Newbie - Sign Here, Please

There are so many autograph design services in China and they've all gone digital. You send them your name online or through text message, they send the design back to you. It's one of the very few areas where the quality and style of one's hand writing still count.

I confuse 签名的签with 填报的填 tian2 which means fill in. They sound pretty similar to me.. Are these sentences correct: 情签一下你的名在这儿。 情填这分报告。 I think I always thought they were the same word! Thanks.

I would have thought that the speakers could have said, "qing zai zher qianming", which would have literally meant, "please sign here".  I understand Ken's inductive approach, but every once in awhile, I get confused by the inductive approach. Of course, it doesn't help that i'm here in the States where I don't hear that much mandarin spoken.

I used to find it amusing when I'd be told to 'sign here' and the counter person would vaguely point at the page and I'd have to try and guess where amongst the jumble of arcane symbols I was supposed to sign.

Things are different now of course as I've finally deciphered those arcane glyphs, but the counter people still vaguely point at the forms when asking me to sign.

On Sunday (?!) I had 2 nice guys from China telecom paying me a surprise visit. I had no clue why, but they changed my modem,  used my laptop and played with my cats and dog. They also asked me to "Please sign here" afterwards. First I signed with my own name, but that was not ok. I had to use my 房东 Fangdong's name. So I wrote that down in characters and then they started to laugh really hard at me. That was just emberrassing. I know my hanzi skills are not breaking any records, but hey I'm trying there and it is not even my own name :-). They also thought it was completely normal to give me a Chinese only form and sign it without knowing what I agree with. I made a picture of it and will use it as practice sheet haha. Just another day in China haha!

@chanelle77 Haha, that's so typical. I'd advise that you practice signing your landlord's name (fángdōng) as well as your Chinese name (if you indeed have chosen one - I myself have a Chinese nickname rather than a  姓名 xìngmíng - full name), that way in future they'll be gasping in awe at your mastery of written Chinese.

A few vocab questions:

What is the difference between 签名 and 签字 ? If they do mean the same thing,then are they used in different circumstances?

The di4 in 快递 looks a little like it has the 第 character for little brother as part of it's character.Is this like a pronunciation radical or something?

Hi bababardwan

The two words are basically the same, but 签字 is used more for when someone signs off on something, whereas 签名 is more for autographs.

And the radical in 快递的递 is on the left. It's the 走之旁 zou3zhi1pang2, the walking radical. It is the signific, and shows movement. See also 过，道，通, etc. And you're right, that is a 弟 di4 on the right. It's the phonetic.

Ahh, I could have used this lesson yesterday.  I had two packages delivered from the states and I said:

”我需要[air signature]吗？“
wǒ xūyào [air signature] ma?
Do I need to [air signature]?

It's always hard saying 吗 after a hand gesture!

I will now be prepared next time...thanks for another useful lesson.

For the shake of that one of my friend from USA asked me some question from this website, I simply took a look at these lectures. Even for me, a native chinese speaker from Taiwan, it's still quiet interesting to understand chinese from the aspect of foreigners, and also listen to someone speak chinese with different accents. If anyone would like to practice chinese with me, feel free to add me in

skype :  dbtsai.org

or find me in the facebook by my chinese name :  Dong-Bang Tsai

Pete,

Thanks heaps for explaining that.I'm starting to gain some insight into the characters but can anyone direct me to where I may learn more about how to recognise which part of the character is the radical,which part is the signific and which is the phonetic,etc ?

btw Pete,from what you've said above,does that not mean that 签字 would have been the better of the two to use in this podcast? I think of an autograph as something you get from a celebrity and a signature as applying to everything else,but perhaps others use these terms differently.I note that 签名 was also the word chosen in the Ellie lesson "Leaving luggage with the hotel".Perhaps this elevates all tourists to celebrity status?

