五分钟中文 5 Minute Chinese

Hello everyone! In today's episode I talk about the new Apple Watch Series 8 I just got and its new functions. Hope you enjoy. Script and useful vocabulary below by paragraph. 1:01 hand-washing 1:42 heart health 2:13 Medication App 2:28 crash detection (&fall detection) 3:56 Workout App 0:00 大家好! 欢迎收听新一期的《5分钟中文》。我上个星期买了新出的苹果手表Apple Watch，昨天送到了。还挺快...

Hello everyone! In today’s episode I talk about my busy week this week with the school curriculum night, the Mid-Autumn Festival, and my work to set up a Chinese honors society. Today is Mid-Autumn Day. If you celebrate this holiday, I wish you a happy holiday of abundance and prosperity. Thank you for listening. Script and useful words below. Email me if you have any questions or suggestions.  大...

Hello everyone! In today’s episode, I talk about Labor Day in the US: it’s time, origin, and what people do on the day then and now. Scripts and useful expressions below. Let me know if you have any comments or suggestions. Have a nice long weekend if you are in the US! 大家好，欢迎收听《五分钟中文》。因为星期一是劳工节，放假一天，所以这个周末是一个三天的长周末。那今天我们就说一说美国的劳工节。 劳...

Hello everyone! In today’s episode I talk about three topics in life. Firstly, I talk about my mixed-level classes this year. Next I talk about our upcoming 10th grade camping trip. Lastly, I talk about the things in life and how I deal with them. Listen and find out more. Scripts and useful expressions below. Let me know if you have any suggestions or questions. Have a great week! 大家好！欢迎收...

Hello everyone. Happy Back-to-School season. This is our first week of school, and I'm excited to be back in class and learn with my students. In today's episode, I talk about my thoughts and feelings as I enter my 10th year of teaching Mandarin.  Hope you enjoy! Script and useful expressions below. 0:00 1 大家好，欢迎收听<五分钟中文>。这周是我们第一周开学，所以我想跟大家聊聊我今年...

Hello everyone, in today's episode I talk about board games. The most recent one I played is called Machi Koro 2--an easy, fun board game where you build establishments,  earn returns, and build 3 landmarks to win.  In this day and age, board games may sound boring compared to our smartphones, computers and other forms of multi-media entertainment. Yet board games have its unique merits. Firs...

Hello everyone! In today's episode I talk about the buzzword 雪糕刺客 (Ice Cream Assassin). Chinese people call an ice cream an ice cream assassin when it looks unremarkable but turns out to be very pricey, dealing a heavy blow to your wallet at checkout. Scripts and useful expressions below. Thank you for listening. Have a nice day! 大家好！欢迎收听。天气最近这么热，大家有没有吃雪糕呢？雪糕...

Hello everyone! In today's episode I talk about China's siesta culture. Chinese people are used to taking a nap after lunch since childhood. School and company schedules usually accommodate the need of siesta with a longer lunch break than what is common in the US. The two main reasons for Chinese people's s siestas are their high-carb, heavy lunch and  their long work/school day th...

Hello everyone! In this episode I explain what is "sanfu tian"—the Chinese "Dog Days of Summer", the ancient Chinese solar terms marking the beginning and end of the Sanfu Tian, and the folk traditions along with this period. Script and useful expressions below.  Let me know if you have any questions or comments! Thank you. Have a great day! 1 大家好。最近一直都在说天气热。看新...

Hello everyone! In today's episode I talk about 5 traditional ways Chinese people used to beat the summer heat in ancient time: fans, stored ice, cooling mat, cool water house, plus special summer diets. Some of the methods are still used today in conjunction with the A/C. Full script and useful expressions below.  1. 大家好，欢迎收听新一期的《五分钟汉语》。今天想跟大家聊的是中国传统“消暑”方...

Hello everyone, in today's episode I talked about my recent trip to Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs.  In Part 1, I briefly talked about my favorite Zoo in China—the Beijing Zoo and my hometown safari-style zoo. In Part 2 and 3, I talked about my experience in the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. It's a family-friendly zoo with giraffe-feeding experience, nice food court and kids' pl...

Hello everyone, long time no see! I was traveling in Colorado, so I wasn't able to make new episode last week.  In today's episode I talk about high altitude illness as Colorado has the highest mean altitude of all the states and home to more 14,000-feet mountain peaks than any other state. Lower oxygen level at higher altitudes is the main contributor to altitude sickness and we need to...

