1. Pinyin
2. Greetings
3. Strokes
zǎo shàng hǎo 早上好 good morning (ní zǎo 你早)
wǎn shàng hǎo 晚上好good evening (wǎn ān 晚安 good night)
fēi cháng 非常 adv. very much
gǎn xiè 感谢 n. thank v. thank, be grateful
fēi cháng gǎn xiè 非常感谢 Thank you very much
bú 不 adv. No
bú yòng xiè 不用谢 You are welcome./ bú xiè 不谢
qǐng 请 please
duì bù qǐ 对不起 excuse me/ I’m sorry
cóng 从 prep. from
nǎ lǐ 哪里 adv. Where
lái 来 v. come
guó 国 n country
měi guó 美国 United States
Zhōng guó 中国 China
rén 人 n person, people
Wǒ shì Měi guó rén 我是美国人 I’m American.
Wǒ shì Zhōng guó rén 我是中国人 I’m Chinese.
Nǐ shì nǎ guó rén? 你是哪国人？Which country are you from?
nǐ cóng nǎ lǐlái 你从哪里来Where are you from?
wǒ cóng měiguó lái 我从美国来 I’m from the U.S.A
shuō 说 v. speak
yīng wén 英文 n. English
nǐ shuō yīng wén ma？ 你说英文吗 Do you speak English?
wǒ shuō yīng wén 我说英文I speak English.
Zhōng wén 中文
huì 会 v.know how to …, be able to do…
wǒ bú huì shuō Zhōngwén我不会说中文 I don’t know how to speak Chinese.
dǒng 懂 v.understand e.g.I understand. wǒ dǒng
yī biàn 一遍 one more time
qǐng zài shuō yī biàn 请再说一遍 Please repeat.
Màn 慢
qǐng màn diǎn shuō 轻慢点说 Slowly, please
diǎn 点 a little
1. Personal pronouns can be used as the subject and the object. For example:
Wo3 shi4 chen laoshi. (wo is subject)
Hen3 ga1 xing4 jian4 dao4 ni3. (ni is object)
This rule applies to all other personal pronouns, including plural personal pronouns. To make plural personal pronouns, simply add men to singular pronouns wo3, ni3 and ta1. On its own, men2 has the second tone, but becomes toneless in wo3men, ni3men and ta1men.
Wo3 I, me
Ni3 you (singular)
Nin2 you (polite form)
Ta1 he/she, him/her
Wo3men we, us
Ni3men you (plural)
Ta1men they, them
2. Sentences with “是 shi” (to be) and bu2 shi4 (to be not): verb shi4 remains the same.
wo shi…
ta shi,
women shi…,
wo bu2 shi4 Mei3guo2ren2.
w03 shi zhong1 guo2 ren2.
3. Yes/No Questions with “吗 ma”: to ask a yes/no question in Chinese, all you need to do is to add “ma” at the end of a statement and speak with a rising tone as in English. There is no need to change the word order. For example:
ni hao ma?
Ta shi laoshi ma?
Ni shi David ma?
Ni shi mei guo ren ma?
4. Verb-adjectives
In Chinese, some adjectives can incorporate the verb ‘to be’ to become verb-adjectives. When these verb-adjectives are used, they are usually modified by adverbs such as hen3 (very), ting3 (rather). For example:
Wo hen hao.
Wo hen3 gao1 xing4.
5. Greetings and self-introduction
When you address someone by his/her title or occupation in Chinese, make sure to say that person’s surname before his/her title or occupation.
When two people meet for the first time, it is customary for them to make a self-introduction immediately after greeting each other. During the introduction, either the surname or full name is usually mentioned while other personal information may also be included such as their occupation. Eg. Wo xing Chen. Wo shi …
Introducing others
On formal occasions, the person making introductions should clearly and politely state the name, positions, and nationality of people being introduced.
Conversation:
What’s your nationality?
Person A. Nǐ hǎo 你好
Person B. Nǐ hǎo 你好
Person A: Nǐ shì nǎ guó rén? 你 是 哪 国 人？ Which country are you from?
(nǐcóng nǎ lǐlái 你 从 哪 里 来? Where are you from?)
Person B: Wǒ shì Měi guó rén 我是美国人 I’m American.
(Wǒ shì zhǒng guó rén 我是中国人 I’m Chinese.)
Person A: nǐ shuō yīng wén ma？ 你说英文吗Do you speak English?
Person B: wǒ shuō yīngwén 我说英文I speak English.
Person A: nǐ shuō Zhōngwén ma？ 你说中文吗Do you speak Chinese?
Person B: wǒ bú huì shuō Zhōngwén 我不会说中文 I don’t know how to speak…
qǐng zài shuō yī biàn 请再说一遍 Please repeat.
(qǐng màn diǎn shuō 请慢一点说 Slowly, please)
- Simplified Chinese Characters and Traditional Chinese
Simplified Chinese Characters (simplified Chinese: 简体字; traditional Chinese: 簡體字; pinyin: Jiǎntizì) are one of two standard sets of Chinese characters of the contemporary Chinese written language. The government of the People's Republic of China has promoted them for use in printing in an attempt to increase literacy. They are officially used in the People's Republic of China (Mainland China) and Singapore. Simplified characters are often used among mainland Chinese immigrants.
Traditional Chinese is currently used in the Republic of China or Taiwan, and Macau. Overseas Chinese communities generally use traditional characters, but simplified characters are often used among mainland Chinese immigrants.
- Learn to write characters using right stroke order on a grid sheet
Rules of Stroke Order
1. first horizontal, then vertical
2. first left-falling, then right-falling
3. first top, then bottom
4. first left, then right
5. first outside, then inside
6. finish inside, then close
7. first middle, then left, then right
一 二 三 四 五 六 七 八 九 十
上 中 下 大 小 日 月 水 火 人
Assignment
1. Spend some time on New Words and Phrases of each lesson, I will do a dictation on those words next Monday.
2. I would like everyone to review the words and phrases in the first three lessons and then create a or two situations and based on the situation to write one or two dialogs using works and phrases you have learned. In your dialogs, you can use more than two people. Then you find a partner to practice your dialogs. You may use dialogs on your class materials as reference.
3. Practice to say 1 to 10 in Chinese and learn to write those numbers in Chinese on the grid paper.