Anonymous asked:
language-obsession answered:
i think Viki used to have that option, but it’s not there anymore :/ this is a bit of extra work, and requires you to download the subtitle files and the episodes, but here’s a method I found online. another way is to find the Mandarin transcript file and just watch the episode with English subs, and then have the file on your phone or whatever as reference. it’s not as simultaneous, but still useful for quick lookup; that’s what i’ve been doing with k-dramas recently actually.
as for some beginner cantonese textbooks, check out this google drive folder !! you can also search through the cantonese tag on my blog :) there’s a 300 words in cantonese post and a couple long-ish grammar posts. good luck, and let me know if you have any further questions!
Chinese dishes are countless. And because of immigration and Westerner’s influence some dishes are less “authentic” that’s ok - they’re still delicious.
Sizzling (beef served on a very hot plate with peppers/onions): 铁板牛肉 (tiě bǎn niú ròu)
Sweet and Sour Pork Ribs: 酸甜排骨 (suān tián pái gǔ）
Sweet and Sour Pork: 糖醋里脊 (táng cù lǐjí）
Gong Bao Chicken: 宫保鸡丁 (gōng bǎo jī dīng）
Char Siu (Barbecued Roast Pork): 叉烧 (chā shāo)
BBQ Meat: 烤肉 (kǎo ròu)
Hot Pot : 火鍋 (huǒguō)
Fried eggplant: 红烧茄子（hóng shāo qié zi）
Fried Chinese cabbage: 炒大白菜 (chǎo dà bái cài)
Fried shredded potato: 土豆丝 (tǔ dòu sī）
Deep-fried pumpkin sticks: 黄沙南瓜条 (huáng shā nán guā tiáo）
Fried bread stick: 油条 (yóu tiáo）
Egg 鸡蛋 (jīdàn）
Tea-soaked egg: 茶叶蛋 (cháyè dàn）
Century-old egg (preserved duck egg)：皮蛋 (pídàn）
Steamed bread: 饅頭 (mán tou)
Steamed buns with condensed milk dip: 炼乳馒头 (liàn rǔ mán tou）
Congee／Porridge: 粥 (zhōu）
Special Flavor Chicken Porridge: 风味鸡粥 (fēng wèi jī zhōu)
Century Egg Pork Congee: 皮蛋瘦肉粥 pídàn shòu ròu zhōu)
Shaobing: 烧饼 (shāo bǐng)
Soy milk : 豆浆 (dòu jiāng)
Stuffed steamed bun: 包子 (bāo zi)
Wontons: 馄饨 (húntún）
Dimsum: 点心 (diǎnxīn)
Dumplings: 饺子 (jiǎozi）
Sweet Soup Balls : 汤圆 (tāng yuán)
Sesame Balls : 芝麻球 (zhī ma qiú)
Red Been Bun : 豆沙包 (dòu shā bāo)
Red bean paste Pancake : 豆沙烧饼 (dòushā shāobǐng)
Pumpkin Pancake : 南瓜饼 (nán guā bǐng)
Dragon’s Beard Candy : 龙须酥 (lóng xū sū)
Egg Tarts : 蛋挞 (dàn tà)
Tanghulu (Candied Fruit on A Stick) : 糖葫芦 (táng hú lu)
Sweet Egg Bun : 奶黄包 (nǎi huáng bāo)
Grass Jelly : 烧仙草 (shāo xiān cǎo)
Fried Durian : 榴莲酥 (liú lián sū)
Wheat Noodles : 面条 (miàn tiáo)
Noodle soup: 汤面 (tāng miàn）
Soup: 汤 (tāng）
Beef noodles ：牛肉面 （niúròu miàn）
Fried noodles: 炒面 (chǎo miàn)
Fried rice noodles: 炒米粉 (chǎo mǐ fěn)
Fried rice: 炒饭 （chǎo fàn）
Spring Rolls: 春卷 (chūnjuǎn)
Shanghai small steamed buns: 小笼包 (xiǎolóng bāo）
Peking roasted duck: 北京烤鸭 (běi píng kǎo yā)
Chinese Muslim barbeque mutton skewers: 羊肉串 (yángròu chuan）
Changsha-style stinky tofu: 长沙臭豆腐 (chǎngshā chòu dòufu）
Hangzhou braised pork belly: 东坡猪肉 (dōng pō zhū ròu）
Lanzhou hand-pulled noodles: 兰州卡面 (lánzhōu lāmiàn）
Sichuan hot pot: 四川火锅 (sìchuān huǒguō）
Ma Po Tofu: 麻婆豆腐 (má pó dòufu）
Rou Jia Mo: 肉夹馍 (ròu jiā mó)
(or: How every drama ever is wrong in some way)
The Emperor
To normal subjects, the emperor will refer to himself as zhen 朕 (vague English equivalent: royal we) or wo 我 (I). Zhen is more common in written documents and wo is used in everyday speech. There is no distinction between zhen and wo in Manchurian.
