自行车 – zì xíng chē – Cycling

Today’s first character is 自, zì meaning self.

The second character is 行, xíng meaning to go or to travel.

The third character is 车, chē meaning a vehicle.

Together 自行车, zì xíng chē means a self propelled vehicle or a bicycle.

zì is pronounced zer, with a 4th or falling tone.

xíng is pronounced shing, with a 2nd or rising tone.

chē is pronounced chur, with a 1st or high, level tone.

花样游泳 – huā yàng yóu yǒng – Synchronised Swimming

Today’s word includes the word we learnt yesterday, 游泳 – yóu yǒng – Swimming.

The first character is 花, huā meaning a flower.

The second character is 样, yang meaning a pattern.

Together 花样, huā yàng means a flower pattern.

The third and fourth characters are ones we have already learnt in the word 游泳 – yóu yǒng – Swimming.

Altogether the words mean Synchronised Swimming, a sport where the athletes do make flower patterns while swimming.

huā is pronounced hwa, with a 1st or high, level tone.

yàng is pronounced yang with a 4th or falling tone.

yóu is pronounced yo, with a 2nd or rising tone.

yǒng is pronounced yong, with the 3rd or falling and rising tone.

游泳 – yóu yǒng - Swimming

The first character today is 游, yóu meaning to swim.

The second character is 泳, yǒng also meaning swimming.

Together they mean swimming.

yóu is pronounced yo, with a 2nd or rising tone.

yǒng is pronounced yong, with the 3rd or falling and rising tone.

现代五项 – xiàn dài wǔ xiàng – Modern Pentathlon

The first character today is 现, xiàn meaning the present time.

The second character is 代, dài meaning a historical period.

Together 现代, xiàn dài means modern.

The third character is 五, wǔ the number five.

We have seen the fourth character before in the word 铁人三项 , tiě rén sān xiàng meaning Triathlon. It is xiàng meaning an item, or itemized things.

xiàn is pronounced sh-yan, with a 4th or falling tone

dài is pronounced die, with a 4th or falling tone.

wǔ is pronounced woo, with the 3rd or falling and rising tone.

xiàng is pronounced sh-yang, with a 4th or falling tone.

曲棍球 – qū gùn qiú – Hockey

The first character today is 曲, qū meaning curved. If you examine the character carefully you will notice that there isn’t a single curved line in it. It’s all straight lines. Not all Chinese characters are pictograms.

The second character is 棍, gùn meaning stick.

The third character is 球, qiú meaning ball.

Curved stick ball is the literal translation, and that’s pretty much what Hockey is!

qū is pronounced chew, with a 1st or high, level tone.

gùn is pronounced like gun in English, with a 4th or falling tone.

qiú is pronounced chyo ( to rhyme with yoyo ), with a 2nd or rising tone.

蹦床 – bèng chuáng – Trampoline

Today’s word is Trampoline.

The first character 蹦, bèng means to jump.

The second character 床, chuáng means a bed.

bèng is pronounced bung, with a 4th or falling tone.

chuáng is pronounced ch-wong, with a 2nd or rising tone.

足球 – zú qiú – Football

Today’s first character is 足, zú meaning foot.

The second character is 球, qiú meaning ball.

Together they mean football. (A note for any of our American readers: This is the kind of football that is most popular outside America, the kind where you kick the ball with your feet! )

zú is pronounced zoo, with a 2nd or rising tone.

qiú is pronounced chyo ( to rhyme with yoyo ), with a 2nd or rising tone.

拳击 – quán jī - Boxing

Today’s new word is an interesting one. There are no new characters to learn as they are both ones that we have seen before.

The first character is 拳. You may remember it from 跆拳道 – tái quán dào – Taekwondo. It is quán meaning fist.

The second character is 击. We saw this character before in the word 射击 – shè jī – Shooting. It is jī meaning to hit.

Together they mean Boxing.

quán is pronounced ch-wan with a 2nd or rising tone.

jī is pronounced jee, with a 1st or high level tone.

羽毛球 – yǔ máo qiú - Badminton

The first character today is 羽, yǔ meaning a feather.

The second character is 毛, máo which also has the same meaning.

The last character is 球, qiú meaning ball.

yǔ is pronounced you, with a 3rd or falling and rising tone.

máo is pronounced to rhyme with cow, and has the 2nd or rising tone.

qiú is pronounced chyo ( to rhyme with yoyo ), with a 2nd or rising tone.

乒乓球 - pīng pāng qiú - Table Tennis

Today’s word is Table tennis.

The first character is 乒, pīng which is an onomatopoeic word meaning a sound like “ping”.

The second character 乓, pāng is translated into English as pong!

The last character is 球, qiú meaning ball.

pīng pāng is pronounced ping pang, both with a first or high, level tone.

qiú is pronounced chyo ( to rhyme with yoyo ), with a 2nd or rising tone.