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Chinese Language Mandarin

Peace Corps / China

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The script accompanies the following 15 audio tracks: CN_Mandarin_Lesson_1 CN_Mandarin_Lesson_2 CN_Mandarin_Lesson_3 CN_Mandarin_Lesson_4 CN_Mandarin_Lesson_5 CN_Mandarin_Lesson_6 CN_Mandarin_Lesson_7 CN_Mandarin_Lesson_8 CN_Mandarin_Lesson_9 CN_Mandarin_Lesson_10 CN_Mandarin_Lesson_11 CN_Mandarin_Lesson_12 CN_Mandarin_Lesson_13 CN_Mandarin_Lesson_14 CN_Mandarin_Lesson_15 (Time 3:39) (Time 14:52) (Time 4:45) (Time 2:07) (Time 3:14) (Time 4:22) (Time 3:01) (Time 3:37) (Time 1:24) (Time 1:50) (Time 1:19) (Time 1:12) (Time 2:41) (Time 1:01) (Time 1:25) (File Size:1.5MB) (File Size:6.1MB) (File Size:1.95MB) (File Size:873KB) (File Size:1.3MB) (File Size:1.8MB) (File Size:1.24MB) (File Size:1.49MB) File Size:576KB) (File Size:757KB) (File Size:544KB) (File Size:497KB) (File Size:1.1MB) (File Size:420KB) (File Size:588KB)

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Table of Contents Lesson 1 Introduction to Chinese Language Lesson 2 Phonetics Lesson 3 Basic Grammar Lesson 4 Greetings Lesson 5 Introductions Lesson 6 Numbers/Prices Lesson 7 Food & Drink Lesson 8 Some Chinese Dishes Lesson 9 Useful Phrases Lesson 10 Sickness and Emergency Lesson 11 Direction and Places Lesson 12 Clothes and Colors Lesson 13 Time Lesson 14 Family Lesson 15 Home Items Appendix: Measure words in Chinese (no audio) P4 P5 P9 P11 P12 P14 P16 P18 P19 P20 P21 P22 P23 P25 P26 P27

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Lesson 1 Introduction to Chinese Language

Mandarin is the official language of the Peoples Republic of China. It is the dialect spoken in the capital, Beijing. It is taught in all schools and is used for television and broadcast. Almost the entire population understands Mandarin. The language taught in Pre-Service Training (PST) for Peace Corps trainees is Mandarin. Chinese is a language with a large number of words with the same pronunciation but different meanings; what distinguishes these homophones is their tonal quality the raising and lowering of pitch on certain syllables. Mandarin has four tones high, rising, falling-rising and falling, plus a fifth neutral tone. To illustrate, look at the word ma, which has four different meanings according to tone: High Rising Falling-rising Falling m m m m mother hemp or numb horse to scold or swear

Writing System
Chinese is not a phonetic language and the characters do not bear any resemblance to actual pronunciation. Chinese is often referred to as a language of pictographs. There are about 56,000 characters, but the vast majority of these are archaic. It is commonly felt that a well-educated, contemporary Chinese might know and use between 6,000 and 8,000 characters. To read a Chinese newspaper you need to know 2,000 to 3,000, but 1,200 to 1,500 would be enough to get the gist. Each Chinese character represents a spoken syllable, so many people declare that Chinese is a monosyllabic language. Actually, its more a case of having a monosyllabic writing system. While the building block of the Chinese language is indeed the monosyllabic Chinese character, Chinese words are usually a combination of two or more characters. You could think of Chinese words as being compounds.

Phonetic system Pinyin

In 1958 China adopted a system of writing their language using the Roman alphabet. It's known as Pinyin. It is used in this course.

Grammar
Chinese grammar is much simpler than that of European languages. There are no articles (a/an/the), no tenses, and no plurals. The basic point to bear in mind is that, like English, Chinese word order is subject-verb-object. In other words, a basic English sentence like I (subject) love (verb) you (object) is constructed in exactly the same way in Chinese.

