The Words of the Day for today is 热，rè (hot). As we just traveled to Arizona, we truly experienced HOT weather. The temperature in Phoenix reached more than 100 F during the day. It was 很热 (very hot). This made me think of the two different words we use in Mandarin Chinese to describe "hot". In English, "hot" can mean weather is hot, soup is hot, and even when something is spicy. In Mandarin, when the weather is hot, we say 热，rè. So for "the weather is hot", in Chinese is 天气很热, tiān qì hěn rè. But when something like soup is hot, we use 烫 tàng. 汤很 烫, tāng hěn tàng (soup is very hot).

Posted: Sunday, August 22, 2010 By Ni Hao Books

The Words of the Day for today is 夏天， xià tiān (summer). Southern California is a very dry place, even when it rains, it mostly only drizzles. When I first arrived in San Diego, there was a forecast for storms, but the only thing that came down was just drizzles that damped the windshield of my the car. The summers in Guangzhou (in southern China) are always full of thunderstorms, which bring reliefs to the intense heat. I remember taking showers during the day just to cool off and wash off the sweat. Once I got out of the shower, the heat made me sweat so much instantly, that I just wanted to get back into the shower right away. The summers are definitely getting hotter and hotter there, probably with the pollution bringing the green house effect, keeping the city hot and humid. I do not recommend traveling to China in the summer months, especially to southern China.

Posted: Saturday, July 24, 2010 By Ni Hao Books

The Words of the Day for today is 数字， shù zì (numbers). Chinese people value certain numbers greatly, such as the numbers 8 and 9. The number 8, 八，bā, sounds like 发, fā (prosperous), and the number 9, 九，jiǔ, has the same sound as 久，jiǔ (longevity, lasting a long time). It's very common for Chinese people to have a phone number with lots of number 8 and 9 in it. Imagine a Chinese person living on 8th street with a house number of 8, can't get better than that. One restaurant here in San Diego has a name 168, yī liù bā, sounds a lot like 一路发，yī lù fā, which means prosperous all the way. And yes, it's a Chinese restaurant.

Posted: Tuesday, June 8, 2010 Updated: Saturday, June 12, 2010 By Ni Hao Books

The Word of the Day is 端午节，duān wǔ jié (Dragon Boat Festival). It falls on June 16th this year.

This festival originated from the story related to the poet Qu Yuan. He was a loyal minister to the emperor of the Chu state during the Warring States period, before the unification of China by Qin Shi Huang. Due of jealousy stemming from others in the court, Qu Yuan was sent to exile. While on exile, he wrote great poetries expressing his love for his country and concerns of its future. When his country, the state of Chu, was about to be conquered by other states, Qu Yuan committed suicide by jumping into the river. Once people heard of his suicide, they rushed to the river on boats trying to look for him. They drummed and splashed water trying to keep the fish from eating his body. They also threw in rice for the fish to eat. The food they threw into the water eventually became 粽子, zòng zi, which is sticky rice with various fillings wrapped in bamboo leaves.

There are salted 粽子 with pork, salted eggs, beans fillings, and sweet 粽子 with red bean filling. When I was young, 粽子 were only sold during 端午节, but nowadays, I can find them sold everyday at any Asian supermarket. The boats racing to save the poet with drums and paddles became the "Dragon Boat Race", which has become an international sport in recent years. In the US you can find it at many cities, such as San Francisco, Miami, and Houston.

In San Diego, there will be a small celebration at the North University Community Library on June 12th, with dancing, poetry readings, and other fun activities.

Posted: Thursday, June 3, 2010 By Ni Hao Books

The Words of the Day for today is 橙子， chéng zi (orange). After moving to the US from mainland China, I started to make friends with people from Taiwan. It's very interesting how they use different words to describe things sometimes. One example is the fruit orange. In mainland China, it's called 橙子， chéng zi. But people from Taiwan call it 柳丁, liǔ dīng. So even though we all speak the language Mandarin, but there are still differences.

Posted: Saturday, May 29, 2010 By Ni Hao Books

The Words of the Day for today is 六月， liù yuè (June). Today is June 1st, 六月一日，liù yuè yī rì, which is Children's Day in Mainland China. I remember the day was full of fun. The children had a half day off. But we usually spent the half day off going back to school to play games and win prizes. The games could be relay races, trying to hit a gong while blind folded, etc. The best part, the prizes, were usually candies. It seems Americans don't have a Children's day. Then again, when I look at what my kids do everyday, everyday seems like a Children's Day to them.

