My future father-in-law loves to tell me ＂坦克，飛機之外，中國人都有吃＂that translates to "aside from tanks and airplanes, Chinese people eat everything" and that's not far from the truth! One of my favorite aspects of Chinese culture is the diversity in foods, and I have discovered so many great dishes in Taiwan, that I could never go back to eating Americanized Chinese food! To hear more about some of my favorite Taiwanese foods, click here! But how do you order for, or even know what to order for that matter? It can be difficult, and I myself had to resort to pointing, following along with other customers, and generally being at the mercy of the 老闆 I tried to order from when I first got here. But you don't have to be as clueless as I was (unless you would like to, of course! That can be fun too!). In tis lesson, I will be teaching you how to say common Chinese foods in Mandarin, as well as order them! So let's get started!
Common Chinese Dishes:
1. 炒麵 chǎo miàn= fried noodles
2. 炒飯 chǎo fàn= fried rice
3. 牛肉麵 niú ròu miàn= beef noodle soup
4. 泡菜 pào cài= kimchi
5. 臭豆腐 chòu dòu fu= stinky tofu
6. 米粉 mǐ fěn= rice noodles
7. 火鍋 huǒ guō= hotpot
8. 粥 zhōu= congee
9. 水餃 shuǐ jiǎo= dumplings
10. 滷味 lǔ wèi= marinated dishes
Ordering Food: In this section, I am going to teach you how to order food in Chinese. It's easy and straightforward, and I have confidence that you will get it down with ease. Here's how we're going to learn. 1. I am providing you with a basic formula you can use to order/buy pretty much anything (not only food!), 2. You are going follow me as I take a trip to the market here in Taiwan(I'm getting hungry just typing this!). So, first up on our agenda…
The Formula: There is no set way on how to order something, but for our "standard" we are going to go with the following:
我(想)要 + ?
I want + the item that you want to order. For example, if I was at a restaurant and I wanted some fried rice, I would say "我(想)要炒飯". You can use this formula in pretty much any situation in which you are ordering/buying something.
Real-Life Application: So now let's put it all together and go to the market to order some food! This stand is called 黃媽媽傳統豆花 and it's located by the traditional market just down the street from the Puxin train station 埔心火車站。
I have had so many amazing experiences living and traveling in Taiwan, and I'd love to tell them all! So today I'm going to share a hitchhiking dā biàn chē搭便車 experience I had in my early years here in Taiwan.
It was mid-October, 2009 and the weather in Keelung was cold and wet…it's always wet there though. The port town of Keelung jī lóng基隆 in the North of the island has an infamous reputation for raining on people's parades(literally). It rains practically all 365 days of the year, and locals nick name it the "Rainy Port". The humidity there is ridiculous, and if you forget to turn on your dehumidifier, mildew will cover your walls in a heart beat(I myself had a horrible experience with this). Despite the weather, Keelung is a great place to get a feel for Taiwan. The local people are extremely friendly, and the beautiful coast and mountains surrounding the area are filled with beautiful locales waiting to be explored.
(Some pics of the beautiful harbor-town Keelung)
My Taiwanese fiancé Ruby and I had been dating for around a month, and we weren't going to let the weather win, so we decided to do what many Taiwanese locals love to do in the cold seasons and take a trip to the nearest hot-springs to soak. Hot-springs, or wēn quán溫泉 as they are called in Chinese, are prized for their restorative properties, and they have been since the Japanese occupation of Taiwan and before. In fact, many of the islands' hot-springs are historically tied to the Japanese colonization of Taiwan.
The closest place to Keelung is Jinshan, a town that exists only around the hotspring industry. Jinshan jīn shān金山 in Chinese means "gold mountain" and the amount of capital that the place generates with its hot-springs ensures that it is aptly named, though, unfortunately there is no mountain made of gold. Like many hot spring-towns in Taiwan, there are resorts of varying prices and quality lining the streets of Jin Shan.
Ready to pamper ourselves, Ruby and I got an early start. We headed downstairs and took a bus from my apartment complex to the train station. There are buses to practically anywhere you could want to go (within reason, none to Kending, or Penghu, sorry!) around the train station. We stocked up on some snacks, ordered a couple of teas, then found a bus headed for the resort town. It's fairly easy to get there from Keelung by bus, though you lose a lot of time waiting, and the ride itself is probably going to be around half-an-hour or longer, so it's best to drive if that's an option.
(A few photos of the community I lived in at the time)
When we got there, it was a simple matter of checking in at the various hot-springs and asking around about the best prices in town, as some of the fancier places can be quite pricey. If you have the money, it's worth it for the experience, but we were on a budget so we went the cheap-route. After looking around we found a decent place for around 250NT for fifty minutes. That was incredibly cheap, and I doubt it's possible to find a deal like that now. Though it wasn't the most beautiful place in town, it worked for us!
(Left: a picture of Jinshan. Just walk around until you find a place that suits your fancy. Right: a beautiful hot-spring resort in Jinshan…not where we went though!)
Quick Tip: For anyone planning to go to a hot-spring in Taiwan, remember to bring your own towel as you will have to buy one from the resort if you need one, and they generally overcharge much more than is reasonable. Also bring water or sports drinks, you'll need them!
