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Saturday, February 13, 2010

Chinese Jokes 03

只缺太阳,月亮和米

有个人家里很穷,可总爱在别人前面吹牛说自己多么多么富有。有一天他跟几个朋友一起聊天儿,有对朋友们吹起牛来:“我家现在要什么有什么,天上飞的,地上跑的,什么都不缺。如果说我家还缺什么。。。只缺天上的太阳和月亮。。。”正说着,只见他的儿子急急忙忙跑来,大声对他说:“爸!我妈让我告诉你,咱们家没米了,问你晚上吃什么。”他马上对朋友们说:“对了!除了太阳和月亮,我家还缺一点儿米。”

Vocabular

zhī zhǐ is what the chinese aptly call a 多音字, that is to say a polyphonic character, a character with several several different pronunciations. The meaning changes along with the pronunciation. In the text above, the character is pronounced zhǐand it means only, merely (... 没有任何其他) 只是, 只有. zhī is also used as a partitive for , , , , , etc.

quē

qióng (Etymology of . Consider the traditional form: . A phonosemantic character. The phonetic element is gōng, which means to bow. By extension, someone crouching in a cave is a close description of a poor person.) Don’t mix with láo. Remember that the idea of poverty is associated with the radical xué, which means cave.

吹牛chuīniú What a funny way to say ‚to brag, to boast’: blow the cow.

富有fùyǒu Abundance, richness is suggested by fields piled high , and their harvest under the roof of a storage room. Here are some of derivates: fú. Notice that only is pronounced with a fourth tone, al the rest are pronounced with a second tone.

天上飞的 tiānshàngfēide everything that flies

地上跑的 dìshàngpǎode everything that walks the surface of the earth

急急忙忙 jíjímángmáng in a hurry


If you want to learn Chinese online, you have come to the right place. I teach Chinese via English, Romanian, German, or Hungarian. You choose. If I have whetted your appetite, email me at: limba.chineza@yahoo.com

Yours truly,

Mircea

Friday, February 12, 2010

Chinese Jokes 02

凑不到一块儿

实习回来,老师让每个留学生写一篇五百字的实习报告。玛丽写了三天,总是写不好,就去找朋友帮忙。朋友问她:“你学过多少汉字?” “大概一千多。” “一千多?”朋友吃惊地说:“那你写一篇五百字的文章一定没有问题!”玛丽不好意思地回答:“我学过的汉字虽然不少,可他们总是凑不到一块儿。”

Vocabular
帮忙 bāngmáng – a ajuta
吃惊 chījīng – a fi surprins
大概 dàgài – aproximativ
篇 piān – partitiv pentru documente
文章 wénzhāng – document

Observaţii:
Atenţie la pronunţia caracterului 百bǎi care diferă de 白bái.
大概一千多 cam peste o mie. 大概 este folosit pentru a exprima un număr aproximativ.
Iată trei situaţii în care tonul sandhi este folositcu caracterul 一: (1)一千 yìqiān; (2) 一定 yídìng; (3) 一块儿 yíkuàirConstrucţia 虽然 ... ,... 可 este folosită pentru a exprima o concesie
Let me remind you that, if you decide to study Chinese with me, I will provide you with the English version of the notes and explanations. An audio recording with the voices of native speakers is also available. For further information email me at limba.chineza@yahoo.com

Chinese_Pi_05_Getting Around

Where are the taxis? – 请问在哪儿可以找到出租车?
qǐngwèn zàinǎr kěyǐ zhǎodào chūzūchē?
Where is the bus? – 请问公共汽车站在哪儿?
qǐngwèn gōnggòngqìchē zhàn zàinǎr?
Where is the subway? – 请问地铁站在哪儿?
qǐngwèn dìtiězhàn zàinǎr?
Where is the exit? – 请问哪里是出口?
qǐngwèn nǎli shìchūkǒu?
Take me to this address please! – 请你把我送到这个地点!
qǐng nǐ bǎ wǒ sòngdào zhège dìdiǎn!
What is the fare? – 车费要多少钱?
chēfèi yào duōshǎo qián?
Stop here, please! – 请你停在这儿!
qǐng nǐ tíng zài zhèr!
Does this bus go to Nanjing Road? – 这辆公共汽车到南京路去吗?
zhè liàng gōnggòngqìchē dào nánjīnglù qù ma?
A map of the city, please! – 请给我一张市区地图!
qǐng gěi wǒ yī zhāng shìqū dìtú!
A subway map, please! – 请给我一张地铁线路图!
qǐng gěi wǒ yī zhāng dìtiě xiànlù tú

Let me remind you that, if you decide to learn Chinese with me, I will provide you with a recording by native speakers of the above text. For further information email me at: limba.chineza@yahoo.com

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Romanian beginner 001

Romanian dialogue

Mircea: Salut, Marius! Ce mai faci?
Marius: Ceau, Mircea! Sunt (sînt) bine! Tu cum eşti?
Mircea: Bine, mersi! Nu te-am văzut de un car de ani! Pe unde lucrezi?
Marius: Tot acolo la firmă. Tu?
Mircea: Şi eu! Bine, mai vorbim! Acum trebuie să merg. Am o întâlnire. Pa!
Marius: Salut!