Posted: Thursday, May 20, 2010 Updated: Wednesday, June 2, 2010 By Ni Hao Books

The Words of the Day for today is 五月， wǔ yuè (May). 五 means five, and 月 means month. For someone learning Mandarin Chinese, it's pretty easy for say all the months. As long as the learner knows how to count in Chinese from one to twelve, each month is simply the "number" and the word "月". For example, January is 一月，February is 二月，March is 三月 and so on.

Posted: Thursday, May 20, 2010 By Ni Hao Books

The Words of the Day for today is 荔枝， lì zhī (Litchi, or Lychee). It's a type of fruit with red skin, a big seed in the middle, but its flesh is super sweet. Lychee was grown in Asia, mostly China in the old days. It wasn't grown outside of Asia until the 1700s. The best Lychee come from the Guangdong province. When I was growing up in Canton (Guangzhou), which is the capital of Guangdong, I remembered eating sweet sweet Lychee late Springs, early Summers. I was always told not to eat too many of it in one setting. The old Cantonese saying is that one Lychee equals to three sticks of fire. Eating too many might give you acne, or sore throat. So three Lychees were all I was brave enough to eat in in setting. Those old Cantonese sayings really brainwashed me.

Posted: Thursday, May 20, 2010 By Ni Hao Books

The Words of the Day for today is 苦瓜， kǔ guā (bitter melon). 苦 means bitter, and 瓜 means melon. Chinese people eat a lot of interesting things, and bitter melon is definitely one of more interesting vegetables Chinese put on their plates. It has a bumpy skin, plus the seeds inside are bright red in color. The seeds are not edible, so one has to remove them before cooking. Hence, my husband, who is an ABC (American Born Chinese), always thinks bitter melon shouldn't be eaten, since nature makes it so unappealing. He believes the bitterness is nature's way of saying "don't eat me"!

I, however, grew up eating bitter melon. I definitely didn't enjoy it when I was a kid. But years of brainwashing by my parents worked, whose opinions are opposite to my husband, thinking bitter melon is healthy. So I enjoy it now, and try to feed it to my kids. Unfortunately, the name itself is already a turn off. What kid would want to eat something named "bitter"?

Posted: Wednesday, May 19, 2010 By Ni Hao Books

The Words of the Day for today is 母亲， mǔ qīn (mother). We just celebrated 母亲节, mǔ qīn jié (Mother's day) a week ago. It's a little interesting that Mother's Day is not 妈妈节, mā ma jié, even though in our previous blog, we've mentioned mom in Chinese is 妈妈, mā ma. That's because 母亲 is a more respectful term for mom. 母亲 translates better as mother. The same situation applies to "Father/Dad", which can be 父亲，fù qīn, or 爸爸，bà ba.

Posted: Saturday, May 8, 2010 Updated: Monday, May 17, 2010 By Ni Hao Books

The Words of the Day for today is 哥哥， gē ge (big brother). When it comes to names of various family members, Chinese can be really confusing. There is pretty much a word for every one members. For example, brothers are used in English to describe older or younger brothers. One simply say older or younger brother. In Mandarin Chinese, older brother is 哥哥, while the younger brother is 弟弟, dì di. The same applies for sisters, grandparents from both sides, aunts and uncles from both sides, all different. And depending on the region one lives in China, there are different ways to call the grandparents as well.

Some of the books that will help to clarify are Little Pocket Book-Learning Words (2), and My First Learning Book-100 Words.

Posted: Friday, April 23, 2010 By Ni Hao Books

The Words of the Day for today is 清明， qīng míng (clear and bright). 清明节, the Clear and Bright festival, falls on April 5th this year. This is a day marked by tomb sweeping and spring outings. People spent the day visiting their ancestors' graves, pulling up the weeds around the grave, and bringing fresh flowers to the graves. In recent years, people mostly spend the day going hiking, walking and be out of the crowded city.