Two things happen every time I visit a hot-spring. 1. I pay for around an hour of soaking time, but usually only use 20-30 minutes of that time. 2. I am completely dead-tired despite doing nothing but sit in water, and I usually sleep like a baby on the bus ride home. This time was no exception, but it took a considerable amount of effort to get there, so we decided to check out a famous temple in the area
The Eighteen Kings Temple shí bā wáng gōng 十八王公 is not far from Jinshan, so we decided to take a bus over and check it out. The temple is situated along the coast, and the waves can be big and scary on a windy day. The temple is famous due to the story of a fisherman and his dog. The fisherman drowned at sea, but his dog survived. Being the loyal animal it is, the dog jumped down into the grave the local people dug for the fisherman, not wanting to be separated from its master. Now people come there and make offerings to the dog and pray. It's a really cool place to visit, and just goes to show how awesome dogs are!
(People come here from all over to pray and make offerings)
(The dog that made this place famous!)
After leaving the temple, we once again got on a bus and headed back to Keelung…only after a while we realized that I had left my camera and we got off and tried to walk back to get it. We were a long way off at this point, but no buses were coming, so we just started walking, and the creepiest ting happened. After a while we looked back and we noticed that as we walked under the street lamps they were turning off, one-by-one, but all of the ones ahead of us were still lit. It was super creepy, just like something out of a scary movie!
About half-way back to the temple we came across a middle aged man parked on the side of the road. He had been fishing and was putting his catch in his trunk. We asked him how much further up the road the temple was, and he told us it was still pretty far, and offered to drop us off there. We took him up on his offer and got in the car. While driving, I remember him constantly muttering to himself, and given the setting and the lights from before, it was quite a strange encounter.
He dropped us off at the temple and we asked around if anyone had found a camera..,but no one had. After taking one last look around we headed back to the bus stop to wait for the next bus back to Keelung. I might have lost my camera, but I gained an interesting story to tell along the way. Too bad about all of the pictures I took though!
So there you have it. I hope you enjoyed this story, and I'd love to hear you share your own interesting stories or experiences in the comments below. See you next time!
We all have something that we just love to do. Personally, I love nothing more than relaxing on the couch with a good book, going to the movies, or if the weather is nice, spending a day outdoors and going for a hike in the mountains. But I don't love everything. I'm not particularly fond of waiting in lines(kinda ironic, as I live in Taiwan) and I'm not the biggest fan of traffic jams, but then, who is? In today's lesson, you are going to be learning how to talk about your likes and dislikes in Mandarin Chinese.
Expressing likes: In Mandarin, we say "我喜歡…", which means "I like…", we can use this as a general phrase to talk about things we like, or we can use it to form more specific sentences. For example, I can say 我喜歡蘋果 I like apples, or I could be more specific and tell you that 我喜歡吃蘋果 I like to eat apples. So let's take a look at the following sentences, and repeat along with me to check your pronunciation.
1. I like to play basketball. 我喜歡打籃球。 wŏ xĭ huān dă lán qiú.
2. I like to watch movies. 我喜歡看電影。 wŏ xĭ huān kàn diàn yĭng .
3. I like to go hiking. 我喜歡爬山。 wŏ xĭ huān pá shān.
4. I like reading novels. 我喜歡看小說。 wŏ xĭ huān kàn xiăo shuō.
5. I like listening to music. 我喜歡聽音樂。 wŏ xĭ huān tīng yīn yuè.
Watch the attached video file and practice repeating each phrase until you feel confident enough to move on to the next part.
——-
Expressing dislikes: Okay, so now you have the basics down, let's talk about dislikes. To make a negative statement in Mandarin Chinese, we usually add a 不 in front of the firs verb in a statement. This is not always the case, the negative form of the word "to have" 有, is 沒有. Note that a 沒 has been added in front of 有, not a 不, so saying 不有 would be incorrect. Just as when we were talking about likes, we can express dislikes in a general or more specific manner. So let's take our earlier example with the apples, 我喜歡吃蘋果, we can make this into a negative statement by adding a 不 before 喜歡, to indicate that we "don't like…" and it would look like his 我不喜歡吃蘋果, I don't like to eat apples. So let's take a closer look at how this is applied.
1. I don't like waking up early. 我不喜歡早起床。 wŏ bù xĭ huān zăo qĭ chuáng .
2. I don't like rainy weather. 我不喜歡下雨天。 wŏ bù xĭ huān xià yŭ tiān.
3. I don't like scary movies. 我不喜歡恐怖片。 wŏ bù xĭ huān kŏng bù piàn.
4. I don't like traffic jams. 我不喜歡塞車。 wŏ bù xĭ huān sāi chē .
5. I don't like to wait in lines. 我不喜歡派對。 wŏ bù xĭ huān pài duì.
Watch the attached video file and practice repeating each phrase until you feel confident enough to move on to the next part.
Note, when answering a question, answers are are often cut short, as the topic of the sentence is understood. So, going back to our apple analogy, if someone asks you 你喜歡吃蘋果嗎？It's acceptable to answer 我喜歡吃 or 我不喜歡吃, or just simply say 喜歡(吃) or 不喜歡(吃), rather than a full statement 我喜歡吃蘋果 or 我不喜歡吃蘋果. Don't worry about remembering all of that now, the important point is that you realize Mandarin is a flexible language.
