Chinese Mandarin - The worst dining experience in China -

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The worst dining experience in China
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zozzen -

A couple went to a restaurant in Dongguan, ordered pig's intestine congee. They found something
strange in the intestine, some creamy stuff with weed and pig feather there and they realized that
was pig excrement.
http://www.mingpaonews.com/20071008/ccc1.htm

Thanks God, my experience isn't that worst. I had tea in a cheap restaurant in Shenzhen, and only
found that the tea was fluorescent.

What's your experience?



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gato -

Why the focus on such negatives? Food is one of the last things people complain about China.










simonlaing -

I Love Chinese food in general but I think long term people should have a story to contribute.

It was in 2002, I think around the dragon boat festival time when I was teaching in Suzhou. The
principal Mr. Cao took us 5 foreign teacher out to Wuxi to have dinner on a Boat restaurant.

At the beginning of the meal he say when I was on my One year abroad in Wisconsin, my host family
forced me to eat stinky blue cheese once a week, so tonight I will have my revenge.

So one of the first dishes he brought out was "fresh" Stinky tofu. This was soft and fetid. Like
Roquefort as soon as it entered the room, the whole room stank of it. Shielding his nose my fellow
teacher Andy reached out and to a Chopstick full. He ate it and turned away so I couldn't see his
reaction. "Come on Simon you have to try it you can't insult MR. Cao now." So I followed is his
lead and put half a spoon ful in my mouth ignoring the rank odor assulting my nostrils. It was
like lumpy, fetid, stale yogurt that caused me to dry gag and spit it out into the napkin. Mr. Cao
and the other teachers knew it was terrible taste and didn't eat it. Next came the Drunk Prawns.
Usually shrimp and prawns look pink and white. These were gray and white . This was the first
problem. Then I looked closer and they were still moving . I taken aback. Mr. Cao assured me " Oh
no we have to the sauce that will cook them. " The waiter poured the hot sauce on the prawns and I
her crackling as the the shrimp cooked. After thirty seconds of cook Mr. Cao here try one and put
one in my plate, (I had been working on my inmouth deshelling ability and so put it in my mouth)
As soon as I felt the tickle of their still live legs out it went into the napkin once more. Mr.
Cao and the other teachers howled in Laughter. Thought of the Mini Series V with aliens that ate
live rodents flashed though my head. What am I becoming.

During the later parts of the meal things went smoother with Drinking toasts a plenty. The Bai jiu
flowed that night. Another fellow teacher Nila, was intent on drinking Mr. Cao under with the Rice
wine toasts. Finally we left the restaurant for the long drive back to Suzhou. It was interrupted
twice for Mr. Cao, Mr. Li and Nila to puke on the side of the road. Nila didn't get out fast
enough and I had some of the dinner sprayed on my dress pants.

Back at the school Mr. Cao, still obviously wasted got in his car and drove home. We opted for the
taxi . This was a good learning expereince for me, and it ranks up there with some of the worst
dinning experiences. Anyone else had drunken prawns?










liuzhou -

I lived in Hunan for a couple of years and regularly ate the stinky doufu. The smell is hard to
take, but the taste I found delicious and the perfect accompaniment to gallons of beer!

Drunken shrimp I've also had a couple of times. Can take or leave them. At least they are stunned.
In Japan, I was just served the shrimps running around the plate non-intoxicated. Really tests
your chopstick skills!

Perhaps the thing which amused me most was then deep fried fish which was served with its mouth
still gasping for air! Luckily, I was sitting next to the resident vegetarian who was
appropriately horrified. Hilarious. And delicious! (The fish, not the vegetarian!)










Lu -

The live fried fish caused such an outrage here that the restaurant that used to serve it no
longer does. Rightly so, I think. At least kill it before you cook it.

