Chinese For Dummies (92 page)

I bet you have tons of
chuàngzàoxìng
创造性
(
創造性
)
(chwahng-dzaow-sheeng) (
creativity
). If so, try your hand at one of these fine arts:

diāokè
雕刻
(
雕刻
) (dyaow-kuh) (
sculpting
)

huà
画
(
畫
) (hwah)
(
painting
)

shūfǎ
书法
(
書法
) (shoo-fah) (
calligraphy
)

shuǐcǎi huà
水彩画
(
水彩畫
) (shway-tsye hwah) (
watercolor
)

sùmiáo huà
素描画
(
素描畫
) (soo-meow hwah) (
drawing
)

táoqì
陶器
(taow-chee) (
pottery
)

Striking Up the Band

Do you play a
yuè qì
乐器
(
樂器
)
(yweh chee) (
musical instrument
)? It's never too late to learn, you know. Like kids all over the world, lots of Chinese children take
xiǎo tíqín
小提琴
(shyaow tee-cheen) (
violin
) and
gāngqín
钢琴
(
鋼琴
) (gahng-cheen) (
piano
) classes — often under duress. They appreciate the forced lessons when they get older, though, and have their own kids.

You don't have to become a professional
yīnyuèjiā
音乐家
(
音樂家
)
(een-yweh-jyah) (
musician
) to enjoy playing an instrument. How about trying your hand (or mouth) at one of these?

chángdí
长笛
(
長笛
) (chahng-dee) (
flute
)

chánghào
长号
(
長號
) (chahng-how) (
trombone
)

dà hào
大号
(
大號
) (dah how) (
tuba
)

dà tíqín
大提琴
(dah tee-cheen) (
cello
)

dānhuángguǎn
单簧管
(
單簧管
) (dahn-hwahng-gwan) (
clarinet
)

gāngqín
钢琴
(
鋼琴
)
(gahng-cheen) (
piano
)