I remembered that when I was quite young, I used to knock the bowl with the chopsticks when I was waiting for my mom’s delicious meal. One day, my mother told me seriously that :” You are a grown up now, so I have to tell you something seriously. In the past, you always use the chopsticks to knock the bowl, but I didn’t tell you that is bad because you were still a kid. While, now I have to tell you that it is really a bad manners to knock the bowls or the plates with the chopsticks. So I hope you could pay attention to that, ok?” .If you have ever had some Chinese classes online, you may know that there are a lot of table manners when you have meals with the others. The manners of using chopsticks is one of them.

The manners of using chopsticks has once appeared in the HSK test as a choice question, so I suggest that you know the manners of using chopsticks in case that it will appear again in the tests if you want to pass some.

In China, when you are using chopsticks, especially when you are having meals with some elder or important person like your clients, bosses, etc, you should pay full attention to the manners because it will influence your impression on them. Here, I will provide you with some online Chinese lessons about the taboos of using chopsticks in China. Firstly, you should not hold the chopsticks with your index finger pointing out or point to the others with the chopsticks because this is a way of cursing. Secondly, you should not put one end of the chopsticks in your mouth and bite it because this will be seen as a lack of family education. Thirdly, you should not knock the bowls or the dishes with the chopsticks because this is the way the beggars begging for money. It will be impolite. Forth, you should not insert the chopsticks straightly in the food because it looks like praying to the death.

When I grow up then, I checked on the internet about the manners of using chopsticks. The above four ones are the most common mistakes people make when they use chopsticks. If you are having the HSK preparation, you could memorize these information, and I believe that it will do you a great help.

 

Music is something that can comfort you easily. If it is sung by someone who has a good voice, it will be more beautiful. In China, we can mostly hear the songs sung by the famous singers, and we all believe that they are the most suitable ones for the songs. In fact, it is not true. We always know that there are a lot of good singers who are not discovered. Last year, a new program called The Voice of China. For those who have had online Chinese classes before, you probably know that The Voice of China season one has been quite a hot issue for a long time because of its special form.

Some of you may have learnt Chinese for a long time, and I believe that to pass a Chinese test like the IB Chinese will give you a great encouragement for you to learn Chinese better and better. These hot issues will always appear in the tests. Therefore, I suggest you to know something about the things that are happening in China nowadays.

Then, I will tell you the reason why I like this program so much. As we all know, listening to music can be a very enjoyable thing, especially when you listen to some really beautiful voices. However, in the past, a lot of good voices will be buried and forgotten because of the singers’ family background or appearance. But if you have had some Chinese classes before, you may know that The Voice of China give these singers a chance to show their voice without considering their backgrounds or appearance. If you are crazy about music and you are sure about your voice, you can just come without worrying about being sifted out because of your background or your appearance. The judges, they care only about your voice. If you can sing well, they will turn around for you and make you a member of his/her team. After that, they will give you advises on how to improve your singing skills to make you a better singer. Because of this, I can hear a lot of good voices, and I can know that we are able to win even without any backgrounds or anything.

When autumn comes, the leaves will turn yellow and the earth becomes a beautiful golden world. In Chinese culture, yellow is seen as a symbol of the harvest. If you have had some online Chinese classes, you may probably know that colors have special meanings in Chinese culture. Previously, I provided you with articles about white, red, blue and black. And this time, I will share with you the last color of the series, yellow.

As usual, before I talk about the usage and meaning of yellow, I have to draw your attention to the fact that these colors always appear on the Chinese language tests, such as the HSK test. Therefore, I hope you will make full use of what I am sharing about the meanings and usages of colors in Chinese culture.

I have been learning English for a long time, and once my teacher gave us some exercises on color words. I found two of the words - black tea (红茶) and yellow book (黄皮书) - to be very interesting. Now, if you have seen the online Chinese lesson I provided before about the color black, I am sure that I don’t need to explain black tea here. If you haven't seen the lesson, please take a look. But as for yellow book, I will introduce it here. Yellow book can be translated as 黄书 (huangshu) in Chinese, which means pornographic books.

First of all, yellow in Chinese is most often associated with positive things like the harvest, success, and beauty. In ancient times, the announcement of the king would be written on yellow paper, so it is also a symbol of power and majesty. However, nowadays, yellow is used to signify books or CDs which are pornographic. If you have taken any Chinese skype lessons, you may know that there is a very popular slogan in China right now called 扫黄打非（eliminate pornography and illegal publications）, the 黄here is also translated into pornography.

Do you think I have made clearer the meaning and usages of the word yellow? I don’t know if you are in the middle of your HSK preparation, but I do know that it will help you with your Chinese learning if you have read through my article and grasped some of the main ideas.

 

Several days ago, one of my Australian friends made a mistake related to the usage of colors when she was at a ceremony. She was very frustrated afterward and vowed to learn about the meanings and correct usage of colors in Chinese so that she would not make the same mistake in the future. I felt sorry for her and decided to write a series of online Chinese lessons to help her learn about the various meanings and usages of colors in Chinese. Last time, I wrote an article that focused on the color white, and this time I will be touching on the color red. I am posting this piece here in the hopes that others, like my friend, who can benefit from this information will aslo have access to it.

We all know that Chinese is becoming more and more popular in the world nowadays.  Many of the people in pursuit of learning and mastering Chinese are also planning to take the AP Chinese. Knowlege of colors is integral to doing well on this exam. I hope that you can try to make use of what you will learn in this lesson and boost your score on the HSK exam .

As I mentioned in the first paragraph, when thinking about red, many positive things can be called to mind such as red roses,a red sun, and so on. Many people may also think of blood, a not so pleasant visual image that is strongly associated with the color red. But I must mention that the color red is more strongly associated with good things in Chinese culture than bad. If you have taken any Chinese classes before, you may know that red things are commonly used in weddings or for other special occasions such as the Chiese New Year. In the past, when people got married, they would wear red wedding clothes because red in Chinese represented joy and luck.

Maybe you have seen some Chinese weddings through your Chinese skype lessons, and was able to see that the brides would wear pure white wedding dresses during their wedding ceremonies. This is similar to traditions in the West, but in China, what you must know is that, after the ceremony, it is essential and of very high significance for the brides to wear a bright red cheongsam during the part of the reception where the newlyweds go around and toast each of their wedding guests. 

I don’t know whether the information I have shared will help you or not, but I sincerely hope that, in the least, you have learned something interesting and meaningful. If you are interested in knowing more about the meanings and usages of colors, follow me and I will provide you with more online Chinese lessons.

 

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