You can read about the origin of the Clear and Bright Festival in Legends of Ten Chinese Traditional Festivals

Posted: Wednesday, April 7, 2010 Updated: Thursday, April 8, 2010 By Ni Hao Books

The Words of the Day for today is 二， èr (two). When children learn Chinese, numbers are the usually first ones they learn. One of the really interesting number is 二， èr (two). It's interesting because when one counts numbers, one always says 一 (yī, one)，二，三 (sān, three), etc. But when it comes to saying two of something, such as two tigers, it's not 二只老虎, it's 两只老虎. 两(liǎng) replaces 二. This only happens when we try to say two of something. Two flowers is 两朵花(flowers)，not 二朵花。And this only happens to the number two. This has always confused my son, who counted as 一，二，两，三，for a while, thinking 两 is a number as well.

To hear how 二只老虎 (two tigers) is used in a popular Chinese children song, you can listen to the VCD that comes with My First Chinese Song Book

Posted: Friday, April 2, 2010 Updated: Thursday, April 8, 2010 By Ni Hao Books

The Words of the Day for today is 四月， sì yuè (April). April 1st is April Fool's Day. In China, we call it 愚人节, yú rén jié. I remember just hearing about it when I was in Middle School in China. People just started playing tricks on each other, at least my friends did play tricks on me. I would never forget that! Haha. As China becomes more modernized, more and more Western traditions and holidays are introduced to the Chinese. Some people do celebrate Christmas nowadays. But Chinese New Year remains the biggest and most important holiday season in China.

Posted: Thursday, April 1, 2010 By Ni Hao Books

The Words of the Day for today is谢谢， xiè xie (thank you). Contrary to 你好,nǐ hǎo (hello), probably the most spoken Mandarin words, 谢谢 seems to be well known, but not as widely spoken. It might be because it's very hard to pronounce. The "X" in English mostly make the sound of "ks", but in Chinese, it sounds like "s", which can be quite confusing. Hope this blogs helps.

Posted: Wednesday, March 31, 2010 By Ni Hao Books

The Words of the Day for today is 饺子，jiǎo zi (dumplings). When fried, they are called potsticker or gyoza. It's a very important and commonly seen food during celebrations in Northern China, such as during Chinese New Year, birthdays, guest visiting, and such. My parents are from Northern China, so making dumplings are their specialty. The fillings are usually pork with napa cabbage or pork with chives. I remember visiting relatives in the poor villages in China, and they always made dumplings to welcome us. Being so poor, they couldn't afford to buy meat, so the fillings sometimes are just chives with a little oil. It didn't taste very good. Nowadays, chicken fillings are more common here in the US, because people are more health conscious, and chicken is healthier than pork. I'm glad my kids love dumplings, and can sometimes eat 8 or more in one setting. That's the Northern Chinese blood in them.

Posted: Tuesday, March 30, 2010 By Ni Hao Books

The Words of the Day for today is 妈妈，mā ma (mom). It's probably the most used word in all cultures. It's the first word of most kids. My son started calling me 妈妈，then changed to mommy when he started to speak more English. I miss the 妈妈. It's interesting how in most languages, the sounds for Mom and Dad are very similar. To learn more family members in Chinese, Children's World-Family Members is good book to have. More about 妈妈 when Mother's Day gets here.

Posted: Friday, March 26, 2010 Updated: Saturday, March 27, 2010 By Ni Hao Books

The Words of the Day for today is 紫色，zǐ sè (purple). It's one of my son's favorite colors. In order to help him remember his colors in Chinese, we started to play the Max and Mei card games. It contains twelve of the common colors. Each color comes in two cards, one with the color, Chinese character and Pinyin, one with just the Chinese character. Four games can be played, Happy Couples, Snap, Pig and Memory.

Posted: Thursday, March 25, 2010 Updated: Friday, March 26, 2010 By Ni Hao Books

The Words of the Day for today is 节节高，jié jié gāo (rising steadily). It's a part of a very popular Chinese idiom. The first part of the idiom is 芝麻开花, zhī má kāi huā (sesame flower in bloom). This idiom is mostly used when people encourage each other to achieve high standards. It can also be a nice greeting, especially during Chinese New Year, when people wish each other to achieve more in the new year.

