Learn Chinese

Mandarin Chinese for Chinese New Year

learnchinese — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 21:52:57 +0000

Chinese New Year, also known as the Spring Festival, is the most important traditional festival and a public holiday in China. The Chinese New Year 2012 starts in January 22 (Chinese New Year’ Eve). It is the year of dragon. The festival falls on the first day of the first lunar calender month (usually in late January and early February), and ends with Lantern Festival which is on the 15th day lunar calender January.

Some Mandarin phrases for Chinese New Year:

xīn nián kuài lè =>新年快乐=>Happy New Year

guò nián hǎo=>过年好=> Happy New Year

gōng xǐ fā cái=>恭喜发财=> happy and prosperous (It is always used when one receiving gifts or lucky money during Chinese New Year.)

cái yuán guǎng jìn=>财源广进=>wealth pours in from all directions

nián nián yǒu yú=>年年有余=> always get more than you wish for

2012 UK and Ireland HSK test dates

learnchinese — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 21:22:08 +0000

2012 UK and Ireland HSK test dates:

UCD, Ireland : April 2012 and October 2012

SOAS in central London: Saturday 19 May 2012, and Saturday 20 October 2012

Other test centres are waiting for update

December 2011 HSK Test places and dates in UK

learnchinese — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 18:44:57 +0000

1.The University of Sheffield ( 3/Dec)

2. The University of Manchester (4/Dec)

3.University of Central Lancashire (4/Dec)

4. University of Edinburgh (3/Dec)

Lesson 1

learnchinese — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 22:26:48 +0000

INTRODUCE YOURSELF

Vocabulary

1. 我 wǒ I, me

2. 你 nǐ you

3. 它/他/她tā she, he, it, her, him, its

4. 是 shì to be

5. 小姐xiǎo jiě Miss.

6. 先生xiān shēng Mr.; husband

7. 太太tài tài Mrs. ; wife

8. 好 hǎo good, well

9. 很hěn very

10.高兴gāo xìng glad, happy

11.认识rèn shi to know

12.这zhè this; here

13.那nà that; there

14朋友péng yǒu friend

15.男朋友nán péng yòu boyfriend

16.女朋友 nǚ péng yǒu girlfriend

17.的de of

18.不bù no; not

19.吗ma question.

Text

A: 你好，张小姐.

nǐ hǎo, zhāng xiǎo jiě .

Hello. Miss.Zhang.

B: 你好，李先生.

nǐ hǎo ,lǐ xiān shēng.

Hello. Mr.Li.

A: 这是马先生.

zhè shì mǎ xiān shēng.

This is Mr. Ma.

他是我的朋友.

tā shì wǒ de péng yǒu.

He is my friend.

B: 你好，马先生。很高兴认识你。

nǐ hǎo, mǎ xiān shēng, hěn gāo xìng rèn shi nǐ.

Hello, Mr. Ma. Nice to meet you.

C: 你好，张小姐。很高兴认识你。

nǐ hǎo, zhāng xiǎo jiě, hěn gāo xìng rèn shi nǐ.

Hello, Miss. Zhang. Nice to meet you.

A: 这是你的朋友吗？

zhè shì nǐ de péng yǒu ma?

Is this your friend?

B: 是，这是我的男朋友。

shì, zhè shì wǒ de nán péng yǒu.

Yes, this’s my boyfriend.

A: 那是你的朋友吗？

nà shì nǐ de péng yǒu ma?

Is that your friend?

B: 不，我不认识他。

bù, wǒ bù rèn shi tā.

No, I don’t know him.

EXERCISE:

Is she your friend?
I don’t know him.
She is not his girlfriend.
Nice to meet you, Joan.
I know her husband.
I’m his wife’s friend.

How to use Chinese dictionary

learnchinese — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 21:41:25 +0000

l ENGLISH-CHINESE DICTIONARY

If we have an English phrase and want to find the Chinese language for it, we just look it up in the alphabetical order from the dictionary.

l CHINESE-ENGLISH DICTIONARY

If we have a Chinese phrase in PIN YIN, we just look it up in the alphabetical order.

If we have a Chinese phrase in CHARACTER, we have to follow the following three steps:

Identify the radical* and note the number next to it in the first section.

e.g : “ 汉 ”，in this character “ 氵” is the radical, in the dictionary P4 RADICAL INDEX first section ( 一 )，we can find “ 氵”, and note the number next to it is 32.

Use the number to find the radical and the character in the second section. And note the pin yin next to it.

e.g : then we go to second section ( 二 ), number 32 氵，and find the character “汉” below that. Note the pin yin next to it “ han”.

