Radecki March

Basic Mandarin 101, introduction

2007-11-22T12:50:00.000+01:00

Note: If you don't see the characters correctly and you're using Windows box, go to Start Menu, then Settings, Control Panel, Regional and Language Settings, Languages tab and tick "Install files for East Asian languages" option and click OK. That should do. If you're using other operating system try Google... Sorry.

Hello everyone! Some of you may recognize my face from "Basic Cantonese 101" course but I'll introduce myself again so that new people know who they are dealing with. My name is:

李 [lee]

Call me:

Ms. 李. [lee]

I will be teaching you Mandarin during this course. I will try to make your lessons efficient and enjoyable. Please stay with me and keep concentrated. I won't repeat myself.

If you think about China, try to think about a lot of people living in a quite a big piece of land with very, very long history behind. Big numbers stick together; there are also many different but similar languages spoken there. Each Chinese region has one local Chinese language commonly known there. Hong Kong speaks Cantonese. Shanghai and its neighbourhood speak Wu. Beijing and its neighbourhood speak Mandarin. Mandarin is an exceptional language. It is not only Beijing local language but it is official Chinese language well known to most of the people in China. It serves as an intermediate language to allow communication between various Chinese regions which use mainly their own language. And there is no other language with greater number of speakers. 900 million seems to be unbeatable and may make you thinking why it's not the most popular language on Earth?
Now I'll write down quite a few Mandarin words for you to learn. I'm going to follow convention. Each line will contain Mandarin word in its original appearance, its pronunciation in square brackets and its meaning at the end. (Don't worry about Mandarin dialects for now we'll worry about it later.)
Here they are:

追男生 [...] girl chats up a boy
追女生 [...] boy chats up a girl
好, 很好 [hau] good, fine, OK
白痴 [paitzy] crazy, funny, stupid
很 [hau, hau] very, very
很美麗 [hau piau lian] beautiful, it's beautiful
好多好多 [hando-hando] many, many
成成成 [sing sing sing] OK, fine, OK
不好 [pu hau] not good, not OK
好唔好 [hau pu hau] good or not
很可愛 [honk ky ai] so cute! so funny!
你 [ni] you
我 [wo] me
外國人 [lou why] foreigner
是波蘭人 [wo shee bolanyn] I am Polish
我要食東西 [wo ya dzy dou shi] I want to eat
我要喝東西 [wo you ho dieu dou shi] I want to drink
我很餓 [wo du dzy a] I am hungry
我要睡覺 [wo ya shey dzia] I want to sleep
我很睏 [wo ha quin] I am so sleepy
你好嗎 [ni hau ma] Hi! How are you?

你好 [ni hau] Hi! I'm fine.

你很漂亮 [...] You are beautiful.
聰明 [...] smart
低能 [...] low intelligent
性感 [...] sexy
多少錢 [...] how much?

To type Mandarin words on Western Windows platform try using NJStar Chinese Word Processor 5.20.
To see Chinese characters you need to have Asian character support installed on your computer. On Windows platforms check Control Panel -> Language and local settings.

Homework: Working in pairs, think about a little Chinese play to show us during our next meeting. Compose a script and get ready to do some acting. Use words learnt today.
Alright, that's enough. Till the next time! I'm off.

Basic Cantonese 101, introduction

2007-07-24T22:12:00.000+02:00

Note: If you don't see the characters correctly and you're using Windows box, go to Start Menu, then Settings, Control Panel, Regional and Language Settings, Languages tab and tick "Install files for East Asian languages" option and click OK. That should do. If you're using other operating system try Google... Sorry.

Hello everybody! I'm

Ms. 李 [lee],

your tutor introducing you to Cantonese. As you probably already know the number of people living in China is absolutely huge. Because of that there are different languages in use there. Cantonese is a Chinese language spoken in Hong Kong, Macao and other southern regions of China. Knowing Cantonese gives you the possibility to communicate with around 80 mln people.

Let's have a look at following Cantonese useful words and phrases. Bear in mind the way I introduce them. There is Cantonese word or phrase first, then its simplified pronunciation in square brackets, then its English translation. The link associated with Cantonese word leads you to the sound with correct pronunciation.
Here they are:

溝仔[kau tzai] a girl chats up a boy
溝女 [kau loi] a boy chats up a girl
好 [hou]good, fine, OK
好好 [hou, hou] very, very
白痴 [patsy] crazy, funny, stupid
白痴仔[patsy tzai] crazy, funny, stupid boy
好靚 [holena] beautiful, it's beautiful

好多好多 [houdo-houdo] many, many
好,得 [hou] OK, fine
唔好 [m'hou] not good, not OK
好唔好 [hou m'hou] good or not good
好得意 [hou da eya] so cute! so funny!

你 [nei] you
我 [o] me
鬼佬 [guai lou] male foreigner
鬼仔 [guai tzai] boy foreigner
鬼婆 [guai po] woman foreigner
鬼妹 [guai mi] girl foreigner

我係波蘭人 [o hai bolanyan] I am Polish

我要食野 [o you sei ye] I want to eat
我要飲野 [o you yam ye] I want to drink
我好肚餓 [o hou bou o] I am hungry
我要瞓覺 [o you fan gau] I want to sleep
我好眼訓 [o hou nan fam] I am so sleepy

你好嗎 [nei ho ma] Hi! How are you?
你好靚呀 [nei holena] You are beautiful.
醒目 [seingmo] smart
低能 [dailang] low intelligent
性感 [seing gam] sexy
幾多錢 [goy do tzin] how much?

