Hey, whaddaya know! A guest post. Been a while since we got one of these. Many thanks to Ryan, who submitted recently. Ryan tells us: “This is a very interesting article about Chinese-Americans that shouldn’t be too hard for intermediate-level readers. The grammar in this article is fairly simple, and I could understand most of […]
中国人是从19世纪二十年代开始到美国来的。他们大多来自广东省和福建省。一开始，他们在加利福尼亚淘金；后来，又在西部修建铁路、经营农场。20世纪四五十年代，一些人因为中国内战来到美国。从20世纪七十年代开始，越来越多的中国人到美国来留学。学习结束后，有的人继续留在美国工作和生活。
中国人到美国的时候，最先是在大城市里居住。所以，现在很多城市像旧金山、纽约、檀香山和加拿大的温哥华等都有很大的中国城。
以前，中国人在美国生活非常艰难。在几代人的共同努力下，很多人取得了很大的成就。
Hover a word for its pinyin & meaning; click to pin it.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 中国人 | Zhōng guó rén | Chinese person |
| 是 | shì | to be (followed by substantives only); correct; right; true; (respectful acknowledgement of a command) very well; (adverb for emphatic assertion); variant of 是[shi4] |
| 从 | cóng | variant of 從|从[cong2]; surname Cong |
| 世纪 | shì jì | century |
| 二十 | èr shí | twenty; 20 |
| 年代 | nián dài | a decade of a century (e.g. the Sixties); age; era; period; CL:個|个[ge4] |
| 开始 | kāi shǐ | to begin; to start; beginning; start |
| 到 | dào | to reach; to arrive; to leave for; to go to; to (a place); until (a time); up to (a point); (verb complement indicating arriving at a place or reaching a point); considerate; thoug… |
| 美国 | Měi guó | United States; USA; US |
| 来 | lái | to come; (used as a substitute for a more specific verb); hither (directional complement for motion toward the speaker, as in 回來|回来[hui2 lai5]); ever since (as in 自古以來|自古以来[zi4 gu3… |
| 的 | de | of; ~'s (possessive particle); (used after an attribute when it modifies a noun); (used at the end of a declarative sentence for emphasis); (used after a noun, verb or adjective to… |
| 他 | tā | (third-person singular) (since the early 20th century, usu. male) he; him; his; (bound form) other; another; some other (as in 他日[ta1 ri4] and 他人[ta1 ren2]) |
| 们 | men | plural marker for pronouns, and nouns referring to individuals |
| 大多 | dà duō | for the most part; many; most; the greater part; mostly |
| 自 | zì | (bound form) self; oneself; from; since; naturally; as a matter of course |
| 广 | yǎn | "house on a cliff" radical in Chinese characters (Kangxi radical 53), occurring in 店, 序, 底 etc; surname Guang |
| 东 | Dōng | surname Dong |
| 省 | shěng | to save; to economize; to be frugal; to omit; to delete; to leave out; province; provincial capital; a ministry (of the Japanese government) |
| 和 | hé | old variant of 和[he2]; surname He; (literary) harmonious (variant of 和[he2]) |
| 福建 | Fú jiàn | see 福建省[Fu2 jian4 Sheng3] |
| 一 | yī | one; single; a (article); as soon as; entire; whole; all; throughout; "one" radical in Chinese characters (Kangxi radical 1); also pr. [yao1] for greater clarity when spelling out … |
| 在 | zài | to exist; to be alive; (of sb or sth) to be (located) at; (used before a verb to indicate an action in progress) |
| 加 | Jiā | Canada (abbr. for 加拿大[Jia1 na2 da4]); surname Jia |
| 利 | Lì | surname Li |
| 福 | Fú | surname Fu; abbr. for Fujian province 福建省[Fu2 jian4 Sheng3] |
| 尼 | ní | Buddhist nun; (often used in phonetic spellings) |
| 亚 | Yà | Asia; Asian; Taiwan pr. [Ya3] |
| 淘 | tāo | to wash (rice, sand etc in water to remove impurities); (dialect) to hunt for and buy (bargains or second-hand goods) |
| 金 | Jīn | surname Jin; surname Kim (Korean); Jurchen Jin dynasty (1115–1234) |
| 后 | Hòu | surname Hou; back; behind; rear; afterwards; after; later; post- |
| 又 | yòu | (once) again; also; both... and...; and yet; (used for emphasis) anyway |
| 西部 | xī bù | western part |
| 修 | xiu | to repair; to build; to cultivate; to study; surname Xiu |
| 建 | jiàn | to establish; to found; to set up; to build; to construct |
| 铁路 | tiě lù | railroad; railway; CL:條|条[tiao2] |
| 经 | Jīng | surname Jing |
| 营 | yīng | camp; battalion; to operate; to strive for |
| 农场 | nóng chǎng | farm |
| 四 | sì | four; 4 |
| 五十 | wǔ shí | fifty |
| 一些 | yī xiē | some; a few; a little; (following an adjective) slightly ...er |
| 人 | rén | person; people; CL:個|个[ge4],位[wei4],名[ming2] |
| 因为 | yīn wèi | because; owing to; on account of |
| 中国 | Zhōng guó | China |
| 内战 | nèi zhàn | civil war |
| 七十 | qī shí | seventy; 70 |
| 越 | Yuè | generic word for peoples or states of south China or south Asia at different historical periods; abbr. for Vietnam 越南 |
| 多 | duō | many; much; more; a lot of; too many; in excess; (after a numeral) ... odd; how (to what extent) (Taiwan pr. [duo2]); (bound form) multi-; poly- |
| 留学 | líu xué | to study abroad |
| 学习 | xué xí | to learn; to study |
