What’s Your Plan for Earth Day?

ChinesePod April 21, 2019

Happy Earth Day!

At ChinesePod we are doing our share to Save the Planet by offering online lessons – no books, no paper, no waste! What are you doing for #EarthDay2019? It will be the 49th Annual Earth Day since the event was founded in 1970 and the theme this year is #ProtectOurSpecies. Nature’s gifts to our planet are the millions of species that we know and love, and many more that remain to be discovered. Unfortunately, human beings have irrevocably upset the balance of nature and, as a result, the world is facing the greatest rate of extinction since we lost the dinosaurs more than 60 million years ago. But unlike in the case of the dinosaurs, the rapid extinction of species in our world today is the result of human activity. You can make a difference by adopting a plant-based diet and encouraging no more pesticide and herbicide use.

If changing your diet isn’t your thing, that’s okay there’s plenty more you can do. Below are some events happening around the world during #EarthWeek.

You, Me and the Environment: Earth Day 2019

Source: http://greeninitiatives.cn/

The URBN Hotel Shanghai. FEIY and Green Initiatives are joining forces for Earth Day 2019 celebration! To celebrate not just a day, but you. Your ideas, your stories, your experiences that have the potential to inspire others and make a difference in the lives of those around you.

All year long their organizations raise awareness and promote actions to facilitate positive change in our relationship with the earth. Both for individuals and with businesses, they look at the problems around us, and try to figure out solutions.

So this Earth Day they want to pause to spread the magic of the earth and the beauty of nature through beautiful stories.

The event starts on Monday at 7:00pm. Be sure to RSVP.

Indigenous Resistance and the Crisis of Mother Earth: Paths to Climate Justice

Source: https://events.newschool.edu/

The BIG, Green Apple

If you’re in or around NYC, go to one (or all) of these conferences at the New School’s series of Earth Week programming. Starting Monday at 6:15pm and continuing on Tuesday, they’ll be talking about Indigenous Resistance and the Crisis of Mother Earth: Paths to Climate Justice. Day three will be on Inclusion, Equity & The Environment: An EPSM Alumni Panel. It’s going to be informative, life-changing and it’s going to be free!

Source: http://yoe2019lcr.org.uk/

Solving big problems in 4 days

If you’re in the UK, be sure to checkout the Liverpool Region City Nature Challenge, a challenge that tackles issues surrounding how in nature, nothing exists alone. Community leaders had this to say “2019 will be a year of green action across Liverpool City Region where people from all backgrounds will have the opportunity to be involved in projects that improve the natural world. Our aim is to leave a better environment for the next generation to inherit and make our area one of the best places in the country to live, work and flourish.” It’s free! Just make sure you register on the website. If you aren’t in the UK, you may still have an opportunity to participate in the City Nature Challenge. Represent your city simply by signing up!

If you still haven’t seen anything to sign up to do on April 22, maybe you should just start your own event. No, really; it’s not too late to organize a tree-planting committee in your neighborhood or a trash-collecting team on a nearby shoreline. The Earth Day Network created this online toolkit to make it pretty easy to plan something.

Join us in saving the planet by learning Chinese online. And be sure to review these lessons:

“Looking After the Environment”

“Tumble Dry or Air Dry”

“How to Protect the Environment”

If you liked this blog post be sure to check out “Why Being Bilingual is Benefical ”

and “5 Apps to Help You Better Integrate in China”

Why Being Bilingual Is Beneficial

Sharon Wilson March 19, 2019

Bilingualism advantages have been widely studied and indicate that being bilingual is useful for both adults and children.

Here are 10 facts explaining why being bilingual can prove to be so beneficial.

Source: www.bhlingual.com/

1. Bilingualism positively affects the brain

Research has shown that being bilingual means the person has a far better attention span and is also better at multitasking than a person who is monolingual. Constantly switching between two languages means you are better at multitasking. There is also an indication that bilingualism lessens the risk of having a stroke. There is, it seems, less cognitive decline in adults. Children gain from being bilingual as much as adults and can more easily adjust to changing environments than their monolingual counterparts.

2. Bilingualism offers educational advantages

Bilinguals appear to do better in school because they have better concentration skills and don’t wander off task like monolinguals might do. Most bilinguals have a first and second language and there is evidence to show that bilinguals outperform monolinguals at school even if they are required to learn in their second language. They may start school and be behind their monolingual peers up to the age of 7 but after that they have caught up and outperform their peers who are learning in their first or native language.

