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First published in UK 2007 by Hodder Education, an Hachette UK Company, 338 Euston Road,
London NW1 3BH.
Total Mandarin Chinese Copyright 2007, 2011, in the methodology, Thomas Keymaster Languages
LLC, all rights reserved; in the content, Harold Goodman.
Total Mandarin Chinese Vocabulary Copyright 2009, 2011, in the methodology, Thomas Keymaster
Languages LLC, all rights reserved; in the content, Harold Goodman.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by
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Typeset by Transet Limited, Coventry, England.
Printed in Great Britain.
Impression 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Year
2014 2013 2012 2011
ISBN
978 1444 13803 0

Contents
Welcome to the Michel Thomas Method

Total Mandarin Chinese index

Total Mandarin Chinese Vocabulary index

13

Mandarin ChineseEnglish glossary

17

Learning the tones using hand movements

20

Welcome to the Michel

Thomas Method
Congratulations on purchasing the truly remarkable way to
learn a language. With the Michel Thomas Method theres no
reading, no writing and no homework. Just sit back, absorb,
and soon youll be speaking another language with confidence.
The Michel Thomas Method works by breaking a language
down into its component parts and enabling you to
reconstruct the language yourself to form your own
sentences and to say what you want, when you want. By
learning the language in small steps, you can build it up
yourself to produce ever more complicated sentences.
Perfected over 25 years, the all-audio Michel Thomas Method
has been used by millions of people around the world.
Now its your turn.
To get started, simply insert CD 1 and press play!

About Michel Thomas

Michel Thomas (19142005) was a gifted linguist who
mastered more than ten languages in his lifetime and became
famous for teaching much of Hollywoods A list how to speak
a foreign language. Film stars such as Woody Allen, Emma
Thompson and Barbra Streisand paid thousands of dollars
each for face-to-face lessons.
Michel, a Polish Jew, developed his method after discovering
the untapped potential of the human mind during his
traumatic wartime experiences. The only way he survived this
period of his life, which included being captured by the
Gestapo, was by concentrating and placing his mind beyond
the physical. Fascinated by this experience, he was determined
that after the war he would devote himself to exploring
further the power of the human mind, and so dedicated his
life to education.
In 1947, he moved to Los Angeles and set up the Michel
Thomas Language Centers, from where he taught languages
for over fifty years in New York, Beverly Hills and London.
Michel Thomas died at his home in New York City on
Saturday 8th January 2005. He was 90 years old.

Total Mandarin Chinese index

Note about transliteration
The Mandarin words are transliterated in this track listing using the
pin-yin method of romanization. In this method the tones are
represented by marks on the vowels that look like the hand
movements that were using (see pages 2021):
- flat tone (green thumb out)
rising tone (blue finger up)
v falling and rising tone (red V for victory)
` falling tone (black finger down)
In addition, two dots are used above the letter u (). This indicates
that the u should be pronounced like the oo in moon, but while you
say oo, shape your lips towards the i sound in sit.
CD 1 Track 1
Introduction. How to use this course. Background to Chinese.
CD 1 Track 2
Tones in Chinese languages.
CD 1 Track 3
Flat tone (green thumb out); zhng middle
CD 1 Track 4
Rising tone (blue finger up); rn person
CD 1 Track 5
Falling and rising tone (red V for victory); w I, me
CD 1 Track 6
Falling tone (black finger down); sh to be
CD 1 Track 7
The form of the verb to be in Chinese doesnt change: sh (to be)
also means am, are, is; w sh I am
CD 1 Track 8
n you; n sh you are; the forms of Chinese verbs never change.
No word for a or an: w sh rn I am a person

