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1
CHINESE
STARTING OUT IN
Welcome to Living Languages’s
Starting Out In Chinese 
, anintroductory course teaching the basics of the Chinese language.This all-audio course is designed to be used without any printedmaterial, but should you decide you want to read along as youlisten to the lessons, visit www.livinglanguage.com for a freedownloadable transcript and other resources.
 Lesson 1: Essential expressions
Dìy
i
kè: J
i
b
ê
n yòngy
û
Hello.
 
N
 ∑ 
h
µ
o.
In this lesson, you’ll kick off your Chinese learning adventure by becoming familiar withthe pronunciation and different tones used in Chinese, as well as some courtesy and survival expressions,such as
hello
,
thank you
,
I’m sorry 
, and
goodbye 
.
www.LivingLanguage.com
 
2
VOCABULARY BUILDING 1
Let’s start out by learning some important courtesy words and common expressions. You will hear theEnglish first, then the Chinese. Please repeat the Chinese every time you hear it.
good, fine 
h
µ
o
you
n
 ∑ 
Hello.
N
 ∑ 
h
µ
o.
How are you? 
N
 ∑ 
h
µ
o ma?
I 
 w
∏
very well 
h
∂
nh
µ
o
I’m fine.
W
∏
h
∂
nh
µ
o.
And you? 
N
 ∑ 
ne?
Not bad.
Bùcuò.
TAKE A BREAK 1
Let’s pause for a brief note regarding
N
 ∑ 
h
µ
o!
and
N
 ∑ 
h
µ
o ma?
 The exchange of 
N
 ∑ 
h
µ
o!
is very brief, justlike saying
Hi! 
 
N
 ∑ 
h
µ
o ma?
is a question and most likely will prompt the answer 
W
∏
h
∂
nh
µ
o
(
I’m fine 
) or 
 Bù cuò
(
Not bad 
), followed by
N
 ∑ 
ne?
(
And you? 
).Before we move on, you may have noticed that these phrases have a bit of a sing-song quality to them. This is because Mandarin Chinese is a tonal language, causing the ups and downs you hear on the vowels. There are five tones in Mandarin Chinese, and each word has its designated tone. The first tone sounds like this:
m
∫
.
This is a high pitched tone that remains on the same pitch. Again:
m
∫
. The second tone is
má.
 This is a rising tone, from medium pitched to high. Again:
má.
Let’s put first and second tones together:
m
∫
, má.
 The third tone is
m
µ
.
 This is a scooping tone, from low pitch to medium. Again:
m
µ
.
Let’s put first, second, and third tones together:
m
∫
, má, m
µ
.
 The fourth tone is
mà.
 This is a falling tone, very much like the stress that people put on their 
yes 
and
no
  when they really mean it. Again:
mà.
Let’s put the four tones together:
m
∫
, má, m
µ
, mà.
www.LivingLanguage.com
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CLynneH

***** Starz Thank you for sharing--Go Panda's! Thank you for sharing-Long Love, Cindie Lynne Dyn..........!

reply10 / 26 / 2010
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