Click here to see the lesson or enquire about the lesson for Beginners or Intermediate level here :)
One of the Four Great Ancient Capitals of China
It has been the heart of China’s history for centuries and there is scarcely a major building of any age in Beijing that does not have at least some national historical significance. Renowned for its opulent palaces.
Beijing Opera
京剧 or BeiJing opera was initially an exclusively male pursuit. The Qianlong Emperor had banned all female performers in Beijing in 1772. The appearance of women on the stage began unofficially during the 1870s.
CONVERSATIONAL CHINESE SKILLS
In a 10 weeks program, you can learn more than just the basics of Chinese. With Nihao Hello! conversation-centric learning program, you will be able to buy something in chinese as well! Despite it is just a Beginners' program, you can objectively learn the basics and feel confident to go shopping by yourself, yet enjoy your stay in China.
Learn Chinese Mandarin | Lessons in Budapest, 1-to-1 or Online
Click here to see the lesson or enquire about the lesson for Beginners or Intermediate level here :)
Empress Dowager Cixi 慈禧太后 Cí xǐ Tài hòu
《百家讲坛》传奇太后系列-慈禧1
Empress Dowager Cixi 慈禧太后 Cí xǐ Tài hòu (29 November 1835 – 15 November 1908), of the Manchu Yehe Nara Clan, was a powerful and charismatic figure who became the de facto ruler of the Manchu Qing Dynasty in China for 47 years from 1861 to her death in 1908.
中国艺术 旗袍=Cheongsam qípáo
The cheongsam is a body-hugging (modified in Shanghai) one-piece Chinese dress for women; the male version is the changshan. It is known in Mandarin Chinese as the qípáo 旗袍, and is also known in English as a mandarin gown. The stylish and often tight-fitting cheongsam or qipao (chipao) that is most often associated with today was created in the 1920s in Shanghai and was made fashionable by socialites and upperclass women.
中国艺术 旗袍 1/3 Chinese Cheongsams
上海，一九四三 | Shanghai, Yi Jiu Si San | Shanghai, 1943
泛黄的春联还残留在墙上 依稀可见几个字岁岁平安 在我没回去过的老家米缸 爷爷用楷书写一个满 黄金葛爬满了雕花的门窗 夕阳斜斜映在斑驳的砖墙 铺着榉木板的屋内还弥漫 姥姥当年酿的豆瓣酱 我对着黑白照片开始想象 爸和妈当年的模样 说着一口吴侬软语的姑娘缓缓走过外滩 消失的旧时光 一九四三 在回忆的路上时间变的好慢 老街坊 小弄堂 是属于那年代白墙黑瓦的淡淡的忧伤 消失的旧时光 一九四三 回头看的片段 有一些风霜 老唱盘 旧皮箱 装满了明信片的铁盒里藏着一片玫瑰花瓣
florist=花店 huā diàn
她想开一家鲜花店。
tā xiǎng kāi yì jiā xiān huā diàn
She would like to open a florist shop.
Curious Chinese Csütörtökön ｜ 好奇汉语星期四: Homophonous 4 vs 8
The number "eight" in chinese 八 Pinyin: bā sounds similar to the word which means "prosper" or "wealth" (发 – short for "发财", Pinyin: fā). In regional dialects the words for "eight" and "fortune" are also similar.
There is also a visual resemblance between two digits, "88", and 囍, the "shuāng xĭ" ('double joy'), a popular decorative design composed of two stylized characters 喜 ("xĭ" meaning 'joy' or 'happiness').
The number 8 is viewed as such an auspicious number that even being assigned a number with several eights is considered very lucky.
- A telephone number with all digits being eights was sold for USD$270,723 in Chengdu, China.
- The opening ceremony of the Summer Olympics in Beijing began on 8/8/08 at 8 seconds and 8 minutes past 8 pm (local time).
So the sound matters, and makes the number ''four'' in chinese 四 pinyin sì is considered an unlucky number in Chinese, Korean, and Japanese cultures because it is nearly homophonous to the word "death" 死 pinyin sǐ. Due to that, many numbered product lines skip the "4": e.g. Nokia cell phones (there is no series beginning with a 4), Palm PDAs, Canon PowerShot G's series (after G3 goes G5), etc.
In East Asia, some buildings do not have a 4th floor. (Compare with the Western practice of some buildings not having a 13th floor because 13 is considered unlucky.) In Hong Kong, some high-rise residential buildings literally miss all floor numbers with "4", e.g. 4, 14, 24, 34 and all 40–49 floors, in addition to not having a 13th floor. As a result, a building whose highest floor is number 50 may actually have only 35 physical floors. Look at this photo, the 4 has been replaced with an A and the preceding floor number.
Number 14 is considered to be one of the unluckiest numbers. Although 14 is usually said in Mandarin as 十四 "shí sì," which sounds like 十死 "ten die", it can also be said as 一四 "yī sì" or 么四 "yāo sì", literally "one four". Thus, 14 can also be said as "yāo sì," literally "one four," but it also sounds like "want to die" (要死 pinyin yào sǐ).
In Teochew dialect, 4 is pronounced as "see" or "yes". It is seen to be a lucky number because Chinese people like things in pairs (four would equal two pairs). However, the superstitions regarding numbers from Chinese people have been adopted by the other Cantonese people.
---
Wedding gifts
What is Chinese pinyin?
Chinese Pinyin is the romanization of the Chinese “written sound”.
This means that it is the Mandarin pronunciation with Western spellings and includes a tone mark to signify the pitch of a word. Hence it helps learning Mandarin easier.
Pinyin provides a phonetic alphabet for Chinese and is the basis for learning from elementary level. It is a fundamental tool used for learning the spelling of Chinese characters throughout Chinese language study.
Besides being an efficient input method in Chinese computer software, most modern Chinese dictionaries uses Pinyin to denote pronunciation of characters.
After mastering Pinyin, you can easily read Chinese books with Pinyin marked, learn Chinese characters by looking in the dictionary, or input Chinese characters into your computer, it will take your Chinese study to a higher level.
25 out of 26 English alphabet letters are used in Pinyin. Letter ‘v’ is not used.
In just 6 minutes - Pinyin
Here's a very lively video to learn Pinyin in a light hearted manner :) Good for those who needs some 'refreshing' of Pinyin- in just 6 minutes! It greets the children, with bright colours and cartoons but we think it is great for adults learning the basic Pinyin as well! :) Try it, click on it to see it now! :)
Email: nihaojodee@gmail.com about Pinyin Courses and Mandarin Pronunciation Lessons
