Year: 2016
Sarcasm in Fawlty Towers
Basic greeting phrases
Hello, all. Below you have some greetings in Chinese. Listen to the podcast to hear how they are pronounced. If you have any questions, you are more than welcome to ask me. 你好 nǐhǎo (Hello). 我很好 wǒ hěn hǎo (I am good). 你好吗 nǐhǎo ma? (How are you?) 还行吧 hái xíng ba (Still just so so). …
Use of Chineasy cards with children
Amazing progress with Chinese Are your children learning a foreign language? Is it French, German or Spanish? Have they tried learning Chinese? In the video below, you will see how my children are quick to pick up Chinese words and even characters by simply doing what all children enjoy doing: by matching two cards with …
IELTS Speaking exam: Holidays
Introduction I am sure you remember that the most basic words you learnt when you learnt to talk about travel were words like: ‘a flight’, ‘a nice view’, ‘a trip’, ‘a beach’, etc. These are basic words and will not score you ‘brownie points’, i.e. they will not give you the highest marks in the …
How to talk about activities and hobbies in Chinese
What do you like doing?你喜欢什么 What is the best way to get you started in Chinese? Some vocabulary related to things you and other people like doing. This is always a winner and I recommend you look through it. If you are familiar with pinyin, it should be easy but be careful with the tones. …
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Learn vocabulary from a song
Hi everyone,today I would like to teach you some useful vocabulary from a beautiful folk song called Zebra zebra (斑马斑马) which is super popular in China. Basically, the Zebra in the song implies a girl who the singer wants to talk about. It is a song with a bit of a sentimental mood and beautiful lyrics. Listen …
Happy Lantern Festival 元宵节快乐
Happy Lantern festival 元宵节快乐 Lantern Festival falls on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. Mostly, it is the last day of spring festival. This is the first full moon of the new year, symbolizing unity and perfection. Lantern Festival is an important part of Spring Festival , and marks the official end of …
Sustaining a longer conversation in English
Learning about speaking strategies Spain and its culture: sustaining a longer conversation in English when talking with a Spanish person Hello, everyone! I am Anna and I’m an English teacher. Once my student from China said to me she didn’t know how to talk to a Spanish person for longer than 3 minutes at a party …
Zodiac signs in Chinese
In China, you often ask about the Zodiac sign of the person you are talking to. Here is the question: What’s your Chinese zodiac sign? – 你属什么? (nǐ shǔ shén me) To answer this question you need to say 我属___ (wǒ shǔ___) – I was born in the year of the___. Monkey – 猴 (hóu) …