujixguru : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPld1_YS6xoXMt1WeYhmYYg

le meufisme : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCefZbo-hnVK8lREebeyvRHw

Raphaël Descraques : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCi1n-WOtMqvDcDAJugqo2bQ

Raptus : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCokoPMlNNphvYvXIm8fZgkg

Abdel vrai : https://www.youtube.com/user/Abdelscenedup/featured

Barber show: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnYDOK-R8zgM-3c7UxMl8ng

Tops :

les topovaures : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCToaRM06haIUw4uxvaGQCnA/about

Taupe 10 : https://www.youtube.com/user/Taupe10videos

Doc Seven : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5Twj1Axp_-9HLsZ5o_cEQQ

Didichandouidoui : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCf0mOxfawezlHIVuHd3L2VA

le top 5 : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8NJCimLOr_Uc4GhirgO7lg

Curiosités, trucs bizarres

Axolot : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2_OG1L8DLTzQ7UrZVOk7OA

Castor Mother : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfO4BQD5_S1272GVmuXmTxA/featured

les questions cons : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCR9DNIWLeXKQh_ZJWeXAl5Q

les revues du monde : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnf0fDz1vTYW-sl36wbVMbg

Dr Nozman : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWnfDPdZw6A23UtuBpYBbAg

Romain Tea Time : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvqbpgno9DcJpza4Hms-n7g/about

Cuisine

cuisine-moi : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChN41N2YKRX0Fp0fYXZ3wsw

Animaux

Toopet : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxGJgYyHiYkRyuUWjgShOTQ

Véganisme

la cosméthèque : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCb4GwqOR5bIUHpvDS_UOC1A

Hemp it so : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWVkmZZgyx4YHSuUFg8A_3g

Douce frugalité : https://www.youtube.com/user/doucefrugalite

Crudi Vegan : https://www.youtube.com/user/spobiocoh

CherriPepper Vivre Vegan : https://www.youtube.com/user/CherryPepperMagazine

Gurren Vegan : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUMt0-65GzuT4yDMYlUaJqA

Art/création/ récuo’art / tutos

designe Moi : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPybxr_TZzooaYydKRvXohg/feed

rue des relookeurs : https://www.youtube.com/user/Relookeurs

minute déco : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq_kluxJpbUR1pxQzZ13mEg

[speakupchinese]

难怪 ＆怪不得  2 ways to say “No Wonder!” in Mandarin

As 2015 draws to a close there’s just time to fit in one more post!

Below we look at how to say “No wonder” in Mandarin – essential language if you’re going to travel or live in China, a country with abundant with cultural quirks and surprises for its visitors.

Learn how to use the two following phrases and you’ll be prepared to express yourself whenever you come to understand something that was previously unclear or baffling…

As you’ll see, both words feature the character 怪 / guài, which has a few meanings, including “strange”, “to wonder at” and “to blame”. For the purposes of this post, we’re going to focus on the definition “to wonder at”.

难怪 / nán guài

Literally “difficult + to wonder at”, 难怪 is a fairly straightforward word and fits into a sentence just as “no wonder” does in English:

这是一家有名的北京烤鸭店？难怪满员了！ Zhè shì yījiā yǒumíng de Běijīng kǎoyā diàn? Nánguài mǎnyuán le! Aaah, so this is a famous Beijing Roast Duck restaurant?? No wonder it was totally full! 

你有新女朋友了？难怪你最近那么开心！ Nǐ yǒu xīn nǚpéngyǒu le? Nánguài nǐ zuìjìn nàme kāixīn! You have a new girlfriend? No wonder you’ve been so happy recently!

难怪大家加班。 截止日期改到明天了！  Nánguài dàjiā jiābān. Jiézhǐ rìqī gǎi dào míngtiān le!   No wonder everyone is doing overtime. The deadline was changed to tomorrow!

难怪你觉得有点儿伤感。还没习惯在中国生活吧。 Nánguài nǐ juéde yǒudiǎnr shānggǎn. Hái méi xíguàn zài Zhōngguó shēnghuó ba. It’s not surprising you feel a bit emotional. You’re still not used to life in China.

怪不得/ guài bù dé

As we know, 怪 means “to wonder at”. When joined by 不得, meaning “cannot” or “may not”, we have the phrase “no wonder”. Examples:

怪不得我吐了。我对海鲜过敏.  Guàibùdé wǒ tù le. Wǒ duì hǎixiān guòmǐn. No wonder I was sick. I’m allergic to seafood.  

