Hey guys, how are you all? I’m feeling like I need a holiday after my holiday, but that’s probably just some laziness talking. 😉
Now, as many of you may know, today (8th February) is the Lunar New Year – an occasion that I have unfortunately never managed to celebrate in China, or another country where it is very significant, but hopefully I will one day. Until that happens, however, you get to enjoy my posts here. 😛
Last year was the year of the sheep (羊, my zodiac animal) and the year before that was the year of the horse (马) – but this year, it’s the year of the monkey! (And as usual, Google have provided a doodle to celebrate.)
Okay, so first things first: here are my posts from last year (2015) and 2014 too. They contain short vocab lists for you to use this Chinese New Year. I also picked up a couple of new words/phrases for this year:
生肖 – shēngxiào – one of the twelve animals symbolic of the earthly branches; animal from the Chinese zodiac (find the definition here).
猴年大吉 – hóunián dàjí – Good luck for this monkey year (a New Year’s greeting).
I also decided to look up some information about the Chinese zodiac and found out about the characteristics of people who are born in the year of the monkey (1992, 2004, 2016). It was in Mandarin so I have attempted a translation. (Let me know if you see any mistakes!)
属猴的人幽默、机智、活泼、所以多方面的才能常超越人群，人缘好，但重名利，独占欲强，处事敏捷，自信心强，手脚灵活，善于模仿，开放，性格宽厚。(source)
Those born in the year of the monkey are humorous, resourceful and lively, so many of their talents surpass those of most people. They are popular, with favourable reputations. They mostly desire strength, deal with matters quickly, have a lot of self confidence, are quick and nimble and are good at mimicking and being open. Their nature is tolerant and generous.
So that’s quite nice! Also, if you’re interested in doing a little Mandarin work around this holiday, then I found this short story for beginners: The Doctor and the Monkey. It’s a fun little story about a mischievous monkey playing tricks!
Anyway, this might have come a little late but I hope that you enjoy the rest of your day – and, 猴年大吉！
Can you guess why I’m Firehorsegirl? There’s a Lunar New Year stumper! I enjoyed your post!
Were you born in a fire year? I think I’m a metal goat haha I remember the animals pretty well but the elements are harder. What does it mean if you’re a fire horse? 😉
Yes, I was born in a rare fire year. Some Asian cultures discouraged women from birthing children this year, lest they be headstrong, independent girls. What type of wife is that? They were more right than we’d like to believe about many men’s perceptions of femininity.
Oh, no, independent women! Hahaha. It is interesting to see how things like that can be so prevalent in certain cultures though. I looked up a metal goat after your first comment though and it just says they keep their emotions locked up tight… which, eh, okay.