Chinese New Year

Intro

1. Learn Vocabulary - Learn some new vocabulary before you start the lesson.

• set
• actually
• follow
• bustling

• thriving
• Nice
• It's a joke
• Anyhow

2. Read and Prepare - Read the introduction and prepare to hear the audio.

It’s Chinese New Year! The loose translation of the greeting that the Chinese say on this holiday is “Congratulations and be prosperous!”

Last Sunday, February 18, the world celebrated Chinese New Year and the start of the Year of the Pig. The fifteenth day of the New Year is the last day of the traditional celebrations. Today is the sixth day.

The US is home to some 3.5 million Chinese. There are more Chinese in the States than any other ethnic group from Asia. Thousands of these Chinese travel back to China every year to celebrate Chinese New Year with their families.

The holiday includes many customs and traditional foods. In China, these customs differ depending on the region of the country.

Many of the world’s larger cities have “Chinatowns” where Chinese populations live and do business. Chinatown in New York City is a bustling business district with great food, affordable medicine and the feel of Asia.

Marni was recently in San Francisco, another city with a thriving Chinatown. Listen to her talk to Mason about Chinese New Year.

Dialog

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2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.

Marni

Mason

Marni:  So I was just in San Francisco and…

Mason:  Nice.

Marni:  I know. I love that town. And we went into Chinatown, which I love Chinatown in San Francisco.

Mason:  Theirs is the best, you know.

Marni:  Absolutely.

Mason:  Ours is like two blocks here.

Marni:  It’s kind of sad… it’s not…

Mason:  It’s a joke.

Marni:  Yeah. Anyhow... Uh, Chinese New Year. It changes every year because it’s not a set holiday.

Mason:  Is that right?

Marni:  It’s because every year, it’s actually... it’s based on the different calendars. And I, I can’t speak very specifically on that… but they have an extra month.

Mason:  The Jewish calendar’s kinda like that too. I mean, everything, everything rotates. I think, you know, the English standard calendar or whatever is one of the few ones that doesn’t… anyway.

Marni:  Anyhow, back to Chinese New Year. So, do you know what the year is this year? Do you… it’s the Year of the Pig.

Mason:  Pig?

Marni:  The Year of the Pig, yeah.

Mason:  How many different animals do they have? They have, like, twelve.

Marni:  Twelve. Twelve different animals, and it’s…

Mason:  It’s like a zodiac sort of thing?

Marni:  Well, yeah, it’s on a cycle so every twelve years it’s, it’s a new animal. And, and actually, this is, like, in the Chinese year, if you follow their Calendar, it’s actually, like, Year four thousand seven hundred something.

Mason:  Oh yeah?

Marni:  Yeah. It’s really interesting.

Mason:  That’s not what Jesus says.

Marni:  Well, you know, we’ll leave him out of this. But do you know what year, what animal you are?

Mason:  Uh, yeah, it’s funny, it’s one of those… I don’t know why I know, but I, I was born in the Year of the Rooster.

Marni:  Oh yeah? I’m an Ox.

Mason:  Ox?

Marni:  Year of the Ox.

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