Speak Real Chinese

天下无贼 (tiān xià wú zéi) [A World Without Thieves]

ChenFeng — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 00:01:01 +0000

Today I introduce you guys a very interesting Chinese movie:

Name: 天下无贼 (tiān xià wú zéi) [A World Without Thieves]

Type: Comedy

Year: 2004年12月6日

Time: 100分钟

Box office: 1亿 (100,000,000+)

It’s directed by the famous Chinese comercial film director Xiaogang Feng. Many celebrated Chinese movie stars including Andy Lau were participated. The movie tells a story that is happening on a common train running between a major city and country side. The leading role, Shagen (meaning ‘big fooler’), who has thousands of RMBs in his pocket going back to hometown for the spring new year, does not believe that there are a lot theives on such kind of a train. What he believes is that all people in the world are good and kind. And he confesses his impavidity to the public before getting on the train. Off course, theives, who do exist, in different packs, follow on him secretely all along the journey. They want to eat this big fat lamb, and begin to mediate for Shagen’s money, while Shagen does not know any thing happening…

The following is the famous saying by Uncle Fox (a leading theif):

“I have said a hundred times, we need team work, always seek the best in the team. The purpose of the trip, is to train our team in real situation and to test our new members.those deserving special praise are Little-leaf and Four-eyes. Although new to trade,they try hard,they have not only surpass themselves,but even the old guard here.”

“说了多少回了,要团结，眼睛要看这别人的长处。这次出来，一是通过实战锻炼队伍,二是考察新人，在这里我特别要表扬的是小叶和四眼。两位虽然刚刚入道，做人啊，不但突破了自己，也超越了在座的前辈。“

茉莉花 (The Jasmine Flower)

ChenFeng — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 22:47:43 +0000

China has a long history of music. Unfortunately, in most archeology results, people find only titles and lyrics, not rhythms. However, ‘jasmine flower’ is an exception, probably because it’s so popular that there’s no need to record the rhythm. There are now more than 230 versions of ‘jasmine flower’ in present China and the most famous one is still the ‘Jiangsu’ version. And the lyrics are very short. Enjoy!

童话 (The Fairy Tale)

ChenFeng — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 02:14:08 +0000

The composer and singer is both guāngliáng. guāngliáng and pǐnguàn were once the band ‘wú yìn liáng pǐn’. But they departed several years ago. tónghuà is one of the most successful songs sang by guāngliáng after their separation. Here gives a rough transcription of the lyrics. Perhaps one needs to study some Chinese to know what they exactly mean. But anyway, it doesn’t matter if we only care about the rhythm.

Lesson 6 – Snake (shé, 蛇)

ChenFeng — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 23:55:34 +0000

Typically, people borned in 1917, 1929, 1941, 1953, 1965, 1977, 1989, 2001 are of the Chinese zodiac, Snake (shé, 蛇). But it’s not always true. Exceptions do exsist and we have a special topic on that.

Highlights of Lesson 6: ‘tiger head and snake tail’; review of four Chinese tones of six basic vowvels; ‘Is it…?’; ‘I eat …’; ‘what do you eat?’.

Download mp3 Audio File (length: 13:16)

Lesson 5 – Dragon (lóng, 龙)

ChenFeng — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 00:10:44 +0000

Typically, people borned in 1916, 1928, 1940, 1952, 1964, 1976, 1988, 2000 are of the Chinese zodiac, Dragon (lóng, 龙). But it’s not always true. Exceptions do exsist and we have a special topic on that.

Highlights of Lesson 5: white dragon, yellow dragon; It’s lovely weather today; ‘what day is today?’; Monday through Sunday; ‘what is this?’; this is; ‘what is that?’; that is.

Download mp3 Audio File (length: 08:29)

掩耳盗铃 yǎn ěr dào líng

ChenFeng — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 04:11:19 +0000

掩 yǎn: cover, mask; 耳 ěr: ear; 盗 dào: steal; 铃 líng: bell.
Short Description: ‘yǎn ěr dào líng’ is a story that happened in the late Spring and Autumn Period in Chinese history (about two thousand and three hundred years ago). A man from country Jìn wanted to steal a bell of somebody else. He was well aware of that the bell would ring if he touched it. Then he would be caught if he did so. ‘how should I steal the bell?’, he thought. Shortly he came up with a good idea …

Download mp3 Audio File (length: 01:59)

What did you learn from this idiom? Make a comment and share your idea with all of us. BTW, if you enjoy the story, please finish a quick survey that will help improve the quality of programs.

Lesson 4 – Rabbit(tù, 兔)

ChenFeng — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 03:31:25 +0000

Typically, people borned in 1915, 1927, 1939, 1951, 1963, 1975, 1987, 1999 are of the Chinese zodiac, Rabbit(tù, 兔). But it’s not always true. Exceptions do exsist and we have a special topic on that.

Highlights of Lesson 4: good morning, long time no see; 4 tones for 6 basic vowels; numbers 0~10.

Download mp3 Audio File (length: 10:29)

Lesson 3 – Tiger(hǔ, 虎)

ChenFeng — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 03:00:07 +0000

Typically, people borned in 1914, 1926, 1938, 1950, 1962, 1974, 1986, 1998 are of the Chinese zodiac, Tiger(hǔ, 虎). But it’s not always true. Exceptions do exsist and we have a special topic on that.

Highlights of Lesson 3: the pinyin system; phonetic tones; Chinese characters; Mandarin.

Download mp3 Audio File (length: 09:47)

Lesson 2 – Ox(niú, 牛)

ChenFeng — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 02:29:37 +0000

Typically, people borned in 1925, 1937, 1949, 1961, 1973, 1985, 1997 or 2009 are of the Chinese zodiac, Ox(niú, 牛). But it’s not always true. Exceptions do exsist and we have a special topic on that.

Highlights of Lesson 2: more first words; genders and plural forms of nouns; conjugation of verbs; quiz 2.

Download mp3 Audio File (length: 14:22)

Lesson 1 – Rat(shŭ, 鼠)

ChenFeng — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 21:39:42 +0000

Typically, people borned in 1924, 1936, 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996 or 2008 are of the Chinese zodiac, rat(shŭ, 鼠). But it’s not always true. Exceptions do exsist and we have a special topic on that.

This is our very beginning. Highlights of Lesson 1: basic greeting words; where do you come from; Chinese way of saying ‘how are you doing’; a doo-dah quiz.

Download mp3 Audio File (length: 15:02)