Beginners’ Chinese · 1.2 Pinyin 1.3 Tones 1.4 Chinese characters 1.5 Simplified and traditional...

Beginners’ Chinese

INTRODUCTORY LEVEL

STUDY TIME: 6 HOURS

Beginners' Chinese

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http://www.open.edu/openlearn/languages/chinese/beginners-chinese/content-section-0

L197_1 -Beginners’ Chinese

Beginners’ Chinese

Beginners' Chinese

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Contents

Introduction

Learning outcomes

1 The Chinese Language

1.1 Varieties of Chinese

1.2 Pinyin

1.3 Tones

1.4 Chinese characters

1.5 Simplified and traditional forms of Chinese

characters

1.6 Word formation

2 Introducing oneself

2.1 Names and nationalities

2.2 Professional titles and professions

3 Describing your activities

4 Names of languages

5 Food and drinks

Conclusion

Keep on learning

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Acknowledgements

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Introduction

This free course, Beginners' Chinese , is introductory material and

was chosen to be easily accessible for those with some basic

knowledge of Chinese. This course concentrates on Mandarin

Chinese as a tool for communication, but also provides some

insights into Chinese society and culture. It contains a brief

introduction to the Chinese language, its scripts and sounds, and

how words are formed. The language activities and audio extracts

presented here are not meant for a complete course (i.e. not

designed to move progressively from one to another), but are

samples to give you a taste of what it is like if you sign up for the

Open University’s Beginners’ Chinese course. You will hear short

conversations where people greet each other, introduce

themselves, describe where they come from and what they do for

a living. You’ll hear them talk about their daily activities and order

food and drinks in a restaurant.

The Open University is conducting a survey investigating how

people use the free educational content from our OpenLearn

website. The aim is to provide a better free learning experience for

everyone. If you have 10 minutes to spare, we’d be delighted if you

could take part and tell us what you think

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/OL_ebooks

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Please note this will take you out of this course.

Before you continue with this course, make sure you have enabled

the Chinese font on your computer. The document linked below

gives step-by-step instructions for both PC and Mac users. Right-

click on the link to open the document in a new tab or window.

How to install the Chinese font

l197_1_howtoaddchinesefont.pdf

This OpenLearn course is an adapted extract from the Open

University course L197 Beginners’ Chinese .

Tell us what you think! We’d love to hear from you to help us

improve our free learning offering through OpenLearn by filling out

this short survey.

http://www.open.edu/openlearn/ocw/mod/oucontent/olinkremote.php?website=L197_1&targetdoc=How%20to%20install%20the%20Chinese%20font

http://www.open.edu/openlearn/ocw/mod/oucontent/olinkremote.php?website=L197_1&targetdoc=Beginners’%20Chinese

http://www3.open.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/course/l197.htm

https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/OL2017_course

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Learning outcomes

After studying this course, you should be able to:

understand varieties of the Chinese language

understand the sound system of Mandarin Chinese

(pinyin and tones)

understand simplified and traditional forms of Chinese

characters and how they are combined together to

form new meanings

demonstrate an improved vocabulary and

pronunciation related to names, nationalities,

professions, age, daily activities, languages and

ordering food and drinks

demonstrate a cultural understanding of how

professional titles are used to address people.

understand how characters are combined together to

form new meanings

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1 The Chinese Language

The Chinese language, in its various forms, is spoken by the Han

Chinese and is known in China as 汉语 hànyŭ (literally, Han

language). The Han Chinese constitutes about 94 percent of

China’s population. About 70 percent of the Han people speak

Mandarin Chinese; the remaining 30 percent speak other related

Chinese languages or dialects. Speakers of non-Chinese

languages (e.g. Mongolian, Tibetan) make up about 6 percent of

China’s population.

Mandarin Chinese is the official language of the People’s Republic

of China and Taiwan, and one of the official languages of

Singapore. It is also one of the six official languages of the United

Nations. Mandarin and other forms of Chinese are spoken by

many expatriate Chinese communities, both in Southeast Asia and

overseas. The map below shows how the Chinese language has

spread around the world.

