I am going to start posting “sign posts” around my house on a weekly basis. The goal is for my children to stop at the different points each time they pass, and review the sentences. Obviously, I can’t post too many around the house, or they will never get anywhere, so for now, I have chosen three areas for these signs, and those areas may change based on what the subject matter is.

Today I posted a sign at the front door that reads:

Today is quite cold.
jīn tiān hǎo lěng。
今 天 好 冷。

(No, it is not cold outside, but I want to make sure I have the right character for hot, warm, etc. before I make additions to this sign!)

Another on the laundry room door reads:

The clothes have been washed.
yī fú xǐ hǎo le。
衣 服 洗 好 了。

And yet another on the kitchen door that reads:

我很好 wǒ hěn hǎo – I’m very well
我很忙 wǒ hěn máng – I’m very busy
我很累 wǒ hěn lèi – I’m very tired

你很热吗？nǐ hěn rè ma? – Are you very hot?
你很好吗？nǐ hěn hǎo ma? – Are you very well?
你很忙吗？nǐ hěn máng ma? – Are you very busy?
你很累吗？nǐ hěn lèi ma? – Are you very tired?

Learn Chinese Every Day

I love this blog, because for the first time, I have found a site that gives me the literal translation of each character!  Example:

Most learning sites will say that, “Ni Hao!” means “hello!”  Really, the literal translations is “you good!”  While I am attempting to learn the characters, I want to know what each specific character means, and this type of translation does not work well for that.

This is what I would see on Learn Chinese Every Day:

Ni (你) :  you

Hao (好): fine, good

This way of breaking down the sentences  helps you to learn both the individual characters and sentence structure.  The author of this site is on to something!

My favorite page at the moment though is the pinyin chart. We are currently working very hard to learn the pronunciation of pinyin. Although we are learning characters, pinyin is invaluable should you forget or not know a certain character.  The chart is interactive and teaches all of the sounds and combination of sounds in pinyin pronunciation!

Don’t forget another great resource for learning beginning pinyin can be found here.