We wish you a merry christmas

Most of us may have listened to one of the best-known Christmas songs like Jingle Bells, We Wish You a Merry Christmas. Both of the songs have been popular every year around the Christmas time. Indeed, the most common question we have received is “Can you provide the Christmas song lyrics in pinyin?” So, we have created the Christmas songs in Chinese characters and pinyin. Those who are a fan of Chinese language and Christmas melody can take this as a good taste.

In the previous post, we learned about the history and the author of the song “Jingle Bells.” Today, we will take a look at another popular Christmas song, widely enjoyed by people in China - "We Wish You a Merry Christmas".

The Christmas song can trace its history back to England in the 16^th century, when it enjoyed a high popularity during Christmas time. We know the lyrics of this song include “Oh, bring us a figgy pudding and bring it fight here.” So, why is the figgy pudding appear in the lyrics and not other things? It is said that in the English tradition, wealthy people of the country used to give Christmas treats the poor on Christmas Eve, such as figgy puddings that were very much like modern-day Christmas puddings. Since this, the figgy budding is reflected by the author and composer of the “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” song.

Over the years, however, the fashion for figgy puddings mentioned in “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” has faded. And people nowadays don’t even think about the delicious figgy pudding on Christmas seasons. But it didn’t stop people from loving this song. Have you ever listened to the song in Chinese version, which is also a good resource to learn basic Chinese with pinyin pronunciation? Give it a hum!

Personality Traits Determined by Your Zodiac Animal 1

In our Chinese conversation lessons, we learned that there are 12 different zodiac animals in China. Today, we will further explore the myth of the Chinese zodiac system.

In the western astrology, a horoscope is an astrological chart or diagram representing the positions of the Sun, Moon, planets, astrological aspects, and sensitive angles at the time of an event, such as the moment of a person's birth. While in Chinese astrology, people uses a zodiac system based on twelve different animals which are called 十二生肖(shí èr shēnɡ xiāo). According to Chinese astrology, each zodiac animal (or Chinese horoscope) is used to symbolize the year in which a person is born.

Do you know which animal is your zodiac sign? What does it mean if you belong to, say, the year of the Dragon. Today, we will learn the personality of traits different zodiac animals have.

The Chinese Zodiac uses the details of your birth to uncover your personality traits, best lifestyle, career direction, and degree of happiness throughout your lifetime. The year you were born can tell a great deal about your personality, likes, dislikes and even who you will be compatible with as a mate. If you have figured out your Chinese zodiac animal, now it’s time to know what kind of personality traits you have.

Dragon Personality Traits

Dragon is the most vital and powerful one of the 12 Chinese zodiac animals is born under a lucky star. People born in the year of the Dragon are expected to possess the following personality traits: energetic, excitable, short-tempered and stubborn. And because the dragon is a yang sign, so they are expected to have a lot of energy and bravery in whatever they do.

Pig Personality Traits

Another zodiac animal that Chinese people favor is Pig. Those born in the Year of the Pig can be relied upon for their loyalty and often make true friends for life. They have sweet temper and are always optimistic about the future. However, they can be easily taken advantage of by others because of their idealistic and naïve nature.

Dog Personality Traits

People born in the year of Dog are loyal, faithful, and true. They often inspire confidence in others and are always willing to help those in need. Like Pig, Dog people are those who can make best friends of.

Rooster Personality Traits

People born in the year of Rooster has the personality of being loyal and trustworthy, Rooster people are also sociable, very accomplished and usually very well-dressed.

Monkey Personality Traits

They have the character of being charming, charismatic and extremely inventive. People born in the year of the Monkey are most noted for their intelligence and clever genius in working out difficult problems for themselves and others.

Sheep Personality Traits

Sheep is the most creative sign according to the Chinese zodiac. People born in the year of the Sheep are often artistic, sensitive, sweet and charming. They have a sweet and easy temper and are easy to get along with.

Stay with us to learn about the personality traits of the other 6 Chinese zodiac animals. If you have any question, you can join our online mandarin tutor.

