Red Corner

Mandarin Chinese for Beginners 2014

Syang Anwan

Introduction
Mandarin is the standard form of Chinese, although there are other dialects, such as
Cantonese and Shanghaiese.

n ho, w sh XXX. w li z Hln. (w y li z Hln.)

Hello, I am xxx. I am from the Netherlands. (Ik ook kom uit Nederlands.)
Lets get a flavor of how it sounds, starting with the tones.
m mother (Say it at the top of your voice range. Note it remains level.)
m linen (Start at your normal voice range and finish at the top. Tip: raise your
eyebrows while saying it.)
m horse (This is a falling-rising tone. Tip: drop your chin and raise it again.)
m to swear (Start at your normal range and finish at the bottom. Tip: stomp your
foot gently.)
ma ? (Here sounds flat it doesn't have a tone. This should be said at your
normal voice pitch.)

Greetings
The words are in Western script or Pinyin, not Chinese characters.

n ho Hello
d ji ho Hi everyone
zo shng ho Good morning
xi w ho Good afternoon
wn shng ho Good evening
zi jin See you
wn n Good night
xi xie Thank you
du b q Sorry
n ho ma how do you do?
w hn ho I am fine. (w y hn ho I am fine too.)

Chinese Characters
n ho rn r n z