To his parents (the empress dowager, and in Jiaqing’s case, the emperor emeritus), the emperor will refer to himself as wo (I), chen 臣 (your subject), 子皇帝臣 (your son and subject the emperor) or 臣我 (I, your subject).
Thank you for this, I’ve really been wondering! But you didn’t seem to mention the trend of calling lower eunuchs by Xiao-X-zi, eg Xiaoyanzi (lol), Xiaofuzi, etc etc. Does the article really only mention 小X, but not 小X子？
I also remember the grand dowager (Bumbutai) in Desperate Love being called laozuzong. Because I’d never heard it before, I assumed it was only for the emperor’s great grandmother. Interesting to read that it’s more widely applicable.
so if you’re anything like me you get these two grammar patterns mixed up all the time
i learned these in my second year of mandarin and to this day i can’t distinguish them for the life of me so
for my sake and yours i’m gonna revisit them
subject+从来不+verb phrase
this is used to indicate something a person never does and probably never will do
奶奶从来不喝酒 nǎinai cónglái bu hējiǔ
Grandma doesn’t drink
我从来不洗碗 wǒ cónglái bu xǐ wǎn
I don’t do the dishes (lol jk i do my dishes just not in a timely manner)
so like i said this one implies that you have no intention of doing the action you don’t do now
subject+从来没+verb+过+something
this one is more like someone has never done something but they’re open to doing it, or that they’ve just never experienced something
我从来没去过中国 wǒ cónglái méi qùguò zhōngguó
I’ve never been to China
她从来没吃过火锅 tā cónglái méi chīguò huǒguō
She’s never eaten a hotpot
so that’s all i have to say on this topic but as always if there’s an comments questions or concerns just hmu
my favorite thing i’ve learned in college is that way back in ancient china there was this poet/philosopher guy who wrote this whole pretentious poem about how enlightened he was that was like “the eight winds cannot move me” blahblahblah and he was really proud of it so he sent it to his friend who lived across the lake and then his friend sends it back and just writes “FART” (or the ancient Chinese equivalent) on it and he was SO MAD he travels across the lake to chew his friend out and when he gets there his friend says “wow. the eight winds cannot move you, but one fart sends you across the lake”
i googled this bc i desperately wanted this to be real, and guess what…it is.
the dude’s name was su dongpo (also known as su shi). his original poem went like this:
稽首天中天，
毫光照大千，
八風吹不動，
端坐紫金蓮
(Humbly bowed my head below all skies
Minutest lights shine through my deepest bounds
Immovable by strong winds from eight sides
Upon purplish gold lotus I seated straightly by the low mound) (x)
on which his friend wrote “放屁” (fart, literally), and you know the rest.
(here’s a chinese source for the skeptics)
can you imagine having your brutal murder described in detail to future generations
this is my new favourite story from history
don’t forget Lu Yu, the guy who was so obsessed with tea he would wander around in the woods and cry about how much he loved it
Chinese: nationality
Mandarin/Cantonese/Hakka/etc: languages/dialects
We don't "speak Chinese" because it's not a language.
We are not Mandarin or Cantonese because those aren't nationalities
Literally every chinese person uses “chinese” interhangeably with the language they speak, so that aspect is actually not a big deal.