怪不得你这么累 – 刚刚跑完了马拉松! Guàibùdé nǐ zhème lèi – gānggāng pǎo wán le mǎlāsōng! It’s not surprising you feel tired. You just ran a marathon!

怪不得很多人过年呆在家里。太多人出去旅游了 – 哪里都是人满为患! Guàibùdé hěnduō rén guònián dāi zài jiālǐ. Tài duō rén chūqù lǚyóule – nǎlǐ dōu shì rénmǎnwéihuàn! It’s not surprising many people stay at home for Chinese New Year. Too many people are traveling – it’s chaos!

Thankfully for learners, 怪不得 and 难怪 are totally interchangeable.

So there you have it; two handy options for when the strange, unfamiliar or new suddenly makes sense. Hopefully you’ll be able to use them often in reference to your Mandarin studies during 2016!

To all our students and friends,  祝大家新年快乐! We wish you a Happy New Year! 

干杯 (Cheers!) to 365 brand new days of Mandarin learning fun :-)

Post by Sarah Soulié Twitter @suxiaoya

[i-will-always-purple-you]

HELLO TALK: VOCAB + My Experience

So I was sick of being stuck behind my computer, learning and writing vocab, but not being able to talk to anyone in Chinese. I was looking around and thought i’d try this app called HELLO TALK. I’ve had it for two days so far! 

Essentially it connects you with someone across the world who has your target language in their mother tongue. And ideally you’d have their target language as your mother tongue. And the language exchange begins! 

Ofc there’s a bit of filtering to do, with people who aren’t willing to help you with your language and only want to speak in English. But once you find someone who has the same language learning goals as you it’s a matter of jumping straight into it. Try texting them in a mix of english/chinese and you can send back and forth voice memos to ask questions and improve eachother’s pronunciation :) 

Here is some key vocab points and some of the things I got asked and discussed from my language exchange with a guy from Beijing and a girl from Hainan and many others :) 

Even though there is a language translate function, it runs out after 15 goes if you have a free account. So I found myself forced to put things into google translate and look up things in the PLECO dictionary. Most, if not all of these sentences came from the native Chinese speakers on the app! So this is Chinese vocab in its most natural expression!

BONUS SENTENCES: 

Asking your language partner to say things in English/Chinese 

1. Please say this sentence in English/Chinese

请用英文/中文说这句话 

Qǐng yòng yīngwén/zhōngwén shuō zhè jù huà

Setting a timeframe for your language exchange 

1. Let’s talk for an hour! 

一小时久 我们说吧！

Yī xiǎoshí jiǔ wǒmen shuō ba!

久： particle for duration of time

2. Let’s talk for half an hour!

半个小时久，让我们聊聊吧！

Bàn gè xiǎoshí jiǔ, ràng wǒmen liáo liáo ba!

3. I don’t have much time

我没有太多时间 

Wǒ méiyǒu tài duō shíjiān

4. I have to go to sleep now

 我现在必须去睡觉了 

Wǒ xiànzài bìxū qù shuìjiàole

[mot-du-jour]

Hey guys, so today I decided to give you a list of words that French people like to shorten. (And by “like to” I mean “always”)

This is based on the words I use and hear in my everyday life.

Keep in mind that these shortened words are used in the oral language only.

[failedliterati]

26-50

房间 fángjiān room

非常 fēicháng extraordinary

服务员 fúwùyuán waiter

高 gāo high

告诉 gàosu to tell

哥哥 gēge older brother

给 gěi to (someone)

公共汽车 gōngòngqìchē bus

公司 gōngsī (business) company

贵 guì expensive

过 guo (used after a verb) to indicate the completion of an action

孩子 háizi child

还 hái still

好吃 hǎochī tasty

黑 hēi black

红 hóng red

火车站 huǒchēzhàn train station

机场 jīchǎng airport

鸡蛋 jīdàn (chicken) egg

件 jiàn item

教室 jiàoshì classroom

姐姐 jiějie older sister

介绍 jièshào to present

近 jìn near

进 jìn to enter

[salutcavaouiettoi]

French Expressions that are hard to translate in English!

Non mais alors!

That’s what you say after having a fit of rage against something, in order to keep raging lol

« Mais tu vas tout gâcher! Non mais alors! »

« But you’re going to ruin everything! Non mais alors! »

C’est l’enjaille!

