Thursday, July 26, 2007

Breakfast Revisited

This morning, I was going to have breakfast and wanted to tell my friends. This was no the preparing anymore, but the actual eating. I had no idea how to say that, so I made it a very simple 我早饭。 I figured it was not correct, but at least it would get through what I was doing and I wanted to practice using Chinese.



When I came back from breakfast, my bro had corrected my chinese already:

Ang: so didnt find you
but looks someone busy
btw it's dutch chinese
我在吃早饭
or我准备吃早饭

我在吃早饭

我 wo3 I
在 zai4 located at / in the middle of doing
吃 chi1 eat
早饭 zao3 fan4 breakfast

我准备吃早饭

我 wo3 I
准备 zhun3 bei4 prepare to
吃 chi1 eat
早饭 zao3 fan4 breakfast

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Breakfast

Nanny: I am going to prepare breakfast
how do I say that in chinese?


Min: 我去准备早饭了

我 wo3 I
去 qu4 to go
准备 zhun3 bei4 prepare
早饭 zao3 fan4 breakfast
了 le5 particle

Stirfried fresh summer vegetables and a fried egg, yum!

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Chrysanthemum

mum
n.
[植](=chrysanthemum)菊花, 沉默

I will have to check whether I have any of that tea left, sipping jasmine tea now.

Saturday, July 21, 2007

Welcome back

Nanny: welcome back
what would welcome back be in chinese?


Ang: 欢迎回来


huan1 ying2 欢迎 to welcome / welcome
hui2 lai5 回来 return / come back


Yes, I know, I have been away for too long. Life was a bit overwhelming, but I am going to try to study more chinese again. Even if it isn't much , keeping some study going will be beneficial, right?

Sunday, June 10, 2007

My Handwriting

I was complaining about my Chinese hand writing to my brother and came up with this sentence:
我的汉字是不好


He corrected me to 我的汉字写得不好

At least I got most of the characters right AND it was all by heart, didn't look up any (no, don't bother to point out that those were very high frequency characters :p)

Monday, May 14, 2007

Logging on and logging off

我下线了。 i logoff.
我wo4:i
下xia4 线xian4:logoff

我上线了。 i logon.
上shang4 线 xian4:logon

没 mei2关guan1 系xi4:never mind

Sunday, May 13, 2007

Gardening

Gardening: 整理花园



zheng3 li3 hua1 yuan2

Saturday, May 12, 2007

Happy Mothers Day

母亲节快乐
happy mothers day

母亲 = mother
节 = festival
快乐 = happy



that formula works for anything too!
圣诞节快乐
新年快乐
父亲节快乐

Tuesday, May 08, 2007

不战屈人

不战屈人

不bu2:don't
战zhan4:fight
屈qu1:yield
人ren2:people

Means yield sb. without fighting. This is a famous chinese proverb and also a important tranditional chinese thinking coming of war. It's also the most important rule of 'techniques of war' written by Sun Zi 2000 years ago.

Monday, May 07, 2007

Love your parents

A friend told me:

父生我身 is the beginning of a confucian litany on filial piety. the message is honor thy parents.

It is apparently taught to koreans as part of the school curriculum. students are made to memorize the entire litany.
the entire litany is very long, but you can find it here:
http://www.zl169.com/MINGDA/read_user_news.asp?ID=127

It emphasizes the depth of a parents love for a child and the importance of reciprocation and piety
The first few lines are:
父生我身,母鞠我身。腹以怀我,乳以哺我。以衣温我,以食饱我。
恩高如天,德厚似地。为人子者,曷不为孝。
My father raised me, my mother nourished me.
A bosom to hold/cherish me, a breast to nurse me.
Clothing to warm me, food to feed me.
Kindness/graciousness higher than the sky, values/morals thicker than the land.
The son of a man, why not be filial?

Not sure if the translation is that accurate, but things that are 2500 yrs old are hard to translate, but you get the idea...it is very traditional, goes into things like when your parents enter, you must stand and bow, when your parents order you to do something, you must comply etc...

