Chinese/English News - New chinese phrase

Today I learned how to say the sentiment "wish you all the best". It is "Zhu ni bai shi shun li".

Jin tian wo xue hui zen yang shuo zhe , "Wish you all the best". Ta shi "Zhu ni bai shi shun li".


Zai jian! (Bye/see (you) later!)

-Denaz

Chinese/English Sentence Order

I learned something interesting yesterday.

In English, we say "subject do something in somewhere". In Chinese, they say "subject in somewhere do something". We would say, "We learn English in America." However, in Chinese, we would say, "We in America learn English."

Zuo tian wo xue hui mou shi juan yong.

En Ying Yu, wo men shuo "subject do something in somewhere". Dan shi, yong zhong wen shi "subject in somewhere do something". Li ru, wo men shuo "We learn English in America". Dan shi, yong zhong wen wo men shuo, "Wo men zai meiguo xue hui Ying Yu".

Permission Granted! New resource added!

Huanying! My new phrase 'Welcome' :D
Huan1ying ni3 dao4 "Di Nei Guo" lai, ha ha ha. Welcome to "Denaz land", ha ha ha.
You are probably wondering where it is on your map. To save you the trouble of searching for it, I will tell you it is near Never-Neverland, nan2 (south) of the State of Confusion, which is all a State of Mind, hee hee. Duibuqi (sorry), a moment of humor there. Mei wenti (no problem). I'm over it now. :D

Anyway, back to the news of today. :)
I learned three new words today: Bei3 = North, Nan2 = South, and Jing1=capital.
Soooo, with that knowledge I now know that the city Beijing is to the North and that the city Nanjing is to the South...and that they are fairly large (in regards to population) . Since "jing" is "capital", it stands to reason that it has a lot of "traffic" :D.

OH!! And the site where I learned all this is called www.CriEnglish.com.

An excellent resource for any beginner ;-P.
-Denaz

New Resource Afoot!

Hi everybody!
Da jia hao!
Today I learned some new words "huo" (fire), "che" (vehicle), and "shan" (mountain)
Together they make up new words...For example a "huoche" (fire vehicle) is a "train", and "huoshan"(fire mountain) = "volcano".
I also learned that they say "tou" (head of) cattle like we do...except they omit the "of" :D.
Now..."ge" is a number counter, like tou "head of cattle" for most nouns. So "yi ge ren" = one person, er ge ren = two people. However, they have many more "noun counters", for example, "tiao" is used instead of "ge" when the noun is something long and thin ....like a river. san tiao he chuan = 3 rivers.

I found this on a website, but still waiting on permission to add the link to this site. :)

All for now.


-Denaz

Chinese News/Zhongwen Xinwen Dang Tian

Today I learned how to say "I learned how to say" in Chinese; and yesterday I learned how to say "wait".
Jin tian wo xue hui zen yang shuo " I learned how to say" yong zhong wen; he zuo tian wo xue hui zen yang shuo "wait" (deng3).
今天我学会怎样说 "I learned how to say" 用中文；和昨天我学会怎样说 "wait" 等).

How do you say "Content"? Let me count the ways... :D

Estaba hablando con un amigo y estabamos discutiendo la palabra inglesa "content".
Como sabes, o quizás no sabes :D, la palabra inglesa "content" podría tener dos diferentes sentidos.
Cuando tiene el estrés en la "o", significa "contenido" en español...como el contenido de una caja o el contenido de una papel. ;)
Cuando tiene el estrés en la "e", significa "contento/a" en español...estar feliz, satisfecho, etc.
Un gatito contento se ronronea. :D

I was speaking with a friend and we were discussing the English word "content".
As you know, or maybe you don't, the English word "content" could have two different meanings.
When the stress is on the "o" (cOntent), it means "contenido" in Spanish...like the contents of a box or the content in a paper. ;)
When the stress is on the "e" (c'ntEnt), it means "contento/a" in Spanish...to be happy, satisfied, etc.
A content kitten purrs. :D

