Chinaa cultural perspective

section three3Chinese language

AuthorJan Kiernan

EditorDamian Bester

Graphic DesignLewis Mathieson

First published in 2008. Copyright News Ltd.Photography and line drawings copyright Jan Kiernan Fair copying of this publication is permitted for the purposes of teaching, review or research.

Copyright inquiries should be addressed to:Education Services ManagerDavies Brothers Pty Ltd91-93 Macquarie StHobart TAS 7000Email: nie@dbl.newsltd.com.au

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Chinese Language

Translation1. Use the vocabulary list below to help you translate the sentences below.

2. Using words from the list make up sentences of your own.

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Chinese Language

Useful Words

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Invite a Chinese Mandarin speaker to the class to assist you with the pronunciation of these words.

Ni haoHow are you?How do you do?

Xie xieThank you.

Fei chang gan xieThank you very much.

Bu yong xieYou are welcome.

Dui bu qiI’m sorry.Excuse me.

Bu yao jinIt’s OK.

Ganbei!Cheers!

Tai hao leVery good.

Zhong guoChina

QingPlease

Jin laiCome in

Zai jianGoodbye

Jiu ming!Help!

Qing jiao jing chaCall the police, please.

In Chinese many letters have special marks above them.These marks tell you how to pronounce the vowels.

Hello Nǐ haǒ!

My name is Wǒ de mίngzi jiào

Who are you? Nǐ shì shéi?

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The Chinese Calendar:

What sign am I?

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Unscramble my nameWhat animal sign am I?

I AM

resourceful, shrewd and fidgety TRA

tolerant, peaceful and reliable XO

singular, energetic and ferocious GREIT

aware, affectionate and insecure TRIABB

isolated, lively and independent ONRAGD

unsettled, quick and feared KEANS

eager, strong and playful RHESO

easy-going, outgoing and flexible PHEES

clever, grouchy and moody YMNEOK

vain, frank and progressive SOORRET

faithful, happy and unselfish OGD

wasteful, self-pitying and independent GIP

What Elemental sign am I?

I AM

living and usual DOWO

calm and independence REIF

steady and dependable TAHRE

tough and flexible LTMAE

stable and sustaining RTWEA

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13

Complete the list of the next two columns of years for each sign.

Pig 1971 1983

Rat 1972 1984

Ox 1973 1985

Tiger 1974 1986

Rabbit 1975 1987

Dragon 1976 1988

Snake 1977 1989

Horse 1978 1990

Sheep 1979 1991

Monkey 1980 1992

Rooster 1981 1993

Dog 1982 1994

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Chinese Numbers

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Chinese numerals follow a base-10 or decimal system, which is the same as the number system we use in Australia. Chinese numbers can be written in a traditional form or in simplified pinyin (a system of spelling used to transliterate Chinese characters into the Roman alphabet) form as shown in the table below.

The Arabic numbering system, familiar throughout the world, is also widely used in China though writers often use pinyin to spell out the actual numbers. For instance, the way we write ten instead of 10.

Traditionally, Chinese are superstitious about which numbers are lucky and which are unlucky. In the table below, the lucky numbers are shown in red (dark bold) and the unlucky in blue (light). Six is lucky in Mandarin, but unlucky in Cantonese. Other cultures also have numbers they consider to be lucky or unlucky. Compare them with Chinese numbers.

Eight is considered so lucky the Beijing Olympics will start on the 8th hour (pm) of the 8th day of the 8th month of the 8th year after 2000.

That is 08:08:08:08.

三 + 二 =七 − 四 =四 × 二 =七 − 三 =四 + 六 =八 − 一 =三 × 三 =五 + 四 =十 − 七 =七 ÷ 三 =

Try the problems below

1 一 yī

2 二 èr

3 三 sān

4 四 sì

5 五 wŭ

6 六 liù

6 六 liù

7 七 qī

8 八 bā

9 九 jiŭ

10 十 shí

Practise counting in Chinese.

Play games with the numbers, asking your classmates to use the Chinese number names.

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Make up your own sums and swap them with a classmate. Remember you cannot have answers that are more than 10.

Use the Internet to find out how the Chinese number system writes and says numbers more than 10.

Write the numbers for:

20 100 1000

15 33 45

200 12 52

17 66 80

91 27 18

44 2000 72

16 50 58

13 62 500

My problems

+ =− =× =− =+ =− =× =+ =− =÷ =

1 一 yī

2 二 èr

3 三 sān

4 四 sì

5 五 wŭ

6 六 liù

6 六 liù

7 七 qī

8 八 bā

9 九 jiŭ

10 十 shí

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Chinese Language

Face Words

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Draw a face and write the Chinese words on the face’s

features.

nose bízi

ears ěrduō

eyes yǎnjing

mouth zuǐba

hair tóufa

eyebrows méimao

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Chinese Language Design a Chinese Calendar

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Days of the week

Monday Xīngqīyī

Tuesday Xīngqī’èr

Wednesday Xīngqīsān

Thursday Xīngqīsì

Friday Xīngqίwǔ

Saturday Xīngqīliù

Sunday Xīngqītiān

What day is it? Jīntiān shì xīngqī jǐ?

Use the internet to research the Chinese names for the months of the year and the Chinese numbers you don’t already have. Choose a month and design a Chinese calendar for that month using the Chinese names for the days and Chinese numbers. Use your calendar to

write your class timetable and lesson notes for the month.

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Chinese Language

Chinese ColoursMake up a Chinese colour quiz for your classmates.Ask questions like:

What colour is a fire engine?Answer: hóngsè

Our car is huángsè. What colour is it?Answer: yellow

Questions Answers

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

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Colours

red hóngsèblue lánsè

yellow huángsèblack hēisègreen lǜsèbrown zōngsèorange chéngsè

pink fěnhóngsèpurple zǐsè

grey huīsè

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Colour inthe Classroom

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Unscramble the English colour names below to identify the Chinese colours needed for this picture.

Scrambled English Unscrambled English Chinese Picture clues

dre hóngsè 23, 10, 3, 27

elbu lánsè 2

lolwye huángsè 7, 25, 14

bcakl hēisè 28

ereng lǜsè 12, 4, 15

nworb zōngsè 1, 26

gneroa chéngsè 21, 8, 20, 5

knpi fěnhóngsè 11

rpulpe zǐsè 18

yreg huīsè 9, 6, 13, 22, 17

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Colour in the Airport

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Unscramble the English colour names below to identify the Chinese colours needed for this picture.

Scrambled English Unscrambled English Chinese Picture clues

dre hóngsè 2, 8

elbu lánsè 3, 14

lolwye huángsè 19, 18

bcakl hēisè 24, 11, 22

ereng lǜsè 25, 27, 10

nworb zōngsè 16, 22

gneroa chéngsè 12, 7, 28

knpi fěnhóngsè 20, 26

rpulpe zǐsè 4, 6

yreg huīsè 17, 15