Learn it just the way it is-------To those who just get started learning Mandarin

The May holiday finished without giving a minute for people to feel it. Time can never be enough when you are having fun. This rule sometimes is even applied to assessing whether the students actually enjoy their class or not. If both the teacher and the students are so engaged in the class to forget the time, to some extent this class is a success.
Used to be a beginner of English, I was just like most of my students struggling in memorizing hundreds of words and expressions and trying hard to find each possible way to master the grammatical rules. What was harder for me, for every Chinese student who studies English, is to get proficient in tense uses. I always find my beginner students trying to get the connection between English and Chinese sentence formations. Therefore, they come up with questions like why there are no tenses in Chinese, why there is no equivalent of “to” after each verb, why there can be two verbs appearing together in one sentence without any other word in between…… It is actually understandable as well as unavoidable when people are confronted with a brand-new language as their mother-tongues have long been deep-rooted in mind. But it is also a habit that a teacher would not encourage the student to form. For beginners of Mandarin, English is a tool used by the teacher to help students understand grammars and abstract words which can not be presented by actual images. As the learning is proceeding, English, as an intermediary, will be used less and less.
If each language is a friend whom we have interest in and intention to know better, we must have the awareness that each friend is unique, that it is not sensible to compare her with another friend, and that even if the friend could be very different or even weird, it is just the way she is. All we need to do is to show our patience and give it some time to get familiar and gradually used to her personalities, living style and the way she gets on with other people so that we could maintain the friendship in harmony. Therefore, when it comes to Mandarin, we should be aware that unlike English, French or some other languages, Mandarin never changes the form of its verbs and adjectives when other functional words are employed to express a completed action, an action which is taking place at the moment, or a past experience. In the beginning period, confusions and the sense of frustration are unavoidable, yet it is safe to say that it is only a matter of time, or a process every beginner will go through. The recipe for handling the process well is perseverance and the tolerance to differences and to learn it just the way it is.

How Do Chinese People Celebrate Birthdays?

As the saying goes: “When in Rome, do as the Romans do.”, when you are invited to a Chinese friend’s birthday party, how to select an appropriate gift? Is there any taboos? How do Chinese people celebrate birthdays?

In China, when a child is one month old, it is a usual tradition for the family to hold some kind of celebration for him or her, such as inviting close friends and relatives to dinner. These friends and relatives may give the child some small gifts to bring good luck such as a longevity lock (chang2ming4suo3, see the picture on the right), longevity necklace and bracelets etc. The child’s family will prepare some red-coloured eggs and distribute them to the guests.

For birthdays after this, the traditional foods are longevity noodles (chang2shou4mian4) and peach-coloured birthday cake. 12-year-old birthday and 18-year-old birthday are important too and usually celebrations will be held. Toys, books, pens and anything that helps or entertains the birthday girl or boy can be a good gift.

For birthdays of elderly people once they reach typically every 5 or 10 years, the celebration may be more ceremonious. Gifts given by family and friends may include craftwork, or perhaps a painting. On the gift are usually images of cypress trees, red crowned cranes, characters symbolizing longevity(shou4, see the picture on the left), and the god of longevity etc, or there may be calligraphy offering good wishes. Health tonics or wine may also be given. However, a clock (zhong1) can never be a gift, for another homophonic word “song4zhong1” means “to arrange for the burial of a deceased parent of elder relative”.

Close to the Ambassadors of 2008 Games

It is from recent classes that I found how intrigued some students are by the creation of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Mascots, which makes it irresistible for me to find more about those five little creatures and share with people who are interested to know.

As you may see from the picture above, these five playful childlike beings share the same title “Fuwa” which serve as the official mascots of Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, carrying a message of friendship and peace, as well as good wishes from China to children all over the world. Fuwa embody the natural characteristics of four of China’s most popular animals --- the Fish, the Panda, the Tibetan Antelope and the Swallow--- and the Olympic flame. Each of Fuwa has a rhyming two-syllable name which is a traditional way of expressing affection for children in China and usually used as the nickname. Beibei is the Fish, Jingjing is the Panda (It is such an honor that I share the same nickname), Huanhuan the Olympic Flame, Yingying the Tibetan Antelope and Nini the Swallow. When you put their names together “Bei Jing Huan Ying Ni”, by the literal meaning “Beijing welcomes you”, they say “Welcome to Beijing”. Besides, from their heads ornaments, you can find the five elements of nature: the sea, forest, fire, earth and sky, representing the profound influence of traditional Chinese folk art and ornamentation.

As a whole, each of Fuwa shows unique personalities. Beibei the fish is known to be gentle and pure. Strong in water sports, as you may see the ornamental lines of the water-wave on her head piece, she represents the blue Olympic ring. Jingjing is charmingly naïve and optimistic. He is an athlete noted for strength who reflects the black Olympic ring. Huanhuan, as the big brother in the circle, symbolizes the passion of sport. He is outgoing and enthusiastic, good at all ball games and represents the red Olympic ring. As a symbol of the vastness of China’s landscape, Yingying is a quick-witted and agile boy who represents the yellow Olympic ring. Nini’s figure is drawn from the Chinese tradition of kite designs. She is strong in gymnastics and represents the green Olympic ring.

After those words, I am sure that you cannot help giving an exclamation on how smart the idea was. We wait to see if these fabulous ambassadors could live up to the high expectation of every Chinese to perfectly fulfill their missions by 2008.

Do you know 马马虎虎ma ma hu hu?

