Recently I received a number of emails from those who are interested to learn Mandarin (like each one of us) and they are requesting more info on other Mandarin learning coursewares that I could recommend - free or fee-based courses. I'm working out the courseware list on this page at the moment and would be posting a coursework or top-notch school on this part of the site, so please feel free to return here. For the meantime, I wanted to share with you some of the most common phrases that we can all use in and out of China. I've added some 'twist' to the learning experience so as to make the subjects a bit 'sexier'. Also, please take some time to browse the free links and free courseware from MIT, USA through
this link
or let us know if you have some other Free learning stuff or great Mandarin schools that you discovered and experienced, that you want to share and we'll try to cover them here, ping us
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Tools of the "Chinese Mandarin Trade"
I'm not a Chinese language expert but I've lived in East Western parts of China and spent most of my single days in South China for a while and know something about the crowd and environment so, basically, as a PC technician's tools are screwdrivers, so as a Mandarin learner's are his/her hands and tongue : )== . I recommend we, beginners use our hands or gestures while we work-out our Mandarin tongue in the hands-on below or if ever you're stuck with a local who's an only native tongue.
Real Life Mandarin ( Daily Chinese Language Phrases)
So now you're in China and ready to speak-out or probably just preparing for your Beijing 2008 Olympics learn Mandarin bag of tricks that you want to pack up or probably anticipating a pretty chick, handsome dude, up in the East West or South to learn Mandarin with? Let's begin with some of the phrases you may encounter on a regular basis. I've included the Simplified Chinese characters, PinYin, and audio just beside the words. Format is: English (Pin Yin) (Chinese characters ) (Audio sample). So, what are you waiting for, have your hands, feet, pen and paper handy, or fire up your handhelds and go!
How to say sleep in Chinese? SLEEP (shuì jiào) (睡觉) This is a very 'fragile','sexy' and 'mouth-watering' word to use so be aware of it and use with discretion : )
USAGE/SCENARIOS: * You are tired and wanted to rest * You wanted to have sex (Fragile! Watchout! Censored! Boom!) * Your computer is sleeping or on standby (something for the Geeks)
NOTES: Bear in mind that the pinyin "shuì jiào" for the word sleep(睡觉)is also pinyin'ed "shuĭ jiăo" for Chinese dumpling(水饺).The points of distinction are of course the tones.
What if they don't get it? SOLUTION: At times they won't understand what you're talking about in vain. So...don't forget to put your hands on top of each other (sleeping gesture), just beside your ears, bending your thighs a bit towards your right or left to visualize the methods explained above as a last resort, while you speak and express what you mean.
Look straight between the eyes, but avoid putting your tongue out when you speak "sleep" ; )==
Catch you later here at the Learn Mandarin lab.
Learn Mandarin - Emergency Phrases
Let's get to the point now, we all have our emergencies everywhere we go and if it happens in China we wished we've never come here? No! expect the unexpected but keep living in Xiamen : ) Let's face the music and admit it, we can not perfect Mandarin at a glance, so, when emergencies arise in South China, forget Mandarin for awhile but have the following handy:
a backpack, flashlight, matches, lighter, extra laptop batteries, extra mobile phone batteries, extra food, blankets, clothing and related items for different kinds of weathers
your friend's contact numbers and addresses
your consulate or embassies' contact numbers - make sure that you had registered earlier before or after arriving in China so you and your families' whereabouts are known. Also don't forget to register at the local Chinese police station. If you are not a "believer" on safety deposit boxes or the bank, make sure that you have one handy but fire/fool-proof box or suitcase at home to stash all documents or valuables so when the need arises that you need to run you'll just grab that box and hit the stairs or the road even if you're just on your underwear. : )= How about an earthquake? We'll talk about that real-life experience later and cite earthquake as a scenario in our Learn Mandarin for emergencies tutorials below.
SCENARIO: You're asleep (say around 1:00 am) on the 17th floor of a high rise building and an earthquake with a magnitude of 2.5 to 5.4 (can be felt but probably causes some minor damages) sways you in your sleep a bit. You were dreaming that you were in a date with Britney Spears and you were suddenly awaken by a faint (but understandable) voice coming thru your condo walls echoing from your neighbors. SOLUTION: Learn the emergency Mandarin word: Earthquake (dì zhèn) ( 地震 ) - this is another fragile word to use so please only use it within serious scenarios.
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