Welcome to the ChinesePod Integrated Chinese Blog!
We are still in the process of updating the original syllabus, and will soon finish Level 1, Part 1. Lessons will be back-dated to match the original schedule in order to preserve the intended correlation with the syllabi of academic institutions. This makes more sense as an archive.
This post is a temporary notice and will also be removed when the series is finished through Lesson 11.
-John Pasden
I’ll keep this short and simple. Here is the Fix for lessons 6-8, in both long and short versions:
Here is the Fix for lessons 1-8 (keep reviewing that old stuff!), in both long and short versions:
And, just in case you want to review the old review Fixes, you can follow the links below:
Enjoy, and let us know how you feel about these materials.
-John Pasden
Time to review the vocabulary from Lesson 8 of Integrated Chinese. We bring you ChinesePod’s “the Fix” audio review!
Here’s the IC Lesson 8 Fix, versions long and short:
Enjoy!
-John Pasden
Lesson 8 of Integrated Chinese in finally out, and it focuses on “School Life.”
Both sections of this lesson are “letters,” so we’ll focus on something a little less conversational this time: the verbs 希望 (xīwàng) and 祝 (zhù). To do this, we’ll take a queue from Chinese students of English.
When speaking with Chinese people in English, I frequently hear statements like, “I wish you will have a good time,” and “I hope I can win the lottery.” These sentences sound odd to speakers of English because our expectations are tied in to the verb form we use. Generally, we hope for the possible and wish for the (nearly) impossible. In everyday spoken Chinese, though, they tend to just use 希望 (xīwàng). That’s what makes it annoying for Chinese speakers to have to figure out which verb to use in English under which circumstances.
Ah, but surely the Chinese have a word for “wish!” Well, yes, they do. They actually have a special word for “wish” as in “wish you happiness” or “wish you a merry Christmas.” That verb is 祝 (zhù). Frequently this type of well-wishing starts off with “祝你…” (zhù nǐ…), meaning “wish you….” You will also Chinese people translating this directly into English as an awkward subject-less sentence , as in “wish you a happy weekend.”
Anyway, we hope you are keeping up in your studies, and we wish you all the best!
And for the rest of this lesson’s vocabulary, here is your new Lesson 8 vocabulary list PDF:
As always, we like comments.
-John Pasden
Once again, it is time to review the vocabulary from Lesson 7 of Integrated Chinese. We bring you ChinesePod’s “the Fix” audio review!
I give you the IC Lesson 7 Fix, both long and short versions:
Enjoy!
-John Pasden
Lesson 7 of Integrated Chinese uses lots of juicy vocabulary for studying Chinese. Wow, you’re learning Chinese to talk about learning Chinese. How meta!
I’d like to start by mentioning a simple phrase that seems quite simple, but in practice can actually turn out to be very difficult. I speak, of course, of the words for “very difficult,” which are 很难 (hěn nán). English-speaking students of Chinese frequently have a problem with this 3-2 tone combination. Even though they know they want to say “hěn nán,” students often find themselves saying “*hén nàn” or “*hén nǎn.” Communication is always the most important thing, but if you’re practicing on your own, pay attention to your pronunciation and try not to fall into this trap! (For more help on this kind of “tone pair,” check out my Tone Pair Drills on Sinosplice.) The ChinesePod Dictionary, as always, has lots more 难 (nán) sentences, some even related to today’s very topic.
Next I’d like to take on the the classic Chinese reply to a compliment: “哪里，哪里” (see your IC textbook, page 169). Literally, it means, “where, where?” as if you can’t “find” or see the positive traits in yourself that are being pointed out to you. It’s a form of modesty. What I’d like to tell you is that although this response is very common and Chinese people might even expect you to use it, Chinese people themselves don’t actually use it among themselves very much! Shocking, but true. Another more oft-used option is 过奖了 (guòjiǎng le), which means “you have overpraised me.” ChinesePod covered this expression in a lesson called Elementary - Dealing with Praise. Check out the dictionary entries for 过奖 (guòjiǎng) too.
Finally, when it comes to homework, Chinese culture has got it covered. Just ask any Chinese kid how much time they spend doing homework. So much homework gets done in China that one word for it is not enough. So in addition to the word 功课 (gōngkè) that you learned in this lesson, there’s also the word 作业 (zuòyè) which gets used at least as much (and according Baidu search, it gets used even more, at least online). Both words can actually be used not only to mean “homework,” but also for in-class assignments. Context usually makes it quite clear which is being referred to.
Lastly, I give you another PDF to aid you in studying about studying.
We welcome your questions and comments.
-John Pasden
Time to review the vocabulary from Lesson 6 of Integrated Chinese. We bring you ChinesePod’s “the Fix” audio review!
Here’s the IC Lesson 6 Fix, versions long and short:
Enjoy!
-John Pasden
Integrated Chinese on Amazon:
IC Level 1, Lessons 6-8: the Fix (short)
IC Level 1, Lesson 8 Vocabulary