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Lesson 2 Phonetics
There are 6 basic vowels and 21 consonants in Mandarin Chinese. A syllable always consists of a vowel (V) or a consonant with a vowel (CV), such as ba, fo, ne. Consonant clusters, two or more consonants used in succession, are not permitted in Chinese. Syllabic combinations common in English such as VC (up, at), CVC (big, pat, map), CCVC (bred, dread, stone), CVCC (mask, best, sand), CCV (fly, blue, grow) CCCV (screw, spray, stray), VCC (old, and, ink), VCCC (Olds, ants, amps), CCVCC (brand, trains, swings), CVCCC (tests, tenths, lunged), CVCCCC (thirsts, texts, worlds), CCVCCC (slurps, prints, flirts), CCCVC (street, squat, strut), CCCVCC (struts, squats, sprained), and CCCVCCC (scrimps, sprints, squelched) are not possible in Chinese. CVC, on the other hand, is possible in Chinese, but the final C can only be the nasal sounds -n and -ng and the retroflex r, such as jing, nan, yong and er. Consonants are often called initials because they invariably appear initially in a word with the exception of the final -n, ng or r, which can appear finally. Vowels are also called finals because they appear medially or finally in a word. Vowels can stand by themselves when no initial consonant is present. Lets learn the finals (vowels) first: MANDARIN a e i o u ai ao ei ia ie iu ou ua `e ui uo iao uai an en ang eng er ian iang in SIMILAR ENGLISH SOUND Father fur see or flute German fr fly now day yard yes yolk low wah you ate way war miaow why upon broken town ehng her yen yahng inn EXAMPLE (PINYIN & CHARACTER) b c d p b L ni ho mi xi xi li lu hu yu hu zu yo kui mn wn fng png r din ling xi xn NOTE

Written as u when appearing after j q x

`e stands for a syllable by itself, so it is written as yue, with the 2 dots dropped

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ing iong ong uan un uang `an `n

eeng yohng song wand when wong you an yuen

tng yng dng gun hn hung qun jn

Now the initials (consonants): MANDARIN Bb Pp Mm Ff Dd Tt Nn Ll Gg Kk Hh Jj Qq Xx Zz Cc Ss Zhzh Chch Shsh Rr Vv Ww Yy SIMILAR ENGLISH SOUND boy paper mother food door tall name life girl kid high jeans cheese shock kids cats sir joy child shoe red visit white year EXAMPLE (PINYIN & CHARACTER) b p m f d t n l g k h ji qin xi zu c sn zho chung shu run w yu NOTE

the lips do not protrude the lips do not protrude Not an equivalent in English pronounced without rounding and protruding the lips See above See above See above Only to spell foreign words Is actually u when u stands for a syllable by itself Is actually i (see above)

Some sounds are especially difficult for English speakers to remember, and have similar pronunciations. The sound q, for example, sounds a little like ch. Similar pairs are x and sh, and j and zh. Please listen and repeat the following words: zi ci si zhi chi shi ri ji qi xi

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Tones High Rising high, flat, continuous tone rising tone similar to the intonation used in the question What? tone that falls then rises. You'll hear many Mandarin speakers swallow the rising sound, only giving it a clear falling-rising pattern for emphasis. falling tone, similar to the one used when yelling Darn!

Falling-rising Falling

To help you get close, here's a brief try at tones, transcribed in English. Consider the syllable mmm (a non-syllable in Mandarin). Then, The high level tone is what you might say in English if you were asked a question, and you had to think about it before answering. It's high, and it's a constant tone: Mmm, sixteen, I think. The rising tone is like a question: Mmm? I didn't catch that. The low level tone is what you might say in English to express doubt, or disbelief: Mmm...I don't know about that. The falling tone is like an interjection: Mmm! Well, I'll be!

