Learn Chinese

Learn Chinese Conversation - Part 5

2009-01-03T13:02:00.001+01:00

Hi Chinese Learners!

This is the fifth post on the topic "Chinese conversation".

Greetings 5

Meeting a Person...

Are you busy with your work?

nǐ	gōngzuò	máng	ma	?	MP3
你	工作	忙	吗	？	MP3

Yes, I'm busy.
(in reply)

hěn	máng	.	MP3
很	忙	。	MP3

No, I'm not busy.
(in reply)

bù	máng	.	MP3
不	忙	。	MP3

Polite Formulas 2

Please come in!

qǐng	jìn	!	MP3
请	进	！	MP3

Sit down, please.

qǐng	zuò	!	MP3
请	坐	！	MP3

Please have some tea.

qǐng	hē	chá	!	MP3
请	喝	茶	！	MP3

May I ask...

qǐng	wèn	,	...	MP3
请	问	，	……	MP3

Learn Chinese Conversation - Part 4

2008-09-20T00:13:00.000+02:00

Hi Everyone!

A question: have you used the sentences I've published till now?

If your answer is "Yes!", so what happened?

If your answer is "No", then go out! Find one Chinese person and talk! I know it might not be easy, but it's the only way to progress fast.

Today more material for your conversations.

Meeting a Friend...

How is your health?

nǐ	shēntǐ	hǎo	ma	?	MP3
你	身体	好	吗	？	MP3

Fine.
(in reply)

hěn	hǎo	.	MP3
很	好	。	MP3

How are your father and mother?

nǐ	bàba	māma	shēntǐ	hǎo	ma	?	MP3
你	爸爸	妈妈	身体	好	吗	？	MP3

They are fine.
(in reply)

tāmen	dōu	hěn	hǎo	.	MP3
他们	都	很	好	。	MP3

Making an Acquaintance 2

Toward or Between Young People

What is your surname?

nǐ	xìng	shénme	?	MP3
你	姓	什么	？	MP3

My surname is Zhang.

wǒ	xìng	zhāng	.	MP3
我	姓	张	。	MP3

What's your name?

nǐ	jiào	shénme	míngzi	?	MP3
你	叫	什么	名字	？	MP3

My name is Mary.

wǒ	jiào	mǎlì	.	MP3
我	叫	玛丽	。	MP3

Toward Anyone

I'm pleased to meet you.

rènshi	nǐ	,	hěn	gāoxìng	.	MP3
认识	你	，	很	高兴	。	MP3

I'm pleased to meet you, too.

rènshi	nǐ	,	wǒ	yě	hěn	gāoxìng	.	MP3
认识	你	，	我	也	很	高兴	。	MP3

Learn Chinese - Translation Example 1

2008-08-22T20:08:00.007+02:00

I have highlighted in yellow all the Chinese characters belonging to the 1000 most used ones. I strongly suggest you learn Chinese starting from them! For more information go to the following page:
http://www.wearyourchinesename.com/chinese-characters.html

This translation from English to Chinese is a quite advanced exercise. Please separate words and give their meaning.

Chinese text:

洁净有多重要？
关于洁净，不同的人，有不同的看法。例如，男孩的母亲吩咐他去洗手洗脸。他可能以为扭开水龙头，让水流过手指，再沾点水，抹抹嘴唇就是了。当然他的妈妈知道这是不足够的。她把男孩带回卫生间，用大量的水和肥皂把他的手和脸都洗得干干净净。不论男孩怎样大声抗议也不能使妈妈改变主意！

English text:

How Important Is Cleanliness?
Cleanliness means different things to different people. For instance, when a little boy is told by his mother to wash his hands and face, he may think that holding his fingers under a running faucet and wetting his lips is enough. But Mother knows better. She takes him back into the bathroom and scrubs his hands and face with plenty of soap and water despite his loud protests!

This exercise is for those students of mine who are learning advanced Chinese. If you are a beginner, don't feel intimidated. Follow my daily lessons and you'll soon be able to read it!

Learn Chinese Conversation - Part 3

2008-07-27T01:28:00.000+02:00

Here we are with the 3rd post covering the subject "Chinese conversation".

Please save on your computer the MP3 files and listen to them again and again trying to repeat, with the same intonation, what you listen.

Greetings 3

Meeting a Friend...

How are you?

nǐ	hǎo	ma	?	MP3
你	好	吗	？	MP3

(when you meet one friend)

nǐmen	hǎo	ma	?	MP3
你们	好	吗	？	MP3

(when you meet two or more friends)

Fine.
(in reply)

hěn	hǎo	.	MP3
很	好	。	MP3

We are fine.
(in reply)

wǒmen	dōu	hěn	hǎo	.	MP3
我们	都	很	好	。	MP3

And you?

nǐ	ne	?	MP3
你	呢	？	MP3

(toward one person)

nǐmen	ne	?	MP3
你们	呢	？	MP3

(toward two or more persons)

I'm fine, too.
(in reply)

wǒ	yě	hěn	hǎo	.	MP3
我	也	很	好	。	MP3

Making an Acquaintance 1

Respectful and Polite...

May I know your surname?

nín	guì	xìng	?	MP3
您	贵	姓	？	MP3

My surname is Zhang.

wǒ	xìng	zhāng	.	MP3
我	姓	张	。	MP3

What is her surname?

tā	xìng	shénme	?	MP3
她	姓	什么	？	MP3

Her surname is Wang.

tā	xìng	wáng	.	MP3
她	姓	王	。	MP3

Learn Chinese Conversation - Part 2

2008-07-25T02:08:00.000+02:00

As promised, here is your 2nd lesson covering the subject "Chinese conversation".