CD 1 Track 9
gu kingdom, nation; zhng gu middle kingdom = China; zhng
gu rn middle kingdom person = Chinese (person)
CD 1 Track 10
t he, him, she, her, it; du both, all; h and; position of du both,
all in Mandarin sentences: You and he both are Chinese, not are
both, as in English
CD 1 Track 11
mi beautiful; mi gu America; mi gu rn American; yng
brave; yng gu England, Britain; yng gu rn English
CD 1 Track 12
men = plural form of individual, single form; wmen we, us; nmen
you; tmen they, them; ksh but
CD 1 Track 13
ma = question marker, to change a statement into a question; sh is
can be used to mean yes
CD 1 Track 14
nne how about you?; tmenne how about them?
CD 1 Track 15
mng busy; also means to be busy
CD 1 Track 16
b no, not
CD 1 Tracks 1 and 2
hn very, also fulfils the two-syllable meter rule: a dummy word to go
with an adjective; b mng not busy
CD 1 Tracks 3 and 4
n ho hello; ho good, to be good, do well; n ho ma you good?
you doing well? = how are you?

CD 2 Track 5
In Chinese the character/word has the same form for both individual
and plural form; word order determines meaning
CD 2 Track 6
y also, too; b hn ho not very good, well
CD 2 Track 7
b sh not is (trampoline rule)
CD 2 Track 8
A question with a question word, such as wi shnme why. All
Chinese languages use the same characters to mean the same thing,
but their pronunciation differs.
CD 2 Track 9
kn to look, see; sh book; kn sh to read book; saying yes by
repeating verb
CD 2 Track 10
xin zi now; zi at emphasizes at this very moment
CD 2 Track 11
Word order in Chinese: whowhenwhat is happening
CD 2 Track 12
xing would like to
CD 2 Track 13
jin to get together, see somebody, meet; b xing would not like to
CD 2 Track 14
ti too; nng can; b nng cannot; tai b nng too no can =
too to
CD 3 Track 1
ynwei because

CD 3 Track 2
-de indicates possession: wde my, mine; nde your, yours; tde
his, her, hers, its; wmende our, ours; nmende your, yours;
tmende their, theirs; pngyu friend
CD 3 Track 3
losh teacher
CD 3 Track 4
wn literature, culture; zhngwn Chinese language ; yngwn
English language; xing (would like to) in Chinese can only be
followed by a verb
CD 3 Track 5
kn dinsh to watch TV; din electrical; sh vision; zi at
represents doing something at this moment; word order in Chinese:
whowhenhowwhat is happening
CD 3 Track 6
zh this; n(de) h wde your and my: you can omit the first de
(possessive marker) after n you when you have both nde your and
wde my
CD 3 Track 7
n that; sh is: can be used to answer yes to a question without
using the verb in the question; b not: can be used to answer no to
a question without using the verb
CD 3 Track 8
titai wife; ti b nng too no can = too to
CD 3 Track 9
shnme what; zh sh shnme what is this?; n sh shnme what
is that?; word order in questions and answers
CD 3 Track 10
shu to speak, say; shu yngwn speak English; shu zhngwn
speak Chinese

CD 4 Track 1
hu to be able to (involves ability); b hu not able to; hu shu able
to speak; w hu I am able to
CD 4 Track 2
ydinr a little bit of
CD 4 Track 3
dngrn of course
CD 4 Track 4
shi who
CD 4 Track 5
xusheng student; h (and) cannot be used to connect sentences
or phrases
CD 4 Track 6
zhende really; zhende ma really? (as a question); mma mother,
Mum
CD 4 Track 7
ge = classifier; zhge sh this book; nge rn that man; nge
pngyu that friend; n female
CD 4 Tracks 8 and 9
yge a, an, one; yge xusheng a student; yge ho losh a good
teacher; yge sh a book
CD 4 Track 10
ji home; zi ji to be at home; zi in Chinese can be used as and
functions as a verb (to be at )
CD 5 Track 1
nr where; zi nr at where
CD 5 Track 2
yun far
CD 5 Track 3
dgi maybe; bijng Beijing (northern capital)