I'm also interested in this character 明 which mainly seems to mean clear or bright,and they way it is added to a second character to get a new word.So in the supplementary vocab we have it in 明星 combining bright and star to basically mean star [I wonder what supernova is then?....I mean some stars aren't very bright at all....even when you take light pollution out of the equation which just makes it possible to see fainter ones you couldn't otherwise see and the faint ones become brighter...you'd think ming would be reserved for the brighter ones ]。We have it in 明白 clear and white...to be clear ,ie to understand.So this has led me to wonder about it's use in 明天 for tomorrow.I see ming can also mean next ,so that it just means next day.But I can't help but wonder if it was originally some ancient optimism that the next day would actually be a clear/bright day.

Hi bababardwan, I can answer your question about 明天。 It can be taken as a literal meaning..."bright tomorrow".  It's the positive side of Chinese, basically saying that the future is bright, tomorrow is a better day, etc.

Changye can probably add some good etymology, but I believe that's the original basis for using 明 with 天，年, etc.

calkins
Thanks.  Your explanation helps a lot.

Hi bababardwan and calkins

Thanks for the nice question. I think Calkins is right. I'm not 100% sure, but tomorrow is called "明天" in Chinese because 明天 is "bright", at least, I hope so. In classical Chinese, 明日 is usually used instead of 明天. In modern Japanese, 明日 is still commonly used, but 明天 is not.

"明" was made by combining 日 (sun) and 月 (moon), the two most bright celestial bodies, which naturally denotes "bright". Furthermore, you can see both rising sun in the east and setting full moon in the west at the same time in the early morning, which means the start of a new day.

I guess this is the reason why 明 (sun + moon) has a derivative meaning "next" in Chinese.

P/S. You can get the perfect (?) answer by combining this comment and the zhenlijiang's answer posted below, perhaps ......

Good lesson! Very practical and helpful.

I know this question is not the point of this lesson, but since you did discuss Chinese names....

I'm trying to find a Chinese name to use in my Chinese class. It's hard, because just by picking out a couple of characters I like, I will probably come up with a name that doesn't make sense in Chinese. I used an online name translation tool that told me  "Maureen" translated into Chinese characters is "穆琳 (Mù lín)". Would that make a good Chinese name? Will people understand that it's my "American" name translated into Chinese? Or will I just sound strange?

One more question: my Chinese teacher (she's from Shanghai) pronounces 谁 (shéi) more like "shuéi". Is this a regional difference or is it just her personal quirk?

谢谢 (xiè xie)!

Maureen

i'm no etymologist, but to add to the answers to bababardwan's question on 明天:   i think 明 denotes "dawn". and tomorrow, or the next day, is the day of the dawn that will end tonight. 

also, in Japanese 明ける (ake-ru) is a verb meaning to end the night or darkness (= become light), and therefore in what may seem like a contradiction, to begin (a new day, a new year, a new age).  or i guess i should say it means to end, or to begin, depending on what the subject is.  this is why we go around saying 明けましておめでとう (ake-mashite omedetou) to each other on New Years. the greeting means the new year has dawned, both you and i have reason to celebrate.  i could go on, but enough already about the Japanese (any corrections welcome, changye!).

明星  star, as in movie star

星 （星星） stars, in the sky

新星  nova         超新星    supernova

sorry, forgot to add the pinyin:

星星      xīngxing  (you wouldn't use 星 on its own w/out some modifier)

新星      xīnxīng    other than nova also means rising star, as in movie star

超新星   chāoxīnxīng

My Chinese name is 光明！ (guāngmíng) :)

re-reading, i thought this part could be confusing.

tomorrow, or the next day, is the day of the dawn that will end tonight. 

what i mean is:

the day of (ushered in by) the dawn that will bring an end to tonight.

hopefully i've made myself sufficiently 明白

Hi light

Good for you, your Chinese name is already very well known among almost all the Chinese people. I recommend you see that famous [正大光明] plaque in Beijing. Here is a photo of it.

http://picasaweb.google.com/maxyng.tw/2007073102#5095586825288305298

Please be noted that it's not 明光大正 (left to right), but the other way around. [明光大正] is written vertically from right to left (just like other traditional Chinese writings), where every vertical line has only one character.