Source: www. work.chron.com/

3. Workplaces value staff being bilingual

In today’s globalized world, a bilingual person gains in the employment market. Depending on what and how many languages they speak companies who have international offices around the world seek out employees who are bilingual. The fastest growing areas are in journalism, tourism and the translation industry where at present there are not enough bilingual staff to go around. If a company is looking for staff it may head to the language box on your CV and take you on, even if there are other candidates who have better skills and experience for the vacant job.

4. Bilinguals benefit from better health outcomes

There have been many studies proving that being bilingual benefits health. Key evidence shows that dementia may be delayed in someone who is bilingual. Bilinguals suffer from lower levels of stress and recover from strokes faster than monolingual counterparts.

5. Bilingualism is linked to having a more open mind

Language helps to give the speaker a view of the world and it appears that speaking more than one language allows the person another view of the world. Because they can easily swap between languages they adapt better to different environments and when changes in the environment take place. One of the bilingual advantages is being open minded when it comes to experiencing anything new or different.

6. Being bilingual benefits you more from travel experiences

If a person speaks both English and Spanish there are so many advantages of being bilingual in these two languages. There are numerous countries the bilingual person can enjoy without having to revert to a phrase book to look up a word. Such as China were you have the potential to communicate with 1.5 billion people. There is Spain itself, of course, and several countries in South America, like Colombia and Argentina, and most countries in Central America like Honduras, Guatemala and Nicaragua, as well as Mexico. On top of those there are several islands in the Caribbean like, Puerto Rico and Cuba whose inhabitants speak mainly Spanish as their native language. The culture might not be the same but the language is. A bilingual English/Spanish speaker has an enviable window on the culture of so many countries.

Source: www.gooverseas.com

7. Bilinguals have more social opportunities

One of the advantages of being bilingual is the person has far more social opportunities than a monolingual counterpart and can seek out friends from the two different languages and still feel comfortable.

8. Bilinguals have a learning advantage as other languages can be learned more easily

After having gone through the process of becoming fluent in two languages it makes adding other languages far easier. It’s just the question of taking the skills of learning to be bilingual along with you when learning yet another language.

9. Bilingualism can be passed to children

If you have kids and you speak two languages in the home they too will benefit from being bilingual which they can use for their benefit as they grow up. It gives them a great start in life and they will never look back. Their children will benefit too as the bilingual skills are passed from one generation to another.

10. Many people in the world have the benefits of being bilingual

You are not on your own if you are bilingual as there are many countries where a major language like French or English is used in schools and by the government but most of their citizens speak their local language at home. This happens in Australia where in some places Aboriginal languages are widely spoken but in the schools the language of learning is English so those Aborigines who still speak their local language know the importance of bilingualism because English is the main language for communication in Australia.

If you liked this blog post be sure to check out “What Exactly is Pinyin” and “5 Apps to Help You Better Integrate in China”

International Women’s Day doesn’t need these two words

Eng Chan March 7, 2019

On March 8th, the accomplishments and continued challenges of women around the world take center stage on a day globally recognized as International Women’s Day (Fùnǚ jié | 妇女节). While themes vary around the world and also vary year to year, the common message of the day is always an underlying focus on women’s long journey towards respect and equality in society, and the continued struggles that modern women face. Actions may speak louder than words, but we must also remember that the choice of one single word in our daily Mandarin vocabulary also carries with it the profound weight of hidden meanings and implications that guide the thoughts and actions of those around us. In reference to two intriguing and informative ChinesePod lessons on the topic of women, below are three ways you can change your Mandarin vocabulary to show your respect towards women, and not just on International Women’s Day, but every day of the year.

China’s Valentine’s Day

ChinesePod February 14, 2019

Happy Valentine’s Day! 情人节快乐 (qíng rén jié kuài lè)!

To help you get in the mood, check out our YouTube Page and view our Valentine’s Day Playlist. We’ve added a couple of new videos that haven’t been posted on YouTube before!

February 14th is widely recognized around the world as the day to celebrate love. Its history can be traced back to Roman times in the 3rd century AD when St. Valentine was executed on this day (a rather tragic story that has turned to a celebration of love). Today the younger generations in China celebrate the Western Valentine’s Day like most of the world, but the Chinese had their own celebration of love before Cupid started making his rounds. The Qixi Festival or 七夕 is on the seventh night of the seventh lunar month (August 9th this year). Also known as Double Seventh Festival and the Seventh Night Festival, it can be traced all the way back 2000 years, to the Han Dynasty (BCE 206 – AD 220).

To learn more about the ancient celebration and the Qixi Festival check out this past blog on this special day.

