It is believed that there must have had been a group of teachers in one-on-one Chinese learning programswho are unsatisfied with just correcting the pronunciations, the distinguishing of certain vocabularies, the explaining of several grammar points, but rather with a more grand goal bearing in their heart—be a transmitter of the profound splendid Chinese culture.
Therefore, here are several common knowledge to be shared with readers who’d love to study in China, theChinese culture seems mysterious in the eyes of the majority of the westerners, especially in the modernized America with a brief history, some of the most ordinary things in the Chinese people’s eyes would turn out to be a treasure in the American people’s eyes, on the New York streets, it is becoming commonplace for people to encounter people wearing yellowish-green sacks with the logos of Chinese characters.
The long-standing historical traditions, custom, habits, conditions etc, which are all relevant to Chinese culture, would be necessary to be adequately explained or accounted for by people who volunteer in China.
Well, the learners who’d love to learn Mandarin in China would wonder the utility of knowledge of culture with that of the language study, culture is actually ubiquitous in language study, and the relationship between the language and culture is intimate.
And here are three questions for the checking of the understanding of Chinese culture for friends to learn Chinese on line free, the first question is “Why does the Chinese language has so many disyllables , but only a few three trisyllables, and why do most of the Chinese idioms are quadrisyllabic?”
The second question to be asked for those to attend summer programs in China is that why do Chinese people refer to the cars as “jiào chē(sedan car)”, and Why the matchmaker can be called “hóng niáng” in China？
The third question may sound interesting for readers who’d love to attend Chinese learning programs, When you are about to buy some watermelons, you can have several different ways in asking, such as “xī guā duō shǎo qián yì jīn? xī guā yì jīn duō shǎo qián? yì jīn xī guā duō shǎo qián？duō shǎo qián yì jīn xī guā ？Etc. Why the structure of the Chinese grammar is so loose?
Well, these seemingly insignificant questions are actually raised by friends, who’d been to China to study Mandarin Chinese, the three questions are respectively on the phonetics, vocabulary and grammar.
The key to the first question is that the phenomenon of the overwhelming disyllables is related to the Chinese people’s philosophy of balancing, harmony and golden mean, and it is noteworthy for readers who’d like to participate in HSK preparation programs in China that most of the Chinese idioms are quadrisyllabic.
The key to the second question for readers who’d been to volunteer in China is that the word “jiào” probably is relevant to the ancient Chinese phenomenon of sitting on the sedan chairs, since the possessing of car used to be considered to be a symbol of social standing, which is similar of the past sedan chairs.
The origin of the person “hóng niáng” was from the book Romance of the Western Chamber, who was a famous matchmaker in ancient Chinese stories; it can be seen by readers who’d like to study Chinese that some phenomenon can be unexplainable without certain accumulation of knowledge of Chinese history and culture.
The answer to the third question may seem even more complex for readers, who’d love to learn Chinese in China, the seemingly lose structure of the Chinese language, with the frequent abridgement of the conjunctions and formal marks, are the reflection of the mental pattern and mode of thinking of the Han Nationality.
One of the main features of Chinese philosophical thinking is the oneness of human and nature, with an emphasis on the harmonious relationship between human and nature, as well as the intuitive perception and experiences of the objective world, which when applied into the Chinese grammar, became the characteristic of negligence on the formal marks while emphasizing the parataxis.