Children need to be nurtured and loved. So be sure to talk to them and ask questions. Show genuine concern and engagement for best results: how was your day; have you been having troubles at school lately; is there anything we should talk about? While this might seem strange behavior at first, in time you will grow accustomed to this sort of conversation and may even be able to engage with your children while mentally occupied elsewhere.

While we usually avoid talking about grammar at the absolute beginner level, sometimes there is a dialogue that demands it. This podcast is one of them. It may be a bit tough if you're totally new to Chinese, but it covers a key point that you'll use all the time. So take a listen. And if you have any questions, contact us anytime either via email, or by leaving a comment in our discussion section below.
 said on
December 30, 2010
Brendan / Echo,

i have better understanding now. this construction can be use for also a question , right? e.g. what's that you are eating? (that which you are eating is what?) ni chi de shi shenme?

when did you buy it(the computer)? shenmeshihou mai de? object 'diannao' can be omited?

an other: what i'm telling you is the truth (that which thing i'm telling you) .. - wo shuo de shi zhen(de)xiang
 said on
December 30, 2010
@richard,

"ni chi de shi shenme?" -- Yes.

"ni shenmeshihou mai de?" -- Exactly.

"wo shuo de shi zhen(de)xiang" -- Not really. Because "the truth" is not a verb :)

--Echo

echo@popupchinese.com
 said on
December 30, 2010
Well... it's still a subordinating relationship with 真 (zhen) because Chinese adjectives are technically verbs if we burrow down far enough. But it's the 真相 (zhen1xiang4) screwing up that sentence. 我说的是真的 would be perfectly ok.

That said, I guess this is why we don't usually go into grammar in the Absolute Beginner lessons.... :)

 said on
December 31, 2010
Echo is in here interacting with us. How cool!

Hey, Echo !!
 said on
January 1, 2011
@via-Popup,

Hi, welcome to Popup Chinese :)

If you have any questions or suggestions about the site, please feel free to leave a comment.

新年快乐!

--Echo

echo@popupchinese.com
 said on
January 5, 2011
新年快乐! Thank you for this lesson - I usually go for the Elementary lessons, but for some reason I have never been taught this grammar point and it's a great one!

谢谢你 :)
 said on
January 5, 2011
@wibbleypig2003,

也祝你新年快乐!

--Echo

echo@popupchinese.com
 said on
January 24, 2011
i like to lorn chinese please show me the way

 said on
March 14, 2014
No need to avoid grammar, I think, even at the beginner level. If one is grammarophobic one can always just ignore those bits. I believe it's silly that the more modern language courses all try to avoid grammar as if it's got the cooties.