Download Chinese Movie Subtitles!

Movies are some of the best tools to learn a foreign language. The language used in movies is more or less applicable to daily life, and the speed at which the actors speak is natural. The problem though is that the intermediate or even the advanced learner might not be able to pick up some of the words in the movie. The obvious solution is to look at the subtitles while watching the movie, and to look up words you don't know.

It's easier said than done...

You have look up the word in the dictionary. Now if you are learning Chinese (or Japanese), you probably have to do the extra step of looking up the Chinese character(s) themselves. It sounds easy enough but let's say you find an unknown word in every sentence or two... a typical movie will easily contain a thousand sentences or more. That means flipping through pages of a dictionary (or maybe typing or writing into an electronic dictionary) more than a thousand times! Not exactly time-efficient!

If only you could download subtitles, then you can use popup/mouseover dictionaries and save time not having to flip pages or scribble into a dictionary...

Well it turns out you can download subtitles for Chinese movies! I'm not so surprised though. Sure Facebook and Youtube may be blocked, but you can download a heck of a lot more! Unfortunately I haven't something like that for Japanese.

So if you are an intermediate or advanced learner try learning from movies.  
If you don't like mainland Chinese or Taiwanese movies, then that might be a problem...

Here's the link: http://www.subom.com/

LingQ - Word Counter

Long time no blog! I was a little bit stressed out last month looking for a job in China and I sort of lost motivation to update this blog but since that issue seems to have been sorted out (fingers crossed), I think I'm ready to start blogging again... until I get hit by another lazy spell.

Well today I thought I would write about LingQ. LingQ is a website where you can learn Japanese, Chinese, Spanish and a few other languages. You can also learn Korean, but the resources are quite under developed as Korean is a recent addition (by under developed I mean there isn't much variety in the lessons you can study). Since I think Steve Kaufmann will do a better job at explaining LingQ than I can, I will only write about the one feature of the site the I specifically like.


The word counter. LingQ has a function where you can count how many words you know in particular language. I believe that the number of words that you can understand (not necessary use actively) is an important measure of your proficiency in the language. Of course understanding the meaning of a word is only half a step, learning how to use it is the other half. Nonetheless it's nice to keep track of what and how many words you know. You can also use this feature to limit how many new words you learn or study in a day. You can see your word counter in your profile page, and you can use it as a badge in your blog!







Check out the website yourself so you can understand how it works. You can sign up for free and you'll be able to access the site with some of the key features disabled. You can also pay $10 a month for a basic subscription, which I think is  pretty cheap if you are keen on learning languages.

Names of Various Herbs and Spices in Chinese

I'm going to China in a few months, and I would like to prepare for future trips to the supermarket by learning the names of some herbs and spices in Mandarin. I didn't include in this list the names of spices I already now. I doubt I would be using all the herbs and spices in the list during my stay there, but I might was well learn them.


Anise 大茴香子 dàhuíxiāngzǐ
Basil 罗勒 luólè
Bay Leaves 月桂叶 yuèguìyè
Cardamom 砂仁 shārén
Cinnamon 肉桂 ròuguì
Clove 丁香 dīngxiāng
Dill 莳萝 shíluó
Fennel 小茴香子 xiǎohuíxiāngzǐ
Fenugreek 葫芦巴 húlúbā
Galangal 高良姜 gāoliángjiāng
Kaffir Lime Leaves 青柠叶 qīngníngyè
Lemongrass 香茅 xiāngmáo
Marjoram 墨角兰 mòjuélán
Mustard Seed 芥末子 jièmozǐ
Nutmeg 肉豆蔻 ròudòukòu
Oregano 牛至 niúzhì
Parsley 香芹 xiāngqín
Perilla 紫苏 zǐsū
Rosemary 迷迭香 mídiéxiāng
Saffron 藏红花 zànghónghuā
Sage 鼠尾草 shǔwěicǎo，山艾 shānài，洋苏草 yángsūcǎo
Tarragon 龙蒿 lónghāo
Thyme 百里香 bǎilǐxiāng (麝香草) shèxiāngcǎo
Turmeric 姜黄 jiānghuáng
Wasabi 山葵 shānkuí

中上级单词 Upper-Intermediate Chinese Vocabulary # 5

This list has 26 new words...

