1. Pinyin
pinyin is a phonetic system of the Chinese language. It adopts the roman alphabet to represent phonetic sounds in Mandarin Chinese.

2. Tones
In Chinese the variation of a syllable's pitch may distinguish meaning. There are four tones, indicated respectively by the tone marks.

3. The first tone is high in pitch and even.
The second tone is the rising tone, starting from a high pitch and rising briefly.
The third tone is a falling rising tone.
The fourth tone is a falling tone, starting high and descending briefly.

4. There is also a neutral tone. It is short and unaccented
There is also a neutral tone. It is short and unaccented. Its pitch relies on a natural extension of the preceding tone. It is conveyed by the absence of a sign. （好吗）
When one low tone follows another, the first one becomes a rising tone. （不对）

5. Having a good pronunciation depends greatly on getting the tones right
Having a good pronunciation depends greatly on getting the tones right. Of all the difficulties found in learning Chinese, the problem of tones is undoubtedly the most difficult.

6. Writing Basics
Chinese writing is non-alphabetic and non-phonetic. The meaning of a character can be learnt without knowing its pronunciation.

7. Every Chinese character is made up of a number of strokes, or single movements of the pen or writing brush. The order and direction in which the strokes are made are very important in producing uniform characters, and learning the basic rules of stroke order can also ease the process of learning to write.

8. The Strokes There are eight fundamental Strokes: The point
The horizontal stroke (left to right)
The vertical stroke (top to bottom)
The left descending stroke
The right descending stroke
The up cutting stroke
The bending stroke
The hooked stroke

9. Stroke Order The essential rules of stroke order are:
Horizontal then vertical
From top to bottom
From left to right
The outside then the inside
Close after filling the frame
The middle stroke then the left side then the right side

10. Pictograph
a single pictorial sign or symbol, as in a system of picture writing, representing a certain number of people, objects, etc.

11. gē qǔ 歌曲
A Song
wǒ ài wǒde jiā
我 爱 我的 家
I Love My Family