Happy Chinese New Year! Whether you plan to celebrate by dancing down the street inside a papier-maché dragon, or by giving cash-stuffed envelopes to your grandchildren, this is the biggest holiday of the year in China. Learn all about it in today's podcast!
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HAPPY NIU YEAR!!!!! HAPPY 牛 (niu2) Year!!!
Happy New Year to all from the University of Pittsburgh
Happy New Year from Texas!. We love you guys!
That's very punny, matt_c. Did you come up with that? :)
祝你们都新年快乐!
zhù nǐmen dōu xīn nián kuài lè!
Happy New Year Everyone !
大家恭喜发财
Did anyone notice that the PDF's lesson title is "Gong Hei Fat Choi"? is that the same as gong1xi3 fa1cai2 in Cantonese?
There is even a song titled "恭喜发财" in China. Chinese people really love this phrase.
恭喜发财 （by 刘德华）
http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=Cy1cE-LWyRg
grettir, I also noticed that. The title in the audio downloads is also the same. Maybe a bit of Cantonese foreshadowing????
祝大家恭喜发财！
zhù dàjiā gōngxǐ fācái
Hei, that would be cool.
How about a CantonesePod.com?
Happy oxen to everyone!
Sorry guys, can't delete the duplicate
Hei, that would be cool.
How about a CantonesePod.com?
Happy oxes to everyone!
iTunes did not properly download my (paid) file of the whole dialog.
I get an exclamation point next to the dialog, but there's no file.
Please investigate.
There is an example "你来啦" (ni3 lai2 la) in the expansion. The 啦 (la) in it was made combining the sounds of 了 (le) and 啊 (a). So, it has the both meanings of 了 and 啊, that is , "completion" and "interjection".
grettir,
Yes, that is Cantonese, and is the same as 恭喜发财 Some other cantonese sayings for the new year
"sun tuy geen hong" - good health
"bo bo go sing" - wishing someone a higher promotion
Hi davidtzau,
身体健康
"sun tuy geen hong" good health
步步高升
"bo bo go sing"
wishing someone a higher promotion
恭祝ChinesePod全体工作人员
牛年 天天进步！
工作 日日愉快！
陈博士
朱琦，康艺，矫杰 三位老师：
特别 恭祝您们
牛年
青春常注！
笑口常开！
年年加薪！
陈博士
Happy new year to you all! And thank you for your new year greetings. 祝大家新年快乐！I celebrated in true Chinese fashion, lighting off loads of fireworks!
新年快乐 (Xin1 nian2 kuai4le4) Happy New Year!
This is a very timely and useful lesson. You have added to the supplementary vocabulary the following phrases:
年年有余 (nian2 nian2 you3 yu2) wish you a bountiful year
岁岁平安 (sui4 sui4 ping2an1) wishing you years of well being and safety
and
万事如意 (wan4shi4 ru2yi4) wishing you happiness
我祝大家万事如意，岁岁平安 ，和万事如意。
還要恭祝
老師和同學們 和睦相處
同學和同學們 也要一團和氣 不要吵架
BTW - Today is a very special day for Chinese Australians! It is both Chinese New year as well as Australia Day - the National Holiday. It doesn't usually coincide, since Australia Day is always the 26th January.
@ wjefferys
The audio files seem to be operating fine now. Email us @ support@praxislanguage.com if you still have any problems,
Happy New Year!
Hey thanks! Sending good wishes to my students after this lesson.
Happy Niu year to al of you, especially the ChinesePod staff! Looking forward to another great year of all your hard work!
-Rich
哈哈，恭喜发财，红包拿来！^_^
Good day Chiongzibide ﹗
In 19 years time on 26 Jan 2028, the Chinese New Year of Earth Monkey will coincide with your Australia Day.
It had happened in 1914 and 1933.
Happy 牛年﹗
Happy Australia day to bababardwan, miantiao, Matt, Light, Chiongzibide and any other Aussies I have missed.
Perhaps you could share a little history about the day and how you celebrate?
Last night, it was my first time to give my parents red envelope with money since I worked. It feels so good to buy new clothes and shoes for parents! 买新衣，发红包，过大年！新年快乐！^_^
Happy Chinese New Year everyone.
I love this part of the year. Lots of food and fireworks and also..................
80% DISCOUNTS = Shopping mayhem!!!
祝大家新年快乐，万事如意！
@Everyone Again, Happy Niu Year!!! Best in Health and Happiness.
