Tips and Strategies about the Chinese Language and Culture
I was at a wedding recently, and there were little cards at the center of each table that showed who was supposed to sit there. The Chinese friend I was sitting with found his name and then pointed to the Continue reading Stump the Chinese: Kànglì 伉俪
The other day in my English Corner (yīngyǔ jiǎo 英语角, basically a club for speaking English), we were talking about publicity stunts and someone used a little electronic dictionary to translate “stunt” as: xuétóu 噱头 If you click on the Continue reading Stump the Chinese: Stunt
Welcome to part 3 in a series about difficult Chinese words to translate into English. Today’s contestant: wúnài 无奈 As you can see from the two dictionary links, wúnài 无奈 is sometimes translated as “helpless” or “without choice.” That fits Continue reading Stump the Laowai: wúnài 无奈
Another episode in a series about tough words to translate into English (and dictionary deficiencies). Judging from the great success of the previous episode (just LOOK at the fruits of our labor!), I’m confident this student will not have suffered Continue reading Stump the Laowai: shànghuǒ 上火
Partially inspired by the hoopla about zhēteng 折腾, this is first in a new series (of at least one post) about words that are difficult to translate into English. Today’s contestant: shuǎlài 耍赖 (Click icons to look it up in Continue reading Stump the Laowai: shuǎlài 耍赖
This is part xià 下 of a two-part series about common things that are uncommonly difficult for the Chinese in their own language. In part one, we talked about talking. Now on to writing. The following is inspired by (read: Continue reading Stump the Chinese: Hard Hanzi
Xīnnián hǎo 新年好 everyone. Happy year of the Niu (I guess “Ox” is the best-sounding translation). As you’re making your bàinián 拜年 tour, and you find yourself face to face with countless relatives of your Chinese friends, perhaps you’ve gotten Continue reading Stump the Chinese: Velcro and Boombox