Vocabulary:
1. very, really, truly (an emphasis word)真 zhēn + adjective
2. comfortable 舒
++ [Note that "very" is most commonly used as狠 hěn or 太 tài as in "extremely" or "too much". Incidentally "wife" is 太太 tàitài].
Sunday, June 21, 2015
Vegetable Chant Lesson 5: ㄉ Planting Rice
The fifth sound of the Chinese phonetic script ㄉ corresponds to the letter Dd. Teacher Z will read a vegetable chant called "Planting Rice".
Vocabulary:
1. very, really, truly (an emphasis word)真 zhēn + adjective
2. comfortable 舒
++ [Note that "very" is most commonly used as狠 hěn or 太 tài as in "extremely" or "too much". Incidentally "wife" is 太太 tàitài].
Vocabulary:
1. very, really, truly (an emphasis word)真 zhēn + adjective
2. comfortable 舒
++ [Note that "very" is most commonly used as狠 hěn or 太 tài as in "extremely" or "too much". Incidentally "wife" is 太太 tàitài].
BoPoMoFo (Zhuyin)
Mandarin learners in Taiwan learn the correct pronunciation and characters by first learning a phonetic script known as Zhuyin or Bopomofo. This name derives from the first 4 syllables of this "alphabet". Teacher Z will not focus so much on teaching these although she will go through some children's books that are organized around Bopomofo. It is useful for reading basic, children's books, but not necessary for speaking conversational Mandarin.
It is however extremely useful to know when you need to type on the computer or smart phone. (If your keyboard doesn't have Zhuyin click here.) Even with my cave woman Mandarin I can type in Bopomofo and find the character I am looking for (then ask Z if I got the right one.) You can download an app on android Zhuyin Quiz to practice learning the Bopomofo symbols and sounds. Here are also some free pdf flashcards.
Please note that for symbols 1- 11 the "o" is pronounced like "uh" so ㄅ Bo is pronounced "buh" as in but, not as in bough. Its just the way you would see it in the pinyin (Romanized Chinese from the Mainland), but as you can see it doesn't exactly represent the sound, that's why Zhuyin is better. In 12-14, the "i" is long E, as in tree, so ㄐ Ji sounds like jee. Don't worry its easier than it seems.
Teacher Z will be going through children's books with stories that follow this order. Learn Bopomofo and Traditional Characters along the way.
1. ㄅ Bo "buh" (Bb)
Inside Mr. White's Garden
2. ㄆ Po "puh" (Pp)
Plum Garden
3. ㄇ Mo "muh" (Mm)
Red Strawberries
4. ㄈ Fo "fuh" (Ff)
Big Tomato
5. ㄉ Do "duh" (Dd)
Planting Rice
6. ㄊ To "tuh" (Tt)
7.ㄋ No "Nuh" (Nn)
8. ㄌ Lo "Luh" (Ll)
9. ㄍ Go "Luh" (Gg)
10. ㄎ Ko "Luh" (Kk)
11. ㄏ Ho "Huh" (Hh)
12. ㄐ Ji "jee" (Jj)
13. ㄑQi "chee" (Ch)
14. ㄒ Xi "she" (Sh more in the front of your mouth)
15. ㄓ Zhr (Jj)
16. ㄔ Chr (Ch)
17. ㄕ Shr (Sh more in the back of your mouth)
18. ㄖ Ri (Rr in the front of your mouth)
19. ㄗ Ts (Zz in the front of your mouth)
20. ㄘ Ts (soft Cc)
21. ㄙ (Ss)
22. ㄧ Yi (long E)
23. ㄨ Wu (long U)
24. ㄩ Yu (French U as in une, German umlaut "ü")
25. ㄚ Ya (short a)
26. ㄛ O (short o)
27. ㄜ (short u like "uh")
28. ㄝ (long A)
29. ㄞ Ai (long I)
30. ㄟ Ei (like Spanish e, English long A said curtly)
31. ㄠ Ao (ow as in cow)
32. ㄡ Ou (long O)
33. ㄢ an
34. ㄣ en
35. ㄤ ang
36. ㄥ eng
37. ㄦ er
Resources and Online Games:
http://www.yellowbridge.com/chinese/zhuyin.php
http://www.eng.umd.edu/~nsw/chinese/pinyin.htm
http://chinesehacks.com/blog/study/learning-chinese-pinyin-or-zhuyin/
http://zhuyin.flashgamesplayer.com/
http://www.purposegames.com/game/10af65bb
Saturday, June 20, 2015
Vegetable Chant Lesson 4: Fo ㄈ Big Tomato
Lesson four introduces the fourth sound Fo ㄈ. Teacher Z will read Big Tomato.
Vocabulary:
1. big 大 Dà
2. tomato 番茄 Fānqié
3. bee 蜜蜂 Mìfēng
4. butterfly 蝴蝶 Húdié
5. to fly 飛 Fēi
Vocabulary:
1. big 大 Dà
2. tomato 番茄 Fānqié
3. bee 蜜蜂 Mìfēng
4. butterfly 蝴蝶 Húdié
5. to fly 飛 Fēi
Vegetable Chant Lesson 3: Mo ㄇ Red Strawberries
The third sound is mo ㄇ. Teacher Z will read Red Strawberries.