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(Adapted from ASDFGHJ, ‘A map of the Sinophone

world’, 24 January 2009,

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:New-Map-

Sinophone_World.PNG, last accessed 29 May 2009)

Figure 1 The Chinese-speaking world

1.1 Varieties of Chinese

Apart from Mandarin, the other six major varieties of spoken

Chinese are Cantonese, Gan, Hakka, Min, Wu and Xiang. The

map below shows the areas of China in which they are spoken and

by approximately how many people, as well as the parts of China

where non-Chinese languages are predominantly spoken.

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(Adapted from ‘Chinese dialects in China’, 1987,

www.rcl.cityu.edu.hk/atlas/20/A2_20.jpg, last accessed

29 May 2009, and Wu Yue, ‘Map of the Sinitic

languages’, 2004,

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Map_of_sinitic_languages-

en.svg, last accessed 29 May 2009)

Figure 3 Varieties of Chinese

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There is some debate among linguists about whether the different

varieties of Chinese should be regarded as dialects or as

languages in their own right. Interpretations depend on how

‘language’ and ‘dialect’ are defined. Furthermore, each dialect

group consists of many sub-dialects, several of which are spoken

widely enough to be categorised by some linguists as major

dialects (or languages) that could justifiably be added to the list

above.

The samples presented here teach Mandarin Chinese in its

standardised modern form. Standard Mandarin Chinese is

commonly referred to as 普通话 pŭtōng huà (common speech) in

the People’s Republic of China, 国语 guó yŭ (national language) in

Taiwan and 华语 huá yŭ (Chinese language) in Singapore. We will

refer to Mandarin Chinese simply as ‘Chinese’ here.

Chinese is often perceived in the West as a difficult language,

mainly because of its different character script and the fact that it is

a tonal language – i.e. it uses tones to distinguish meanings.

Chinese grammar, on the other hand, is quite simple compared to

that of many European languages. There is no conjugation,

number agreement or case change, so you only ever have to learn

a word in one form.

1.2 Pinyin

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There are various systems for transcribing Chinese sounds into

the Roman alphabet. Pinyin was adopted as the official system in

the People’s Republic of China in 1958, and has since become the

standard and most-used form of transcription in schools, the media

and elsewhere. This course uses pinyin in the teaching of

pronunciation.

Read the language note below about pinyin sounds, then go on

and complete the activity.

Language note: single finals and initials

Chinese is a vowel-dominated language. In total, there are 35

vowel sounds, known as ‘finals’ because they occur at the end of

syllables. The six vowel sounds in Activity 1 are called ‘single

finals’ and are written in pinyin as a , e , i , o , u and ü . These

simple vowel sounds are put together in various combinations to

form 29 ‘compound finals’, which you will learn about later in this

course.

There are 23 consonant sounds in Chinese, called ‘initials’

because they appear at the start of syllables. Here are the 23

initials:

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b p m f d t n l

g k h w y j q x

z c s zh ch sh r

Activity 1 Finals and initials

When you listen to the audio track below you will hear six single

vowels, known as finals in Chinese. Repeat after each sound.

a e i o u ü

You will then combine these vowels with some consonants, known

as initials in Chinese. Note how similar they sound to some

English consonants. Repeat after each sound.

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ba pa ma fa de te ne le gu

ku hu wo yi

You will then hear some consonants, or initials , combined with the

final i . Listen and repeat.

ji qi xi zi ci si zhi chi shi ri

Audio content is not available in this format.

Consonants

1.3 Tones

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Chinese is a tonal language. In Mandarin Chinese, there are four

tones (five if you include the neutral tone). Tones are marked in

pinyin as follows:

1st tone: ‾

2nd tone: ′

3rd tone: ˇ

4th tone: `

The 1st tone is a high level tone, the 2nd rises from medium to

high, the 3rd falls from low medium to low and then rises to high,

and the 4th falls from high to low (see the diagram opposite). The

tone marks are put over the single finals a , e , i , o , u and ü .