CD 5 Track 4
zh (zi) to live, stay; shng hi Shanghai (on the sea); shng
on; hi sea
CD 5 Track 5
yu to have
CD 5 Tracks 6 and 7
nn male; word order: whowhenwhat is happening
CD 5 Track 8
csu toilet
CD 5 Track 9
mi yu not have
CD 5 Track 10
nme well, in that case; yuge (from yu yge) have a; shge
(from sh yge) be a
CD 5 Track 11
More practice with yu have and zh live.
CD 5 Track 12
ti ho le wonderful
CD 5 Track 13
zi ji to be at home / in the house; zi ji l inside the house; zi
[possessive] ji l in [someones] house
CD 6 Track 1
zhuzi table
CD 6 Track 2
l not used with geographical location; lndn London
CD 6 Tracks 3 and 4
yo to want; b yo not want
CD 6 Track 5
hn du a lot of; w yo zhge / nge I want this one / that one

10

CD 6 Track 6
q` to go to
CD 6 Track 7
rnshi to meet, to be acquainted with
CD 6 Track 8
jntin today; jn current; tin day
CD 6 Track 9
qng wn excuse me; qng please; wn to ask; aiya too bad, very
bad, my God
CD 6 Track 10
shng to be on; zi shng on
CD 6 Track 11
kn jin to notice, see
CD 7 Track 1
zi xi to be under
CD 7 Track 2
d big; b d not big
CD 7 Track 3
yu there is, there are; mi yu there is not; zi nr yu sh?
where is there a book?; omitting zi to be at with yu there is and
mi yu there is not
CD 7 Track 4
xuxio school
CD 7 Track 5
zhr here; zi zhr to be here; nr there
CD 7 Track 6
mi every; mitin every day

CD 7 Track 7
yude (there is / are) some; zi to be at can be omitted with yu
there is and mi yu there is not when there is no ambiguity as to
who is doing the action; ji family; mi ji every family
CD 7 Track 8
du correct; b cu not bad; cu bad; three ways to say yes:
repeat the verb, sh is, du correct; y either / too
CD 7 Track 9
b du not correct
CD 7 Tracks 10 and 11
zi ji to be at home; zi ji l at [somebodys] home
CD 8 Track 1
qng wn excuse me; two-syllable meter rule
CD 8 Track 2
bba father, Dad; zh do to know
CD 8 Track 3
yo shu want to speak; nng shu can speak
CD 8 Track 4
xinsheng (or sheng) Mister, husband; xin first, before; wng
xinsheng Mr. Wang
CD 8 Track 5
hn du very many, many
CD 8 Track 6
xi xie Thank you, thanks; b xi no thanks, you are welcome;
when to say xi xie
CD 8 Track 7
zi jin Good bye, see you again; zi again; jin to see someone /
to meet; li to come; b nng li cannot come
CD 8 Track 8
du(ma)? right?

11

12

CD 8 Track 9
mi to buy; b yo not want
CD 8 Track 10
dngxi a thing, things
CD 8 Track 11
knkan to take a look

Total Mandarin Chinese Vocabulary index

NB CD references below refer to CDs 1 and 2 of Total Mandarin
Chinese Vocabulary.
CD 1 Track 1
Introduction
CD 1 Track 2
gu to cross, pass time, is added after a repeatable action to
indicate have you?, e.g. n qu guo zhng guo ma? Have you ever
been/gone to China?
To say you do not do something in the present tense, use bu + do
something, e.g. w bu qu na I dont go there. To say you have not
done something in the past tense, use mi do guo something,
e.g. w mi qu guo mi guo I have not been/gone to America.
niu yue New York; bi de other, different
CD 1 Track 3
zh only
gi to give; gi somebody something give somebody something,
e.g. qng gi w bi de sh Please give me a different book.
qin money, also a popular Chinese surname
CD 1 Track 4
sh hou time, shn me sh hou what time?, e.g. n gi t qian de sh
hou when you give her money
gi somebody kn to show to somebody, e.g. w gi n kan I show
you; dng xi things, zh xi dng xi these things
CD 1 Track 5
k y may; dng ran k y of course, you may
j is used to ask how many, usually referring to a smaller quantity
such as ten or less. j implies a question, so ma is not needed at the
end of the sentence, e.g. n ji yu j ge rn How many people are
in your family (home)?
CD 1 Track 6
ling pair of
hi zi children

