titsay
AnasAbdin
Cosmic Funnies
Mike Driver
Sweet Seals For You, Always
d e v o n
★
roma★
izzy's playlists!
Lint Roller? I Barely Know Her
i don't do bad sauce passes
NASA
almost home
art blog(derogatory)
we're not kids anymore.
todays bird
Monterey Bay Aquarium
Kiana Khansmith
@theartofmadeline
$LAYYYTER
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@mandarinmoon
[Image ID: A screenshot of a poem in Chinese, attributed to Xin Qiji, 1140-1207. English translation reads,
"In youth I knew nothing of the taste of sorrow I liked to climb high towers, I liked to climb high towers To conjure up a bit of sorrow to make new verse.
Now I know only too well the taste of sorrow I begin to speak yet pause, I begin to speak yet pause And say instead 'My, what a cool and lovely autumn.' "
End ID.]
App recommendation: Huayu101
If you're planning a trip soon or want to learn some super practical Mandarin Chinese expressions, I highly recommend the Huayu101 app from Taiwan's Ministry of Education. It provides sample sentences and questions for many useful topics.
It's only available on the Apple app store from what I can tell (looks like it was removed from the Google Play app store). But luckily, you can also find the content online at https://lmit.edu.tw/lc/huayu101/.
Here is a list of the topics:
Greetings 基本問候
Accommodation 住宿
Order 點餐
Shopping 購物
Transportation 交通
Asking for help 急難救助
City tour 城市遊覽
Arts and cultural activities 藝文活動
Call and reservation 電話與預約
Exchange 換鈔
Making friends 認識朋友
Hospital and post office 看病幾郵寄
After selecting a topic, you'll see a list of phrases, sentences, and questions. These are very practical things you might need to say or that a waiter, clerk, etc. might say to you.
They even have audio! To me it sounds like real people, not text to speech. Hypothetically, if you can't speak any Mandarin, you could get by by playing the audio to people.
For some sentences/questions, they even provide multiple options, and you can select the word that's applicable to you.
Besides English, the app and website also support Thai, Vietnamese, Japanese, and Bahasa Indonesia.
I think this app is helpful even for upper-intermediate/advanced learners. I know enough vocabulary to make do and be understood, but I'm lacking knowledge of how native speakers would naturally phrase things. This app helps fill those gaps.
Oldest Spanish - Chinese dictionary found in University of Santo Thomas, Philippines. This 400 year old dictionary called “Dictionario Hispanico Sinicum” translated Spanish to Mandarin as well as Hokkien, a language from China's southern Fujian Province and spoken by many Chinese Filipinos.
These are the apps and links I currently have on my phone to study Chinese:
SuperChinese: my main study resource. There are currently 7 levels, level 7 (still incomplete, they are still slowly adding lessons to it) being HSK 5 stuff. Each lesson has vocabulary, grammar and a short dialogue where those are used in context (I love context). It has a few free lessons in the lower levels but after that you have to buy a subscription. There are many sales though. When I was a beginner I used HelloChinese instead, which has more free content, and switched to SuperChinese when I finished all the free content there. It also has social network features and chat rooms I don't use.
TofuLearn is like a flashcard app with many pre-made decks (you can also create your own on their website and import decks from Anki) and the option to practice writing hanzi. Anki didn't work for me, but I find Tofu very helpful. Practicing writing helps me with character recognition, and it also helps me remember the tones thanks to the audio in the pre-made HSK decks.
Dot is a reading app with new texts being added every day. It used to be completely free, which actually seemed too good to be true, and then they put practically everything behind a paywall and very strict limits for free users. After a couple of months they made it a little less restricted though - we still can't choose the articles but we can read as many as we want as long as we do the vocabulary exercises after each article (plus, during the Spring Festival, they made all articles available for free for 3 days and we could save the ones we were interested in to read later). It follows the new, not-yet-implemented (and harder) HSK levels, so you should start one or two levels below yours and if the texts are too easy move up.
Google Translator: not the best but helpful when I need to translate whole sentences, plus I can point my camera or open an image and it translates writing.
Pleco: best Chinese to English dictionary.
Stroke Order: not an app but a website, does what it says in the tin: shows stroke order for a specific character.
YouGlish: also a website, you can put a word or phrase and it shows videos where people say that word/phrase. Very cool.
Todaii is a graded news app that has only two levels: easy and hard. I'm around level HSK4 and the "easy" level is quite hard though (but I admit reading is my nemesis).
I also use YouTube and Spotify a lot.
Super long character practice: biáng and huáng
The first is often considered the character with the most strokes and refers to a type of noodle (biangbiang mian).
The second has more strokes but isn’t really a word. It’s considered an artistic representation of heaven, in character form.