There are some syllables that do not have a tone mark (e.g. some

particle words or last syllable in a word), and they are called

‘neutral tone’. The neutral tone is low and flat with no stress.

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Figure 2 The tones used in Mandarin Chinese

Each syllable has a definite tone. So syllables with different tones

mean different things. For example, 王 wáng with the 2nd tone

means ‘king’ and is also a common family name, whereas 忘 wàng

with the 4th tone means ‘to forget’.

Activity 2 Tones

Firstly, listen and concentrate on identifying the different tones.

You can listen again and repeat, emulating the tone. Don’t worry

about the meaning of the words at this stage. Listen to the

examples of the four tones on the audio track below, and repeat.


Tone

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1 mā má mǎ mà

2 tā tá tǎ tà

3 zhī zhí zhǐ zhì

4 jī jí jǐ jì

1.4 Chinese characters

Speakers of different dialects, especially the southern dialects,

often cannot understand each other when they speak. However,

literate Chinese people can communicate with each other in

writing, as they share a common script: 汉字 hàn zì (lit. Han

characters).

The Chinese character script is believed to have originated from

stylised pictures of physical objects, which evolved over the

centuries into characters formed from strokes. The total number of

Chinese characters is estimated at about 50,000, of which roughly

3000 are used for everyday purposes. This course (and the OU’s

Beginners’ Chinese course) teaches simplified characters, which

were introduced by the Chinese government in the 1950s in an

attempt to increase literacy.

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Each character in written Chinese represents a syllable. A word in

Chinese can consist of one character (e.g. 中 zhōng , central), two

characters ( 中国 Zhōngguó , China) or three characters ( 中国人

zhōngguórén , Chinese person/people). In Chinese texts, there is no

spacing between characters. Traditionally there was no

punctuation either, but this has since been adopted.

There is no obvious correlation between how characters are

written and how they are pronounced. For example, the following

three characters, made up of very different strokes, are all

pronounced jing , albeit with different tones: 京 (1st tone) means

‘capital’; 井 (3rd tone) means ‘well’ (as in a water well); and 净 (4th

tone) means ‘clean’.

1.5 Simplified and traditional forms of Chinese characters

In this section you will learn about traditional and simplified

characters and work on some activities.

After the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, the

Chinese government introduced a range of ‘simplified characters’ (

简体字 jiăntĭ zì) in an effort to improve the literacy level in the

population. About 2,000 characters have been simplified and the

rest of the characters remain the same. It is useful to be aware of

traditional forms (sometimes referred to as ‘complex characters’ ) (

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繁体字 făntĭ zì ), as they are still used in Hong Kong, Taiwan and

other overseas Chinese communities.

The simplification of the 2000 characters involved reducing the

number of strokes in most cases, while also preserving either the

overall shape of the character or of one part of the character. In

the table below are some examples of characters in both simplified

and traditional form, and the number of strokes that these forms

comprise.

Examples of traditional characters

简体字 jiăntĭ zì Strokes 繁体字 făntĭ zì Strokes

xué to learn 学 8 學 16

yī medical 医 7 醫 18

mén door 门 3 門 7

chén dust 尘 6 塵 14

shū book 书 4 書 10

Activity 3 Identifying simplified characters

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In the quiz linked below try to match the simplified characters with

what you think might be their traditional forms.

Click here to open the quiz.

View answer - Activity 3 Identifying simplified characters

1.6 Word formation

In this section we talk about combining characters to form new

words. You can complete the activities now, but you may also find

it valuable to come back to them once you’ve covered the other

sections.

