Easy and fun Chinese Learning

Hi everyone,

I noticed that you are intrested in the Chinesse culture and if you are also intrested in making friends, which I am sure you are. There is a new special website exactly for meeting new people in the USA who want to meet people from China .
This site is www.chinauspals.com and is completely free. Join today and you will find new friends, articles about US and Chinese culture, the latest olympic news and much more. It's a great way to practice English while learning about another culture.

~Wizart

Total Solar Eclipse to Fall on China ÈÕȫʳ
total solar eclipse
ÈÕȫʳ
r¨¬ qu¨¢n sh¨ª
Earth, the sun and the moon will align in a celestial ballet on August 1, 2008 Friday, rewarding China, where the first record of an eclipse was made more than 4,000 years ago, with a dazzling show.

Can you speak out these words in Chinese? Get Chinese teachers from ChineseHour.com for help free of charge!

Longingly awaited, the first total solar eclipse since March 2006 kicks off at 0923 GMT, when the lunar shadow touches down on the fringes of Nunavut province in northern Canada.

The dark, narrow disc, known as the umbra, then races across the roof of the world before alighting in northern Siberia, where it will skip across central Russia and central Asia and head into Mongolia and northwestern China.

It then curves to the southeast before expiring near the city of Xian at 1120 GMT, after a trek of some 6,375 miles.

Most of Asia, northern Europe and northern Canada will see a partial eclipse, weather permitting, according to NASA¡¯s veteran eclipse expert, Fred Espenak.

Eclipses of the sun — the bringer of light, and thus life — have long held a tenacious grip on the human mind.

To the ancient Chinese, the eclipse was a sun-eating dragon which had to be chased away with clashing cymbals and pans. For Vikings, two chasing wolves, Skoll and Hati, were to blame. In Hindu mythology, a spiteful demon called Rahu takes a bite out of the sun from time to time.

Today in China, a total solar eclipse remains a stunning sight and a humbling reminder of human puniness, but mathematics have taken the sting out of superstition.

In Friday¡¯s eclipse, totality will last a maximum of two minutes, 27 seconds, at 1021 GMT, near Nadym, in northern Russia, according to Espenak. The record duration for totality is seven and a half minutes.

The next solar eclipse takes place on July 22, 2009 when it will cross central India, northern Bangladesh and central China.

Learn to speak Chinese online at www.Chinesehour.com from native teachers at the comfort of your home or workplaces.

Hot Chinese words in July ÆßÔÂÖÐÎÄ´Ê»ã
ChineseHour Blog carefully selected the most popular Chinese words frequently used in July for your Chinese learning, they cover hot Chinese words and expression for Olympic Games, world economy and international relationship.

°ÂÔË´å
¨¤oy¨´n c¨±n, Olympic Village
ƽ°²°ÂÔË
p¨ªng¨¡n ¨¤oy¨´n, Safe Olympics

°ÂÔËÈ˼Ò
¨¤oy¨´n r¨¦nji¨¡, Olympic homestays

Äñ³²
ni¨£och¨¢o, Bird¡¯s Nest £¨China¡¯s National Stadium£©

ÏéÔÆСÎÝ

xi¨¢ngy¨²n xi¨£ow¨±, China-Story Huts

Öйúʱ¼ä
Zh¨*nggu¨® sh¨ªji¨¡n£¬ChineseHour

ͨ»õÅòÕÍ
t¨*nghu¨° p¨¦ngzh¨¤ng, inflation

Óͼ۸ßÆó
y¨®uji¨¤ g¨¡oq¨«, high oil price

Á¸Ê³Î£»ú
li¨¢ngshi w¨¥ij¨©, food crisis

Áù·½»á̸
li¨´ f¨¡ng hu¨¬t¨¢n, six-party (nuclear) talks
-
Any questions in understanding the hot Chinese words for Beijing Olympic Games, please turn to the native Chinese teachers for help at http://www.chinesehour.com/. We are ready to help anytime and free of charge.

Introduce Beijing
This article is To those who desired to have Beijing travel this year.
Beijing is an ancient city with a long history. Back in 3000 years ago in Zhou dynasty, Beijing, which was called Ji at the moment, had been named capital of Yan. Thereafter, Liao, Jin, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasty all made Beijing their capital. Therefore, Beijing was famous for "Capital of a thousand years". It’s ideal for Beijing trip.

The long history leaves Beijing precious cultural treasure. Winding for several kilometers in Beijing area, the Great Wall is the only man-made structure that could been seen in the space. The Summer Palace is a classic composition of ancient royal gardens, and the Forbidden City is the largest royal palaces in the world. Tiantan is where the emperor used to fete their ancestors, and also the soul of Chinese ancient constructions. The four sites above has been confirmed world cultural heritage by UNESCO. However, the best representatives for Beijing bus tour are the vanishing Hutongs and square courtyards. Through hundreds of years, they have become symbol of Beijing's life. Tian'anmen square being still brilliant today with cloverleaf junctions and skyscrapers everywhere, the old-timey scene and modern culture are combined to present a brand new visage of Beijing.