I feel like biáng was actually possible to get somewhat decent, but huáng was just incredibly difficult to get the spacing right 😂
going to a IRL language exchange for the first time tomorrow!
deliberately telling you guys on here so I don't chicken out last minute... 🙃
Another 50+ crime, suspense, & mystery cdrama vocab words
This is a follow-up to my post from last summer sharing 50+ fundamental vocab words. I just finished 《隐秘的角落》 The Bad Kids and 《沉默的真相》 The Long Night, plus I watched 《猎罪图鉴》 Under the Skin last year. So let's take a deeper dive with 50+ more words!
Definitions are adapted from MDBG. I tried adding standard 国语 pronunciation too but might have overlooked some. 请多多指教！
Format: 简体 | 繁体 读音 | 台湾读音 (Simp.) | (trad.) (pronunciation) | (Taiwan pronunciation)
The crime
主谋 | 主謀 zhǔmóu - mastermind / ringleader
共犯 gòngfàn - accomplice
杀人犯 | 殺人犯 shārénfàn - murderer
凶杀 | 兇殺 xiōngshā - to murder / assassination
当场 | 當場 dāngchǎng - at the scene / on the spot
勒死 lēisǐ - to strangle
死者 sǐzhě - the dead / the deceased
案发 | 案發 ànfā - (of a crime) to occur or take place
出事 chūshì - to have an accident / to meet with a mishap
遇难 | 遇難 yùnàn - to perish / to be killed
逃跑 táopǎo - to flee from smth / to run away / to escape
包庇 bāobì - to shield / to harbor / to cover up
勒索 lèsuǒ - to blackmail / to extort
The evidence
罪证 | 罪證 zuìzhèng - proof of guilt / evidence of a crime
佐证 | 佐證 zuǒzhèng - evidence / proof / corroboration
证明 | 證明 zhèngmíng - to prove / to confirm the truth of
目击者 | 目擊者 mùjīzhě | mùjízhě - eyewitness
人证 | 人證 rénzhèng - witness testimony
物证 | 物證 wùzhèng - material evidence
作证 | 作證 zuòzhèng - to testify / to serve as evidence
销毁 | 銷毀 xiāohuǐ - to destroy (by melting or burning)
死因 sǐyīn - cause of death
解剖 jiěpōu | jiěpǒu - to dissect / to autopsy
血迹 | 血跡 xuèjì | xiějī - bloodstain
指纹 | 指紋 zhǐwén - fingerprint
遗物 | 遺物 yíwù - remnant
Get ready to be SICK of me
Finally decided to take the HSK this year (and probably TOPIK next year).
So the era of laisse faire studying is out, and rigorous studying is back in...
Also this is in progress
English added by me :)
1st Anniversary TILL THE END OF THE MOON 长月烬明 (2023)
speaking of chinese horse memes this one is still my absolute favorite and at the risk of killing the joke by explaining it i must at least try to translate
loosely—
panel 1: 有句话不知当讲不当讲 (i have something to report but i don't know whether i should tell you or not) panel 2: 马上讲 (tell me immediately) panel 3: 之前的情报有误 (there was an error in an earlier report)
and the keywords here are 马上 in the second panel, which put together mean "immediately" but individually mean horse (马) and up or on (上)
so 马上讲 can both mean "tell me immediately" and, more literally, "tell me on the horse"
Streetside popcorn
English added by me :)
Israel has killed more children in Gaza since October than in four years of worldwide conflict
Like it's been said before that when Israelis and Zionists cry "why do you single out Israel?!", they should in fact be reminded that Israel singles itself out. I mean, who commits violence at this magnitude and then bemoans being the victim??
Please Pour Some Rain! (2018) by Taiwanese textile and quilt artist, Lin Hsin-Chen (born in 1974)
A sea of clouds
[eng by me]
Sometimes (by which I mean “most of the time”), I’ll look at Weibo and not have a clue what anyone is talking about. Not because I don’t have a solid grasp on the Chinese language, but because I both don’t have a solid grasp on the Chinese language and everyone is spewing slang for certain words and slang for other slang. It’s rather vertigo-inducing. In my journey to further understand the realm of Chinese internet culture, I thought it would be an interesting endeavor to make a post (maybe multiple) about it so anyone who’s intrigued can join the ride!
This post will be centered on fandom-centric jargon; in particular, terms that are utilized to describe people and actions in fandom contexts.
There are way, way more words out there than what I have listed. I just chose whichever ones I thought of as the most pertinent. Enjoy!
– Nouns
粉丝 [fěn sī] – transliteration of the English word, “fans.” The first character, 粉 [fěn], is then isolated and attached to other terms to signify a [____type of] fan (as will be seen in the next couple of words). Not entirely relevant, but this is also the word for glass/cellophane noodles.