Sunday, May 06, 2007

Quote of the Day

My eight year old daughter comes to me with her Nintendo DS (a handheld gamesystem)
She asks 'How do you spell how?'
Me 'H - O - W'
She replies 'No!! Not that, the OTHER how!!!'
Me 'Um?? Which other how? Can you make a sentence with it?'
She I am trying to spell 'Nin hao'! To say hello!'
Ah, finally I understood and gave her the right spelling :)

Old Chinese Proverb

A friend told me: "There are not many sunny days here in winter. A famous chinese proverb “蜀犬吠日”tell us it's same sutiation in ancient China.

蜀 su3:the ancient name of Sichuan province of China
犬 quan3:dog
吠 fei4:gnar
日 ri4:sun

The dog gnar to the sun because there seldom saw it in winter in Sichuan."

Saturday, May 05, 2007

Mystery Character of the Day



Saw this fountain with a character at our local nursery. Can anyone tell me which character it is and the meaning?

Monday, April 30, 2007

Greetings

早上好 zao3 shang5 hao3 good morning
中午好 zhong1 wu3 hao3 good midday/afternoon
下午好 xia4 wu hao3 good afternoon
晚上好 wan3 shang4 hao3 good night
晚安 wan3 an1 good night

Thursday, April 19, 2007

Weiqi Word of the Day: cap

cap=盖gai4帽mao4

Saturday, April 14, 2007

Wow!

哇噻=wow
哇wa噻sai4

Sunday, April 08, 2007

Weiqi Words of the Day

coward! 懦luo4夫fu1
Double hane. 连lian2扳ban1

Saturday, April 07, 2007

Calling to China

My brother Ang asked me to call him at 9am this morning (his time) to help him wake up in time. Calling him made me forget ALL my Chinese at once. The moment I was on the phone, I went blank and couldn't remember any Chinese words I knew. They were fine with English, but it made me admire my sister Min even more, who moved here from China and had the problem the other way around, every time she needed to make a phone call in English.

I WILL work on my Chinese to at least be able to make a rudimentary phone call, I have been focusing on weiqi Chinese too much, and not as much on every-day-useful Chinese.

Thursday, April 05, 2007

Snow...

我讨厌雪
我讨厌雪天
我讨厌下雪

yes, we have 10-20cm of wet, heavy snow in April!

Tuesday, April 03, 2007

Iron Pillar

iron pillar 扎zha1钉ding4

Sunday, March 25, 2007

l/d problems

Just blogging this to remember which l/d problems to check out in Stonebase:

"Nice to study l/d problems. There have some good stuff about yose and l/d problems in StoneBase which named 中外古谱 -> 中国古谱 -> 官子谱. It's very useful because almost all the stuffs come from the real game. In fact i almost don't do other l/d problems except this one. It was writed in 17th by GuoBailin."

Today, I am studying attack and defense, and haengma. I guess should do l/d later too.

Monday, March 19, 2007

Have fun!

Nanny: have fun!
how do you say 'have fun!' in chinese?
Min: I don't think we have special words for it.
Nanny: ok, depends on what one is going to do?
Min: 玩得好
玩得高兴
Nanny: thank you
Min: yes, it depends on what one is going to do and now I can't think of anything similar for have fun.

玩得高兴
wan2 de gao1 xing4

Friday, March 16, 2007

Going to sleep

Nanny: ok
how do I say, 'I will go to sleep' ?
i know I and sleep, but not sure how to make it into 'I will go to sleep'


lyonweiqi: 我将要去睡觉
or say
我去睡觉


Nanny: ok, let me make a note of that and then i'll follow through on it :)


lyonweiqi: 你应该去睡觉了
您 is more polite
姐姐您应该去睡觉了


Nanny: ok
hehe, just translated that :p

Guess will study more tomorrow, but wanted to make note now.

Have a good trip!

wutu: 一路顺风
NannyOgg: 谢谢 :)
NannyOgg: would you say that before someone goes out on a walk too?
NannyOgg: or only to a specific destination?
wutu: yes
NannyOgg: yes, specific, or yes to walk?
wutu: yes to walk or trip
NannyOgg: ok, great!
NannyOgg: then i learned very useful new vocabulary :D
wutu: hehe

Off to our local science museum!

