1. Mandarin Chinese

2. pinyin
a syllable= initial+ final +tone Initial: 21 Final {simple final: a o e i u ü compound final nasal final} tones: 4 + netual

3. Initials b p m f d t n l g k h j q x zh ch sh r z c s

4. simple finals a o e i u ü

5. compound finals ai ei ao ou ia ie ua uo üe
iao
iou
uai
uei

6. an ian uan üan en in uen ün ang iang uang eng ing ueng ong iong
nasal finals an
ian
uan
üan en in
uen ün
ang
iang
uang
eng
ing
ueng
ong
iong

7. whole syllables (read directly without spelling)
zhi
chi
shi ri zi ci si yi wu yu ye
yue
yuan
yin
yun

8. Dialogue 1. What’s your name
A: Nǐ hǎo, nǐ jiào shén me míng zi? ( Hello hi, what’s your name?) B: Wǒ jiào blah. Nǐ ne? (My name is blah. What about you?) A: Wǒ jiào blahblah. (My name is blahblah.)

9. Language points
Nǐ hǎo
The first meeting between ppl is usually nǐ hǎo.
e.g. If you want to ask the way to somewhere, you can ask a stranger by saying:
nǐ hǎo. Would you please tell me …..
(If there are someone we’ve already known, we just call their names, obviously.)

10. nǐ jiào shén me míng zi? What’s your name?
The question is used for asking someone’s full name, but not for those elder or superior. The response is : wǒ jiào ~ ( My name is~) ( usually by giving both the surname and the given name) wǒ = I nǐ = you jiào= named

11. nǐ ne? What about you?/ And you?
ne? The particle ne is used to indicate the interrogative tone. e.g. I am from China, nǐ ne? I am from China, what about you?

12. Dialogue 2. Which country are you from?
A: Nǐ shì nǎ guó rén? Which country are you from? B: Wǒ shì Zhōng guó rén. Nǐ ne? I am Chinese. You? A: Wǒ shì Yīng guó rén. I am English. (B to C) : Nǐ yě shì Yīng guó rén ma? Are you English as well? C: Bú shì. Wǒ shì Fǎ guó rén. No I am not. I am French.

13. Language points shì 是 am / is / are e.g.
Wǒ shì xué shēng Tā shì lǎo shī.
I am a student He is a teacher.
Negative form: bú shì 不是
Wǒ bú shì xué shēng.
I am not a student.

14. nǎ 哪 where, which
nǎ guó rén? Which nationality? guó : country rén: people / person Zhōng guó China rì běn Japan Hán guó Korea Dé guó Germany Xī bān yá Spain

15. yě as well, too, also
yě It shows that sb./sth. has the same feature with the other. e.g. Wǒ shì xué shēng. Nǐ yě shì xué shēng. I am a student. You are a student as well. Nǐ shì Yīng guó rén. Tā yě shì Yīng guó rén. You are English. He is English as well. ( should be put in front of the predicate, not to the end) Wǒ shì xué shēng yě ( Wrong).

16. ma?
ma? Question "ma", put at the end of the sentence.