In this edition: living as a black American in China, how the Chinese see the US, Chinese reactions to Trump’s assassination attempt, Chinese businessman collides with Al Jazeera show, Nord Stream bombing and more.
What is it like to be a Black American in China? – Intermediate Chinese – In-Depth Interview
In this interview on Mandarin Corner, Eileen sits down with an American teacher living in China to explore his unique experiences as a Black American. They discuss his journey to China, his initial impressions, and the challenges he has faced, including racism and a legal battle with employers. The conversation delves into cultural differences in dating, the challenges of job hunting as a black person in China, and meeting his Chinese girlfriend’s family. He also shares insights on learning Chinese and offers advice for other Black Americans considering a move to China.
Though Ben’s stories are not new to me, they remain painful to hear and certainly don’t encourage working in China. However, I hold hope that as more people like Ben speak out, China will gradually become more open in the future.
Difficulty level: HSK 4-5
培养爱好péiyǎng àihàodevelop a hobby谈乐器tán yuèqìtalk about musical instruments音乐理论yīnyuè lǐlùnmusic theory爱上了学习语言ài shàngle xuéxí yǔyánfell in love with learning languages凌晨工作língchén gōngzuòworking in the early morning坐牢zuòláogo to prison灯光秀dēngguāng xiùlight show文化冲击wénhuà chōngjículture shock
偷拍tōupāitake a candid photo, secretly photograph星巴克XīngbākèStarbucks第六感dìliùgǎnsixth sense被惩罚bèi chéngfábe punished无知wúzhīignorance, ignorant黑人的刻板印象hēirén de kèbǎn yìnxiàngstereotypes about Black people社交平台shèjiāo píngtáisocial media platform跨国恋爱kuàguó liàn’àicross-border romance, international relationship
恶评èpíngnegative comments回复评论huífù pínglùnreply to comments种族歧视zhǒngzú qíshìracial discrimination英语培训的机构Yīngyǔ péixùn de jīgòuEnglish training institution不愿意找黑人外教bù yuànyì zhǎo hēirén wàijiàounwilling to hire Black foreign teachers委婉wěiwǎntactful, indirect杀猪盘shāzhūpánromance scam (literally “pig-butchering scam”)保持沉默bǎochí chénmòremain silent哄女朋友hǒng nǚpéngyouto comfort/cheer up a girlfriend撒娇sājiāoact cute, act spoiled (often refers to a playful or affectionate way of seeking attention or getting one’s way, typically used in the context of children or romantic relationships)
This is How The Chinese See The US In 2024 | Street Interview
In this street interview by Asian Boss, people in Shanghai share their thoughts on the United States. The video covers a range of topics, including how Chinese media portrays the US, opinions on America’s current state, and whether it’s truly a country of free speech. The interviewees also discuss the type of content Douyin promotes and their hopes for the future of China-US relations.
Difficulty level: HSK 6 (some dialect / non-standard pronunciation)
你对美国的印象怎么样Nǐ duì měiguó de yìnxiàng zěnme yàng What is your impression of the US科技发达kējì fādádeveloped science and technology贸易战màoyì zhàntrade war美国名人měiguó míngrénAmerican celebrities 国内新闻guónèi xīnwénMainland Chinese news毒品的管制dúpǐn de guǎnzhìdrug control移民国家yímín guójiā immigration country按我理解àn wǒ lǐjiěfrom what I understand敏感的话题mǐngǎn de huàtí sensitive topics言论自由yánlùn zìyóufreedom of speech
The Chinese React To Trump’s Assassination Attempt | Street Interview
In this Asian Boss street interview, Chinese people share their reactions to the recent assassination attempt on Donald Trump. They express surprise that such a major public figure could be targeted so easily, seeing it as a sign of chaos in America. Many believe this wouldn’t happen in China due to strict weapon control and the limited public appearances of political leaders. Some even suggest the possibility that Trump staged the attempt himself. Despite the incident, the interviewees hope for improved relations between China and the U.S., regardless of who the next president is.
