Learning Chinese through Stories

This is a classic fable story about a thirsty crow trying to figure out how to get a drink from a water bottle that only has a little bit water inside. 一只乌鸦 口渴了，到处找水喝。乌鸦看见一个瓶子，瓶子里有水。可是，瓶子里水不多，瓶口又小，乌鸦喝不着水。怎么办呢？ 乌鸦看见旁边有许多小石子，想出办法来了。 乌鸦把小石子一个一个地放进瓶子里。瓶子里的水渐渐升高，乌鸦就喝着水了。 ——摘自小学一年级语文课...

从前 cóngqián Noun, long time ago 挂着 guàzhe Verb phrase, (something) is hanging on (somewhere) 门上挂着一个铃铛。 墙上挂着一幅画。 铃铛 língdāng Noun, bell 偷 tōu Verb, to steal 小偷，thief 明明 míngmíng Adv, (someone knows something)clearly 她明明知道吃巧克力会发胖，晚上还吃了两包巧克力。 碰 pèng Verb, to touch (usually without permission) 别碰我！Don't touch me! 丁零丁零 dīngling dīngling Onom...

This Chengyu (Chinese idiom) story is about a thief who was stealing a bell with a hand covering his ear. He thought if he covered his ear, then the bell owner would not hear the bell ring either. This Chengyu is used to describe someone who is being dishonest with himself/herself. 从前，有一个人，看见人家大门上挂着一个铃铛，想把它偷走。他明明知道，那个铃铛只要用手一碰，就会丁零丁零地响起来，就会...

古时候 gǔ shíhòu Noun phrase, ancient times 古代的时候 朝代 cháodài, noun,dynasty 矛 máo Noun, spear 长矛, long spear 盾 dùn Noun, shield the same with 盾牌(pái) 街上 jiē shàng On the street 街上，有人卖水果，有人卖衣服。 叫卖 jiàomài Verb, to announce publicly as for sale 举 jǔ Verb, to hold up 举手，have one's hand up 举起…来， to raise…up 夸口 kuākǒu Verb, to brag; to boast or夸下海口 锐利 ruìl...

This is an Chengyu (Chinese idiom) story about an ancient street vendor who was being inconsistent while advertising for his spear and shield. Spear and shield were thus used to describe contradictions since then. 古时候，有一个人，一手拿着矛， 一手拿着盾，在街上叫卖。他举起矛，向人夸口说："我的矛 锐利得很，不论什么盾都戳得穿！"接着又举起盾，向人夸口说："我的盾坚 固得很，不论什么矛都戳不穿它！" 有...

上海 Shànghǎi Chinese metropolitan city, Shanghai 70后 70 hòu Noun phrase, people who were born during 1970-1979 80后，90后，00后，10后 城管 chéngguǎn Noun, Chinese urban management officer 次 cì Noun, time(s) 一次，once 两次， twice 三次， three times 无偿 wúcháng Adv, voluntarily 献血 xiànxiě Verb phrase, to donate blood 救 jiù Verb, to save one's life "救命(mìng)！"means "Help!" 眭 Suī Noun, su...

Chinese Chengguan (urban management officers) usually have a very bad reputation. Check at today's news story about an awesome Chengguan doing good deeds by donating blood for 101 times in 10 years and the reason why he is doing this. 上海"70后"城管101次无偿献血救人 2016年8月29日，上海，眭庆是一名城管，在静安新城十区工作。37岁的他是土生土长的上海人，个头不高，黝黑的脸，话语不多，留着 小平头。从200...

This is a real story about a Chinese man, one of the many who are working hard and trying to make more money for their family at Shenzhen. Shenzhen is a metropolitan city in Guanggong, where there are many big manufacturers, such as Foxconn, which assembles apple products. Many Chinese people from other parts of the country come to work, in pursuit of more money and a good life. 他的深圳故事 作者...

山东 Shāndōng Place name, Shandong Province 青岛 Qīngdǎo Place name, Qingdao city 无 wú Verb, not to have, eaquals to 没有 无糖 táng， sugar-free 腿 tuǐ Noun, leg 少年 shàonián Noun, a 10 to 16-year-old 迎 yíng Verb, to welcome Same with 迎接 jiē 新 xīn Adj, new 学期 xuéqī Noun, semester 经过 Jīngguò Prep, after (a period of time) 经过一天的努力 经过一个暑假的生活 近 jìn Verb, " 近 +a period of ti...

