How to say Hello in Chinese..
How do you say “hello” in Mandarin Chinese? Let me tell you.
Before we get started with the Chinese language basics, let me tell you a few things about how Chiense is structured. Firstly, You’ll find that basic Chinese conversation is very simple and direct. You can use a few words to say a lot.
Secondly, the word “very” is used a lot before adjectives. So much so, that it is really superfluous. “Very good” just means “good”. To say “very good”, you really need to say “extremely good”.
So, to say “Hello” in Chinese, you say “knee how”. “Knee” as in the joint in your leg and “how” as in “How are you?”. In PinYin (the Romanised form of Chinese writing for language learners) “knee how” reads “Ni Hao?” The prounciation is the same.
The literal translation of “Ni Hao?” is “You good?”
A common reply is “Hen Hao”
“Hen” as in Chicken and “Hao” as in “How”.
So there you have it. How to say Hello in Chinese. There are many other common greetings, though this is the most basic.
As you may know, there are also 4 tones which define meaning in Chinese. I’ll get into these later.
Also, I’ll upload a video to explain this mini-lesson again.
To your language learning success.
Andrew.
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Chinese New Year..Everything Grinds to A Halt…
Doing business over the festive season is bad enough with everyone focussing on Christmas and New Years, though it’s even worse throughout the Chinese speaking world where everything shuts down for Chinese New Year.
Everyone’s too busy focussing on family stuff and holidays to get things done. Of course this is a pleasant break from the regular routine, though for those of us that have to work, it’s just plain inconvenient!
I had to make a visa run to Hong Kong last week for this exact reason; the office was shutting in Taipei for the break and I wasn’t able to get my ARC work permit before the old visa ran out. While in Hong Kong I was confused as to how to talk to the locals. Should I use English, expecting them to understand? Or should I speak Chinese…? I wasn’t sure.
My natural tendency when confronted with a Chinese person is to speak Mandarin. From what I encountered, Hong Kong people aren’t so great at Mandarin. I kept bumbling between Mandarin and English, while they replied in Cantonese.. It was a culture shock for me, even if only 1.5 hours away by plane..
Xin Nian Kuai Le to all of you!
How to learn Chinese with Karaoke…
Karaoke, or “KTV” as it’s known throughout Asia, is easily the most popular recreation there is. For Westerners it’s something we usually only encounter at bars and pubs. Drunken folk get up and embarrass themselves to the delight or horror of onlookers.
Not so in China. Sure, there are KTV bars where you can sing in front of others, though for the vast majority, KTV involves private serviced rooms, rented by the hour, with a waiter who’ll bring an array of food and beverages.
Your first encounter with KTV will probably be an interesting and curious experience. It’s funny to watch how those in your group rush to input their favourite songs, without any apparent heed to politeness or turn-taking.
What follows is a few hours of often dreary Chinese ballads. Even the popsongs seem dull. It’s never quite the same when you don’t understand or appreciate any of the music. There is a way however to turn what can be a dull experience into a useful language learning experience.
Getting something worthwhile out of KTV requires preparation. You have to put in some time and learn a few songs. It doesn’t matter if you have a terrible singing voice. It’s the process and effort that counts. The first thing you have to do is find a few songs you find tolerable. Youtube is a good place to start.
Next you’ll need to find the lyrics. A quick google search makes this easy. Then, it’s time to copy and paste the lyrics into your Chinese word processor. I find NJ Star great for this purpose, since it has an annotation function which creates a vocabulary list of the selected material, including Chinese, English and Pinyin. Also, with the click of a button, you can display the pinyin beside or below the characters as you desire. This makes the song easier to sing along to.
Next time you get dragged along to KTV, go prepared with your lyrics and amaze your Chinese KTV compatriots.
As always, let’s make learning Chinese fun.
More on MP3 –> PinYin..
I wrote about using MP3 audio lessons as a great way to put the focus on listening skills ahead of reading and writing. I find audio lessons are particularly good since they allow you to multi-task.
Today I was doing some mundane job cutting up fliers at work, so took the opportunity to listen to some a Chinese class. This one was from ChinesePod.com, a good website that has a large volume of lessons for all levels.
After listening to the lesson a couple of times over different days, I attempt to transcribe the main dialogue using a Chinese English Word-Processor called NJ Star. This has become my firm favourite, which keeps getting updated with good Chinese language learning features. What’s more, it’s free for the first six months or so! Free is good!
Anyway, I listen to the lesson, type what I hear in PinYin, using the scroll-over dictionary to check what character would fit the context if I don’t already know it. This is EXTREMELY helpful, since it lets you see what characters have the same pinyin spelling, then scroll over to see the meanings. Gone are the days of paper dictionaries and Pen & Paper..!
Once I have a transcript, I click the Annotation button and it spits out a vocab list complete with Character, Pinyin and English meaning..
Finally, I take the lot along to my 1-on-1 Chinese class and repeat the process, checking what I’ve done and practicing the new vocab in context. It’s proved a great method for learning Chinese outside of the old mundane Text-book centric, listen and repeat system..