Difficulty level: HSK 5 (some dialect / non-standard pronunciation)
大新闻dà xīnwénBig news前总统qián zǒngtǒngFormer president震惊zhènjīng shocked暗杀ànshā Assassination报道新闻bàodào xīnwénReporting the news大家都在讲这个事情dàjiā dōu zài jiǎng zhège shìqíngEveryone is talking about this美国太过于自由了měiguó tài guòyú zìyóule America is too free真的很幸运zhēn de hěn xìngyùnReally lucky杀手shāshǒu Killer大众民众集会dàzhòng mínzhòng jíhuìMassive public rally
Chinese businessman Gao Zhikai collides with Hassan Show
In this video, Chinese journalist 王志安 (Wángzhì’ān) discusses a recent interview between Gao Zhikai and Al Jazeera. Gao is a Chinese lawyer, businessman, and academic, who once worked as Deng Xiaoping’s translator. He avoided talking about sensitive topics like Xi Jinping’s leadership and recent “disappearances,” sparking public debate. Wang explores why Gao agreed to the interview, how he handled the questions, where he struggled to defend his views, and why Chinese Communist Party officials are increasingly avoiding interviews with Western media.
Difficulty level: HSK 6 (show fragments are in English)
节目的背景jiémù de bèijǐngbackground of the program主持人zhǔchí rénhost, presenter联合国liánhéguóUnited Nations口语翻译kǒuyǔ fānyìoral interpretation, spoken translation陆陆续续lùlùxùxùone after another, in succession提出理论tíchū lǐlùnpropose a theory代表中国政府的观点dàibiǎo Zhōngguó zhèngfǔ de guāndiǎnrepresent the views of the Chinese government
语速yǔsùspeed of speech戏剧化的冲突xìjùhuà de chōngtūdramatic conflict秀的节目xiù de jiémùshow program挖坑wākēngto dig a pit (figuratively: to set a trap)接受邀请采访jiēshòu yāoqǐng cǎifǎngto accept an interview invitation维吾尔族人Wéiwú’ěr zúrénUyghur people违反人权wéifǎn rénquánto violate human rights言论自由yánlùn zìyóufreedom of speech
段落duànluòparagraph没有落下风méiyǒu luòxiàfēngdid not fall behind, held one’s own法制问题fǎzhì wèntílegal issues
Nord Stream was bombed by Ukraine? How will Germany react?
Laolei shares his take on who blew up the Nord Stream pipelines that were going to provide natural gas from Russia to Germany, after new information was reported by The Wall Street Journal. According to this latest version, a small Ukrainian team carried out the sabotage, with initial approval from Zelenskyy. However, Zelenskyy tried to stop the plan after the CIA learned about it and asked him not to proceed.
Difficulty level: HSK 5
北溪BěixīNord Stream (referring to the Nord Stream gas pipelines)他们得知这个策划的存在tāmen dézhī zhège cèhuà de cúnzàiThey learned of the existence of this plan炸北溪zhà Běixībomb the Nord Stream (pipeline)无法确认这个事情是真还是假的wúfǎ quèrèn zhège shìqíng shì zhēn de háishì jiǎ de德国会有什么反应Déguó huì yǒu shé me fǎnyìngWhat reaction will Germany have?逮捕证dàibǔzhèngarrest warrant逃避到乌克兰táobì dào Wūkèlánescape to Ukraine从头到尾cóngtóu dàowěifrom beginning to end允许自己依赖俄罗斯天然气yǔnxǔ zìjǐ yīlài Éluósī tiānránqìallow themselves to rely on Russian natural gas从道德来说cóng dàodé lái shuōmorally speaking天真，幼稚tiānzhēn, yòuzhìnaive, childish
Day in my life as a Mandarin teacher 对外汉语老师的一天
Have you ever wondered what the life of freelance Chinese teacher looks like? In this vlog, 自由职业者Karen shows us how she prepares online lessons and writes scripts for new video content.
自由职业者zìyóu zhíyè zhěfreelancer我打算来写一下语法视频的文稿wǒ dǎsuàn lái xiě yīxià yǔfǎ shìpín de wéngǎoI plan to write the script for a grammar video我现在要开始今天的第二节课了wǒ xiànzài yào kāishǐ jīntiān de dì èr jié kè leI’m about to start the second class of the day今天的安排主要是复习一下第四课的前三个课文jīntiān de ānpái zhǔyào shì fùxí yīxià dì sì kè de qián sān gè kèwéntoday’s plan is mainly to review the first three texts of Lesson 4今天的工作我基本上都弄完了 jīntiān de gōngzuò wǒ jīběn shàng dōu nòng wán leI’ve basically finished all of today’s work发给我们每个月的会员fā gěi wǒmen měi gè yuè de huìyuánsend to our monthly members
That’s it for this summer edition. Hope you enjoyed it. I’ll be back with more Chinese vocabulary notes soon!
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