As Beijing has been confirmed home city of Olympics 2008, the spirit of "green Olympics, scientific Olympics and humanized Olympic" will surely bring more and more changes to Beijing, promote the development of sports and Olympics in China as well as in the world, and strengthen the friendly communications between Chinese and foreign people.
Welcome for Beijing tours!

How to address people in Chinese ÖÐÎijƺô
When introducing people in Chinese, the order is surname first, title second

The Chinese seldom call each other by their whole name unless they are close friends or members of the immediate family. When addressing people, it is common practice to use titles like

Mr, xi¨¡nsh¨¥ng ÏÈ Éú

Mrs, f¨±ren ·ò ÈË

Miss , xi¨£oji¨§ С ½ã.

The title is placed after the name, thus Miss Zhuo is Zhuó xi¨£oji¨§ in Chinese. ChineseHour teacher has the details.

The word xi¨¡nsh¨¥ng, ¡°mister¡±, literally means ¡°first born¡±, which implies respect. Anyone born before me is older than me, and thus earns my respect due to his age. On some occasions xi¨¡nsh¨¥ng is also used with the meaning of ¡°teacher¡±.

Women do not change their family name when they get married and that is why Miss Liu, after after changing her marital status, will be Mrs Liu. Especially in Hongkong or Taiwan you can also hear the expression t¨¤itai for Mrs. The word xi¨£oji¨§, Miss, is also used when addressing a waitress in a restaurant or a shop assistant. Xi¨£o means ¡°little¡± and ji¨§ stands for ¡°sister¡±. Nowadays waitresses are often also called xi¨£om¨¨i, which translates into ¡°small little sister¡±.

The reason for this alteration is that the word xi¨£oji¨§ has encountered an inflation due to its connotation to s¨¡n p¨¦i xi¨£oji¨§ Èý Åã С ½ã¡±, those young modern ¡°geishas¡± who accompany guests in restaurants to sing karaoke. If you have any problems in these terms, please turn to ChineseHour private teachers online, they are ready to help you learn Chinese free of charge.

The term ¡°comrade¡±, t¨®ngzh¨¬ ͬ Ö¾, was still widely used in the 70s and 80s, but not so much any more - at least not between colleagues or amongst average Chinese citizens. Instead, in the office, people call their colleagues Lăo W¨¢ng, ¡°Elder Wang¡±, or Xiăo Lĭ, ¡°Younger Li¡±. Here old and young do not really refer to age as such, but to people¡¯s position or status, although in many cases these go hand in hand, as professional experience and success are supposed to accumulate steadily according to the years in service.

The word sh¨©fu ʦ ¸µ originally referred to a master of any specific skill, such as a carpenter, calligraphist, martial arts master etc. It contained the meaning of being a teacher, and thus the apprentice or student would call his master sh¨©fu. Nowadays sh¨©fu is commonly used to address, for example, a cab driver.

The Chinese like to use words that express profession or social status when addressing each other or referring to other people. This kind of underlines the fact that they pay a lot of attention to social roles and the status of each individual - thus defining the pattern of interaction and how people releate to each other. Surname comes before the title, such as in ¡°doctor Zhang¡±, Zh¨¤ng d¨¤ifu ÕÅ ´ó ·ò, ¡°accountant Li¡±, L¨« ku¨¤ij¨¬ ( Àî »á ¼Æ), teacher Liu, Liú lǎosh¨© Áõ ÀÏ Ê¦ etc.

The importance of social merit
The main rule in addressing Chinese people is that the family name comes before a title, and the family name is also placed before a person¡¯s first name. This just might stem from the Chinese manner of approaching the world and its phenomena from bigger entities to smaller ones. This also explains why in the Chinese society the focus is on social groups rather than on single members of a group. A practical example of this way of thinking is the manner in which the Chinese traditionally write an address on an envelope: first they write the name of the country, then the city and the street address, and finally comes the name of the person who will receive the letter. In most western countries the order is the reverse - the person¡¯s name first, then the city and after that the country name. Placing the family name before the personal given name implies that the family is more important than any individual member of it.

The complexity of family relations

Within Chinese families, people do not call each other by their names, but instead by words indicating their mutual relationship. There are dozens of different names used to address younger or elder sisters, brothers of various ages, uncles and aunties from the mother¡¯s and father¡¯s side, younger brother¡¯s wife, elder sister¡¯s husband, father¡¯s little sister and mother¡¯s younger brother¡* not to mention cousins of various ages. Better not to try to grasp it all at once.

Children basically call their parents mother and father, and grand parents grand father and grand mother - here again differentiating between grand parents from the either side of the family. And, because the Chinese just love children, these are usually always given nicknames (xi¨£om¨ªng, i.e. ¡°littlename¡±) used within the family, such as ¡°Little Tiger¡±, ¡°Little Fatty¡±, ¡°Little Precious¡±.