13

14

nan hai zi boy (where nan means male), n hai zi girl (where n
means female)
CD 1 Track 7
xio little. It is common to call a young child xio png you little
friend. Also to address 2030-year-olds as xio + surname in the
workplace, e.g. xio Wang, and to address elders as lo old +
surname, e.g. lo Wang k fi gun coffee shop
sn three, e.g. n yu ling ge hai zi hai sh sn ge hai zi Do you
have two children or three children?
CD 1 Track 9
yao (you) will, (you) want, speaking of the future, e.g. w yao qu n
(de) ji I will go to your house.
zu to do
h zho passport
d hit, e.g. w yao d dian hua I will make a phone call = hit a telephone.
CD 1 Track 10
bo newspaper
cng from (somewhere), zu by means of (vehicle), do to,
towards (somewhere), e.g. w cng bi jng zu hu ch do shang
hi I am taking a train from Beijing to Shanghai.
CD 1 Track 11
ch vehicle; hu ch train = fire vehicle; fi j airplane = fly
machine; q ch car = vapour vehicle; gng gng q ch bus =
public vapour vehicle
CD 1 Track 12
ki ch to drive a vehicle; xing gng Hong Kong
bi jng Beijing, northern capital, bi north; nan jng Nanjing,
southern capital, nan south; xn Xian, western peace, x west;
shn dng Shangdong province, dng east
CD 2 Track 1
gao su to tell, inform, let know
le is used to indicate that something is done, e.g. w mi le ling ge
q ch I bought two cars. Another use of le is to indicate a change
from the way things were.
li tired, e.g. w li le I am tired.

CD 2 Track 2
kui about to, almost, soon to happen, e.g. t zuo hu ch kuai dao
ni yu le He took the train and just arrived in New York.
cuo bad, mistake; cu can also be used as a verb, to make a
mistake, e.g. w cu le I am mistaken, I made a mistake.
CD 2 Track 3
bi cup, y bi cha a cup of tea
CD 2 Track 4
ho ch very tasty = good eat; ho h good drink wn late
CD 2 Track 5
yng gi should
cha bu do about the same
y yng the same, just like; b y yng different, not the same
CD 2 Track 6
pio ticket; fi j piao airline ticket; hu ch piao train ticket
mi to sell: be careful not to mix up mi to sell and mi to buy.
Tones matter.
CD 2 Track 7
s four; w five; liu six
CD 2 Track 8
kui colloquial term for a unit of currency
rn mn b Chinese money: literally peoples currency: currency of
China as distinct from Taiwan where the New Taiwan Dollar (Ta b)
is used.
sh ten
CD 2 Track 9
s sh forty, w sh fifty; s sh sn forty-three
r two; use r in telephone numbers, dates or counting, e.g. r sh
twenty. Otherwise use ling, e.g. ling ge hai zi a pair of children.
CD 2 Track 10
xng q week (start + period of time); xng q y Monday; xng q r
Tuesday; xng q sn Wednesday; xng q s Thursday; xng q w
Friday; xng q li Saturday

15

16

CD 2 Track 11
xng q tin/r Sunday. r = sun, e.g. xng q tin jian See you on
Sunday.
q seven; ba eight; jiu nine
xia ge next; shang ge last
ho number, e.g. dian hua hao telephone number
CD 2 Track 12
lng zero
nin year
yu month; y yu January; r yu February; sn yu March; s
yu April; w yu May; liu yu June; q yu July; b yu August;
ji yu September; sh yu October; sh y yu November; sh r
yu December
CD 2 Track 13
When giving a date start with the biggest unit.
CD 2 Track 14
Conclusion

