Pinyin Pronunciation Guide

Tones---Syllables in Mandarin Chinese have four tones which affect the meaning of words， so they are very important.

1stTone(hight level)	spoken hight and neither rises or falls
2ndTone(rising)	starts low and ends hight (like English “huh”)
3rdTone(falling-rising)	dips down and then rise
4thTone(falling)	starts hight andends low(like English”No!”)

 

Consonants and Vowels----A lot of pinyin letters are pronunced almost the same astney are in English， with the following exceptions:

i - Like “ee” in “bee”(after c， s， z， ch， sh， zh，r-like “e”       in “her”)
o - Like “aw”in “saw”	ou - like “ou”in “soul”
ian - like “yen”	ui - like “way”
ei - Like “ay”in “way”	c - like “ts”in “nuts”
q - Like “ch”in “cheap”	x - Like “sh”in “sheep”
z - like “ds”in “libs”	zh - Like “j”in “jug”
g - always like “g”in “ give”	r - like “r”with your tongue rolled  back

Useful Phrases

你好。	ni3 hao3	Hello
谢谢。	xie4 xie	Thank you
不客气。	bu2 ke4 qi	You’re welcome
…在哪里？	zai4 na3 li?	Where is…
我想…	wo3 xiang3	I’d like…
我不懂。	wo3 bu4 dong3	I don’t understand
多少钱？	duo1 shao3 qian2 ?	How much is it?
厕所在哪里？	ce4 suo3 zai4 na3 li ?	Where are the toilets?
男/女	nan2/nv3	men/women
请帮助我。	qing3 bang1 zhu4 wo3	Please， help me.
买单。	mai3 dan1	Bring me the bill.
请问…	qing3 wen4	Excuse me…
你会说英语吗？	ni3 hui4 shuo1 ying1 yu3ma?	Do you speak English?
请送我去…	qing3 song4 wo3 qu4	Please take me to…
前门/后门	qian2 men2/hou4 men2	front gate/back gate
往左/右拐	wang3 zuo3/you4 guai3	Turn left/right
停下来	ting2 xia4 lai2	Stop(the taxi)
再见！	Zai4 jian4	Good bye!

 source: http://sie.gxmu.edu.cn/file/201106/3012194896.html

從來沒有「差不多先生」會有成就

能夠有成就的，只會是那些對自己、對人和對事，皆要求極高的人，成功的管理者，都懂得分辨是非曲直，做事一絲不苟，從來沒有「差不多先生」會有成就。

Those people who can make great achievements, usually pursue perfectionism in themselves, other people and things. 


讀報，看到如上的話語，引用來分享。

  

What percentage of your salary do you spend on housing?

在香港這個寸土寸金的地方，如果沒有自己的物業，就要租樓住，你會用工資的百分之多少來租樓呢？ Spent less than 20% or more than 50% on rental? 

昨天和學生談及此問題，才知她的大部分薪水都是用來付房租。她是一位很有魅力的外籍專業人士，二十多歲，SOHO區，一個人住；而租金佔據了工資的大部分，大過60%。為什麼花這麼多錢租房子呢？她說，因為在香港認識的朋友不多，住在SOHO區，有一種熟悉的感覺，因為年輕沒有家庭負擔，價錢貴些就只能把大部分薪水放在租房上了。

想起以前一個朋友，要租樓住，預算不多但想在港島區地鐵沿線租單人套房，看了很多都不合心意。為何不與人合租呢？她說，已經不是十八二十的年級，下了班，希望一個人清靜些，每天工作已經很辛苦了，日圖三餐夜圖一宿，夜晚希望有一個溫暖舒適方便的地方休息。

而我自己，上一次租樓住的租金是收入的20% 左右...

How do western men view Chinese women

One of my Mandarin students raised this interesting topic to me last week, and I talked with my Mandarin students about it.

From an article at  http://news.xinhuanet.com/overseas/2012-09/13/c_123705024.htm


外国男人对中国女人的正面评价是：1、中国女人注重家庭，看重夫妻感情，具有尊老爱幼的传统美德。2、体贴家人，任劳任怨，贤淑顺从，把家庭当作精神的全部。3、吃苦勤劳、意志坚韧，对朋友认真负责，厨艺极佳。

外国男人对中国女人的负面评价是：1、中国女子开放、大胆，为功利不惜一切。2、向往西方社会，虚荣心重、金钱占有欲极强。3、过分依赖家庭，贪图享受，不够浪漫，性生活压抑。



Positive comments:
1. Chinese women focus on their families and values marital relations. They have traditional virtues such as respecting the old and caring the young.
2.  Family considerate, hard working, virtuous obedience.
3.  Hardship industrious, will, tenacity, responsible to friends, excellent cooking skills.

Negative comments:
1. Chinese women are open, bold, utilitarian.
2. Yearning for Western society, vanity.
3. Over-reliance on the family, hedonism, not romantic enough, repressed sex life.

Basic knowledge about Hong Kong

Four pillar industries:
-financial services金融服務
-trading and logistics  貿易及物流
-tourism旅遊
-producer and professional services 工商業支援及專業服務

Six new industries

- medical service 「醫療服務」
- education 「教育服務」
- innovation and technology 「科技創新」
- cultural and creative industries 「文化創意」
- test and certification  「檢測認證」
- environmental service 「環保產業」


Poverty in Hong Kong
Classification of population living in poverty

-在職貧窮勞工 Working Poor 

-老人 Elderly

-兒童 Children

-新移民婦女 New Immigrant Women

貧窮成因 Causes of the Poverty
- 經濟轉型、工業北移，高技術工業發展，低技術職位流失 
   economic transformation but lack of related policy to combat it
- 政府未因應經濟轉型作出人力規劃 
   lack of comprehensive manpower planning for economic change
- 公私營企業過分着重削減成本，傾向於僱用短期或兼職工人 
  many short-term and part-time jobs appeared in the market
- 政府服務外判，加上監管不足，以致不合理低薪情況 
   contract-out of low-wage governmental services
- 弱勢社羣(例如新移民及少數族裔人士)未享有平等機會
   lack of equal opportunities to marginalized groups
- 偏遠地區交通費高昂 
   high transportation cost for distant district

Enhancing Land Supply Strategy

Public’s aspiration to improve the living environment by 大眾對改善生活環境的期望，包括:

• lowering building density 降低建築密度

• having more open space 增加活動空間

• conserving the natural environment 保護自然環境

• preserving culture and heritage 保存文化和文物

Six  existing land supply options: 6 種現有土地供應模式:

1. Redevelopment  重建

2. Rezoning Land  更改土地用途

3. Land Resumption  收地

4. Reclamation   填海

5. Rock Cavern Development  發展岩洞

6. Reuse of ex-quarry sites  利用前石礦場

To have a more flexible and resilient mix of land supply options

務求有一個更靈活及具彈性的土地供應模式組合

Benefits of Rock Cavern Development 發展岩洞的好處:
• Release valuable land for development 釋出有價值的地上土地資源作發展
• Relocate "Not-in-my-Backyard" facilities into cavern, minimize adverse impacts on the community and environment. 把厭惡性設施遷入岩洞，減低對社區及環境的影響
• Rock excavated from caverns is usually in high quality and can be used as construction materials after processing such as aggregates for concrete.從岩洞挖出的岩石一般是高質量，經加工處理後適合作為建築材料，例如混凝土碎石材料。

five sources of gov revenue

- profit tax
- land premium
- salary tax
- stamp duty
- investment returns on fiscal reserves

-offer a one-off reduction of profits tax

-waive business registration fee

-halve charges for import/export declarations

-abolish capital duty levied on local companies