Chinese News: A new resource for Chinese Learners

There aren't many Chinese resources here in my hometown and so the search was on. :D While searching the net for chinese children's books, I came across a site that looked like a very useful site indeed. As you all know, I love to learn languages. "Asia for Kids" is an excellent resource for things like learning Chinese, or any Asian language, for that matter. I was surprised to find that it even has Japanese resources. :P

I also learned that Taiwan and China both use the same characters even though the pronunciation (like all languages/dialects) differ slightly. This is very important to me because it means that when I learn to read Mandarin and write, I will be able to comprehend any chinese newspaper no matter the country! ...I won't have to "learn to write" twice, hee hee. The characters are the same!! :-P

Today's English/Chinese News: My Name

My real name is Denaz, pronounced Di nei in Chinese. Today I learned what my name means in Chinese...and have discovered that I cannot go visit China until I get married, ha ha.
Just kidding.
你好吗？我的真名是DENAZ， 中文发音DI NEI。今天我知晓了怎么我的名意义。。。和已经发现不能上中国直到我结婚了。哈哈！只是开玩笑。

A Chinese friend of mine informed me that my name, "Di Nei", is an oldfashioned term for "wife". So if I go on vacation to China and I say "Wo jiao Suits Di Nei" (my name is Denaz Suits), they might think I said "My name is Mrs. Suits" ("Suits's wife")! ha ha!

我一个中国朋友告诉了我的名＂DI NEI＂ 是古条文为某人的太太。如果我放假去中国，
我说＂我叫Suits的内＂， 他们可能认为我说了＂我是Suits的太太”! 哈哈！

So be careful! :D

-Denaz

Today's English/Spanish News: "Nick and I"

Today, a friend told me an interesting monologue that I wanted to share. :)
Hoy, me dijo un amigo un monólogo de que querría compartir. :)
Nick and I - a tale by Spanish Ave
I'd use the computer for everything, if it were always on and always with me, but it's not. Books are so fast and convenient. I'm a book junkie. The library near me sells used books for a pittance, so it's deadly for me to go in there. That's where "Nick" and I met up. "Nick" was a dictionary from Nickel Press. I thought he was cute with his cool green cover. Sure his pages were a bit yellow, he'd been around the block, but I preferred to think of him as worldly, so I brought him home.
I thought we were getting along great and yet there was no "llama del amor," I guess because there simply is no "llama" in him. Not only that, but I was looking for "llaneza" (straightforwardness) and he didn't have that either. My dream that he could be my key to Spanish was dashed when I realized there was no "llave." I am "llorosa" (tearful) when I remember ayer "llovió" yet he could not share the sound with me. With him no one can ever say "llegamos," and no doubt that's why he was alone at the library. I should have known when I said, "me llamo Ave" and he didn't answer. Silly me, I just thought he was shy. Of course he heard the "llorona" (wailing, howling) when I realized he was not the dictionary for me, but he didn't "lloró". He couldn't. It just wasn't in his vocabulary. Nickel Press had left out every word that started with "ll". Sad, isn't?

Nick y Yo - Traducción por Denaz
Usaría yo la computadora para todo, si siempre se estuviera prendida y siempre conmigo, pero no lo está. Los libros son más rápidos y convenientes. Soy adicta a los libros. La biblioteca cercana vende libros usados a un precio baratísimo, así que es peligroso entrar ahí. Allí es donde "Nick" y yo nos conocimos. Nick era un diccionario de Nickel Press. Pensé que era mono con su chévere cubierta verde. Sí que sus páginas estaban un poco amarillas, él ha estado a la vuelta de la esquina, pero preferí pensar en él como "mundano" , así lo llevé a casa.
Creí que nos llevaríamos muy bien y aún así no había "llama del amor", supongo que porque simplemente no hay "llama" en él. No es sólo eso, pero buscaba "llaneza" - ni tuvo eso tampoco. Mi sueño que podría haber sido mi llave al español se estrelló cuando me dí cuenta no había "llave".
Estoy "llorosa" cuando me recuerdo que ayer "llovió", aunque no podría él compartir el sonido conmigo. Con él nadie puede decir "llegamos", y no tengo dudas que fue esa la razón por la cuál estaba sólo en la biblioteca. Debería yo haber sabido cuando dije, "Me llamo Ave." y no respondió. Tonta de mí, creí que era solo tímido. Claro escuchó la "llorona" cuando me dí cuenta que él no era el diccionario para mí, pero no lloró él. No podría. No estaba en su vocabulario. Nickel Press omitió toda y cada palabra que comenzó con "ll". Triste, ¿no?

