#ymRealityTime ✨ It’s the 1st day of the New Year! Are you feeling different? A bit more 牛? 😎 __________ Let’s decipher the phrase in the picture above, “春节不打烊”, that’s become a motto for many stores this year. Taobao even put it on their app homepage! ⭐️ (本店)春节不打烊 (Běn diàn) Chūnjié bù dǎyàng __________ Can you guess what it means?

The 牛 Year is just around the corner! Wish you all 牛年大吉 niúnián dàjí! 🔺 牛年 niúnián - year or the Ox (“cow-year”) 大吉 dàjí - very lucky (“big-auspicious”) 🔺 牛年大吉! Niúnián dàjí! Good luck in the Year of the Ox! ❗️If you haven’t seen this WeChat effect yet, send this phrase to someone & enjoy the bulls running! make sure your WeChat is updated to the latest version🐂 🔺🔺 Another nice 牛 wish you could send to friends: 牛年吉祥！ Niúnián jíxiàng! Happy New Year of the Ox! (“Ox-year-auspicious!”) 🔺🔺 A wish to have good luck in business: 牛气冲天! Niúqì chōngtiān! (Wordplay for the chengyu 怒气冲天 núqì chōngtiān, “to be in towering rage”, but with a positive meaning - wishing that the Ox’s strong energy can help the businesses flourish) 🔺🔺 Or just the simple: 嗨皮牛业儿！ Hāipí niúyèr! 🔺🔺🔺 祝大家牛年大吉! 🧧

It’s been a while! Let’s start with a casual (but handy) phrase 💬 ___________ Imagine you’re supposed to meet friends after work, but get held up. Once you finally leave and head to the meeting point, you send an update: 来了 lái le! ⭐️ 来 lái - to come 了 le - (particle indicating a change of state) ⭐️ 来了 lái le - (I’m) coming! (I’m on my way / I’m now in the state of “coming”) ⭐️ Does it mean that you’ve arrived to the destination? Not yet. Does it mean that you’re on your way - walking, running, on a bike, in the subway, in a taxi, etc? Yes! ⭐️⭐️ And once you arrive to the destination, you can send a new message: 到了 dào le - I’m here (I’ve arrived) ⭐️⭐️ Use the same verb 到 dào, “to arrive”, to say that you’re almost there: 5分钟就到了 wǔ fēnzhōng jiù dào le - I’ll be there in 5 mins ⭐️⭐️⭐️ How would you say “I’m coming, will be there in 10 mins”?

堂吃上楼，外卖请进 táng chī shànglóu, wàimài qǐng jìn #ymRealityTime What does the note say? 🤨 What should I do if I wanted to buy some steamed buns to go?

#ymGrammar here with a simple HSK3 grammar today! ________ The word 一直 (yīzhí) is cool - you can use it both to say ‘straight’ when giving directions (👉一直走 yīzhí zǒu, ‘Go straight ahead’), or to say ‘continuously’: 一直 yīzhí - continuously; non-stop; all along ⭐️ It goes well with continuous tense [在 zài + verb]: 📚我一直在学习 Wǒ yīzhí zài xuéxí I’m learning non-stop 🀄️我一直在学汉语 Wǒ yīzhí zài xué hànyǔ I’m learning Chinese non-stop ⭐️⭐️ You can even include some recent past into it without adding 了 le: 🀄️我最近一直在学汉语 Wǒ zuìjìn yīzhí zài xué hànyǔ I’ve been learning Chinese non-stop recently ⭐️⭐️ ❗️Pronunciation tip: mind that tone change for 一 (yī) does NOT appear in writing, but it changes in speech! So even though ‘officially’ pinyin for 一直 is [yīzhí], in reality you pronounce it as [yìzhí] 🗣 ⭐️⭐️⭐️ To practice, make a simple sentence using 一直 (yīzhí) 😎

Let’s have a bit less practical, but a more philosophic #ymPowerMonday #ym超级星期一 today ✨ __________ If you went shopping for souvenirs in China (or in a Chinatown) before, you might’ve noticed a four-faced head figure - 喜怒哀乐 xǐ nù āi lè 🌝 ⭐️ 喜 xǐ - happiness; pleasure 怒 nù - anger, rage 哀 āi - sorrow 乐 lè - joy ⭐️⭐️ 喜怒哀乐 xǐ nù āi lè - human passions; human feelings/emotions (representing the idea that we might look differently, dress differently and speak different languages, but share the same emotions) ⭐️⭐️ We’ve definitely had a lot of 哀 āi this year, and you might’ve noticed it in the previous post. But let’s hope that soon there will be more 喜 xǐ and 乐 lè in the world again. Until then, we’re all in this together - sharing our 喜怒哀乐 xǐ nù āi lè remotely 📱➿📱 分享喜怒哀乐 fēnxiǎng xǐ nù āi lè - to share happiness and sorrows 和朋友分享(你的)喜怒哀乐 hé péngyou fēnxiǎng (nǐ de) xǐ nù āi lè - to share (your) happiness and sorrows with friends ⭐️⭐️⭐️ And let’s share more joy (乐 lè) today! Start by sharing a word you know that contains 乐 lè 👇

2020.04.04 🕯 • 全国 quánguó - whole country 哀悼 āidào - to grieve; mourn 日 rì - day • 全国哀悼日 quánguó āidào rì - a day of remembrance (to honor whose who died of Covid-19, and those who sacrificed their lives in the fight)