Dialogue: Read and listen to the following dialogue, then answer the questions below.
A: Sara! Where are going? 莎拉！ 你去哪裡？ shā lā ！nĭ qù nă lĭ ？
B: Oh, hi Thom! You scared me! 喔，你好湯拇 ！你嚇我一跳！ ō, nĭ hăo tāng mŭ ！nĭ xià wŏ yī tiào ！
A: Sorry! I just saw you walking and wanted to see what you were doing. 對不起！ 我剛看到你走路，想要知道你在幹嘛。 duì bù qĭ ！wŏ gāng kàn dào nĭ zŏu lù, xiăng yào zhī dào nĭ zài gàn ma.
B: It's okay, I'm fine! I'm going hiking with some friends. 沒關係，我沒事！ 我要跟一些朋友一起去爬山。 méi guān xì, wŏ méi shì ！wŏ yào gēn yī xiē péng yŏu yī qĭ qù pá shān.
A: I can't stand hiking, it's exhausting! 我受不了爬山，太累了！ wŏ shòu bù liǎo pá shān, tài lèi le！
B: I like it a lot! I think it's really fun! 我很喜歡！ 我覺得很好玩！ wŏ hĕn xĭ huān ！wŏ jué de hĕn hăo wán ！
A: I like swimming! It feels great on a hot day like this! 我喜歡游泳！ 天氣像今天怎麼熱，就很舒服！ wŏ xĭ huān yóu yŏng ！tiān qì xiàng jīn tiān zĕn me rè, jiù hĕn shū fú ！
B: I like swimming a lot too! 我也很喜歡游泳！ wŏ yĕ hĕn xĭ huān yóu yŏng ！
A: Then let's go swimming together next weekend. 那麼，我們下個周末一起去游泳吧。 nà me, wŏ men xià gè zhōu mò yī qĭ qù yóu yŏng ba.
B: Only if you come hiking with us today! 今天跟我們一起來，我才跟你去啊！ jīn tiān gēn wŏ men yī qĭ lái, wŏ cái gēn nĭ qù a ！
A: Okay okay, it's a deal! 好了好了，我同意了！ hăo le hăo le, wŏ tóng yì le ！
Notes: In Chinese, nouns have a special measure word. The most common one is 個, when in doubt just say 個 and you'll probably be right! I'll be introducing more of these to you in later lessons. Also, the character 了 is used to show a change of state or that something has taken place, such as past action. There are other ways to speak about the past in Chinese, and other ways to use 了, so more on this in the future. 吧 is usually used to indicate a suggestion.
Comprehension Questions: I'm not going to give you an English translation for the following questions, I want to see how much you can intuitively figure out from what we have already learned. Take a minute to email me you answers and I will let you know how you did! Consider it "homework".
1. 誰被嚇到了？ shéi bèi xià dào le？
2. 湯拇喜歡爬山嗎？
tāng mŭ xĭ huān pá shān ma？
3. 誰喜歡游泳？ shéi xĭ huān yóu yŏng？
4. 他們要一起去幹嘛？ tā men yào yī qĭ qù gàn ma？
5. 湯拇同意了嗎？ tāng mŭ tóng yì le ma？
Essential Vocabulary: Here's a list of some of the most useful phrases that we learned in this lesson. Practice them and record yourself and compare your pronunciation to mine.
1. 你嚇我一跳= you scared me 2. 剛= just 3. 看到= see 4. 走路= walk 5. 知道= know 6. 在幹嘛= doing(what?) 7. 我沒事= I'm fine 8. 一些= a few 9. 朋友= friend(s) 10. 我受不了= I can't stand… 11. 太累了= tiring 12. 覺得= think 13. 游泳= swimming 14. 天氣= weather 15. 像= to be like (something) 16. 今天= today 17. 熱= hot 18. 就= in that case/then 19. 很= very 20. 舒服= comfortable 21. 我們= we/us 22. 下個周末= next weekend 23. 同意= agree
…So I had to go get my fix, and it was FANTASTIC! In fact, I decided to film the experience and let you all take a glimpse at every-day life in Taiwan. Now I do love me a nice, hot cup of traditional, loose-leaf tea, but the stuff is expensive and much better to enjoy with family and friends. I decided to go the cheap and anti-social route today, so I headed over to the neighborhood Coco (dōu kĕ 都可 in Chinese, but everyone just calls it Coco).
(I need my tea!)
They are located near the Welcome dĭng hăo 頂好 down the street from the Puxin train station pŭ xīn huŏ chē zhàn 埔心火車站. Coco is my favorite of the millions of teashops chá diàn 茶店 you can find crowding the streets in Taipei, Kaoshiung, and pretty much everywhere else in Taiwan. The reasons are as follows:
1. The staff diàn yuán 店員 at the stores that I frequent have excellent attitudes and are friendly and very helpful.
2. Their prices are affordable, and they don't short you on tea by overfilling your cup with ice like they do at qīng xīn 清心, another popular chain of tea-stores from the south of Taiwan.
3. I prefer the way their sugar-free tea tastes over what they server at other stores. It has a bitter sè 澀 flavor to it and I love bitter tea, though I guess this may be an acquired taste. Don't worry though, because they have plenty of sweetened drinks for you to try!
