About.com Mandarin Language

One Or Two Approximate Numbers

Fri, 27 Nov 2009 11:02:34 +0000

It's very common to use approximate numbers in conversation - "They cost about $5," or, "I'll be there in 10 or 20 minutes."

There are a few different ways to use approximate numbers in Mandarin Chinese. The particle duō (多) is used for approximate numbers which are greater than the stated number.

We can also use ch�buduō (差不多), which means "nearly" or "almost".

And we can also indicate approximate numbers by using two numbers e.g. 40 or 50. In this case, the "or" is not translated:

Yī shuāng s�, wǔ sh� ku�i.
一雙四、五十塊。
一双四、五十块。
One pair costs 40 or 50 dollars.

One Or Two Approximate Numbers originally appeared on About.com Mandarin Language on Friday, November 27th, 2009 at 11:02:34.

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Google Translate Mandarin Update

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 11:07:51 +0000

Google Translate is a very useful tool for translating web pages or text from one language to another, including Mandarin Chinese. It has recently been updated to include Pinyin pronunciation of Chinese characters. Simply paste in a Chinese text, select Translate from Chinese to Chinese, then click on the Show Romanization button to display Pinyin below the Chinese text.

Besides translation from one language to another, Google Translate can also be used to convert traditional Chinese characters to simplified characters and vice-versa.

Google Translate Mandarin Update originally appeared on About.com Mandarin Language on Monday, November 23rd, 2009 at 11:07:51.

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Obama's Mandarin Name

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:03:22 +0000

President Obama is known as 奥巴马 (�o bā mǎ) in Mainland China, but the White House wants to change that to 欧巴马 (ōu bā mǎ). An article on the WorldMeets.us website reports that the American embassy in Beijing believes the new name better reflects the American pronunciation of Obama, and will be his official Chinese name from now on.

But according to danwei.org, the Chinese may not agree this change:

"... a name transliteration that has been in use for a while cannot be casually changed; unless Xinhua changes its rendering, the Foreign Ministry will not agree to switch �obāmǎ for ōubāmǎ."

And the worldmeets.us article speculates about the hidden meaning of this change:

"So in wanting to make this change, it seems on the surface to reflect that the U.S. doesn't want to listen to China, the U.S. has its own ideas and so on. Of course, this could also mean that U.S. relations with China aren't as good as they appear on the surface."

In Taiwan, Obama is known as 歐巴馬 (欧巴马) - the version that the White House is proposing.

Obama's Mandarin Name originally appeared on About.com Mandarin Language on Friday, November 20th, 2009 at 13:03:22.

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From Here To There

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 13:21:22 +0000

The Mandarin pattern 從/从 ... 到 (c�ng ... d�o) is used to say "From ... to (a place or time)."

Both 從/从 (c�ng) and 到 (d�o) are followed by a time word or a place word, and the complement is placed at the end of the sentence, as in these examples:

C�ng Běijīng d�o Sh�nghǎi y�o duō jiǔ?
從北京到上海要多久?
从北京到上海要多久?
How long does it take from Beijing to Shanghai?

C�ng jiǔdiǎn d�o wǔdiǎn wǒ z�i sh�ngbān.
從九點到五點我在上班。
从九点到五点我在上班。
I am at work from 9 o'clock to 5 o'clock.

Mandarin Punctuation

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 18:07:30 +0000

Chinese writing has similar punctuation to English. The periods, commas, semicolons and colons have almost the same functions, but some of the symbols are different. Learn more about Chinese punctuation.

Mandarin Punctuation originally appeared on About.com Mandarin Language on Friday, November 13th, 2009 at 18:07:30.

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Mandarin Vids - English Subs

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 13:19:09 +0000

Watching Mandarin-language TV shows and movies can help you learn new vocabulary and capture the rhythm of the language. If you are just starting to learn, though, you probably won't understand very much.

But now you have the option of watching Mandarin videos with English subtitles. A recent post on the Mandarin forum tells where to find them.

Mandarin Vids - English Subs originally appeared on About.com Mandarin Language on Wednesday, November 11th, 2009 at 13:19:09.

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Going To or Want To?

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 15:41:33 +0000

The Mandarin Chinese 要 y�o can mean going to or want to depending on the context.

Consider this sentence:

他要走
Tā y�o zǒu.

That can mean either "He wants to leave" or "He is going to leave."

So if we add a time expression, does that make the meaning more clear?

他明天要走
Tā m�ngtiān y�o zǒu.

It's still a bit vague. This could mean "He wants to leave tomorrow" or "He is going to leave tomorrow."

However, with a bit of discussion, we can find out what's really going on.

If we are talking about the future, we can also use the word 會/会 hu� to mean "intend to". Read more about the distinctions between hui and yao.

Going To or Want To? originally appeared on About.com Mandarin Language on Monday, November 9th, 2009 at 15:41:33.

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Mr. Siao's Mandarin Class

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:38:58 +0000

The two official languages of multicultural Malaysia are Malay and English, but many other languages are spoken, including several Chinese and Indian dialects.

A Malaysian TV show called Mr. Siao's Mandarin Class provides a glimpse into Malaysian society and an idea of how these various cultures interact. The setting is a Mandarin language class, and the dialogue is a mixture of Chinese (Mandarin, Hokkien, Cantonese, Hakka), English and Malay.

Mr. Siao's Mandarin Class is entertaining and educational, even if you don't understand all the dialog. You can see it on YouTube.

Mr. Siao's Mandarin Class originally appeared on About.com Mandarin Language on Friday, November 6th, 2009 at 15:38:58.

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Mandarin Search App

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 13:49:10 +0000

I have a confession to make: I don't have a cell phone. So I don't know much about them besides texting and games. And up until today, I had just a vague idea that you can use a cell phone to browse the Internet.

So I was surprised to see that Google has a new cell phone app that allows you to search the Internet using voice input. Wow! This stuff is more advanced than I ever dreamed.

I don't consider myself a technophobe, being quite computer literate, but cell phones don't interest me at all. But I know that they are considered essential in some corners, so it's my duty to inform Mandarin students about the latest gadgets that can be used to learn the language.

This Google app recognizes English (in various accents) or Mandarin Chinese. According to the Google Research blog, "Mandarin Voice Search (is) a part of Google Mobile App for Nokia s60 phones. Google Mobile App places a Google search widget on your Nokia phone's home screen, allowing you to quickly search by voice or by typing."

Google plans to extend this technology to allow searches "in any language."

Mandarin Search App originally appeared on About.com Mandarin Language on Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009 at 13:49:10.

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Chinese Domain Names

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 12:22:35 +0000

The BBC reports that we may soon be seeing Chinese characters in the address bars of our favorite web browsers.

Web addresses - anything beginning with http:// - are currently restricted to Latin characters. Considering that more than 50% of Internet users speak languages that use non-Latin characters, this domination of Latin based domain names is long due for a change.

There are lots of technical challenges to this proposal, but if all goes well, we should soon be able to use Chinese characters (as well as other scripts) for web addresses.

Chinese Domain Names originally appeared on About.com Mandarin Language on Friday, October 30th, 2009 at 12:22:35.

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