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Mandarin-English Dialogue #3 – Food Poisoning
Briefing Mr Smith is a British man working at a branch of a multinational corporation in Beijing. He has suddenly felt dizzy and fatigued, and has come to a nearby hospital. A doctor named Wang is giving him a check-up. Listen to Dialogue Mandarin-English Dialogue #3 – Food Poisoning
Mandarin-English Dialogue #2 – Parent-Teacher Meeting
Briefing Mrs Zhang, a Mandarin-speaking woman, is visiting the office of Mr Stevens, who teaches her son Andrew maths. Mr Stevens is concerned about Andrew’s grades dropping. Listen to Dialogue Mandarin-English Dialogue #2 – Parent-Teacher Meeting
Mandarin-English Dialogue #1 – Bank Robbery
This is the first dialogue that Michael, Leigh and I have created for Chinese interpreting students around the world. Not only can you listen to an mp3 recording to practice your interpreting and notetaking skills, but you can also refer to the transcript at the end of the exercise to check any new words. Enjoy! […]
Comprehensive Guide to Nouns Ending With 的 de
I don’t think you’ll find a list like this anywhere on the web, or in textbooks or grammar books. Indeed, I’ve read pretty much every major Chinese grammar textbook and do not remember seeing these nouns covered in any shape or form. So what is this post about? It’s a compilation of a very special […]
45 Mandarin Sentences with Chinese Characteristics
The following is a collection of sentences in Mandarin which I believe are special in some way. What do I mean by “special”? Well, let’s just say grammatically and structurally they’re not exactly typical, and in most cases they stand-alone as independent expressions. Plus, many of them contain elements of Chinese culture that set them […]
My 30 Favourite English Words
A random selection here of words I’m really fond of in English. I will write up a Chinese list later. My 30 Favourite English Words In no particular order. 1. cliché [陈词滥调] ORIGIN mid 19th cent.: French, past participle (used as a noun) of clicher ‘to stereotype.’ 2. irony [no exact Chinese equivalent exists […]
375 Diseases, Disabilities and Disorders in English and Chinese
Since I kept having to add more and more diseases to 110 Diseases, Disabilities and Disorders in English and Chinese, I thought I’d make a separate post with 100 or so more diseases for readers who want a more comprehensive glossary. Enjoy! 375 Diseases, Disabilities and Disorders in English and Chinese Acne: 痤疮；挫疮；粉刺；青春痘 Addiction: […]
Modern Weapon Vocabulary in English and Chinese
I’ve compiled here a list of the most common modern weapon vocabulary in English, along with their corresponding translations in Mandarin. This may be useful in boosting your defense-related vocabulary which comes up often in news articles and creative writing. Modern Weapon Vocabulary in English and Chinese air gun: 汽枪 ammunition: 弹药 anti-aircraft: 高射的 […]
Most Common 同音词 (Word-Homophones) in Mandarin
The following is a list I’ve compiled of the most common word-homophones* in Chinese. This may be useful for your general study, since there are so many homophones in Mandarin. *I say “word-homophones” deliberately, since I’m referring specifically to 同音词 (homophones made up of multi-character words), not 同音字 (“character-homophones”, when two characters have the same […]
Random Word Trivia Quiz Part 4
With apologies – I think this is the most challenging one yet. But, by all means, have a go and see how many you can guess answers for! 1. When you want to cancel an appointment you have made with a friend. (verb) 2. You have an appointment in a few hours, but until […]
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