CcHello Learning Chinese Blog

Laura Robertson

It seems that the demand to learn Mandarin Chinese has grown just as quickly than China’s economy over the past few years. Now, thanks to the Internet, it’s easier than ever to take Chinese classes or connect with native Chinese speakers.

While some aspiring Chinese speakers might have the luxury of a Chinese teacher or friend, new websites make learning Chinese accessible to anyone who can log onto the Internet.

At the same time, learning a new language can be pretty daunting, and with so many choices available, it’s hard to know where to start. How much do you need to invest, in terms of time and money, in order to learn communication basics, or converse with confidence?

The answers to these questions will naturally depend on your personal goals, but for starters, the following websites offer several free or inexpensive options that provide a strong basis for learning a new language. While their approaches may differ, they all offer ways to help you improve your Chinese skills, whether you’re just learning, or nearly fluent.

Chinesepod: Over 300,000 users receive daily updates from this language tool, which has lesson plans on many topics for many different levels of Chinese speakers. Each podcast is about 10 minutes long, with levels ranging from Newbie to Advanced, challenging students of all levels. With over 1,000 different lessons to choose from, it’s easy to tailor your lessons to your interests.

In addition to the podcasts, which also have vocabulary lessons and language exercises, Chinesepod also has message boards where people can chat and ask questions to more experienced Chinese speakers.

While the Newbie podcasts are free, other content can cost between about $9.00 and $30.00 per month. Those with an extra $200 per month can even have the added benefit of a daily personal tutorial, where a native Chinese speaker calls them and talks in Chinese for about ten minute each day.

Italki.com: I hadn’t even been on the Shanghai-based italki.com for more than five minutes when I had multiple requests from three different Chinese students who wanted to chat. The enthusiastic learners make it easy to meet native Chinese speakers, and users with Skype can also video chat or talk directly to their new language friends.

As of April 20% of italki’s users were in mainland China, versus about 7% in the U.S, and smaller percentages were from other countries worldwide, like India, Egypt, Morocco, Brazil, and Algeria.

Since italki.com isn’t just limited to Chinese and English speakers, you could easily find language partners who could help you learn virtually any language, like Spanish, Arabic, Hindi, or even unique languages like Yucatec Maya, Yoruba, Hmong, and Akan Twi.

CcHello.com is another Chinese learning tool, offering tutorials and practice with native Chinese speakers. Much of it is geared to businesspeople who would like to converse with their contacts overseas.

Over 10,000 have registered for their courses over the past two years, and while this offers useful tools for those working in China, a casual learner might prefer a course that’s free of charge.

Livemocha.com is very similar to italki.com in concept, but provides more structured lessons plans. The Seattle-based site connects different speakers from all over the world, and offers basic introductory courses in a number of languages.

While the lessons might challenge more advanced language learners, they provide a great way for beginners to practice speaking, listening, reading, and typing. It offers users a good balance of structured lessons and interaction with overseas Internet users.

A foreign visitor got lost on the street, he approached a girl and spoke to her in Chinese: “Miss, wo xiang wěnwěn ni...”.The girl was so angry and replied to him: “You are so rude! You attempt to KISS a stranger on the street?”

“No, No, No! Wo xiang wènwèn ni — zhege difang zenme zou. I want to ASK you how I can get to this place.”

See? The foreign traveler’s Chinese pronunciation made the girl confused. KISS me or ASK me is a question and trouble too! Remember: 问 wèn (ask) is the 4th tone, but 吻 wěn (kiss) is the 3rd tone.

Chinese has four pitched tones and a “toneless” tone (ā→  á↗  ǎ∨  à↘). The reason for having these tones is probably that the Chinese language has very few possible syllables — approximately 400 — while English has about 12,000. For this reason, there may be more homophonic words , words with the same sound expressing different meanings, in Chinese than in most other languages. Apparently tones help the relatively small number of syllables to multiply and thereby alleviate but not completely solve the problem. Learning Chinese in context, therefore, is very important.

Tone	Mark	Description
1st		High and level.
2nd		Starts medium in tone, then rises to the top.
3rd		Starts low, dips to the bottom, then rises toward the top.
4th		Starts at the top, then falls sharp and strong to the bottom.
Neutral		Flat, with no emphasis.

Can you imagine that the Chinese use only three syllables when expressing the same meaning as each of the following sentences conveys?

A mother who is riding on a horse thinks that it is slow and so she curses it.

Māma qí mǎ, mǎ màn, mā mà mǎ.

