Eating out in China can be daunting.  Even if you can read the Chinese menus you don't necessarily know what the dishes are.  On Chinese Valentine's Day we give you some popular dish names.  Come in to Understanding and we'll show you how to use your Chinese and you'll be a pro with ordering in no time. 

In this lesson we continue our series in the classroom.  This time we get an introduction into an important part of more advanced Chinese:  the use of chengyu—four character proverbial sayings.  We also get some useful sentence structures like ÄǾͲ»ÄÜ……Â𣿠And common phrases like ÖµÂð? Come in, class is beginning.

Another in our group of Chinese-school lessons. Again, we focus on the interaction between students and teachers and through exaggeration expose the cultural gap growing between them.  In this lesson we learn some useful phrases like Æäʵ and ÄÇô as well as the sentence structures ˵ÕæµÄ……and Ô½……Ô½……So back to school everybody, sit down and let's learn.

Now it's time to say good night.  Did you wash and wipe your face?  Brush your teeth?  Wash your feet?   ....wash your what?  This is the nightly ritual of the vast number of Chinese.  In this lesson we teach you the vocabulary you need to discuss your nightly rituals.  Come in and take a look.

If you're watching this lesson, that probably means that you didn't grow up in the Chinese educational system.  But, no loss, in this lesson we let you in on a window of the relationship between teacher and student, if a little exaggerated.  We learn a number of slogans related to diligence and sacrifice in this lesson that any Chinese would know and that can animate you language if used appropriately.  So, come on in and check them out.

If any of you have made it to China you have noticed that smoking is a national past time for a large number of those you meet:  a casual pass of a cigarette between males is similar to a handshake in the West.  So, what are non-smokers to do?  In this lesson we arm you with the language needed to talk about the issue including words for second-hand smoke and talking about harm to health.  We also teach the pattern AʲôA and the useful phrase ˵²»¹ý .  Come on in and get armed with the language you need to fend off those smokers!

It's past midnight and you can't sleep.  Just slip over and ask the roommate to borrow that PSP...In this lesson we learn the word to use for borrowing things, we also use frequent phrases like ˭ѽ£¿¶Ç×Ó¶öÁË and µ¹Ã¹.  Take a look at how our actor spends his evening.

It's time for a party--yours!  Surprised?  Well, so is our actor in this episode, "Surprise Party."  Besides learning the words for birthday and cake and a phrase for talking about the dates of special occasions, we learn the useful grammatical point ……¸ÉÂand a use of ¾Í.  Ready?  Make a wish...

Today we enter into the realm of relationship and disharmony, themes that everyone has experienced at some point or another.  We learn some useful words for parts of the body as well as the useful phrase “²»......Â𣿓 and useful words to use in an argument like ×°Ëâ and ÄÖ.  So if you're ready to see this confrontation, come on in.

In this lesson we learn a lot of more complex vocabulary for talking about prices and buying things in the context of a ski shop.  Included are words like ÓÅ»Ý and ´òÕÛ for discussing sales and bargains as well as words like ÉÏÕÇ and ϵø to discuss the fluctuation of prices in a free market.  A lot to learn in this lesson, be sure to check it out!