Placement Stones

I am playing a game with a friend, and it looks like we'll start with a cross corners hoshi opening. He said:

This looks like placement stones: 座zuo4子zi3

Saturday, March 10, 2007

Women's Day

March 8:

women's day=三八妇女节
三san1 =three
八=ba1 =eight
妇fu4女nv3 =women
节jie2 =festival

All the women will enjoy half day or a day's break. It's not long but interesting because you almost can't see a woman in working in this day.

Tuesday, March 06, 2007

Did you sleep well?

谢谢,Min for teaching me this new vocabulary.

早上好

你睡的好吗?

你 ni3 You
睡 shui4 sleep
的 de
好 hao well
吗 ma5

if you want to express the time,you can add last night.
昨晚

昨 zuo 2
晚 wan 3

你昨晚睡的好吗。

Tiger's mouth

虎hu3=tiger mouth

Kiai!

"Can't play a move which you are supposed. It's kiai(气qi4合he2)! Now you are supposed to connect at where i was supposed to atari."

(And no, I did not play where he wanted me to play :p)

Saturday, March 03, 2007

Family

弟弟 (di4 di5) is Li Ang, my younger brother.
姐姐 (jie3 jie5) is Iliana, my older sister.
妹妹 (mei4 mei5) is Min, my younger sister
哥哥 (ge1 ge5) are Ronald and Oscar, my older brothers.

Thursday, March 01, 2007

Moyo and territory

Just realized it's not moyo(模mo2样yang4) but territory(实shi2地di4). I am really sorry for saying it a moyo to myself, but i don't feel too sorry for saying it to you^^

Monday, February 12, 2007

sansan

点dian3三san1三 get into 3-3

Saturday, February 10, 2007

Probe

试shi4应ying4手shou3 probe

Friday, February 09, 2007

Kakari

挂gua4 kakari

Thursday, February 08, 2007

Bamboo Joint

双shuang1 bamboo joint

断duan4 Cut first, think later.

aiki budoin=合he2气qi4武wu3道dao4 can be transted derectly 'Gathering Gas Together Kong Fu', cool name!

I changed the background and such of my blog, I like the way it turned out.

Monday, February 05, 2007

XieRui's Move

There is a funny go term in China named XieRui's Move(谢锐的一手). XieRui is a famous go reporter with chinese 5d strength. He has many chances to stay with the China go team members. Sometimes, he loved to show his complacent move to these guys, but the team members though it just put on the board randomly. So, if any team members played a blunder move they would say:"Look, this is XieRui's Move".

Sunday, February 04, 2007

Counter attack

Counter attack=反fan3击ji1

虎hu3 Just because this shape looks like the mouth of a tiger which will eat everything throwing in.

Saturday, February 03, 2007

Squeeze

挤ji3 I haven't found a english term like this.

I think squeeze

Nose Attachment

鼻bi2顶din3(nose attachment)

And from last night's game:

气合=kiai qi4 he2 ??

不得不杀 I have no choice but to kill
不 得不 bu4 de2 bu4 have no choice but to
杀 sha1 to kill

不得不战 I have no choice but to fight
不得不 bu4 de2 bu4
战 zhan4 fight

不得不死 Have no choice but to die!

Can you tell what style of game we were playing? Yes, a fighting game ^^ He started it though, I was trying to peacefully take my 3/4 of the board, but he complicated.

Friday, February 02, 2007

Today I will go to go club

Great, you can speak some sentences. Guess it something like my english but easy to understand. '今天我要去围棋会' sounds better. It's right to use '将' describle something happens in the future, but we always skip it when have used a definite date.

今天 jin1 tian1 Today
我 wo3 I
要 yao4 will be going to
去 qu4 to go
围棋 wei2 qi2 go
会 hui4 club

Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Nobi

Nobi:

长 is a polyphonic character and has different meanings. Though '长zhang3' means 'grow/to develop' when it's a verb, but it's spelled 长chang2 when it's used as a Go term. In fact 长chang2 means 'length' when it's a noun and also means 'long' when it is a adj.. It reall make no sense but i don't know why.

There have many polyphonic characters in chinese and on the other hand they can be combined to words. So 3000 characters is enough for chinese while american have to remember 12000 english one.

