Dirty Chinese

Hover over any underlined Chinese character to see the pinyin tooltip(note: if you are reading this in an RSS reader, you probably won't be able to see the pinyin tooltips, in which case you should click on the link to the original post.)

(WARNING: Explicit language below. Do not read on or click the link if you are easily offended)

John from ChinesePod just posted a link to a site entitled "Chinese sex words, obscene language, curses and slang"

This stuff is definitely beyond any textbook I've ever seen. One has to wonder how the author learned all this language!!

There's some nice imagery in some of the words:

肉棒 ròubàng = meat stick
肉洞 ròudòng = meat dungeon
蜜穴 mìxué = honey hole
玉门 yùmen = jade door
乳球 rŭqiú = “milk balls”

I'm sure (and I hope) that most of these words will be unfamiliar to learners of Chinese. Don't know if you'll get a chance to use any of them, but it could make a fun conversation between close friends.


I'm not really learning much new Chinese these days, so this blog is pretty much on the back-burner now, but I will continue to post links to interesting Chinese material as and when I come across it.

Tags: Chinese, Sex words, Mandarin, slang

ChinesePod - Live Music

Hover over any underlined Chinese character to see the pinyin tooltip(note: if you are reading this in an RSS reader, you probably won't be able to see the pinyin tooltips, in which case you should click on the link to the original post.)

Well, it's been a while. I've had a bit of a break from learning Chinese, but I'm trying to get back into it, and one indispensible resource for me is the ever-popular ChinesePod.com, providing daily podcasts to keep your listening and speaking up to scratch.

Here's a great lesson from ChinesePod.com about finding live music (现场演出). This was one thing that eluded me for the first year and a half in China. I couldn't find any kind of decent live music in Qinhuangdao, and only a little in Dalian. It wasn't until I got to Shanghai that I found a decent music scene, and went to see a few bands, including Crystal Butterfly, who I've posted about before, and the excellent Cold Fairyland. Anyway, here's the podcast:

Learn Chinesepod on Your Terms at ChinesePod.com

Tags: Chinesepod, music, Chinese

ChinesePod.com

As you can see, I'm now shamelessly endorsing ChinesePod.com
I know I've written about it before, but I feel it's definitely worth another mention as it has improved considerably over the last few weeks and months. When I first started downloading the mp3s, they had only 4 levels - 菜鸟 (newbie), 初级 (beginner), 中级 (intermediate) and 高级 (advanced). I found the intermediate level much too easy, but with the advanced level I was still slightly out of my depth.

But due to the website allowing you to leave comments about each podcast, they have this kind of constant review system in place. And they actually listen to the customers. A lot of people said that the intermediate level was too easy and contained too much English, so they upped the level and now it's mostly spoken in Chinese. And several people complained that the gap between intermediate and advanced level was too big, so they have recently introduced a new Upper Intermediate level, which I have found to be perfectly suited to my level.

So I strongly urge anyone who wants to improve their Chinese speaking and listening skills to check out ChinesePod.com

As long as we continue to give our feedback, the podcasts can only get better!

P.S. Sorry I haven't posted for a while, I've been switching servers and didn't want to lose any posts in the transition. I'll be back later today with a fresh lesson.

Tags: chinese, mandarin, CSL, chinesepod, podcast

Learn Chinese with Skype

Sorry, 3 weeks without a post, there's no excuse (although I do have plenty).

My friend Simon came to visit from Nanjing this week and told me about his new website - www.chinesetutor.net - which offers personal Chinese tutoring by means of internet phone programs such as Skype and MSN. You buy the lessons on the website through PayPal, then arrange a time for your lesson with one of the tutors. Then simply log on at the scheduled time and enjoy your personal Chinese lesson!

I think it's a great idea, especially for students outside of China, who might find it difficult to converse with native Mandarin speakers. They also offer a wide range of Chinese textbooks, electronic dictionaries and other accessories. Check it out.

Oh, for some reason the site is blocked in China, you may need to use a proxy. Try anonymouse.

Tags: skype | chinese | mandarin

Chinesepod.com

I recently discovered this awesome website for learning mandarin by listening to dialogues: Chinesepod.com
They publish a daily podcast ranging from Newbie to Advanced levels. You can download the mp3s for free, but you have to subscribe if you want access to the transcriptions and countless other useful tools. I can't afford it at the moment, but the mp3s are coming in very handy by themselves. Maybe I'll upgrade later.

Tags: Chinese, Mandarin, Chinesepod, language

Blog for beginners

For those of you who need a refresher on the basics, or know someone who is just starting to learn Mandarin, a friend of mine has started this useful blog - Chinese Made Simple - a kind of online phrasebook, regularly updated with useful everday words. Check it out. (The blog is hosted on blogspot, so if you're in China, you'll need to use a proxy - here's a handy link - Chinese Made Simple (proxied)

News in Chinese

(note: if you are reading this in an RSS reader, you probably won't be able to see the pinyin tooltips, in which case you should click on the link to the original post.)

Here's a good website for learning Chinese while reading the news! Seems hard, but every word and phrase has a pinyin tooltip (hover your pointer over the word to see the pinyin and English)
www.newsinchinese.com

Tags: chinese, mandarin, study language, news

Pinyin Tooltips | Sinosplice: Life in China

Pinyin Tooltips | Archive | Sinosplice: Life in China

Thanks to John at Sinosplice for the handy hint about Pinyin tooltips. I've altered the previous post as an example, now when you see some underlined characters, you can hover over them to see the pinyin! With tone marks and everything! Thanks John. I'll be using these tooltips from now on instead of writing out the pinyin next to the characters.