What we’re about
* Currently, our activities focus on language learning (listening and conversational practice, particularly in Mandarin and Cantonese) and Chinese culture (especially music, poems, movies, regional cuisines, art, calligraphy, history)
* Use your computer to plan ahead.
Look at our monthly calendar to find activities that appeal to you:
https://www.meetup.com/austin-chinese-language-and-culture/events/calendar/
RSVP a week in advance if you can. Otherwise, do so at least a day before the event.
If no one signs up for an event, it will probably be cancelled a couple of days before.
* Use the app to check messages (Event Chats and Direct Messages) a day or two before any event for possible discussion.
If you won't be able to attend, update your RSVP before the event starts.
If the host needs to make a schedule change, s/he should do so before the event start time, preferably at least a day in advance.
* Participate regularly.
If we don't see you for a few weeks, you'll probably be removed from the group. Nothing personal--our events probably just don't fit your interests or schedule.
* We're here to learn and improve.
Participate in online activities using headphones and from a quiet location.
Be open to information/strategies that may challenge your practices.
We invite discussion based on research/experience.
* Please do not advertise, attack, campaign, proposition, proselytize, or solicit.
If anyone contacts you through Meetup to do any of these, please let us know.
Upcoming events (4+)
See all- intermediate (口语和书面) Mandarin study sessionLink visible for attendees
Participants should recognize and understand more than 500 words. We will emphasize fairly standard Putonghua pronunciation but also work towards comprehending regional accents.
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During the meeting, please
[1] be in a distraction-free, quiet environment;
[2] use headphones to minimize audio feedback;
[3] pay close attention to melody, rhythm, and sounds.---.--- ---.--- ---.--- ---.--- ---.--- ---.--- ---.--- ---.---
my favorite resources---.--- ---.--- ---.--- ---.--- ---.--- ---.--- ---.--- ---.---
9:00 听力 listening warm-up / "comprehensible input"
Blabla Chinese(CCTV) "Happy Chinese" (Season One)
Ep. 8 "Keep Covered in Spring"---.--- ---.--- ---.--- ---.--- ---.--- ---.--- ---.--- ---.---
9:15 发音 pronunciation/accent warm-up
tone pair practice
shíshí, shíshī, shíshì, shíshǐ, shīshí, shīshì, shìshí, shìshì, shǐshí, shǐshī绕口令 (tongue twisters)
吃葡萄
黑蝴蝶飞
鸟岛
知道就说知道---.--- ---.--- ---.--- ---.--- ---.--- ---.--- ---.--- ---.---
9:25 口语/书面 词汇 conversational/literary vocabularyBù pà yīwàn, jiù pà wànyī. "better (to be) safe than sorry"
Zhǒng guā dé guā, zhǒng dòu dé dòu. (lit. "plant melons, get melons; plant beans, get beans") "You reap what you sow."落汤鸡 luòtāngjī (lit. "fall-in-soup chicken") n. someone who got drenched
玻璃心 bōlí xīn (lit. "glass heart") adj. overly sensitive; butthurt
擦屁股 cā pìgu (lit. "wipe butt") to clean up someone else's mess
背锅 bèi guō (lit. "carry the soup pot on one's back") to take the blame; to be a scapegoat
鸡汤 jītāng (derived from "Chicken Soup for the Soul"; often used disparagingly) inspirational sayings/stories that don't actually help---.--- ---.--- ---.--- ---.--- ---.--- ---.--- ---.--- ---.---
HSK Standard Course 4 or 5 video w/translations---.--- ---.--- ---.--- ---.--- ---.--- ---.--- ---.--- ---.---
9:40 听力 listening / "comprehensible input"
日常对话 Real-life Chinese
大鹏说中文 Speak Chinese with Da Peng (十大城市)
Tao Laoshi
TeaTime Chinese---.--- ---.--- ---.--- ---.--- ---.--- ---.--- ---.--- ---.---
10:15 听力 special story listening
《小王子》(Le Petit Prince; The Little Prince book read)---.--- ---.--- ---.--- ---.--- ---.--- ---.--- ---.--- ---.---
Use calendar view to see other upcoming events at a glance. - [in-person] playing games and/or singing songs in MandarinThe Village (courtyard), Austin, TX
All participants should be able to ask (and answer) simple questions (how, how many/much, what, when, where, who, why) in Mandarin. For games that involve describing/explaining ideas/things, it will be helpful to have an active vocabulary of at least several hundred words.
"Catch Phrase":
Select a word or idiom and try to describe or explain it, without using any of the component characters contained in the selected word. Other people try to guess the word or idiom."Pictionary":
One player tries to illustrate a given word or idiom. The other players try to guess the word or idiom."Question Chains":
(A) Repeat the previous player's answer.
(B) Answer the previous player's question.