Activity 4 Making character combinations

The quiz linked below contains eleven character combinations that

have to do with professions, forms of address, pronouns and so

on. Drag and drop the appropriate characters to match their

English counterparts.

http://www.open.edu/openlearn/ocw/mod/oucontent/olinkremote.php?website=L197_1&targetdoc=Simplified%20and%20traditional%20forms%20of%20Chinese%20characters

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View answer - Activity 4 Making character combinations

Here are some more combinations of characters:

先 xiān (first) + 生 shēng (new; to be born; strange) = 先生

xiānsheng (Mr; husband; old-fashioned term for teacher)

小 xiǎo (little; young) + 姐 jiĕ (elder sister) = 小姐 xiǎojie

(Miss)

北 běi (north) + 京 jīng (capital) = 北京 Běijīng (Beijing)

伦 lún (ethics; human relations) + 敦 dūn (honest) = 伦敦

Lúndūn (London)

地 dì (field; earth; place) + 方 fāng (referring to places and

directions) = 地方 dìfang (place)

中 zhōng (central; middle; medium) + 国 guó (country;

kingdom) = 中国 Zhōngguó (China)

http://www.open.edu/openlearn/ocw/mod/oucontent/olinkremote.php?website=L197_1&targetdoc=Character%20combinations

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Activity 5 Word formation

In the quiz linked below, match the characters to their

corresponding pinyin and English translations using the drag and

drop options provided.


View answer - Activity 5 Word formation

http://www.open.edu/openlearn/ocw/mod/oucontent/olinkremote.php?website=L197_1&targetdoc=Word%20formation

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2 Introducing oneself

In this section, you will learn about Chinese names, how Chinese

people address each other and how profession titles are used.

2.1 Names and nationalities

When a Chinese name is given in full, the family name always

precedes the given name. To take the former Chinese leader Deng

Xiaoping as an example, the family name 邓 Dèng goes before the

given name 小平 Xiǎopíng

It is very common for Chinese people to address each other by

their full names, even amongst friends or family. The most

common Chinese family names have only one character. Chinese

given names typically consist of two characters.

The titles 先生 xiānsheng (Mr), 小姐 xiăojie (Miss) and 女士 nǚshì

(Madam) are popular in Hong Kong and Taiwan, and since the

1980s have been catching on in mainland China, too, especially in

the business sector. They tend to be used on formal occasions

when you are unsure of another person’s position or profession.

The term 太太 tàitai (Mrs) is also used to address a married foreign

woman but is not an appropriate way to address a married

Chinese woman because Chinese women do not change their

family names after marriage.

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Activity 6 Names

Part A

Listen to the audio track below to hear how these two people say

their names, and how they address each other, then answer the

following questions.


Names

View transcript - Names

What is the woman’s name?

a) Wang Xiaoying

b) Wang Jing

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c) Li Xiaoying

Part B

What is the man’s name?

a) Wang Xiaoying

b) Wang Jing

c) Li Xiaoying

Activity 7 Nationalities

In the quiz linked below, you will be asked to listen to the audio

extract, in which Mr Wang ( 王先生 Wáng xiānsheng ) and Miss Li (

李小姐 Lĭ xiǎojie ) talk about their places of origin. Number the

sentences in the order you hear them.

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View answer - Activity 7 Nationalities

2.2 Professional titles and professions

Read the culture note and the reflection note that follows. Then

reflect about your own culture.

Culture: professional titles

China is very much a hierarchical society, where titles are

important. Chinese people like to address each other by attaching

professional titles or official positions, such as 老师 lăoshī (teacher)

or 医生 yīshēng (doctor), to a family name. So you might hear

someone being addressed as 李老师 Lĭ lăoshī (Teacher Li) or

王医生 Wáng yīshēng (Doctor Wang), for example.

This practice is also common in Chinese business circles, where

job titles such as 经理 jīnglǐ (manager), 主任 zhǔrèn (director) and

总裁 zǒng cái (CEO) are used as forms of address, as well as to

http://www.open.edu/openlearn/ocw/mod/oucontent/olinkremote.php?website=L197_1&targetdoc=Names%20and%20nationalities

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refer to someone in the third person. So, for example, a manager

whose surname was Wang would be referred to as 王经理 Wáng

jīnglĭ (Manager Wang). For CEOs, the form is shortened to 总 zǒng

: so a CEO with the surname Li would be referred to and

addressed as 李总 Lĭ zǒng .