4. Did I mention that it's cheap? This is seriously a driving factor for me, as I am currently a jobless bum living on savings!
So there you have it, try them out if you have a chance. And if you already have, what's your favorite drink to get there? Personally, I am a big fan of the yoghurt green tea yăng lè duō lù chá 養樂多錄茶!
(Thanks again to the awesome staff for being so helpful and putting up with my insanity!)
Please watch my video and comment on it if you have the time! The guy in the video was really nice to let me take this video. At one point he was surprised that I spoke a little Taiwanese, and I was too! Here I am, supposed to be teaching you guys Mandarin! I hope you enjoyed this article, and see you here next time!
Languages: I saved this section for after we had gotten to be familiar with different countries of the world and their nationalities in Chinese, as it is a little more complex to form languages. Now don't go getting discouraged on me, you can do it, it just may take you a little more practice. The reason being, there are multiple ways to form the name of a language in Chinese. Just as we added 人 to 英國 to get 英國人, there are also several building blocks for "converting" a country to a language. The basic pieces are the country(minus the character 國 if present in the country's name), 文, 語 and 話. But they aren't one size fits all, unlike 人. For example, I could translate English as 英文 (note that the 國 gets cut off) or 英語, but I couldn't say 英國話.
To sum it up, the formula is:
country(-國) + 文/語 = language
Or, sometimes…
country + 話 = language
So lets take a look at the languages spoken in each of the countries we've learned, and the different ways we can say them. Lets also take this opportunity to practice making sentences with 講 jiǎng, which means to speak.
Story: Now read along with and listen to the following story. Use the vocabulary along with the grammar you just learned to answer the "homework" questions below.
Last year, William went traveling in China. He met a lot of friendly Chinese people and ate a lot of Chinese food…he even learned how
to use chopsticks! He also met people from many different countries. He made a Japanese friend named Takashi. Takashi couldn't speak English, so they used Chinese to communicate! William had fun in China, but he's glad to be back in America with his family.
qù nián wēi lián qù zhōng guó lǚ xíng. tā yŏu rèn shí hĕn duō hăo de zhōng guó rén hé chī le hĕn duō zhōng guó cài…shèn zhì tā xué huì yòng kuài zi！tā yŏu rèn shí guò yī wèi rì bĕn de péng yŏu jiào Takashi. Takashi bù huì jiăng yīng wén suŏ yĭ tā men yòng zhōng wén gōu tōng le！wēi lián zài zhōng guó de shí hòu guò de hĕn kuài lè dàn shì tā xiàn zài hĕn kāi xīn huí lái mĕi guó gēn tā jiā rén zài yī qĭ.
Comprehension Questions:
1. 威廉現在在中國嗎？ wēi lián xiàn zài zài zhōng guó ma？
2. 威廉有吃了很多日本的菜嗎？ wēi lián yŏu chī le hĕn duō rì bĕn de cài ma？
3. Takashi 是德國人嗎？ Takashi shì dé guó rén ma？
4. Takashi 會講英文嗎？ Takashi huì jiăng yīng wén ma？
5. 威廉現在為什麼快樂？ wēi lián xiàn zài wéi shén me kuài lè？
Essential Vocabulary: Here's a list of some of the most useful phrases that we learned in this lesson. Practice them and record yourself and compare your pronunciation to mine.
If you missed it, check out the first two posts in this three-part series here and here! And now, for the grand finale…
On Sunday I went with a group of friends to go exploring in shī tóu shān 獅頭山, Lion-Head Mountain. The mountain park is huge and borders both Xinzhu and Miaoli Counties. Just as any good adventure, we went in with only a vague idea of what we were doing and where we would end up, and as usual, Taiwan did not disappoint.
The most challenging part of the day was getting to 獅頭山, which isn't easy if you don't have a car, but it is manageable. We took a shuttle-bus from Zhongli to the Taoyuan HSR station and bought our tickets. Honestly, this was part of the fun of the trip in itself, as I had never been on the HSR (High-speed rail) in all of my time in Taiwan. We didn't get seats, and surprisingly had to stand, which I would have thought was not allowed, but I'm not going to complain as it was just a ten minute train ride to the Xinzhu HSR station(the normal train is around an hour). From the HSR station, we went and hopped on a shuttle-bus to the 獅頭山 visitors' center. The tickets ran us 100NT a person and included round-trip fare(though be careful, the last bus back is at 6pm).
Once in the park, we visited the visitors' and got maps of the local attractions, then we hit the trails!
(Check in at the visitors' center to get a map)
It was a surprisingly hot day, but luckily I had sunscreen this time. The hike up the main trail was not very difficult, though it was pretty steep. It took us well under an hour to climb. Along the way were tons of smaller side-trails and temples, but we didn't check them out this time, as we had thought we would see them on the way back, but plans have a way of changing. More to explore next time!
(on the way up)
At one point at the top of the trail, you have an awesome view of the mountains and a giant Buddha in the distance. And then you head down a trail, into the jungle and towards the mountain's main attraction.
(You can just make out the giant Buddha in the distance…grab a hiking stick if you need one, you're not there yet!)
(Descend through the jungle, and you will be well rewarded!)
