MISS_KITTY

The fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month is the traditional Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival(中秋节zhōng qiū jiē), which falls on Sept 8 this year. In the Chinese lunar calendar, August is in the middle of autumn and the 15th day is in the middle of the month. This explains why the 15th of August is called the Mid-Autumn Festival. The day is also known as the moon festival, for on that day, the moon is at its fullest and brightest. It is an important festival for family members to get together, so it is also called the Reunion Festival. In this episode, let’s learn a very traditional Chinese song但愿人长久(dàn yuàn rén zhǎng jiǔ), which was paraphrased as Never Part With Your Beloved Ones. It is one of the most fitting songs to play around this time.

Words of the day: 高薪工作, High paying jobs

高，high，薪，paying, salary, 高薪：high salary, high paying 工作，job or jobs 高薪工作：high paying jobs

Earning an annual income of six figures or more is the dream for many. But to land one of the best paying jobs of 2014, 高薪工作，you must be prepared to pay some hefty costs.

Word of the day: 朋友,friend or friends. 友谊friendship

Both朋and 友 mean friends, so 朋友 friends, 友谊，friendship

The Independent Newspaper says on Tuesday: Social isolation is rife in Britain, according to new research showing that one in 10 people do not have a single close friend 朋友. A state of the nation report into the country’s relationships by the charity Relate has revealed how 4.7 million people in the country have no close friends 朋友at all.

Word of the day: 大熊猫,giant panda,

大，big or giant, 熊猫panda， 大熊猫，giant panda，宝宝cub, 熊猫宝宝，panda cub

A wildlife park in the southern city of Guangzhou says a giant panda 大熊猫 has given birth to the world's only known surviving triplets. 12-year-old panda 熊猫 Ju Xiao gave birth half a month ago in a delivery taking three hours. The Wildlife Park says all three cubs are now in good health.

你见过大熊猫吗？Have you ever seen giant pandas?

你见过熊猫宝宝吗？have you ever seen panda cubs?

Word of the day:吃苹果, eat apples.

An apple, 苹果， a day keeps the doctor away. And over the past day there's been a surge of people in Poland eating apples，吃苹果，- but not for medical reasons. Poles have been posting images of apples,苹果，on social media as a way of protesting against Russia’s ban on some fruit and vegetable imports- including apples苹果- from Poland. Polish food producers say the ban is politically motivated as a response to EU sanctions. In response, Poles have been showing their support for local farmers by campaigning on social media. It started on Twitter when a journalist shared an image of himself eating an apple，吃苹果，and used the hashtag #jedzjabłka, which means "eat apples"，吃苹果。

Word of the day:超级月亮, supermoon.

A "supermoon",超级月亮，lit up the skies across the world on Sunday. The moon appeared 14% bigger and 30% brighter than normal as it reached the point in its orbit closest to the Earth. "Supermoon"超级月亮isn't an astronomical term, however, it became popular and widely used in the past few years.

Word of the day:地震, earthquake.

Last Sunday，a 6.5-magnitude earthquake，地震，strike Southwest China’s Yunnan province. The death toll from the earthquake, 地震，has risen to 589, according to Chinese authorities Wednesday.

In this episode, let's learn Chinese through a song, 让爱住我家-let love live in my home. This song, first performed in 2003 spring festival gala by an ordinary family, who also composed and wrote the lyrics of the song, became popular among Chinese because of its inspiring and heartwarming lyrics. The song includes many vocabs we have learnt so far, such as the possessive personal pronouns, so it is easy for you to follow ;-)

June 2nd this year is also the 5th day of the 5th lunar month. In China, today is celebrated as Dragon Boat Festival, which is also called the Duanwu Festival. People eat Zongzi (a traditional Chinese food) and compete dragon boat race! Hence a short new audio program has been made to share with you the history background of the day and how modern Chinese celebrate the day in traditional ways.

Last episode, we learnt counting numbers from 0-9999 in mandarin Chinese. In this episode, let's learn how to ask and tell time. All you need to remember are very basic numbers and a few key vocabulary words. And the rules are very simple. If you are listening to this episode for the 1st time, I strongly suggest you take out a pen and paper to take notes while listening.