Chinese is a crazy language. There is no alphabet, just characters. Each character is a specific word, and to make some words you need to add two, three or even more characters together. It's a bit like maths.
Sometimes when you translate Chinese words back into English literally they sound really logical, but funny. This seems to be especially true for animal names in Chinese.
Below are some graphics I made to show different animal names in Chinese. I was getting carried away with the Australian animals, as they all contain the word ‘袋’ dài. This means pouch (or sometimes bag or pocket) which is really fitting for marsupials!
Hope you enjoy :)
More info: ltl-school.com
Red Panda in Chinese = Little Bear Cat
Dolphin in Chinese = Sea Pig
Penguin in Chinese = Standing Goose
Owl in Chinese = Cat Head Eagle
Giant Panda = Large Bear Cat
Jellyfish = Water Mother
Kangaroo = Pouch Mouse
Koala = Tree Pouch Bear
Tasmanian Devil = Pouch Badger
Wombat = Pouch Bear
Quokka = Short-tailed short pouch mouse
Squirrel = Pine Mouse
