A Mandarin Chinese (audio)lesson

Well, this is Pimsleur Chinese Audiolesson Number 5. Their system consists, basically, in repeating and memorizing structures, time and time again, following a more or less logical pattern.

This entry (as well as the old entry, for the first lesson) is aimed to recommending anybody who reads it, to purchase their excellent language program.

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L&M: Yanzi, Yu Jian

What follows is a very sweet love song, by Yanzi. If you find any mistakes in my annotation (or in the translation, for that matter), please let me know.

LYRICS:



-Click for the PINYIN alone.
-Translation into something close to ENGLISH


孙燕姿-- 遇见

听见冬天的离开
我在某年某月醒过来
我想我等我期待
未来却不能因此安排
阴天傍晚车窗外
未来有一个人在等待
向左向右向前看
爱要拐几个弯才来
我遇见谁会有怎样的对白
我等的人他在多远的未来
我听见风来自地铁和人海
我排著队拿著爱的号码牌
我往前飞飞过一片时间海
我们也常在爱情里受伤害
我看著路梦的入口有点窄
我遇见你是最美丽的意外
终有一天我的谜底会揭开

Pinyin:

tīng jiàn dōng tiān de lí kāi
Wô zài môu nián môu yuè xîng guò lai
Wô xiâng Wô dêng Wô qī dai
Wèi lái què bù néng yīn cǐ ān pái

yīn tiān bàng wân chē chuāng wài
wèi lái yôu yī ge rén zài dêng dài
xiàng zuô xiàng yòu xiàng qiáng kan
ài yāo guâi jî ge wān cái lái

wô yù jiàn shéi huì yôu zên yàng de duì bái
wô dêng de rén tā zài duō yuân de wèi lái
wô tīng jiàn fēng lái zì dì tiê hé rén hâi
wô pái zhe duì ná zhe ài hào mâ pái

Wô wâng qián fēi Fēi guò yi piàn shí jiān hâi
Wô men yê cháng zài ài qíng lî shòu shāng hài
Wô kān zhe lù Mèng de rù kôu yôu diân zhâi
Wô yù jiàn nî shì zuì mêi lì de yì wài

zhōng yǒu yī tiān wǒ de mí de huì jiē kāi


Translation:

To meet

I hear winter leaving
I am awaking in some year, some month
I think, I wait, I am expecting
But the future can't be prearranged

Cloudy evening outside the car window
In the future, someone is waiting for me
Look to the left, to the right, to the front
How many twists and turns will love take before it comes to me?

What conversations will I have when I meet him?
The person I'm waiting for, how distant is he in the future?
I hear the wind coming from the subway and a crowd of people
I line up, holding the ticket with love's number

I fly, fly across an ocean of time
We are so often hurt by love
I look at the road, the entrance to this dream is a little narrow
Meeting you is the most beautiful accident

There will come the day when I find the solution to the riddle


Keywords: Yanzi, Stefanie Sun, Sun Yan Zi, Yu Jian, To meet,孙燕姿-- 遇见, lyrics, pinyin, characters and translation.

L&M: Vivian Hsu, Smiling Eyes

Vivian Hsu is a hottie from Taiwan. This is one of ther songs. I snatched the video from Youtube, and the lyrics from Learn Chinese Through Music, a highly recommended web page, with tons of lyrics of Chinese songs.

I am having a lot of work lately; I'm sorry for the lack of updates.

L&M: Eason Chan: Ten Years

This song is a bit old, but I like it. Below, you'll find the MV, the lyrics (with characters and pinyin), and a translation. If you find mistakes, please drop me a comment or an email.

