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Post by Peter

Peter’s Chinese Kid Lit #1: The Yellow Bucket

April 18th, 2009 | 1 Comment

Remember when Yvonne was commenting on not having any fun Chinese kid lit growing up?

Problem solved. On a recent trip to Taiwan, we bought quite a few books for us to practice our Chinese reading skills. Some are classic stories known to Americans while others are new material.

This week’s book is titled:
黃色水桶
Huang2 se4 shui3 tong3
The Yellow Bucket.

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Post by Yvonne

It’s Time for New Reading Material

February 9th, 2009 | 3 Comments

離上海不遠有一個很大的湖, 是太湖. 湖的四邊水田很多, 湖裏頭還有很多魚, 所以湖邊的人家都說太湖太好了.

Translation, de-mutant-ized for easier reading: Not far from Shanghai, there’s a lake: Tai Lake. Around the lake there are many irrigated fields; inside the lake there are many fish. That’s why those near the lake all say that Tai Lake is very nice.

Are you asleep yet? No? How about this?

中國的湖南是在一個大湖的南邊. 湖北是在這個大湖的北邊.

Translation: China’s Hunan Province is located on the south side of a large lake. Hupeh Province is on the north side of this large lake.

It’s actually even more boring than it sounds in English. “Hunan” and “Hupeh” literally mean “south of lake” and “north of lake”, respectively.

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Post by Yvonne

My New Best Friend: The Dictionary

February 4th, 2009 | No Comments

From the time I was very small, I knew that if my parents asked for the 漢英字典 (han4 ying1 zi4 dian3), they meant the battered teal green Chinese-English dictionary that was squirreled away in the cubby by the front door. It wasn’t until much, much later that I learned the 漢 part referred to the Chinese language. I knew that 英 meant English so you’d think it would’ve been obvious, but I guess not.

Well, I’m now the proud owner of my very own 漢英字典! Or rather, 漢英英漢字典. And none too soon, as I gave myself massive eyestrain staring at the stark white of Zhongwen.com, translating the cover of Grandma’s Crazy Phrasebook.

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