Mandarin ChineseEnglish glossary

NB This glossary contains vocabulary from Total Mandarin Chinese
Vocabulary, as well as some extra vocabulary which is taught in Perfect
Mandarin Chinese with the Michel Thomas Method. Go to
www.michelthomas.co.uk for more information.

ba indicates suggestion of
agreement
b eight
bi hundred
bi wn million
bn half
bn to solve a problem
bn f method, way of doing
something
bng to do something to help
to do something
bng someone mng to help
someone out
bo newspaper
bei cup
bi north
bi de other, different
bu k qi dont be polite, dont
mention it
bu xi dont thank me
b yo qin free
b y yng different
ci food, dish
cn gun restaurant
c times (one time, two times, the
first time, an occasion)
cha tea
ch b do about the same
ch vehicle
ch fn to eat
chung bed
cng from
d hit
d ji everyone, all
d ji ha Hello, everyone.
(a way to say Hello to or begin
speaking to any group)
do to, toward

dn wi company, workgroup,
workpace
dng ran of course
dng to wait
din oclock
din hu telephone (electrical
speech)
din t lift, elevator = electric stairs
dng east
dng to comprehend, understand
du bu q sorry
du more
du fu tofu
du ji le how long have?
du sho how much?, how many?
(referring to any number,
especially a larger number)
hungry
r two
fn din hotel
fng jin room
fi j airplane = fly machine
fi j chang airport
f qin to pay money
gao su to tell, inform, let know
gi to give
gi somebody kn to show
to somebody
gng gng q ch bus = shared
vapour vehicle
gu expensive
gu cross, pass time
hai sh or (used in question
sentences)
hi zi children
ho OK

17

18

ho number (telephone number)

ho bu ho OK?, is that OK?
ho ch delicious, tasty (good eat)
ho kn pretty (good look)
h someone shu hu to speak
with someone
h to drink
h zho passport
hu spoken language
hui broken, bad
hu ch train = fire vehicle
hu zh or (in positive sentence)
j how many? (referring to a
relatively small quantity)
jio to be called
ji nine
ji wine
ji passage of time, a long time
passed
ju de to feel, think
k fi coffee
k fi gun coffee shop
ki ch to drive a car
kn de dng to understand
by seeing
k x its a pity
k y may
kng p afraid that..., perhaps...
kui about to, almost
kui unit of currency
(colloquial term)
kui fast
lo elder
lo bn boss, person in charge
le sentence + le represents
something changes
li tired
l mian inside
ling pair of
lng zero
li six
mi to sell
mi dong xi to buy something
(go shopping)
mn slow
mi shn me dont worry,

its nothing
mi (yu) bn f theres nothing
to be done about it
mi yu rn no one
mi gun xi never mind,
does not matter
mi wn t no problem
mi yu did not (do something
in the past)
mng tin tomorrow
mng zi name

n to take something
n which?
n ge which one?
n li response to a compliment to
express politeness
n xi which of these?
nan south
nn hi zi boy = male child
nin year
ni yue NewYork
n hi zi girl = female child
p ji beer
pio ticket
q seven
q ch car = vapour vehicle
qin money
qin thousand
qng please
rn hu then (after some time
has passed)
r sun
sn three
shng ge last
shng w a.m., morning
sho few, less
shi de whose?
shn me de so on, etc.
shn me du everything
(non-specific)
shn me something du
every specific thing
shn me sh hu when?,
what time?

