FOREIGN LANGUAGE 4A

 

 

WHAT IS PINYIN? Pinyin is the Romanization of the Chinese characters based on their pronunciation. In Mandarin Chinese, the phrase “Pin Yin” literally translates into “spell sound.” In other words, spelling out Chinese phrases with letters from the English alphabet. For example: Characters: 学习中文 Pinyin: xué xí zhōng wén Historically, Pinyin started as a means of explaining Chinese to Western learners. It wasn’t until the Qing Dynasty that Chinese people really started considering adopting a form of spelling in their writing system. According to some scholars, the beginnings of Pinyin were derived after the Chinese observed the Romaji system and Western learning in Japan. The Chinese government did not officially recognize this language form until the 1950s, when it became a project headed by Zhou Youguang and a team of linguists. It was then introduced in elementary school in order to improve literacy rates as well as help standardize the pronunciation of Chinese characters

  Chinese Greetings How many Chinese greetings do you know? After this lesson for beginners you’ll know more than just a simple nǐ hǎo (你好)! In no time at all you’ll know some expressions for different times of day, and ways to greet new people and close friends. Listen to the native speakers greeting each other, and then go ahead and practice saying each Chinese phrase aloud. Once you’re feeling confident with Chinese greetings, you’ll learn some different ways to say goodbye in Chinese as well. It’s important to get the basics right, and the Mandarin Chinese-speaking people you meet will really appreciate your efforts. You know you’re saying it correctly if they keep talking, expecting you to keep up! When you meet people for the first time and are introduced to them and have made some new friends, you should say nǐ hǎo (你好). It is a very efficient way to show your respect, break the ice and start a conversation. Whereas between close friends, you might as well start by saying nǐ jīn

 Chinese numbers:

  Chinese numbers: Chinese Numbers  When learning a new language, one of the most important things is to get the numbers down. Whether you’re telling a new acquaintance how old you are, figuring out bus routes, ordering food in a restaurant, paying for a taxi, or bargaining in a local market, you’ll be totally lost without a firm grasp of the numbers. Here’s an easy to follow chart showing you how to count to 1,000 in Chinese: NUMBER CHARACTER PINYIN 0 零 líng 1 一 yī 2 二 èr 3 三 sān 4 四 sì 5 五 wǔ 6 六 liù 7 七  qī 8 八 bā 9 九  jiǔ 10 十 shí 11 十一 shí yī 12 十二 shí èr 13 十三 shí sān 14 十四 shí sì 15 十五 shí wǔ 16 十六 shí liù 17 十七 shí qī 18 十八 shí bā 19 十九 shí jiǔ 20 二十 èr shí 21 二十一 èr shí yī 30 三十 sān shí 40 四十 sì shí 50 五十 wǔ shí 60 六十 liù shí 70 七十 qī shí 80 八十 bā shí 90 九十 jiǔ shí 100 一百 yì bǎi 101 一百零一 yì bǎi líng yī 102 一百零二 yì bǎi líng èr 110 一百一（十） yì bǎi yī (shí) 111 一百十一 yì bǎi shí yī 120 一百二（十） yì bǎi èr (shí) 125 一百二十五 yì bǎi èr shí wǔ 200 二百/两百 èr bǎi/liǎng bǎi 300 三百 sān bǎi 400 四百