陈奕迅-十年

English translation



Traducción en español

如果那两个字没有颤抖
rú guǒ nà liǎng ge zì méi yôu chàn dôu
我不会发现我难受
wô bù huì fā xiàn wô nán shòu
怎么说出口也不过是分手
zên me shuō chū kôu yê bù guò shì fēn shǒu


如果对于明天没有要求
rú guô duì yú míng tiān méi yôu yāo qiú
牵牵手就像旅游
qiān qiān shôu jiù xiàng lü^ yóu
成千上万个门口总有一个人要先走
chéng qiān shàng wàn gè mén kôu zông yôu yī ge rén yāo xiān zôu


*怀抱既然不能逗留
huái bào jì rán bù néng dòu liú
何不在离开的时候
hé bù zài lí kāi de shí hòu
一边享受一边泪流
yī biān xiâng shòu yī biān lèi liú

十年之前
shí nián zhī qián
我不认识你你不属于我
wǒ bù rèn shi nǐ, nî bù shû yú wô
我们还是一样陪在一个陌生人左右
wômen hái shì yí yàng, péi zài yī gè mò shēng rén zuô yòu

走过渐渐熟悉的街头
zôu guò jiàn jiàn shú xī de jiē tóu

十年之后
shí nián zhī hòu
我们是朋友还可以问候
wǒ men shì péng you hái kě yǐ wèn hòu
只是那种温柔再也找不到拥抱的理由
zhǐ shi na zhǒng wēn róu zài yě zhǎo bù dào yōng bào de lǐ yóu

情人最后难免沦为朋友
qíng rén zuì hòu nán miǎn lún wéi péng you (bis*)

直到和你做了多年朋友
zhí dào hé nǐ zuò le duō nián péng you

才明白我的眼泪
cái míng bai wǒ de yǎn lèi
不是为你而流也为别人而流
bú shì wéi nǐ ér liú yě wéi bié rén ér liú

ENGLISH (The translation is not literal. If you want to improve some of it, just drop me a comment/email:

If she hadn't said those trembling words, I wouldn't have noticed my pain. It doesn't matter how we say it, this will only end in breaking up.

If you ask nothing of tomorrow, holding hands is just like travelling. There might be thousands of doors, but one has walk out on the first place.

If we cannot be together in embrace, then why not just split up with joys and sorrows.

Ten years ago, I didn't know you, you didn't belong to me. We were the same, walking side by side with a stranger.

Ten years afterwards, we are friends. We can still look after each other, but find no reason to hold each other. Our love has derived into friendship.*

After many years being friends, I finally understand that, If my tears hadn't been caused by you, I would have cried for someone else.






ESPAÑOL (Traducción nada literal y bastante chapucera, pero bueno. Si quieres mejorarla, déjame un comentario o mándame un email):

Si esas dos palabras no hubieran salido temblando de su boca (se refiere a Fen Shou, ruptura) no me habría dado cuenta de mi sufrimiento. Da igual cómo lo digamos, el final de esta historia será la separación.

Si en una relación no hay peticiones para el día de mañana, darse la mano es como viajar. Aunque haya miles de puertas, uno de los dos debe irse en primer lugar.

Si no podemos estar juntos, abrazados, por qué no separarnos, aunque nos produzca una mezcla de alegrías y penas.

Hace diez años no te conocía, no me pertenecías. Nosotros éramos dos iguales, acompañando a un desconocido.

Diez años después somos amigos. También podemos buscarnos, pero ya no podemos encontrar un motivo para abrazarnos. Los antes amantes, ahora son sólo amigos.

Tras muchos años de amistad contigo, por fin he entendido que si no hubiera llorado por ti, hubiera llorado por otra persona.


Keywords: Eason Chan, Ten Years, 陈奕迅-十年, shi nian, translation, pinyin, letras, lyrics, chinese music lyrics

Doccast: Chinese studies

There are tons and kilotons of interesting studies out there, most of them in .doc and .pdf formats. These are just a few of them.



Chinese language learning/ Chinese linguistics

Useful Web Sites for Teaching and Learning Chinese

Introduction to Pinyin


Temporal Reference in Mandarin Chinese

The morphology of Chinese: A linguistic and cognitive approach

A study on the learning and teaching of Hanzi

Do Classifier Categories Structure our Concepts?

The Chinese Aspect System and its Semantic Interpretation

The development of aspect marking in L1 and L2 Chinese


DEFINING AND AUTOMATICALLY IDENTIFYING WORDS
IN CHINESE

COMMON NOUNS, CLASSIFIERS, AND QUANTIFICATION IN CHINESE



Economy / Business relations

Outlook on the Chinese Economy

The Chinese Renminbi:What’s Real, What’s Not


What Kind of Landing for the Chinese Economy?