That’s an expression used by teens and young adults to say that a situation is a lot of fun. A bit like « it’s lit » I guess. Aaaand can also be used sarcastically

« Eh mec c’est trop l’enjaille ta fête!! »

« Hey dude your party is trop l’enjaille! »

Le boucan

That’s a word used to express a lot of noise

« C’est quoi ce boucan chez les voisins? »

« What’s all that boucan at the neighbors? »

Le bordel

A personal fav of mine. Basically means a big mess, and used in a lot of expressions.

« C’est un sacré bordel cette situation »

« This situation really is a bordel »

[liu-anhuaming]

越来越 yuèláiyuè vs. 愈来愈 yùláiyú (mandarin grammar)

so 越来越 is a grammar point that most mandarin learners are exposed to at a beginner level (don’t worry if you don’t know it. i will be explaining both of them) what i never knew was that 愈来愈 existed and that it is basically the same thing as 越来越

越来越 means “more and more” and it can be broken down into 越…越… to mean “the more…the more…”

Subject+越来越+Adjective/Verb

OR

Subject+越+Verb+(Subject 2)+越+Adj/Verb

她越来越高

She’s getting taller and taller

我越来越想家

I’m getting more and more homesick, or I miss home more and more

你越说我越生气

The more you speak the angrier I get

我越听越喜欢

The more I listen to it the more I like it

他越来越会做家务

He’s getting better and better at doing chores

if you only have one subject (e.g., 他), you don’t have to repeat it. but if there’s two different subjects, then you naturally have to say both

越来越 is pretty simple, so now the second part of this post: what’s the difference between 越来越 and 愈来愈 ? well, according to native speakers, there is no difference in usage

this means that in all the examples above 越 could be replaced with 愈 without a problem (e.g., 你愈说我愈生气；她愈来愈高)

the only difference is this: 越来越 is used more commonly when speaking, whereas 愈来愈 is more literary. i also had a couple native speakers tell me 愈来愈 sounded older than 越来越 and that it’s way more common to hear people use 越来越 

so that’s it for this posts. if there’s any comments, questions, or corrections please let me know! the best way to reach me is by sending an ask or a direct message, so if you do have something to say please use those means of communications. otherwise, i might not see your comment

thanks!

[orientalismx]

The 把 sentence

The Ba-Sentence 1: A把B + V + ……

In Chinese, a ba-sentence can be used to indicate a certain action done on a definite person or thing, the structure being “A把B + V + ……”. This type of ba-sentence is often used to request or order other people to do something. It is noteworthy that A is the agent of the action, and B is the patient. Both A and B should be specific or know to the speaker and the listener. For example:

请你把衣服洗了。

帮我把这本词典还了。

你把灯关吧。

我把爸爸的生日忘了。

If there is a negative adverb or a modal verb etc., it should precede “把”. For example:

你没把书给我。

你别把手机忘了。

你不能把电脑给你。

你可以把空调关了吗？

The Ba-Sentence 2: A把B + V + 在/到/给

In Chinese, a ba-sentence is often used to indicate a certain action is done on a definite person or thing and has changed the location of the person or thing, the structure being “A把B + V + 在/到 + Location”. For example:

我把照片放在你包里了。

老师把作业放在桌子上了。

我没把裤子放到椅子上。

我帮你把衣服放到行李箱里吧。

If an action has changed the owner or user of a definite object, the structure “A把B + V + 给 + sb.” is used. For example:

我把鲜花送给老师了。

我朋友把书借给我了。

弟弟没把钱还给哥哥。

你帮我把这本书带给小刚。

The Ba-Sentence 3: A把B + V + Complement of Result/Direction

In Chinese, the structure “A把B + V + Complement of Result/Direction” can be used to indicate an action which is done on a definite person or thing and has brought a result to or has changed the position of the person or thing. For example:

我把衣服洗干净了。

妈妈还没把饭做好呢。

请问学们把铅笔拿出来。

你把水果拿过来。 

[theshireisburningg]

[thoughtkick]

““Is it possible, in the final analysis, for one human being to achieve perfect understanding of another? We can invest enormous time and energy in serious efforts to know another person, but in the end, how close can we come to that person’s essence? We convince ourselves that we know the other person well, but do we really know anything important about anyone?””

— Haruki Murakami, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle

[orientalismx]