Mid-Term Review! Flashcards

Lesson 1-4 Vocabulary and Sentences: click 这里

Lesson 5-8 Vocabulary and Sentences: click 这里

Lesson 9-12 Vocabulary and Sentences: click 这里

Tablet Experiment: Map-Making

Create a Collaborative Map of China in the FlockDraw Drawing Program.

On your map, include:

- political features (major cities, provinces, capitals)
- physical features (rivers, lakes, mountain ranges, deserts, oceans, seas)
- bordering countries and surrounding islands

*awards for the best map!*

Group 1
Group 2
Group 3
Group 4

trying the tablets... SKRITTER-RAMA!

Skritter is a web-based character-writing tool.  We have a temporary trial account with Skritter.  Help us try it out!  Tell us how you like it!

To access our Skritter Group, click 这里.

第七课的录音：Lesson 7 Recording

我的同学叫白大卫，他的爸爸是美国人，他们住在公园路。他住的是大楼，大楼叫“爱华大楼”。他们住在十二楼。我家也在公园路，我们不住大楼。我家是十五号。

Wǒ de tóng xué jiào Bái DàWèi, tā de bà ba shì Měi Guó rén, tā men zhù zài Gōng Yuán Lù. Tā zhù de shì dà lóu, dà lóu jiào "Aì Huá Dà Lóu". Tā men zhù shíèr lóu . Wǒ jiā zài Gōng Yuán Lù, wǒ men bú zhù dà  lóu. Wǒ jiā shì shíwǔ hào.

第六课的录音：Lesson 6 Recording

Challenge:
我有爸爸，妈妈，一个哥哥，一个姐姐， 一个弟弟和一个妹妹。 我爱我的爸爸和妈妈。 我也爱我的哥哥，姐姐，弟弟和妹妹。 他们也爱我。 我爱我的家。
Wǒ yǒu bàba, māma, yī ge gēge, yī ge jiěji, yī ge dìdi hé yī ge mèimei.  Wǒ ài bàba hé māma.  Wǒ yě ài gēge, jiějie, dìdi hé mèimei.  Tāmen yě ài wǒ.  Wǒ ài wǒ de jiā.

Reading:
我家有五个人，他们是：爸爸，妈妈，哥哥，姐姐和我。我上大华中学七年级，哥哥和姐姐上大华高中。爸爸妈妈爱我们，我们也爱他们。
Wǒ jiā yǒu wǔ ge rén, tāmen shì: bàba, māma, gēge, jiějie hé wǒ .  Wǒ ài Dà Huá Zhōng Xué qī niánjí, gēge hé jiějie shàng Dà Huá Gāo Zhōng . Bàba Māma ài wǒmen, wǒmen ài tāmen.

第四课的录音：Lesson 4 Recording

你是哪国人？Nǐ shì nǎ guó rén ?

我是中国人。Wǒ shì zhōng guó rén.

他是哪国人？Tā shì nǎ guó rén?

他是美国人。Tā shì měi guó rén.

你是中国人吗？Nǐ shì zhōng guó rén ma?

不是，我不是中国人。Bú shì, wǒ bú shì zhōng guó rén.

我是英国人。Wǒ shì yīng guó rén.

她是不是美国人？Tā shì bú shì měi guó rén?

不是，她不是美国人。Bú shì, tā bú shì měi guó rén.

她是加拿大人。Tā shì jiā ná dà rén.

Number Love Song! 数字恋爱

第三课：Lesson 3

yī   一
èr   二
sān   三
sì   四
wǔ  五 
liù   六
qī   七
bā   八
jiǔ   九
shí   十
duō   多
dà   大
duō  dà  多大
suì   岁
ne   呢
nǐ  ne  你呢
yě  也

你多大？  nǐ   duō   dà ?
我十二岁。 你呢？  wǒ   shí èr   suì.   nǐ   ne? 
我十四岁。  wǒ   shí sì   suì. 

他多大？ tā   duō   dà? 
他十五岁。 tā   shí wǔ   suì. 

老师多大？  lǎo  shī  duō  dà? 
老师二十七岁。  lǎo  shī  èr shí qī  suì.