Greeting in Business Chinese

Many people who want to come to China choose to grab some Chinese before they come. Still, some common ways of greeting in Chinese may still confuse them. For example, one day a foreign friend of mine asked me about the meaning of “xìng huì” (幸会). He often heard it when he accompanied his boss to some business parties.

The greeting “xìng huì” (幸会) is a very common way of greeting that are commonly used in China. For a foreigner who plans to come to China to do business, it is very important to learn some of these useful greeting phrases which we can get from our skype Chinese.

The phrase “xìng huì” (幸会) means, 'it is my great honor to meet you.' The first character, “xìng” (幸), means “lucky.” The second character, “huì” (会), can mean "to meet." The whole phrase simply means “Nice to meet you” or “I’m glad to meet you.” In daily communication, the greeting “xìng huì” (幸会) is usually said to elders, bosses or people of high socioeconomic status. Sometimes people repeat “xìng huì” (幸会) to show more respect to the people thay are speaking to. Thus came “xìng huì! xìng huì!” 

It's an important aspect in developing a good relationship with your Chinese partners. You don't want them to think you're rude as soon as you say hello. Contrarily, using greetings correctly when you conduct business with Chinese professionals can make a very good first impression. A native Chinese teacher can teach you all you want to know and help you obtain great success in doing business with the Chinese. So, you are advised to learn more about the different way of greeting in business Chinese. 

Polyphones in Chinese

Polyphones are very common in Chinese language. A polyphone is a character that can be pronounced in two or more different ways. With different ways of pronunciation, the polyphone usually has different meanings. Being able to use polyphones in Chinese properly will help us a lot in Chinese Learning. In this article, we are going to review the common polyphones.

1. 好 There are two ways to pronounce it - hao3 and hao4. When pronounced in the third tone, it means well or good, as in the phrase 好人 (a good guy) or 好天气 (good weather). When pronounced in the fourth tone, it means “to like”. However, it is seldom used alone, but usually used with another word such as 喜好 and 爱好, both of which have the meaning of “to like”.

2. 行 It is one of the most common words that you will encounter on street signs. For example, we have 请绕行 and 银行. However, it pronounces different ways in the two phrases. In the first phrase请绕行, it is pronounced xing2, which means “to go”. The whole phrase means “Please go the other way.” It is pronounced hang2 in the word 银行, which means “bank”.

3. 赃 This character has two pronunciations. They are zang1 and zang4. The first tone, zang1, means that something is really dirty and is an adjective. The second tone, zang4, is usually used as a noun such as 心脏, which means heart.

4. 假With two distinct tones, jia3 and jia4, this character is easy to read and remember. Jia3, means fake. It can be used as an adjective, such as the word假如(if). It can be used as a noun such as, Jia4, 假期, which means vacation.

The Luckiest Number in Chinese

Most Chinese learners may have learned numbers from basic Chinese lessons. Some can even count to ten thousand in Chinese. But do you know which number Chinese people like most?

The answer is EIGHT. In China, a car with 8 included on the license plate will be a hot one. On the car's license plate, if there are lots of 8, and undoubtedly, this would be the best license plate number in China and people will pay large amounts of money for these types of license plates.

When Chinese people choose a phone number, a room number etc, they tend to choose those that contain the number “8”. As you may recall, the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games began at 8 o'clock in the evening on August, 8th. In fact, the exact start time was 8 minutes and 8 seconds past 8 or 8:08:08 on 8/8/2008.

Why is that? Why does the number ‘8’ has so much reputation. That's because Chinese people believe "8" to be an auspicious number. In Chinese, the number "8 (bā)" has similar pronunciation with the word "发 (fā) to be lucky or gain wealth.” 

Eight has long been the most popular number in China. Throughout China's long history, Chinese have filled their lives with this number through architecture, literature, politics and their system of values. Today this number has become even more popular. We can see "8" everywhere. People use this number to show their wishes and hopes for a great future.

Another usage of 8 is on the internet. Nowadays all that people want is convenience and ease, hence the birth of a popular Chinese phrase “88”. If you have learned pinyin, you will know 88 sounds pretty similar to the English word “bye-bye”. Most young people would use 88 instead of typing the “long” spelling “bye-bye” when they chat with their friends through text messages.