Howto.Zhongwen好土中文

Do you want to have a new look and be more stylish? How about going to a hair salon and having a new hairstyle? In this episode, Lisa and Joanne will take you to explore the specialties and the services of hair salons in Taiwan. You will learn a bunch of sentences and phrases about having a new hairstyle. Listen to this episode and prepare to embrace your fresh style.  想換個髮型？應該去髮廊...

Having pets is always a happy thing in our life. The furry buddy shares our highs and lows of life and gives us their most sincere accompany. This episode will discuss the changes in Taiwan in the "pets' status," including the new services provided for pets and the interesting new words about the pets and their owners. 你養過寵物嗎？養寵物以後你的生活有什麼不同？在這一集中你會聽到許多跟寵物有關的...

When you see the flame tree turning red, it shows that graduation season is right on the corner. In Taiwan, June is often considered a synonym for graduation season. Are you happen to be a graduate of 2022? Have you participated in your friends' commencement? In this episode, we will talk about activities you will see at the graduation. We will also show you how to express your best wishes in Chin...

Happy anniversary! We are so happy to celebrate the first birthday of 好土中文. In this episode, we will discuss the concept of “anniversary” in Chinese and review our records for the past year. Besides, we will introduce the upcoming changes to our podcasts and show you how to keep updated with us. 好土中文滿一年了！ 我們打算要做一些改變！快來聽聽看滿「週年」後我們打算怎麼做。希望你們都會喜歡喔～...

In this episode, we will introduce the Chinese zodiac and the image of these animals. Each zodiac animal represents some positive personal traits that the Chinese recognized. Besides, we invite Sophia to imitate the Zodiac animal sounds, and you will see how the Chinese perceive animal sounds. What’s your zodiac animal? Listen to this episode and see how the Chinese talk about the zodiac animals....

Do you believe in astrology? People who believe in it say that the astrological descriptions precisely predicted their characteristics of personality and echoed their thoughts in mind. In contrast, others think that astrology presents things ambiguously. Why do people have such opposite feelings about astrology? In this episode, we will give you a psychological explanation of this phenomenon and t...

We are happy to invite Marcie and Dave to come to our podcasts. Marcie and Dave are a couple from the U.S. and have just started learning Chinese after coming to Taiwan. They will share some simple but useful Chinese sentences from the beginners' perspective with us. Grab a cup of coffee, and enjoy our second episode of  好土café. 在這一集節目中我們邀請到來自美國的夫妻艾瑪希、艾岱維，來台灣以...

This episode will describe the procedure you need to take after arriving at the hospital and the language you need to know about the hospital. We will also introduce you to the often seen environment settings of the Taiwan hospital. Next time, if you need to go to the hospital alone, you will not be afraid.  台灣的醫院裡面是怎麼樣的？ 到了醫院以後要做什麼？要在哪裡等候？不要擔心，快來聽這集節...

Whether you believe in fate, it is interesting to know some Chinese fortune-telling methods. In this episode, we are going to talk about traditional Chinese fortune-telling. You will learn how Chinese people categorize lucks and the ways of divination.  你相信「命運」嗎？不管你算不算命、算不算塔羅牌、甚至看不看星座運勢，都可以從這一集節目中了解在台灣常見的「算命」方式，還有相關的一些有趣的詞...

The public bus fare is low, and the bus routes reach almost every corner of a city. Hence, riding a public bus is the most convenient way to know a city. Yet, the interleaved courses and the regulations of the bus seemed challenging to approach for people who had just come to a new city. In this episode, we will talk about the common situation of taking a bus in Taiwan. Besides that, we will also...

You may find the word 'Tomb Sweeping Day' on the 5th of April on your calendar. We called the day 'Qingming' in Chinese. It is the day to gather all family members to tidy up the ancestors' gravesites and commemorate the passed family members. In this episode, we will introduce some knowledge of Qingming, also talk about the events and the related language phrases you might see during the Qingming...

This episode will discuss the word-chosen differences between adults and children. We invited a special guest, 5 years old Sophia, to join us and show what words the children usually use under some specific situations. Meanwhile, April will provide examples of 'sugar coating' sentences. You will see how adults deliver their messages in a suggestive polite way. 肚子餓、口渴、想上廁所、累了。這些時...