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Listen and repeat: first tone m tng qng yn gu

second tone m tng qng yn gu

third tone m tng qng yn gu

fourth tone m tng qng yn gu

Choose the syllables you heard 1. ddin bobin dtn bopin zizu cicu 2. jin zhn zhn zhn xngqi jyu xu shu chn chn

tnghng gngtng cntng knxn yu ju yu yn

dodin dotin csu jicu r z jing zhng cng qng cng shng ru z u xun jun

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Lesson 3 Basic Grammar

Mandarin grammar is relatively straightforward. There are no verb conjugations, no plurals, no articles (a/an/the), and no gender or tenses. At an elementary level, sentence order is similar to that of English: subject-verb-object. For example, the sentence I study Chinese follows exactly the same word order in Mandarin: I study Chinese.W xu hny(lit: I study Chinese) Lets learn a few words first: This zh that n to be sh tea ch rice/meal fn cup bizi egg jdn question particle m no b what shnme Then you can talk about objects: This is tea. That is rice. This is a cup. That is an egg. Zh sh ch N sh fn Zh sh bizi N sh jdn

Note: Sh is to be. It is generally followed by a noun which defines the subject/topic. It is not normally followed by an adjective on its own. How to form a question? A very simple way to form a question in Chinese is by putting a question particle ma at the end of a sentence that would otherwise be a plain statement. English counterparts of these questions are usually formed by syntactically more complicated transformational processes such as movement of the verb to the beginning of the sentence.

Is this tea? Yes./ No. Is that rice? Yes. /No. Is this a cup? Yes./No. Is that an egg? Yes. /No.

Zh sh ch ma? Sh / B sh N sh fn ma? Sh / B sh Zh sh bizi ma? Sh / B sh N sh jdn ma? Sh / B sh

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Note: The word b is the negative word. It precedes the verb to indicate that something does not happen. Here its tone changes from the fourth to the second because it is followed by a fourth tone. You will learn the rule in the future. So how do you ask what something is? Shnme is the interrogative word what. The most important feature about Chinese interrogative pronouns is that, unlike English practice, which shifts all interrogative pronouns to the beginning of the question, Chinese keeps them in the position in the sentence where the answers would be expected. What is this? This is tea. What is that? That is a cup. Zh sh shnme? Zh sh ch N sh shnme? N sh bizi

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Lesson 4 Greetings
Vocabulary you (singular) I, me good, all right good bye morning morning afternoon evening Dialogue 1 Greetings in all circumstances A: How are you? B: How are you? A: Good bye. B: Good bye. n w h o zijin z o zoshng xiw wnshng

A: N[ ho B: N ho A: Zijin B: Zijin

Note: N ho. This is a common, slightly formal, greeting. Literally it would translate as You are good, or if conceived of as a question, Are you fine? However, it is not really a question. The response is usually simply N ho again. Other common greetings used among friends or acquaintances are: Dialogue 2: Greet people in the morning Good morning. Good morning.

A: Zoor Zoshng ho B: Zoor Zoshng ho

Note: You can change the morning, zoshng, to afternoon, xiw, or evening, wnshng, and add good, ho, to greet people in different times of a day.

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Lesson 5: Introductions
Vocabulary May I ask...? you (singular) what name I, me call, to be called, to be named (V) to be surnamed; (N) surname a males name Dialogue 1 Ask for the whole name A: May I ask your name? B: Im called Zhang Wei. Qngwn... n shnme mngzi w jio xng Zhng Wi

A: Qngwn, n jio shnme mngzi? B: W jio Zhng Wi

Dialogue 2: Ask for the family name and the given name A: May I ask your surname? B: My family name is Wang. Im called Wang Jiande. And you? What is your name? A: My family name is Zhang. I am called Zhang Wei.

A: Qngwn, n xng shnme? B: W xng Wng, W jio Wng Jind N ne? N jio shnme mngzi? A: W xng Zhng, jio Zhng Wi

Note: In a Chinese name, the surname or family name always comes first, followed by the given name. Most surnames consist of a single character, though some have two. Given names may be either one or two characters. Depending on social circumstances, individuals identify themselves either (1) by surname only: W xng Zhng or (2) by full name: W jio Zhng Wi, or W sh Zhng Wi.

The personal pronouns:

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I/me You He/him She/her It We/us You (pl.) They/them

w n t t t wmen nmen tmen

Note: Chinese personal pronouns are very simple. There is no distinction for case. W is w regardless of whether it is the subject of the sentence or the object of the verb, and the same is true for the second and third person pronouns. Nor is there a distinction for gender. T is t, whether it refers to a woman or a man.

