Notes: Chinese simplified characters are given first, followed by the traditional characters in brackets, then the pinyin, and finally the English translation.
Vocabulary:
对不起 (對不起), duì bu qǐ: excuse me/I’m sorry/forgive me/pardon me
请问 (請問), qǐng wèn: may I ask…
你 (你), nǐ: you
会 (會), huì: can/be possible/be able to
说 (說), shuō: to speak/to say
英文 (英文), Yīng wén: English (language)
吗 (嗎), ma: (question tag)
不 (不), bù: (negative prefix)/not/no
我 (我), wǒ: I/me
一点儿 (一點兒), yī diǎn er: a little/a bit
普通话 (普通話), pǔ tōng huà: Mandarin (language)
是 (是), shì: to be/is/are/am/yes
美国 (美國), Měi guó: America/USA
美国人 (美國人), měi guó rén: American
Conversation:
A: 对不起，请问，你会说英文吗？
B: 不会，我不会说英文。
A: 我会说一点儿普通话。
B: 你是美国人吗？
A: 是，我是美国人。
Friday, 14 December 2007
Wednesday, 12 December 2007
Pimsleur Mandarin
First of all, this is not an advert for Pimsleur language courses - no seriously it isn't!
But, having tried lots of language courses in the past, I got the chance to try out the "Pimsleur Approach", which is essentially an audio-based way of learning languages - no sentences to follow, no grammar to read, to word lits to memorise - just plug in your iPod on the way to work and listen! I was a bit skeptical, but I have to say I'm very impressed.
Having used Pimsleur's Mandarin Level 1 for a few weeks now, I've got to lesson 11 and picked up a huge amount of core vocabulary, sentence structure and grammar points without even realising it - it's that simple. You just sit back and listen. It's easy to remember the phrases and the course makes you really eager to get to the next lesson. Check out the link about for more info about Pimsleur's courses.
As I said, this isn't an ad for Pimsleur (unless they're paying me) :) no, the reason I mention the course here is because the approach has one major drawback - no written material. If you're like me, I like to actually sometimes follow the text as it is being pronounced on the CD as it helps me to be sure of the pronounciation, especially Mandarin's tones. However, the Pimsleur course does not come printed with any of this, so I've decided to write it here myself.
In this blog, you'll find the core vocabulary for each lesson, along with the main conversation covered in each lesson. With the help of a very special friend :) I will ensure that the characters and pinyin are correct. So let's get started with unit 1...
But, having tried lots of language courses in the past, I got the chance to try out the "Pimsleur Approach", which is essentially an audio-based way of learning languages - no sentences to follow, no grammar to read, to word lits to memorise - just plug in your iPod on the way to work and listen! I was a bit skeptical, but I have to say I'm very impressed.
Having used Pimsleur's Mandarin Level 1 for a few weeks now, I've got to lesson 11 and picked up a huge amount of core vocabulary, sentence structure and grammar points without even realising it - it's that simple. You just sit back and listen. It's easy to remember the phrases and the course makes you really eager to get to the next lesson. Check out the link about for more info about Pimsleur's courses.
As I said, this isn't an ad for Pimsleur (unless they're paying me) :) no, the reason I mention the course here is because the approach has one major drawback - no written material. If you're like me, I like to actually sometimes follow the text as it is being pronounced on the CD as it helps me to be sure of the pronounciation, especially Mandarin's tones. However, the Pimsleur course does not come printed with any of this, so I've decided to write it here myself.
In this blog, you'll find the core vocabulary for each lesson, along with the main conversation covered in each lesson. With the help of a very special friend :) I will ensure that the characters and pinyin are correct. So let's get started with unit 1...
Tuesday, 11 December 2007
Simplified vs. Traditional
When learning to read and write Chinese characters, should you learn "simplified" Chinese or "traditional" Chinese?
In the 1950s, the government of Mainland China "simplified" the written forms of many "traditional" characters in order to make learning to read and write the language easier for its population and those trying to learn the language.
Simplified characters may or may not be less pleasant to look at; however, the simplification project did succeed in making it easier to read and write Chinese characters. Whatever your opinion of outcome, this historical fact means we now have in print and on the Internet two sets of Chinese characters to deal with.
Limiting yourself to just one set can be too, well, limiting. In Hong Kong and many foreign Chinese communities living abroad, traditional characters are used when writing. Just as you should become familiar with more than one system for romanizing Chinese pronunciation, learning both traditional and simplified characters will open up that many more resources for you. A good plan might be learning to read both sets, while focusing your writing efforts on just one at first.
Keep in mind too that not every character has been simplified, only some of the more complicated forms. Plus, this simplification of characters did follow some logical principles. Therefore, learning simplified characters alongside their traditional counterparts is not too difficult.
In the 1950s, the government of Mainland China "simplified" the written forms of many "traditional" characters in order to make learning to read and write the language easier for its population and those trying to learn the language.