1. Happy Niu Year is actually a pun that the general populace of P.R.C has also cottoned on to.
2. Gong Hei Fat Choi as the title for various downloads (when it should be Gong Xi Fa Cai) is an intriguing phenomenon, it could even be a manifestation of the 'net' as an intelligent, conscious entity showing a temporary preference for Cantonese in wishing netizens Happy Niu Year... or not. I'm in Anhui, Lingbi, with inconsistent net access, thus upon my return to Shanghai will look further into this matter.
3. a)Yep, it's Australia Day today too. It should also be mentioned that Australia Day is also known as Invasion Day to quite a few people - a matter of some sensitivity and one upon which I have conflicting thoughts (both sides of the story speak their own unique truths - an issue for other forums).
3. b) @rjberki Thanks mate! :D My family and my mates usually celebrate with a big Barbie (BBQ party) involving lots of eating, swimming in backyard pools and the 'sensible' enjoyment of the various beers and wines that Australia has to offer (but a whole day of sensible enjoyment of such beverages usually leaves us quite weary by the evening). Although, I must say that in recent years, I myself, have spent this day in China. I might add that in recent years I and my close friends have spent the afternoon (despite the two hour time difference and with assistance of apps such as skype, irc etc.) discussing the future of our country with regards to important social issues relating to my previous point (3. a).
3.c) We also normally crank up the radio with Triple J's Hottest 100 broadcast (the top 100 songs played on radio in Australia as voted on by Australians). Although in recent years I've been less than pleased with what I've heard (a sign of age?).
4. We (my wife's family and I) played Mahjongg until 230am last night - love it!!!
All the best for the Year of the Ox!
To all of you who are reading this:
zhu nimen xin nian kuai le!
Just a footnote to Matt C's post - Australia Day commemorates the landing of the First Fleet in Port Jackson near Sydney and Captain Arthur Phillip claiming the land as a British colony on January 26, 1788. Hence the mixed views on whether the day should be 'celebrated', especially by indigenous Australians. Interesting to note that an early diary says the anniversary of the landing was celebrated with 'drinking and merriment' by the colonists. Good to see Matt upholding the tradition.
大家，祝你们恭喜发财，恭喜发财，和 新年好
。。better late than never I hope :)
Thanks heaps RJ. Matt has pretty much summed it up what Aussies get up to on Australia Day.I'd add that we just generally celebrate our outdoors lifestyle.Watching the cricket or the Australian open in the heat of the day,and then hitting the beach for a spot of beach cricket and/or a surf ,followed by a barbie are pretty typical.
wchan,
thanks for working those years out.I thought it must have something around that periodicity.
On 26 January, the world largest democracy India celebrates it's Republic day.
One of my intention to learn Chinese is to understand the Culture and move closer. I am fluent in Hindi and four other Indian languages; that with Chinese , I hope I can able to communicate to almost everyone in Asia. :)
Which expression is more common:
新年快乐 (xīn nián quài lè)
or
新年好 (xīn nián hǎo)?
My Chinese teacher taught us 新年快乐. Are they pretty much interchangeable? And are the same expressions used for the "other" New Year on January 1?
By the way, 新年快乐 or 新年好 to all!
Maureen
I too have the same question as maureen, when I said 新年好！恭喜发财! to my friend. He replied.. 牛年快乐 ！
新年快乐!
Happy New Year ChinesePod staff...
春节快乐!
The fireworks in Shanghai were insane the other day, amazing!
Chinesepod Team:
Happy 牛 year from 加利福尼亚州!
祝恭喜发财!!
look forward to learning lots of new stuff here in 2009!
bababardwan,
I dont know about all that but I did eat at an outback steak house yesterday. How big are these crickets? :-)
Hi,
Happy Newyear from Belgium.
Jack
PS I remark that in Belgium many Chinese people don't celebrate the Chinese Newyear because they don't life in China anywise (they say).
The "fuwuyuan" was very surprised when I gived hem a "hongbao" today.
Happy new year Chinesepod!
You are the best!
新年快乐. It's great, and amazing, that ChinesePod keeps generating lessons for us "poddies", all year round, even during Chinese New Year. Thanks to everyone who stayed back late to make this possible.
I like Chinese. I like to doodle. To make efficient use of my free time I like to doodle Chinese. :)
http://dannyman.toldme.com/2009/01/26/happy-niu-year/
Thank You, ChinesePod!!
happy niu year to everyone at chinesepod, from Coventry, England
Tom
RJ,
Huge mate as shown here.Bite your head off man [after doing other unpleasant things to you just like it's relative the female praying mantis] and a particular appetite for foreigners but only a danger to males,so as long as you come dressed in drag she'll be apples mate :)
新年快了！Enjoy the holidays.