As always, to your learning Chinese better, faster, while having more fun!
Putting Communicative Competence before Reading & Writing
It’s a well known fact that Chinese is a challenging language for native English speakers to learn. Two aspects spring to mind as the biggest hurdles to overcome: characters and tones. It’s the former of these that I wish to debunk here and now.
Chinese characters are essentially ‘picto-grams’, a sometimes complex mass of strokes that determine meaning and at times pronunciation. Each character is unique, though contains common elements. Once you start to recognize these elements, it’s easier to see the order in what at first appears an orderless system.
The focus here however isn’t on the details of Chinese written characters, but on all three components of any Chinese word: pronunciation, character and meaning.
Pronunciation refers to the way the word sounds when we say it. The most common way to write the sounds of Chinese is called ‘PinYin’.
If we take the word ‘today’ as an example, this all becomes more obvious.
When we have a word in our active vocabulary, we already possess two of the three components; the pronunciation and the meaning. Think about it. Any word you can say, understand and use in conversation is over 65% learned.
This is the natural way we learn, through osmosis and repetition as children. There’s no reason we as adults shouldn’t approach language in the same way. In fact, to attempt to do so otherwise is counterproductive.The traditional teaching method of putting reading and writing ahead of speaking and listening actually makes it harder for students to absorb the material. The focus moves away from communicative competence towards wrote learning.
The conclusion is obvious; learn to speak Chinese before you bother with reading and writing. It makes the whole process harder rather than easier, not to mention more boring.
NJ Star: An English-Chinese Word Processor that helps you learn.
Most word processors out there nowadays support Chinese text input in various forms. My favorite by far however is the latest version of NJ Star.
NJ Star has a few features that make it ideal for the budding Chinese scholar. It’s most notable feature from my perspective is the Pop-Up Dictionary. Simply scroll over any character and up pops the dictionary definition along with the pinyin pronunciation!
NJ Star Pop-Up Dictionary
It sounds simple, though for anyone who’s wasted hours of their lives searching through an actual paper dictionary, it’s a god-send. When you’re studying by yourself late at night, though find you’ve forgotten the pronunciation of a character and can’t find it easily in your Text-book vocab list, you have to resort to the Dictionary.
First you have to identify the radical, then count the strokes. All this wastes time; a lot of time. What’s worse; it’s boring.
If you’re still studying with a traditional paper textbook, consider transcribing the vocab and text into NJ Star with the help of your teacher. This will make your homework and revision much more efficient.
NJ Star: Learning Features
NJ Star includes a heap of other learning aids that will save you time as well as make study more interesting…
There are a range of Chinese input methods, though I most often find myself using the basic PinYin.
Learn Chinese in 5 minutes…. Possible?
There are many products that promise you will “Learn Chinese in five minutes”. Now we all know that’s not possible.
No one could ever learn English in five minutes. They could learn a few basic sentences and get a feel for the language however.
“Start speaking Chinese in 5 minutes” is a more realistic claim. This is definitely possible. What’s more, this fits with my Chinese language learning strategy. “Start Speaking From Day 1″.
It all comes down to the focus of the class and the methods employed by the teacher. This is true too for MP3/ Pod cast lessons. When you put listening and speaking ahead of reading and writing, you activate the language. You get something out of the mouths of the students.
Taking away pen, paper and a text book in the Chinese language learning classroom makes students focus their attention on the teacher. Body language changes as the focus is shifted from the desk in front to the interaction going on in the classroom.
This is just as applicable with remote learning. By remote I mean any Chinese language study package for computer, CD or MP3 that doesn’t involve a classroom or tutor. The one that puts your attention and focus on hearing, absorbing and adapting to the sounds of Chinese will get you speaking the fastest.
So, to Learn Chinese in 5 minutes; go with the product that puts speaking and listening ahead of reading and writing.
Rocket Chinese reviewed: Get the Low-Down
If you don’t know already, Rocket Chinese is a relatively new introductory Mandarin Chinese language course available on the web.
I’ve got hold of a copy and have been testing it out to see if it’s all it’s cracked up to be.
After much time spent looking, listening and clicking my way through the course, I can say in a word YES.
Rocket Chinese is worth the USD$99 price tag.
Here’s why:
What do you actually get when you buy Rocket Chinese?
1) The 31-lesson Interactive Audio Course
2) 31 Grammar & Culture Lessons
3) The MegaChinese range of software-based learning games: MegaVocab & MegaAudio
4) AND the Rocket Chinese Learner’s Forum on the website.
Log into the Members Area to get all your stuff....
What do you actually get when you buy Rocket Chinese?
1) The 31-lesson Interactive Audio Course
2) 31 Grammar & Culture Lessons
3) The MegaChinese range of software-based learning games: MegaVocab & MegaAudio
4) AND the Rocket Chinese Learner’s Forum on the website.
What level of learner is Rocket Chinese aimed at?