#ymTechThursday #ym科技星期四 today is still related to the pandemic and how China is trying to control it. With a word that didn’t even exist a few months ago: 随身码 suíshēnmǎ 📲 ⭐️ 随身 suíshēn - to (carry) on one's person 码 mǎ - code ⭐️ 随身码 suíshēnmǎ - health code; HealthCode (“a code that you always carry with you”) ⭐️⭐️ Since the number of confirmed (确诊 quèzhěn, “real-diagnosed”) cases in China dropped, local authorities have been thinking of ways to reduce the risk of a second wave. The way they’ve come up with was to control the imported cases from abroad (境外输入 jìngwài shūrù, “border-outside-entering”). And that’s how a new feature on Wechat and Alipay appeared - a QR-code updated in real time, that tells everyone whether you are ‘dangerous’ or not✅ ⭐️⭐️ It’s mostly used to differentiate between the people who’ve arrived from abroad in the past 14 days and need to self-quarantine (🟡隔离 gélí) or be quarantined (🔴强制隔离 qiángzhì gélí) and people who they’ve come in contact with, and the rest who stayed inside the city (🟢). Some myths have been going around about how your code can change even if you take a subway train with a yellow- or red-code person, but that sounds too futuristic? ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Anyway, right now in big cities it’s becoming the ‘real way’ to get around. Security guards in office buildings check 随身码 suíshēnmǎ and measure the temperature (量体温 liáng tǐwēn) before letting anyone in🤒 ⭐️⭐️⭐️ How would you ask “Please open your HealthCode?”

What’s the point having a #ymFoodWednesday #ym吃货星期三 talking about Chinese food, if most of you are stuck at home and have no chance to try it? Let’s talk about our favorite recipes - 做法 zuòfǎ - instead! ⭐️ 做 zuò - to make; cook 法 fǎ - rule; method; way ⭐️ 做法 zuòfǎ - recipe (“rule of cooking”) ⭐️⭐️ Cooking really seems to be bringing the world together these days. My Chinese friends shared recipes and pictures of their food (一日三餐 yī rì sān cān, 3 meals a day 🍝) on WeChat Moments during the quarantine in China, and right now the whole world’s joined in - @stephenfryactually is making his own bread (烤面包 kǎo miànbāo 🍞), @chelsanity makes homefries (家煎土豆 jiājiān tǔdòu🥔) and what not, and my mom’s been sending me cake recipes (蛋糕的做法 dàngāo de zuòfǎ 🍰) even though I don’t have an oven (烤箱 kǎoxiāng 🔥) ⭐️⭐️ 这个菜的做法 zhège cài de zuòfǎ - the recipe for this dish 披萨的做法 pīsà de zuòfǎ - pizza recipe ⭐️⭐️⭐️ So share the name of your favorite recipe today! (If don’t know its Chinese name, we’ll translate it together) And name as many ingredients in Chinese as you can🥚🧈

#ymSpokenTuesday #ym口语星期二 is here! ___________ Next time your friends ask you a question the answer to which is pretty obvious, and they know it - instead of answering, just tell them: 你说呢? Nǐ shuō ne? ⭐️ 你 nǐ - you 说 shuō - to say 呢 ne - And...? How about...? ⭐️ 你说呢? Nǐ shuō ne? - And what do you think? Why don’t you tell me? (“Don’t you know the answer already”) ⭐️⭐️ For example, imagine being in an amusement park, and having the best roller coaster ride of your life 🎢 The friend who was there with you asks: Friend: So, did you like it? You: 你说呢?! Nǐ shuō ne?! ⭐️ It doesn’t have to be a happy experience, it works for bad situations too. Imagine having a really bad day - if a colleague asks you “How was your day” while you look all gloomy, you can just reply 你说呢 🙄 ⭐️⭐️⭐️ To practice, think of your own example of an ‘obvious question’! Or translate this: “- Is this ice cream good? - What do you think?”

Next time you want to wish/suggest your friends to do something “properly” and “well” - use the word 好好儿 hǎohāor! ⭐️ 好好儿 hǎohāor - properly; thoroughly; well ❗️Pronunciation tip: see the tone change in the second 好 (hāo)? It actually makes it easier to pronounce! ⭐️ Mind that unlike in English, 好好儿 hǎohāor always comes before a verb: 💆🏻‍♂️好好儿休息 Hǎohāor xiūxi Have a good rest (“properly-rest”) 🛋你今天在家好好儿休息 Nǐ jīntiān zài jiā hǎohāor xiūxi Have a good rest today at home (“You-today-at home-properly-rest”) ⭐️⭐️ Remember 好好儿 as a word for giving advice to friends, or a command to kids. It’s usually about the future 🎐 (unlike the structure “verb+得+好 (de hǎo)”, which describes actions done “well” in the past or in the present) ⭐️⭐️ How would you say: “We should all wash our hands properly every day”? (should - 要 yào/得 děi, to wash hands - 洗手 xǐshǒu)

In this time of uncertainty, YM is with you🌊 Wherever in the world you are, I hope you and your loved ones are safe. And to keep your mind busy, let’s learn some 中文! _______ Let’s start with one of the most popular phrases these weeks: “flattening the curve”, 压平yāpíng-ing 曲线 qūxiàn! ⭐️ 压 yā - press; pressure 平 píng - flat 曲 qū - curvy 线 xiàn - line ⭐️ 压平 yāpíng - to flatten (“to press to make flat”) 曲线 qūxiàn - curved line; curve ⭐️⭐️ 压平曲线 yāpíng qūxiàn - flatten the curve ⭐️⭐️ As with many new phrases, this one hasn’t had the ‘official’ Chinese translation yet. You will see different versions online. For example, some people explain it more literally: 使曲线变平 shǐ qūxiàn biàn píng “let-curve-become-flat” But the shortest version usually wins, and if you search for 压平曲线 yāpíng qūxiàn on Wechat, you’ll already find articles explaining this idea in Chinese 📉 ⭐️⭐️⭐️ How would you ask “Do you know what it means ‘to flatten the curve’”?