Posts from June 2009

Winning Prizes

Posted by Transparent Language No Comments
Jun 15 2009

The other night I was at a conference which had organized a 抽奖 (prize drawing) activity.  I bought 9 tickets at the time, trying to improve my chances of winning.  Win I did.  There were KTV (karaoke) passes and 餐卷 (food coupons), which could be used another night.  Given that the tickets were 10USD or 100RMB, I went with the 10USD tickets, saving between 30-40RMB per ticket just by paying in US bills- very 划算 (good deal).  The highlight of the night was when I won a 空气净化器 (air purifier) valued at over 1500USD!  I ran up to the stage while 狂笑 (laughing crazily) and was very 得意洋洋 (smug) at a 夜总会 (nightclub) following the event.  The only drawback is that my 嗓子 (throat) is still rather 哑 (scratchy) from all the yelling.

抽奖 chou4jiang3 – prize drawing
KTV pronunced like “kay-tay-way” by most – Karaoke
餐卷 can1juan3 – food coupon
划算 hua2(4)suan4 – economical, good deal
空气净化器 kong1qi4jing4hua4qi4 – air purifier
狂笑 kuang2xiao4 – laughing crazily
得意洋洋 de2yi4yang2yang2 – self-satisfied
夜总会 ye4zong3hui4 – nightclub
嗓子 sang3zi – throat
哑 ya3 – scratchy

Bargaining at the Market

Posted by Transparent Language No Comments
Jun 11 2009

A great thing happened the other day at 秀水街 (the silk market), and even the day before at 中关村 (zhongguancun – see below).  A friend of mine said that if I could get a deal lower than the one he got on a U-盘(thumb drive), then he would 请我吃饭(treat me to a meal).  The first vendor I see 居然(unexpectedly)  had a price that was 少于 (less than) 120 块(RMB), the price my friend paid.  He certainly did 出丑(get embarrassed), and I didn’t blink at handing over the 本钱 (buying price – used for sellers) to seal the deal.  He paid not only for his own thumb drive, but now he’ll have to pay for my meal too.  多亏! (what a loss!)

秀水街 xiu4shui3jie1 – Silk Street (AKA the Silk Market) in Beijing
中关村 zhong1guan1cun1 – part of Beijing with numerous tech companies and markets, a Chinese equivalent of silicon valley
U-盘 you1pan2 – thumb drive
请我吃饭 qing2(3)wo3chi1fan4 – treat me to a meal
居然 ju1ran2 – unexpectedly
少于 shao3yu2 – less than
块 kuai4 – in this case, it’s a measure word for RMB
出丑 chu1chou3 – be embarrassed
本钱  ben3qian2 – buying price/initial cost
多亏 duo1kui1 – what a loss!

Card Madness

Posted by Transparent Language No Comments
Jun 8 2009

Hello Readers!

The other day I got into Beijing from Newark and was in for a bit of a surprise.  You see, when I arrived at #2 航站楼 (terminal), I needed to withdraw some money from the 汇丰取款机 (HSBC ATM).  I didn’t expect for my 卡 (card) to be 吞 (swallowed) by the machine.  I had chosen the machine because it supported 银联 (UnionPay), since I am a Bank of China user.  Immediately after inserting the card, the 屏幕 (screen) showed a message saying that the machine was out of order, but no 凭条 (slip) came out.  On top of that, there was no 显示热线号码 (displayed hotline number) for me to call.  I eventually reached the bank with the help of an airport employee.  At any rate, today I am going to the bank to get that card back.  Be careful with your cards in China!

航站楼 hang2zhan4lou2 – terminal
取款机 qu2(3)kuan3ji1 – ATM
卡 ka3 – card
吞 tun1 – swallow
银联 yin2lian2 – UnionPay, basically a nationwide debit network
屏幕 pin2mu4 – screen
凭条 ping2tiao2 – slip
显示 xian3shi4 – display
热线 re4xian4 – hotline
号码 hao4ma3 – number

Family Member Titles pt. 1

Posted by Transparent Language 1 Comment
Jun 5 2009

What people are there in your family?  My family is made up of the following members – there’s 妈妈(mom/mother) 爸爸 (dad/father), of course, and 2 姐姐(older sister)- my 大姐 (big older sister)  二姐(little older sister).   My 奶奶(paternal grandmother) is from Poland, while my 爷爷(paternal grandfather) was from NYC of Irish extraction, and both 外公 (maternal grandfather) and 外婆(maternal grandmother) are or Irish ancestry.  Do you have any 兄弟姐妹? (siblings)

妈妈 ma1ma1 – mother
爸爸 ba4ba4 – father
姐姐 jie(2)3jie3 – older sister
大姐 da4jie3- bigger older sister
二姐 er2jie3 – younger older sister
奶奶 nai(2)3nai3 – paternal grandmother
爷爷 ye2ye2- paternal grandfather
外婆 wai4po2 – maternal grandmother
外公 wai4gong1 – maternal grandfather
兄弟姐妹 xiong1di4jie3mei4 – siblings

Brief Posting Gap

Posted by Transparent Language 3 Comments
Jun 4 2009

Hi All!

Will be in transit from the US to China for the next day or two- stay tuned for my upcoming entry on family member titles!

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