Getting Taller, not Fatter #5

In the previous post, we were dissecting the ChinesePod elementary lesson: Getting Taller (Not Fatter).

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Here is our next sentence:

对对对。跟叔叔一样高，跟叔叔一样胖。
Duì duì duì. Gēn shūshu yīyàng gāo, gēn shūshu yīyàng pàng.

duì: correct
gēn: as (compared to)
shūshu: uncle
yīyàng: same
gāo: tall
pàng: fat

Literally: Right, right, right. As Uncle same tall, as Uncle same fat!
That's right, that's right. Just as tall as uncle and just as fat as uncle!

This is a self-deprecating joke by Uncle to little Doudou: Right, you'll be as tall as me, and as fat!

The Chinese often repeat a syllable for emphasis. In this case, Duì duì duì would be similar to someone quickly saying "right, right, right" in English.

Next, we encounter a construction we covered in the previous post:

gēn shūshu yīyàng gāo
as tall as uncle

gēn: as (compared to)
shūshu: uncle
yīyàng: same
gāo: tall

Again, this is an high-frequency construction that means as ??? as ???. In English, we place the adjective first: as fast as Brian, as smart as the teacher, etc. In Mandarin, the person, place, or thing being compared to is placed first, then the adjective.

gēn shūshu yīyàng pàng
as fat as uncle

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Reading Quiz

Without reviewing the lesson above, what do the following characters mean?

胖 answer

高 answer

样 answer

一 answer

叔 answer

跟 answer

对 answer

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Writing Quiz

Without reviewing the lesson above, write the following characters:

pàng answer

gāo answer

yàng answer

yī answer

shū answer

gēn answer

duì answer

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So far we have covered:

豆豆，这是叔叔，快说叔叔好
Dòudou, zhè shì shūshu. Kuài shuō shūshu hǎo.
Doudou, this is Uncle. Hurry up and say hello to Uncle.

叔叔好!
Shūshu hǎo!
Hello, Uncle!

豆豆，真乖！一年没见，长高了很多!
Dòudou, zhēn guāi! ī nián měi jiàn. zhǎng gāo le hěn duō.
Doudou, so well-behaved! I haven't seen you in a year. You've grown taller!

豆豆以后要跟叔叔一样高
Dòudou yǐhòu yào gēn shūshu yīyàng gāo.
Doudou will be as tall as uncle someday.

对对对。跟叔叔一样高，跟叔叔一样胖。
Duì duì duì. Gēn shūshu yīyàng gāo, gēn shūshu yīyàng pàng.
That's right, that's right. Just as tall as uncle and just as fat as uncle!

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再 见!（zài jiàn!)
James

Getting Taller, not Fatter #4

We've been dissecting the ChinesePod elementary lesson: Getting Taller (Not Fatter).

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Here is our next sentence:

豆豆以后要跟叔叔一样高
Dòudou yǐhòu yào gēn shūshu yīyàng gāo.
Literally: Doudou in the future will as compared to uncle same tall.
Doudou will be as tall as uncle someday.

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豆豆
Dòudou
dòu means bean. Dòudou is a nickname that translates approximately to little bean. The entire character 豆 is a radical. So you would look it up in the Chinese dictionary using the radical 豆 + 0 strokes.

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以后
yǐhòu
yǐhòu usually means after; in this example it's more correctly translated as in the future.

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跟叔叔一样
gēn shūshu yīyàng
as tall as uncle
This is an important construction that means as ??? as ???. In English, we place the adjective first: as fast as Brian, as smart as the teacher, etc. In Mandarin, the person, place, or thing being compared to is placed first, then the adjective.

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So far we have covered:

豆豆，这是叔叔，快说叔叔好
Dòudou, zhè shì shūshu. Kuài shuō shūshu hǎo.
Doudou, this is Uncle. Hurry up and say hello to Uncle.

叔叔好!
Shūshu hǎo!
Hello, Uncle!

豆豆，真乖！一年没见，长高了很多!
Dòudou, zhēn guāi! ī nián měi jiàn. zhǎng gāo le hěn duō.
Doudou, so well-behaved! I haven't seen you in a year. You've grown taller!

豆豆以后要跟叔叔一样高
Dòudou yǐhòu yào gēn shūshu yīyàng gāo.
Doudou will be as tall as uncle someday.

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再 见!（zài jiàn!)
James

Elementary Chinese: Getting Taller (Not Fatter) #3

We've been dissecting the ChinesePod elementary lesson: Getting Taller (Not Fatter). So far we have covered:

豆豆，这是叔叔，快说叔叔好
Dòudou, zhè shì shūshu. Kuài shuō shūshu hǎo.
Doudou, this is Uncle. Hurry up and say hello to Uncle.

叔叔好!
Shūshu hǎo!
Hello, Uncle!