shn me yng de
what kind of...?
sh ten
sh hu time
sh fu mate, buddy
shu (jio) to sleep
s four (unlucky number: same
sound as s death,
different tone)
tng de dng to understand
from hearing
tng shuo heard
wi out
wi gu foreign
wi mian outside
wn late
wn ten thousand
wn fn evening food, supper
wn shang evening
wn t problem, question
w five
x west
x huan to like to do something
xi ge next
xi w afternoon, p.m.
xing gng Hong Kong
xio little
xio sh hour
xi plural marker instead of ge (zh
xi rn these men)
xng q week
xng q r Tuesday
xng q li Saturday
xng q r/tin Sunday
xng q sn Wednesday
xng q s Thursday
xng q y Monday
xng q w Friday

xi xi to rest
xu x to study, learn
yo will, shall
yo b rn otherwise
y bi ch a cup of tea
y dng definitely, certainly
y hu after, behind
y jng already
y qin before
y yng the same, just like
yn hng bank (silver money firm)
yng gi should
yu mi yu is there?,
do you have?
yu qin rich
yu y si interesting
yu yng useful
yng to use
y fish
yu month
zn me how?
zn me bn? whats to be done?
zn me yng how is it going?,
what do you think of?,
how about?
zhn stop, station
zho to seek, look for
zh only
z word
zu to walk, go, depart
zu most
zu ha very best
zu to do
zu by means of (different
character from zu to do)
zu tin yesterday
zo to sit down

19

20

Learning the tones using hand movements

Mandarin has four tones, plus a neutral non-tone, which are critical
for communication. While there is considerable leeway for differences
in pronunciation (many Chinese learn Mandarin as a second
language) there is very little for tones. If your tone is off you wont be
understood. Tones, when made user-friendly, are actually quite
simple to grasp and integrate into your learning.
The method for learning the tones* which you will experience in this
course is specifically designed to address all styles of language
learning. It will permit your central nervous system to permanently
create pathways that reflect your personal learning style (visual,
kinaesthetic, auditory, etc.) and support you in effortless recall and
usage of the correct tone at the proper moment in your
communication. It works on a subconscious level. You will very
quickly find that you are using the movements as a natural part of
your learning. These movements work. They have been tested and
refined on students without any previous knowledge of Mandarin from
many different backgrounds and age levels (teens to the elderly).
I encourage you to allow your hands to move with the movements.
For some of you that will be essential. For others, this will be less
essential. Trust whatever helps you. It will work for you as you permit
it to do so.
In this method of teaching tones, each movement is linked to a tone
and colour. Romanized Mandarin (pin-yin) is written with four distinct
tones, which are shown with marks over the affected vowel. These
marks are shown in brackets below. The tones are generally listed in
the following order when taught and when words are listed in a
dictionary.

*patent pending

First tone: ( ) long, steady tone.

Colour: Green.
Movement: Thumb out to side with closed fist.
Example: zhng (middle).

Second tone: ( ) rising tone.

Colour: Blue.
Movement: Index finger pointing up.
Example: rn (person).

Third tone: ( ) fallingrising tone. This tone

actually resembles a tick mark (UK) or check
mark (US) (). It starts rather low, goes
down a bit and then rises up to the level of
the green tone.
Please pay close attention to the Chinese
native speakers demonstration of this tone.
Colour: Red.
Movement: Closed fist with index and middle
fingers forming a V and pointing up.
Example: w (I, me).

Fourth tone: ( ` ) falling tone. Colour: Black.

Movement: Index finger pointing down.
Example: sh (to be, am, is, are).

Neutral non-tone: toneless.

Colour: None.
Movement: Closed fist.
Example: ma (question marker).

21

Millions of people
worldwide speak a
new language thanks
to the Michel Thomas
Method.
Heres what people say about Michel Thomas:
This guy is one of my heroes.
What a legend. I love his method.
Definitely the best way to learn.
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speak directly.
Its the best way to learn a foreign language.
Totally life changing.
The Michel Thomas course is much the easiest to make progress with.
Hes the best.
A truly inspirational way to learn a language.
With Michel you learn a language effortlessly.

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