Reflection point ( 想一想 Xiǎng yi xiǎng )

In what contexts would you address people by their professional

titles in your own culture? ‘Minister, could you clarify…’; ‘Madam

Chairman, it is clear that…’; ‘Doctor, could you tell me…’ Can you

think of any other titles that you would use in everyday life? Does

the use of professional titles indicate respect for some professions

above others, or is it just a matter of convention? Do you think that

forms of address are becoming less formal?

Activity 8 Describing one’s profession and age

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Practise saying out aloud someone’s age and profession using the

third person pronoun 她 tā (she) or 他 tā (he). Look at the pictures

below and describe the profession and age of each person. Let us

take Picture 1 as an example:

他是工人。他今年四十九岁。 Tā shì gōngrén . Tā jīnnián sìshíjiŭ

suì . (He is a worker. He is 49 years old this year.)

Say it aloud yourself and then play the audio clip to hear a sample

answer.

Here are the professions featured in the pictures:

工人 gōngrén worker

护士 hùsh nurse

服务员 fúwùyuán waiter

科学家 kēxuéjiā scientist

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View answer - Activity 8 Describing one’s profession and age

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3 Describing your activities

Activity 9 Daily activities

In the quiz below link each noun with the correct verb to make up

phrases for daily activities.


View answer - Activity 9 Daily activities

Activity 10 Evening activities

Below is a timetable of evening activities. Give a short description

of three of your evenings in complete sentences. Say your

description aloud and then click the ‘Reveal answer’ button to play

the audio clip to hear a sample answer and see the transcripts.

http://www.open.edu/openlearn/ocw/mod/oucontent/olinkremote.php?website=L197_1&targetdoc=Daily%20activities

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星期一/星期二晚上星期三晚上星期四晚上

xīngqī yī/ xīngqī’èr

wǎnshang

xīngqīsān wǎnshang xīngqīsì wǎnshang

学中文看电视写汉字

xué zhōngwén kàn diànshì xiě hàn zì

星期五晚上星期六晚上星期天晚上

xīngqīwǔ wǎnshang xīngqīliù wǎnshang xīngqītiān

wǎnshang

上网做作业帮助小学生学英文看电影

shàng wǎng zuò zuòyè bāngzhù xiăo xuéshēng xué

yīngwén

kàn diànyǐng

*Vocabulary note: 帮助 bāngzhù to help

View answer - Activity 10 Evening activities

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4 Names of languages

If the relevant country name does not end in the character 国 guó ,

simply add 文 wén in order to form the name of the languages:

西班牙 Xībānyá (Spain) + 文 wén (language) →

西班牙文 xībānyá wén (Spanish).

For country names that end in 国 guó , replace 国 guó with 文 wén

to form the language name:

中国 Zhōngguó (China) → 中文 Zhōng wén (Chinese

language).

The only exception is 日本 Rìběn (Japan), which becomes 日文

Rìwén (Japanese).

Activity 11 Names of languages

In the quiz linked below, identify the country and select the

language spoken there.


http://www.open.edu/openlearn/ocw/mod/oucontent/olinkremote.php?website=L197_1&targetdoc=Names%20of%20languages

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View answer - Activity 11 Names of languages

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5 Food and drinks

Activity 12 Food and drinks

In the quiz linked below, listen to how the various food and drink

items are pronounced, and number them in the order you hear

them.


