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.travel opportunities 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. cuisine

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 expressionsnumbering system – simple conditional sentences – simple prepositions

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).

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.

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.

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.

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

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 v 4.falling – fourth tone \

Chinese Greetings Hello 你好 n ǐ h ă o Mr. 先生 xiān shēng Miss 小姐 xi ă o 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 GuideQiu Gui Su 0ling 零 1yī 一 2èr 二 3sān 三 4sì 四 5wǔ 五 6liù 六 7qī 七 8bā 八 9jiǔ 九 10shí­ 十

More Mandarin Numbers By Qiu Gui Su, About.com GuideQiu Gui Su 11shí­ yī 十一 12shí­ èr 十二 13shí­ sān 十三 14shí­ sì 十四 15shí­ wǔ 十五 16shí­ liù 十六 17shí­ qī 十七 18shí bā 十八 19shí­ jiǔ 十九 20èr shí ­ 二十 21èr shí ­ yī 二十一 22èr shí èr 二十二

Week Days Mondayxīng qī yī 星期一 Tuesday xīng qī èr 星期二 Wednesdayxīng qī sān 星期三 Thursdayxīng qī sì 星期四 Fridayxīng 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 GuideQiu Gui Su ColorPinyinTraditionalSimplified whitebái sè 白色 bluelán sè 藍色蓝色 yellowhuáng sè 黃色黄色 greenlǜ sè 綠色绿色 redhóng sè 紅色红色 orangejú sèjú sè or chéng sèchéng sè 橘色 or 橙色 brownkāfēi sè 咖啡色 blackhēi sè 黑色 purplezǐ sè 紫色 greyhuī sè 灰色