Hi zhenlijiang,

Don't worry, I understand what you mean. Looks like you are a night owl, too. Fortunately, I have no work tomorrow. Good or bad, I'm still enjoying 春节 (chun1 jie2) holidays, owing to the world financial crisis!

hi all again, apologies for adding yet another post: 

the point of  明ける is not as much an ending/beginning as it is "darkness being replaced by light".

in any case, "tonight" has to precede 明天, as a given condition.

hi changye,  i had crazy hours these few days so am taking a little break now, having no commitments for wednesday other than catching a movie. yay

well now i am going to get to sleep before 明天 starts to break ...

calkins,changye,and zhenlijiang

Thankyou for your helpful replies.Very interesting.

changye,

I was a tad dubious about:

"you can see both rising sun in the east and setting full moon in the west at the same time in the early morning, which means the start of a new day.

I guess this is the reason why 明 (sun + moon) has a derivative meaning "next" in Chinese."

...as this only happens around the time of full moon of course and not every day of the month.But perhaps you are right.However it does seem possible from what you are saying that the dawning of a new brightness then derived into the meaning next.Thanks also for pointing out the derivation of the character for ming as being from sun+moon,the two brightest celestial bodies.Perhaps moonlings could derive a character for bright based on ri4 and di4qiu2.

maureen：

I think 马琳 ( Mǎ Lín ) is good for you.

Both shéi and shuéi are  OK.

My Chinese name is Péi Gòng Lee

Hi bababardwan

Maybe zhenlijiang's explanation about "dawn" would be more helpful for you. Dawn denotes "the beginning of a new day", and it also implies "next".You can see both rising sun and setting full moon (only) at dawn, anyway. I guess that at first 明 was perhaps used in the sense of "tomorrow", and later "the next month" or "the next year". Of course, its very original meaning is "bright". 

Hi maureen

As far as I can see on the Internet, 穆琳 (mu4 lin2) seems to be the most common Chinese transliteration of Maureen, and both characters have positive meanings, "solemn" and "beautiful jade" respectively. 我觉得很好听 (It sounds beautiful)。

On the other hand, 穆 is a bit unique character in modern Chinese, since it's often used for words related to Islam. In 现代汉语词典, there are only three words listed under the index character "穆", which are 穆罕默德 (Mohammed), 穆民 (Muslim people) and 穆斯林 (Muslim).

I don't know whether or not the single character 穆 is also closely associated with Islam for Chinese people, but I'm afraid that you might not like it in the case you believe other religions..... hehe.  

So, I also think that 马琳 is a good selection for you. If you don't like 马 （ma3, a horse）, I would recommend you use 玛 (ma3, agate) instead of 马. FYI, Marilyn Monroe is transliterated as 玛丽莲 (ma3 li4 lian2) 梦露 (Meng4 lu4) in Chinese.

P/S. 珠穆朗玛峰 (zhu1 mu4 lang3 ma3 feng1) indicates Mt. Everest in China.

Good luck.

Hi Guys,

ChinesePod is the best!

I have a small request: could Ken think before he speaks?

His voice is very clear, but the continuous interjection of "AH", "UM", is really distracting.

Evey sound should convey information, but the only information "AH" and "UM" convey is that Ken's mouth is working faster than his brain.

I know part of the attraction of ChinesePod is that it feels alive and actual....

I have an old ChinesePod lesson about ordering food where Ken says "In China we order food at the beginning". Basil Fawlty would denote this as the "bleeding obvious".

Ken, relax, and think a bit more, please.

ChinesePod is the way to learn Chinese.

