Jiā tíng (Family)

We learned about family in Chinese class.  I can't imagine there is another language that is more confusing and complex when it comes to naming family members.

There are different words for uncles and aunts depending on if they are on your mom's side or your dad's side, and if they're younger or older than your dad and mom.

Nieces and nephews are called something different depending on if they're your sister's or brother's son or daughter.

I find cousins the most confusing of all.  They have different ways to call your cousins depending on if they are on your mom's side or dad's side, a male or a female, and if they're older or younger than you. I remember when I taught the word cousin in class and the Chinese teacher spent 3 minutes translating the one word.  I didn't know what she was saying, but now I do.  Since I have close to 30 cousins just  on my mom's side I decided not start figuring out what to call them in Chinese. I don't know if I'll ever be at that point in my Chinese lessons.

This is what the board looked like at the end of our lesson.  Molly is great at illustrating what she's teaching us.