Throwback: Peace and conflict words + How to study Chinese without studying
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 topics of peace and conflict. I also include my thoughts on how to study Chinese without studying.
🎯 Words
和平 hépíng - peace; peaceful 🕊
战争 zhànzhēng - war
战 zhàn - war (abbreviation)
第二次世界大战 Dìèrcì Shìjiè Dàzhàn - World War II
二战 Èrzhàn - World War II (abbreviation)
大战 dàzhàn - (large-scale) war
内战 nèizhàn - civil war
军队 jūnduì - army; armed forces
军人 jūnrén - soldier; soldiers (rank and file)
士兵 shìbīng - soldier; soldiers (rank and file)
合作 hézuò - to cooperate; cooperation 🤝
摩擦 mócā - friction; conflict; tensions
协议 xiéyì - agreement 📝
和平协议 hépíng xiéyì - peace agreement
条约 tiáoyuē - treaty; pact 📃
和平条约 hépíng tiáoyuē - peace treaty
达成 dáchéng - to reach (e.g., an agreement or deal)
达成协议 dáchéng xiéyì - to reach an agreement
达成条约 dáchéng tiáoyuē - to agree on a treaty
爆发 bàofā - to erupt; to break out
战争爆发 zhànzhēng bàofā - war erupted; war broke out
投降 tóuxiáng - to surrender; surrender
胜利 shènglì - victory; to achieve victory
失败 shībài - defeat; to be defeated
结束 jiéshù - to end; to finish; to conclude
战争结束 - war’s end; war’s conclusion
💭 Thoughts
When learning Chinese, there is a formal component that involves teachers, textbooks and flashcards. But there is also an informal component that involves everything else.
This could be catching up with a Chinese friend, watching a Chinese movie or show, or reading a couple of characters on a menu at a Chinese restaurant.
If you want to study Chinese without studying, then find ways to empower the informal components. Here are four ideas and some ways to get started:
🎥 Watching a Chinese movie or show:
SupChina’s Film Friday article series is a treat.
A list of the top 100 Chinese movies, as rated by IMDb users, comes in handy.
Netflix’s growing collection of Mandarin movies and television shows is worth a browse.
🍜 Learning to cook your favourite Chinese dish through watching instructional videos in Chinese (links to YouTube):
小高姐的 Magic Ingredients: Instruction is in Chinese with English and Chinese subtitles available.
Chinese Cooking Demystified: Instruction is in English with some Chinese characters. The channel is targeted at a non-Chinese audience, with explanations around ingredients, technique and context integrated into their videos.
🎧 Listening to a Chinese podcast:
This list of 30 podcasts in Chinese, categorised by level of difficulty, is great.
China’s top podcast platform, Ximalaya, provides a universe of Chinese language audio content.
(Note: The mobile app won’t be available in your go-to app store unless you’re currently in China. For those outside of China, the mobile app Himalaya, despite being the brainchild of Ximalaya and having a similar name, is not the same app, but you can access Ximalaya through their web app!)
📰 Reading the news in Chinese:
Like The Wall Street Journal or Financial Times but for China is Caixin.
Check out Chinese versions of popular English-language newspapers: There are more, but see the Chinese versions of The New York Times - which has the awesome functionality to display the English and Chinese versions of an article side by side - and Financial Times to get started.
👀 Recommendations
Turning Red, Pixar’s newest release for 2022 (link to the trailer on YouTube provided):
This movie was awesome and I think lots of Giant Mandarin readers will love it. Stream it on Disney+ or see if it’s available in a cinema near you. Here’s Disney and Pixar’s pitch to viewers:
Young actress Rosalie Chiang lends her voice to Mei Lee, a 13-year-old who suddenly “poofs” into a giant red panda when she gets too excited (which is practically ALWAYS). Sandra Oh voices Mei Lee’s protective, if not slightly overbearing mother, Ming, who is never far from her daughter - an unfortunate reality for the teenager. Directed by Domee Shi and produced by Lindsey Collins.
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).