妈 mā - mum
马 mǎ - horse
骂 mà - curse

男     nán      –male, man
女     nǚ        –female, woman

头     tóu       –head
头发  tóu fa   –hair

脸     liǎn       –face
眼睛  yǎnjīng   –eye
嘴巴  zuǐ bā   –mouth

牙齿 yáchǐ   — tooth
耳朵  ěr duo   –ear
鼻子  bí zi     –nose

颈     jǐng     –neck
肩     jiān      –shoulder
胳膊  gē bo    –arm
手     shǒu     –hand
手臂  shǒu bì  –arm
手掌  shǒu zhǎng   –palm

乳房  rǔ fáng  –the breasts
胸     xiōng   –chest
肚     dǔ        –belly
背     bēi      –back
腹     fù       –abdomen / stomach / belly
腰     yāo   –waist

大腿  dà tuǐ  –thigh
臀     tún   –butt / buttocks

屁股  pìgu  –butt / buttocks (informal)
腿     tuǐ   –leg
膝盖  xī gài   –knee
小腿  xiǎo tuǐ  –the calf
脚     jiǎo  – foot

When introducing people in Chinese, the order is surname first, title second

The Chinese seldom call each other by their whole name unless they are close friends or members of the immediate family. When addressing people, it is common practice to use titles like

Mr, xiānshēng 先 生

Mrs, fūren 夫 人

Miss , xiǎojiě 小 姐.

The title is placed after the name, thus Miss Zhuo is Zhuó xiǎojiě in Chinese.

The word xiānshēng, “mister”, literally means “first born”, which implies respect. Anyone born before me is older than me, and thus earns my respect due to his age. On some occasions xiānshēng is also used with the meaning of “teacher”.

Women do not change their family name when they get married and that is why Miss Liu, after after changing her marital status, will be Mrs Liu. Especially in Hongkong or Taiwan you can also hear the expression tàitai for Mrs. The word xiǎojiě, Miss, is also used when addressing a waitress in a restaurant or a shop assistant. Xiǎo means “little” and jiě stands for “sister”. Nowadays waitresses are often also called xiǎomèi, which translates into “small little sister”.

The reason for this alteration is that the word xiǎojiě has encountered an inflation due to its connotation to sān péi xiǎojiě 三 陪 小 姐”, those young modern “geishas” who accompany guests in restaurants to sing karaoke.

The term “comrade”, tóngzhì 同 志, was still widely used in the 70s and 80s, but not so much any more - at least not between colleagues or amongst average Chinese citizens. Instead, in the office, people call their colleagues Lăo Wáng, “Elder Wang”, or Xiăo Lĭ, “Younger Li”. Here old and young do not really refer to age as such, but to people’s position or status, although in many cases these go hand in hand, as professional experience and success are supposed to accumulate steadily according to the years in service.

The word shīfu 师 傅 originally referred to a master of any specific skill, such as a carpenter, calligraphist, martial arts master etc. It contained the meaning of being a teacher, and thus the apprentice or student would call his master shīfu. Nowadays shīfu is commonly used to address, for example, a cab driver.

The Chinese like to use words that express profession or social status when addressing each other or referring to other people. This kind of underlines the fact that they pay a lot of attention to social roles and the status of each individual - thus defining the pattern of interaction and how people releate to each other. Surname comes before the title, such as in “doctor Zhang”, Zhàng dàifu 张 大 夫, “accountant Li”, Lǐ kuàijì ( 李 会 计), teacher Liu, Liú lǎoshī 刘 老 师 etc.

The importance of social merit
The main rule in addressing Chinese people is that the family name comes before a title, and the family name is also placed before a person’s first name. This just might stem from the Chinese manner of approaching the world and its phenomena from bigger entities to smaller ones. This also explains why in the Chinese society the focus is on social groups rather than on single members of a group. A practical example of this way of thinking is the manner in which the Chinese traditionally write an address on an envelope: first they write the name of the country, then the city and the street address, and finally comes the name of the person who will receive the letter. In most western countries the order is the reverse - the person’s name first, then the city and after that the country name. Placing the family name before the personal given name implies that the family is more important than any individual member of it.

The complexity of family relations

Within Chinese families, people do not call each other by their names, but instead by words indicating their mutual relationship. There are dozens of different names used to address younger or elder sisters, brothers of various ages, uncles and aunties from the mother’s and father’s side, younger brother’s wife, elder sister’s husband, father’s little sister and mother’s younger brother… not to mention cousins of various ages. Better not to try to grasp it all at once.

