Learning Chinese

[Mengxin]

I asked my wife what if I said

 

"xie xie ni ma ma" - Thankyou ma ma

 

or Thankyou (using the term as a question, should I say thankyou?)

 

I ducked a swing after that. She said it was like saying

"Thankyou for your mother."

 

definately a dangerous language, not to be used by our home veiwing audiance.

[warpedbored]

A Chinese man I am fairly good friends with here in Portland was helping me build my new shop in the back yard when I brought up the subject of a guy who has taught me a lot about carpentry. I was trying to refer to him as "teacher so and so" when my friend started laughing. Apparently with the wrong tone I was calling him rat.

[Mengxin]

I can't remember if this link has already been posted, but it gives the Chinese terms (putonghua, guangdonghua, formal, informal) for most family relatives.

 

http://www.kwanfamily.info/familytitles/familytitle.html

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Frank, My mother in Law doesn't know a lick of english, but one time I brought my chinese learning books with me, written just like in your link. Amy had to step out of the house for a couple hours and left me and ma ma at the house. I busted out my books and started going over the words with her. scored major brownie points with mama. she's always laughing at me. cause I make fun of baba sometimes when he makes that loud slurping noise at the table. hehe...

[david_dawei]

When we had our [unofficial] ceremony in china, I was explained the chinese words we needed to use to each other:

- "Xin lang" (~{PB@I~}) bridegroom (separated the terms mean 'new wolf';

- "Xin niang" (~{PBDo~}) bride (separated the terms mean 'new mother';

 

Recently I reversed the terms and said , I am Lang Xin... she laughed for a while then explained I just called myself 'wolf heart'...

[Randy W]

When we had our [unofficial] ceremony in china, I was explained the chinese words we needed to use to each other: 

- "Xin lang" (~{PB@I~}) bridegroom (separated the terms mean 'new wolf';

- "Xin niang" (~{PBDo~}) bride (separated the terms mean 'new mother';

 

Recently I reversed the terms and said , I am Lang Xin... she laughed for a while then explained I just called myself 'wolf heart'...

170902[/snapback]

 

 

Yeah - listen to her! Xin is heart! Xinhua is the latest news, but this is a matter of the heart!

Edited November 22, 2005 by Randy W (see edit history)

[david_dawei]

When we had our [unofficial] ceremony in china, I was explained the chinese words we needed to use to each other:?

- "Xin lang" (~{PB@I~}) bridegroom (separated the terms mean 'new wolf';

- "Xin niang" (~{PBDo~}) bride (separated the terms mean 'new mother';

 

Recently I reversed the terms and said , I am Lang Xin... she laughed for a while then explained I just called myself 'wolf heart'...

170902[/snapback]

 

 

Yeah - listen to her! Xin is heart! Xinhua is the latest news, but this is a matter of the heart!

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And I can't even blame getting the tones wrong either...

[frank1538]

Jingwen's English progress is slow, but she's beginning to catch on: Whose = who de. We both had a good laugh.

[david_dawei]

Zixuan is complaining of her slow progression... but the laughs are certainly not slowing down.

 

Last night, while we are both in bed she says, "Why you live so far away?" (she wanted me to 'move' closer to her)

[Darlene2005]

My SO can say, laopo, wo ai ni ! He can say ni hao also.

[Darlene2005]

My SO can say, laopo, wo ai ni ! He can say ni hao also.

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Are you talking about me Darlene? Thought my wife's name was "Mary". I can say a few other words in Chinese but only my Lao po understands. As Frank says "Laogongese". Actually read more than I can effectively speak- guess I'm tone deaf. Seems weird as I can speak a moderate amount of Thai and be UNDERSTOOD!

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No, My SO's name is Peter.

Haha~~

[mercator]

We've adapted our own laopo/laogong dialect as well. I murder tones on a daily basis. It's even tougher since my wife's first language is Keija/Hakka, then Mandarin, and then Cantonese, before picking up English for her fourth. I think that her Mandarin is pretty heavily accented (I watch CCTV4 sometimes and their Mandarin is just like my audio tapes - hers is not at all), and that combined with my tonewrecks can make for alot of laughter. ;P

 

I'm slowing weaning conversations from ourspeak though so she gets used to gramatically correct English, or at least as fer as it gits round these 'ere parts.

[Mick]

Just visited the Chinese food store down in Huntsville and stocked up on Lao Gan Ma. Last night I used a generous helping of it to flavor some thinly sliced chicken, snow peas, carrots and celery that I whipped up in the wok. Yum Yum Yum!!!!

 

Lao Gan Ma also makes a brand of pickled dofu that is great. Li really likes pickled dofu, as does little Salina. That isn't surprising though. When Li was pregnant, I often found her in the kitchen in the middle of the night eating pickled dofu and leek dumplings. Actually, when she was pregnant, I often found her in the kitchen eating all sorts of things.

 

Anyway, I am feasting on Lao Gan Ma these days.

[Dan R]

I bought Behind The Wheel Chinese.

 

After 1 1/2 hours driving and listening my wife says she can understand my pronounciation! It builds your vocabulary and teaches making sentences yourself. What is missing is the visual and writing part of the learning process. For me this makes it take longer to remember the vocabulary.

 

I will now make a list of the words on the CD and practice. I'll even add to my list the ºº×Ö¡£

 

The set has 8 cds for eight one hour lessons. I have now listened to disc 1 three times and it has made an improvement in both speaking and listening. Of course anything would have been an improvement

[david_dawei]

I bought Behind The Wheel Chinese.

 

After 1 1/2 hours driving and listening my wife says she can understand my pronounciation! It builds your vocabulary and teaches making sentences yourself. What is missing is the visual and writing part of the learning process. For me this makes it take longer to remember the vocabulary.

 

I will now make a list of the words on the CD and practice. I'll even add to my list the ~{::WV!#~}

 

The set has 8 cds for eight one hour lessons. I have now listened to disc 1 three times and it has made an improvement in both speaking and listening. Of course anything would have been an improvement 

180404[/snapback]

and of course after listening to anything three times, something should sink in !! I felt the same way about most of the tapes or CDs I have... once is definitely never enough...

[Dennis143]

Lao Gan Ma also makes a brand of pickled dofu that is great. Li really likes pickled dofu, as does little Salina. That isn't surprising though. When Li was pregnant, I often found her in the kitchen in the middle of the night eating pickled dofu and leek dumplings. Actually, when she was pregnant, I often found her in the kitchen eating all sorts of things.

 

Anyway, I am feasting on Lao Gan Ma these days.

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Yes, I know this is

 

Mick, what is the deal with dill pickles??? We'll buy a jar and then she'll eat the whole thing in a day. The last jar, I asked her to save me one pickle for when I make myself a burger, but that lonely pickle was just too irresistiable for my lao po and she could not help herself. And, she isn't even pregnant. Honestly, it's like a drug. She just can't stop eating those pickles, once she starts.