Live & Learn Chinese Mandarin
Home>>Language Index>Chinese Mandarin Audio Lessons Learning to speak Chinese Mandarin opens the door to communicating with over 850 million people! This ancient tongue relfects the rich culture of one of the most ancient civilisations on earth. This page is designed to give you a few helpful tips and guidelines to get you started. To learn this language well you'll need a good combination of language learning resoures. We've done the hard work for you by unearthing the audio lessons, software dictionaries, exercise books and movies that really are worth having, and that will really help you learn this fascinating language well.
Language SynopsisMandarin is spoken by 850 million native speakers, outnumbering any language in the world. Standard Chinese Mandarin, based on the Bejing dialect, is the standardised form of spoken Chinese, and is the official language of China and Taiwan and one of four official languages in Singapore. With large pockets of native speakers dotted all over the world, learning Mandarin will always be extremely useful, whether it be for business, travel or pleasure. The word "Mandarin" comes from the Portuguese who used the sanskrit word "mandari" (commander) to refer the Chinese people. Did you know? 1. Chinese Mandarin grammar is relatively simple. Although it is a difficult language to learn due to the tones and character writing system, the grammar can be picked up quite easily. There are no verb conjugations as there are in Latin based languages like Spanish and French. 2. The Chinese character for "flood" is a picture of 8 people on a boat. This links with the biblical account of a world flood where the good man Noah and his family (8 people in all) survived a global deluge in an ark.
Hello - ni hao How are you? - ni hao ma I'm great thanks, and you? - wo hen hao xie xie, ni ne? What's your name? - ni jao shenme mingze? My name is Mike - wo jio Mike My surname is Smith - wo xing Smith Nice to meet you - wo hen gaoxing renshe ni Where are you from? - ni shi tong nali lai de Goodbye - zaijian I don't understand - wo bu mingbai Excuse me (asking someone to move) - duibuqi Excuse me (calling attention) - qing wen Sorry - duibuqi How much is this? - Zhege doushao qian? Tones
Chinese Mandarin, like many other Eastern languages is a tonal language. Using a different tone when pronouncing a word can completely alter its meaning. For example "ma" spoken with a flat tone means "mother". However if pronounced with a falling-rising tone it means "horse". The chart below shows the five tones used in the language:
Pinyin Formerly called Hanyu Pinyin, this is the standard romanized version of Chinese Mandarin (i.e. Mandarin with latin letters). It was developed in China in the 1950's and is now used to teach children and foreigners the sounds that make up the Chinese language.
Characters Chinese Mandarin characters have developed from ancient forms and are basically pictures of the word or phrase they depict. When learning them this is a useful memory aid. For example the character for "good" is a pictue of a mother holding a baby - something viewed as "good" in the culture. A simplified version of the characters is used in mainland China, whereas the more complex traditional characters are used in Taiwan.
Learn Chinese Language OnlineThe internet has opened up many new and effective ways to learn languages. Below we've recommended some of the best online options available for learning Mandarin. ChineseVoice.com
Internet Freebies: Live Mocha provide a fantastic way to learn Chinese Mandarin online. The website provides free online self study lessons which are fun to use. They also provide the tools to chat live with native Mandarin speakers who are wanting to practise their English. You can also receive one-on-one tuiton from native tutors.
Chinese Culture Corner
Cultural Quirks: The culture of China has developed over 5000 years of history. The country is one of the largest on earth, and therefore traditions vary greatly between towns, cities and provinces. Most social values have their roots in Confucianism, Taoism and Conservatism. The reincarnation and rebirth concepts continue to have a powerful influence on the lives of many of the people. Many Chinese people are very supersticious. For example they believe 8 is a very good number - hence why they chose to have the Olympics begin on the 8th minute of the 8th day of the 8th month of 2008. The number 4 however is believed to be very unlucky as it sounds like the word for death. Some people pay a lot of money to obtain "lucky" number plates for their cars. National Dishes and recipes: Chinese cuisine varies greatly from region to region. There are eight main regional cuisines, or traditions: Anhui, Cantonese, Fujian, Hunan, Jiangsu, Shandong, Sichuan, Zhejiang. Pork is usually preferred over beef in most parts of the country due to economic, religious and aesthetic reasons. Chicken and fish are also very popular. Traditonally each diner is given his own bowl of rice, and all other dishes are presented on communal plates that are shared by everybody sitting at the table. Each diner picks out bite size servings from the communal plates with his chopsticks. Chopsticks are always used as knives and forks were originally considered weapons, and therefore a little barbaric.
Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook: Recipes from Hunan Province
Traditional Music: The Chinese already had a well developed music culture as early on as over 3000 years ago. Bamboo pipes and qin are among the oldest of instuments used in the country's traditional music, which has been influenced by the many different dynasties that ruled the country, and by the different ethnic groups that make up China. In the box below you'll find clips of traditional music and folk music:
Help Others Live & Learn Chinese MandarinAre you learning Mandarin? If you are, we'd love to hear about any suggestions you may have about learning the language. Which resources have you found useful? Which haven't proven that great? Please e-mail us your findings using the form below. Your shared language learning experiences will save other language learners' time, energy, and money. In fact, that is the the mission of Live & Learn Languages!
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an excellent recipe book which introudes the tastes of the Hunan region - known for the fiery spirit of its people, its beautiful scenery and it's heart peasant cooking. The classic recipes are interwoeven with snippets of history and legend, making it a fascinating book to add to your collection.