第二课：Lesson 2

叫 jiào  
什么 shén me  
名字 míng zi  
王 wáng  
小文 xiǎo wén   
李 lǐ   
大中 dà  zhōng  
他 tā  
她 tā  
白 bái   
大卫 dà wèi   
玛丽 mǎ lì   


你叫什么名字?  Nǐ jiào shénme míngzi?   
我叫王小文。 Wǒ jiào Wáng Xiǎo Wén.  
你叫什么名字?  Nǐ jiào shénme míngzi?
我叫李大中。 Wǒ jiào Lǐ DàZhōng.


他叫什么名字？ Tā jiào shénme míngzi? 
他叫白大卫。 Tā jiào Bái DàWèi.
她叫什么名字？ Tā jiào shénme míngzi?   
她叫白玛丽。 Tā jiào Bái MǎLì.

选名字：Choosing a Name

The first step is finding a compatible surname. You might pick one that sounds like your English last name. Or you can pick based on the meaning of the character.

You can investigate the most common family names (surnames) and their meanings: here

Here's a very good tool to help you explore a given name that suits you: here
And another: here
This tool also provides several options: here

Here are some examples of the classic phonetic way (transliteration) for a foreigner to convert their name to Chinese: here

Lastly, I'd like to share a nice blog post by ChinesePod superstar Jenny Zhu on the nature of Chinese names: here

中秋快乐！Zhōng Qiū Kuài Lè

Mid Autumn Festival (Moon Festival) takes place on the 15th day of the 8th month of the lunar calendar. That's today, September 12th, 2011!

for an overview of Mid Autumn Festival, follow the links here below. they'll take you to some helpful articles on the subject:

http://taoism.about.com/od/holidays/a/MidAutumn_Festival.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon_Festival

Important Festival Vocabulary:
zhōng 中 center, middle
qiū 秋 autumn, fall
jié 节 festival
zhōng qiū jié 中秋节 mid autumn festival
kuài lè 快乐 happy, joyous
zhōng qiū kuài lè 中秋快乐 happy mid autumn festival
yuè bǐng 月饼 moon cake
shǎng yuè 赏月 to admire the moon

第一课的生词和录音：Lesson 1 Vocabulary and Recording

nǐ 你
hǎo 好
nǐ hǎo 你好
tóng 同
xué 学
tóng xué 同学
men 们
lǎo 老
shī 师
lǎo shī 老师
wǒ 我
wǒ men 我们
ma 吗
zài 再
jiàn 见
zài jiàn 再见

Stroke Order

Writing characters in the correct order is essential for the character to look correct. Two basic rules are followed:
Stroke Order
1. Top before bottom

2. Left before right

These rules conflict whenever one stroke is to the bottom and left of another. Several additional rules resolve many of these conflicts.
3. Left vertical stroke (usually) before top horizontal stroke

4. Bottom horizontal stroke last

5. Center stroke before wings

6. Horizontal strokes before intersecting vertical strokes

7. Left-falling strokes before right-falling srokes

A final rule can contradict the others:
8. Minor strokes (often) last
 
Despite these conflicts between rules most students quickly acquire a natural feel for the proper stroke order.


Component Order
Most Chinese characters are combinations of simpler, component characters. Usually the two parts are written at top and bottom

or left and right

so that the main two stroke order rules readily apply. Occasionally these rules also conflict with respect to components. When one component is at the bottom-left, and the other at the top-right, the top-right component is sometimes written first.

When there are several components, top components are written first.

These rules usually imply each component is written in its entirety before another component is written. Exceptions may arise when one component divides another,

encompasses another,

or the individual components are no longer discernible in modern writing.
(source: www.zhongwen.com)
Remember: most online dictionaries offer stroke order animations, so check there when you're not sure how to write a character. 

Top 40 Radicals

to review flashcards of the top 40 radicals click HERE

The Phonetic Alphabet

Click HERE for a spoken version of the alphabet.

Click HERE for a song version of the alphabet.

Political Map of China

from http://www.invasive.org/hwa/images/Map%20China%20Province_%20coll%20sites.jpg 

Learning the Tones!