Chinese For Dummies (79 page)

qiānbǐ
铅笔
(
鉛筆
) (chyan-bee) (
pencils
)

sùmiǎo diàn
素描垫
(
素描墊
) (soo-myaow dyan) (
sketch pad
)

táishì diànnǎo
台式电脑
(
台式電腦
(tye-shir dyan-naow) (
desktop ­computer
)

The Children's Palace in Shanghai is one of the most prestigious after-school arts programs for gifted children in all of China. Built in 1918 as a private villa by the Iraqi Jewish Kadoorie family, who came to Shanghai in the late 1800s, the palace's ornate features; large fireplaces; huge, winding staircase; and marble hallways lent themselves to its original name: Marble Hall. Tourists often come here to see the children perform as one of the highlights of a trip to Shanghai.

Teachers and subjects

Remember your favorite
xiǎo xué lǎoshī
小学老师
(
小學老師
) (shyaow shweh laow-shir) (
elementary school teacher
)? Remember how great it felt to learn how to
yuè dú
阅读
(
閱讀
) (yweh doo) (
read
)? Well, soon enough
yuè dú
turns into
xuéxí
学习
(
學習
) (shweh-shee) (
studying
) and maybe even some serious academic or scientific
yánjiū
研究
(yan-jyo) (
research
), and you really have to hunker down.
Table 12-2
lists all sorts of subjects you may study with a lǎoshī
老师
(
老師
) (laow-shir) (
teacher
) or
jiào shòu
教授
(jyaow show) (
professor
).

Table 12-2 Academic Subjects

Here are some class-related phrases:

Nǐ xué shénme?
你学什么
? (
你學甚麼
?)
(nee shweh shummah?) (
What are you studying?
)

shàng kè
上课
(
上課
) (shahng kuh) (
to go to class
)

xué
å­¦
(
å­¸
) (shweh) (
to study
)

Exams and semesters

After you get into the swing of the
xuéqí
学期
(
學期
) (shweh-chee) (
semester
), you begin to realize your time isn't your own. You have classes to attend,
kè wài huódòng
课外活动
(
課外活動
) (kuh wye hwaw-doong) (
extracurricular activities
) to participate in, and a whole bunch of
kǎoshì
考试
(
考試
) (
exams
) to take. These words and phrases come in handy during the school year:

qīmò kǎo
期末考
(chee-maw kaow) (
final exam
)