ChangYe

When the Moon is new, it rises and sets with the Sun, and the position of Moonrise/set varies just like that of Sunrise/set. When the Moon is full however the pattern is inverted. To be more explicit, for the Northern hemisphere:

溫良恭儉讓 五種美德﹕

就是溫和、善良、恭敬、儉樸、忍讓。

「溫良恭儉讓」出自《論語‥學而》。

春秋時期，孔子周遊列國，一方面宣揚自己的政治主張，一方面受國君的邀請，參與一些政事。一次，孔子的弟子子禽問子貢：「老師到了一個國家，一定參與該國的政事，這種待遇是老師主動求來的呢，還是國君主動給他的呢？」

子貢回答道：「是因為老師為人溫和、善良、恭敬、儉樸、忍讓，所以才得到這種待遇的。也可以說，這種待遇是老師求來的，但他求得的方式同別人的是不一樣的。」

「溫良恭儉讓」就是從這個故事來的。如果一個人具備了溫和、善良、恭敬、儉樸、忍讓的品質，上天自然也會對其多加眷顧，可謂是無求而自得啊。

robertoelrojo, you're right...

"...part of the attraction of ChinesePod is that it feels alive and actual"

And that's one of the many reasons that Ken is such an incredible teacher.  His "AHs" and "UMs" make him sound real, not like a boring teacher reading a dialogue like a robot.  "Bueller...Bueller....Bueller...."

My suggestion would be to ignore the ahs and ums and focus more on the content...either that or speed up your learning and move on to intermediate lessons :)

Hi robertoelrojo

Thanks a lot for the table! Looks like you also love astronomy (天文学), just like me.

Calkins, I agree with a lot of things that you say, but admitting that your brain is too slow doesn't make you sound more alive.

I like Ken's voice, but I hate having to rewind my poor brain every 30 seconds and erase irrelevant NOISE.

I don't allow my Chinese students to do this.Professional people can also sound alive.

ChangYe,

Right! I love gazing at the stars and the moon.

And thanks for all your really helpful explanations and stuff.

Really appreciate it.

May bright stars always shine on you!

robertoelrojo, I also agree with what you say, "professional people can also sound alive."  I think Ken sounds very much alive, even after producing hundreds of lessons.

Ken is who he is...at this point in his life, I don't think his presentation skills are going to change much, whether people think they're good or bad.  I'd be willing to guess that most poddies (especially women) find Ken's style endearing.

We're all entitled to our own opinion...mine is that Ken got to where he is because he does a lot of things well.  Nobody's perfect, but there's something to be said for where his skills have gotten him in his professional and teaching career.

Absolutely agree with Calkins. I'm one of those who find Ken's style endearing :)

What can I say other than Calkins has said it so well yet again? ...Ditto.

Dear robertoelrojo,

When I read your comment I actually had to listen into a lesson to get what you mean... because I never realized. (I am listening to Ken for almost a year now, I always just enjoyed!)

I had to do this because I cant stand to read such kind of criticism about little personal habits of the Cpod teachers. I remember a hot discussion in a thread after somebody moaned about Jenny doing too much "ng"... many others seemed to love those... I love Kens humor and love to listen to him and sometimes listen to lessons only to hear him again even if I already learned the new chinese vocabs. 

I think there are too much good sides in all the Cpod lessons and the whole concept of this page to harp on about those things. Do like Mr. Calkins already mentioned: focus on the things you can learn from. There will be a lot.

Sorry, but why do you listen to Ken if your brian is so much faster than Kens and if you already have your own students? Seems you are just bored in Newbie/Elementary lessons? (see paragraph above).

Dear Ken,

you are just adorable! Thanks!

Gesang

Lujiaojie and Changye:

Thanks for the suggestions for my Chinese name. I might go ahead and use either 马琳 "ma3 lin2" or 玛琳 "ma3 lin2" - if for no other reason than "穆" (mu4)is much harder for me to write than 马 or 玛! Besides, "ma3 lin2" is much closer to the way I pronounce my name than "mu4 lin2".

Changye, I'm not Muslim, but I don't have a problem with "穆" being often used with words relating to Islam - I found that information 非常有趣 fei1 chang2 you3 qu4 (very interesting). (Thanks for sharing this kind of information with us all!) It's just that I like things to be simple, and 穆 just has too many strokes!