Hello everyone, in today's unscripted Mandarin chat, I talked about my flight cancellation by American Airline today due to weather. My only hope now is that I will be able to fly out successfully on the rebooked flight early Sunday morning so that my trip is not cut any shorter. If you travel this summer, beware of the weather factor and the staffing shortage  of airlines that can cause dela...

Hello everyone! Welcome to a new episode of 5 Minute Chinese. In today's episode, I talk about summer (school)work in the US and China—which subjects typically have summer work and what type as well as my first summer reading for my AP class. Later in the episode I talk about Gaokao—generally deemed to be the most important and fairest exam in Mainland China. I also talked about Gaokao in Ep....

Hello everyone! Summer is here! In today's episode, I compare China's summer vacation with America's summer vacation: When and how long is the summer vacation in China and the US? What do students do during summer? Many Chinese students used to go to tutoring classes over the summer, but is this changing? How about students in the US?  Scripts and vocabulary below. Hope you enjoy! ...

Hello everyone, today I explore the topic of exam during our exam week:  When do US and Chinese students start to have exams?  How important are exams and grades in different levels of schools in China and the US? What's Gaokao? What's behind China's exam culture that attaches ultimate importance to exam scores? (script and useful words below) Thank you for listening. Have a great w...

Hello everyone, in today's episode, I talk about our academic awards on Friday. It was so great to see students walk on stage to receive the awards. But awards or not, I feel happy and proud for all the students for their many accomplishments in and out of my class.  大家好，欢迎收听！这个星期五放学以后举行了高中学术奖的颁奖典礼。首先，高中学生会主席带着大家在国旗下宣誓。然后，校长致欢迎词。...

Hello everyone, in today's episode, I talk about how COVID ran its course in my body this week. 大家好，欢迎收听。今天想跟大家聊一下我刚经历的新冠。 (0:10) 上个星期六我一早起来就觉得不舒服，尤其是嗓子特别疼。我测了一下体温，发现有点儿发烧。我就预约了CVS药店的诊所去检查一下是不是新冠。检查很方便。就是医生用一个棉签在鼻子里转几次，然后放进检验机器。这种快的检测，等十分钟就可以知道结果。十分钟后...

Hello everyone, in today’s episode I talk about the hot pot party we held in school this week. 大家好，最近期末真的很忙。所以周中都没有时间更新，只能在周末更新一次。不好意思。今天想跟大家聊聊这周我举办了火锅聚会。我在去年十月份的第15期和第16期的节目里也聊过火锅。有中文和英文的两个版本，大家如果有兴趣可以找来听一下。 更新 | gēngxīn | renew 聚会 | jùhuì | gathering, party 期 | qī | episode 版本 | bǎ...

Hello everyone! In this episode, I talk about May 1 Labor Day—China’s upcoming “5-day” holiday, which in fact is only 3 days because during the two weeks before and after the holiday, people need to work for 6 days (one weekend day each week) to make up for the “lost” 2 days that make the holiday 5 days.  大家好，大家这周过得怎么样？我们学校刚过了春假，在暑假以前基本没有假期了。不过在中国，马上要...

Hello everyone, in today's episode I compare Easter and Qing Ming Festival. Both are "spring festivals" in late March/early April and include outdoor activities in the beautiful spring weather. The difference between the two festivals lies in the cultural origin and tradition: though both are related to death, Qing Ming is about remembering dead ancestors whereas Easter, in its Chri...

Hello everyone, in this episode I recount our crazy Thursday at school. The power went out overnight and wasn't restored until right before class. Then 10 minutes into the first period, we were told to evacuate due to an electric fire. After 20 minutes in the rain and another 30 minutes of waiting in the gym, we were finally back in the classrooms for third period. What a day! Scripts and use...

Hello everyone! In this episode I talk about my dentist's appointment today and my journey with Invisalign, which started in late 2019 and is still going. Today they took new pictures and impressions to send back to Invisalign for new sets. I also learned that braces is a life-long commitment since I need to continue to wear retainers at night even after I finish my treatment. 大家好，欢迎收...

Hello everyone! In this episode, I start with last night's game between UNC and Duke and talk about the difference in school sports cultures in the US and China. March Madness is a great example of Americans' love for college sports and sports in general. By comparison, Chinese schools place much less emphasis on school sports and think that students should spend their day studying inste...

Hello everyone! In today's episode, I talk about how my broken hot water heater led me to temporarily change my shower routine and learn the benefits of cold shower. Script and useful expressions attached. Thank you for your support! Let me know if you have any questions or comments. 大家好，今天是周日，大家的周末过得怎么样呢？上个周末我家的热水器在半夜的时候坏了。第二天一早，我起床洗澡。因为...