This is an authentic news cited from Tecent News. It is about an 11-year-old handicapped boy Gao Zhenyu, who just started his 6th grade school year. Zhenyu had a high-level amputee who lost both of his legs in a car accident during his 1st grade. Now, Zhenyu is using a pair of wood blocks to help himself walk, with the support of his hands. He has been always studying hard in school and has been v...

谈 tán Verb, to talk about, to discuss 谈论，to talk about 谈到，to talk about the topic of… 未来 wèilái Noun, future 肯定 kěndìng Adv, definitely Synonym,一定 珠三角 zhū sānjiǎo Noun, a triangle area on the Zhu River in Guangdong 珠江， the Zhu River 转型 zhuǎnxíng Verb, to transform; noun, transformation 升级 shēngjí Verb, to upgrade 号角 hàojiǎo Noun, horn 吹响号角 号角响起 响起 xiǎngqǐ Verb, (...

墙 qiáng Noun, wall 墙上， on the wall. 墙上挂着一支笛子。 一支笛子挂在墙上。 挂 guà Verb, to hang something on 脖子上挂着一串项链。 把衣服挂在钩子上。 笛子 dízi Noun, flute 长笛，短笛，竖笛，牧笛 蒙 méng Verb，to cover 墙上的笛子上蒙了一层厚厚的灰。 孩子把衣服蒙在脸上。 来了一个蒙面人。 厚 hòu Adj, thick (only used on flat subjects, such as books, money, snow fallen on the ground, dirt, etc.) 厚...

深圳 Shēnzhèn Place name, a metropolitan city in Guangdong 市 shì Noun, city as an administrative division \ 北京市，上海市，纽约市…… 区 qū Noun, district as an administrative division 深圳市宝安区，北京市朝阳区 镇 zhèn Noun, town as an administrative division 镇子，小镇，镇上 村 cūn Noun, village as an administrative division 村子，村民 工厂 gōngchǎng Noun, factory 也可以说"厂子"。在工厂工作的人...

This story tells the origins of Chinese Lunar New year, which is called "Nian" in Chinese. 中国古时候，有一种叫＂年＂的怪兽，"年"的头上长着尖角，非常凶猛。＂年＂兽住在海底，每到除夕，就爬上岸来吃人和牲畜，所以每到除夕，人们都要到深山里躲起来。 这一年的除夕，乡亲们正忙着收拾东西躲到山里去。就在这时候，村子的东头来了一个白发老人。他对一位村民说，只要他可以在村里住一晚，就能将＂年＂兽赶走。大家都不相...

A camel and a sheep started an argument about the advantage of heights. The camel argued being tall is good, while the sheep discussed being short got more advantage. They finally learned their lessons from a third-party. 骆驼长得高，羊长得矮。骆驼说："长得高好。"羊说："不对，长得矮才好呢。"骆驼说："我可以做一件事情，证明高比矮好。"羊说："我也可以做一件事情，证明矮比高好。" 　　他们俩走到一个园子...

This is one of the most well-known Chinese class stories for children. The bunny built a snowman with her mom's help and while the mom went searching for food, bunny was taking a nap at home with the coal heater on. When danger happened, snowman jumped in... 下了一天的大雪。房子上、树上、地上一片 白。兔妈妈要出去找吃的。她堆了一个漂亮的雪 孩子，陪小白兔玩。看着可爱的雪孩子，小白兔 真高兴。他和雪孩...

《小马过河》故事解读 在一座小山旁边，"座"是一个量词，是山的量词。你可以说一座山，一座高山，一座大山，一座小山。住着一匹老马和一匹小马。那这里的"匹"呢是马的量词，除马以外，你还可以说一匹布，布就是你用来做衣服的材料，叫布。小马整天跟着妈妈，整天呢就是从早到晚。从来不肯离开一步。"从来"就是没有发生过的意思。"不肯"呢就是不想、不愿意。"离开"就是小马想一直和妈妈在一起，它不想和妈妈很远。"一步"就是人走路...

Pony went to an errand by himself for the very first time at his mom's request. He was going to carry a bag of wheat to the other side of a river. But when he was about to cross the river, he received different suggestions from others. Pony finally learned the lesson with the help of his mom and he made up his decision... 在一座小山旁边，住着一匹老马和一匹小马。小马整天跟着妈妈，从来不肯离开一步。...

This is a famous Chinese idiom (chengyu) story about an ancient Chinese peasant who stopped his farm work after tasting the pleasure of getting free meat from animals that die accidentally. After he quit his work and started to wait for more free meat as a full-time job, he learned his lesson from the hard way. 战国时，有一个宋国的农夫，他每天都到田里辛苦地工作，来维持全家的生活。 有一天，那个农夫...