Maureen

Calkins, Monica, Gesang (biste in DL?)

and all the many others who rightly support Ken:

I just want to say that I also like Ken's style,

and that ChinesePod would not be ChinesePod without him, but I repeat that the irrelevant noises detract from a good lesson.

'Nuff said. Wish you all happy learning.

@Maureen I also concur that 马琳 is quite an authentic Chinese name. :)

Hi matt_c

Looks like it's not so easy for foreign people to select their "perfect" Chinese names! As you pointed out, 马 is a relatively major family name in China. Additionally, you can even find 穆 in 百家姓, where the name is 98th in rank. Not so bad.

Japanese people don't have this kind of "trouble" (and pleasure), although some Japanese family names sound rather funny to Chinese people, such as 御手洗、我孫子、鬼頭、我妻、牛尾 and so on.

Some Japanese girls even have a given name 香菜, which means coriander in China. A popular given name 文香 has the same Chinese sounds as that of 蚊香 (mosquito repellent), haha.

马琳，在中华人民共和国境内，同名同姓人数甚多

其中最有名的有：

马琳

男 籍贯 辽宁省沈阳市 中国乒乓球运动员

现在世界排名第二

获2008年北京奥运会男单及团体金牌

長夜老師您好﹗

講起日本有趣名字 你還記得

杉菜 這個名字嗎﹖

2000年有套由日本漫畫原著：

神尾葉子 改編的電視連續劇

流星花園 中的女主人翁

就是她嘛﹗

陳博士

不怕生壞命 最怕改錯名

穆琳 諧音是﹕墓林

文采漢

Hi All!  I jump around mostly in the newbie and elementary lesson levels, and this is my first comment or question ever!  Can someone explain the answer to exercise 3.3?  I would think it would be dong1xi1 or dong1xi, but the score doesn't change.  I then tried all permutations and combinations of tones, and still could not get the score to change.  What am I missing?  Thanks!

Hi vpoford.  For the exercises, you need to type a 5 for neutral tone:

dong1xi5

Thanks, calkins.

We're working hard on a new version of the exercises which will fix a number of problems, including this one. I'll be posting on that next week on the blog.

hi wchan

叫 "つくし" tsu-ku-shi 的日本人（不管是男女老少）我从来没见过，没听过。

jiào "tsukushi" de Rìběnrén (bùguǎn shì nánnǚ lǎoshào) wǒ cónglái méi jiànguo, méi tīngguo. 

but just because i've never heard of such a case doesn't mean there can't be anyone w/that name; it would be quite rare though.  Japanese comics for girls--what do you expect. that story is fanciful in every way anyhow.

真利江大師姐您好﹗

杉菜 (スギナ 杉菜、學名：Equisetum arvense)

May be this is the Chinese name used in this Taiwanese TV 連續劇 Meoteo Garden.

我沒看過 神尾 葉子（かみお ようこ ) 的漫畫﹖

Hi wchan and zhenlijiang

Wchan is right. 杉菜 is the name of the heroine of the Taiwanese remake drama "流星花园", but her name in the Japanese comic "花より男子" is "つくし" (tsu-ku-shi), and it's written with hiragana in the original story.

"つくし" means "a horsetail" and can also be written with Kanji, like "土筆" (tsu-ku-shi). Unfortunately, this kanji word is not so attractive. In short, it's uncool (太土！). So they used other name "杉菜" in the Taiwan version of the drama.

For the record, a horsetail is 笔头菜 in Chinese. 杉菜 (su-gi-na) is also used as a name in Japan, but it's uncommon. I've never seen it before either.

oops, posted before i read changye's above. oh well.

wchan,  actually i looked up つくし in my 日中 dictionary because i knew the name of the girl, i've never read the comics but have seen the Taiwanese drama in passing (made me laugh, they gave Jerry Yan a terrible Japanese voice that you can't turn off, to make his fans buy the DVD sets).  and got 笔头菜 bǐtóucài and also a reference to 杉菜, which also shows as 笔头菜.

it just means 牧野つくし, like many real Japanese, has a given name with no kanji and so needs some hanzi. 杉菜 at least looks a little more suitable for a girl's name than 笔头菜 (but still rare. never heard of anyone named sugina).  these are comics, not realistic!

