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Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Family Relationship Names in Chinese

I stumbled across this fantastic site this morning that details, in a lovely clear table, all of the family relationship names in Chinese such as mother, uncle on the father's side, older sister etc. It includes formal and informal names in both Mandarin and Cantonese and shows the characters and pinyin. Amazingly, it goes through the generations from great-great-grandparents right down to great-great-grandchildren!

Here is the link for the detailed table. You will also see links under the heading near the top of the detailed table page that lead you to an introduction page and a page that has a diagram in English of a family tree. These are worth reading as they explain a bit of how the information is organised and how to easily use it.

I hope you find this handy!!

Flash Cards For Lesson 5

Ok! After a bought of sickness going through the family, I think it is finally over and I am itching to get back into life. I'm not feeling so sick and tired from being pregnant so it's time to start doing stuff again. :-) 


Before I get to the flashcards, I just have to share a couple of exciting moments I had the other day. Out of the blue, my little son asked me if Baby Bob (just our nickname for the baby before he is born) will be a 哥哥!! He wasn't quite right but I was amazed that he was thinking about the Chinese names for little brother and the relationship between himself and the baby. I reminded him that he (my son) will be a 哥哥 and Baby Bob will be his 弟弟. 


My other exciting moment was hearing my son singing one of the songs on our children's Chinese CD while playing in the bath. I had no idea he had actually memorised the words and was so proud of him because I have only heard him memorise words to English songs before. It is so wonderful that even while I have been unable to keep up with regularly teaching my son Chinese, the immersion he is getting and little conversations we have are actually sinking in!


Alright, now down to business. Here is the next set of flash cards for lesson 5. Like I've said in a previous flashcard post, please keep in mind that the translation comes from my teachers who are native Chinese speakers and have lived there for many years. They may not be exact dictionary definitions or I may only have one meaning for a word that can actually mean a number of things. These books are aimed at children (but can still be used by adults) so some definitions are simplified and could be considered 'kiddy language'. I have tried to put in a little extra information where this was the case.

Click on the link below to see my flash cards.

Flash Cards for Lesson 5

If you notice any mistakes or have any suggestions, feel free to comment!