Have you ever experienced an earthquake? What did it feel like? A series of small sharp jolts? Shakes? Rolling shaking? Taiwan is a high-frequency earthquake occurring place. There are 20000-40000 earthquakes every year. Don't worry! Most of them are unfelt earthquakes. People in Taiwan take earthquakes as a part of their (shared) daily experiences. In this episode, we will talk about the way of d...

We hope that we can be healthy all the time, but sometimes you still have to go to the hospital and look for professional medical treatments. Hospital is the place where to cure your sickness. What information do you need to know if you need to go to the hospital? How to make an appointment with a doctor in Taiwan? This episode will introduce the hospital-relevant Chinese to you.  身體不舒服...

”Congratulations to the most beautiful couple! “This episode will discuss things you need to know about the Chinese wedding banquet. What will you see on the invitation card? What will you also receive with the wedding invitation? What do you need to prepare for participating in the wedding banquet? Gift or gift money? Which is a better choice for the new couple? And most important of all, what be...

Happy Birthday! How do you usually celebrate your birthday? Have a birthday party? Eat birthday cake or meal? Choose a birthday gift for yourself? In this episode, we will talk about how Taiwanese people celebrate birthdays. How to express your birthday blessing to someone in Chinese? 生日快樂！在你的國家，生日的時候通常會吃什麼呢？你看過紅色的蛋嗎？為什麼生日要吃紅蛋呢？豬腳麵線有什麼意義？幾歲的...

In this episode, we are going to introduce another interesting activity in the Yuan Xiao festival----solving lantern riddles. Free your Chinese knowledge and imagination; see if you can find the answer to the riddles. 元宵節還有個傳統的有趣活動—猜燈謎。有的猜東西，有的猜字，我們選了一些適合外國朋友的燈謎，快來猜猜看吧！ Recommend Level: CEFR A2 (and above). Please preview the keywords of this week...

This episode will talk about the temperature metaphor from an interesting perspective. How do the Chinese use the adjectives 'warm' and ‘cold', ‘raw’ and ‘cooked’ to represent the relations between people? How do the Chinese use temperature feelings to say a person's attitude and personality? Listen to this episode and learn some interesting phrases. 天氣可以「冷」，你對我不可以。食物要煮「熟」，...

The fifteenth day of the first lunar month is the Yuan Xiao Festival (lantern festival). Chinese people make 'lantern' and 'yuan xiao' to celebrate this day. Eating 'yuan xiao' symbolizes a family reunion like a full moon and expresses people's good wishes for future life. This episode will introduce the material and the steps of making 'yuan xiao.' Also, we will tell you how to distinguish the di...

Chinese New Year is the most important festival in our culture. The atmosphere of the spring festival is a combination of different features and activities of the Chinese new year. In this episode, we will analyze the sources of the new year atmosphere, from the visual, auditory input, and the activities we usually do in preparing to welcome the Chinese new year. We will also debate whether the fe...

If you happen to have a chance to visit your Taiwanese friend's house, what will make you become a thoughtful and welcomed guest? This episode will provide you with some tips about being a good guest. Also, we will introduce the proper sentences to show your politeness and respect. Let's practice these sentences and build good relationships with your friends. 到台灣人家裡該注意哪些事情？要帶什麼禮...

A cup of tea is a cup of peace. Oolong tea is known as one of  the most representative tea in Taiwan. You probably had received Taiwanese oolong tea as a gift from your friends. However, do you know how to brew it and let the oolong tea release its aromatic taste? In this episode, we will introduce the proper method of making a cup of tasty oolong tea. 你家裡有沒有茶葉呢？ 烏龍茶是台灣最具代...

 Do you sense the cold winter in Taiwan? The average winter temperature in Taiwan is around 16 degrees Celsius. It seems that winter does not exist in Taiwan for people from cold places. However, for most Taiwanese, winter cold exists. When the temperature is under 20 degrees, we call it 'chilly'; when it is around 10 degrees, we call it 'freezing.' In this episode, we will invite our audienc...

Say ‘Hi’ to the New Year. There are only a few days to the fresh new year. It is time to look back on the past year and plan for the new year. What's your achievement in 2021? What goal do you want to accomplish in 2022? In this episode, we will talk about what activities people participate in to celebrate the new year in Taiwan and the often-seen words/phrases during the new year. Let's listen to...

Language is like a cultural salad bowl, you can always find words or usages which kept the feature of other cultures. In this episode, we will show you some examples of foreign words in Chinese. You will see the method by which the Chinese language borrowed concepts from the outer areas. Also, we will have a short conversation to demonstrate how people switch their languages to exchange informatio...