After hiking through the peaceful forest trail, you come out into a clearing where you find yourself dwarfed by the area's huge temple, which is carved out of the face of a cliff. This place has such an incredible view of the surrounding mountains, and it's unreal to think about the manpower and dedication that went into building it.
(Go ahead, soak-up the view!)
We rested at the top and enjoyed the view for a bit, then we went into the temple and burned incense and I explained some of the traditional religious practices to my friends before we left.
We headed down to the lower levels and were pleasantly surprised to see a group of musicians playing traditional music in a pagoda by the cliff-edge, as well as a store selling many traditional items, such as paper money for burnt-offerings and intricately detailed folded-paper dragons and boats for the same purpose.
(A good chance to take a look at the traditional side of Chinese culture)
By this time we were hungry, so we followed the signs to the temple's restaurant. The meal was delicious and inexpensive, only costing us 600NT for five people. And the food was vegetarian, naturally, as we were in a temple! There are also rooms available for travelers who want to stay the night and watch the sunset in the majestic mountains.
(You'll be hungry when you make it up here!)
Wile we were up-top, we spotted a giant Buddha statue in the distance and decided that we wanted to get a closer look.
We hiked down to the road level and found a bus to the 獅頭山 visitors' center, then took two other buses to get to Emei Lake é méi hú 峨眉湖, the home of the giant Maitreya Buddha.
(A view of the temple from down below, the bus stop is down here)
It was difficult getting there without a car, and in hindsight I think that a cab ride would have been far more practical, but that's what made it an adventure!
(Nice country roads the bus will take you down as you go to Emei Lake)
Unfortunately you are not allowed to go into the enclosure where the Buddha stands unless in a tour group, and there weren't any when we were there. The Buddha easily dwarfs the nearby building, which is massive in its own right, and there are lots of other impressive sculptures in the surrounding area, but they pale in comparison.
(That's one big Buddha!)
(The sign above the entrance says "the world is one family"…that includes pigs too!)
The area surrounding the Buddha was originally built as a reservoir, though it is no longer used as such, and there is a nice trail which you can follow around the lake and across a suspension bridge, though it was under renovation when we were there so we couldn't take a closer look. Still, it was worth the trip to see a Buddha statue that is taller than the Statue of Liberty!
Lion-Head Mountain- The easiest way to get here is by car, but you can also take a bus from the Xinzhu HSR station directly.
Emei Lake- It's tricky getting here without transportation, I suggest taking a bus from the Lion-Head Mountain visitors' center and then switching buses, or take a taxi
Where are you from? Where are going? Where would you like to visit? These are all questions you need to be able to answer! So today's lesson is going to focus on introducing you to a base of countries you can speak about in Chinese. Of course this list is not exhaustive(I don't even know EVERY country in the world's English name for crying out loud!), but this is a good place to start. If you are interested in learning the names of any specific countries that aren't in the list (not because I don't like them, just because my fingers hurt from all the typing, lol!), then please feel free to send me an email and I'll add it to the list right away, boss! It is also helpful to know what people from different countries are called and what languages they speak, so I will teach you each respective country on the list below's nationality in this lesson. Check out the next lesson in this series to learn about talking about languages in Mandarin. Remember to review last week's lesson if you haven't already.
It's easy, and I know you will get it down fast. So without further delay…
Countries:
1. America 美國 mĕi guó
2. Canada 加拿大 jiā ná dà
3. Mexico 墨西哥 mòxīgē
4. Brazil 巴西 bāxī
5. England 英國 yīng guó
6. Spain 西班牙 xī bān yá
7. France 法國 fă guó
8. Italy 義大利 yì dà lì
9. Germany 德國 dé guó
10. Greece 希臘 xī là
11. Russia 俄羅斯 é luó sī
12. Turkey 土耳其 tǔ' ěr qí
13. The Philippines 菲律賓 fēi lǜ bīn
14. India 印度 yìn dù
15. Malaysia 馬來西亞 mǎ lái xī yà
16. Japan 日本 rìběn
17. Thailand 泰國 tài guó
18. Singapore 新加坡 xīn jiā pō
19. China 中國 zhōng guó
20. Taiwan 台(臺)灣 tái wān
Practice the above list until you are fairly familiar with it, then proceed to the next part.
Nationalities: if you know the above list of countries, then you practically already know the nationalities too! Good job! See? It's easy to learn a new language! And doesn't it feel good? Now all you need is one additional word to fit into the "equation"…and the missing piece to the puzzle is the word 人 rén, which means person or people(Mandarin Chinese doesn't differentiate between singular and plural noun forms, instead the number is determined by context…but we're getting ahead of ourselves, so back up a step!). So all you do intake one of the countries from the list above and add 人 behind it. So, I am American would be: 我是美國人
To sum it up, the formula is:
country + 人 = nationality
So let's practice saying the nationalities together (this will really help to reinforce your previous learning).