Once upon a time, there was a careless painter. One day, while he was painting a horse, he got an invitation to paint a tiger for a local rich man. He had finished the head of horse and then he went on with the same picture the body of tiger.

When he came back, the elder son asked him what it was. He replied, it was a tiger. When the younger one asked him, he told him it was a horse.

One day, the elder son saw a horse in the street. "Oh, there is a dangerous tiger!" He went to the animal,fought with it and beat it to death. Another day, the younger son saw a tiger in the forest. "What a pretty horse!" He told himself. He tried to ride the animal,however, he was eaten soon.
When he saw the left of his son and the dead horse, the painter couldn't help crying. He lost one of his son and had to pay a lot for the dead horse.

From then on, 马虎mahu has been used to describe a careless or non-serious person. And later, 马马虎虎 got the meaning of so-so because the picture the painter drew was just a so-so one.

How are you? and 你好吗 (ni hao ma)?

"GREETING" is the first topic of every language.

These days i have heard lots of Chinese learners say "你好吗(ni hao ma)?" when they meet someone. "你好吗(ni hao ma)?" is translated directly from "How are you?" but absolutely different function in Chinese.If you have lived in China even ten years, you will never heard a native speaker say "你好吗(ni hao ma)?"

We do say 你好(ni hao), which is a pretty damn cool expression, it can be used at so many occasions, such as:

1. Greeting. In the morning, you meet your colleagea at the lobby, you can say "你好"

2. Ask for help. You got lost in Shanghai, you want to ask someone for direction, just use "你好", whatever who she/he is, girl, boy, man, woman, old, yong.

3. Ask for serveice. You finish your dinner at Peace Hotel, you want to ask for the bill, just say"你好", the waiter will come to you.

Do you have such a magic expression in your country? Tell us!

The Trinity of Mandarin learning ------ The student, the teacher and New Concept Mandarin

Time flies! Another brand-new year knocked our door open to say Goodbye to the year of 2006. If life is a piece of blank paper on which life experiences draw artistic pictures, one year’s time in New Concept Mandarin added another stroke to my life paper. Thanks to the students, the stroke is smooth, pleasing and meaningful.
New Concept Mandarin, as a bridge between students and teachers, has always been a great platform for students from different nations, who accordingly become each excellent “performer” on the stage. With the help of each teacher or “director”, the “performers” have been making progress and interpreting the art of language in different ways. It is also due to the trust and care that “performers” give to the platform, New Concept Mandarin has come to another prosperous era.
As one of the “directors”, it is so hard for me to hide the joy of gratification, which undoubtedly comes from students’ efforts and progress. Take three of my students for example. Brian Bone, Giuliano Raponi and Jenny Seaman have finished their Survival I and II courses in the last four months and just started the third level learning not long before. Just after less than half a year’s learning, Giuliano is able to have small talks with natives around, like shop keepers, his Aiyi, who were the people he was struggling to deal with when he just got here. Jenny is a successful company owner. Before she started her Mandarin learning, every time she was having a meeting with her Chinese employees or clients, she was like, just as she said, someone who seemed to have nothing to do with the business. Now she gets more confident on these occasions as she starts to pick up the words and even the sentences from what people say. Brian also gets more of the feeling that he has become one part of the surroundings where he felt pretty much isolated when he just came to the city, for he has started the communication with local people in their language.
Everyday, students come to the office to spend two hours with the teacher, sharing their learning experiences, expressing profound interests in local cultural life and exchanging what they have heard and witnessed. At suchlike times, I usually prefer to be a listener, for it is such an enjoyment to hear the changes taking place in their lives in China, for which they have made so many efforts and tried so hard. And their efforts in learning the language finally pay off. Meanwhile New Concept Mandarin and its staff also get rewarded at such moment when they have helped make those wonderful changes. It is all worth it!

From Dongguan on this special day

I have not wrote anything for a long time, while started from my primary school which always had some Chinese-composing competition between differents schools or cities in my home province, Hunan. and I won several times by some articles were stated by judges with "clear idea, good structure , fluent expressions", which enough to mark a good composition to a child especially with a moral main idea(moral is an important part in Chinese culture ) which is demostrated through a nice story that just came out of my brain and it's not ture.
Time goes by, now i 'm writing again in a different language and with a mouse. By standing at the tail of 2006, and i am very glad that we can have this new space for us to share the things in the year passed and in future. our students in Dongguan , they are a special group that i couldnot help to tell that they are lovely. they will use "mei3lv2美驴" ( "pretty doncky" )intead of "mei3nv3 美女",which is "pretty woman" and they darely to say "pretty doncky"very loudly outside of my classroom. and especially every single time they will kiss or be kissed when they ask questions by"qin1wen3亲吻(kiss)" "Qinwen, ni de pijiu duoshao qian? Qinwen(kiss again), qu Ole zenme zou?"Actually which is "qing3wen4请问（excuse me）". these little funny things that happened in my classes like a dessert after a main dish which decorated the studying days. i think i need to declare that the above things were told not be rude to anybody who made a similar joke , just for something that we share. Actually we are in a great harmony . I was lucky enough that my clients often like to treat their instructor some food or drinks, spending sometime together, also with their family. To teach mandarin in NCM is a good experience and also enjoyful.
It seems has no end for this article, let me conclude it with a wish cause today is a special day.I wish the ones who is working and studying in NCM , good luck accompanies with you all through 2007 and goes to 2008 for Olympics. ( then to be continued.)