Language of Spring, the theme song of 2021 UN Chinese Language Day
In keeping with the themes of inclusivity and cultural exchange, the song was written as a collaboration between Chinese music producer Kelvin Ho, British author Robert Murray and Belgian composer Jean-Francois Maljean who wrote ‘Chime of the Dawn Bells’. It has been performed in Chinese by British artists Phoebe Haines and Freddie Benedict.
To hear this beautiful tune, subscribe to our channel on YouTube (Chinese Language Video Festival)
Don’t miss out the video competition taking place on the day! You can watch it via the Youtube link above. You can also view the Chinese website with many more details and videos via CCTV.
We would also like to invite you to join our culture talk on the topic of supporting international students, delivered by Dr Aisling O’Boyle and Dr Xuezi Han this Friday 23rd April 2021.
Happy World Table Tennis Day! 国际乒乓球日快乐 (Guójì Pīngpāngqiú Rì Kuàilè)！
Did you know that World Table Tennis Day is celebrated annually on 6th April since 2015, which also marks the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace?
Did you know that table tennis, or 乒乓球 (pīngpāngqiú) in Chinese, is considered the national game in China? And did you know that Chinese has become sort of a common language (unofficially) that many top players of the world are using it, especially at international games? Did you know why table tennis play shouted ‘cho’ at their match?
Actually ‘cho’ is not the Chinese spelling of the pronunciation, instead, it should be ‘ 球(qiú)‘ which means ball. In its more complete sense it should be ‘好球 (hǎo qiú)’ – lit. good ball (good point, well played) – in Chinese, a typical way of cheering for themselves when scoring. 好 (hǎo) tends to give a weak sound in the syllable and it is often omitted in competitions. So, shouting ‘球(qiú)’ or ‘cho’ has become a fashion and trend in many international table tennis matches where Chinese players compete.
Then, how to encourage players in a competition, especially when they are in great difficulties, in Chinese? Here are some simple phrases for you to grasp:
加油 (jiāyóu) – lit. add oil; come on, go for it
别放弃 (bié fàngqì) – Don’t give up!
你能行 (nǐ néng xíng) – You can do it!
坚持就是胜利 (jiānchí jiù shì shènglì) – Perseverance leads to victory!
Did you also know that at Queen’s we have a QUB Table Tennis Team (multinational) and there used to be a Chinese team of students and staff members? If they played against each other, which team do you hope to win? Learn how to express hope in Chinese now:
Copyright@LiangWang
女王大学乒乓球队 (Nǚwáng Dàxué Pīngpāngqiúduì) – Queen’s University Table Tennis Team
中国师生队 (Zhōngguó shīshēngduì) – Chinese Student-Staff Team
– 你希望哪个球队赢 (nǐ xīwàng nǎ ge qiúduì yíng)？Which team do you hope to win?
– 我希望…… (wǒ xīwàng…) I hope …
So, which team do you hope to win? Give your answer by using the structure and phrases above and get some practice.
Of course, in many games, we just want to play for fun and to develop friendship. So in this context, we would say ‘friendship first, competition second’ – 友谊第一，比赛第二 (yǒuyì dì yī, bǐsài dì èr).
CNY celebration 2017 at Queen’s – Table Tennis Taster Event at PEC
Finally, we hope that you will like table tennis game and join us for fun at some time.
CNY celebration 2017 at Queen’s – Table Tennis Taster Event at PEC
Reminder: Registration will close promptly at 17:00 on Thursday 15 April. Classes are expected to be extremely popular and usually fill up quickly, so early registration is strongly recommended.
Action Plan for 2021 United Nations Chinese Language Day & First CMG Chinese-language Video Festival Abroad
The first ever Chinese Language Video Festival has been launched to celebrate this year’s United Nations Chinese Language Day.
The festival gives foreigners from across the world the opportunity to enter a competition by submitting a video that celebrates Chinese culture.
Entrants are invited to submit original videos that showcase Chinese calligraphy, Chinese poetry, as well as Chinese culinary culture by recalling their own stories or narrating memories related to spring time.
The video works can include but not limited to the following themes and topics showcasing:
Chinese characters in the Chinese language,
Chinese culinary culture,
Chinese calligraphy,
and the beauty of Chinese poetry.
In addition to the aforementioned topics, candidates can also choose to record their videos by telling their own stories or narrating pieces of memory related to springtime. The format can be flexible, candidates can make their videos through talent show, storytelling, scientific knowledge explanation or Chinese language challenge games etc, as long as the video works are original.
Timetable
18 March-15 April Registration form and video submission
16 April-19 April Final review of works & program packaging
20 April Award Ceremony & broadcasting and streaming of prize-winning video works
Eligibility
The competition is open to all foreigners who love the Chinese culture and language and who have been learning the Chinese language.
Thinking of taking a Chinese language course @ Queen’s?
Registration is open until promptly at 17:00 on Thursday 15 April. Classes are expected to be extremely popular and usually fill up quickly, so early registration is strongly recommended.