View answer - Activity 12 Food and drinks

Activity 13 Placing orders

Read the scenarios below and say your orders out loud using the

vocabulary provided. Check your pronunciation by listening to the

audio clip linked below.

http://www.open.edu/openlearn/ocw/mod/oucontent/olinkremote.php?website=L197_1&targetdoc=Food%20and%20drinks

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Vocabulary:

要 yào would like to

瓶 píng bottle

啤酒 píjiǔ beer

蛋炒饭 dànchǎofàn egg-fried rice

一个 yī gè one portion (of)

炒青菜 chǎoqīngcài. stir-fried green vegetables

点 diǎn to order

饺子 jiǎozi dumplings

一盘 yī pán one plate (of)

牛肉炒面 niúròu chǎomiàn beef fried noodles

只 zhī [measure word used after a number for small animals]

烤鸭 kǎoyā. roast duck

1. You are in a shop. You tell the shop assistant that you

want three bottles of Beijing beer.

2. You are in a small canteen. Ask for one portion of egg-

fried rice and one portion of stir-fried green

vegetables.

3. You are in a restaurant with some friends. Order ten

dumplings, one plate of fried noodles and one roast

duck.

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Figure 6 Practice ordering food in Chinese


Ordering food

View answer - Activity 13 Placing orders

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Conclusion

We hope you enjoyed this course. Now that you know how to say

your name, nationality, profession, say what you like doing and

order some food and drinks, you may wish to try them out on your

next visit to a Chinese-speaking country or region!

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About this free course This free course is an adapted extract from the Open University

course L197 Beginners’ Chinese :

www3.open.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/course/l197.html

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University www.open.edu/openlearn/languages/chinese/beginners-

chinese/content-section-0

There you’ll also be able to track your progress via your activity

record, which you can use to demonstrate your learning.

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Acknowledgements

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Beginners' Chinese

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Activity 3 Identifying simplified characters

Answer

Below you’ll find a table with all the characters used in the quiz for

reference.

Matching characters

1国 (d) 2们 (b)

3见 (c) 4谢 (e)

5吗 (a)

Back to Session 1 Activity 3

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Activity 4 Making character combinations

Answer

Below you’ll find tables with all the characters used in the quiz for

reference.

Solution

Solution

We 我们

I am very well 我很好

very good 很好

good person 好人

They 他们

Old Wang 老王

Mr Wang 王先生

Old Li 老李

Mrs Li 李太太

Teacher 老师

Doctor 医生

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Characters

Characters

我们老师

wŏ men lăo shī

很他王李

hěn tā wáng lĭ

好们先太

hăo men xiān tài

人医生太

rén yī shēng tài


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Activity 5 Word formation

Answer

Below you’ll find a table with all the characters used in the quiz for

reference.

Word formation

Characters Pinyin English

好人 hǎo rén good person

生字 shēng zì new character

生人 shēngrén stranger

地名 dì míng place name

人名 rén míng a person’s name

北方 běifāng northern place; north

北方人 běifāngrén northerner

姐姐 jiějie elder sister

英国 Yīngguó Britain


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Activity 7 Nationalities

Answer

Here is a summary of the answers for reference.

1. 您是哪国人 nín shì n ǎ guó rén

2. 我是中国人 Wǒ shì Zhōngguórén

3. 您是不是英国人 nín shì bu shì yīngguórén

4. 我住在伦敦 wǒ zhù zài Lúndūn


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Activity 8 Describing one’s profession and age

Answer

Listen to the audio clip to compare yours with the sample

descriptions.


Professions

View transcript - Professions


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Activity 9 Daily activities

Answer

Below you’ll find a table with all the nouns and verbs used in the

quiz for reference.

Building phrases for daily activities

Nouns Verbs

(a) 电影 diànyǐng movie(s) = 看 kàn

(b) 小说 xiǎoshuō novel(s) = 看 kàn

(c) 作业 zuòyè homework = 做 zuò

(d) 汉字 hàn zì Chinese character(s) = 学 xué 写 xiě

(e) 电视 diànshì TV = 看 kàn

(f) 网 wǎng internet = 上 shàng

(g) 中文 zhōngwén Chinese language = 学 xué

(h) 饭 fàn food = 做 zuò


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Activity 10 Evening activities

Answer

Some sample answers are provided in the audio track below.