My worst dining experiences weren't that bad, in comparison. I couldn't care less about a hair in
my food (once found one long black hair baked into a bread, I pulled it out and ate on) but
recently I found three hairs in my beef intestine soup. I told this to the waiter, who came up
with some lame excuse that those weren't hairs, they were supposed to be inside a cow's stomach.
Yeah right.










mr.stinky -

last week after large quantities of baijiu, our table ordered up a batch of deep-fried whatevers.
not a very strong taste, kinda chewy and stringy, but it took the edge off the alcohol. only
after the last one had been eaten did the xiaojie sitting next to me explain that they were
fried pig 'winkies,' and supposedly have 'medicinal' properties. at least they weren't
served raw.










cdn_in_bj -



Quote:

only after the last one had been eaten did the xiaojie sitting next to me explain that they were
fried pig 'winkies,' and supposedly have 'medicinal' properties

Was she secretly feeding you aphrodisiacs to get you "into the mood"? Did it work?










imron -

Haha, yeah that's one to be careful about, but as the saying goes “吃什么补什么”. Anyway
on menus the character to look out for is "whip" e.g. 牛鞭, 羊鞭 Bull's whip, ram's whip etc
(hmm perhaps this post also belongs in the random word for the day thread). You'll find that many
kebab sellers will have this on their menus in addition to hearts, chicken heads, kidneys and
other assorted organs.










mr.stinky -

打死我也不说!










zozzen -



Quote:

Why the focus on such negatives? Food is one of the last things people complain about China.

it's half -half now. Not only locals complain the hygiene conditions and "fake" food, some
provincial government has also introduced stronger rules against "bad" restaurants. In Dengfeng,
you can refuse to pay the bill if chopsticks and bowls are dirty. It seems so great, but now some
restaurants are selling "clean" pack of chopsticks and bowls. Every time you use it, you'll be
charged RMB2.












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Learn Chinese online - Symbol for Happiness... Need Tattoo Help!! -

> Learning Chinese > Chinese Tattoos, Chinese Names and Quick Translations
Symbol for Happiness... Need Tattoo Help!!
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elmsoc -

Hi all, I am very interested in getting the Chinese symbol for "happiness" tattooed on my ankle.
The only problem is I cannot be sure about which symbol means happiness and which doesn't! I have
no knowledge of the Chinese language, no experience speaking/writing it, no nothing. so this is
why I need your help!! I have searched online many times and come up with different results and
symbols each time. If anyone can confirm, deny, or even post a picture of this symbol, i would be
very grateful! and please, no guessing! this thing is going on my body for life!!

Below is a picture of two symbols of "happiness" I found on the internet.




Thanks!



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liuzhou -

Why you would want to disfigure yourself with writing in a language you know nothing about is a
total mystery, but here we go.

The character (not symbol) for happiness is 喜. However if you want to be more authentic and look
like slightly less idiotic, you should probably go for 'double happiness' 喜喜 which is the
traditional way to deal with the character - one happiness being a bit mean. This is usually seen
at weddings - not often on ankles.












Lu -

You posted four characters in two words. The top word, huanxi, I know only as the Shanghainese
work for like, love. Afaik it doesn't mean happiness. You can use the second character of it, xi,
that doubled makes 'double happiness', like liuzhou says, used at weddings not on ankles.

You could also consider the second character of the second word, fu, meaning happiness. I've seen
it used on anything from tea cups to curtains, in the west mind you, rarely in China, so why not
on your ankle.

Lastly, perhaps you'd want to reconsider getting a tattoo in a language you have no knowledge of
nor connection with. Have a look at hanzismatter.com for some illustrations of why this is not
necessarily a good idea. And if you're really sure, bring someone with some knowledge of Chinese
to the tattoo parlour, to make sure you don't get it upside down or badly written.










wai ming -



Quote:


Originally Posted by Lu

The top word, huanxi, I know only as the Shanghainese work for like, love. Afaik it doesn't mean
happiness.


Taiwan's 教育部國語辭典 has as the first definition for 歡喜 "快樂、高興。"










Lu -



Quote:


Originally Posted by wai ming

Taiwan's 教育部國語辭典 has as the first definition for 歡喜 "快樂、高興。"


I stand corrected then, if the 教育部國語辭典 says it, it does mean happiness. Still not
the best way to put that idea on your ankle though, I think.










aeon -

Many hanzi tattoo's on westerners are also badly drawn, even if the characters inked are the ones
intended - you need someone who can do the calligraphy properly to get the proportions right.

Please, for the sake of our eyes: don't do it.










dalaowai -

I know loads of Chinese that have something in Hanzi tatooed. A lot of the ones I've seen in
mainland were done in Traditional characters.