Children basically call their parents mother and father, and grand parents grand father and grand mother - here again differentiating between grand parents from the either side of the family. And, because the Chinese just love children, these are usually always given nicknames (xiǎomíng, i.e. “littlename”) used within the family, such as “Little Tiger”, “Little Fatty”, “Little Precious”.

我错了。Wo cuo le. (I am wrong.)
对不起。Dui bu qi. (I am sorry.)
没关系。Mei guanxi. (Never mind.)
亲亲！Qin qin. (Ask for a kiss.)
抱抱！Bao bao. (Ask for a hug.)

Nihao! 你好! (Hello. How do you do?)
ni - you; hao - good
Nihao ma? 你好吗? (How are you?)
Hen hao. 很好。(Very good.)
Xiexie. 谢谢。(Thank you.)
four tones in Chinese.

Do you want to invite your Chinese friends to have fun together, such as having a meal, going shopping, or asking for a dance? The pattern for an invitation goes like this:
Gēnwǒ …, hǎo ma?
跟我…, 好吗？
May I invite you to … with me?
跟我 gēnwǒ, with me
好吗？hǎo ma? = OK? It is a kind way to ask permission.

Words and phrases:

跳(个)舞 tiào (gè) wǔ, dance

吃晚饭 chī wǎnfàn, have dinner

玩 wán, play, have fun

逛街 guàngjiē, go shopping

Let’s practise now:
–May I have a dance with you?
跟我跳个舞，好吗？hǎo ma?
gēn wǒ tiào gè wǔ, hǎo ma?
–May I invite you for dinner with me?
跟我吃晚饭，好吗？
gēn wǒ chī wǎnfàn, hǎo ma?
–Could we go out for fun together?
跟我出去玩，好吗？
gēn wǒ chūqù wán, hǎo ma?
–Could you go shopping with me?
跟我去逛街，好吗?
gēn wǒ qù guàngjiē, hǎo ma?

早上 zǎoshang, morning
中午 zhōngwǔ, noon
下午 xiàwǔ, afternoon
晚上 wǎnshang, evening, night早上 好 zǎoshang hǎo. Good morning!
下午 好 xiàwǔ hǎo. Good afternoon!
晚上 好 wǎnshang hǎo. Good night!
o’clock (点钟 diǎnzhōng) - 9:00 (jiǔ diǎnzhōng 九点钟)
half = 30 minutes (bàn 半) - 7:30 (qī diǎn bàn 七点半)
minute (fēn分) - 3:56 (sān diǎn wǔ shí liù fēn三点五十六分)
a quarter = 15 minutes (yí kè 一刻)The simple way for TIME expressions:

You say the general time of the day (moring / noon / afternoon / evening) for the first part, then you come to the exact time (hour and minutes) for the second. For the exact time, hour goes before the minute. For example:

7:00 AM 早上七点钟

3:56 三点五十六分

7:30 七点三十分， 七点半

7:15 七点十五分， 七点一刻

More lessons about TIME of the day in Chinese

拜拜 bye-bye、可口可乐 Coca-cola、咖啡 coffee、巧克力 chocolate、汉堡包hamburger、巴士 bus 、卡通 cartoon、台风 typhoon、黑客 hacker、因特网 Internet.

