By Ling-Ling Lisa Shih
From Ling-LingChinese.com
Here are two quotes from an article “Love and Trust” I just read. It was written by San Mao 三毛, a well-known Chinese writer. I have always enjoyed her writing and I am glad to introduce you to her writing. In this post I would like to teach you these two sentences I have selected from the article. These words resonate with me. As a parent I know I am often guilty of being overly protective of my child. As she poignantly points out, parents’ excessive love can turn into a burden for their loved ones. I have to remind myself not to nag my daughter about every little thing as if she were still a little girl or make her feel that I don’t have trust in her ability to protect herself from harm.
If your Chinese is more advanced, I highly recommend this article to you: 爱和信任. You can use the tools below to help you understand the entire article.
Here are the quotes. Let’s use them to learn some Chinese vocabulary.
“在父母的面前，再年长的儿女，都是小孩子…”
No matter how old we are, we are always a child in their eyes.
“爱和信任，爱与尊重，爱过多时，便是负担和干扰。”
Love and trust and love and respect (should go hand in hand), but too much love can be a burden and interference.
From 爱和信任 by 三毛
Resources:
Use Talking “Chinese to Pinyin/Zhuyin Converter” to hear the text and print text with Pinyin on top of each word.- Use the Chinese Text Annotation Tool to read the above text with pop-up annotations.
- Chinese Vocabulary Worksheet for these two quotes (PDF)
Vocabulary 生词
| ID | Chinese | Trad. | Pinyin | English Definition | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ID | Chinese | Trad. | Pinyin | English Definition | ||
| 1 | 在 | 在 | zài | (located) at; (to be) in | ||
| 2 | 父母 | 父母 | fù mǔ | father and mother; parents | ||
| 3 | 的 | 的 | de | of; ~’s (possessive particle); | ||
| 4 | 面前 | 面前 | miànqián | in front of; (in the) presence (of) | ||
| 5 | 再 | 再 | zài | again; once more; re-; second; another; then (after sth, and not until then) | ||
| 6 | 年长 | 年長 | niánzhǎng | senior, older | ||
| 7 | 的 | 的 | de | of; ~’s (possessive particle) | ||
| 8 | 儿女 | 兒女 | ér nǚ | children; sons and daughters | ||
| 9 | 都 | 都 | dōu | all; both; entirely; (used for emphasis) | ||
| 10 | 是 | 是 | shì | is; are; am; yes; to be | ||
| 11 | 小孩子 | 小孩子 | xiǎo háizi | child | ||
| 12 | 爱 | 愛 | ài | to love; love | ||
| 13 | 和 | 和 | hé | and | ||
| 14 | 信任 | 信任 | xìn rèn | to trust; to have confidence in | ||
| 15 | 爱 | 愛 | ài | to love; love | ||
| 16 | 与 | 與 | yǔ | and | ||
| 17 | 尊重 | 尊重 | zūnzhòng | respect; to respect; | ||
| 18 | 爱 | 愛 | ài | to love; to be fond of; to like; affection; to be inclined (to do sth); to tend to (happen) | ||
| 19 | 过多 | 過多 | guòduō | too many; excessive | ||
| 20 | 时 | 時 | shí | when | ||
| 21 | 便是 | 便是 | biàn shì | (emphasizes that sth is precisely or exactly as stated); precisely; exactly; even; if; just like; in the same way as | ||
| 22 | 负担 | 負擔 | fù dān | burden; to bear a burden | ||
| 23 | 和 | 和 | hé | and | ||
| 24 | 干扰 | 干擾 | gān rǎo | to disturb; to interfere; perturbation; interference (physics) |
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