I told one of my friends that I'd never get anything written in French or English as I thought it
would look silly and asked him why he wrote something in Mandarin. He replied, "hanzi is not only
a written language, it's also an art." After looking at it that way, I warmed up to the idea of
Hanzi tattoos.

Do be careful, as many others have mentioned, if the tattoo artist isn't native Chinese, the
characters might not look that good. If you do get a native Chinese tattoo artist, be careful that
he's not disgruntled. ;)










greedycat -

[quote] Taiwan's 教育部國語辭典 has as the first definition for 歡喜 "快樂、高興。"

have no idea why use the Taiwan's dictionary as the standard, i think most of chinese would choice
幸福 or 福 to express happiness.










Quest -

囍 is usually reserved for weddings, where you have 2 happy people together.

imo, 幸福 is the least silly of the aforementioned words, not that it's not though to be put on
your ankle..
幸福 means being blessed with success and satisfaction in one's life, and therefore happy.










thph2006 -

I can't help but think of this lovely girl who was recently featured in a news report. She got a
tattoo across her back in a moment of romantic abandon. Some time later after realizing the
mistake she made and just before her wedding she went to a laser tattoo removal clinic and ended
up with a disfiguring 1/2" thick raised scar across her back in the shape of the tattoo. Might be
worth thinking about before taking the plunge.

On the lighter side, when I see 囍 I immediately crave Chinese food since the only place I ever
see it is in giant-sized gold characters on the wall at the restaurant.












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Learn Mandarin online - 坐月子 - Page 8 -

> Chinese Culture > Society
坐月子
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muyongshi -



Quote:

I think she still needed to 坐月子, i.e. she still needed to get enough rest and enough
nutrition to recover, though she didn’t need to take care of her
baby.啊，不过她没了孩子啊，她的丈夫和家人是不是还愿意对她这么好啊，��
�就难说了。

Thanks for the clarification, I thought it would be that way...

It being a world war II era show with her being in the army I think made certain restrictions
easier (bathing specifically ) but other things would be hard.

I'm currently gathering more information from a health care provider in the states about some of
these practices.... (just chatting with a friend who is in the industry and thought I would
mention it to them)

All I have right now is that the big thing is for a month of recuperation and bonding with the
baby but nothing more specific than that (this is apparently the standard recommended practice in
the states)...

Side note: apparently it takes about a month for breastfeeding to become easy



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shanghaikai -



Quote:


Originally Posted by Lu

I don't think all fruits were forbidden, only the 'cold' ones, 'cold' not in the sense of just out
of the fridge, but in the TCM sense. Which would leave plenty of 'warm' fruit that the new mother
can eat.




Quote:


Originally Posted by studentyoung

Indeed. Some fruit and food can help body improve blood circulation and stimulate principle
metabolism, which is called as “warm” or even “hot”, such as hot chilly, ginger, date,
etc. Some fruit and food can slow down blood circulation, hold down digestive enzymes
(抑制消化酶) or some other enzymes and hormones, such as pear, banana, watermelon etc.

In TCM, it believes that a woman just after having a baby must have lost a lot of energy, so she
is weak and tired. The enzymes and hormones in her body mustn’t be in the same level as usual.
At this time, we can offer some food, fruit or even health care product, which can improve blood
circulation, work up an appetite, and add more nutrition to help her recover.


Lu, as you can see, it isn't about the actual temperature of the fruit, according to studentyoung.
In any case, the maxim was no "fruit or cold foods" and not necessarily "cold fruit and cold
foods." Still a bit amorphous and categorical to me, it seems.










Lu -



Quote:

Lu, as you can see, it isn't about the actual temperature of the fruit, according to studentyoung.

That's exactly what I said in the post you quote of me.

I'm getting the distinct impression that we are talking completely past each other... That might
also explain the ongoing discussion we're having elsewhere about cheating/beating men. I suspect
that perhaps we don't disagree as much as we think we do.










gato -



Quote:

I suspect that perhaps we don't disagree as much as we think we do.

Just kiss and make up already.










shanghaikai -

Lu, I was trying to make a point about studentyoung's position, not about what you said. So no
disagreement there. ;)










fireball9261 -

I just want to add some information here regarding 坐月子, and I cannot guarantee they are
scientific, but I will try.

