Character #297: 贝 bèi
3 Lessons
Make a Movie 贝
KEYWORD:
Shell
Pinyin:
bèi
Actor:
b- (Male)
Set:
-ei
Room within Set:
Bathroom or Backyard
Prop(s):
目
八
Notes:
This character takes the third and fourth strokes of 目 and transforms them into animal legs 八, so be sure that this story has a rather gruesome combination of animal legs combining with an eye.
Member Comments from 2019-mid-2020
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Georg Lohrer
Boris Becker tries to escape his creditors. He arrives at the backyard of my ei-set and immediately spots the big glas bowl. He uses his samurai-sword to lift it up. It's perfect to build a SHELL (nest/mold). The work is really tough and sweat drops down his forehead.
Petteri Nakamura
These are the original radicals for this character before the simplification 貝 -> 贝. But since we are learning the simplified characters, I think I'm going to go with Abigail's idea too. The same thing is going to happen at least with 見 -> 见 so I think 冂 merits to be it's own prop for this reason too.
Mandarin Blueprint
Sure, that's fine. 冂 will come up later (glass cover).
MB Team
Here's the link to where Phil & Luke talked about this comment in the Mandarin Blueprint Podcast:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcB9QNQzVw8&t=2084s
Abigail
For this movie scene I used different props - 冂 (a hollow wooden frame), a samurai sword & a drop. Is that ok?
Mandarin Blueprint
Sure! So long as it helps you remember, you're golden :)
Mike Rotchford
I just can't transform my prop as suggested. I just can't get it to click for some reason. Instead I have Clifford the big red dog being eaten by a dog eating clam with only his hind legs showing and it works for me. Question is will this hurt me later on?
MB Team
Here's the link to where Phil & Luke talked about this comment in the Mandarin Blueprint Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SM4OjRyCeYM&t=2830s
Image credit: https://www.hanzi5.com
Comments 5
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PHASE 1 (Levels 1-6)
- The Basics - Why Does This Method Work?
- How our Pinyin Chart is Different
- What are Chinese Characters?
- Props
- Sets
- Actors
- Scripts
- Inspiration for Scripts
- Special Effects
- Timeboxing
- Why SRS is So Important: Frequency & Memory
- How to Use SRS
- Habit Building Part 1 - Triggers
- Habit Building Part 2 - Routine
- Habit Building Part 3 - Reward
- Habit Building Part 4 - Belief
- Stroke Order Rule #1
- Stroke Order Rule #2
- Stroke Order Rule #3
- Stroke Order Rule #4
- Stroke Order Rule #5
- Stroke Order Rule #6
- Stroke Order Rule #7
- Stroke Order Rule #8
- Stroke Order Rule #9
- Stroke Order Rule #10
- Stroke Order Rule #11
- Stroke Order Rule #12
PHASE 2 (Levels 7-12)
- Understanding Chinese Words - Morphemes
- The Six Steps to Learning Words
- 3 Questions About Words
- Top-Down & Bottom-Up Learning
Living Links Series
Word Structure Series
- Part 1 - What are Chinese Words?
- Part 2 - Verb-What 述宾式
- Part 3 - Verb-How 补充式
- Part 4 - Biased 偏正式
- Part 5 - Parallel 并列式
- Part 6 - Duplicated 重叠式
- Part 7 - Subject-Predicate 主谓式
- Part 8 - Affixed 附加式
PHASE 3 (Levels 13-20)
- The Basic Chinese Sentence
- Helper - Expressing Possession with 的
- Helper - When You Can Omit 的
- Helper - Completed Actions with 了
- Helper - Change of State with 了
- Helper - Present Actions with 着
- Connector - Saying 'But' with 但是 - 可是 - 不过
- Connector - Reasons & Actions with 因为..., 所以...
- Connector - Conditional "If-Then" Statements with 如果..., 就
- Connector - Conditional "If-Then" Statements with 要是...的话
- Connector - "Or" in Questions with 还是
- Connector - “Or" in Statements with 或/或者
- Relator - Using 为 to Express "For"
- Relator - Expressing "From" with 从
- Relator - Expressing Location with 在
- Special - Using 在 as a Verb
- Tone - Softening Tone of Voice with 呢
- “How Does What" - Adverbs of Denial
- “How Does What" - Adverbs of Degree
PHASE 4 (Levels 21-30)
Level 21
- Transferring Money by Smartphone or Bank
- Walk in the Park?! I Have 汉字 to Study!
