If say something malevolent or gossip about a person not present you can say:

天知地知你知我知 (tian1 zhi1 di4 zhi1 ni3 zhi1 wo3 zhi1)

The literal translation is "Heaven knows, earth knows, you know, I know." This implies that although there are four "people" present, it's unimportant because it'll be kept a secret.

All,

I changed my blog title to 鱼香肉丝 (yu2 xiang1 rou4 si1), which means "fish flavored shredded meat." It's a popular dish here, coupled with the fact that "shredded meat," or "rou si," sounds awfully close to my name. My de facto nickname.

一天一字
(A mini Chinese lesson
specially designed for
people not intending to actually
learn the language.)



Today's character is:
大

大 and 人. See a similarity? The latter was covered earlier and it means "person." This new character is a literal drawing of a human figure outstretching his arms. This new character means "big." (Get it?) Slightly funny and rather poignant.

大 extends into other characters, for example 天 (sky/day) and 夫 (husband/master). The drawing of the character implies the meaning.

大 is pronounced "da" with a sharp fall as you say the word. (Think "da!")

一天一字
(A mini Chinese lesson
specially designed for
people not intending to actually
learn the language.)



Today's character is:
人

人, simply enough, means "person." It evolved from a rough stick figure to it's present form, which is more like a pair of legs. 人 is frequently used in compounds to make a variety of works having to do with occupations, nationality or genders. It's one of the most common words in the language.

To indicate a woman you can add a 女 (a pictograph of a pregnant woman, although much altered from it's ancient state) before 人. For a man add a 男 (a pictograph comprised of a field made of four plots and an arm bend and flexing) Simple enough.

人 is pronounced ren? (like you're asking a question)

说中文说英文发音问题

Some problems with Chinese speaking English and visa versa...

Chinese speakers who speak Mandarin do not have the "r" to "l" confusion, so popularly stereotyped with phrases like "flied lice." (This confusion is common to Cantonese.) True Mandarin, that is Hebei provence, Beijing dialect Mandarin, is very rich in "r" sounds and have strong vowel and "sh," "th" pronounciation. Still, in English they still have issues in these and other areas including a difficultly with "ch," distinguishing minor differences in sounds, "mush mouthness" and with sounds like the "s" in "pleasure"

Students from the Southern province of Sichuan are most difficult to teach. Sichuan people speak Mandarin with a heavy accent, and are totally unable to make the "shi" sound in Mandarian, which is an all too common sound, and instead make the "si" sound, which has multiple different meanings. Also, their tones are not as precise as Northern speakers. In English, the problems they make include making the "l" sound like "n," an inability to lisp to make the "th" sound or "sh" sound, weak "r" sounds and sloppy, broken-jawed pronounciation.

Sloppy pronounciation is actually common to all Chinese learners of English as well as almost total inmobility of their tongues. They also have an issue with distingushing gender, pronouncing the sounds "e" and "a" too similar to one another, distinguishing questions and understanding how to pronounce plural words (they all sound singular because they have a difficulty with certain "s" sounds)

In Chinese, native English speakers have a hard time with speaking with an soft tongue and from a lower part of the throat, resulting in Chinese that sounds unclear and too soft. We also cannot pronouce the "r" sounds, (which sound sort of like an r mixed with a j) cannot say, or say with difficulty, the stressed "u" sound. (which is like an umlad over a u) We have trouble distingushing between "ci"(like "tse") and "si" (like "sssuh" with more of an "s" sound) and, most of all, we can't say tones correctly. (Tones, there are four altogther, are an essential part of the language and must be said correctly for the word to make sense, but are very hard to say correctly.) Overall, we probably have the same level of problems learning Chinese.

ALSO: If you'd like to send something use the 100007 zip code.

Working...

I'm making a lesson plan for a class that I'll be teaching every Tuesday and Thursday night. My first class was a bust because the students are at woefully mixed levels, although this should be resolved by today's class. I'm using a book called "New Interchange" which is one of the better English books on the market, with no Chinese at all and plenty of cultural references.

Working late means leaving late on an inhumanly packed train. There are heads and arms everywhere, with 16 year old Beijing security officers basically shoehorning in work-weary passengers. Chinese work incredible hours sometimes, basically all day every day except for Saturday. There was a famous story here of a boss who attached GPS systems to every employer, I believe on their cellphones, so they could be tracked and assigned to some task at any time. All this leads to a sense of desperation in the average cubicle worker, although I couldn't imagine the true desperation of those below us. News here isn't terse on the subject, so most Chinese are aware of these inadequacies but are either too busy, unfulfilled or poor themselves to care. This leads to a cycle of apathy that is far more real and far-reaching then our American, tousled hair, uniformed, MTV 2, electronic distraction version.

In an awkward transition, today I learned the word 海象 (hai3 xiang1) which is walrus. It translates directly as "sea elephant," which I think is adorable.

Also, I want to give photo credit to Chad and Cat for nearly all of the pictures below. I really never photograph anymore, which is a shame.(Thanks for comin' and takin' pictures!)

Chinese lesson.

你好！
(ni3 hao3)
Hello!

谢谢！
(xie4 xie4)
thanks!

再见！
(zai4 jian4)
goodbye!

我要这个
(wo3 yao4 zhe4 ge)
I want this.

对
(dui4)
Correct.

不要
（bu2 yao4)
No, I don't want it.

这个多少钱?
(duo1 shao3 qian2)
How much is this?

有
(you3)
I have it.

我名字是Catalina.
(wo3 ming2 zi shi4 Catalina)
My name is Catalina.

他是我们小孩子。
(ta1 shi4 wo3 men xiao3 hai2 zi)
He is our baby.

我们在北京旅行。
(wo3 men zai4 bei3 jing1 lv3 xing2)
We are traveling in Beijing.

我是美国人
(wo3 shi4 mei3 guo2 ren2)
I am American.

我是哥伦比亚人
(wo3 shi4 ge1 lun2 bi3 ya4)
I am Colombian.

他是一年岁
(ta1 shi4 yi1 nian2 sui4)
He is one year old.

不妨味精，少咸，少油。
(bu4 fang4 wei4 jing1, shao3 xian2, shao3 you2)
No MSG, less salt, less oil.

我是吃素的。
(wo3 shi4 chi1 su4 de)
I'm a vegetarian.

我是佛教徒
(wo3 shi4 fo2 jiao4 tu4)
I'm a Buddhist.

I'll help you with pronounciation when you get here, but you can use this to make fun little cards.

In other news, my job is fun and my students are great, although I'm looking forward to vacation. Let me know Miami stories, things that are happening...

干杯! (gan1 bei1, a Chinese toast meaning "empty glass") We went to this restaurant last night, this one above, where the entire floor, furniture and staff where covered in bright, red, eye-melting floral patterns. We were actually looking for some trendy, arty bar near the Old Summer Palace, but couldn't find it at all. This was obviously a better choice. Nothing goes better with Tsingtao than vinegary fried peanuts.