Chinese vocabulary notes #4

Chinese vocabulary notes (January 2022)

Omicron, lockdown in Xi’an, what Taiwanese think of China, German real estate for Chinese buyers and more. January is almost gone, Spring will soon be here!

Desperate voices from the city of Xi’an (07.01.2022)

Remember the lockdown in Xi’an at the start of this month? The city at this point (07.01.2022) had been under lockdown for half a month and people were growing hungry as food distribution was lacking – at least according to this short compilation of voice recordings by VOA. It’s hard to judge the situation from the outside of course.

封城半个月了Fēng chéng bàn gè yuèleThe city has been under lockdown for half a month.
我说还不如监狱,监狱还让人吃点饭Wǒ shuō hái bùrú jiānyù, jiānyù hái ràng rén chī diǎn fànI said it’s not as good as a prison, the prison lets people eat at least.
一切都是政府说了算Yīqiè dōu shì zhèngfǔ shuōle suànIt’s all up to the government.

Beijing – back to school (July 2020)

DLIFLC 常态化疫情防控 - Chinese video lesson

I set my teeth into another video lesson from the Defense Language Institute database. Serious stuff as usual: a news report from July 2020 about the normalization of school life in Beijing – in other words, kids returning to school. I had my difficulties understanding everything, but the lessons are structured in a way to support you getting familiar with the key vocabulary which is – sorry again – covid-related. If you’ve been following the Chinese news, you probably encountered vocab like 新冠肺炎 and 防控 before. If you don’t want to hear anything about the virus anymore – which I can understand all too well – skip this one.

  • 常态化
  • chángtài huàNormalize
  • 疫情
  • yìqíngEpidemic situation
  • 防控
  • fángkòngPrevention and control
  • 复课
  • fùkèResume classes
  • 间隔
  • jiàngéInterval; intermission
  • 测温 
  • cèwēnMeasure the temperature
  • 境外输入
  • jìngwài shūrùImported cases

  • 新冠肺炎
  • xīnguān fèiyánCoronavirus disease
  • 这个病人要隔离一周
  • zhège bìngrén yào gélí yīzhōuThe patient will be quarantined for a week
  • 设置
  • shèzhìset up
  • 检测站
  • jiǎncè zhànTest station

    What Taiwanese Think of China | Street Interview

    This is an extremely delicate topic to cover. Watching the video, I felt that I was given a reasonably balanced, 20-minutes impression of how Taiwanese people feel about the mainland. I only managed to grasp some bits of key vocabulary and I’m also aware that I’m not familiar with the political terminology, their use and history, so this overview is not sufficient to seriously discuss the topic. But I do think Asian Boss gives a powerful insight into the current, fragile status quo or 现状 that is worth watching.

    民主社会mínzhǔ shèhuìDemocratic society
    统一tǒngyīUnify
    独立的国家dúlì de guójiāIndependent country
    表明自己的立场biǎomíng zìjǐ de lìchǎngvoice your own position
    言论自由yánlùn zìyóufreedom of speech
    现状xiànzhuàngstatus quo
    中华民国zhōnghuá mínguóRepublic of China
    厌恶yànwùdisgust
    威胁wēixiéthreaten
    类似的习俗Lèisì de xísúsimilar customs
    相似的点xiāngsì de diǎnsimilar points
    互相合作hùxiàng hézuòcooperate with each other
    时代上的差距shídài shàng de chājùage gap
    武力犯台wǔlì fàn táiInvade Taiwan

    Rock Climbing Chinese Girl Talks About Her Life – Intermediate Chinese | Chinese Conversation

    If you have watched the Mandarin Corner interviews in the past, you probably came across the “rock climbing girl” called Frieda who introduced us to her unconventional life and the Chinese rock climbing scene. Highly interesting conversation with lots of vocab to capture.

    攀岩pānyánrock climbing
    攀岩天堂pānyán tiāntángrock climbing heaven
    做瑜伽zuò yújiādo yoga
    专业的装备zhuānyè de zhuāngbèiprofessional equipment
    攀岩爱好者pānyán àihào zhěrock climbing enthusiasts
    线路xiànlùline / route
    胡思乱想húsīluànxiǎng“go crazy” (badly translated)
    眉飞色舞méifēisèwǔenraptured
    有天赋yǒu tiānfùto have talent / be talented
    不同的风格和技巧bùtóng de fēnggé hé jìqiǎodifferent styles and techniques
    了解安全意识liǎojiě ānquán yìshíto learn about security awareness
    挑剔tiāotìpicky
    难度nándùdifficulty
    无私wúsīselfless
    淑女shūnǚlady / lady-like
    坚强和坚持jiānqiáng hé jiānchístrong and persistent
    探索 tànsuǒto explore
    摸索 mōsuǒto explore ( 摸 implies touching / feeling)
    充实自己 chōngshí zìjǐto enrich yourself
    技能 jìnéngskill
    自制力 zìzhì lìself-control
    开阔视野 kāikuò shìyěbroaden your horizons
    兼职 jiānzhípart time job
    培训机构 péixùn jīgòutraining institution
    给你铺了一条康庄大道gěi nǐ pùle yītiáo kāngzhuāngdàdàopaved a road for you
    顺畅shùnchàngsmooth
    一辈子受益yībèizi shòuyìbenefit for a lifetime

    Frankfurt penthouse tour with Chinese real-estate agent

    Some more real estate for you: Would you buy this apartment for 830.000 €? Actually, it’s not even in Frankfurt, but in Riedberg, on the outskirts of the German financial capital which is the second most expensive city in Germany to buy property. This 房地产中介 (real-estate agent) shows you around in one of their new build apartments they currently have for sale, introducing all kinds of useful indoors vocabulary.

    房源fángyuánreal estate
    地产dìchǎnreal estate
    户型方正hùxíng fāngzhèngthe apartment is square
    配备pèibèito be equipped with
    格局géjúpattern
    隐藏yǐncángto hide, hidden
    光源guāngyuánLight source
    可以满足孩子的全部需求kěyǐ mǎnzú háizi de quánbù xūqiúcan meet all needs of children
    烹饪空间pēngrèn kōngjiāncooking space
    收纳空间shōunà kōngjiānstorage space
    卧室露台wòshì lùtáibedroom terrace
    淋浴间línyù jiānshower room
    储物间chǔwùjiānstorage room
    浴盆yùpénbathtub
    家庭智能系统jiātíng zhìnéng xìtǒngsmart home System
    洗碗机xǐwǎnjīdish washer
    朝南cháonánsouth facing

    That’s it for January, folks. In February, we’ll be back for more and cover the Chinese New Year Gala and the Winter Olympics. 新年快乐,阖家幸福!

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