謝謝兩位仁姐仁兄﹗

杉菜 比 筆頭菜 好聽得多呢﹗

Hi Maureen,

I think 墨琳/mo4 lin2 would also make a good name. 墨 means Chinese ink, the dark block used in calligraphy. I had a classmate whose name was 朱墨. God I wished I had her name!

I am so happy to have a Chinese name now thanks to my adventures here at Chinese Pod! Thanks lujiaojie!  I am constantly practicing writing so maybe if I am ever asked to sign anything I can do so with confidence.  Well at least competance...

卜晓莲

(bǔ xiǎo lián)

my wifes cousin gave me a chinese name she has her PHD in chinese literature. so i thought ok....

it sounds nothing like my name and i think it is going to take some getting used to.

is this a common given name?

慕华 (i think thats correct)

mùhuá

i like the meaning "admires china" 

would my buddies call me mu for short? :)

great lesson Ken and Jenny, as usual, thanks!

miami_meiguoren:

I like “慕华”，It's pretty good!

changye,

In shanghai 明天广场 was translated to Tomorrow Square

http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/shajw-jw-marriott-hotel-shanghai-at-tomorrow-square/

Hi Guys﹗

Just want to raise a couple of interesting points

regarding choosing 中文名字

不怕生壞命 最怕改錯名

Roughly freely translated as: Rather born without

a silver spoon in the mouth than having chosen a wrong name.

墨琳 Appears to sound very rude in one 漢語 dialect。

朱墨 In Hong Kong, some people will probably giggle at this name because 朱 sounds the same as 豬 Pig in Cantonese.

豬墨 ( 墨 taken as the sound in Cantonese rather than its meaning ) means 豬頭炳 Pig Head Bing﹐stupid in Cantonese.

If offended, please forgive ﹗

文采漢

changye,

"Hi robertoelrojo, Thanks a lot for the table! Looks like you also love astronomy (天文学), just like me."

我也是！

Bill

我也是

我也喜欢天文

我就现在学了词“天文”和我也喜欢词“天文”

Hi bababardwan

In passing, please remember 水文学 (hydrology) and 地文学 (physical georgraphy). The 文 in these words means "natural phenomena".

One thing I found the first time I was asked to sign something [here in Shanghai] was that since I hadn't actually "written" my Chinese name since I needed to write it on my Chinese homework (2 years ago?) I had completely forgotten how.... I had to sign my English name.... If you don't practice you really lose the "flow" of writing in Chinese, luckily with a little pen-to-paper practice I'm back to normal.

My Chinese name is: 柯思蕊 (ke si rui)

@Changye, have you ever heard of the Chinese "joke" about being a flirtatious person if you have multiple 心 in your name? 

Hi kesirui,

I've never heard of the joke. Maybe it's not a joke for your Chinese husband, haha, cause his wife has three 心 in her name. Actually, the original character of 蕊 is 惢 (suo3/rui3, three 心s), and this means "suspicion" and "depression". But don't worry, I believe that the three hearts in your name definitely implies a warm-hearted young lady who comes from the United States.

robertoelrojo,

Thx for the suggestions. I actually agree that it can be distracting to mumble like that. I shall remember next time.

I also have to start to think, think, think before I speak!

Thx to the other supportintg vocies. You make me feel wanted. I really appreciate it.

Onwards and upwards.

ken

you could try using the chinese way of saying um and ah. 那个那个那个，那部电影。。。。呵呵。 加油！

i haven't listened to any of your lessons yet, might do that now.

