Note: If you don't see the characters correctly and you're using Windows box, go to Start Menu, then Settings, Control Panel, Regional and Language Settings, Languages tab and tick "Install files for East Asian languages" option and click OK. That should do. If you're using other operating system try Google... Sorry.
Hello everyone! Some of you may recognize my face from "Basic Cantonese 101" course but I'll introduce myself again so that new people know who they are dealing with. My name is:
李 [lee]
Call me:
Ms. 李. [lee]
I will be teaching you Mandarin during this course. I will try to make your lessons efficient and enjoyable. Please stay with me and keep concentrated. I won't repeat myself.
If you think about China, try to think about a lot of people living in a quite a big piece of land with very, very long history behind. Big numbers stick together; there are also many different but similar languages spoken there. Each Chinese region has one local Chinese language commonly known there. Hong Kong speaks Cantonese. Shanghai and its neighbourhood speak Wu. Beijing and its neighbourhood speak Mandarin. Mandarin is an exceptional language. It is not only Beijing local language but it is official Chinese language well known to most of the people in China. It serves as an intermediate language to allow communication between various Chinese regions which use mainly their own language. And there is no other language with greater number of speakers. 900 million seems to be unbeatable and may make you thinking why it's not the most popular language on Earth?
Now I'll write down quite a few Mandarin words for you to learn. I'm going to follow convention. Each line will contain Mandarin word in its original appearance, its pronunciation in square brackets and its meaning at the end. (Don't worry about Mandarin dialects for now we'll worry about it later.)
Here they are:
追男生 [...] girl chats up a boy
追女生 [...] boy chats up a girl
好, 很好 [hau] good, fine, OK
白痴 [paitzy] crazy, funny, stupid
很 [hau, hau] very, very
很美麗 [hau piau lian] beautiful, it's beautiful
好多好多 [hando-hando] many, many
成 成 成 [sing sing sing] OK, fine, OK
不好 [pu hau] not good, not OK
好唔好 [hau pu hau] good or not
很可愛 [honk ky ai] so cute! so funny!
你 [ni] you
我 [wo] me
外國人 [lou why] foreigner
是波蘭人 [wo shee bolanyn] I am Polish
我要食東西 [wo ya dzy dou shi] I want to eat
我要喝東西 [wo you ho dieu dou shi] I want to drink
我很餓 [wo du dzy a] I am hungry
我要睡覺 [wo ya shey dzia] I want to sleep
我很睏 [wo ha quin] I am so sleepy
你好嗎 [ni hau ma] Hi! How are you?
你好 [ni hau] Hi! I'm fine.
你很漂亮 [...] You are beautiful.
聰明 [...] smart
低能 [...] low intelligent
性感 [...] sexy
多少錢 [...] how much?
To type Mandarin words on Western Windows platform try using NJStar Chinese Word Processor 5.20.
To see Chinese characters you need to have Asian character support installed on your computer. On Windows platforms check Control Panel -> Language and local settings.
Homework: Working in pairs, think about a little Chinese play to show us during our next meeting. Compose a script and get ready to do some acting. Use words learnt today.
Alright, that's enough. Till the next time! I'm off.
Hello everyone! Some of you may recognize my face from "Basic Cantonese 101" course but I'll introduce myself again so that new people know who they are dealing with. My name is:
李 [lee]
Call me:
Ms. 李. [lee]
I will be teaching you Mandarin during this course. I will try to make your lessons efficient and enjoyable. Please stay with me and keep concentrated. I won't repeat myself.
If you think about China, try to think about a lot of people living in a quite a big piece of land with very, very long history behind. Big numbers stick together; there are also many different but similar languages spoken there. Each Chinese region has one local Chinese language commonly known there. Hong Kong speaks Cantonese. Shanghai and its neighbourhood speak Wu. Beijing and its neighbourhood speak Mandarin. Mandarin is an exceptional language. It is not only Beijing local language but it is official Chinese language well known to most of the people in China. It serves as an intermediate language to allow communication between various Chinese regions which use mainly their own language. And there is no other language with greater number of speakers. 900 million seems to be unbeatable and may make you thinking why it's not the most popular language on Earth?
Now I'll write down quite a few Mandarin words for you to learn. I'm going to follow convention. Each line will contain Mandarin word in its original appearance, its pronunciation in square brackets and its meaning at the end. (Don't worry about Mandarin dialects for now we'll worry about it later.)
Here they are:
追男生 [...] girl chats up a boy
追女生 [...] boy chats up a girl
好, 很好 [hau] good, fine, OK
白痴 [paitzy] crazy, funny, stupid
很 [hau, hau] very, very
很美麗 [hau piau lian] beautiful, it's beautiful
好多好多 [hando-hando] many, many
成 成 成 [sing sing sing] OK, fine, OK
不好 [pu hau] not good, not OK
好唔好 [hau pu hau] good or not
很可愛 [honk ky ai] so cute! so funny!
你 [ni] you
我 [wo] me
外國人 [lou why] foreigner
是波蘭人 [wo shee bolanyn] I am Polish
我要食東西 [wo ya dzy dou shi] I want to eat
我要喝東西 [wo you ho dieu dou shi] I want to drink
我很餓 [wo du dzy a] I am hungry
我要睡覺 [wo ya shey dzia] I want to sleep
我很睏 [wo ha quin] I am so sleepy
你好嗎 [ni hau ma] Hi! How are you?
你好 [ni hau] Hi! I'm fine.
你很漂亮 [...] You are beautiful.
聰明 [...] smart
低能 [...] low intelligent
性感 [...] sexy
多少錢 [...] how much?
To type Mandarin words on Western Windows platform try using NJStar Chinese Word Processor 5.20.
To see Chinese characters you need to have Asian character support installed on your computer. On Windows platforms check Control Panel -> Language and local settings.
Homework: Working in pairs, think about a little Chinese play to show us during our next meeting. Compose a script and get ready to do some acting. Use words learnt today.
Alright, that's enough. Till the next time! I'm off.
Labels: Languages