In TCM, 坐月子is not merely to prevent illness. It is supposed to be able to fortify the
women’s constitution, and I have no idea why. I think other TCM experts could provide better
answers.

Also, from what I heard from TCM doctors and old midwives over the years, it is not that western
women do not need坐月子. They also need it. However, there was no tradition of 坐月子, so
they don’t do it. According to my TCM doctors and older women, the effect of not 坐月子 will
eventually catch up with you. The problems might be weaker immune system, less energy, pains in
the womb area, back pains, sore legs, and possibly arthritis. It may be placebo effect like some
of you said, but a lot of modern day Chinese women would not risk it.

Regarding Chinese women’s constitution vs. the constitution of women of other race, I believe
the Chinese women would probably have similar constitution as the westerners if she ate western
style of diet, take western style of nutrition supplements, and did as much sports as the
westerners. It would be even better if her parents and grandparents (for a few generations) also
did the same. I believe there were scientific studies about how diet, nutrition supplements (I
heard some of them are being disproved), and parents’ health effect the health (constitution) of
a person.

The following statements are not scientific, and they are just my observations: I have seen a lot
ABCs (American Born Chinese) had the same constitution and energy as other westerners. However, I
have also seen many Chinese women in my generation (40’s) and younger who have less energy and
less strength than the usual westerners of the same generation. Many of these Chinese women (not
the ABCs) are also very afraid of cold, and this symptom is considered a sign of weaker
constitution in TCM. Contrarily, many ABCs I know do not seem to be as afraid of cold in the same
temperature. I can only assume diet, nutrition, and sports had a lot of impact on these
differences.

I will also provide some of my understandings of the customs of坐月子as followings:

- No cutting of nails, &
- No pulling of eyebrows (I am not sure why just eyebrows either)

I think the original ideas are based on the ideas that nails and hairs of a person is linked to
the person’s energy and blood 精血 (not necessarily the actual blood). Therefore, cutting them
may damage/reduce the person’s energy and blood 精血and, thus, lower the strength of the
person’s immune system.

This belief may also link to the old Confucius saying of “Body, skin, and hairs are all born of
the parents. You should not damage them.” In this case, it’s just a tradition.

However, I believe there are modern studies that linked a person’s health to his/her hairs and
nails. For example, a person who is sick may have more hair loss or brittle nails. Although I
don’t know there is scientific proof that the act of cutting nails or pulling eyebrows may cause
major health problems for women right after birth, I don’t think there is scientific disproof
either.

Btw, I do have swollen eyes for at least 2 days after I pulled my eyebrows.

- No use of cold water to wash &
- No bathing

I believe these rules are to prevent chill and infections. People can still use hot clothes to
wipe themselves off. Also, not washing with cold water is supposed to prevent back pains, sore
legs, pains in the womb area, as well as arthritis in the future. The second part may be placebo
effect, but I did have many women who told me that they started to have back pains because they
don’t follow this rule when 坐月子.

- No use of bath lotions &
- No use of toothpaste

Personally, I think there are too many unknown chemical ingredients in them that they might hurt
the baby through the mother’s milk. Besides, this rule was added in the modern days. Who have
heard of bath lotions and toothpaste in the old days?

- No eating of fruits or cold food

I think this particular rule was explained to death in previous postings. I just want to add that
Chinese do not eat cold or raw food (excluding fruits) in general traditionally because of the
problems of infection. Someone mentioned 涼菜 cold dishes before. Actually, most of the times,
they are boiled or drenched in boiling water first and then disinfected by vinegar and/or garlic.
There are some regional dishes that are eaten raw, such as, the drunken shrimp. They are either
soaked in alcohol first or not eaten by most Chinese any way.

There are also the belief among Chinese that cold food, especially the ice cold food, will cause
belly ache and diarrhea. Since I have the irritable bowl syndrome, they do affect me that way
somewhat. I guess this belief might come from the combination of people getting belly aches and
diarrhea from food poisoning, infectious disease as well as the irritable bowl syndrome by eating
cold food. Thus, the rule about not eating cold-temperature or raw food during坐月子 came into
being.