豆豆，真乖！一年没见，长高了很多!
Dòudou, zhēn guāi! ī nián měi jiàn. zhǎng gāo le hěn duō.
Literally: Little Bean, truly obedient. One year no meet. Grow tall (completed action marker) very much.
Doudou, so well-behaved! I haven't seen you in a year. You've grown taller!

Chinese-to-English translation involves a word-for-word step that exists but isn't so pronounced when translating most languages of European origin into English. In other words, when we convert a sentence written in a romance language such as Spanish to its literal equivalent, the subsequent conversion to its figurative or practical English equivalent doesn't usually involve a great leap. This is not true of Chinese.

Uncle says Dòudou, zhēn guāi! Doudou, so well-behaved! Obedience as the Confucian hallmark of the authentic individual is emphasized from the earliest stages of childhood.

Next, Uncle says ī nián měi jiàn, One year no meet. This is a standard way of saying that I haven't seen you for a year. zhǎng gāo le hěn duō, Grow tall (completed action marker) very much. le is an oft-used marker to indicate that an action has already happened. It's often the only way to tell that the speaker is referring to something in the past. So this translates to You've grown taller.

Linguistic grammar is a good example of one of the differences in the ways Eastern and Western cultures think and communicate as a result of geographic separation during the early millennia of their development. The Chinese language lacks many of the words that Western languages use to express subtleties, so context is an important component of translation.

I frequently mention that I embrace the no pain, no gain approach to learning and success. When one is striving for excellence in an area as difficult as the study of Mandarin Chinese, it is necessary to exercise self-discipline, study relentlessly, write characters repeatedly until you've internalized the ability to do so, develop self-tests rather than relying on passive activities such as reading or listening, and most important of all: practice, practice, practice.

Pronunciation, word details, character dictionary, animated writing, stroke order, radical, number of strokes, etc (mdbg.net):

duō

gāo

guāi

hěn

ī

jiàn

le

měi

nián

zhǎng

zhēn

再 见!（zài jiàn!)

James

Elementary Chinese: Getting Taller (Not Fatter) #2

Today we'll continue analyzing the ChinesePod elementary lesson: Getting Taller (Not Fatter).

豆豆，这是叔叔，快说叔叔好
Dòudou, zhè shì shūshu. Kuài shuō shūshu hǎo.

Doudou, this is Uncle. Hurry up and say hello to Uncle.

Literal translation: Doudou (nickname), this be Uncle (diminutive). Hurry say Uncle good.

The second sentence: Kuài shuō shūshu hǎo, is interesting for a couple of reasons. First, the speaker doesn't really mean that the child should hurry and say hello, but adding the word hurry (kuài) implies that the child should demonstrate eagerness, as a sign of respect for Uncle. Culturally, it's important for Chinese children to be well-behaved and to show respect for their elders. Secondly, saying hello to Uncle: shūshu hǎo (uncle good), might sound odd at first, but it is really just related to the way one would say hello to a person of equal position: nǐ hǎo.

Word Details, from mdbg.net
dòu
hǎo
kuài
shì
shū
shuō
zhè

再 见!（zài jiàn!)

James

Visit ChinesePod.com at ChinesePod.

This lesson can be found at http://chinesepod.com/lessons/getting-taller-not-fatter.

mdbg.net Chinese dictionary: http://us1.mdbg.net/chindict/chindict.php.

Elementary Chinese: Getting Taller, not Fatter #1

I have found the Shanghai podcast website ChinesePod to be an invaluable resource over the years. In this post, I'll begin a dissection of an elementary lesson called Getting Taller (Not Fatter). For this lesson, I'll assume that the reader has a basic understanding of Pinyin and pronunciation.

豆豆，这是叔叔，快说叔叔好

Pinyin: Dòudou, zhè shì shūshu. Kuài shuō shūshu hǎo.

Translation: Doudou, this is your uncle. Hurry up and say hello.

Literal translation: Doudou (nickname), this be Uncle (diminutive). Hurry say Uncle good.

The literal translation demonstrates much of the difficulty in learning Chinese. I'll cover some of the cultural considerations at the root of this translation in subsequent posts but for now, this is a statement from a parent to a child, Doudou. It's common for Chinese to address their small children by nicknames; Dou4 (豆) means "bean," and a syllable is typically repeated to add emphasis or to make it cute. In this case, Doudou would mean "little bean" or "cute little bean."

The term Uncle could refer to a literal uncle, or it could be a polite title for a man of an uncle's generation.

Well, that's it for today. I'll resume this lesson with the next post.

Jim

There’s an excellent Pinyin entry tool at http://de.mdbg.net/chindict/webime2_pinyin.php. Just enter a syllable in hao3 format. The editor converts it in real time to hǎo.

Visit ChinesePod.com at ChinesePod.

If you're a ChinesePod member, this lesson can be found at http://chinesepod.com/lessons/getting-taller-not-fatter.

Mdbg.net is another excellent resource for students of the Chinese language.