To type Cantonese characters on non-Asian Windows platform you need to download NJStar Chinese Word Processor 5.20. Once you have it running choose CTLau Canton as input method (go to main menu: Input -> Other methods -> CTLau Canton). And then try to type simplified pronunciation that's given in square brackets, the software will try to help you find the correct Cantonese character.

Any questions? No? Not yet? Should you have any at any time please leave them here and I'll be more than happy to answer any single one of them.

Homework: Please compose a dialogue with above words and phrases. Be smart, funny and creative! Don't copy from each other! And don't be too patsy! Looking forward to seeing your fantastic dialogues. I'm off.

Recommended travelling equipment

2007-07-13T20:26:00.000+02:00

I think, two is the best number of pieces of luggage while travelling. One big backpack, one small backpack and your clothes give you enough capacity to carry all necessary things. Use your big backpack as your trunk: carry it as short as possible and leave it in all secure places (accommodation site, train station locker, check-in counter). Treat your small backpack as hand luggage and carry it everywhere with you.
Whenever you take plane be sure to move all sharp and liquid objects to your trunk, otherwise you may lose these things or you may not be allowed to board a plane.

Please find detailed equipment list below and note items marked with asterisk (*) must be moved to big backpack when you take a plane.

Big backpack with rain cover (capacity: 60 litres; pack less important things first to have more important things on top):

Bunch of spare clothes packed in plastic, hermetic bags (the more you take, the heavier your luggage will be, the less you take, you will need to wash your clothes more often; try to hit the middle):

Wind-proof and rain-proof jacket
Jumper
Shirts
T-shirts
Warm, water-proof trousers
Shorts
Socks
Underwear
Swimsuit
Swimming glasses

Hair dryer (you may dry wet clothes with it; nothing more disgusting than smell of wet clothes put in the backpack for long time)
Bag marker with your address written (it's good to see and recognize your backpack straight away and it's good to have your luggage sent back by confused airline)
Toilet tissues in a smart bag
[optional] Spare glasses (if you wear glasses have a spare pair; if you lose one pair, you won't be blind)
[optional] Sheet (you never know how dirty your bed might be; it's very useful for people who are very sensitive to dirt and dust)
[optional] Cover for pillow (pillows tend to be dirty, too)
1 pair of spare, comfortable, waterproof shoes or boots (it's good to check if shoes or boots are comfortable by wearing them for couple of days)
1 pair of comfortable sandals or flip-flops (it's good to wear them while taking a shower)
Mobile phone charger
[optional] Plug adapter (check your destinations whether you need one)
Small towel
*Hermetic bag with toiletries:

Toothpaste
Toothbrush with cover
Soap in a plastic cover
Comb or brush
Small nail-cutter
Small bottle of perfumes
Shampoo
Sponge
Shaving set
Pocket tissues

Backpack overall weight: Less than 10 kg.

Small backpack (capacity: 15 litres):

Hermetic and waterproof folder with tickets, reservation receipts, insurance receipt, excerpts from travel guide book and other not very important documents
Copy of your passport (you may use it in accommodation places or during any other unofficial checks)
Box for food (you probably don't even know how much you may save preparing your own food)
UPDATED: Notepad(s) (there may always be a need to write something down: the name of the place or the price to be understood correctly; have a diary and write down everything interesting that happens during the day, because at the end of the journey you may not remember all memories you gained and all lessons you learnt)
2 Pens
Marker pen for bold messages
Pocket tissues
*Plastic bottle (if you regularly refill it with refreshing drinks you may avoid dehydration in hot places and thirst everywhere)
*Set of spoon, fork, knife or all in one
Torch (I hope night won't catch you by surprise!)
[optional] Electronic dictionary (it's light but expensive)
Contacts book
Wipe tissues
UPDATED: Book to read (there may be a lots of free time available while travelling, don't waste it!)
Small but firm umbrella
Bunch of gifts for nice people (if some person gives you a hand why not give him a little gift in return; it should be something small but funny)
Calculator
UPDATED: Set of maps or atlas (just to have basic feeling of distance and direction)
UPDATED: List of special phone numbers that allow you to call your dearest and tell them how you are abroad without spending a penny; they'll be charged instead (very useful when your parents and friends are richer than you)
*Hermetic bag with basic health and safety means (contact your doctor if you need anything else):

A few slices of Aspirin or equivalent (I prefer to use Polopiryna S)
Generic use antibiotics (ex. Klacid)
Earplugs (sometimes traffic is too heavy to have a calm sleep)
Pills against stomach problems
Box of sticking plasters
Syringes
Needles
Condoms
Antiseptic substance in spray or liquid
Sun screen (factor 60)
Spray against mosquitoes

Note: Before using any medicine read its leaflet!
Backpack overall weight: Less than 5 kg.

Personal items (do not pack them in the backpacks, put them in clothes pockets and small bags or wear them if they're pieces of clothes):

Your current clothes
Wallet with credit or laser card(s) and big money (ideally, you'll have 2 credit cards: VISA and MASTERCARD from 2 different banks; nothing more disappointing than being stuck with no money)
Small money in pockets or separate wallet (only currency of the country you're in) - use small money first, some nasty people are not willing to give you change
Hidden bag with money for the rainy day (ex. :100 EUR/USD/CHF), passport and copies of all other documents (tickets, insurance)
Mobile phone with roaming on, 2 SIM cards (Vodafone SIM card preferable in Europe) and alarm clock
*Small scissors, pocket pen and pocket knife (good tool-set is provided by Swiss card)
Notepad
Sun protection hat or winter hat or both
Sun glasses
[optional] Camera

Please bear in mind above list is only a suggestion, feel free to adjust it to your own individual needs. Any comments are more than welcome.