1. American 美國人
2. Canadian 加拿大人
3. Mexican 墨西哥人
4. BrazilIan 巴西人
5. English 英國人
6. Spanish 西班牙人
7. French 法國人
8. Italian 義大利人
9. German 德國人
10. Greek 希臘人
11. Russian 俄羅斯人
12. Turkish 土耳其人
13. Filipino 菲律賓人
14. Indian 印度人
15. Malaysian 馬來西亞人
16. Japanese 日本人
17. Thai 泰國人
18. Singaporean 新加坡人
19. Chinese 中國人
20. Taiwanese 台(臺)灣人
Review: This is a cumulative review of lessons 1-4. For questions 1-5, please listen to the audio file and answer the questions correctly in Chinese. For questions 6-10 please translate the English phrases into the correct Chinese phrases. As usual, please feel free to make a recording and submit it for "grading". This should be easy for you guys!
1. 你叫什麼名字？
2. 你是從哪裡來的？
3. 你幾歲？
4. 你吃飽了嗎？
5. 你是哪國人？
6. Good morning
7. Long time no see
8. Not yet
9. Immediately
10. Goodbye
Make sure you are familiar with the above vocabulary before proceeding to the next lesson, because, while the next portion builds on the last few sections, it is also more complicated. You want to Learn Chinese, right? So get to it!
Okay, since most of you who will be coming to Taiwan will probably be teaching ESL or doing some other kind of work, I figured I'd outline the tax filing bào shuì 報稅 process for you, since I filed mine the day before yesterday, for the second time this year.
Taxes are filed in May, and the process is generally really easy, though not all schools will tell you how to handle it, even if it's your first year in Taiwan. All you have to do is take your W2(the Taiwanese equivalent at least), your passport and ARC down to your local tax office and pull a number and wait in line at the counter that handles alien taxation (no, not aliens like the ones that built the pyramids, alien as in foreigner!).
I have filed taxes in 4 different cities here, and I find that the quality of service varies (one guy made me do all of the counting, and one guy seemed like he couldn't count himself!) but I have found that overall the tax clerks have been very helpful. You may even end up working for a school that handles your taxes(not ideal, in my opinion), in which case you may never have to see the inside of a tax office.
There is also an e-filing service, though I would not recommend using it (it was really buggy when I tried to use it a few years ago, and I ended up having to go into the office anyway!).
Other than all of that, I'll leave you with a few pros and cons to chew on.
Pros:
1. Foreigners can file their taxes a few months early and get their tax returns faster than locals.
2. It is really easy to file taxes in Taiwan, and the tax office clerks usually help you with all of the hard parts, and will tell you about things you can deduct (such as rent, depending on your income).
3. You can get your return even faster if you use direct deposit
Cons:
1. The e-filing service is not very user friendly.
2. Foreigners cannot file by mail, though Taiwanese can.
3. If you are leaving Taiwan, you will be able to file for a return, though you will not be able to use direct deposit (you will need to sign a waiver to allow a friend to pick up the return for you).
This past Thursday, I went to Yangming Mountain Park with a few friends. This place is huge, the air is fresh and the scenery is beautiful. There are tons of hiking trails, hot springs and scenery to take in, and it's also a famous place to go to see Taiwan's national flower, the beautiful plum-blossom méi huā 梅花, and many others when they bloom in the spring.
(Ruby and I with some beautiful plum blossoms…not at Yangming Mountain Park though!)
But we didn't wake-up at 5AM to take the train from Zhongli to Taipei just to see a bunch of flowers! Our mission was hiking to the tallest peak in the park, qī xīng shān 七星山 Seven-Star Mountain.
(A shot of the train station in the early morning)
We took the hóng 紅15 bus from MRT Jiantan Station which goes directly to the trail head. On my previous visit, I had taken bus number 260 from Taipei Main Station and switched busses at the Yangming Mountain Park visitors' center. Either way will work fine, depending on your plans.
This was my first time taking a bus directly to 七星山 though, and like any good adventure, it was a little chaotic. When we got off the bus, the sky looked really gloomy, and before we had figured out where the trail was, it started raining heavily. Luckily we were right next to a free wēn quán 溫泉 hot spring, and we were faced with a choice. We could either climb-up into the mountains in the pouring rain and freeze our butts off, or we could soak in the hot spring for a bit and wait the weather out. Easy choice, only there was an unexpected surprise…
(The hot spring from out front)
(The hot spring is on the other side…a naked hot spring. I had no idea it was going to be this kind of party!)
After relaxing in the hot spring, we decided to figure out where to go and asked around a bit. Eventually we took a bus back to the visitors center and got on another bus to take us to the trail head. We got off at the deceptively named 七星山 stop, which was nowhere near the mountain, and we had to walk for a bit before coming to the trail.
I had done this hike a few years earlier in the hottest part of the summer with my fiancé, Ruby, but it was a totally different animal this time. Hiking in the summer's heat made it a lot more difficult and exhausting, but this time it felt rather easy and it only took about an hour-and-a-half up and down, whereas it had probably taken around three hours total the last time. As you climb up, you can see tons of sulfur deposits and it feels like you've traveled to another planet.
(This sign talks about the volcanoes in the area which we owe the hotsprings to!)
(A few pictures of the misty mountain)
I had wanted to make this hike again because the last time I was there, my camera's batteries died when I got to the peak, and I was hoping to take a few pictures of the scenery from the top this time. Nature was conspiring against me, however, as the higher we went the foggier it got. we could barely see anything. And after a while the wind picked up and I felt like I was going to be blown away!
(They were building a new rest area and had left all of the tools out. This is when the wind picked up!)