According to the book 100 Chinese-Two-Part Allegorical Sayings, "when sesame is in bloom, each flower grows higher than the last, and the stem rises joint by joint. The flowers grow continuously as the stem rises. This idiom thus is used to describe either ever-rising living standards or making steady progress in thoughts, studies, or skills."

Posted: Thursday, March 25, 2010 By Ni Hao Books

The Words of the Day for today is 老虎，lǎo hǔ (tiger). The pinyin lǎo hǔ goes by the same rule as nǐ hǎo (hello), where the first word sounds like the second tone, but is written as the third tone.

This year is the year of the tiger. Tigers are greatly feared and respected in the Chinese culture. In ancient China, wild tigers abound. Lots of classic Chinese novels contain stories of heroes fighting wild tigers. Wu Song (武松）from the famous Chinese novel 'Outlaws of the Marsh" killed a tiger with his bare hands.

Posted: Tuesday, March 23, 2010 Updated: Wednesday, March 24, 2010 By Ni Hao Books

The Words of the Day for today is 爸爸 , bà ba (daddy). The second ba has a neutral tone, which means it is toneless. Each character 爸 has a fourth tone when separated. But when these two 爸 are put together, the second 爸 loses its tone. It's another interesting rule in Pinyin.

If though I tried to raise my older son bilingual, he's never taken to the words 爸爸 . As soon as he started to make the dada sound at the age of one, my husband started to identify himself as Dada. So my son always called his Dad dada, never Baba. Then one day, a friend of mine came to visit for a few days. She was talking to my son in Chinese, and I suddenly heard my son said "my 爸爸 loves to garden" in Chinese. I then realized he does know what 爸爸 means. It's interesting whom he chose to speak Chinese with.

To learn more about Pinyin, check out the Pin Yin book created by Yes!Chinese. The included CD-ROM contains interactive material to supplement the book and includes colorful and fun graphics to engage children. And better yet, it's currently on sale for $10.95!

Posted: Monday, March 22, 2010 Updated: Tuesday, March 23, 2010 By Ni Hao Books

Words of the Day is 你好, nǐhǎo, which means hello in Mandarin. It's also the name of our bookstore, plus the name of many Chinese learning products for children.

When I recently attended the CLTA (California Language Teacher's Association) conference, many people asked me if I'm associated with the children show "Ni Hao Kai Lan", or the "Ni Hao" textbooks. No, we are not. We chose the name Ni Hao Books for our bookstore, because 你好 is probably the most well known and most spoken Chinese words. When people founds out I'm Chinese, regardless of their ethnicity, the first words out of most of them is 你好! If they are not Chinese, then chances are, those are the only two Chinese words they know. But it's a great ice breaker, and I wish I know how to say hello is many languages.

One interesting thing about the words 你好, nǐhǎo, is its pronunciation. As you notice, both words have the third tones. But when spoken, 你 actually sounds like the second tone, ní. The reason is because in Pinyin, the rule is that when two words together both have the third tone, the first word is sounded in the second tone, but still written as the third tone.

Posted: Sunday, March 21, 2010 Updated: Monday, March 22, 2010 By Ni Hao Books

I thought I should start a blog series named "word of the day", and since spring is officially here today, 春天 (spring) will be our first word of the day. 春天 is pronounced chūn tiān. The spring weather in San Diego is very nice and warm, with some rainy days here and there. When heat waves arrive, the temperature can reach into the 80s. But in Guangzhou, where I grew up, spring is full of rains, lots of lots of it. It rains so much things inside the house will start to get moldy. I especially remember the walls getting moldy. It couldn't be too healthy to live in those houses. We always try to take things out to get some sun if there are sunny days. But the nice thing is flowers start to bloom. Guangzhou's nickname is "the flower city", so all kinds of flowers are in bloom in the spring, many of which I've never seen anywhere else I've been to. The Chinese national flower, the peonies, however, only grow in northern China. It symbolizes richness, distinction and good fortunes. Paintings of peonies are often hung in homes to bring good luck. As my family traveled to China a couple of years ago during spring time, we visited the ZhongShan Park, which is right outside of the Forbidden City in Beijing. Tulips and peonies were showcased in various colors with the beautiful Chinese ancient structures in the background. It was breathtaking.

Posted: Saturday, March 20, 2010 Updated: Sunday, March 21, 2010 By Ni Hao Books