Throwback: Music words + Exploring a whole new world of culture
Note: Dear Reader, we hope that you enjoy this throwback issue of Giant Mandarin. When it comes to language learning, revision is crucial. What’s more, as a passion project, throwback issues help keep the show running. Thanks for reading and we’re looking forward to bringing you new content!
👋 Welcome to this week’s issue of the Giant Mandarin newsletter. This week I cover words on the topic of music. I also include my thoughts on how studying Chinese enables you to explore a whole new world of culture.
🎯 Words
音乐 yīnyuè - music 🎶
歌 gē - song
听 tīng - to listen 👂
听音乐 tīng yīnyuè - to listen to music
听歌 tīng gē - to listen to a song
唱 chàng - to sing
唱歌 chàng gē - to sing a song
歌手 gēshǒu - singer 🎤
乐队 yuèduì - band; orchestra
乐器 yuèqì - musical instrument
钢琴 gāngqín - piano 🎹
吉他 guitar - jítā 🎸
弹 tán - to play (a string instrument)
弹钢琴 tán gāngqín - to play a piano
弹吉他 tán jítā - to play a guitar
耳机 ěrjī - headphones 🎧
歌曲 gēqǔ - song (formal)
摇滚乐 yáogǔnyuè - rock and roll; rock music
爵士乐 juéshìyuè - jazz
古典音乐 gǔdiǎn yīnyuè - classical music
流行音乐 liúxíng yīnyuè - pop music
韩国流行音乐 Hánguó liúxíng yīnyuè - K-pop 🇰🇷
说唱 shuōchàng - rap music
嘻哈乐 xīhāyuè - hip hop
💭 Thoughts
🗺 Learning a language gives you access to a whole new world of culture
One of the amazing things about learning Chinese is that it gives you access to a whole new world of culture. And the more you learn, the more access you get.
One of the reasons cultures different to our own are appealing is that they represent the opportunity to discover new things.
To consider one example, in our daily lives, we watch, read and listen to things that make us laugh, teach us things about the world and help us understand ourselves. And one of life’s pleasures is finding new things to watch, read and listen to, whether that’s a new movie, book or song.
🌏 The Chinese world of culture: movies, books, music and more
Through learning Chinese, we begin to get access to a world of Chinese movies, books and music. And with a deep cultural history and population of over 1.4 billion, that world is a really big one that will only get bigger over time.
No matter what your level of Chinese is, subtitles, translations and the universality of sound, means that many excellent Chinese movies and TV shows, books and songs are already there to be explored and enjoyed.
But this is no doubt only the outskirts of the forest, which has been mapped out by explorers - brave Chinese language learners - before us.
✨ The joy of discovery as a Chinese language learner
Consider the following observations:
📚 Only a tiny sliver of China’s best written works have been translated into English
🎞 There are new Chinese movies and shows being released every day
🎶 There is an independent artist making amazing music from an apartment in one of China’s bustling cities that deserves to reach a greater audience
As Chinese language learners, there’s a lot to to be excited about!
👀 Recommendations
The most interesting Chinese bands of the 2010s (December 2019), Krish Raghav, SupChina
What did you think of this week’s newsletter? Please get in touch to let us know what you think. I’ll read every message.
Thanks for reading and see you next Thursday!
Giant Mandarin (@GiantMandarin) is written by David Wu (@davidwuio).