I finally got back to listening to chinese lesson podcasts last night. All this go / chinese studying is motivating me to work harder at things :)

I visited Chinese Lessons with Serge Melnyk , a site I hadn't seen before. Looks like a good resource for beginners.

Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Long time no see

好久不见

hao3 jiu3 bu5 jian4

Long time no see.

the chinese nation

LOL, we chinese call it '国骂 ma4' means the abuse word of nation. We call something traditional which is really good such as Calligraphy, Peiking opera and Go etc. as '国粹 cui4', and it means the best old thing of the nation.

Have to do something!

Ha, you sought complicating first, then i have to cut(我不得不断). '我得断' means i would cut. '不得不' is very useful when you want to say 'have to do something'. For example, i want to be Shodan, so i have to do more L&D problems. Then you may say:
'我想成为初段,所以我不得不做更多的死活题'.

想 xiang3: want
成 cheng2 为 wei2: a word means 'become'.
所 suo3 以 yi3: it's a conj. means 'so'.
更 geng4 多 duo1:m ore.
死 si3 活 huo2:death and life.
题 ti2: problem.

Monday, January 29, 2007

做个好梦.

做个好梦

做 zuo4 to make
个 ge4 a measure word
好 hao3 good
梦 meng4 dream

Have sweet dreams!

One Space Jump

Yes, 一间跳 means "one space jump". 间 is something means room. if you wanted to say a single room you could say 单(dan1)间. Sometimes 间 is also a counting word. For example, a house=一间房(fang2)子. 间 also can mean space, like 间隔(ge2)(the distance between two things) or 一间跳.

一 yi1 one
间 jian1
跳 tiao4 jump

Chinese Go Terms

My friend sent this to me, now just need to learn all of them ^^

I found an article which contains an English-Chinese go dictionary. Hope it would help some. If you had any questions about it you could ask me or jing.

atari 打吃
(da3 chi1) (strike destroy)

bango 番棋
(fan1 qi2) (games go)

byo-yomi 读秒
(du2 miao3) (hard to find literal translation, miao is counting word?)

carpenter's square 小曲尺
(xiao3 qu1 chi3) (small crooked ruler)

chuban (middle game) 中盘
(zhong1 pan2) (middle game)

cut 断
(duan4) (break)

Have to go out caching now, so no time to look up more. From those, I knew the characters for 中, 小 , and 棋
I guess the cutting one, 断 duan , would be a good one to learn too. It seems to happen a lot in my games ^^



cutting point 断点

dame 单官,气

dan 段

empty triangle 空三角

eye 眼

furikawari (exchange, trade, swap) 转换、交换

fuseki 布局

geta (net) 枷

gaisei (outside influence) 外势

gankei (eye shape) 眼形

go 围棋

goban 围棋盘

godokoro 棋所

Gosei 小棋圣

gote 后手

gote no sente 后中先

gukei (bad shape) 愚形 (*)

gyaku sente (reverse sente) 逆先手 (*)

gyaku yose (reverse yose) 逆官子 (*)

hamete (trick move) 嵌手 (*)

hanami-ko 无忧劫

hana-zuke (nose attachment) 鼻顶 (*)

hane 扳 (*)

hane-kaeshi 反扳,连扳

hangan (half an eye) 半眼

han-ko 半劫

han-moku (half a point) 半目 (*)

hasami (pincer attack) 夹攻(如定式中的一间夹、二间夹等等) (*)

hasami-kaeshi 反夹(对应于上述夹攻之反夹)

haya-go 快棋 (*)

hazama 穿象眼

hazama tobi 象飞

hiraki (extension) 开拆(如拆二、拆三等等) (*)

hon-ko (real ko) 本劫

Honinbo 本因坊(*)

honte 本手 (*)

hoshi (star point) 星 (*)

igo 围棋 (*)

ikken 一间(常见的有以下四种):

ikken-basami (one-space pincer) 一间夹 (*)

ikken-biraki (one-space extension) 一间拆 (*)

ikken-jimari (one-space enclosure) 单关守角 (*)

ikken-tobi (one-space jump) 一间跳(单关跳) (*)

insei 院生 (*)

ishi-no-shita 倒脱靴 (*)

ji (territory) 地 (*)

jigo (a drawn game) 和棋,持棋 (*)

joseki 定式 (*)

joban (opening game) 序盘 (*)

josen 定先

jozu 上手,又常指江户时期的七段 (*)

jubango 十番棋 (*)