Successfully Moving In and Setting Up Business in China



Other studies

Social Support and Migration Experiences: A Qualitative Study of Female Chinese Immigrants in Their First Year in Hong Kong.


Media during the Tiananmen Square Protests


New York's Chinatown


The mathematics of the Chinese Calendar


The Chinese Empire

L&M: Jay Chou: Xing Qing

One of my favourite songs in Chinese, one of my favourite Jay Chou's songs at that... Probably yours too!

Bellow you'll find the lyrics (character, pinyin and translation), as well as the MV of the song, sung by the uncomparable hottie Jay Chou.

周杰伦 星晴

作词、曲：周杰伦　编曲：洪敬尧

乘著风 遊荡在蓝天边
cheng zhe feng / you dang zai lan tian bian
Riding the wind along the blue sky

一片云掉落在我面前
yi pian yun diao luo zai wo mian qian
A piece of cloud falls in front of me

捏成你的形状
nie cheng ni de xing zhuang
Forming your shape as I try

随风跟著我
sui feng gen zhe wo
The wind following as I can see

一口一口吃掉忧愁
yi kou yi kou chi diao you chou
Eating up worries with a sigh

*载著你 彷彿载著阳光
*zai zhe ni / fang fu zai zhe yang guang
*Carrying you is like sunshine

不管到哪里都是晴天
bu guan dao na li dou shi qing tian
No matter where we go, it will always be bright

蝴蝶自在飞
hu die zi zai fei
Butterflies flying so fine

花也佈满天
hua ye bu man tian
Sky is covered with flowers

一朵一朵因你而香
yi duo yi duo yin ni er xiang
Each bud each bud is nice smelling because of you

试图让夕阳飞翔
shi tu rang xi yang fei xiang
Trying to let the sun stay there

带领你我环绕大自然
dai ling ni wo huan rao da zi ran
To guide around you and me

迎著风
ying zhe feng
Meeting the wind which is so fair

开始共渡每一天
kai shi gong du mei yi tian
To start sharing each day peacefully

手牵手 一步两步叁步四步 望著天
shou qian shou / yi bu liang bu san bu si bu / wang zhe tian
Hand in hand One step two steps three steps four steps watching the sky

看星星 一颗两颗叁颗四颗 连成线
kan xing xing / yi ke liang ke san ke si ke / lian cheng xian
One star two stars three stars four stars forming a line so dear

背著背默默许下心愿
bei dui bei mo mo xu xia xin yuan
Making a wish, just you and I

看远方的星是否听的见
kan yuan fang de xing shi fou ting de jian
Watching the faraway stars, hoping they can hear

手牵手 一步两步叁步四步 望著天
shou qian shou / yi bu liang bu san bu si bu / wang zhe tian
Hand in hand step by step watching the sky

看星星 一颗两颗叁颗四颗 连成线
kan xing xing / yi ke liang ke san ke si ke/ lian cheng xian
Looking at stars One star two stars three stars four stars forming a line so dear

背著背默默许下心愿
bei dui bei mo mo xu xia xin yuan
Making a wish, just you and I

看远方的星如果听的见
kan yuan fang de xing ru guo ting de jian
Watching the faraway stars, if they can hear

它一定实现
ta yi ding shi xian
The wish will come true

Jolin Tsai: Sky

蔡依林

-天空-

听着自己的心跳
没有规则的跳跃
我安静的在思考
并不想被谁打扰

失去了你的拥抱
寂寞再一旁嘲笑
他笑我无处可逃
我变的好渺小

时间分割成对角
停止你对我的好
瓦解我们的依靠

在你离开之后的天空
不曾在有晴朗的梦
雨后的天空
是否在有放晴后的笑容
我静静的望着天空
试着寻找遗留的彩虹
哭过的面容
期待着久违出现的笑容

Click for the PINYIN alone

Translation (characters+pinyin+English):

听着自已的心跳
ting zhe zi ji de xin tiao
Listening to my own heartbeats

没有规则的跳跃
mei you gui ze de tiao yue
The irregular beatings.