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Lesson 6 Numbers and Prices Numbers 110: one y two r three sn four s five w six li seven q eight b nine ji ten sh (When counting, two is r , when used with measure words, it is ling )

Numbers 101billion: The Chinese number system is quite simple and generally easy to learn. Multiples of 10 are made by stating the multiple and then 10so 20 is literally two ten. If you learn the numbers from one to 10, you can count to 100 without having to learn any new vocabulary. The Chinese counting system is based on units of 10. These multiply as follows: 10 sh 100 b i 1000 qin 10,000 wn 100,000 shwn 1 million biwn 10 million qinwn 100 million wnwn; y 1 billion sh y Ordinal numbers: Simply prefix any number with d, and it becomes an ordinal: 1st d y 2nd d r 3rd d sn 10th d sh

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Dialogue 1 Asking for the price Excuse me, how much is this? Ten yuan. I want this one. Thanks. A: Qng wn, zhge dusho qin? B: Sh-kui qin A: W yo zhgeXixi

Dialogue 2 Asking for items in the grocery What do you want to buy? I want to buy mineral water. How much is it (per bottle)? Two-sixty. How many bottles do you want? Four. A: N yo mi shnme? B: W yo mi kungqunshuDusho qin ypng? A: Ling-kui-li Yo j-png? B: S-png

Vocabulary this that which how much? how many? money "dollar" or Chinese yuan want thanks, thank you buy mineral water (Measure word) bottle how many? (up to ten or so) zhge nge nge dusho qin kui (yun is slightly more formal) yo xixie mi kungqunshu png j(another meaning is several)

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Lesson 7 Food and Drinks

Vocabulary rice noodle dumpling bread vegetable pork beef fish water mineral water coffee tea milk juice beer yogurt bowl plate cup bottle sugar salt chili oil MSG hot iced and Phrases & Sentences: Id like to have noodles. I dont want noodles. Do you have or not? Don't make it too hot. I like dumplings. I dont like rice. Can I have the bill, please? W yo mintio W byo mintio Yu miyu Byo ti l W xhun jiozi W bxhun mfn Midn/Sunzhng mfn mintio jiozi minbo shci zhru niru y shu kungqunshu kfi ch nini. gu zh. pji sunni w n pnzi bizi pngzi tng yn ljio yu wijing rde; tngde bngdngde h

Please try to use the vocabulary above to substitute these sentences.

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Lesson 8 Some Chinese Dishes

Cold Dishes (Appetizers): lingbn jingdu poci Hot Dishes (Main Course): yxing rus hugu ru yxing qizi gngbo jdng fnqi cho jdn tngc pig Vegetable: hp qngjio tdu s tngc linbi gnbin sjdu Noodles: fnqi jdn min zjing min niru min hngyu shujio qngtng shujio choshu Rice & Grains mfn dn chofn bbo zhu Fruits: pnggu xingjio jzi xgu tozi lzi comi Boiled cowpeas with chili sauce pickles Stir fried shredded pork with YuXiang sauce Twice cooked pork Stir fried eggplant with YuXiang sauce Spicy chicken with peanuts Scrambled eggs with tomato Sweet and sour spare ribs Fried/Tiger-skin green pepper Stir fried shredded potatoes Stir fried cabbage with sweet and sour sauce Fried kidney beans Noodles with egg & tomato Noodles with meat sauce Noodles with beef Boiled dumplings with chili sauce Boiled dumplings Boiled soft dumplings with soup Rice Fried rice with egg 8-treasures Porridge apples bananas tangerines watermelon peaches pears strawberries

Please say I like and I dont like in Chinese by using above vocabulary. Please visit a Chinese restaurant in your hometown to try out some dishes and try your Chinese language!