Of course, there is also the need not to eat food with cold properties in TCM as explained by
others.

- No watching of TV &
- No use of computers

These two rules have also been discussed to death. However, I do want to add one reason I heard
about the rules that has nothing to do with the radiation. It has something to do with the
mother’s posture. To stay in the same posture in front of TV or computer is not good for
anyone’s back especially someone who just gave birth and had extreme trauma to her back and
lower body. Besides, these two rules were also created after TV and computers were invented and
not an ancient tradition. The ancient tradition was not to wash clothing. In the ancient time, the
way for a woman to wash clothing would require her to assume a position similar to sitting in
front of a computer and worse (she needed to bend her top torso also). She also needed to be in
that position for a long time – thus, no washing clothing.

- Eating only of freshly cooked food

I believe it’s just want to make sure the new mother will eat well and not eat the spoiled food.
In the old time, the daughters-in-law generally eat the left over food or food that is no longer
fresh (meaning the food is half spoiled but the family don’t want to waste it.)


- No combing or washing of hair

No washing of hair is to prevent the young mother to take a chill because there were no hair blow
dryers and no good insulation and heater for the house in the past. It is very easy to take a
chill for bathing and washing hair. In the past, Chinese women generally did not wash their hairs
very often for this reason. They clean their hair with a special kind of hair brush called bi ji
(I don’t have the Chinese characters for them).

The rule for not combing the hair is connected to this bi ji. The teeth of this special brush (or
actually comb) are very tight, so it could squeeze out the dirt and oil from the hair. Its teeth
are also very sharp so that they could scratch the skins on the head and remove dirt and dandruff.
I believe this rule is to prevent the new mother accidentally scratches her head with the sharp
teeth of the special comb and causes infection. I knew people still used this kind of comb around
1960’s, but I don’t know whether the combs are still in use in today’s China. I would say
that the new mothers should not use sharp combs or brushes to brush their hair, but I wouldn’t
say that they couldn’t brush their hair at all.










shanghaikai -

I think I've learned more than I wanted to know about you (fireball)...but thanks for your
insights; I found them to be very contextually informative.












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Chinese Speaking - Looking for fellow foreigners working as translators -

> Studying, Working and Living in China > Living in China
Looking for fellow foreigners working as translators
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lilongyue -

I'm planning to work as a translator when I've finished my Chinese language studies. Anyone here
done the same, and already working as a translator? I'd like to talk to you.



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Luoman -

I do oral Chinese translations, mostly about equipment and medicine. But I am not in China.










lilongyue -

Are you Russian? I see that you're in Moscow. Are you working as an interpreter in a business
setting?










trufflepig -

If you're in a first or second tier city, there should be lots of translation companies that would
employ you as a proof reader - not translation exactly but a step closer. Usually pay by the words.

To be a real interpreter you should be qualified - you can get the NAATI qualification in China -
thats the Australian and New Zealand standard (see their website) and is the minimum req for doing
work for government agencies in OZ or NZ in china or at home - or else do the Chinese interpreting
exams. China has its own set of qualifications for interpreters - ur school can help you find more.
I dont know about other countries standards....

The reason for getting qualified is that there is a hell of a lot of people that have done a few
years of chinese at uni but honestly dont speak very well or dont have the commercial or industry
experience necessary to add real value to an operation. Its a headache for companies that dont
speak ANY chinese to have to go through the slow path of finding out neither do you really. Im
talking about quality control.

(HSK is not a very good proof of chinese ability unless you're talking about the upper echelons).

Taking that first step and working for translation companies proof reading, builds your resume too
for when the right opportunity does come along.

all the best.










Luoman -

lilongyue, yes, I`m Russian. I work as an interpreter at business talks and at the process of
installing equipment at factories. I`ve been doing this for five years, and I consider this work
to be full of creativity. It`s a great opportunity to know different types of people, and to
improve your language skills.










lilongyue -

I've been thinking about finding some proof reading type work. What is the usual pay per word? I'm
already talking with a local English magazine about translating news articles into English (mostly
for buliding up the resume), and I'd rather do almost anything other than teach English at this
point (fed up with that). I'd like to give proof reading a try. Anything you may know and can
share would be much appreciated.










trufflepig -

The by the word rate is going to depend on where you are, in likelyhood it may not be as high as
teaching for the same time. Still its a foot in the door.