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Hot words for Beijing Olympics °ÂÔËÈÈÃÅ´Ê»ã
ºÍƽ°ÂÔË h¨¦p¨ªn g¨¤oy¨´n
Peaceful Olympics

ºÍг°ÂÔËh¨¦xi¨¦ ¨¤oy¨´n
Harmonious Olympics

¿Æ¼¼°ÂÔË k¨¥j¨¬ ¨¤oy¨´n
High-tech Olympics

ÂÌÉ«°ÂÔË l¨¸s¨¨ ¨¤oy¨´n
Green Olympics

ÈËÎÄ°ÂÔË r¨¦nw¨¦n ¨¤oy¨´n
People¡¯s Olympics

ƽ°²°ÂÔË p¨ªng¨¡n ¨¤oy¨´n
Safe Olympics


— For conversation:

Wish Beijing Olympic Games a great success!
×£±±¾©°ÂÔË»áÔ²Âú³É¹¦¡£
Zh¨´ B¨§ij¨©ng ¨¤oy¨´nhu¨¬ yu¨¢nm¨£n ch¨¦ngg¨*ng.

±±¾©, ¼ÓÓÍ¡£Cheerio, Beijing!
B¨§ij¨©ng£¬ji¨¡y¨®u.

°ÂÔË, ¼ÓÓÍ¡£Cheerio, Olympics!
Àoy¨´n£¬ji¨¡y¨®u.

°ÂÔË»á ¨¤oy¨´nhu¨¬£¬Olympic Games
¿ªÄ»Ê½ k¨¡im¨´sh¨¬£¬opening ceremony
±ÕĻʽ b¨¬m¨´sh¨¬£¬closing ceremony

°ÂÔ˳¡¹Ý ¨¤oy¨´n ch¨£nggu¨£n£¬Olympic venues
Äñ³² ni¨£och¨¢o, Bird¡¯s Nest £¨China¡¯s National Stadium£©
Ë®Á¢·½shu¨« l¨¬f¨¡ng£¬ Water Cube £¨National Aquatics Center£©
ÖÐÎÄʱ¼ä Zh¨*ngw¨¦n sh¨ªji¨¡n£¬ChineseHour
Ö¾Ô¸Õß zh¨¬yu¨¤nzh¨§£¬volunteers
»ð¾æ½ÓÁ¦ hu¨¯j¨´ ji¨¥l¨¬£¬Torch Relay

°ÂÔ˴娤oy¨´n c¨±n, Olympic Village

°ÂÔËÈË¼Ò Àoy¨´n r¨¦nji¨¡, Olympic homestays

°ÂÔËÌØÐíÉÌÆ· Àoy¨´n t¨¨x¨³ sh¨¡ngp¨«n, franchised goods for Olympic Game

°ÂÔËרÓóµµÀ Àoy¨´n zhu¨¡ny¨°ng ch¨¥d¨¤o, Olympic driveway

°ÂÔËýÌå´å Àoy¨´n m¨¦it¨« c¨±n, Olympic Media Village

Ö÷ÐÂÎÅÖÐÐÄ zh¨³ x¨©nw¨¦n zh¨*ngx¨©n, Main Press Center (MPC)

¹ú¼Ê¹ã²¥ÖÐÐÄ gu¨®j¨¬ gu¨£ngb¨* zh¨*ngx¨©n, International Broadcast Center (IBC)

— For posters:

ͬһ¸öÊÀ½ç ͬһ¸öÃÎÏë
tongy¨©g¨¨ sh¨¬ji¨¨, tongy¨©g¨¨ m¨¨ngxi¨£ng
One World One Dream

µãȼ¼¤Çé ´«µÝÃÎÏë
Di¨£nr¨¢nj¨©q¨ªng£¬chu¨¢nd¨¬m¨¨ngxi¨£ng
Light the passion, share the dream.

¸ü¿ì ¸ü¸ß ¸üÇ¿
g¨¨ngku¨¤i g¨¨ngg¨¡o g¨¨ngqi¨¢ng
Faster Higher and Stronger

ÎÄÃ÷±±¾© ºÍг°ÂÔË
w¨¦nm¨ªng b¨§ij¨©ng£¬h¨¦xi¨¦ ¨¤oy¨´n
Sophisticated Beijing for a harmonious Olympic Games

΢Ц±±¾© ¹²Ïí°ÂÔË
w¨¥ixi¨¤ob¨§ij¨©ng£¬g¨°ngxi¨£ng ¨¤oy¨´n
Smiling Beijing and inclusive Olympic Games

»îÁ¦±±¾© ³¬Ô½ÃÎÏë
hu¨®l¨¬ b¨§ij¨©ng£¬ch¨¡oyu¨¨ m¨¨ngxi¨£ng
Robust Beijing to exceed the Dreams

——–

Enjoy the Summer Olympic Games and enjoy learning Chinese at ChineseHour.com!

Any questions in understanding the hot Chinese words for Beijing Olympic Games, please turn to the native Chinese teachers for help at http://www.chinesehour.com/. We are ready to help anytime and free of charge.

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