Learn Chinese Online - Elementary Lessons

Elementary Lesson - Chinese Podcast - Fruit Basket

Today we will learn something interesting. Imagine that you have to describe a picture to a friend. How can you do it? It sounds easy but in reality, it isn't that easy. If you look at the image for this lesson, its a fruit basket, but can you describe it in Chinese? Would you like to have a try? If your answer is yes, then you might want to pause this podcast for a second, because in today's lesson I will discuss this picture with you, meanwhile we can look at how to describe a position, color and also learn some new words related to fruits.

Don't forget to consolidate what you learned by trying the Chinese Test - Fruit Basket

Elementary Lesson - Chinese Podcast - Banks in China

我们今天要讲的课程是关于银行，today our topic is about money.When you arrive in China, you probably will like to open a new bank account. There are a lot of banks to choose from, so today I won't talk about the process of opening a new account, but discuss with you some useful grammar. For example, opening an account in Chinese is 开户, as you can see from each character, 开 means open, and 户 here refers to account. Well, there are more things involved in banking, and we will discuss the most important ones here in this lesson.

If you want to consolidate what you have learned, why not try the chinese test for this lesson? Please click here to try it now.

Elementary Lesson - Chinese Podcast - Return the money

Today we will talk about the chinese idioms, or shall we say chéngyǔ. Chinese Idioms are short phrases that usually consists of four characters. According to some researches, there are about 5,000 chengyu in Chinese, though some dictionaries list over 20,000. The meaning of a chengyu usually summaries a story over four characters. So it does not follow the usual grammatical structure but instead, it is highly compact.

Try the Chinese test related to this Chinese podcast to consolidate the knowledge that you have just learned.

Elementary Lesson - Chinese Podcast - Sending your CV

Today we will talk about looking for jobs. We all know that looking for jobs is very stressful, especially if you are in a foreign country. So when you are searching for jobs, what would be the first thing to do? 找工作的时候，要做的第一件事是什么？Probably the first thing you would do is to write a nice resume. 找工作的第一件事就是写简历。

Try the Chinese test related to this Chinese podcast to consolidate the knowledge of today's podcast.

Elementary Lesson - Chinese Podcast - Draw water with a sieve

今天我们要讲的是两个中文俗语，每个都只有几个字，但它们各自都包含了一个故事，所以当你用到它的时候，别人就自然而然知道其中的意思了，同时也能知道你想说的话。Today we will talk about two new Chinese expressions. Even though there are only two of words in each of the expressions, it tells a story, and when you use it, others will know the story behind it and also know what you are referring to. 它们分别是：“竹篮打水一场空”和“有眼不识泰山”。Try the Chinese test related to this Chinese podcast to consolidate the new words in this podcast.

Elementary Lesson - Chinese Podcast - You are out

我们的初中及课程主要是讲解语法，I will mainly concentrate on Chinese grammar at the elementary level, and if there are any words in the dialogue that you don't understand, please refer to the PDF transcript(available to subscribers only).
今天我们要讲的是两个人去买磁带，但是现在还有人用磁带吗？所以课文中的人才会说： “都什么年代了”。 It means “you are out”.

Try the Chinese test related to this Chinese podcast to expand your vocabulary and practice the new Chinese words.

Elementary Lesson - Chinese Podcast - Southern or Northern

你是哪里人？where are you from? Sometimes, instead of telling you the name of their hometown, we, Chinese, might answer: 我是南方人，I am from the south or 我是北方人, I am from the north. The reason is that the north and the south are two approximate regions within China. The exact boundary between those two regions has never been clearly defined, but it is often referred to the division of Yangtze River. So people from the north side of the Yangtze River are Northern, for example: cities like 北京，哈尔滨，and 内蒙古and the other half is Southern，like 上海，南京，杭州 and 武汉。In general, people from the North are taller on the other hand Southern Chinese have bigger eyes.

Try the Chinese test - Southern or Northern to test your comprehension of this Chinese Podcast.

Elementary Lesson - Chinese Podcast - What is er in Chinese?

This Chinese podcast covers the word 儿. Many times, you will hear the word 儿 - at the end of each sentence. 去哪儿，就是这儿，随便儿，买点儿。What does 儿 mean? We will discuss it in today's - Chinese Podcast.

Try the Chinese test - What is 儿 in Chinese? to consolidate your knowledge of the word 儿.

Elementary Lesson - Chinese Podcast - I am late

Xiaoming is late for work (迟到) because his (闹钟) is broken. What will his boss tell him? Try this podcast to find out.

Try the Chinese test related to this chinese podcast to consolidate the knowledge that you have just learned.

Elementary Lesson - Chinese Podcast - She is angry

What would you do if your girlfriend is angry? Would you buy her a present? Or do anything to 哄哄她? You don’t know what “哄哄她” is? Then you have to try this listen to find out.

Try the Chinese test related to this chinese podcast to consolidate the knowledge that you have just learned.

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