Like the lesson picture, some kind of cool paper cutout thing?
THis is a desktop wall paper for the nice chinese new year holiday. Please Enjoy...
vann0000,
Thanks vann0000.I've made the change already.Looks great.我喜欢红色。谢谢
This is a nicer picture for the lesson...
Enjoy!
Happy new year to all!
Just for something different, I took a day from work and went to Chinatown in New York CIty for the new year celebration. What an amazing experience.
RJ,
If you can survive those cricket's then you can relax and enjoy this cricket.The Aussie is batting,and the foreigner who's survived the giant cricket's of the insect variety is bowling.It's not too dissimilar to baseball.Proper explanation here.
@vann0000 Thanks for the nice wallpapers :)
Thanks bababardwan,
you never disappoint.
RJ,
不用谢。
You're obviously made of sterner stuff and not put off by the various hazards to be dealt with down under,so you've piqued my curiosity: Will you face the dreaded giant cricket,or will you be wearing the prescribed necessary attire ?
my manhood is important to me bababardwan, so I guess Im bringing protection, but no blonde wigs for me.
Thanks RJ.. I also found out it was Replubic Day (Indian) and also Auckland Day (New Zealand) on 26th as well! So many national holidays on the same day this year!
Speaking of money giving.. I saw HEEEAAPSS of Chinese people lining up at the Western Union money exchange store near my work today. I assume this is because they were all collecting their Chinese New Year money. :)
For me, Australia Day has always been more of a family BBQ day or just another day off. Our family has never really been into Australian traditions in a big way.. and we're not really much into sports though my eldest brother goes through phases of liking Rugby League every few years. So our Australia Day may not be as stereotypical as some households in Australia.
My question is why is it: 新年好 (xīnniān hǎo) and not 新年快乐 (xīnniān kuàilè)? Seems this has been asked a few times already but not answer yet.. is it a regional thing? Also.. would be just as acceptable to say: 牛年快乐 (niúniān kuàilè) as in "Happy Year of the Ox"? And also: 春节快乐 (chūnjié kuàilè) as in "Happy Spring Festival"?
Feliz Ano Novo Chinês!
Happy New Chinese Year from Angola!
I was dinning at a chinese restaurant last sunday which was totally full of chinese expats working here. That was really something as they were having a lot of fun!
Cheers and all the best to you all from this warm place in West Africa!
新年快乐 !!! from Vancouver, Canada
xin nian kuai le! gong xi fa cai. hong bao na lai ^_^
Does anyone know if theres a japanesepod similar to this site??
I really like this lesson. I especially like the fact that words and expressions are repeated not only within this lesson but from other lessons. And the cultural component is interesting too. I saw those hongbao envelopes all over department stores in Haikou in December but had no idea what they were used for. Keep up the good work!
Bababardwan, don't be silly, baseball (棒球 bàngqiú) is a completely nonsensical sport. I watched most of an entire game completely not understanding anything until we waved over a helpful American to explain to us how it wasn't rounders ( 跑柱式棒球 pǎo zhù shì bàngqiú). Cricket (板球 bǎnqiú) makes far more sense :D
Bring on the Ashes! (阿什杯 ā shén bēi)
Hi light487
新年快乐 is fine, my girlfriend says that in her hometown of Dalian people are more likely to say 新年好. That does seem to be the more popular version in the north. And you can definitely say [animal]年快乐.
I went to my favorite Chinese restaurant in Houston today, 888. A lady there hears me practice my crude Texan Chinese and waited for me. She then, in front of two of my favorite waitresses, said 新年好 then 恭喜发财 then, " why didn't you say that to me?" Thanks to you guys I was able to reply 你也是 and promptly left with the other two laughing.
The other pleasure I received from your site was Cassielin's comment about the red envelope for her parents. It is very sweet to give presents to your parents and I know she must be a real joy for them. I have been to many countries now and know that China is unusually blessed to have many women like Cassielin and Jenny who show respect and love for their families.
sebire,
lol.I had wondered whether someone would pull me up on this one.I thought aficionados from either game might be up in arms.I was of course trying to give a very rough idea of the sort of sport it is.Cricket is certainly more like basketball than it is like grasshoppers,or even basketball.In both you use a club to hit a ball pitched or bowled at you and then run.But I realise the differences are numerous.hehe.