- Who Determine's a Baby's Looks, Mom or Dad?
Level 22
- How Many Pages of the Book Have You Read?
- Many People Don't Want to Have Babies
- My Girlfriend Can Really Eat!
- What Do You Like to Do?
- What Method Works for Learning Chinese?
Level 23
- Eating Bread
- I Met My Girlfriend in the Park
- Something is Different About My Dog Lately
- The Older Brother is Better Than the Younger Brother
- The Right and Left Side of the Office
- Three Meals a Day
Level 24
- Annoying People
- Breaking Up at the End of the Date
- Going on a Date
- My Two Friends and I
- Overtime at Work
- Red Packets
- Two People in a Relationship
Level 25
- I Want to Find a Boyfriend Too
- My Dad and I
- My Dog Chouchou
- The Big Changes of China
- The Weather is Great, Let's Go to the Park!
- Xiaomei and Her Boyfriend's Day
Level 26
Level 27
- American Journalist Studies Chinese in China
- Can I Still Learn Chinese Anymore?
- Should I Change?
- Children and Their Parents
- Foreigner's Opinion of China
- What Do You Want to Be When You Grow Up?
Level 28
- Daughter & Mother
- Son's Eighth Birthday
- Study, Work & Life
- What's More Important, Looks, or Ability?
Level 29
- Advertisements
- Buying Tickets at Chinese New Year
- Everybody Restaurant
- How Does One Progress
- Son is Out of Control
Level 30
- Cars, Bicycles & Trains
- Potatoes & Beef
- Two Ladies Compare Who's Got it Better
- Young People Raising Cats and Dogs
Phase 4 Grammar Points
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Ken
*Props:*
目-eyes
八-eight
actor - badet's husband
set - KafEI shop
*Movie Script:*
BADET's husband is enjoying his tea in a KAFEI shop. He then notices an EIGHT-legged EYES come out of the BATHROOM. He couldn't believe his eyes so he stood up to take a good look. It was just a walking SHELL. Nothing biggie.
Cameon Holt
For this character, I went with my props of a glass cloche and a tent (for 人）。I did this so I could use the glass cloche and animal legs/pair of legs for 见 later on. Here is my movie:
Bill Murray is in the upstairs bathroom at my childhood home, The Majors (-ei). Bill is sitting on the bathroom floor with my father’s entire fossil collection spread out in front of him as he sorts through everything looking for something amazing. Everything looks pretty “meh” to Bill until he comes upon a fossilized cowrie SHELL preserved in limestone. The details are incredible and the fossilized SHELL is in perfect condition, despite its age. Bill decides he is going to try to steal it by sneaking it out of the bathroom, so he takes a small tent and wraps the SHELL in the tent 人, which he then carefully encloses in a glass cloche 冂。Bill surreptitiously puts the hidden SHELL 贝inside his overcoat and tiptoes out of the bathroom to avoid detection.
Clare M
I’m a bit confused- I have 冂 as a fake handlebar moustache from Level 17. I tried looking for the character in the Anki deck but just ended up back at the Level 17 one.
Mandarin Blueprint
We put a note about this just below the props: "This character takes the third and fourth strokes of 目 and transforms them into animal legs 八, so be sure that this story has a rather gruesome combination of animal legs combining with an eye."
That said, if you want to use 冂 and 八 that's OK too.
Robert
I'm worried that I'll confuse these two character radicals that look very similar.
见 (to see) MB#302 and this one from this lesson 贝 (shell) MB#297 When I create the movie for this one, and when I choose a prop I have to make it uniquely memorable as I especially need to identify the difference when reading and writing. The difference is the legs. This one #297 will have chicken legs while the #302 one will have Cowboy boots. So thanks for the suggestion of using the traditional character derivation it helps me settle on props that I think will last the test of time.