Slide 1

Basic Chinese

History of Chinese language Old Chinese was the language used during the early and middle Zhou Dynasty (1122 BC256 BC) and its texts include the inscriptions on bones or tortoise shells.

The earliest form of written Chinese was carved on bonesCharacter vs. picturesChinese is written in characters rather than letters. Many of the characters were originally pictures of many things. But over the centuries, characters have changed a lot and they no longer look like the things they represent. Can you guess the meaning of the character used today from their original picture above them?

fishsnakeNumber of Characters Here is a written sentence in Chinese meaning I would like to visit Beijing Olympic Stadium.Can you count how many characters this sentence has?

14 characters!Characters vs. WordsIn Chinese, one word can be one character: I two characters: to visitthree characters: stadiumfour characters: Olympic

(I would like to visit Beijing Olympic Stadium)

PinyinTo write down the sound of the Chinese characters in Roman letter, we use Pinyin, spelling of a word. Pinyin helps learner to remember the sound of the character. Most letters in Pinyin sound the same as in English but many are different.

Chinese characterPinyin with tonesEnglishn ho

hellozhng gu

ChinaClick and listen

Tones The same spelling of pinyin can sound different (and mean different things) according to the tones used. There are four main tones. The tones are marked on top of the vowels. Here is an example with ma. Pinyin with tonestones

charactersEnglishm1st tone, high and flatmumm2nd tone, going upnumbm 3rd tone, down and uphorsem4th tone, going downto scold Now click and listen to sound ma in four different tones

A Taste of Mandarin ChineseYou will learn words, phrases and sentences. You will be seeing the characters and hearing the sound of them. There will be 5 topics: Words/phrases used on a daily basisNumbersSelf introductionChinese currencyUseful adjectives

words/phrases used on a daily basis n ho hello n men ho hello (to more than one person)- xi xie thank you- b k q you are welcome- du bu q sorry/excuse me-mi gun xi its ok zi jin good-bye

Now click and listen to the words and phrases

Test on words used on daily basisHow to say the following in Chinese?

1) Hello [to more than one person]2) Thank you 3) Good-bye

Click to listen to the answers.

Numbers 1y 2r 3sn 4s 5w6li 7q 8b 9ji 10sh

11 sh y 12 sh r 20 sh r21 sh r y 30 sn sh 35 sn sh w100 y bi

Chinese numbers are very logical. Can you now work out all the numbers before 99?

Now click and listen to numbers from 1 to 10.

Test on on numbers1. Click to Listen and say the numbers in English (1-4)Answers: 251013

2. How to say the following numbers in Chinese?1) 32) 63) 84) 15 Click and listen to the answers

Chinese currencyThe units for the Chinese money (RMB)are yun or kui jio or mo fn (not very often used nowadays)

(1 yun/kui = 10 jio/ mo = 100 fn)

now click and listen to the units of Chinese money

Test on Chinese currency1. Guess the prices in Chinese currency of the following items in China.

3.00 (3 yuan/kuai )70.00(70 yuan/kuai)18.00(18 yuan/kuai) 2. If the exchange rate is 1:10 British pounds to Chinese RMB, how much do the items above cost in pound?Self and family (1)w jio My name is w sh r su I am 12 years old.w sh yng gu rn I am British

Now click and Listen

Self and family (2)w ji yu s ku rn My family have four people.

///// b ba/ m ma/ g ge/ ji jie/ d di/ mi mei dad/mum/older brother/older sister/younger brother/younger sister

Now click and Listen

Self and family (3) w x huan I like.

//////yn dng /z qi /yn yu/ wn din no/ kn din sh/ kn sh sports/football/music/play with computer/watching TV/reading/

Now click and listen.

Test on Chinese currencyListen to a child introducing himself. Can you find out his:nameage nationality family (how many people in his family)hobbies

AnswersName: d wiAge: 8Nationality: BritishFamily (how many people in his family): 3 Hobbies: watching TV, playing on the computer and reading

Useful adjectives (1)//ho/ hn ho/ ti ho le good/very good/ great ho ch delicious / / w hn hungry/ I am very hungry/k/ w hn k thirsty/ I am very thirstyNow click and listen

Useful adjectives (2)//r/ hnr/ ti r le hot/ very hot/ too hotpio liang beautiful/pretty li/ w hn li tired/ I am tired/gu/ ti gu le expensive/ too expensiveNow click and listen

Test on adjectivesClick to listen and say what they mean in English

Answers 1) I am hungry 2) Great! 3) very good

2. Can you say the following phrases in Chinese? Great! 2) delicious 3) too expensive

Click and listen to the answers.

BBC Chinese learning sitewww.bbc.co.uk/languages/chinese Real Chinese: an introductory course for beginners with video clip, cultural note etc. Pinyin and tone guide plus gamesCharacter guide plus gamesTongue twistersChinese jokes And many more!