Vocabulary:
1. little 小 Xiǎo
2. cat 貓 Māo
3. see 看 Kàn 見 Jiàn
4. red 紅 Hóng
5. strawberry 草莓 Cǎoméi
Vocabulary:
1. little 小 Xiǎo
2. cat 貓 Māo
3. see 看 Kàn 見 Jiàn
4. red 紅 Hóng
5. strawberry 草莓 Cǎoméi
Vegetable Chant Lesson 2: Poㄆ Plum Garden
The second sound is Po ㄆ. Teacher Z will be reading Plum Garden.
This lesson's vocabulary:
1. fat 胖pàng
2. up 上 shàng
3. mountain 山 Shān
4. eat 吃 Chī
This lesson's vocabulary:
1. fat 胖pàng
2. up 上 shàng
3. mountain 山 Shān
4. eat 吃 Chī
Friday, June 19, 2015
Vegetable Chant Lesson 1: Bo ㄅ Inside Mr. White's Garden
The first sound of the Chinese phonetic alphabet is Bo ㄅ. Teacher Z will read about Mr. White's vegetable garden.
The new vocabulary words are:
1. white 白Bái
2. vegetable 菜cài
3. please 請Qǐng
4. you 你 Nǐ
The new vocabulary words are:
1. white 白Bái
2. vegetable 菜cài
3. please 請Qǐng
4. you 你 Nǐ
Introduction: Traditional Characters, Bopomofo, Tones
I. Purpose and Mission
My daughter is teacher Z. She is constantly helping me translate or improve my basic mandarin. As she has gotten older, she has become quite the personal tutor for me and creating a Vlog for people wanting to learn Mandarin is entirely her idea. I am just the one filming her and uploading these posts.
II. Traditional Characters
Here in Taiwan, people read and write using traditional Chinese characters, as opposed to the mainland simplified form. This requires more time and devotion as the traditional characters have more strokes. Both forms have their advantages and disadvantages.
Basically a Taiwanese person who grew up using traditional characters can read poetry and documents that's are thousands of years old, but that requires more time. They can also read simplified characters. Yet a main-lander can't as easily read traditional characters and would have to relearn them, so they cannot read the poetry or philosophies of their historical heritage.
This blog will focus entirely on traditional characters. If you have already learned the simplified form and want to learn the traditional characters, than I think Z's pace and materials would be an excellent way for you to build upon what you already know.
III. Bopomofo
Mandarin learners in Taiwan learn the correct pronunciation and characters by first learning a phonetic alphabet known as Bopomofo. This name derives from the first 4 syllables of this "alphabet". Teacher Z will not focus so much on teaching these although she will go through some children's books that are organized around Bopomofo. It is useful for reading basic, children's books, but not necessary for speaking conversational Mandarin. It is however extremely useful to know when you need to type on the computer or smart phone. Even with my cave woman Mandarin I can type in Bopomofo and find the character I am looking for (then ask Z if I got the right one.)
IV. The Tones
Mandarin has 4 tones. Z doesn't go into teaching the different tones, but if you notice her books you see how above the Bopomo are lines. If there is no line, its the first tone, which is flat, second tone rises, third tone goes down then up and the fourth tone is down. The video below is a good explanation:
My daughter is teacher Z. She is constantly helping me translate or improve my basic mandarin. As she has gotten older, she has become quite the personal tutor for me and creating a Vlog for people wanting to learn Mandarin is entirely her idea. I am just the one filming her and uploading these posts.
II. Traditional Characters
Here in Taiwan, people read and write using traditional Chinese characters, as opposed to the mainland simplified form. This requires more time and devotion as the traditional characters have more strokes. Both forms have their advantages and disadvantages.
Basically a Taiwanese person who grew up using traditional characters can read poetry and documents that's are thousands of years old, but that requires more time. They can also read simplified characters. Yet a main-lander can't as easily read traditional characters and would have to relearn them, so they cannot read the poetry or philosophies of their historical heritage.
This blog will focus entirely on traditional characters. If you have already learned the simplified form and want to learn the traditional characters, than I think Z's pace and materials would be an excellent way for you to build upon what you already know.
III. Bopomofo
Mandarin learners in Taiwan learn the correct pronunciation and characters by first learning a phonetic alphabet known as Bopomofo. This name derives from the first 4 syllables of this "alphabet". Teacher Z will not focus so much on teaching these although she will go through some children's books that are organized around Bopomofo. It is useful for reading basic, children's books, but not necessary for speaking conversational Mandarin. It is however extremely useful to know when you need to type on the computer or smart phone. Even with my cave woman Mandarin I can type in Bopomofo and find the character I am looking for (then ask Z if I got the right one.)
 |
| The 4 Tones in Mandarin |
IV. The Tones
Mandarin has 4 tones. Z doesn't go into teaching the different tones, but if you notice her books you see how above the Bopomo are lines. If there is no line, its the first tone, which is flat, second tone rises, third tone goes down then up and the fourth tone is down. The video below is a good explanation:
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