Lesson 18: Spice up your Chinese

Just like every dish needs the right spices to really bring out the flavor, so too does your Chinese. These phrases will help you to make your Chinese sound much more "flavorful", so let's get started with today's lesson!

雖然- even though;often used in conjunction with 但是

suī rán                                                                                                        dàn shì 

 

他雖然來美國十年了,但是還不敢講英文。

tā suī rán lái měi guó shí nián le ,dàn shì hái bù gǎn jiǎng yīng wén 。

Even though he's been in America for ten years, he still isn't confident speaking English.

 

其實- actually

qí shí 

我的室友是牙醫。奇怪是他的牙齒其實不太好。

wǒ de shì yǒu shì yá yī 。qí guài shì tā de yá chǐ qí shí bù tài hǎo 。

My roommate is a dentist. The weird thing is, his teeth are actually pretty bad.

 

實在- really 

shí zài 

最近我們茶點生意特別好,我實在不敢相信了啦!

zuì jìn wǒ men chá diǎn shēng yì tè bié hǎo ,wǒ shí zài bù gǎn xiàng xìn le lā !

Recently, our tea store's business has been so good, I really can't believe it!

 

不但。。。也是- not only, but also

bù dàn ………..yě shì 

我的師父不但厲害,也是謙虛的。

wǒ de shī fù bù dàn lì hài ,yě shì qiān xū de 。

My master isn't just really talented, he's also humble.

 

幾乎- nearly

jǐ hū 

我的朋友幾乎都有小孩子了。
wǒ de péng yǒu jǐ hū dōu yǒu xiǎo hái zǐ le 。

Nearly all of my friends have kids now.

 

隨便- do as you wish

suí biàn 

不要在路邊隨便玩。

bù yào zài lù biān suí biàn wán 。

Don't goof around by the road.

 

結果- result

jié guǒ 

他說不想去看醫生,結果早上起來發現他死掉了。

tā shuō bù xiǎng qù kàn yī shēng ,jié guǒ zǎo shàng qǐ lái fā xiàn tā sǐ diào le 。

He said he didn't want to go to see a doctor; in the morning I discovered that he was dead.

 

而且- and also

ér qiě  

那間房子很高,而且很豪華。

nà jiān fáng zǐ hěn gāo ,ér qiě hěn háo huá 。

That house is really tall, and also luxurious.

 

而已- that's all, only

ér yǐ

不要對你的姊姊太兇,他就是想跟你玩而已。

bù yào duì nǐ de zǐ zǐ tài xiōng ,tā jiù shì xiǎng gēn nǐ wán ér yǐ 。

Don't be too mean to your nephew, he just wants to play with you.

That's it for today, you have your new vocabulary and your examples, so start practicing owning them. Before you know it, your Chinese will taste much better!

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Unlocking Chinese in 28 days is out!

Hey guys, today I want to introduce myself a little and share my story with you. You may have heard I've released a Chinese learning book "Unlocking Chinese in 28 Days", so let me share with you how I came to learn Chinese. But first…

"What were you  doing in Taiwan?" is a question I have heard countless times, but not one I enjoy answering, because it's hard to do it justice without a long, drawn-out answer.

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I first moved to Taiwan shortly after graduating from college, and at that time I really had no idea what I was going to do with my life. I had a bachelors in education, and I had always loved traveling and learning about foreign cultures and languages. So I decided to spend a year abroad. But not in Taiwan.

Originally I had looked into living abroad in Ireland, but that was a no-go since I lacked a European passport. Oh well. Then I started talking with a friend who also wanted to live abroad and teach English for a year, and we settled on Japan. But after interviewing for a job, my friend was accepted into the program, and I wasn't! Curses, foiled again!

So after getting turned down for the second time, I got up, dusted off my jacket and applied to another recruitment agency called Reach To Teach. This time I wanted to get a job teaching in China. But when the first few schools that I had offers from didn't pan out, eventually the agent I was working with told me of a school in Keelung, Taiwan that wanted to hire me. I decided that it sounded like a great place to spend a year abroad, I was emailed a contract, read it over, signed it and faxed it back. And my life was forever changed.

That, in a shell(tried to keep it very brief for you guys since I've written on the subject on my blog) is what I was doing in Taiwan. I was there to travel, work and learn Chinese. And I wouldn't trade the experience for anything. It was in Taiwan that I discovered my passion for Chinese food, culture and language…oh, and did I mention that it's where I met my wife? Talk about an awesome souvenir!

That's it for today, we'll continue tomorrow with more information on how I learned Chinese in Taiwan, and what my philosophy is on language learning. As always, let me know if you have any questions. See you soon!

Logan

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