Sour: suān / 酸
Sweet: tián / 甜
Bitter: kǔ / 苦
Spicy: là / 辣
Much like English, these words are not restricted to food only. For example, kǔ (苦) can also mean “hardship”, “pain” and “suffering”.
If you combine all 4 flavours, you’ll get a phrase: Suān Tián Kǔ Là (酸甜苦辣). This phrase describes the joys and sorrows of life and the whole range of emotions.
Aside from being mildly poetic, it’s also a handy phrase to remember the flavours, as they are listed in order of tones. Suān (1st, level) Tián (2nd, rising) Kǔ (3rd, rising-falling) Là (4th, falling)
Bǐjiào (比较) can be a tricky concept for Mandarin beginners grasp. On one hand, it’s used for comparison, but it’s also used as an adverb like “quite” or “fairly”.
Bǐjiào for comparison
nǎ yī jiàn yīfu bǐjiào hǎo kàn? / 哪一件衣服比较好看? / which one (of these clothes) looks better?
shéi bǐjiào gāo? / 谁比较高? / who is taller?
zhè ge bǐjiào hǎochī / 这个比较好吃 / this one tastes better
Bǐjiào as an adverb
wǒ jīntiān bǐjiào máng / 我今天比较忙 / I’m quite busy today
wǒmen bǐjiào è / 我们比较饿 / we’re fairly hungry
shàng zhōu bǐjiào rè / 上周比较热 / it was pretty hot last week
Finding language exchange partners is really important for foreigners who are interested in improving their Mandarin. There are a few websites you can use to meet conversation partners in Beijing.
- Conversation Exchange. Great site, simple layout and cool people. I’ve met a lot of language partners here who quickly became friends.
- The Beijinger. You’ll get a lot of responses by putting an ad up on The Beijinger. Just be aware that this is in the Personal Ads section, so you may get people who are looking for more than just language exchange.
- Livemocha. Livemocha is a language-learning with a social-networking aspect. It’s a great Mandarin-learning site to begin with; having the ability to message people to meet up is a big plus.
For first-time language exchangers, I would recommend that you always prepare before you meet a partner. Since these sites are mostly in English, the conversation partners you’ll make usually have good English. As such, it’s easy to get carried away with just English, and you spend your whole language date without speaking any Mandarin. Take some time before you meet to prepare a list of questions, difficult grammar points, pronunciation errors, etc.
If you’re a beginner-intermediate like me, try to find someone who has a good grasp of English. There are a lot of nuances and vocabulary that need to be explained at this level. As you move up, you can take on language partners who have poor English, forcing you to speak wholly in Mandarin.
Language partners can quickly become friends and show you parts of Beijing that would normally take you a long time to discover, which is an amazing side-benefit. If you’re serious about language, just make sure you hang on to the learning aspect — as you become friends it’s easy to lose focus and forget that you should be practicing Mandarin!
Yǐjīng (已经) is pretty much identical usage to already.
tā yǐjīng qǔ shàngbān le / 她已经去上班了 / she’s already gone to work
tāmen yǐjīng zǒu le / 他们已经走了/ they’ve already left
wǒ yǐjīng chī fàn le / 我已经吃饭了/ I’ve already eaten
tā yǐjīng xiàbān le / 他已经下班了/ he’s already gotten off work
jīntiān wǒ yǐjīng xuéxí le / 今天我已经学习了/ I’ve already studied today wǒ yǐjīng xiě hǎo le / 我已经写好了/ I’ve already finished writing
Use háishi 还是 and huòzhě 或者 to express “OR” when talking about alternatives.
或者 when you are talking about similar, interchangeable things:
今天或者明天都行
还是 when you are talking about alternatives. usually found in questions:
在这里吃还是带走？
