Chinese vocabulary notes (November 2022)

In this month’s edition: returning to China (回国), emigrating from China, German chancellor visits China, energy crisis, compliments, growing up in China, Chinese economy and finally China’s one child policy.

回国VLOG

In case you’ve been wondering what it’s like to travel to China nowadays, this video by Janeslookbook gives an impression. She’s returning from New Mexico to China.

算是安顿下来了suànshì āndùn xiàláileIt’s settled
比较丝滑bǐjiào sīhuárelatively silky, smooth
不顺心bù shùnxīnunhappy
记录一下临飞前的一周 jìlù yīxià lín fēi qián de yīzhōuRecord the week before the flight
阴性的证明yīnxìng de zhèngmíngnegative proof
去申绿码qù shēn lǜ mǎto apply for Green Code
瘦了两公斤shòule liǎng gōngjīnlost two kilograms
郁闷yùmèndepressed

Immigrating from China to Canada

And what about the opposite direction? How to immigrate from China to Canada? How do the new Chinese emigration policies affect Chinese people who are ready to leave for Canada? This consultant explains how it works.

中国出境政策Zhōngguó chūjìng zhèngcèChina Exit Policy
产生了不小的震动chǎnshēng le bù xiǎo de zhèndòngcaused a little vibration
去巧妙的化解qù qiǎomiào de huàjiěto subtly resolve
猪肝皮的护照zhūgānpí de hùzhàopig liver skin passport (referring to the Chinese passport)
护照的有效期hùzhào de yǒuxiàoqíPassport validity
合法的身份héfǎ de shēnfènlegal status
签证qiānzhèngvisa

German chancellor Scholz goes to China

Laolei shares his thoughts on the German chancellor Scholz visiting Beijing. Most remarkable in my eyes was Xi’s openly cool and distant reception. No visit to the Chinese wall as a guest of honor or some other place of high symbolic value, not even a handshake in fact.

欧盟成员Ōuméng chéngyuánEU member
访华fǎng huávisit to China
商业团shāngyè tuánbusiness group
签合同qiān hétóngsign a contract
得罪dézuìto offend
失望shīwàngto disappoint
评论pínglùnto comment
鄙视bǐshìto despise

Afu & the German energy crisis

Since Afu’s return to Germany the German blogger made a bunch of more or less commercial videos, presenting a number of tourism hot spots to his Chinese audience. This video though is about the energy crisis in Germany and how it affects average citizens.

能源危机Néngyuán wéijīenergy crisis
开暖气kāi nuǎnqìturn on the heat
做好心理准备zuò hǎo xīnlǐ zhǔnbèibe mentally prepared
壁炉bìlúfireplace
取暖qǔnuǎnheating
入秋了rù qiūleIt’s autumn
做个参考zuò gè cānkǎoserve as a reference
政府报告zhèngfǔ bàogàogovernment report

Stop Saying 哪里哪里(nǎ lǐ nǎ lǐ)

How to accept compliments in Chinese? And what if you don’t want to reply with the standard textbook answer 哪里哪里? Here are some very useful alternatives.

有眼光Yǒu yǎnguāngyou have good taste
有品味yǒu pǐnwèiyou have good taste
瞎说什么大实话xiāshuō shénme dà shíhuà“stop telling the truth”
表现太棒了biǎoxiàn tài bàngle(your) performance was excellent
客户都惊掉下巴了kèhù dōu jīng diào xiàbālethe client’s jaw dropped
你嘴巴抹蜜了吗?nǐ zuǐbā mǒ mìle ma?have you put honey on your mouth?
你也太会说话了nǐ yě tài huì shuōhuàleyou really know how to talk
你也太会夸人了nǐ yě tài huì kuā rénleyou really know how to make compliments / flatter people

Half-White, Half-Chinese Teenager Talks About Growing Up in Rural China

Slow listening: Richard grew up in rural China. His father is from New Zealand and his mother is Chinese. In this interview, he shares his experiences growing up in the Chinese countryside and visiting a public school. (Chinese / Pinyin / English)

混血hùnxiě“mixed blood”
新西兰人xīnxīlán rénNew Zealander
粤语yuèyǔCantonese
土生土长的中国孩子tǔshēngtǔzhǎng de zhōngguó háizinative Chinese kids
一门科目yī mén kēmùa subject
排外páiwàixenophobic
排斥páichìexclusion
叫你外号jiào nǐ wàihàocall you nickname

How Worried Are The Chinese About Their Economy? | Street Interview

Asian Boss sent out their local reporter to interview people in Shanghai about the state of their economy. The sound quality is not the best, but it’s good listening material: the interviewer focuses on one topic, asks interesting questions and we hear different opinions and accents from China’s 老百姓. There’s always something to be learned.

衰退shuāituìto decline
彻底崩溃chèdǐ bēngkuìcompletely collapsed
预测yùcèto predict
中国经济崩溃Zhōngguó jīngjì bēngkuìChina’s economy collapses
增长zēngzhǎngincrease
疫情的压力yìqíng de yālìThe pressure of the epidemic
自由职业者zìyóu zhíyè zhěfreelancers
波动bōdòngfluctuation
不敢失业bù gǎn shīyèdare not be unemployed

EP27. 独生子女政策|One-Child Policy in China

Another Chinese podcast with Shenglan: she creates content especially for Chinese learners and uses her own personal approach. Shenglan speaks slowly and makes sure to explain new or difficult vocabulary. I can only recommend her channel. In this podcast, she explains China’s 独生子女政策 and shares her view about this policy.

单独Dāndúalone
生育shēngyùgive birth
独生子女dúshēngzǐnǚonly child
计划生育政策jìhuà shēngyù zhèngcèfamily planning policy
计划经济jìhuà jīngjìplanned economy
政府力量zhèngfǔ lìliànggovernment power
实现一个共同的目标shíxiàn yīgè gòngtóng de mùbiāoachieve a common goal
西方的思维xīfāng de sīwéiwestern thinking
开放的眼光kāifàng de yǎnguāngopen eyes
人口老龄化rénkǒu lǎolíng huàAging population
控制人口的增长kòngzhì rénkǒu de zēngzhǎngcontrol population growth
负担起生活费fùdān qǐ shēnghuófèiafford living expenses

That’s it for November, folks. Thanks for dropping by, keep warm and hope to see you back next month with more Chinese content!

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