赤裸 chìluǒ naked, bare 


真相 zhēnxiàng the actual facts
 
哺乳動物 bǔrǔdòngwù mammals
 

褪 tùn to fade
 

濃密 nóngmì thick, murky
 

體毛 tǐmáo body hair

重點 chóngdiǎn to re-count, re-evaluate
 

提要 tíyào summary, abstract
 

靈長類 língzhǎnglèi primate

厚重 hòuzhòng thick

化石 huàshí fossil

標本 biāoběn specimen, sample

線索 xiànsuǒ trail, clues

性狀 xìngzhuàng nature, character

容量 róngliàng capacity, measure

象徵性 xiàngzhēngxìng symbolic, emblem

演化 yǎnhuà evolution

奠定 diàndìng to establish, to fix

與眾不同 yǔzhòngbùtóng to stand out from the masses
 
光滑 guānghua glossy, sleek, smooth

猩猩 xīngxing orangutan

近親 jìnqīn close relative

禿 tū bald, blunt

Korean Through Hanja 한자어정선 # 17 - 同 (동)

 同

to be the same (같다 / 동)

同僚     동료    どうりょう tóngliáo
colleague

同感     동감     どうかん tónggǎn
sympathy

同意     동의    どうい tóngyì
agreement, consensus

同時     동시    どうじ tóngshí
simultaneously, concurrently

共同     공동    きょうどうgòngtóng
cooperation, collaboration

協同     협동    きょうどう xiétóng
association

Korean Through Hanja 한자어정선 # 16 - 乘 (승)

乘

to ride (타다 / 승)  Japanese Version:　乗

乘客 승객 じょうきゃくchéngkè     
passengers

乘馬 승마 じょうば
horse-riding

乘務員 승무원 じょうむいん chéngwùyuán     
train crew, flight attendant

乘船 승선 じょうせん

to embark (a ship)

乘用車 승용차 じょうようしゃ

a vehicle for human transport

Korean Through Hanja 한자어정선 # 15 食 (식)

食

to eat (먹다)

食慾 식욕　　しょくよく shíyù

appetite

食卓 식탁　　しょくたく

dining table

食前 식전　　しょくぜん 

before meals

食後 식후　　しょくご

after meals

食用 식용　　しょくよう shíyòng

edible

食料 식료　　しょくりょう

food (goods)

食糧 식량　　しょくりょう shíliáng

rations, food supply

Korean Through Hanja 한자어정선 # 14 通 (통)

通

to pass through (통) 

通過 통과　つうか tōngguò
to pass through

通勤 통근　つうきん
to commute (to work)

通路 통로　つうろ tōnglù
a passageway

通常 통상　つうじょうtōngcháng
common, normal

通夜 통야　つや tōngyè
a vigil

通譯 통역　つうやく　（通訳）

to translate

通用 통용　つうようtōngyòng
to be in common use　

通貨 통화　つうか tōnghuò
currency
  
通話 통화　つうわtōnghuà
a telephone call

中上级单词 Upper-Intermediate Chinese Vocabulary # 4

There are 24 new words in this list.

诸如 zhūrú ...such as the following
取而代之 qǔ’érdàizhī to substitute something
从而 cóng’ér thus, thereby
减轻 jiǎnqīng to lighten, to ease
相得益彰 xiāngdéyìzhāng (each one shines more brilliantly in each other's company)
引发 yǐnfā to lead to, to trigger
时尚 shíshàng fashion
尝试 chángshì to try, to attempt
组成部分 zǔchéngbùfen component 
为期 wéiqī to be done in...(amount of time)
逐渐 zhújiàn gradually
淘汰 táotài to wash out
取代 qǔdài to substitute, to replace
图形　túxíng picture
詹姆斯　zhānmǔsī　James
迫不及待　pòbùjídài (itching to get on with it)
甩掉　shuǎidiào to get rid of
肩膀　jiānbǎng shoulders
时常　shícháng often
酸痛　suāntòng sore
无疑　wúyí without doubt
记事本 jìshìběn notebook
交互式电子白板 jiāohùshìdiànzǐbáibǎn interactive whiteboard
一举　yījǔ a move (measure word)
措　cuò measure

Korean Through Hanja 한자어정선 # 13 - 動 (동)

動

to move (움직이다 / 동) / simplified variant: 动

動物 동물　どうぶつ

an animal

動機 동기　どうき

a motive

動詞 동사　どうさ

a verb

動作 동작　どうさく

an action, movement