You’d better learn to practice all of them with pinyin and English translation. Any problems with these borrowed words, please turn to ChineseHour teachers online, we are ready to help you any hour of the day.
ChineseHour现代汉语外来词目录
A
奥林匹克 ào lín pǐ kè, Olympic 国际奥林匹克运动
阿斯匹林 āsīpǐlín, aspirin 乙酰水杨酸，解热镇痛药 阿司匹林
奥斯卡 àosīkǎ, Oscar 美国电影金像奖
爱滋病 àizībìng, AIDS - acquired immunodeficiency syndrome 获得性免疫缺损综合症
B
芭蕾（舞）bālěi, ballet 一种起源于意大利的舞剧
巴士 bāshì, bus 公共汽车
拜拜 bàibai , bye-bye 再见
白兰地bái lán dì, brandy 用葡萄等发酵蒸馏制成的酒
百事可乐bǎishì kělè, Pepsi-Cola 一种饮料品牌
保龄球bǎolíng qiú, bowling 一种室内体育运动项目
奔驰bēnchí, Benz 德国汽车品牌
绷带 bēngdài , bandage 包扎患处的纱布带
必胜客 bìshèngkè, Pizza Hut
比基尼 bǐjīní, bikini 泳装
冰淇淋 bīngqílín, ice-cream 雪糕 冰激凌、冰淇凌、冰其淋、冰激淋
D
打 dǎ, dozen 十二个为一打 大、打臣、大臣
代沟 dàigōu, generation gap 两代人价值观念等方面的差异
迪斯科 dísīkē, disco 放送流行乐曲唱片供人跳舞的夜总会，的士高
迪斯尼 dísīní, Disneyland 美国迪斯尼乐园
丁克族 dīngkè zú, dink 双收入无子女家庭成员
吨 dūn, ton 公制重量单位
G
高尔夫 gāo ěr fū, golf高尔夫体育运动
咖喱 gālí, curry 用胡椒、茴香等粉末制成的调味品
古兰经 gǔlánjīng, Koran 伊斯兰教的经典
H
哈雷彗星 hāléi huìxīng, Halley’s comet
汉堡包 hànbǎo bāo, hamburger 用牛肉馅做成的小包。
好莱坞 hǎoláiwù, Hollywood 美国加利福尼亚州洛杉矶市的一区，指称美国电影业或美国电影界等
荷尔蒙 héěrměng , hormone 激素
黑客 hēikè, hacker 指非法入侵他人计算机网络者 骇客
华尔街 huáěrjiē, Wall Street 美国纽约的一条街
华尔兹 huáěrzī, waltz 一种圆舞曲
J
基督 jīdū, Jesus 基督教称救世主
基因 jīyīn, gene 具有特定的核苷酸顺序的核酸分子中的一个片断，储蓄特定遗传信息的功能单位
吉他 jítā, guitar 六弦琴，一种拨弦乐器 吉它、吉榻、吉泰、结他
酒吧 jiǔbā, bar 西餐馆或旅馆中所设的卖酒专柜
爵士舞 juéshìwǔ, jazz dance / music
K
咖啡 kāfēi, coffee 用咖啡种子的粉末制成的饮料 加啡、架啡
卡车 kǎchē, car 运输货物的载重汽车
卡片 kǎpiàn, card 用来记录事项的纸片卡
卡拉OK kǎ lā OK, karaoke 伴随音乐歌碟唱歌
开司米 kāisīmǐ, cashmere 原指克什米尔地方所产的山羊绒毛，现泛指优良的羊绒织品
拷贝 kǎobèi, copy 复印，复制
可口可乐 kěkǒu kělè, Coca-cola 一种国外饮料品牌
克拉 kèlā, carat 宝石的重量单位
克隆 kèlóng, clone 无性繁殖
酷 kù, cool
L
拉力赛 lālìsài, rally
镭射 léishè, laser 激光 莱塞、镭射、雷射、莱泽、睐则
雷达 léidá, radar — radio detecting and ranging的词头拼合而成 理想
罗曼蒂克 luó màn dì kè, romantic 浪漫
M
马拉松 mǎlāsōng, marathon 超长距离赛跑，全程为42.195公里
麦克风 màikèfēng , microphone 话筒，扩音器 麦格风、麦克
麦当劳 màidāngláo, McDonald
芒果 mángguǒ, mango 指一种常绿植物或其果实 杧果、檬果、蚊胶
迷你裙 mínǐ qún, miniskirt 一种超短裙
米 mǐ, metre 长度单位
模特 mote, model 展示服装的人或模型
N
霓虹灯 níhóng dēng, neon 一种发出多种颜色的灯
尼龙 nílóng, nylon 一种合成纤维 尼纶
牛顿 niúdùn, Newton 英国科学家名
诺贝尔 nuòbèiěr, Nobel 瑞典科学家名
O
欧佩克 ōupèikè, OPEC 石油输出国组织
P
派pài, pie 一种西点，馅饼 排、批、攀
潘多拉魔盒 pānduōlā móhé, Pandora’s box 希腊神话中宙斯给潘多拉的一个里面藏有疾病、疯狂、罪恶、嫉妒等祸患的盒子。
披头士 pītóushì, Beetles 原义指硬壳虫乐队及其成员
啤酒 píjiǔ, beer 以大麦等原料发酵制成的酒
扑克 pūkè, poker 一种纸牌