Evening activities

View transcript - Evening activities


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Activity 11 Names of languages

Answer

Here are the correct answers:

Names of languages

1 意大利文 yìdàlìwén Italian

2 德文 déwén German

3 法文 fǎwén French

4 英文 yīngwén English


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Activity 12 Food and drinks

Answer

Below you’ll find a table with all the terms used in the quiz for

reference.

Food and drinks

Characters Pinyin English

白酒 bái jiǔ Chinese white wine (lit. white alcoholic drink)

红酒 hóng jiǔ Chinese red wine (lit. red alcoholic drink)

红葡萄酒 hóng pútaojiǔ red wine

白葡萄酒 bái pútaojiǔ white wine

橘子汁 júzi zhī orange juice

苹果汁 píngguǒ zhī apple juice

红茶 hóng chá black tea (lit. red tea)

绿茶 lǜ chá green tea

红烧肉 hóng shāo ròu braised meat in soy sauce (lit. red braised meat)

白菜 bái cài Chinese cabbage (lit. white leaves)

青菜 qīng cài green vegetable(s)


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Activity 13 Placing orders

Answer

Here is the transcript for the audio track above. You can use it for

reference purposes.

1. 我要三瓶北京啤酒

Wǒ yào sānpíng Běijīng píjiǔ.

2. 我点一个蛋炒饭，一个炒青菜

Wǒ diǎn yīgè dànchǎofàn ， yīgè chǎoqīngcài.

3. 我们点十个饺子，一盘牛肉炒面，一只烤鸭

Wǒmen diǎn shíge jiǎozi ， yīpán niúròu chǎomiàn ， yīzhī

kǎoyā.


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Names

Transcript

WANG JING:

您好，我叫王京。

Nín hǎo, wǒ jiào Wáng Jīng.

LI XIAOYING:

您好，我叫李小英。

Nín hǎo, wǒ jiào Lǐ Xiǎoyīng.

WANG JING:

李小姐 , 您是哪国人？

Lǐ xiǎojie, nín shì nǎ guó rén?

LI XIAOJING:

我是中国人。

Wǒ shì Zhōngguórén.

WANG JING:

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您是中国什么地方人？

Nín shì Zhōngguó shénme dìfang rén?

LI XIAOJING:

我是北京人。王先生，您是不是英国人？

Wǒ shì Běijīngrén. Wáng xiānsheng, nín shì bu shì Yīngguórén?

WANG JING:

是，我住在伦敦。

Shì, wǒ zhù zài Lúndūn.

Back to Session 2 MediaContent 1

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Professions

Transcript

1 他是工人。他今年四十九岁。

Tā shì gōngrén. Tā jīnnián sìshíjiǔ suì.

2 她是护士。她今年三十一岁。

Tā shì hùshì. Tā jīn nián sānshíyī suì .

3 他是服务员。他今年二十七岁。

Tā shì fúwùyuán. Tā jīn nián èrshíqī suì.

4 她是科学家。她今年五十岁。

Tā shì kēxuéjiā. Tā jīn nián wǔshí suì.


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Evening activities

Transcript

1 我星期一和星期二晚上学中文我星期三晚上看电视

我星期四晚上写汉字

Wǒ xīngqīyī hé xīngqī’èr wǎnshang xué zhōngwén. Wǒ xīngqīsān

wǎnshang kàn diànshì Wǒ xīngqīsì wǎnshang xiě hàn zì. .

2

我星期五晚上上网做作业。我星期六晚上帮助小学生学英文。我星

期天晚上看电影

Wǒ xīngqīwǔ wǎnshang shàng wǎng zuò zuòyè. Wǒ xīngqīliù wǎnshang

bāngzhù xiăo xuéshēng xué yīng wén. Wǒ xīngqītiān wǎnshang kàn

diànyǐng.


Beginners’ Chinese · 1.2 Pinyin 1.3 Tones 1.4 Chinese characters 1.5 Simplified and traditional...

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