All classes will commence week beginning Monday 19 April 2021. All language courses will comprise of online practice activities, pre-class videos and weekly, live online teaching, delivered by a tutor to groups of no more than 20 learners. Courses will last for 10 weeks, with 1 x 90 minute live online teaching session each week.
To explore Sir Robert Hart, the first generation of Queen’s graduate and Inspector General of the Chinese Imperial Maritime Customs of the Qing Dynasty, with respect to his trajectory of learning Chinese from his diaries at the Library Special Collections;
To promote Chinese for non-specialist courses to a wider community of students, staff members, as well as members of the public who would have interest in Chinese language and culture;
To introduce Chinese learning resources, approaches and platforms at Queen’s.
What a wonderful moment that we all want to cherish the start of Year 2021 with our best wishes for a healthy and happy year that, hopefully, is free from anxiety, anger, chaos, hatred and all the other negative feelings and emotions of 2020.
In this day, the Chinese communities, local and global, would express their new year greetings to families, friends, colleagues and even strangers with a heartfelt Happy New Year – 新年快乐 (Xīnnián kuàilè) in Chinese. An alternative expression is 元旦快乐 (Yuándàn kuàilè). While both are official and commonly used, the former is more inclusive as it can be used for the lunar Chinese New Year (aka. Spring Festival) and the latter is exclusively referred to 1st January in its modern sense.
In fact New Year’s Day (元旦) is a new festival to Chinese, although it appeared in the ancient times and meant ‘the first day of a year’. The Chinese character ‘元 (yuán)’ means ‘at the beginning’ or ‘the start of numbers’ and ‘旦’ means ‘the start of a day’. It referred to the first day of Chinese lunar year in history. However, it has been changed into the first day in Gregorian calendar since the People’s Republic of China was founded in 1949.
Language points
新 (xīn) – new
年 (nián) – year
快乐 (kuàilè) – happy
元 (yuán) – the start of numbers, the beginning
旦 (dàn) – the start of the day; the component ‘日’ part refers to the sun and the component ‘一‘ refers to the horizon. Hence, 旦 means the sun rising from the horizon to make the start of a day.
元旦 (Yuándàn) – New Year’s Day; the first day of the year
– The mostly favoured flavour of wintry snack in Northern China
If you think that in winter a hot coffee (or tea) is all that you need to treat yourself while outing in China, especially in the north, you may have missed your sweet memory. Our Chinese LIG volunteer, Xiaohui, whose hometown in South China, is receiving pre-service training in Beijing currently. She will tell you what she has discovered in her spare time wandering around capital city, as shown below.
Have you been to China and seen this? Are there anything similar to this in your own country?
Ingredients: typically 山楂 (shānzhā, Chinese hawberry) or more recently a variety of other fruits like 桔子 (júzi, mandarin orange), 苹果 (píngguǒ, apple), 猕猴桃 (míhóutáo, kiwi), 草莓 (cǎoméi, strawberry), 香蕉 (xiāngjiāo, banana), and many more; 糖浆 (tángjiāng, sugar syrup)
Eat as it is, one by one – similar to eating BBQ skewers but very different feel – it is best to eat in winter as the sugar coating is hardened by the cold weather as if one’s tasting ice
Sweet (from sugar coating), sweet and sour (from fruits)!
Only 7 块 (kuài, the colloquial of RMB yuan) per skewer (less than one pound)
Additional information It has nothing to do with fruit gourd in ingredients but that it somewhat resembles the shape of bottle gourds put together. Hence, the name.
Singles’ Day or Bachelors’ Day (光棍节 Guānggùn Jié) is a day unofficially made for young Chinese who are single to celebrate on the 11th of November (11/11 – two elevens – aka “双十一”节 Shuāng Shíyī Jié). The date was chosen for the connection between singles and the number ‘1’. The four ‘1’s ironically refer to the individuals who have no boyfriends/girlfriends yet, therefore, becoming the bachelors or bachelorettes.
Initiated in 1993, this celebration has become popular among young Chinese, especially university and college students. In celebrating their festival, young singles organise parties and Karaoke to meet new friends or try their fortunes.
In more recent years, the festival has become commercialised as the largest physical and online shopping day in the world, compared with other shopping events such as the Black Friday shopping.
The photos below were taken when I undertook my fieldwork in China on 10/11/2008. With great interest I attended an English class in a university in which two students were presenting their topic on the Singles’ Day. The mascots they explained are represented by two common and typical Chinese breakfast food – 油条 (yóutiáo) and 包子 (bāozi).
Language points
光棍 (guānggùn) – single, unmarried people; bachelor or bachelorette (esp. male, oft. derogatory)
节 (jié) – festival, special day
双十一 (shuāng shíyī) – double 11(th)
油条 (yóutiáo) – deep-fried long twisted dough strips
包子 (bāozi) – steamed bun with fillings
Question
In their presentation, the two girls claimed that only in China a special day was set for the singles. Is that true? What about in your country/culture? Please leave a reply below in the comment box.