(Here I am at the top. Couldn't really see much that day)
After hanging out at the top for a bit, we made our way back down the other side of the mountain and checked out the other peak. The scenery was spectacular and it was a fairly easy hike down. Embarrassingly, the trail ended just by the Lengshuikeng hot spring where we had started off at!
(Soaking our feet in the hot spring water)
Unfortunately the hot spring was closed for cleaning, though we soaked our feet in a natural hot spring pool just out front. It was cold, windy and we were hungry, but it was another amazing day in Taiwan.
Adios, arrivederci, bon voyage, good bye, so long, goodnight. ..what do these phrases have in common? They are all ways to say goodbye, in one way or another. In fact you could assemble another list entirely out of negative ways to express the same idea, such as: beat it, shove off, get lost, hit the road and of course @&$? Off! In this lesson you are going to learn some of the most common parting phrases in Mandarin Chinese. This list is not exhaustive, and many things may depend on the situation, but this should get you started exploring the idea.
1. 再見 zài jiàn= goodbye 2. 等一下見 dĕng yī xià jiàn= see you soon 3. 明天見 míng tiān jiàn= see you tomorrow 4. 下一次見 xià yī cì jiàn= see you next time 5. 有空再來 yŏu kōng zài lái= come again when you have time
Listen to the attached audio file and practice repeating each phrase until you feel confident enough to move on to the next part.
Dialogue: Read and listen to the following dialogue, then answer the questions below.
A: Edward, hurry up and get downstairs. Now! 愛徳華，趕快下來。馬上！ ài dé huá găn kuài xià lái. mă shàng!
A: I'll see you tonight. Be good at school. 晚上見。你乖乖上課。 wăn shàng jiàn. nĭ guāi guāi shàng kè
B: I will Mom. Bye! 我會媽媽。再見！ wŏ huì mā mā. zài jiàn!
Comprehension Questions: I'm not going to give you an English translation for the following questions, I want to see how much you can intuitively figure out from what we have already learned. Take a minute to email me you answers and I will let you know how you did! Consider it "homework".
Essential Vocabulary: Here's a list of some of the most useful phrases that we learned in this lesson. Practice them and record yourself and compare your pronunciation to mine.
1.趕快= quickly 2.下來= come down(stairs) 3.馬上= at once/immediately 4.我要來了= I'm coming 5.快一點來= hurry up 6.你快要遲到了= you're almost late 7.至少= at least 8.可以= can/able 9….上有…= there's…on the… 10.乖乖上課= behave in school
![\"1-2\"](\"https://eazychinese.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/1-2.jpg\")
![\"1-3\"](\"https://eazychinese.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/1-3.jpg\")
![\"DSC06055\"](\"http://lifeasaforeignerintaiwan.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/dsc06055.jpg\")
![\"OLYMPUS](\"http://lifeasaforeignerintaiwan.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/090_p3140127.jpg\")
![\"OLYMPUS](\"http://lifeasaforeignerintaiwan.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/091_p3140144.jpg\")
![\"OLYMPUS](\"http://lifeasaforeignerintaiwan.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/087_p3140122.jpg\")
![\"OLYMPUS](\"http://lifeasaforeignerintaiwan.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/059_p3100063.jpg\")
![\"OLYMPUS](\"http://lifeasaforeignerintaiwan.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/055_p3100059.jpg\")
![\"OLYMPUS](\"http://lifeasaforeignerintaiwan.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/002_the-courtyard-garden-i-love-it.jpg\")
![\"OLYMPUS](\"http://lifeasaforeignerintaiwan.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/015_the-apartment-complex.jpg\")
![\"800px-Jinshan,_Taipei\"](\"http://lifeasaforeignerintaiwan.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/800px-jinshan_taipei.jpg\")
![\"11058_1\"](\"http://lifeasaforeignerintaiwan.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/11058_1.jpg?w=300\")
![\"DSC06061\"](\"http://lifeasaforeignerintaiwan.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/dsc06061.jpg\")
![\"DSC06062\"](\"http://lifeasaforeignerintaiwan.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/dsc06062.jpg\")
![\"DSC06059\"](\"http://lifeasaforeignerintaiwan.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/dsc06059-e1384082114913.jpg\")
![\"6\"](\"https://eazychinese.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/6.jpg\")
![\"7\"](\"https://eazychinese.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/7.jpg\")
![\"IMG_7252\"](\"http://lifeasaforeignerintaiwan.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/img_7252.jpg\")
![\"IMG_7254\"](\"http://lifeasaforeignerintaiwan.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/img_7254.jpg\")
![\"IMG_3437\"](\"https://eazychinese.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/IMG_3437.jpg\")
![\"IMG_7217\"](\"http://lifeasaforeignerintaiwan.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/img_7217.jpg\")
![\"IMG_7046\"](\"http://lifeasaforeignerintaiwan.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/img_7046.jpg\")
![\"IMG_7047\"](\"http://lifeasaforeignerintaiwan.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/img_7047.jpg\")
![\"IMG_7049\"](\"http://lifeasaforeignerintaiwan.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/img_70491.jpg\")
![\"IMG_7052\"](\"http://lifeasaforeignerintaiwan.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/img_70521.jpg\")
![\"IMG_7072\"](\"http://lifeasaforeignerintaiwan.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/img_7072.jpg\")