Simplified characters may or may not be less pleasant to look at; however, the simplification project did succeed in making it easier to read and write Chinese characters. Whatever your opinion of outcome, this historical fact means we now have in print and on the Internet two sets of Chinese characters to deal with.
| Traditional characters are called 繁體字 (fán tǐ zì). Simplified ones are know as 簡體字 (jĭan tĭ zì). 字 "zì" itself means "character" or "writing," and written Chinese is called 漢字 (hàn zì). Since 漢 (hàn) is the ethnic majority of China, 漢字 (hàn zì) is literally "Writing of the Han People." Note that the Japanese pronunciation of 漢字 (hàn zì) is kanji. |
Limiting yourself to just one set can be too, well, limiting. In Hong Kong and many foreign Chinese communities living abroad, traditional characters are used when writing. Just as you should become familiar with more than one system for romanizing Chinese pronunciation, learning both traditional and simplified characters will open up that many more resources for you. A good plan might be learning to read both sets, while focusing your writing efforts on just one at first.
Keep in mind too that not every character has been simplified, only some of the more complicated forms. Plus, this simplification of characters did follow some logical principles. Therefore, learning simplified characters alongside their traditional counterparts is not too difficult.
Wednesday, 5 December 2007
Useful Resources
Okay folks, here's some useful resources for the Chinese learner:
Online Dictionaries
Yellow Bridge - calling itself "the web's most comprehensive English-Chinese dictionary", this brilliant resource allows you to look up thousands of words in English, pinyin, simplified Chinese or traditional Chinese. The best feature of the dictionary is that it uses animated java images to show you how to write each character in either simplified or traditional Chinese.
MDBG - an excellent FREE online dictionary.
Podcasts
ChinesePod.com - one of the best Mandarin podcasts on the internet. Daily lessons in spoke Mandarin for beginners, intermediate, and advanced learners.
ChineseLearnOnline - Over 200 Chinese Mandarin podcast lessons with PDF guides from beginner to advanced level.
Online Courses
Chinese-Tools.com - a great site for beginners. It offers over 30 lessons, as well as hosting an excellent dictionary and links to many fun resources including a Chinese name generator, Chinese poems, songs, and pinyin-Chinese converters, etc.
Characters
The Most Common Chinese Characters - the name says it all really! This is a list of the 3,000 most common Chinese characters used in everyday newspapers, magazines, etc.
Grammar
Chinese Grammr - an introduction to Chinese grammar at Unilang.org.
Translators
Google Translate - a two-way translator offered by the fabulous peeps at Google.
Software
WordChamp - a great learning resource for any language, this site allows you to download a piece of software so that when you move your mouse over a Chinese character, a pop-up will give you the English translation(s) and sometimes even the audio sound of the word.
Online Dictionaries
Yellow Bridge - calling itself "the web's most comprehensive English-Chinese dictionary", this brilliant resource allows you to look up thousands of words in English, pinyin, simplified Chinese or traditional Chinese. The best feature of the dictionary is that it uses animated java images to show you how to write each character in either simplified or traditional Chinese.
MDBG - an excellent FREE online dictionary.
Podcasts
ChinesePod.com - one of the best Mandarin podcasts on the internet. Daily lessons in spoke Mandarin for beginners, intermediate, and advanced learners.
ChineseLearnOnline - Over 200 Chinese Mandarin podcast lessons with PDF guides from beginner to advanced level.
Online Courses
Chinese-Tools.com - a great site for beginners. It offers over 30 lessons, as well as hosting an excellent dictionary and links to many fun resources including a Chinese name generator, Chinese poems, songs, and pinyin-Chinese converters, etc.
Characters
The Most Common Chinese Characters - the name says it all really! This is a list of the 3,000 most common Chinese characters used in everyday newspapers, magazines, etc.
Grammar
Chinese Grammr - an introduction to Chinese grammar at Unilang.org.
Translators
Google Translate - a two-way translator offered by the fabulous peeps at Google.
Software
WordChamp - a great learning resource for any language, this site allows you to download a piece of software so that when you move your mouse over a Chinese character, a pop-up will give you the English translation(s) and sometimes even the audio sound of the word.
请进 (請進) / Come on in...
Hi everyone! Welcome to my Chinese blog!
Learning Chinese is really difficult, right? WRONG! Chinese is a very beautiful language and despite the perception that it's a really difficult language to learn, this blog will hopefully point you in the right direction to start speaking, writing, and understanding this amazing language in no time!
I'm not going to make this a "Learn Chinese" or "Lessons in Chinese" blog. There are many, many great websites on the net that will teach you Chinese and why replicate that? No, this blog is about sharing resources, pointing you in the right direction, exchanging ideas, and encouraging both you and I to improve our Chinese. I'm Irish as well, so I wouldn't be the best person to teach anyone Chinese!!! :)
Anyway, enough of me rambling! Let's get started...
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