Judan Sen 十段战

jun-Meijin 准名人

kabe (wall) 壁 (*)

kakari (approach move) 挂角 (*)

kake 飞压

kake-me (false eye) 假眼 (*)

keshi 消,侵消 (*)

ki 棋

kiai 气合

kishi 棋士 (*)

ki-in 棋院 (*)

kido 棋道 (*)

kifu 棋谱 (*)

kikashi (a forcing move requring an answer) 先手利 (*)

kiri (cut) 切断 (*)

kiri-chigai (crosscut) 扭断 (*)

Kisei 棋圣 (*)

ko 劫 (*)

kogeima 小飞(*)

komi 贴目 (*)

komoku 小目 (*)

kosumi (diagonal move) 小尖 (*)

kosumi-tsuke 尖顶

kozai (ko threat) 劫材 (*)

kyu 级 (*)

kyusho (vital point) 急所 (*)

liberty 气 (*)

magari (turning move) 曲 (*)

magari-tsuke 拐头

mane-go (mimic go) 模仿棋 (*)

mannen-ko (thousand-year ko) 万年劫 (*)

me (eye) 眼(*)

me-gatachi (eye shape) 眼形

mekura-go (blindfold go) 盲棋

Meijin 名人 (*)

menjo 免状,棋力证书 (*)

miai 见合 (*)

mokuhazushi (5-3 point) 目外(*)

moyo 模样 (*)

myoshu (A brilliant move) 妙手 (*)

nadare (avalanche joseki) 雪崩 (*)

nidan-bane (two-step hane) 连扳 (*)

nigiri 猜先 (*)

Nihon Ki-in日本棋院

niken 二间(用于下列术语)

niken-basami (two-space pincer) 二间夹(*)

niken-biraki (two-space extension) 二间拆(*)

niken-jimari (two-space corner enclosure) 二间守角

niken-taka-basami (high two-space pincer) 二间高夹(*)

niken-taka-gakari (two-space high approach) 二间高挂(*)

niken-tobi (two-space jump) 二间跳(*)

niren-sei 二连星(*)

nobi (solid extension) 长(*)

nozoki (peep) 刺(*)

nurui (lukewarm, slack) 缓(*)

oba (large fuseki point or extension) 大场,常用 “large point”

ogeima (large-knight approach move) 大飞挂,大桂马(台湾用法)

ogeima-jimari (large-knight's corner enclosure) 大飞守角 (*)

oki-go (Handicap Go) 让子棋(*)

omoi (heavy) 重(*)

onadare (large avalanche joseki) 大雪崩(*)

osae (block) 挡 (*)

oshi (pushing move) 压 (*)

o-shiro go (castle game) 御城棋

Paduk (韩语)围棋

poka (blunder) (*) 恶手,错着(mistake),漏着(oversight),以上几个词义相近,
但有程度上的差别。

ponnuki 开花(*)

Ranka 烂柯(围棋的别名)

rengo (team go) 连棋

ryo-atari (double atari) 双打(*)

ryo-ko (double ko) 双劫(同时打两个劫)(*)

ryo-gote (double gote) 双方后手(*)

ryo-sente (double sente) 双方先手(*)

sabaki (making light, flexible shape in order to save a group) 腾挪(*)

sagari (a descent) 立(*)

sandan-bane (triple hane) 三连扳

san-ko (triple ko) 三劫 (*)

sangen 三间(用于下列术语)

sangen-basami (two-space pincer) 三间夹

sangen-biraki (two-space extension) 三间拆

sangen-tobi (two-space jump) 三间跳

san-san (the 3-3 point) 三三

sanren-sei 三连星(*)

saru-suberi (the monkey jump) 大飞伸腿(收官)

seki 双活(*)

sekito shibori (the stone-tower squeeze) 大头鬼(“石塔”)

seme (attacking) 攻击(*)

semeai (a capture race) 对杀(一般指杀气)(*)

sen-ai-sen 先相先,有时简写为B-W-B或B-B-W(江户时期的规则)