Please save on your computer the MP3 files and listen to them again and again, trying to repeat what you listen with the same intonation.

Greetings 2

Meeting Someone...

Good morning!

nǐ	zǎo	!	MP3
你	早	！	MP3

(when you meet one person)

nǐmen	zǎo	!	MP3
你们	早	！	MP3

(when you meet two or more persons)

Good morning!
(in reply)

nǐ	zǎo	!	MP3
你	早	！	MP3

(toward one person)

nǐmen	zǎo	!	MP3
你们	早	！	MP3

(toward two or more persons)

Polite Formulas 1

Thank you.

xiè	xie	!	MP3
谢	谢	！	MP3

Don't mention it.

bú	xiè	.	MP3
不	谢	。	MP3

Learn Chinese Conversation - Part 1

2008-06-24T23:21:00.000+02:00

If you want to learn Chinese, I can help! I'm going to post a few articles covering the subject "Chinese conversation".

This is the first post, covering some common forms of salutation.

In every post you'll find links to very helpful mp3 audio recordings. Please listen carefully and try to repeat with the same intonation.

Greetings 1

Meeting Someone...

How do you do?

nǐ	hǎo	!	MP3
你	好	！	MP3

(when you meet one person)

nǐmen	hǎo	!	MP3
你们	好	！	MP3

(when you meet two or more persons)

How do you do?
(in reply)

nǐ	hǎo	!	MP3
你	好	！	MP3

(toward one person)

nǐmen	hǎo	!	MP3
你们	好	！	MP3

(toward two or more persons)

NOTE:

你好！(nǐhǎo!) or 你们好！(nǐmenhǎo!) can be translated also "Hello!" or "Hi!"

Hello, Mary!

mǎlì	,	nǐ	hǎo	!	MP3
玛丽	，	你	好	！	MP3

Hi, David!

nǐ	hǎo	,	dàwèi	!	MP3
你	好	，	大卫	！	MP3

When You Leave...

Good-bye.

zài	jiàn	!	MP3
再	见	！	MP3

Good-bye.
(in reply)

zài	jiàn	!	MP3
再	见	！	MP3

With my next post I'm going to add some more useful Chinese conversational sentences.

Free Chinese Names

2008-03-28T13:57:00.004+01:00

"Chinese names are now free!" As you may have already noticed, I have just "opened the doors" to my collection of Chinese names!

They are now available for free on my site www.wearyourchinesename.com

You find everything about your Chinese name:

Its meaning;

Its pronunciation;

Its Chinese characters;

Its pin-yin;

MP3 files;

Number of strokes of each character;

Animation showing the correct order of strokes;

Its simplified Chinese version;

Its traditional version;

Curiosities...

I'm also more then willing to add more names.

Add a comment, please, to this post indicating the name you want to be added.

Next week I'll draw a name from those posted in the comments and add it to the list!

Furthermore, if you think I should add more information about Chinese names, please give me your suggestion! I want that "everything about your Chinese name" really means everything!

Be Hanzi Vigilante!

2006-11-20T04:45:00.000+01:00

That is: be careful to which Chinese characters you choose and wear!
See some bad experiences at Hanzi Smatter 一知半解: Hanzi Vigilante Blogger

Be ready to lol!!!

I can't believe my eyes!

2006-11-13T11:11:00.000+01:00

I did it just for fun, but the result shocked me!
I decided to take the Chinese Gospel of Matthew and highlight in yellow those characters belonging to my list of 1000 most frequently used Chinese characters.
I well knew that only 6 characters make 10% of the usage of Chinese language, 152 characters make up 50% and that 1000 characters make up 89%.
But when I saw how yellow was the result, I couldn't believe my eyes - and still I don't!
Please take a look at the picture I've uploaded to the page
www.wearyourchinesename.com/chinese-characters.html
and see if you don't feel the same.
Now I'm absolutely sure: if you want to learn to read and write in Chinese, you must give priority to those 1000 characters!

Who's ZHUSAIPEI??

2006-10-09T14:47:00.000+02:00

Easy! Zhusaipei is my Chinese name.
It's made up of three characters. The first one (朱 zhu1) is my Chinese surname. It means vermilion, scarlet. The second one together with the third one (赛培 sai4pei2) form my Chinese first name: 赛 means match, competition and also surpass, overtake; 培 means foster, cultivate.

I'm in Cavezzo now!

2006-09-26T15:44:00.000+02:00

These days I've been so busy!
I'm sorry for those friends who had to wait days for an answer by me :(
I've just moved in Cavezzo, a little city near Modena, Italy - an area full of Chinese people.
My next goal is to know and be known by the 6000-7000 Chinese people living here, just like I did in Bari with my around 1500 Chinese friends!
My new Chinese friend, I'm going to call you soon...

Welcome to my "Learn Chinese" blog!

2006-09-11T23:24:00.000+02:00

My blog is finally here... a place where I can share my random thoughts, ideas, insights, etc. as they land in my head with you, my students and subscribers, wherever I am in the world, no matter what I am doing (as long as there is an Internet connection ;-)
So what can you expect from my blog? Great question... glad you asked!
Every week, at least a couple of times a week, I will share, in Italian or English (or both), something related to China or Chinese language, including...

Information and curiosities about Chinese characters;
Grammar rules;
Pronunciation rules;
News from my life and that of my Chinese friends (hundreds now!)
Updates of my website

If you want to get to know me and what is going on here, my classes, my students, my friends, then this is the place to be!
So once again, welcome and please check back on a regular basis!