Use the pin yin to find the phrase in alphabetical order.

*Radical: multiple-characters generally are left-right (e.g: 汉，妈), top-bottom （e.g:筷, 英）， outside-inside （e.g: 国，问）. The radicals of these characters generally are the left ( e.g: 氵，女 ) or the top ( e.g: ，艹 ) or the outside ( e.g: 口，门 ).

To get familiar with the radical, we simply need to practice more.

EXERCISE OF USING THE DICTIONARY:

1. Find the radical of the following characters:

英词馆家你好球场

雷美子鱼考

2. Find the pronunciation of the following characters:

英词馆家你好

3. Find the meaning of the following characters:

你好饭馆酒店

Chinese Lesson—introduction

learnchinese — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 22:50:56 +0000

There are about 200 dialects in China. The dialect spoken in Beijing, known in the west as Mandarin, is one of the eight major Chinese dialects. It’s the official language of the People’s Republic of China after 1949, and one of the official languages of both Taiwan and Singapore. Mandarin is now taught in all the Chinese school, and Mandarin radio and TV programs are broadcast throughout China. And more than 70 per cent of China’s population speaks Mandarin as their first language.

The eight major dialects are:

l. Mandarin (Putong hua)

About 1.2 billion people in China speak Mandarin. So if you can speak Mandarin, you can travel all over China.

2. Cantonese (Guang tong hua)

About 50 million people in China speak Cantonese (including some inhabitants in Hong Kong); they’re mainly from Guangton Province. It’s also the language most spoken by the people living abroad. (Before 1949, a lots of inhabitants in Guangton Province immigrated overseas for job.)

3. Fujian / Taiwanese (Min nan hua)

About 40 million people in China speak Fujian / Taiwanese, they are mainly from Fujian Province. And there are over 15 million people in Taiwan who speak Fujian /Taiwanese. (They are originally from Fujian Province)

4. Shanghainese

Mainly from Shanghai Province.

5. Minbei

Mainly from North Fujian Province.

6. Xiang

Mainly from Sichuan, Guangxi Province.

7. Gan

Mainly from Jiangxi Province.

8. Kejia

Originally from Sichuan Province, later moved to Guang ton Province.

CHARACTERS AND PRONUNCIATION:

From 1950 onward, the government of new China simplified about 15% of the traditional Chinese characters, which makes the written language simpler, faster, also easier to be typed in from computer.

In 1958, the system of marking-pronunciation was officially adopted by alphabet. It’s has been getting easier for non-chinese spoken people to learn or speak Chinese.

There are about 82% homophones of Chinese language, and 4 tones, which make this language more interesting and challenging.

My Mandarin Class

learnchinese — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 13:26:54 +0000

My mandarin class is on-line teaching through the virtual classroom. It has better learning effects than normal classroom besides both teachers and students can save time on travelling. No matter which country you are and where you are.

Each every lesson is 30 minutes; 45 minutes or 60 minutes.

The new HSK levels

learnchinese — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 22:24:46 +0000

The new HSK vocabulary :

HSK (Level VI) Over 5,000
HSK (Level V) 2500
HSK (Level IV) 1200
HSK (Level III) 600
HSK (Level II) 300
HSK (Level I) 150

Test takers who are able to pass the HSK (Level I) can understand and use very simple Chinese phrases, meet basic needs for communication.

Test takers who are able to pass the HSK (Level II) can communicate in simple Chinese.

Test takers who are able to pass the HSK (Level III) can communicate in Chinese at a basic level in their daily, academic and professional lives and can manage most communication in Chinese when travelling in China.

Test takers who are able to pass the HSK (Level IV) can be able to communicate fluently with native Chinese speakers.

Test takers who are able to pass the HSK (Level V) can read Chinese newspapers and magazines, understand Chinese films and plays, and give a full-length speech in Chinese.

Test takers who are able to pass the HSK (Level VI) can comprehend written and spoken information in Chinese and can effectively express themselves in Chinese, both in written and orally.

New HSK test

learnchinese — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 20:56:52 +0000

The new HSK (hànyǔ shuǐpíng kǎoshì) is an international standardized exam that tests non-native Chinese speakers’ Chinese language proficiency. The new HSK came out late 2009, consists of writing tests and speaking tests, which are independent from each other. There are six levels of writing tests: HSK level I, HSK level II, HSK level III, HSK level IV, HSK level V, and HSK level VI. There are three levels of speaking tests: HSK beginner level, HSK intermediate level, and HSK advanced level.