The first week of my Chinese Challenge was… easy. There were new words from my weekly Chinese classes, of course, though what I wrote down here were the memorable ones.
This week, I also announced the launch of the Kusina ni Kabayan charity project I’m co-organizing: a Filipino cookbook featuring recipes made by volunteer cooks. And since I’ll be talking to a lot of locals as part of my volunteer work for that project, I expect to add more words related to cooking, food, or volunteering here. What a start for this challenge!
July 1: 西兰花 (xīlánhuā, “broccoli”) – Learned at a China-Lanzhou noodle restaurant, initially used “yecai” but they did not understand what it was.
July 2: 兼职 (jiānzhí, “part-time” [of a job]) – Through a conversation with my roommate, who said her mentor has taken a part-time job after retirement.
July 3: 承认 (chéngrèn, “to admit”) – From a conversation with my former managing editor. I shared with her the launch blog of the Chinese challenge, where I talked about why I started writing Mandarin Monday. When I asked her why she gave me that task, she said I needed to learn it anyway, and that other people did not want to admit they need to learn Chinese.
July 4: 树叶 (shùyè, “leaves” or “foliage”) – From my weekly Chinese class.
July 5: 要不然 (yàoburán, “otherwise”) – From my weekly Chinese class. Other similar words: 要不 (yàobu), 不然 (burán), 否则 (fǒuzé), 再不 (zàibu), 再不然 (zàiburán)
July 6: 菜谱 (càipǔ, “cookbook” or “recipe book”) – We launched the Kusina ni Kabayan cookbook project plan
July 7: 社会工作 (shèhuìgōngzuò, “social work”) – From a conversation with a project volunteer, who wanted to be a social worker but ended up working a nanny in Beijing.
Photo: Buenosia Carol via Pexels