Translation

Mircea: Greetings, Marius! How are you?
Marius: Hi, Mircea! I’m fine! And how are you?
Mircea: Fine, thanks! I haven’t seen you for donkey’s years! What do you do?
Marius: Still there at the firm! You?
Mircea: Me too! OK, we’ll talk again some other time. I have to go now. Bye!
Marius: See ya!


You will find the audio here

Vocabulary

salut –hello
ce– what
mai– month of May; even more....; still
a face – to do, to make
ceau– hi (greeting)
a fi– to be
bine– good; well
tu – you
cum– how
mersi– thanks
nu– no
a vedea– see
de un car de ani– for donkey’s years
pe unde– whereabouts
a lucra– work
tot– all; still: tot acolo – still there
acolo– there
firmă – firm, company
şi– and
eu– I
a vorbi– to talk
trebuie– must
a merge– to walk
întîlnire– meeting


Cultural notes and grammar

This is an informal dialogue between two friends, Marius and Mircea. There are two ways of informal greeting used in this dialogue. The first one is „Salut”. It’s the exact equivalent of the French greeting. „Ceau”, on the other hand, was borrowed from Italian. The pronunciation is slightlty different in both cases from the original languages.
The personal pronoun can sometimes be omitted from the sentence as is „Sunt bine”. One might as well add the personal pronoun „eu” (I), but not in this situation. The personal pronoun „tu” is used in the following sentence: „Tu cum eşti”. It is meant to lay an extra emphasis that in return, Mircea is curious to find out about Marius' well-being: „And how are YOU?”

The verb trebuie is always used in the following pattern:

trebuie + să + verb (conjunctive mode). Example: trebuie să merg

The verb a avea (have) has two basic uses. It is used, on the one hand, as an auxilliary verb like in English. Secondly, it can be used as a lexical verb to indicate possession. Example
auxilliary verb am văzut I have seen
lexical verb am o întâlnire I have a meeting

Tips on pronunciation:

[c]
c followed by e or i is pronounced like the English ch. Examples: ce, faci, ceau
When c is followed by other letters, it is normally pronounced k. Examples: car, lucrezi, acolo

[i]

The unstressed i at the end of a word requires plenty of practice before you can pronounce it correctly. Listen to the recording as many times as required to get it right. Examples: faci, eşti, ani.

[e]

In Transylvania, e has a different, more open pronunciation than in other parts of Romania. This is mainly due to the influence of the Hungarian language.
At the beginning of a word (except for scientific ones), e is usually pronounced as the English word yeah. Exemple: eşti, eu. This was caused by the influence of the Slavic languages in the region. Romanian is a neo-Latin language spoken in a country surrounded by peoples of Slavic tongue: the Ukraine, Bulgaria, Serbia and Moldova. A large portion of the Moldovan population is either russophile or Russian proper.

[sunt-sînt]
In spoken Romanian sunt and sînt are both variants of the same word. In writing, however, only the former is correct. That is because the orthographic reform of recent years that meant to emphasize the Latin origin of the Romanian language and it’s vocabulary. More to the issue in the lessons to come.

If I have stirred your appetite for online Romanian lessons, let me know by sending me an email to limba.chineza@yahoo.com

Romanian Beginner 001

Romanian dialogue

Mircea: Salut, Marius! Ce mai faci?

Marius: Ceau, Mircea! Sunt (sînt) bine! Tu cum eşti?

Mircea: Bine, mersi! Nu te-am văzut de un car de ani! Pe unde lucrezi?

Marius: Tot acolo la firmă. Tu?

Mircea: Şi eu! Bine, mai vorbim! Acum trebuie să merg. Am o întâlnire. Pa!

Marius: Salut!

Translation

Mircea: Greetings, Marius! How are you?

Marius: Hi, Mircea! I’m fine! And how are you?

Mircea: Fine, thanks! I haven’t seen you for donkey’s years! What do you do?

Marius: Still there at the firm! You?

Mircea: Me too! OK, we’ll talk again some other time. I have to go now. Bye!

Marius: See ya!

Vocabulary

salut hello

ce what

mai month of May; even more....; still

a face to do, to make

ceau hi (greeting)

a fi to be

bine good; well

tu you

cum how

mersi thanks

nu no

a vedea see

de un car de ani for donkey’s years

pe unde whereabouts

a lucra work

tot all; still: tot acolo – still there

acolo there

firmă firm, company

şi and

eu I

a vorbi to talk

trebuie must

a merge to walk

întîlnire meeting

Cultural notes and grammar

This is an informal dialogue between two friends, Marius and Mircea. There are two ways of informal greeting used in this dialogue. The first one is „Salut”. It’s the exact equivalent of the French greeting. „Ceau”, on the other hand, was borrowed from Italian. The pronunciation is slightlty different in both cases from the original languages.

The personal pronoun can sometimes be omitted from the sentence as is „Sunt bine”. One might as well add the personal pronoun „eu” (I), but not in this situation. The personal pronoun „tu” is used in the following sentence: „Tu cum eşti”. It is meant to lay an extra emphasis that in return, Mircea is curious to find out about Marius well-being: „And how are YOU?”