(C) Ask a new question for the next player."Rhymin' Simon":
Each player must say a word (单词), phrase (短语), or sentence (句子), up to 8 characters long, that rhymes with (the last syllable of) the previous word/phrase/sentence."Scattergories":
A character will be randomly selected from a pre-selected list. Once it's revealed, each player will have three minutes to list as many words that start with the selected character as s/he can."Twenty Questions":
One player thinks of a person, place, or thing. The other players take turns asking “yes/no” questions. The goal is to determine the person, place, or thing by the time 20 questions have been asked and answered."Word Chains" (單詞接龍/单词接龙):
Each player in turn must say a word that starts with the ending character of the previous word.word lists:
"HSK 3.0" (Level 2 3 4 5)
HSK Level 5+---.--- ---.--- ---.--- ---.--- ---.--- ---.--- ---.--- ---.---
Here are some songs that we may sing:
[01]《康定情歌/"Kangding Love Song"》(1946)
[02]《情人的眼淚》(1958, 潘秀瓊/Poon Sow Keng; 1971, 姚苏蓉)
[03]《月亮代表我的心》(1977, 鄧麗君/Teresa Teng)
[04]《甜蜜蜜》(1979, 鄧麗君/Teresa Teng)
[05]《爱江山更爱美人》(1994, 李麗芬/Lily Lee)
[06]《輸了你,贏了世界又如何》(1994, 優客李林/Ukulele)
[07]《紅豆》(1998-10, 王菲/Faye Wong)
[08]《月亮之上/"Above the Moon"》(2001?, 韩红; 2005, 凤凰传奇/"Phoenix Legend")
[09]《流星》(2001-06, 郑钧) Mandarin version of Coldplay's "Yellow"
[10]《十年》(2003-04, 陳奕迅/Eason Chan)
[11]《小情歌》(2006-10, sodagreen/蘇打綠)
[12]《不能說的秘密/Secret》(2007-07, 周杰倫/Jay Chou; 2018, 林俊傑)
[13]《洋蔥》(2008-01, 楊宗緯/Aska Yang)
[14]《星空/"Starry Starry Night"》(2011-11, 五月天/Mayday)
[15]《泡沫/Bubble》(2012-07, G.E.M./鄧紫棋)
[16]《聽見下雨的聲音/Rhythm Of The Rain》(2013-10, 魏如昀; 2014, 周杰倫)
[17]《Say Something/说些什么》(2014, 陳傑瑞/Jeric Tan + Rose Liu/刘明湘)
[18]《平凡之路/"Ordinary Road"》(2014, 朴樹/Pu Shu)
[19]《雪落下的聲音/The Sound of Snow Falling》(2018-07, 陸虎; 2018, 周深)
[20]《你的答案/"Your Answer"》(2019, 阿冗/A Rong)---.--- ---.--- ---.--- ---.--- ---.--- ---.--- ---.--- ---.---
Use calendar view to see other upcoming events at a glance. - [all levels] How can I estimate my level of fluency?Link visible for attendees
Wonder what we mean by "novice", "beginner", "pre-intermediate", or "intermediate-ish"? Drop by for fifteen or twenty minutes, and I'll show you!
novice (HSK 0 to 1) classroom numbers colors
beginner (HSK 1 to 2) dialogues [Taiwan accent] videoadvanced beginner (HSK 3) story A B C
pre-intermediate (HSK 3 to 4) story D E [Taiwan accent] F [Taiwan accent] G tips [SW 贵州 accent] Hlow intermediate (HSK 4) story tips J K
high intermediate (HSK 5) story [Beijing accent] series tips 中美饮食 [southern accent] demoadvanced (HSK 6+) series
native-like humor
expert/professional/technicaltiny HSK vocabulary test
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Use calendar view to see other upcoming events at a glance. - pre-intermediate listening, vocabulary, pronunciation, and bits of grammarLink visible for attendees
Participants should
understand how pinyin notation expresses the precise pronunciation of Mandarin Chinese, including the "melody";
be familiar with a few hundred words, incl. words for
"one" through "ninety-nine"; to arrive; to be; to be at/in/on (somewhere); behind; clothes; cold; color; to come; computer; doctor; to eat; exercise; facing; few; from ... to ...; in front of; to go; hot; to know (a fact); to know (be acquainted with); noodles; pencil; to run; to sleep; some; to speak; time (concept/quantity); time (event/point); weather; workbe able to ask and answer questions like these:
"Do you like to dance/eat/sing/swim?" "I like to sing." "I don't like to dance."
"Who is she?" "She's my friend."
"What is this?" "This is a book/cup/fruit."
"What time are we going to see a movie?" "Tomorrow, at 7:30 in the evening."
"Where is David?" "He's at home."
"Why do you study Chinese?" "Because I would like to speak Chinese."and have a general idea of the "golden rule" of basic sentence structure
subject [+ time] [+ location] [+ manner] + verb [+ duration] [+ object]---.--- ---.--- ---.--- ---.--- ---.--- ---.--- ---.--- ---.---
my favorite resources
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listening material
old HSK Level 3 audio translatednew HSK Level 2 lessons
Chinese for Us
Mandarin Bean
Road to Successnew HSK Level 3 lessons
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"lighten up" and "tighten up"
Does your "wo" sound like "whoa"?! 😂---.--- ---.--- ---.--- ---.--- ---.--- ---.--- ---.--- ---.---
Use calendar view to see other upcoming events at a glance.