Unit 2: 你叫什么名字? (Nǐ jiào shén me míng zi?)

UNIT 2 VOCABULARY 

English	Pīnyīn	Characters
call, is called	jiào	叫
what	shén me	什么
name	míng zi	名字
What is your name?	nǐ jiào shén me míng zi?	你叫什么名字?
I am called	wǒ jiào	我叫
Chinese	zhōng wén	中文
he, him	tā	他
she, her	tā	她
[a family name]	wáng	王
[a given name]	xiǎo wén	小文
[a family name]	lǐ	李
[a given name]	dà zhōng	大中
[a family name]	bái	白
[a given name]	dà wèi	大卫
[a given name]	mǎ lì	玛丽

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lswh-emlgLg

This is a link to a video in which a native speaker and a speaker who has learned Chinese as a second language explain different ways of asking someone for their name. They both speak very slowly, and you can hear the correct tones easily. Their youtube channel has many other videos that are only about a minute and a half long but are very helpful!

UNIT 2 SENTENCES

• What is your name?   à   你叫什么名字?

• What is his name?      à   他叫什么名字?

• What is her name?      à   她叫什么名字?

• What is their name?    à   他们叫什么名字?

• His name is . . .    à   他叫 . . .

• Her name is . . .    à   她叫 . . .

• Their name is . . . à   他们叫 . . .

UNIT 2 GRAMMAR (just a little bit!)

When referring to more than one person, unless there are girls only, the male tā character (他) should be used before men (们) to indicate a group of people. 

UNIT 2 CULTURE

This week we learned about food in China. The Chinese, especially those in the older generations, value food as a major element of their culture. However, with the introduction of the fast food industry in China, some people are worried that the younger generation will not carry on this tradition. Many people in urban China are able to eat whatever their heart desires, while those in rural areas are not so fortunate. Farmers are continuously pushed off of their land for the development of new buildings, so they are often confined to a diet that consists mainly of noodles because they hardly have any crops to harvest. Their situation is worsened by long periods without rain, during which the sun kills all of the crops. China as a country has to feed 20 percent of the world's population with only 7 percent of the world's arable land! 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4OZDSIplFE

Above is the link to an awesome video that a man visiting China made of all the different street food he ate! It even shows the vendors preparing the food, which is a fascinating process to watch. From a quick look at his channel, it is easy to see that he is very enthusiastic about food. He has many more videos about yummy things from all over China!

Unit 1: 你好! (Nǐ hǎo!)

                                              

UNIT 1 VOCABULARY

English	Pīnyīn	Character
[used after a pronoun or noun to indicate plural]	men	们
[particle, signifies a question]	ma	吗
you	nǐ	你
good, well, fine	hǎo	好
hello	nǐ hǎo	你好
hello, how are you?	nǐ hǎo ma?	你好吗？
good-bye	zài jiàn	再见
classmate	tóng xué	同学
classmates	tóng xué men	同学们
teacher	lǎo shī	老师
hello teacher	lǎo shī hǎo	老师 好
I, me	wǒ	我
very	hěn	很
thank you	xiè xie	谢谢
you all (y'all)	nǐ men	你们
how are you all?	nǐ men hǎo ma?	你们好吗？
we	wǒ men	我们
we are very good	wǒ men hěn hǎo	我们很好
I am very good	wǒ hěn hǎo	我很好

http://www.yellowbridge.com/chinese/chinese-dictionary.php

This is a link to a Chinese-English dictionary website. It can translate and pronounce words as well as demonstrate the stroke order of any character through its animation feature. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1LWu81kWqE

This is a link to a youtube video in which a native mandarin speaker explains the basic greetings from this unit's vocabulary list. She gives you a chance to repeat her and make sure that your pronunciation is correct. It is very helpful!

UNIT 1 CULTURE

During the past two weeks, we have learned a lot about Chinese culture. Our first culture lesson was on the economic rise in China, which can be traced back to the mass migration of workers from rural areas into the cities during the 1980's. Our second culture lesson focused on the rigorous Chinese education system and the pressure young students are under to succeed and provide for their families, despite their young age. 

CHINA'S ECONOMY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TT8uHVZWBY

This link leads to a very explanatory video of China's economic rise from the very beginning with rural inhabitants. With hand-drawn pictures providing images for the story, it is informative and entertaining.

CHINA'S EDUCATION SYSTEM

PART I: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulahm1s7ZVg

PART II: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TE0OAyQ6fXQ

PART III: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEPhOsdNHt4

These links are a short documentary created by a man who interviewed Chinese students. In these videos, Chinese students describe their classes and what school is like in China. This is an amazing and interesting resource to compare the differences between America's education system and China's, reported directly from the students themselves.