The verb trebuie is always used in the following pattern:

trebuie + să + verb (conjunctive mode). Example: trebuie să merg

The verb a avea (have) has to basic uses. It is used on the one hand as an auxilliary verb like in English. Secondly, it can be used as a lexical verb to indicate possession. Exemple

auxilliar verb am văzut I have seen

lexical verb am o întâlnire I have a meeting

Tips on pronunciation:

[c]

c followed by e or i is pronounced like the English ch. Examples: ce, faci, ceau

When c is followed by other letters, it is normally pronounced k. Examples: car, lucrezi, acolo

[i]

The unstressed i at the end of a word requires plenty of practice to be able to pronounce it correctly. Listen to the recording as many times as required to get it right. Exemple: faci, eşti, ani.

[e]

In Transylvania, e has a different, more open pronunciation than in other parts of Romania. This is mainly due to the influence of the Hungarian language.

At the beginning of a word (except for scientific ones), e is usually pronounced as the English word yeah. Exemple: eşti, eu. This was caused by the influence of the Slavic languages in the region. Romanian is a neo-Latin language spoken in a country surrounded by peoples of Slavic tongue. The Ukraine, Bulgaria, Serbia and Moldova. A large portion of the Moldovan population is either russophile or Russian proper.

[sunt-sînt]

In spoken Romanian sunt and sînt are both variants of the same word. In writing, however, only the former is correct. That is because the orthographic reform of recent years that meant to emphasize the Latin origin of the Romanian language and it’s vocabulary. More to the issue in the lessons to come.

If I have stirred your appetite for online Romanian lessons, let me know. I can teach

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Chinese Jokes 01

你有多少朋友

有个县来了一位新县官。从他上任的第一天起,就不断有人到他家来拜访。有人对新县官说:您的朋友真不少哇,每天都有人来看你。您能不能告诉我,您在本地有多少朋友?新县官听后笑了笑说:这个数字连我也不清楚。你有空儿替我问问前任县官吧!我想他会比我清楚!

Vocabular:

xiàn – judeţ

县官 xiànguān – magistrat judeţean

上任 shàngrèn – a ocupa un post

从第一天起 cóngdìyītiānqǐîncă din prima zi

不断 búduàn – neîntrerupt

拜访 bàifǎng – a-i face cuiva o vizită

每天 měitiān – în fiecare zi

tì – în numele cuiva

... 也不 ... lián...yěbú – nici măcar ... nu

清楚 qīngchǔclar

有空儿 yǒukòngr – a vea timp liber

Observaţii:

不断 búduàn – cuvîntul este pronunţat cu tonul sandhi. Tonul 4 al caracterului se transformă în tonul 2 cînd este urmat de un alt caracter pronunţat cu tonul 4.

有空儿 kongr – în această expresie are loc fenomenul rotacizării (în chineză 儿化)

问问前任县官吧!Întreabă-l pe predecesorul meu! - este particula folosită după verbele la modul imperativ

If you want to learn Romanian, Hungarian, English, German, or Chinese online, send me an e-mail to the following address: limba.chineza@yahoo.com

Romanian Intermediate 01

Taxa pe alimente nesănătoase

Ministerul Sănătăţii a găsit că este de cuviinţă impunerea unei taxe pe alimente nesănătoase de tip fast-food. Micii comercianţi şi toţi cei afectaţi de acestă măsură consideră absurdă impozitarea unor produse care au primit avizul de comercializare. De asemenea, reprezentanţii ministerului afirmă că aceste alimente sînt cele care cauzează creşterea numărului de obezi din România. În replică, micii comercianţi spun că obezitatea la românii este provocată de o alimentaţie nesănătoasă, românii fiind prea săraci pentru a mînca sănătos. În sprijinul Ministerului Sănătăţii s-ar putea spune că dacă populaţia României este atît de săracă, caracteristică ar trebui să fie o masă frugală, care nici pe departe nu ar cauza o creştere în greutate. Rămîne să vedem continuarea acestei dispute.

Vocabulary

este de cuviinţă – it is in order, it behooves,

impunerea - enforcing

alimente nesănătoase – unhealthy food

micii comercianţi – small entrepreneurs

afectaţi de acestă măsură – affected by this measure

au primit avizul de comercializare – received the license for selling

obezi – obese

în replică – as a reply

a mînca sănătos – eat healty food

creştere în greutate – put on weight

rămîne să vedem – it remains to be seen

Interested to learn Romanian, Hungarian, Chinese, English and German on-line. Send me a message to the following e-mail address.

Monday, February 1, 2010

Learn foreign languages online

I am a professional teacher of foreign languages. I teach English, German, Romanian, Hungarian and, last but not least, Chinese. Nowadays many people are in a hurry, therefore, I think that learning online in the comfort of their own home will save students time and energy that would otherwise be wasted on travelling to a far location. Another advantage of online learning is that no matter where you are, as long as you have internet access, you qualify to be taught by me. I have been active professionally since 1996, the year of my graduation from my alma mater Babes Bolyai University, the number one university in Romania.