Just to chime in, I enjoy the lessons just the way they are. I like their unrehearsed feel at the same time as it's obvious that content-wise they've been very well prepared. It never occurred to me to question the occasional um or erm. To me that's not unprofessional, just a very fresh way of being professional; in fact that's the first thing about the CP podcasts that really stood out and interested me in the site. Ken and Jenny don't need to change anything IMHO. The same goes for the rest as well. Keep up the great work!

Ditto.Stay natural.Love the unrehearsed feel,like being in on a convo with good mates.Not all change is for the better.When you're on a good thing stick to it.

Simple but useful lesson. One of my Spanish workbooks had a huge section on filling out forms, which turned out to be extremely useful. So I think I'm going to analyze Chinese forms in the same way .  Are there any standard forms online (apart from the registrations forms of yahoo.cn and similar services)?

matt_c, you suggested practising writing our Chinese names. But the handwriting of most learners lacks fluidity, so it'll not look like an actual signature. How much do the Chinese "slur" their signatures, and do you know a good method to make the signature look like authentic handwriting?

By the way, my Chinese name is 谭晓莲，I hope it's a good one, because I didn't consult a native speaker about it, instead I adopted the personal name of a fellow student of mine and looked up the surname that resembles my real one the most. A naive approach, I know...

Are the sentences in supergood's post correct?

tanxln:

Your Chinese name 谭晓莲 sounds so beautiful! It's pretty good!

Hi chocokittycat44

I think y'all wanna use 鸡 pronounced Ji(4) to say "chickan"

or maybe

肯德基  Ken(3) de(2) ji(4) to say Kentucky Fried "chickan"

Enjoy

How do you get a Chinese surname?

And do people who were born with that name mind you appropriating it?

Hi penhui

Chinese people definitely don't mind you using a Chinese surname.

There are many ways to pick one. Some choose one that sounds a bit like their foreign name (sometimes their given name, not surname.) A good example is the world-class Sinophile Jeremy Goldkorn of danwei.org, whose Chinese name is 金玉米-- the 金 sounds a bit like "Jeremy,"　while also conveying "gold." 玉米 means "corn." Not all foreigners are lucky enough to have a name that transliterates as tidily.

My own Chinese name is 何树斌. I was originally called 白龙 white dragon. That name was fun, but a bit 土 (earthy, unsophisticated.) My current surname is from my love of asking questions (and because my best Chinese teacher, also a foreigner, had that name). The 树 is for Mother Nature, and 斌 is 文武双全, both language and power.

Long digression, but it's an interesting topic.

@ penhui

It it is not hard to find Chinese people to give you advice on  names - it is a popular and serious pursuit. Occasionally you will find people who change their names as adults to something they find more meaningful or auspicious.

Chinese friends suggested 柏树的柏 bai shu de bai as a family name for the four members of our family. It is the same starting sound as our English surname. They also liked the pun on 'white' (white skin), but I didn't, so I changed it to the alternative pronunciation bo. Same character.  柏树 is a cypress tree.  It also gives me an opportunity to discuss the irregular pronunciation of my name!  I chose a fairly common given name 大伟 da4wei3; originally I called myself 大卫 da4wei4 but I got sick of 'fat stomach' jokes (it sounds the same). Actually I still get the jokes from people who remember my previous name.  Our daughter orignally had a name that copied the sound of her English name, but it wasn't 'Chinese'; she also changed to a common Chinese name.  

Have fun finding a name and, if you decide you don't like it, change.

Wow, talk about the lengthy thread... I was reading and reading actually to find the answer to bababardwan's follow up question, which I had as well based on the supplemental vocab... any chance we could have an answer? ; )

Not to interupt the name fun... I've taken the liberty of copy/paste of the question that has yet to be answered... Thanks in advance! 

bababardwan says
February 3, 2009

Pete,

btw Pete,from what you've said above,does that not mean that 签字 would have been the better of the two to use in this podcast? I think of an autograph as something you get from a celebrity and a signature as applying to everything else,but perhaps others use these terms differently.I note that 签名 was also the word chosen in the Ellie lesson "Leaving luggage with the hotel".Perhaps this elevates all tourists to celebrity status?