April 5, 2020 - Washington DC Taiwanese School, Advanced Mandarin Conversation Class

April 5, 2020 Washington DC Taiwanese School, Advanced Mandarin Conversation Class

 We discussed the following issues:

.  How we fare with the 3rd week Coronavirus Lockdown situation for each family:

Raymond (書宗) and Steven (葛艾倫)

1.      Wǒ de tóufà hé hú zi yuè lái yuè zhǎng (my hair and beard are growing longer and longer)

2.      Yòng jiǎndāo jiǎn (use scissors to cut)

3.      Mǎi cài (buying vegetables/groceries)

4.      Wǒ de tàitài hé nǚ'ér zuò kǒuzhào (Steve’s wife and daughter made the face masks)

5.      Chūn Tiān guòmǐn-bí zǐ yang (Spring allergy and nose gets itchy)

6.      Diànshì, diànyǐng, diànhuà, diànnǎo (TV, Movies, Telephone, computer-electric brain)

7.      Mǎlāsōng (marathon)

8.      Wǔjiǎo dàXià (Pentagon five-sided building)

9.      Xīn Qíng bù hǎo (not feeling well)

10.  Huáshèngdùn jìniànbēi (Washington Monument

.  Zài 2001 nián 9 yuè 11 rì, nǐ zài nǎlǐ (on September 11, 2001, where were you?)

• Steven - Gé·ài lún - 葛艾倫 - Wǒ zài U Penn jiāoshū (I was teaching at U Penn)
• Raymond - Shū zhōng - 書宗 - Wǒ zài ā líng dùn (Arlington) shàng Bān (I was working at Arlington) 
• We discussed Apocalypse in terms of coronavirus and the book Albert Camu’s “The Plague” 
• The distance between Philadelphia and Shanksville in Pennsyllvania when flight 93 crashed in September 11, 2001 - The omen

The Plague - Wikipedia

   Class Discussion 

1    Lession 40 (安全第一 - Ānquán dì yī) Safety First

      The “stay-at-home” order and “wear face-mask protection” policies

Lǐngdǎo bù hǎo (The Leadership is not Good)
Shēn shuǐ qiǎn shuǐ (deep water and shallow water) 
Tài guì tài piányí (too expensive and too cheap) 
hān zhēn hǎi wèi (mountain treasure, sea taste - delicacies from land and sea) - a rich, sumptuous meal, replete with rare delicacies from both sea and land"

      Mountain treasure - Ling zhi Mushroom
S    Sea Taste – Yúchì (Shark Fin)

Lingzhi mushroom - Wikipedia

Shark fin soup - Wikipedia

Nián nián (sticky sticky) 

Réngōng de (artificial)

   Yóuyǒng lǎoshī (Swimming Teacher)

• Lesson 40 (安全第一 - Ānquán dì yī) Safety First
• Míngshī chū gāotú (A famous teacher trains a fine student - idiom)
• Qīng chū yú lán, ér shèng yú lán (Green is born of blue, but beats blue (idiom) – the student becomes superior the master)

Assignment on 4/5/2020 - Written words practice as follows and questions for further discussion

1. Zìyóu (自由) - Using "Hanzi Alive - 漢字很有意思 " book to illustrate and explain how the written word as originated. 

2. Lession 41 (服飾店Fú shì diàn) The Clothing Store

3. Chūnjià (Spring Break) - April 6, - April 13

No Class next week until April 19, April 26 for the month of April and May 3, May 17 for the month of May.

Let me know if you have any questions.