Q
恰恰舞 qiàqià wǔ, cha-cha 一种现代交际舞，节奏明快、急速，起源与拉丁美洲
巧克力 qiǎokèlì, chocolate 以可可粉等为原料制成的食品 朱古力
R
热狗 règǒu, hotdog 中间夹有热香肠、酸菜、芥末油等的面包
软件 ruǎnjiàn, software
S
三明治 sānmíngzhì, sandwich 一种夹心面包 三文治
桑拿浴 sāngná yù, sauna 芬兰式蒸汽浴 桑那浴、桑纳浴
色拉 sèlā, salad 西餐中的一种凉拌菜 沙拉、沙辣、沙律
色拉油 sèlā yóu, salad oil 一种调制色拉的上等植物油
沙发 shāfā, sofa
山姆大叔 shānmǔ dàshū, Uncle Sam 美国别称
T
台风 táifēng, typhoon
坦克 tǎnkè, tank
踢踏舞 tītà wǔ, tittup 一种以皮鞋击地作声的舞蹈
贴士 tiēshì,  tip 提示, 建议
听 tīng, tin 罐
图腾 túténg, totem 原始人人为的与本氏族有特殊神秘关系的某种动物、植物或无生物，即为该氏族的保护者和徽记
托福 tuōfú, TOEFL — Test of English as a Foreign Language
脱口秀 tuōkǒu xiù, talk show 指一种谈话式的节目
W
微软 wēiruǎn, Microsoft Corporation
伟哥 wěigē, vigor 一种美国性功能药品
维他命 wéitāmìng, vitamin 维生素
外包 wàibāo, outsourcing
X
嬉皮士 xīpíshì, Hippies 指美国在20世纪60年代出现的不满现实而带有颓废色彩的青年
席梦思 xímèngsī, simmons 一种有弹簧装置的床垫
香波 xiāngbō, shampoo 护发洗涤用品
歇斯底里 xiēsīdǐlǐ, hysteric 癔病，一种精神病
休克 xiūkè, shock
雪茄 xuějiā, cigar 用烟叶卷成的烟，比一般香烟粗且长
Y
雅皮士 yǎpíshì, Yuppies 指现代美国都市中年轻的专业人士
雅思 yǎsī, IELTS — International English Language Testing System
伊妹儿 yīmèir , E-mail 电子邮件
引擎 yǐnqíng , engine 发动机
因特网 yīntèwǎng, Internet
幽默 yōumò, humor
犹大 yóudà, Judas 出卖耶稣的叛徒
Z
侏罗纪 zhūluójì, Jurassic period 地质年代中生带的第二个纪

Wall St slumps as Lehman collapses, Merrill sold. US shares went into a freefall overnight as part of a global rout after a bankruptcy at Lehman Brothers stoked fears about contagion affecting world markets and the economy.

雷曼兄弟 léimàn xiōngdì, Lehman Brothers

美林证券 měilín zhèngquàn, Merrill Lynch

美国国际集团 měiguó guójì jítuán, American International Group (AIG)

摩根士丹利 mógēn shìdānlì， Morgan Stanley

高盛集团 gāoshèng jítuán，Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

房地美 fáng dì měi, Freddie Mac

房利美 fáng lì měi, Fannie Mae

美联储 měi lián chǔ, the US Federal Reserve

纽约证交所 niǔyuē zhèng jiāo suǒ, New York Stock Exchange (NYSE)

美国财政部 měiguó cáizhèng bù, the US Treasury Department

白宫 báigōng, White House

布什政府 bùshí zhèngfǔ, Bush Administration

国会 guóhuì, Congress
———-

华尔街金融危机 huáěrjiē jīnróng wēijī, financial crisis on Wall Street

次贷危机 cìdài wēijī, subprime mortgage crisis

信贷危机 xìndài wēijī, credit crisis

股市暴跌 gǔshì bàodiē, Stock markets drop sharply.

破产 pòchǎn , bankruptcy

申请破产保护 shēnqǐng pòchǎn bǎohù, to file for bankruptcy protection

救市 jiù shì, to save the financial market

收购 shōugòu, to buy

投资银行 tóuzī yínháng，investment banks

商业银行 shāngyè yínháng，commercial bank

不良资产 bùliáng zīchǎn, bad debt

巨额注资行动 jùé zhùzī xíngdòng, giant liquidity operation

紧急财政援助 jǐnjí cáizhèng yuánzhù, financial bailout

———-
一保一控 yī bǎo yī kòng, to strike a delicate growth-inflation balance
– Premier Wen Jiabao said China should strike a balance between stable, comparatively fast economic growth and inflation control in macroeconomic management.
经济增长 jīngjì zēngzhǎng, economic growth

通货膨胀 tōnghuò péngzhàng, inflation