senban 先番

san-ni 先二

sente 先手(*)

shibori (squeeze) 滚打包收(*)

shicho (ladder) 征(*)

shicho-atari (a ladder-breaking move or a ladder-making move) 引征 (*)

shido-go (a teaching game) 指导棋 (*)

shitatsu (life and death) 死活 (*)

shi-ko (a quadrule ko) 四劫

shimari (a corner enclosure) 守角(见一间、二间守角等)

shimbun go (Newspaper go) 新闻棋战

Shin Fuseki (New Fuseki) 新布局(一般指吴清源与木谷实的新布局) (*)

shini-ishi (dead stone) 死棋

shinogi (saving an endangered group or stones) 治孤(*)

shitate (the weaker or lower-ranked player) 下手

shodan (1-dan) 初段(*)

shuban (the closing stages of the game) 终盘(收官阶段),一般用“end game”(*)

shudan 手谈(围棋的别名)

Shusaku-ryu (the Shusaku opening) 秀策流

sogo 争棋(*)

son 损(不常用)

son-ko 损劫

soto dame (an outside liberty) 外气(*)

sugata (shape, formation) 形(*)

suji 筋

sumi (the corner) 角 (*)

suteru (to sacrifice, discard) 弃子(动词)(*)

sute-ishi (sacrifice stones) 弃子

tagai-sen 互先

taisha 大斜(*)

takamoku (the 5-4 point) 高目(*)

takefu (a bamboo joint) (连接时用的)双,竹节。(*)

te (a move) 手(*)

tejun (order of moves) 次序,手顺

tenuki 脱先(*)

tesuji 手筋(*)

tetchu (iron pillar) 铁柱守角(*)

tewari 手割(*)

tengen 天元(*)

thick 厚 (*)

thickness 厚味 (*)

thin 薄 (*)

thinness 薄味 (*)

tobi (a jump, usually toward the center of the board) 跳(*)

tsugi (a connection) 连,接,粘(*)

tsuke (an attachment; a contact play) 靠,碰(*)

tsuki-dashi (pushing in between two enemy stones) 冲

tsume (a cheking extension) 逼(*)

tsume-go (a life and death problem) 诘棋,死活棋(题目)(*)

uchikake (adjourning a game) 打挂

uchikaki (a throw-in move which reduces the opponent's liberties or eyes)
扑入,英文一般用“throw-in”

uchikomi (an invasion) 打入(*),另一意思是把对手降级(江户时期)。

uchisugi (overplay) 过分之意,中文似乎没有对应的术语。

uki-ishi (floating stones. stones without a base) 浮棋(*)

usui (thin) 薄(*)

usui katachi (a thin or weak shape that can easily be attacked) 薄形

utte-gaeshi (a snapback) 倒扑(*)

warikomi (a wedge between two stones) 挖(*)

wariuchi (an invasion, a splitting move) 割打,分投(*)

watari 渡(*)

yomi (reading, analyzing a position) 读棋(*)

yose (the endgame) 收官(*)

yurumi shicho (a loose ladder) 宽气征(*)

zoku suji (bad style, a crude move) 俗筋(*)

Sunday, January 28, 2007

Good night

晚安 means "Good Night"

wan3 an1

It's not a horse, it's your mother...

NannyOgg: no wonder your mother was upset ^^
wutu: lol
NannyOgg: 你的马马
wutu: no, 妈妈
NannyOgg: feh
wutu: 马=horse
NannyOgg: i wasn't sure :)
NannyOgg: ok
NannyOgg: 你的妈妈
wutu: so the female horse is mother
NannyOgg: 好的
wutu: 女=femal
wutu: 马=hose
NannyOgg: right
NannyOgg: like haengma :)
NannyOgg: the way of the moving horse
wutu: hehe
wutu: 女马=妈
NannyOgg: ok

Some day I'll actually get this all right, I swear!

Back to Studying

Me bad, had gotten out of the habit of studying Chinese. An old friend showed up on the go server and motivated me to get back into it. I want to be able to read Chinese go books!

Some review from today:

不客气 bu ke qi means "You are welcome" in a more informal way

Too tired now to write more, but wanted to say hi to my two readers and show that I indeed still do exist ^^