This year the Double Ninth Day falls on Sunday 25th October. In Chinese it is called as 重阳 (Chóngyáng), also known as Seniors’ Day. What does it mean then? Why is it related to the elderly historically and contemporarily in Chinese society? What do Chinese people do on the day?
Come join in our latest session of the Chinese Culture Forum 2020 series, delivered by Sihua Tang, a Master in Education candidate from SSESW, Queen’s and also enthusiastic volunteer in promoting language and culture.
For members of the public who would like to attend, please leave your name and email contact in the comment box (will not be displayed) below so that we can send you the invitation link.
This year the Mid-Autumn Festival, 中秋节 (Zhōngqiū jié) in Chinese, falls rightly on the 1st October, which coincides the Chinese National Day.
At Queen’s we are hosting an online celebration including a culture talk with language taster session, cultural performances, a culture quiz and poem appreciation, contributed by Queen’s Chinese students and alumni. The event is scheduled between 12:30 and 13:45 on the day. You are all very welcome to attend the session with the information and registration link below:
Festive greeting with invitation from the Language Centre
Normally people would greet each other by saying 中秋节快乐 (Happy Mid-Autumn Festival). However, in this special time of facing pandemic threat, we can add 安康 (ānkāng), meaning peace and healthy, after 快乐 (kuàilè), which becomes “中秋节快乐安康 (Zhōngqiū jié kuàilè ānkāng)”.
中 (zhōng) – middle, centre
秋 (qiū) – autumn
中秋 (Zhōngqiū) – mid-Autumn
节 (jié) – festival, day
快乐 (kuàilè) – happy
安康 (ānkāng) – peace and healthy
To learn more Chinese vocabulary and expressions in a structured way, you are welcome to attend one of our Chinese courses for non-specialist purposes.
Please submit your answers in the comment box below.
Q1. Mid-Autumn Festival is the time for people to ______ in China. A. travel for sightseeing B. have dragon boat races C. worship family ancestors D. have family reunion
Q2. When is the Mid-Autumn Festival due, according to the Chinese lunar calendar? A. the 1st day of the 8th month B. the 8th day of the 8th month C. the 15th day of the 8th month D. the last day of the 8th month
Q3. What particular dessert do Chinese people like to eat on Mid-Autumn Festival? A. pan cake B. moon cake C. pork pie D. jiaozi dumpling
Q4. What do Chinese people, home and abroad, particularly do on this particular occasion? A. watching TV and playing cards B. making moon cakes and pies C. watching the moon and thinking of family D. going to pubs and eating out
Q5. In which year did the Mid-Autumn festival become an official holiday in China? A. 2008 B. 2004 C. 2010 D. 2001
Q6. What kinds of Chinese mythology are closely related to Mid-Autumn Festival? A. The Monkey Myth B. The Moon Goddess Chang’e C. Yu, the hero who rebuilt the Earth D. Yi, the hero who shot suns
Q7. How many suns did Yi shoot down from the sky? A. 10 B. 9 C. 8 D. 1
Q8. Why did Chang’e leave Yi? A. Yi could not afford the cost of living B. Chang’e’s parents did not allow her to be with him C. Chang’e did not love Yi anymore D. In order to keep the elixir, Chang’e swallowed it and ascended to the moon
Q9. What does this radical part ‘𥫗’ mean in the character of ‘筝 (zheng, or Chinese zither)’? A. bamboo B. wood C. Stone D. Grass
Q10. What is normally written on the surface of a mooncake? A. Greetings and wishes for the festival celebration B. The company trademark/logo/slogan which made the mooncake C. Instructions of how to taste the mooncake D. The ingredients of the mooncake
With new students’ arrival and returning students back to Queen’s, the campus is full of welcomes and smiles – although social distance should still be maintained. The first charted airplane from Beijing to Belfast in ready on its way, due to departure in the evening on the 18th Sept. Let’s wish them a smooth and pleasant journey!
How to say ‘welcome’ in Chinese?
Photo taken at the Belfast City Airport. The welcome board displays multilingual expressions of ‘Welcome’ messages. However, some messages, including Chinese, are hardly visible due to background colour. Image@ Liang Wang.
So, to say ‘welcome’ in Chinese, one would at least say the word ‘欢迎’ twice to demonstrate a real welcoming atmosphere, plus a smiling face, and perhaps shaking hands in formal and business contexts. One seldom hugs or kisses to welcome people in the Chinese culture.
How to say ‘Welcome to Queen’s University Belfast!’, then?
The gate and The Lanyon Building of Queen’s University Belfast. Image@QUB
Now that you know how to say ‘welcome’ – 欢迎, the order of the message is exactly the same as in English in this expression. Let’s learn a few more vocabulary, including Queen’s in Chinese.
来 (lái) – to come
女王 (nǚwáng) – queen
大学 (dàxué) – university
贝尔法斯特 (Bèi’ěrfǎsītè) – Belfast
Queen’s University Belfast (Queen’s in a known context) has its Chinese equivalence， which is called 贝尔法斯特女王大学. It can be further shortened as 女王大学 in the local context. Therefore, put together, the whole expression can be 欢迎来(贝尔法斯特)女王大学！