If you and your Significant Other are celebrating the traditional Valentine’s Day, you may give chocolates or flowers, but if you want to add a Chinese flare to your gift, choose a pair of Mandarin Ducks. You don’t have to adopt live ones as pets, find ceramic or carved accent pieces. A decorative pair placed in the home is said to enhance and attract love!

https://chinesepod.com/blog/2017/02/13/what-do-ducks-have-to-do-with-love/#more-6012

This year February 14th falls on the 10th day of the Chinese New Year celebration. Everyone is already celebrating in China, so they will continue their New Year’s Celebration. Don’t feel slighted if your Chinese Significant Other forgets to give you a Valentine’s Day gift. There are so many festivals and parties for the New Year, it’s easy to overlook this day. If you want to study lessons about the Chinese New Year, visit our YouTube and see the Chinese New Year playlist.

There’s one more day for lovers to look forward to – May 20th. The Chinese like to match dates or numbers with phrases that have similar pronunciation. 520 in Chinese is “five-two-zero” and sounds like “I love you. So 520 is pronounced wǔ èr líng has become a special day (May 20) because it sounds like “wǒ ài nǐ “ (I love you). Learn more about this newest holiday for lovers here.

Also be sure to check out this blog post on “How to Say I Love You” if you need to be prepared to profess your love to your date this week!

Not a fan of Valentine’s Day? Single? Don’t worry, the Chinese have a Single’s Day for you 11/11. Hang in there, your day will be here in November!

If you liked this blog post. Check out “Valentine’s Day Video Playlist,” “What Ducks have to do with Love,” and “6 Simple Ways Anyone Can Celebrate Chinese New Year.”

Chinese New Year Red Envelopes: How to Give and Receive “hóngbāo” Like a Local

Eng Chan February 9, 2019

Delicious dinners and family reunions. Homemade dumplings, fish and glutinous rice balls. These are just some of the traditions of the Chinese New Year for millions of people around the world. There is much to celebrate as we ring in the Year of the Dog this January 16th, but one New Year’s tradition remains a favorite for a lot of people, young and old: Red Envelopes or hóngbāo|红包. These lucky red packets stuffed with cash are just as fun to give as they are to receive. But for Mandarin learners, this custom may leave you feeling nervous. Perhaps you wish to partake in the fun, but are wondering who exactly should you give them to? You could go broke trying to give a red packet of cash to everyone you know! And what is the proper way to receive a red packet? Have no fear! This Chinese New Year, learn how to give and receive hóngbāo like a true local. Below are the three things you need to know about this fun yet important Chinese New Year tradition that has stood the test of time.

Who gives and who receives?

Children are the largest receivers of hóngbāo, called Yāsuìqián| 压岁钱. Any adult can give children red envelopes, but if you are married, there is a certain expectation for you to give to the younger generation (wǎnbèi|晚辈), as your married status signifies you have started your own family. However, children are not the only receivers of lucky money. Working professionals, regardless of age, often give hóngbāo to elders (parents or grandparents), as a sign of respect known as xiàojìng | 孝敬, an important concept in Chinese culture.

Generally, it is acceptable for anyone to give a hóngbāo, except to people of similar age. That will only lead to an awkward situation that is best avoided.

How to properly receive lucky red envelopes.

Before receiving a hóngbāo, one should have a few traditional New Year’s well wishes (zhùfú huà｜祝福话) ready to recite, such as “Zhù nǐ xīnnián kuàilè, shēntǐ jiànkāng|祝你新年快乐，身体健康”, a common wish for a happy new year and good health. Often, the children will try to come up with the wittiest phrases to recite before bravely asking for their hóngbāo. When receiving a red envelope, just remember: never open your red packet in front of the giver.

How much money should you give?

You can give as much as you wish and can afford to give. There is no standard amount, as it depends entirely on your economic situation, and your relationship with the receiver. A close relative would typically expect to receive more than a distant family friend. Just remember: crisp, new bills should be given to signify luck, and coins should be avoided.

Since 2014, red packets have also entered the digital age, as with most other things in China’s booming economy. Wechat Red Envelopes can now be sent electronically, of course, reserved for those who are more technologically inclined.

Yet, there is still something beautiful about keeping to tradition. By following the above customs of giving and receiving hóngbāo this Chinese New Year, you will be sure to gain appreciation and respect of those around you who are celebrating the Chinese culture’s most important holiday of the year.

Learn more about the intricacies of giving and receiving hóngbāo in Chinesepod’s entertaining lesson.

Happy Chinese New Year!

Xīnnián kuàilè! 新年快乐

Dàjí dàlì 大吉大利！

If you found this blog post interesting, you will love our special Chinese New Year’s playlist. With over fifteen lessons, you have the option to learn about many different facets of the Chinese Spring Festival. Subscribe today to get access!

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