男友粉 [nán yǒu fěn] | 女友粉 [nǚ yǒu fěn] – “boyfriend fan” and “girlfriend fan” respectively. They treat a celebrity as if they’re a boyfriend or girlfriend.
亲妈粉 [qīn mā fěn] – “biological mom fan.” Refers to someone who treats a celebrity as if they’re her own child. She’s very caring, dotes a lot, and likes to show off the celebrity’s accomplishments.
后妈粉 [hòu mā fěn] – “stepmom fan.” She will not hesitate to drag or criticize whichever celebrity she likes. But, should someone else attempt to do the same, she won’t take it well.
事业粉 [shì yè fěn] – “career fan.” A fan whose primary interest lies in the professional work of their celebrity.
颜粉 [yán fěn] – “face fan.” This fan likes a celebrity for their looks.
路人粉 [lù rén fěn] – “passerby fan.” They like a celebrity, but haven’t fallen far enough down the fandom pit to actively follow them.
白嫖粉 [bái piáo fěn] – a fan who likes a celebrity but doesn’t support them financially. For example, they will stream an artist’s music for free, but are ultimately unwilling to spend any money to buy albums or similar merchandise. The term 白嫖 [bái piáo] apparently originated in the prostitution industry to refer to a client who would take services without paying: here, 白 [bái] means “without compensation,” and 嫖 [piáo] refers to the client.
脑残粉 [nǎo cán fěn] – “idiot fan.” This is someone whose love for a celebrity leads them to become irrational and more than a little crazy. (I feel slightly offended right now.)
死忠粉 [sǐ zhōng fěn] – “diehard fan.” This is close to a word-for-word translation – literally, the Chinese characters indicate someone who’s loyal until death.
墙头粉 [qiáng tóu fěn] – “top-of-the-wall fan.” This compares a fan to 墙头草 [qiáng tóu cǎo] (the grass that grows atop of stone walls), which itself is used to refer to someone who is easily swayed by any wind or force that might come swirling by. This fan hops between celebrities with little loyalty, easily changing preference and priority between numerous people.
黑粉 [hēi fěn] – “dark fan.” An anti-fan.
爱豆 [ài dòu] – transliteration of the English word, “idol.” If you’re into literal but pointless translations, this word means “love bean.” …That’s actually pretty cute…
本命 [běn mìng] – “my life.” You would use this to refer to whoever is your top favorite celebrity; your ultimate bias.
彩虹屁 [cǎi hóng pì] – “rainbow fart.” Doesn’t this one provide mental images of utmost pleasantness? “Rainbow farts” are compliments, but are so over-the-top or full of praise that someone listening would think the subject is an angel who’s paying a visit from the highest level of heaven. The name comes from the idea that a celebrity could rip the smelliest and loudest of all farts, but their fans would still make it out to be as beautiful as a rainbow.
– Verbs
吃瓜 [chī guā] – “to eat melon.” When someone follows a topic online, e.g. a forum thread, but only observes from the sidelines and does not actively contribute to whatever is going on, then they’re “eating melon.” It’s the equivalent of lurking.
打call [dǎ call] – to support/encourage. This term comes from Japanese fan culture phenomenon コール [kōru], where fans would attend live performances and support those onstage via fanchants, lightsticks, etc.
爬墙 [pá qiáng] – “to climb a wall.” If you originally like one celebrity, start liking another one, and switch your fangirl/fanboy priorities over to this second celebrity, then you’ve “climbed a wall.” (Note: offline, this is also used as slang for when someone has an affair, lol.)
圈粉 [quān fěn] – “to round up fans.” If some form of media that you’ve stumbled across (whether it be a video, a GIF in the replies on Twitter, etc.) converted you into becoming a fan of someone, then congrats! You’ve been rounded up; herded into that celebrity’s fanbase like an unsuspecting sheep. This is a general term for anything of a celebrity’s that strongly appeals to both existing fans and potential ones, but applies especially to the latter.
溜粉 [liū fěn] – “to string fans along.” Like what it sounds, this describes people who spread false rumors to boost a celebrity’s popularity (it’s sometimes the celebrity themselves who does it). An example would be if you see one of your favorite actors is slated to be in an upcoming drama, and you get super hyped…only to find out later that they’re not on the official cast list. Or they’re just making a cameo appearance.
That’s all I got for now. If you have any interesting terms that I didn’t include, I’d love to learn about them! Hope you found this fun and/or helpful!
curious if anyone learning chinese has used Clozemaster - and if so, how are you finding it?
as soon as i saw the chatgpt generated explainations, alarm bells went off! I don't know if I'm letting my chatgpt/AI sceptic mindset cloud my judgement but not super convinced by the accuracy of it...
