Things I learned today

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Here’s what I learned today, lest I forget.

You can say the English word “nice” when you’re speaking Chinese.  Just make sure you say it in fourth tone:  nìce. 你現在的女朋友沒有你以前的那麼 nice.  Your current girlfriend is not as nice as your ex.

Mix Coffee and Tea is closed on Mondays.  Tragic.

If you go into a restaurant with no English or picture menu and you ask for a deep-fried boneless chicken thigh with rice, vegetables, and soup on the side, they can probably accommodate you for less than $3 USD.

If you look hard enough, you can find an online map of free wifi hotspots of Taipei.

If you walk around in your neighborhood a little, you might find My Warm Day, a coffee shop (in the New York sense) that has free wifi.

You know what’s funny?  Skritter thinks I know 900 characters.  My working knowledge is far less than that, but it’s nice that someone has faith in me.

Lots of good vocab below from my lesson today, plus some words I learned on the way.

1.  zhuānmén: specialized
2. 恐怖份子 kǒngbù fènzi: terrorist
3. 暴力 bàolì: violence; (use) force
4. 恐怖主義 kǒngbùzhǔyì: terrorism
5. 金子 jīnzi: gold
6. 壽司 shòusī: sushi
7. 不二價 bú’èrjià: fixed price
8. 翻譯 fānyì: translate; translation; interpret
9. 間隙 jiànxì: interval; gap; clearance
10. 倚靠 yǐkào: lean on; rely on; depend on
11. 即將 jíjiāng: will shortly; soon; be on the verge of
12. 抵達 dǐdá: arrive; to reach (a destination); touch down
13. 民間故事 mínjiāngùshi: folktale
14. 網路 wǎnglù: (Taiwan) network (computer, telecom); the Internet
15. 油水 yóushuǐ: oily; profit, greasy (as in slimebally)
16. 出產 chūchǎn: output
17. 客套話 kètàohuà: polite expressions; civilities; social decorum; you’re just being polite
18. 烘焙 hōngbèi: cure (tobacco, etc.); dry over a fire
19. 木頭 mùtou: wood; log; timber
20. 製品 zhìpǐn: products; goods
21. 銅線 tóngxiàn: copper wire
22. 捲 juǎn: to roll (up); to coil; (mw for tapes)
23. 比起來 bǐqǐlái: comparing/compared to…
24. 保全 bǎoquán: to preserve (a security guard, in Taiwan)
25. 保安 bǎo’ān: security personnel
26. 中央空調 zhōngyāng kōngtiáo: central air-conditioning
27. 點子 diǎnzi: idea; spot; dot; speck; drop (of a liquid)
28. 製 zhì: manufacture; made of a certain material
29. 銀製 yínzhì: made of silver
30. 鋼製 gāngzhì: made of steel; steel (bar, screw, product etc)
31. 銅製 tóngzhì: Made of copper
32. 塑膠 sùjiāo: plastic; synthetic resin
33. 細緻 xìzhì: delicate; meticulous
34. 健談 jiàntán: be a good talker; be a brilliant conversationalist; glib
35. 親切 qīnqiè: kind; amiable; cordial
36. 害羞 hài xiū: blush; shy
37. 開通 kāitōng: open-minded, liberal
38. 窗子 chuāngzi: window
39. 第一名 dìyī míng: first place; gold medal winner, somebody’s favorite thing
40. 落地窗 luòdìchuāng: French window; (literally) a window that touches the ground
41. 人孔蓋 rénkǒnggài: Manhole cover
42. 老家 lǎojiā: native place; place of origin; hometown
43. 勞駕 láo jià: excuse me
44. 落價 luòjià: to fall or drop in price / to go down in price
45. 特價 tèjià: special price; bargain price
46. 飲料 yǐnliào: beverage; drink