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Lesson 9 Useful Phrases Thank you. Youre welcome I am sorry. Thats all right May I ask? Do you speak English? I am an American. Xixi Bxi Dubuq Migunx Qngwn N hushu yngy ma? W sh migu rn

I am a Peace Corps volunteer. W sh Hpng duyun I dont speak Chinese. Do you understand? I dont understand. Please say it again. Please speak slowly. W bhu hny N nng tngdng ma? W tng bdng Qng zi shu ybin Qng shu mn ydin

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Lesson 10 Sickness and Emergency

Sickness I am sick. I have a cold. I am allergic to this. I am tired. I want to go to bed. Where is the bathroom? I need to go to the hospital. W shngbng le W gnmo le W du zhge gumn W li le W xing shujio le Xshujin zi n? W yo do yyun

May I ask where the hospital is? Qngwn, yyun zi n? Emergency Help! Police! May I use your telephone? I need to call the police 110. Ji mng! Jngch! W ky yng nde dinhu ma? W yo d yo-yo-lng

(yo is an alternate pronunciation for the number one, used because y is easily confused with q, especially on the telephone)

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Lesson 11 Direction and Places

Direction Where is the? On the left On the right Straight-ahead Near by Not far from here Above Behind zi nr? Zi zu bin Zi yu bin Qin bin F jn L zhr b yun Shng bin Hu bin

Places shop street restaurant school classroom office bus station railway station shngdin ji(do) fngun xuxio jiosh bngngsh chzhn huchzhn

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Lesson 12 Clothes and Colors Clothes pants blouse shirt skirt jacket shoes sandals slippers Colors white black red yellow blue green gray brown Yfu kzi wito chnshn qnzi jik xi lingxi tuxi yns bi (s) hi (s) hng (s) hung (s) ln (s) l (s) hu (s) zng/h (s)

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Lesson 13 Time
Vocabulary Days of the week Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday Weekend Months January February March April May June July August September October November December year month day Xngq Xngq y Xngq r Xngq sn Xngq s Xngq w Xngq li Xngq tin Zhum Yu y yu r yu sn yu s yu w yu li yu q yu b yu ji yu sh yu sh y yu sh r yu nin yu r/ho

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hour minute yesterday today tomorrow

din fn zutin jntin mngtin

Phrases & Sentences: What time is it? It is 9:10. What day is it? Today is Monday. What is the date of today? Today is May 1. J din le? Ji din sh fn Jntin xngq j? Jntin xngq y Jntin jho? Jntin wyu yho

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Lesson 14 Family
mother father older sister younger sister older brother younger brother daughter son grandmother grandfather niece nephew man woman boy girl mma bba jijie mimei gge ddi ner rzi ninai yye zhn zhzi nnrn nrn nnhir nhir

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Lesson 15 Home Items

glass / cup chopsticks bowl plate spoon fork knife table chair door window home hotel room bathroom toilet toilet paper soap towel bed bed sheet blanket pillow bizi kuizi w n pnzi tngsh chzi d o zhuzi yzi mn chung ji bngun fngjin wishng jin/csu mtng wishng zh fizo mojn chung chungdn tnzi zhntou

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Appendix
Measure words in Chinese: (No Audio) In Chinese, as in other languages, nouns may be differentiated into a number of categories. The largest category is the common nouns, which covers tangible, discrete entities, e.g. drn adult, sh tree, etc. The other noun categories are a) proper nouns, e.g. zhnggu China, Zhng Wi (name of a person); b) material nouns (for non-discrete entities), e.g. ch tea; c) and abstract noun (for non-tangible entities), e.g. wnhu culture, jngj economy. The Chinese common nouns, unlike English ones, make no distinction in form between singular and plural: cup/cups a/one cup two cups egg/eggs an/one egg two eggs bizi y g bizi ling g bizi jdn y g jdn ling g jdn

Another important feature of the common noun in Chinese is that when it is used with a numeral, the numeral has to have a measure word between it and the noun. g is by far the most common measure word and it can occur with a wide range of nouns. one person two eggs three cups four elder brothers five plates six teachers seven watermelons eight balls nine kids ten cities y g rn ling g jdn sn g bizi s g gge w g pnzi li g losh q g xgu b g pqi ji g hizi sh g chngsh

A considerable number of nouns or sets of nouns are linked with particular measure words. We will learn more about measure words in the future.

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