我安静的在思考
wo an jing de zai si kao
I’m thinking silently.

并不想被谁打扰
bing bu xiang bei shui da rao
Don't want to be disturbed by anyone

我们曾紧紧拥抱
wo men ceng jin jin yong bao
We held tight before

却又轻易地方掉
que you qing yi de fang diao
However we still let it go easily.

那种感觉 很微妙
na zhong gan jue hen wei miao
This feeling is very subtle

该怎么说才好
gai zen me shuo cai hao
How should I say it?

时间分割成对角
shi jian fen ge cheng dui jiao
Time has divided into opposites

停止你对我的好
ting zhi ni dui wo de hao
stopped your kindness to me.

瓦解我们的依靠
wa jie wo men de yi kao
Our support crumbles

在你离开之后的天空
zai ni li kai zhi hou de tian kong
The sky after you left

我像风筝寻一个梦
wo xiang feng zheng xun yi ge meng
I'm like the wind chasing after a dream

雨后的天空
yu hou de tian kong
The sky after the rain

是否有放晴后的面容
shi fou you fang qing hou de mian rong
Does it have a face of sunshine?

我静静的望着天空
wo jing jing de wang zhe tian kong
I silently stare up at the sky

试着
shi zhe
Trying to

寻找失落的感动
xun zhao shi luo de gan dong
Seek the feeling of lost

只能用笑容
zhi neng yong xiao rong
Can only use a smile

期待着雨过天晴的彩虹
qi dai zhe yu guo tian qing de cai hong
To look forward to a rainbow in the sky after the rain

Pinyin:

ting zhe zi ji de xin tiao
mei you gui ze de tiao yue
wo an jing de zai si kao
bing bu xiang bei shei da rao
wo men ceng jin jin yong bao
que you qing yi de fang diao
na chong gan jue hen wei miao
gai zen me shuo cai hao
shi gen fen ge cheng dui jiao
ting zhi ni dui wo de hao
wa jie wo men de yi kao

[chorus]
zai ni li kai zhi hou de tian kong
wo xiang feng zheng xun yi ge meng
yu hou de tian kong
shi fou you fang qing hou de mian rong
wo jing jing de wang zhe tian kong
shi zhe xun zhao shi luo de gan dong
zhi neng yong xiao rong
qi dai zhe yu guo tian qing de cai hong

Ct: Lao Tse: Wisdom in a nutshell.

老子, whose name has been romanised in thousands of different ways (Lao Tzu, Lao Tse, Laotse,Lao Tze, Laotze), is credited as the author of the 道德經 / 道德经 , and therefore as the founder of Taoism. For those of you interested in his life, in this wikipedia link you will find a much disputed article about him.

Following is a fragment of the Tao Te Ching:

Clickfor the PINYIN alone

Translation into Engl

HOME

Accept and you become whole,
Bend and you straighten,
Empty and you fill,
Decay and you renew,
Want and you acquire,
Fulfill and you become confused.

The sage accepts the world
As the world accepts the Way;
He does not display himself, so is clearly seen,
Does not justify himself, so is recognized,
Does not boast, so is credited,
Does not pride himself, so endures,
Does not contend, so none contend against him.

The ancients said, "Accept and you become whole",
Once whole, the world is as your home.

Pinyin:

qū zé quán,
wǎng zé zhí,
wā zé yíng,
bì zé xīn,
shǎo zé dé,
duō zé huò。

shì yǐ
shèng rén bào yī
wéi tiān xià shì:
bú zì jiàn,
gù míng;
bú zì shì,
gù zhāng;
bú zì fá,
gù yǒu gōng;

bú zì jīn,
gù cháng;
fú wéi bù zhēng,
gù tiān xià mò néng
yǔ zhī zhēng。

gǔ zhī suǒ wèi
qǔ zé quán [zhě]。

qí xū yán zāi?!

chéng quán
ér guī zhī