大家新年好﹗
今天是大年初三 是"赤口"，又稱"赤狗日"。
小時候常常聽人家說 初三這一天易生口角，不宜拜年。
據說，赤狗是口怒之神，遇之則容易引起口角，所以
這天足不出戶，留在家中，免得遇上凶煞。
初三早上要貼"赤口"( 紅紙條上面寫上一些出入平安吉利的話)
是使人們心理上覺得一年到頭都能出入平安，不與人發生口
角或各種不幸的災難，家中多多招財進寶，萬事如意。
今天我不串門子 倘若有人敲門也不開。
現在要說些祝福話來防範赤狗 ﹕
願
老師和同學們 和睦相處
同學和同學們 一團和氣 不要吵架﹗
和氣生財﹗
....self-deleted.
Sebire, bababardwan,
Im not a baseball fan but I never found the rules complicated. I guess because I grew up with it all around. I do have a friend at work from Bangladesh and he plays in a cricket league believe it or not. He has explained the crazy rules to me several times. The game seems to take a lot out of him. I just cant take serious a game named after a bug. When I hear cricket match I always think about those fighting crickets that are popular in China. :-)
RJ,
I can well believe about your Bangladeshi friend playing cricket;I'm sure it's huge there and they would be very passionate about it.Yeah,I know what you mean.That wiki article discussed the possible origins of the name under the history section.
Sebire,
Hey,I found that the word for cricket bat in Chinese is qiu2 bang4 球棒 which can also mean baseball bat,so I guess the Chinese don't draw too much of a distinction between the bats at least :P ...hehe.
RJ, apparently I went along to the worst game of the season, which is probably why I couldn't work out what was going on. Also, the rules for scoring runs is different in rounders, and I didn't realise that an innings was over when three people got out, so was constantly bemused by the teams swapping over so often.
Closest thing cricket has to baseball is 20/20, which is just a slog-fest with loud music.
I read recently that Americans used to play cricket. Apparently in 1751, the New Yorkers beat the Londeners by 87 runs (oh the shame!)
bababardwan, I've been trying to find out if there is a chinese word for "googly", but haven't spotted it yet. Probably turn out to be gu ge li or something!
Sebire- think of it as a "wrong-un" (bababrdwan is teaching me Australian) it might be easier to translate.
Zhonguo Pod xie xie ni he xin nian kuai le. MaDing in Singapore just returned from a VERY LOUD Spring Festival in Shenyang. Wow you certainly like your FIREWORKS!!
waz up! happy new year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I heard that there's a legend connected with setting off fireworks during Spring Festival.
Once upon a time there was a monster called "年". Every year in the early spring the monster came out to harm people. One day someone had found out that the monster is terribly afraid of fireworks. The moment it heard fireworks it ran away.That's why people had made a habit of setting off fireworks every Spring Festival.
新年好!
新年好 for all our chinese friends!!!Congrats.
我和老婆的家人在中国大连过春节。
It was like WWIII - it was amazing, absolutely amazing, and I loved the cold. Living in Singapore, it's just so hot all the time, day-in, day-out, so it was great to have nice cool days with beautiful blue skies (yes, they were blue on most days).
One thing that was interesting is that everyone I meet said 过年好 Guo4 nian2 hao3, which no one has mentioned here. My wife assures me that this is said in China, and not just to friends and relatives.
Oh, the food, the food, the food and the booze! I've been to see my wife's family several times before, but nothing prepared me for the intensity of the fireworks, festivities and the food and booze being shoved down my throat. It was like Xmas we have back in New Zealand but on steroids. Even on somedays we started drinking before 10am - oh yeah!
I'm on the dry and a diet for the next year. I'm sure my liver has given up on me but as I say 中国啤酒象水，干杯！However the 白酒 that stuff certainly is nothing like water, if anything like damn rocket fuel!!!
Lastly, our daughter (6 months old) is already making money, damn good money. The amount of hongbao she recieved was amazing, she was like a little rock star.
大家恭喜发财 and 祝大家恭喜发财 are wrong
恭喜发财 is enough, coz 恭喜发财 is 恭喜（你，大家）发财
恭喜 means congratulate
祝大家 also means congratulate you…
so you cannnot say 祝大家恭喜发财
you can say 祝大家 新年快乐
祝大家 财源广进！
祝大家 财源滚滚来！
新年好！
山医生
荷兰
昨天元宵节是春节的最后一天，今天是正月十六，但我还是要祝大家新年快乐，新春愉快，牛年更牛~~！
Меня зовут Марина.Привет!
mashina,
你叫Marina.Privet.欢迎来ChinesePod.恭喜发财
你。。。ni3...you
叫。。。jiao4...to be called
欢迎。。huan1ying2...welcome
来...lai2...to come
新年好！