Why Learn Chinese• Mandarin Chinese is the most widely-spoken language in the world. Learn

to speak Mandarin and you can speak with millions of people around the world.

• Business - Business people who speak Mandarin have a huge advantage in tapping into the Chinese market. It is much easier to develop all-important relationships if you can speak Mandarin.

• Travel - China and Taiwan offer exciting travel opportunities. Getting around is much easier if you can speak Mandarin.

• Culture - With thousands of years of history, Chinese culture is endlessly fascinating. Whether your interests are in history, architecture, music, or cuisine, a knowledge of Mandarin will enrich your understanding of Chinese culture.

• http://mandarin.about.com/od/chineseculture/a/why_learn.htm

Is Mandarin Difficult?

• There is no doubt that written Chinese is difficult to learn – even for the Chinese! The spoken language is much easier.

• In many ways, Mandarin Chinese is much easier to learn than European languages. Here are some features which make Mandarin easy:– no subject/verb agreement – no plurals – no conjugations – no tenses – simple numbering system which is applied to dates and time expressions – simple conditional sentences – simple prepositions

• http://mandarin.about.com/od/chineseculture/a/why_learn.htm

History of Mandarin• Due to its geographic size, China has always been a land of many languages and

dialects. Mandarin emerged as the language of the ruling class during the latter part of the Ming Dynasty (1368 – 1644).

• The Capital of China switched from Nanjing to Beijing in the latter part of the Ming Dynasty, and remained in Beijing during the Qing Dynasty (1644 – 1912). Since Mandarin is based on the Beijing dialect, it naturally became the official language of the court.

• Nonetheless, the large influx of officials from various parts of China meant that many dialects continued to be spoken at the Chinese court. It was not until 1909 that Mandarin became the national language (guó yǔ) of China.

• When the Qing Dynasty fell in 1912, the Republic of China maintained Mandarin as the official language. It was renamed pǔ tōng huà (common speech) in 1955, but Taiwan continues to use the name guó yǔ (national language).

• http://mandarin.about.com/od/chineseculture/a/intro_mandarin.htm

Written Chinese

• As one of the Chinese languages, Mandarin uses Chinese characters for its writing system. Chinese characters have a history dating back more than two thousand years. The early forms of Chinese characters were pictographs (graphic representations of real objects), but characters became more stylized and came to represent ideas as well as objects.

• Each Chinese character represents a syllable of the spoken language. Characters represent words, but not every character is used independently.

• http://mandarin.about.com/od/chineseculture/a/intro_mandarin.htm

More Written Chinese• The Chinese writing system is very complex and the most difficult part of

learning Mandarin. There are thousands of characters, and they must be memorized and practiced to master the written language.

• In an attempt to improve literacy, the Chinese government began simplifying characters in the 1950’s. These simplified characters are used in Mainland China, Singapore, and Malaysia, while Taiwan and Hong Kong still use the traditional characters.

• http://mandarin.about.com/od/chineseculture/a/intro_mandarin.htm

Romanization

• Students of Mandarin often use Romanization in place of Chinese characters. Romanization uses the Western (Roman) alphabet to represent the sounds of spoken Mandarin, so is a bridge between learning the spoken language and beginning the study of Chinese characters.

• There are many systems of Romanization, but the most popular for teaching is Pinyin.

• http://mandarin.about.com/od/chineseculture/a/intro_mandarin.htm

Chinese Characters• The Chinese writing system is quite a challenge, but this is another reason

to learn it! Despite its difficulty, learning to read and write Chinese will give you a lifetime of intellectual stimulation. The real beauty of the language is revealed in the writing. There are thousands of Chinese characters, but they are not randomly constructed. There is a system to their design, and understanding that system makes it much easier to learn new characters.

• So take the challenge and learn Mandarin Chinese! It is your ticket to a lifetime of reward.

• http://mandarin.about.com/od/chineseculture/a/why_learn.htm

The Four Tones

• Mandarin uses four tones to clarify the meanings of words. Since many characters have the same sound, tones are used to differentiate words from each other.

• The four tones in Mandarin are: 1. high level – first tone ¯2. rising – second tone /3. falling rising – third tone v4. falling – fourth tone \

• http://mandarin.about.com/od/chineseculture/a/why_learn.htm

Chinese Greetings

• Hello 你好 n ǐ hăo• Mr. 先生 xiān shēng• Miss 小姐 xiăo jie• Mrs. 女士 / 太太 nǚ shì/tài tà• Good-Bye 再见 zài jiàn• Thank You 谢谢 xiè xie• May I ask… 请问 qǐng wèn• You Are Welcome 不客气 bú kè qi• I am sorry 对不起 duì bu qǐ• It doesn’t matter 没关系 méi guān xi

Mandarin Numbers By Qiu Gui Su, About.com Guide

0 ling 零1 yī 一2 èr 二3 sān 三4 sì 四5 wǔ 五6 liù 六7 qī 七8 bā 八9 jiǔ 九10 shí 十

More Mandarin Numbers

By Qiu Gui Su, About.com Guide

11 shí yī 十一12 shí èr 十二13 shí sān 十三14 shí sì 十四15 shí wǔ 十五16 shí liù 十六17 shí qī 十七18 shí bā 十八19 shí jiǔ 十九20 èr shí 二十21 èr shí yī 二十一22 èr shí èr 二十二

Week Days

• Monday xīng qī yī 星期一 • Tuesday xīng qī èr 星期二• Wednesday xīng qī sān 星期三• Thursday xīng qī sì 星期四• Friday xīng qī wŭ 星期五• Saturday xīng qī liù 星期六• Sunday xīng qī tiān/ xīng qī rì 星期

天 / 日

Months • January yī yuè 一月• February èr yuè 二月• March sān yuè 三月• April sì yuè 四月• May wŭ yuè 五月• June liù yuè 六月• July qī yuè 七月• August bā yuè 八月• September jiŭ yuè 九月• October shí yuè 十月• November shí yī yuè 十一月• December shí èr yuè 十二月

Mandarin Colors By Qiu Gui Su, About.com Guide

Color Pinyin Traditional Simplified

white bái sè 白色 白色 blue lán sè 藍色 蓝色 yellow huáng sè 黃色 黄色green lǜ sè 綠色 绿色 red hóng sè 紅色 红色orange jú sè or chéng sè 橘色 or 橙色 橘色 or 橙色 brown kāfēi sè 咖啡色 咖啡色 black hēi sè 黑色 黑色 purple zǐ sè 紫色 紫色 grey huī sè 灰色 灰色