猪流感 (zhū liú gǎn)
In the past few months, the H1N1 virus has made news headlines around the world. The virus was originally referred as 猪流感(zhū liú gǎn) "swine flu." To help you learn these three Chinese characters, we'll introduce 猪流感(zhū liú gǎn) word by word.

With the basic meaning of "pig," "boar" or "swine," 猪(zhū) conveys a deep cultural connotation in Chinese. 猪(zhū) is on the list of animals in the Chinese Zodiac, a system that uses twelve animals to designate years according to the Chinese lunar calendar. Therefore, the Chinese have attributed the word 猪(zhū) with many auspicious meanings. People have always believed that the 猪(zhū) can bring forth plentiful harvest and happiness.

流感(liú gǎn) is the abbreviation of 流行性感冒(liú xíng xìng gǎn mào) "flu, influenza." In this context, 流感(liú gǎn), 流(liú) can be understood as "being infectious" or "to spread." 感(gǎn) is the shortened form of 感冒(gǎn mào), which means "catch a cold."

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牛(niú)
What does this word mean?
The original meaning of 牛(niú) is "cow," but has another popular meaning. Now 牛(niú) also means "cool" or "excellent." It is said that this additional meaning originated from the north-eastern Chinese dialect.

How do you use the word?
You can say “你好牛啊”(nǐ hǎo niú ā) or “真牛”(zhēn niú) to express your praise to others. So there are many circumstances for you to use this word. For example, if your friend has won the championship title in a competition, you can give him/her thumbs up and say “你好牛啊!” (nǐ hǎo niú ā) or “真牛!” (zhēn niú) to express "You are really excellent!"

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司机：早上好。欢迎您到北京来。您要去哪？
            (zǎo shang hǎo. huān yíng nín dào běi jīng lái. nín yào qù nǎ?)
Julia：我要去北京酒店。我可以把行李放在车后厢吗？
            (wǒ yào qù běi jīng jiǔ diàn. wǒ ké yǐ bǎ xíng li fàng zài chē hòu xiāng ma?)
司机：当然可以。我来帮您吧！
            (dāng rán ké yǐ. wǒ lái bāng nín ba!)
司机：恐怕我们堵车了。
            (kǒng pà wǒ men dǔ chē le.)
Julia：那大概要堵多长时间？
            (nà dà gài yào dǔ duō cháng shí jiān?)
司机：不清楚。要不我们换一条路走吧！这样大概二十分钟就能到了。
            (bù qīng chu. yào bù wǒ men huàn yì tiáo lù zǒu ba! zhè yàng dà gài èr shí fēn zhōng jiù néng dào le.)
Julia：太好了！
            (tài hǎo le!)
司机：请您系好安全带，我要转弯了。您想听收音机吗？
            (qǐng nín xì hǎo ān quán dài, wǒ yào zhuǎn wān le. nín xiǎng tīng shōu yīn jī ma?)
Julia：嗯，可以有点音乐。
            (èn, ké yǐ yóu diǎn yīn yuè.)
司机：好了，我们到了。这是您的小票，五十块。
            (hǎo le, wǒ men dào le. zhè shì nín de xiǎo piào, wǔ shí kuài.)
Julia：给您钱，再见。
            (gěi nín qián, zài jiàn.)
司机：您走好。再见。
            (nín zǒu hǎo. zài jiàn.)

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Driver: Good morning! Welcome to Beijing. Can I help you?
Julia: Could you take me to the Beijing Hotel? By the way, can I put my luggage in the trunk?
Driver: Sure! Let me help you.
Driver: I am afraid we are in a traffic jam.
Julia: How long will we be held up?
Driver: I am not sure. Let's take another route. It would take twenty minutes to get to your hotel.
Julia: That's great!
Driver: Please fasten your belt. I'm making a turn now. Can I turn on the radio?
Julia: Yea...let's have some music.
Driver: Here we are! Fifty yuan please and here is your receipt.
Julia: OK. Here is the money. Bye!
Driver: You have a good day. Bye!

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司 机 sī jī：n driver
堵 车 dǔ chē：n/v traffic jam/be stuck in the traffic jam
安全带 ān quán dài：n safety-belt
转 弯 zhuǎn wān：v turn
音 乐 yīn yuè：n music

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小白兔，白又白，
xiǎo bái tù, bái yòu bái,  
两只耳朵竖起来，
liǎng zhī ěr duo shù qǐ lái,
爱吃萝卜爱吃菜，
ài chī luó bo ài chī cài,
蹦蹦跳跳真可爱。
bèng bèng tiào tiào zhēn kě ài.

Little White Rabbits,
Oh, so white,
Both ears are up to here,
Love to eat carrots and greens,
Bounce! Bounce! Bounce!
They are really cute!

This nursery rhyme 小白兔 xiǎobáitù (Little White Rabbits) has been passed on for generations. It's not clear who wrote it and when it was written, but every child in China can sing it!

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Watch and listen to this rhyme

巧克力 qiǎo kè lì (chocolate)	咖 啡 kā fēi (coffee)
生日蛋糕 shēngrìdàngāo (Birthday cake)	草 莓 cǎo méi (strawberry)

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