![\"IMG_7058\"](\"http://lifeasaforeignerintaiwan.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/img_7058.jpg\")
![\"IMG_7067\"](\"http://lifeasaforeignerintaiwan.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/img_7067.jpg\")
![\"IMG_7087\"](\"http://lifeasaforeignerintaiwan.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/img_70871.jpg\")
![\"IMG_7092\"](\"http://lifeasaforeignerintaiwan.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/img_7092.jpg\")
![\"IMG_7094\"](\"http://lifeasaforeignerintaiwan.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/img_7094.jpg\")
![\"IMG_7107\"](\"http://lifeasaforeignerintaiwan.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/img_7107.jpg\")
![\"IMG_7105\"](\"http://lifeasaforeignerintaiwan.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/img_7105.jpg\")
![\"IMG_7104\"](\"http://lifeasaforeignerintaiwan.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/img_7104.jpg\")
![\"IMG_7111\"](\"http://lifeasaforeignerintaiwan.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/img_71111.jpg\")
![\"IMG_7135\"](\"http://lifeasaforeignerintaiwan.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/img_7135.jpg\")
![\"IMG_7155\"](\"http://lifeasaforeignerintaiwan.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/img_7155.jpg\")
![\"IMG_7157\"](\"http://lifeasaforeignerintaiwan.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/img_7157.jpg\")
![\"IMG_7156\"](\"http://lifeasaforeignerintaiwan.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/img_7156.jpg\")
![\"IMG_7176\"](\"http://lifeasaforeignerintaiwan.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/img_7176.jpg\")
![\"IMG_7179\"](\"http://lifeasaforeignerintaiwan.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/img_7179.jpg\")
![\"IMG_7186\"](\"http://lifeasaforeignerintaiwan.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/img_7186.jpg\")
![\"IMG_7196\"](\"http://lifeasaforeignerintaiwan.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/img_7196.jpg\")
![\"IMG_7193\"](\"http://lifeasaforeignerintaiwan.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/img_7193.jpg\")
![\"IMG_7205\"](\"http://lifeasaforeignerintaiwan.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/img_7205.jpg\")
![\"IMG_7218\"](\"http://lifeasaforeignerintaiwan.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/img_7218.jpg\")
![\"IMG_7223\"](\"http://lifeasaforeignerintaiwan.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/img_7223.jpg\")
![\"IMG_7235\"](\"http://lifeasaforeignerintaiwan.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/img_7235.jpg\")
![\"IMG_7229\"](\"http://lifeasaforeignerintaiwan.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/img_7229.jpg\")
![\"3\"](\"https://eazychinese.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/3.jpg\")
![\"4\"](\"https://eazychinese.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/4.jpg\")
![\"IMG_7003\"](\"http://lifeasaforeignerintaiwan.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/img_7003.jpg\")
![\"IMG_7002\"](\"http://lifeasaforeignerintaiwan.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/img_7002.jpg\")
![\"IMG_7004\"](\"http://lifeasaforeignerintaiwan.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/img_7004.jpg\")
![\"IMG_7005\"](\"http://lifeasaforeignerintaiwan.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/img_7005.jpg\")
![\"2013-10-03](\"http://lifeasaforeignerintaiwan.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/2013-10-03-12-24-06.jpg\")
![\"DSC01436\"](\"http://lifeasaforeignerintaiwan.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/dsc01436.jpg\")
![\"2013-10-03](\"http://lifeasaforeignerintaiwan.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/2013-10-03-05-35-02.jpg\")
![\"2013-10-03](\"http://lifeasaforeignerintaiwan.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/2013-10-03-08-33-27.jpg\")
![\"2013-10-03](\"http://lifeasaforeignerintaiwan.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/2013-10-03-09-39-58.jpg\")
![\"2013-10-03](\"http://lifeasaforeignerintaiwan.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/2013-10-03-09-40-09.jpg\")
![\"2013-10-03](\"http://lifeasaforeignerintaiwan.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/2013-10-03-12-27-40.jpg\")
![\"2013-10-03](\"http://lifeasaforeignerintaiwan.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/2013-10-03-12-29-16.jpg\")
![\"2013-10-03](\"http://lifeasaforeignerintaiwan.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/2013-10-03-12-27-51.jpg\")
![\"2013-10-03](\"http://lifeasaforeignerintaiwan.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/2013-10-03-11-05-22.jpg\")
![\"2013-10-03](\"http://lifeasaforeignerintaiwan.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/2013-10-03-11-23-33.jpg\")
![\"1380362_10202130031873032_1229077450_n\"](\"http://lifeasaforeignerintaiwan.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/1380362_10202130031873032_1229077450_n.jpg\")
![\"2013-10-03](\"http://lifeasaforeignerintaiwan.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/2013-10-03-13-20-35.jpg\")
![\"1382229_10202130041513273_140756911_n\"](\"http://lifeasaforeignerintaiwan.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/1382229_10202130041513273_140756911_n.jpg\")
![\"8\"](\"https://eazychinese.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/8.jpg\")
![](\"http://lifeasaforeignerintaiwan.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/2013-10-03-09-40-59.jpg\"){kind=link}