Rocket Chinese takes you from absolute beginner, to a basic competency on a range of topics from Ordering Food, to Booking a Hotel Room. Even for those who’ve studied the language for a year or so, it’s an effective system for reviewing and cementing that knowledge through a variety of different methods.
Is Rocket Chinese fun?
The course employs several different types of lessons to keep you motivated and interested. Beginning with the two person conversation lessons which are available for easy download and also online. These are complimented by the Grammar & Cultural lessons which flesh out and explain the language you’re learning.
Is Rocket Chinese relevant and effective?
The topics covered by the course are exactly the conversations and situations you’d expect to encounter during a trip to a Chinese speaking country. Everything from booking a hotel room to ordering food. This is the stuff you need to get a handle on fast.
Are the games worthwhile? Are they fun?
The Mega Audio and Mega Vocab games provide a good distraction from the audio lessons and written transcripts. Even after having studied Chinese for many years, I’ve found the games really useful. Too many Chinese language lessons still center around dry and boring text books. It’s good to have a visually and mentally stimulating way to memorize new vocab.
First choose the topics you wish to be tested on.
Now listen to the spoken vocabulary and choose the correct picture.
The Money-Back Guarantee..
It’s become the norm to offer a “100% money back guarantee” on digital products/ebooks/training courses etc nowadays. Even though this is the case, we often hesitate in trying out a product due to some fear of losing out.
I suggest that even if you worry the Rocket Chinese course is either too difficult, too easy, or in some other way unsuitable for you, try it out. They’ll stick by you. They’ll probably ask for some feedback, though they’re not going to jump down your throats.
These guarantees are there for a reason: to ensure customer satisfaction. If you’re not satisfied, ask for your money back. On the flip side; if you think the course is great, write and tell them so.
I’ve been trying out the Rocket Chinese course for a few weeks now and I have to say I’m quite impressed. If you follow through all the audio lessons as suggested, you will learn to speak Chinese. It’s a great program to set you on your way or to cement your first year of study.
Learning Chinese as a Second Language
In the last decade Mandarin Chinese has become the most in demand second language for native English speakers.This had been due mainly to China’s opening up and liberalized economic policy. More and more companies and budding employees alike see China as the place to make their fortunes.
When it comes to learning to speak Chinese students are often enthusiastic and eager to jump straight in. The reality is however that in a vast majority of Chinese universities, an old style, traditional teaching method is still employed; seemingly with the sole aim of extinguishing from the classroom for good any fun or excitement.
I really don’t know why this has to be so. Language is all about communication: talking to people, discovery, exchange of information. Not boring cold classrooms with poor heating, a crotchety teacher and uninspiring text books.
Traditional teaching methods seem to be so far removed from the reality and functional usage of the language as to be a disservice to students. It’s about time Universities got on up to speed with proven, modern language teaching methods, that have been shown to work. This doesn’t have to come just in the form of computer/ software programs. There’s been a lot of research done on language learning for adults long before computers came to the fore.
I sometimes feel it’s more of a systemic problem than a technological one.
Enough harping for now. More on this later.
The Chinese spoken language
People seem to be aware of the difficulties of written Chinese, with literally thousands of unrelated characters, which seem to follow no phonetic system. This thought alone is enough to scare away many would-be students.
What’s not so immediately obvious is just how straightforward and comparatively simple the spoken language is. The grammar and vocabulary that makes up day to day conversation in Mandarin Chinese is surprisingly basic and intuitive.
Now I’ll tell you why:
First of all, in spoken Chinese, fewere words are used to express oneself than seems to be the case in English. A good example of this is the word “shang”, meaning “up”. Shang is such a useful and ubiquitous word, it’s hard to give a full overview of it’s meaning, though it can be used in any of the following situations:
“shang” = up
shang mian = on top
shang huo che = get on the train (bus, plane etc)
shang da xue = start university (work, lesson, class etc)
Indeed, it’s understanding how simple words are used in a multitude of different situations, though differently from English, which fast-tracks the learning process.
Another example of the relative simplicity of spoken Chinese is the absence of articles, which are rife in English.
A, the, am, of and to don’t exist in Chinese and are the bane of English language learners the world over. For example; “I want to go to” is simply “I want go” in Chinese. Same too with “I want eat, I want see, I want buy”.
I frequently hear my girlfriend chatting on her cell-phone…
“Ni gan ma?”, literally “You do what?”, translates to “What are you doing?”.
Obviously, there is a longer and more convoluted way to express yourself in Chinese language, however it’s often overlooked just how easy things can be, when you really start to listen to native speakers.
A final example is the work “kan”, which means “to see”, look, watch, read, observe, pay attention to etc..
So to with “ting”, meaning “to hear”, or “listen”.
Trying to explain the difference between “see”, “look” and “watch” to a native Chinese speaker is not an easy task.
In conclusion, the budding Chinese language learner should not be perturbed by the seemingly insurmountable task of memorizing Chinese Characters. Day to day spoken Chinese is quite straight forward and simple. Focus your efforts on mastering the oral-aural basics and learning Chinese just might be fun!