ChinesePod

1 son
2 child
3 seed
4 egg
5 small thing
6 1st earthly branch: 11 p.m.-1 a.m., midnight, 11th solar month (7th December to 5th January), year of the Rat
7 Viscount, fourth of five orders of nobility 五等爵位[wǔ děng jué wèi]
8 ancient Chinese compass point: 0° (north)

孩子

hái zi

1 child

Idioms (20)

一瓶子不响，半瓶子晃荡

yī píng zi bù xiǎng , bàn píng zi huàng dang

1 lit. a full bottle makes no sound; a half-filled bottle sloshes (idiom)
2 fig. empty vessels make the most noise

不入虎穴，焉得虎子

bù rù hǔ xué , yān dé hǔ zǐ

1 How do you catch the tiger cub without entering the tiger's lair? (idiom); Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

不见兔子不撒鹰

bù jiàn tù zi bù sā yīng

1 you don't release the hawk until you've seen the hare (idiom)
2 one doesn't act without some incentive

乱臣贼子

luàn chén zéi zǐ

1 rebels and traitors (idiom)
2 general term for scoundrel

仁人君子

rén rén jūn zǐ

1 people of good will (idiom); charitable person

Sample Sentences

没错，各地年夜饭都不太一样呢，像北方年夜饭就是饺子，那味道真是绝了！再说饺子形状像“元宝”，特别吉祥，也代表了来年财运滚滚。

méicuò ，gèdì niányèfàn dōu bùtài yīyàng ne ，xiàng běifāng niányèfàn jiùshì jiǎozi ，nà wèidao zhēn shì juéle ！zài shuō jiǎozi xíngzhuàng xiàng “yuánbǎo ”，tèbié jíxiáng ，yě dàibiǎo le láinián cáiyùn gǔngǔn 。

That's right, Chinese New Year's dinner differs in different places, like for example, in northern China the New Year's dinner is jiaozi dumplings, which taste amazing! And jiaozi dumplings are shaped like ingots, meaning their particularly lucky, and because you boil them, they represent fortunes bubbling up for you in the New Year.

Go to Lesson

在我们北方，一般都是以面食为主，像饺子、馒头、这样的小吃比较多。北方菜以蒸菜、炖菜为主，比较出名的家乡菜我想就是东北大乱炖和小鸡炖蘑菇了吧。

zài wǒmen běifāng ，yībān dōu shì yǐ miànshí wéizhǔ ，xiàng jiǎozi 、mántou 、zhèyàng de xiǎochī bǐjiào duō 。běifāng cài yǐ zhēng cài 、dùncài wéizhǔ ，bǐjiào chūmíng de jiāxiāng cài wǒ xiǎng jiùshì dōngběi dà luàn dùn hé xiǎo jī dùn mógu le ba 。

In the north, our staples are normally food made from wheat flour, mostly snacks like jiaozi dumplings and mantou buns. Northern dishes are mostly steamed or stewed. The more famous local dishes are Northeastern Mixed Meat and Veg Stew and Braised Chicken and Mushroom.

Go to Lesson

你会包饺子吗？

nǐ huì bāo jiǎozi ma ？

Do you know how to make dumplings?

Go to Lesson

水滚了第二次的时候，要是饺子都浮在水面，就可以捞起来；要是大部分的饺子都还没浮上来，就再加一碗水，再滚一次。

shuǐ gǔn le dì èr cì de shíhou ，yàoshì jiǎozi dōu fú zài shuǐ miàn ，jiù kěyǐ lāo qǐlái ；yàoshì dàbùfēn de jiǎozi dōu hái méi fú shànglái ，jiù zài jiā yī wǎn shuǐ ，zài gǔn yīcì 。

Once the water has reached boiling point the second time round and all the dumplings are floating on the surface of the water, you can fish them all up. If most of the dumplings are still at the bottom, add another bowl of cold water and heat to boiling point again.

Go to Lesson

等到饺子全都浮起来，就可以吃了！

děngdào jiǎozi quándōu fú qǐlái ，jiù kěyǐ chī le ！

Once all the dumplings are floating on the surface of the water, they are ready to eat!

Go to Lesson

煮饺子

zhǔ jiǎozi

Boiled dumplings.

Go to Lesson

对，要包饺子，饺子皮、猪肉都得早一点买。

duì ，yào bāo jiǎozi ，jiǎozi pí 、zhūròu dōu děi zǎo yīdiǎn mǎi 。

Yes, I have to wrap jiaozi dumplings, so you have to buy the pastry and pork early.