We’re in the second week of the Chinese Challenge! How’s your vocabulary going?
On Saturday (Jul 13), I took the HSK 3 exam, a Chinese language proficiency test with an added challenge: everything is written in Chinese. No pinyin, no English translations. I’ll talk about my experience in a separate blog post.
This week’s words came mostly from my conversations with locals. The most notable case was a call from an unknown number, which turned out to be from a gym staff who reminded me about my membership. I normally don’t answer mobile phone calls because most of them are advertisements from brands that have gotten access to my mobile number. This time, however, I answered the call because I thought it was from a friend.
In another case where I practiced my spoken Chinese, I met with a Chinese KOL who has published a cookbook. I told her and her translator friend (since the KOL understands but doesn’t speak English) that my mind is always blown off course whenever I’m in a gathering together with Filipinos, locals, and other foreigners because I quickly switch my internal language processor from Filipino to English to Chinese.
Anyway – let’s review my new words this week:
July 8: 打印 (dǎyìn, “to print”) – I scrambled to find a printing shop on Monday afternoon, for two reasons: (1) I needed to print a document and (2) I had to compare price quotes for the cookbook community project I’m co-organizing. At first, I asked a printing shop staff if I could 印制 (yìn zhì, “to print” in the Pleco translator app) a document, but overheard another customer saying 打印 (dǎyìn). Well, this is how they say it.
July 9: 提供 (tígōng, “to offer”) – At a meeting with a book publisher for the cookbook project, she said they do not offer copyright (版权 bǎnquán) and publishing number (出版号码 chūbǎn hàomǎ). So we need to find a cheaper way to get it.
July 10: 记忆 (jìyì, “memory”) – Saw this on a Subway line 8 广告 advertisement, “北京记忆” (Beijing memories). I went to a friend’s send-off dinner at Baochao Hutong.
July 11: 贵宾 (guìbīn, “VIP”) – From a bank transaction. I was serviced in the VIP counter (贵宾窗口 guìbīn chuāngkǒu, “VIP window”)
July 12: 污渍 (wūzì, “stain”) – There are stubborn mud stains on my shorts! I’ve actually tried several ways to remove the stains, like soaking the shorts in vinegar, then in laundry detergent. What I’ve noticed too is mud from Beijing roads contains carbon — of course, but what I’m talking about is the carbon from pollution. And it’s too difficult to remove!
July 13: 成功 (chénggōng, “to be successful”) – I told my housemate about the HSK exam I would take this day. She said 成功 before I left, and I asked her if it meant “good luck”. She explained locals use this word to wish someone well in their endeavors.
July 14: 提示 (tíshì, “reminder”, “to remind”) – From a call from a gym staff, who told me my 会员卡 huìyuán kǎ would expire soon. I responded, “Thank you for the reminder.”
Photo: Suzy Hazelwood via Pexels