中文 - Week 12 (New Practical Chinese Reader 1)

The book I am using is New Practical Chinese Reader 1 by the Beijing Language and Culture University Press. Volume 1 of the book has 14 lessons. Target end date is May 5, 2012.

MONDAY: Lesson Six – 我们去游泳，好吗

Our first character is for the numeral nine 九 which does not look like a nine at all to me. It looks more like that kanji for ka. Anyway it’s a number and is thus, high frequency. In the end you’ll just be surprised that you already memorized this. The second one is the character meaning private 厶 which I remember as one of the characters in “watashi”. Why am I using Kanji as examples? I am confusing you! Hahahaha. Anyway, let’s give two words which use the said character. One is the verb 去 which means to go. The character is under another character. The other example would be 什么 which means what and as you can see the character is under another in the second syllable.

TUESDAY: Lesson Six –我们去游泳，好吗

Character number one 寸 is a unit of measure described as a unit of inch. The second one 工 looks like a capital letter I and means labor. The first character is used in words such as 什么时候 “when” which is used with the sun character as you might have already noticed. The other example is the expression for thank you which is 谢谢

WEDNESDAY: Lesson Six – 我们去游泳，好吗

The first character for today 亡 means to die and is used in words such as 忙 where it does not really denote the meaning of dying, but rather just lend its sound to the new word. The other is another numeral that is very easy, the number three 三 .You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to be able to memorize that one.

THURSDAY: Lesson Six – 我们去游泳，好吗

The first character 气 means air. This of course is used in the word 天气 which means weather. The second character is 立 and means to stand. I have not seen a word that uses it as a component just yet.

FRIDAY: Lesson Six – 我们去游泳，好吗

For today the first character is 身 which means body and looks oddly familiar maybe because you already recognize it as one of three characters in the set phrase 谢谢 which means thank you. The other one 兑 means to exchange and I simply don’t know why. More than anything, it looks like a TV set with legs to me. This one, however, is used in the verb 说 which means to say.

For next week I will be covering lesson seven. We are making progress! The goal is to pass the lowest level of the HSK in September 2012! =)