| 结 | jiē | (of a plant) to produce (fruit or seeds); Taiwan pr. [jie2] |
| 束 | Shù | surname Shu |
| 有的 | yǒu de | (there are) some (who are...); some (exist) |
| 继 | jì | to continue; to follow after; to go on with; to succeed; to inherit; then; afterwards |
| 续 | xù | to continue; to replenish |
| 留 | líu | old variant of 留[liu2]; to leave (a message etc); to retain; to stay; to remain; to keep; to preserve |
| 工作 | gōng zuò | to work; (of a machine) to operate; job; work; task; CL:個|个[ge4],份[fen4],項|项[xiang4] |
| 生 | shēng | to grow; to give birth; to produce; to be born; to arise; to occur; to light (a fire); to live; to be alive; life; raw; uncooked; unprocessed; unfamiliar; strange; (bound form) stu… |
| 活 | huó | to live; alive; living; work; workmanship |
| 时 | shí | old variant of 時|时[shi2]; surname Shi |
| 候 | hòu | to wait; to inquire after; to watch; season; climate; (old) period of five days |
| 最先 | zuì xiān | (the) very first |
| 大城市 | dà chéng shì | major city; metropolis |
| 里 | lǐ | variant of 裡|里[li3]; lining; interior; inside; internal; also written 裏|里[li3]; surname Li |
| 居 | Jū | surname Ju |
| 住 | zhù | to live; to reside; to stay; to stop; to cease; (result complement indicating firmness or a stable achieved state) |
| 所以 | suǒ yǐ | therefore; as a result; so; the reason why |
| 现 | xiàn | to appear; present; now; existing; current |
| 很 | hěn | very; quite; (also, often used before an adjective without intensifying its meaning, i.e. as a meaningless syntactic element) |
| 城市 | chéng shì | city; town; CL:座[zuo4] |
| 像 | xiàng | to resemble; to be like; to look as if; such as; appearance; image; portrait; image under a mapping (math.) |
| 旧金山 | Jìu jīn shān | San Francisco, California |
| 纽 | niú | to turn; button |
| 约 | yāo | to weigh in a balance or on a scale |
| 檀 | ||
| 香 | xiāng | fragrant; sweet smelling; aromatic; savory or appetizing; (to eat) with relish; (of sleep) sound; perfume or spice; joss or incense stick; CL:根[gen1] |
| 山 | Shān | surname Shan |
| 加拿大 | Jiā ná dà | Canada |
| 温 | wen | warm; temperate; temperature; to warm up; to review; surname Wen |
| 哥 | gē | elder brother |
| 华 | Huá | abbr. for China |
| 等 | děng | to wait for; to await; by the time; when; till; and so on; etc.; et al.; (bound form) class; rank; grade; (bound form) equal to; same as; (used to end an enumeration); (literary) (… |
| 都 | Dū | surname Du |
| 有 | yǒu | to have; there is; (bound form) having; with; -ful; -ed; -al (as in 有意[you3 yi4] intentional) |
| 大 | dà | big; large; great; older (than another person); eldest (as in 大姐[da4 jie3]); greatly; freely; fully; (dialect) father; (dialect) uncle (father's brother) |
| 中国城 | Zhōng guó chéng | Chinatown |
| 以前 | yǐ qián | before; formerly; previous; ago |
| 非常 | fēi cháng | very; really; unusual; extraordinary |
| 艰难 | jiān nán | difficult; arduous; hard |
| 几 | jī | small table; (literary) almost |
| 代 | dài | to be a substitute for; to act on behalf of; to replace; to substitute; generation; dynasty; age; period; (historical) era; (geological) eon |
| 共同 | gòng tóng | common; joint; jointly; together; collaborative |
| 努力 | nǔ lì | to make an effort; to try hard; to strive; hard-working; conscientious |
| 下 | xià | down; downwards; below; lower; later; next (week etc); second (of two parts); to decline; to go down; to arrive at (a decision, conclusion etc); measure word to show the frequency … |
| 取得 | qǔ dé | to acquire; to get; to obtain |
| 了 | le | (completed action marker); (modal particle indicating change of state, situation now); (modal particle intensifying preceding clause); (bound form) clear in one's mind; to understand clearly |
| 成就 | chéng jìu | accomplishment; success; achievement; CL:個|个[ge4]; to achieve (a result); to create; to bring about |
From the 1820’s, Chinese people started arriving in America. Most of them came from Guangdong Province and Fujian Province. Initially, they came to California to pan for gold [during the Gold Rush] ; later, they built railroads and started farms in the West. In the 1940s and 1950s, more people [immigrated to the] United States because of the Chinese civil war. Beginning in the 1970s, more and more Chinese people came to America to study. After they graduated, some people stayed in America to work and live.
When the Chinese arrived in the United States, most of them lived in big cities. Thus, now many cities like San Francisco, New York, Honolulu, Canada’s Vancouver, and others have large Chinatowns.
Previously, Chinese people living in the United States had it very hard. But through the joint efforts of several generations, many [Chinese] people have achieved great things.