Welcome to Denaz's News in Foreign Languages!

Hello and welcome! I'm Denaz and I am interested in learning foreign languages. This blog will inform people who are interested of my progress as I master foreign languages. I will note what resources I have tried and my opinions of them.

No one can ever really master a language completely, even in English we are continuing to learn new words as we grow and gain in experience, and hopefully, wisdom. However, I will give it my best shot. :D

A bit about me:
I have spoken English ever since I was born, as I was born in Indiana, USA. in 1981. In high school, I took two years of German (Deutsch) and two years of Spanish (Español) and have continued these languages on my own ever since then. I can speak, read, and write these languages, though I continue to learn something new each day. I am not as fluent as I want to be yet in either foreign language, but with each day I get closer still. :)

This year I have decided to add another foreign language to my list. I started to focus on learning Chinese, Mandarin to be exact. I will give updates on my progress in my foreign languages here. The Asian languages are the most difficult to an American because there is no "relation" between the character (written word) and its pronunciation. However, it is said that even though a person cannot say the word, they can understand it, which to me is fascinating. :D

I love to read, and this has helped me in my journey of learning languages because it makes me "well-versed". I was taught from the King James Version of the Bible, which is considered "old English" nowadays and my peers consider it "hard English", meaning that to them it is difficult to understand. Since I was raised on this style of English, it is understandable to me.

I have learned that every foreign language has their archaic versions and their modern versions of their language. Knowing the archaic style of English helps me understand the archaic style of the foreign languages better.

Chinese, as you may or may not know, has two main styles of writing: Simplified and traditional characters. The Traditional form is what most people used originally and it is akin to American's Old English in comprehension. A bit hard to chew at times. So the Simplified was created with the hope of increasing the literacy rate in the People Republic of China. This year's goal is to learn to read and understand Traditional Chinese Mandarin.

I know what you're thinking....why didn't I start with the Simplified characters. Well, I have researched different websites on the subject and talked to various chinese natives and have deduced the following:
The chinese characters are, in essence, pictures...they are like the Egyptian hieroglyphs, where a picture doesn't mean a specific word per se, but rather an idea or a concept. There are base roots to the characters they call radicals. and depending on where these radicals are placed in the character, it can mean different things.
Now, simplified characters were created so that it is easier to write. They are a version of the traditional characters but specifically designed for writing less strokes. It is like "shorthand" English. For example, when you take notes and you abbreviate your words so that you can keep up with the teacher in writing down the things she is saying, otherwise you would have to ask the person to repeat themselves so that you don't "miss" anything. :D
Another thing I have learned is that a simplified character can mean more than one traditional character, which can often lead to confusion for me if either traditional character will work in the sentence I am trying to read. :)
Also, the simplified form is not accepted in all countries where chinese is spoken, which is important to know.

Now, to me this tells me several things. The first and most important is that though the Simplified version is easier to write, it can be a bit confusing.
The second is that it is not accepted in some countries. This means that not all chinese-speaking countries will understand a person who uses Simplified characters. However, all countries used to use the traditional characters, and so understand them when used.
The traditional form requires more strokes on the written form, but is more easily understood than the simplified. The reason it is more easily understood is that those extra strokes give a deeper understanding. This reason alone makes me believe that a foreigner should learn the traditional first. For that deeper understanding is a key ingredient in learning what makes the language "tick". Then, after learning the traditional, one can learn to write its, err, "shorthand" version. :D


All for now,
-Denaz