A guy i know in Nanjing who interviewed at a translation agency - they gave him a translation test
(2hrs?) which evidently he didnt do so great on then they asked him to be a proof reader instead.
That does show though that there's opportunity to be translating directly, not just proofing.

Good idea with approaching the magazine - try approaching local newspapers too, maybe get a weekly
column going, i used to do that in Nanchang years ago - your taste of music movies, life, whatever
(didnt pay well but it was exposure)....also there's been a high profile thing lately with loads
of chinese reporters being busted for stealing articles off the net translating them and fixing
their name to them - you could help those guys out lol
But seriously doing some stuff for the local papers might help a move to CCTV or whatever later
on....

anyway, good luck










lily_spring88 -

hello Lilongyue,

can I know which country do you come from? you study Chinese as your major? that is

really challenging. i do wish you can work well in china, hangzhou?

My major on the opposite, is English. but i never do the translation work, though i like

English very much. just stay at front of the computer for whole day and staring at the

article is just boring for me.

I like do the oral transltion, but few company look for the oral translator. so no chance

for me. in my free time, i do some part time oral interpretation for foreigners to meet up

for the regret then.

I live in shanghai, very near to you.










simonlaing -

Hi lilongyue,

I am doing proofreading and review at the moment for a Nanjing company. Most foreigners do this
kind of QA checking. Since the first translation is rushed through and often of very poor quality,
(not so many articles) it still takes some translating skill.

We also have occasional interpretation gigs which are very interesting . You get to go with
business people around to factories and do consecutive interpreting. The interpretation exam in
China is very difficult some chinese friends have told me. only about 10 % pass. These are the
ones that they hire to do the simultaneous translation at conferences and such. Interpretation
pays well (800 yuan a day ) but it is not regular.

Translation usually pays by the word, though some places have a base salary and then the word
count bonus is on top of that. Try to find a place in China that does a lot of Trade with Russia
so your Russian Skills will be of use. I suggest Dalian, Harbin or Xinjiang.

Good luck,
Simon

P.S. translation can be very tiring and usually doesn't pay as much as teaching. Prepare yourself.










trufflepig -

800 a day?

how come you buggers only paid me 100 a day? - someone was pocketing something there then lol

simonliang is right - it can be very tiring. Both sides hang their problems on you - its often
thankless but at the same time personally rewarding. There's an excellent book called 'Conference
Interpreting' by Valerie Taylor-Bouladon which is pitched at a very high level but written in a
very down to earth style, if anything its useful for talking-the-talk.

The person i mentioned in the above post speaks truly excellent mandarin and is in fact a chinese
medicine doctor, spending all day in the hospital chinese only - he didnt pass the exam tho as he
told me and was offered proof reading instead (which he turned down). You might want to offer to
show the company you have skills outside just mandarin to up your application?












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Learn mandarin - bed and breakfast in Guangzhou -

> Studying, Working and Living in China > Living in China > Classifieds
bed and breakfast in Guangzhou
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Alexander2007 -

2 bed room apartments for short term rental in Guangzhou, ranges from 70-100 meter sq.

Facilities: Fridge, TV, washing machines, air conditioning, microwave oven, hot water, induction
cooker, hair dryer (with variation in different apartment)

Location:
Our apartment is located next to Baiyun mountain, Guangzhou Stadium, which is 20 min. from city
center, such as Garden Hotel, China Hotel, Beijing Road.

There is 2 venue for Canton Fair, we are 20 min. from Liuhua venue, and 40min from Pazhou.

We are 20 min. from wholesale market of Baima garment wholesale center, Ziyuangang Leather
wholesale market and the watches and clocks, socks and shoes wholesale market.

Price:
Apartment with elevator: USD800 two weeks during Canton fair
Normal price: RMB158 per day.
Apartment without elevator: USD500 two weeks during Canton fair
Normal price: RMM220 per day.

Please check apartment picture and free service provide:
http://groups.google.com/group/find2fineapartment/web

Enquiry: Email/MSN: marketing@Find2Fine.com, Tel: 86 20 86269291, Skype: Find2Fine_marketing.



