Elaine

1.今天我们要讨论（一下）….

Today, we are going to discuss…

2. 既然大家都到齐了，我们开始吧。

Since everyone is here, shall we get started ?

3.我想说一下。

I want to make a point.

4.我们接着讨论第二个问题。

Let’s turn to the second issue.

5.恐怕你有点离题了。

I am afraid you are getting side track.

6.我们言归正传吧。

Shall we get back to the main point ?

7.轮到谁发言了 ？

Whose turn is it to take the floor?

8.对不起，打断一下。

I’m sorry to cut you off.

(To learn more Business Chinese, please log on to http://www.chineseathome.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=348&Itemid=200&lang=en)

Learning these hot words with me and becoming a native speaker from now on!

1．刺儿头（cìr  tóu）

It means troublesome or difficult person

Eg:他是单位有名的刺儿头，没有人愿意与他打交道。

Eg:He is known to be a troublesome person in his unit.Nobody likes to deal with him.

2.  打工仔 ( dǎ gōng zǎi )

This word is quite popular in China ,it means “Young man,usually from the countryside,working in the city”.

Eg:他原来只是一名打工仔，如今成了一家公司的老板。

He used to be a young emplyee.Today,he is the boss of a company.

3.  大片儿 ( dà piànr )

Big-budget films that were great box-office successes

Eg:年底阿凡达将在全国电影院放映。

Avator will be shown in cinemas across the country at the end of the year.

4．粉领（fěn  lǐng）

That is a pink-collared worker,working in a position traditionally considered to be women’s work.

Eg:大学毕业后，几经周折，她最终成了一名粉领。

After graduation from college,She underwent several setbacks and finally decided to be a pink-collared worker.

5.倒胃口（dǎo wèi kǒu）

Spoil one’s appetite,kill one’s interest

Eg:吃饭的时候你说这么恶心的话题，真让人倒胃口。

The disgusting topics you talked about while eating really spoiled my appetite.

6.审美疲劳（shěn měi pí láo）

Aesthetic fatigue

Eg：“审美疲劳”是婚姻的杀手。

Aesthetic tiredness has become a killer of marriages.

(to be continued…)

Many students are struggling to pronounce Pinyin well. “j, q, x and zh, ch, sh” are the most difficult ones because there are no such initials in their language. In the following weeks I will talk about the manner of articulation and focus on the position of the tongue

Articulation “j”

Press the front part of the tongue gently against the hard palate (the alveolar ridge) to form a complete blockage, and then release the tongue slightly to create a narrow passage, through which the air squeeze out with an affricate sound. The vocal cords do not vibrate. According to the orthography, when ü follows y, j, q, or x, it is written as u.

Pactice these combination

ji li,   jia ju,   jie jie,   jiang he,   jing zi

For most of the students who is learning Chinese ,as I know, probably have problem in pronouncing the single finals and initials which are totally different from the ones in their native language.

Here is the articulation which, I think ,may be helpful for your learning .

ü ：the mouth is slightly open and keeps the lips rounded ,the tongue stretching forward with its front part raised. According to the orthography,when ü follows y , j ,q or x, it is written as u ,and if there is not an initial before ü, y should be added before it ,and the two dots above ü should be omitted ,like yu.

“AVATAR takes us to a spectacular new world beyond our imagination, where a reluctant hero embarks on a journey of redemption and discovery…”

As a big fan of it, I think what the new movie gives us is not only an entertainment of a conventional science film telling a story about the disaster that we used to seeing, but also a revolutionary innovation which costs over 5 hundred million and takes 5 years to make (although the story itself, in a sense, is somehow familiar to us).

Also, the most important thing is that, I guess, it provides us the opportunity here to learn about some new words in the movie. Is there any other good idea than this? Nope, let’s set off on this fantastic journey!

1. 动作电影 action movie
2. 电影院cinema
3. 场景scene
4. 喜剧片comedy
5. 悲剧片tragedy
6. 恐怖片dracula movie
7. 武侠片swordsmen film
8. 伦理片ethical film
9. 爱情片affectional film
10. 系列片serial
11. 预告片trailer
12. 卡通片,动画片cartoon (film)
13. 短片short(film)
14. 彩色片colour film
15. 默片silent film
16. 无声电影silent cinema, silent film
17. 有声电影talkie

During the past few weeks, I’ve been working with some American students on learning Chinese, especially on economics and education. They are all with best education background and have great interest in learning Chinese. In fact, some of them have been so good in oral Chinese which really surprises me. They are all chosen from hundreds of the candidates by an NGO which has been working on providing exceptional and enthusiastic English teachers to schools located in remote and poor regions in China.

And they are now enjoying learning Chinese and teaching English at the same time. Sometimes, we talk from the cultural difference to the colourful life in Yunnan where they are living. Life is tough there, I think, but without complaint and regret, they constantly show me their passion and patient to the education at those rural schools. Thanks to their persistent effort, many students there gradually have the interests in learning English and what’s more, I believe, the coming of the good and dynamic teachers have opened a door of the future life for the children. I’ve been touched and deeply moved by their devotion to education and the spirit of pursuit of the dream.

Funny story in my Chinese teaching experience

Do you know the difference between “刑法” and “体罚”? Are you confused in using these two words sometimes?

Teaching Chinese is an interesting thing and Teaching Chinese as the second language is such a wonderful job that I could do in my whole life. There is so much fun in my class everyday which I’d like to share with you in this blog.

Today, when I pick up my pencil and be ready to write something down about my teaching experience, an interesting story came into my mind immediately.

One day, I found a horrible sentence in one of my students’ homework. He wrote as每个星期碰到一个受了刑罚的学生。I was totally scared at first glance.

We know “刑法” (xíng fǎ) actually means penalty which could not happened in the class. Suddenly I realized that it may refer to another word “体罚” (tǐfá). God! What a huge difference in meaning but little word structure difference between the two words in Chinese. We are supposed to speak the sentence like this: “我每个星期都会碰到一个受到体罚的学生”. Although the two words are both taken physically, “刑罚” is basically a legal or official punishment or the act that takes the punishment to the criminal . Such interesting story happens to me almost everyday and I was made to laugh from the deepest heart. That is the things which makes me happy and “painful” everyday and also what enriches my life at the same time. You do think so, do you?