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HSK Exam - Is this correct? Talking about school material -

> Learning Chinese > Reading and Writing
Is this correct? Talking about school material
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Ari 桑 -

我现在读的是马克思的共产党宣言还有一本是自然科学历史中很伟大的理论�
��

I feel like this is a bit awkward, but I can't think of a better way to say it.



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skylee -

I think it is ok, but adding a comma or two might help. Also, mentioning the name of the second
book might make it appear more complete ("more complete", how illogical, haha). Like -

我现在读的是马克思的共产党宣言，还有一本是自然科学历史中很伟大的理�
��，就是達爾文的進化論。










Ari 桑 -

Ah, sweet. Thank you.










mesuper -

I think this may be more in accordance with the rules of Chinese:

-
我现在正在读马克思的《共产党宣言》，还有一本关于自然科学历史的理论�
��著- 达尔文的《进化论》。

P.S. 巨著=伟大的书












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Learn Mandarin online - If my awful Chinese can get any better.... -

> Learning Chinese > Reading and Writing
If my awful Chinese can get any better....
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chinonononozu -

Hi I'm new here and looking for ways to improve my chinese. Holland is the place where i live
since little. I lived in China for a year when i was 8 years old and at school i had pretty much
80+ score on any test. But after a week when i came back to holland and went to a saturday chinese
school my chinese became worse and worse..... i only learnt simplified chinese in china but this
school teaches Traditional. I became more and more confused.
I'm 16 years now and really wish to revive my chinese skills again. The things i lack are reading
writing skills and vocabulary. Conversations are pretty much ok since i do it everyday but the
lack of knowing some complicated words sucks.

I just hate it when i'm reading a chinese sentence and I only know 50% of the characters I'm
reading. I only know Cantonese Hakka and Xinhui dialects (thank god my family tree spreads across
guangdong) and I know Dutch and English too but that's not the point right now.

Anyway I hope this forum can help me through this and looks like many people here can help me out
as well. So I'm looking forward to get off my lazy ass and actually do something about my
incomplete chinese skills.



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XueXueXue IQChinese Get beyond the plateau.Take your Mandarin to a new level.
Chinese in Lijiang Short term Chinese study in a beautiful town with a focus on daily life.
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Quest -

Get an electronic dictionary and start getting your daily news in Chinese.










mesuper -

I suppose there are many Chinese studying or working around you, find one and try to make friends
with him/her; Frankly speaking, Chinese are hospital to friends, if you are their friends, they
will spare no effort to help you in all aspects.

I know learning by oneself is a hard thing, I am learning Korean now, I can tell you from my own
experience, if you do something wrong and someone points it out for you, you will make progress in
a short time. I have a friend who can speak Korean, when something turns me down, I usually turn
to her for help, the problems become a piece of cake in her hand while for me like mission
impossible.

Another advice, make some friends using Skype, I believe, those who use Skype in China, are
proficient in English. When you have problems with Chinese, you can talk to them with english.

Good Luck










naturegirl -

I'm a bit confused? You are of Chinese origin, right? And do you speak Mandarin? Cause when you
make friends online to practice speaking Mandarin is probably important.
Or another good idea is start writing diary in Chinese or read novels you really like. Or start
out with Mangas. Anyway, I'm about your age and also grew up abroad. I'd be happy if you contact me










gato -



Quote:

Conversations are pretty much ok since i do it everyday but the lack of knowing some complicated
words sucks. I only know Cantonese Hakka and Xinhui dialects (thank god my family tree spreads
across guangdong)

Do you mean you don't speak any Mandarin? What do they use in Saturday Chinese school?



Quote:

I just hate it when i'm reading a chinese sentence and I only know 50% of the characters I'm
reading.

Yeah, read your news through popjisyo everyday from now on.
http://www.popjisyo.com/WebHint/AddH...s.yahoo.com%2f










Lu -

Try reading something you're interested in. Look up the characters and words you don't know, start
with 10-20 or so new words per week. Find out what they mean, and how exactly to write them (use a
dictionary or ask someone, maybe your parents or a teacher at the Chinese school). Then study them
until you know them. Then start all over again with the next 10-20 words.

Sukses!












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