Chinese is NOT HARD at all

In Chinese there are several different ways to say hello.
The most popular expression is 你好。
It means ‘hi’ or ‘hello’ and can be used at any time, on any occasion and by anybody.
It can be used on either a stranger or a person you’ve already known.

The pronunciation of 你 is similar to that of the English word ‘knee’, and 好 similar to ‘how’.
But the tone is totally different.
That’s because Chinese is a tonal language.
It has four basic tones.

Of course, after you say 'nin hao', you won’t expect the same words as a reply. Actually the reply can be 你好, or simply a nod.

你好吗？How are you?
It’s 你好 plus 吗.
Like a question mark, 吗 is a sign of a question in Chinese.
In a reply to '你好吗?', we usually say '我很好'. I’m very well.
我 is I, 很 means ‘very’, and 好 is ‘good’, remember?
So word for word, 我很好 means ‘I – very good.’

In fact there are in China some special ways to say hello, which may confuse the foreigners if they don’t know the local culture.
For instance, ‘你吃了吗’ - ‘have you eaten’ .
You'll hear this very very often in Beijing.
But never be serious to answer ‘Yes, I’ve eaten blah blah blah at my dinner.’
In fact, ‘你吃了吗’ – Have you eaten? - is simply a casual greeting like 你好.
It’s like we Canadians always talk about weather in our daily greetings.
But this doesn’t mean we’re all meteorologists. Got it?

After you’ve greeted someone, you are supposed to introduce yourself, or introduce your friends.
This is done in English too, right?

Introductions happen between two people who meet for the first time.

It can also happen among three happen or more.
In this case, the person will introduce his or her friends as well.

是(shì) is equal to the meaning of “be” in English, but there is no change of time.
You can just use it.
There is no need to consider the time change or the form of the subject, no matter the single or plural, or the first person or the second person.
We can say “你是中国人吗” (nǐ shì zhōngguó rén ma)?

There are two ways of expressing the nationality of the person.
You can say 我是加拿大人(wǒ shì jiānádà rén), I am Canadian. wǒ shì jiānádà rén.
Or you can say. 我来自加拿大, wǒ láizì jiānádà. I’m from Canada. 来自, from.
来自. (láizì)
我是加拿大人(wǒ shì jiānádà rén).
我来自加拿大(wǒ láizì jiānádà).

How should Lucy continue with the conversation?
Then Lucy can deliver the self-introduction.
So does the other person.
It seems easy, right?

Do you know how to introduce your family to your friends?
Well, when you introduce your parents to your friends you can say 这是我爸爸和妈妈。爸爸, papa, 妈妈, mum. 和 means and.
这是我爸爸和妈妈。zhè shì wǒ bàba hé māma.
Great! Hopefully you’ll find this useful!

In our previous lessons we learnt how to pronounce the Chinese character 你 (nǐ), which is similar to the English word knee, k n e e , but 你 is the third tone.
Today we’ll teach you another one: 您.
Just add an “n” after 你 (nǐ). 您 (nín ), the second tone.

Can you ask one’s nationality in Chinese?
Listen Carefully: 您好, 您是哪国人？Literally means hello, you are from which country?
哪, where. 哪(nǎ).
The pronunciation of 哪 is similar to the latter part of the English name Tina.
But in Chinese it’s the third tone.
国 is short for the word 国家(guó jiā ), country.
人(rén), person.
您好, 您是哪国人？nín hǎo, nín shì nǎ guó rén ?

是(shì) means am, is and are in English.
There is no need to consider the time change or the form of the subject, no matter single or plural, or the first person or the second person.
是(shì) is the symbol of a declarative sentence.

我的名字是Yuanbao。
(Wǒ de míngzi shì Yuanbao.)
My Chinese name is Yuanbao.

我是加拿大人。
(Wǒ shì Jiānádà rén.)
I’m Canadian.

吗 indicates that the sentence belongs to the interrogative kind.
Like a question mark, 吗 is a sign of a question in Chinese.
You can say '你好吗？' to your friends and other people you’ve already known.

I’ve learnt the two basic sentence structures. It’s a good beginning.

- Thank you for inviting me to the French Movie Show. I love it!
- You are welcome. I’m happy you enjoyed it.

How to say “Thank you” in Chinese?
That’s just what I want to tell you today.
Today we’ll learn a few of popular expressions of saying thanks.

***************** Key words of the day
谢谢你。 xiè xie nǐ
Thank you.

非常感谢。fēi cháng gǎn xiè
Thank you very much.

不用谢。不客气。bú yòng xiè , bú kè qì
You are welcome.
*************

You can get the pronunciation of 不 by deleting the “sh” from the English word “bush”.
And then you will get 不(bù). 不用谢.
Literally it means “Don’t thank”, 不用 is “There’s no need to…”, and 谢 is “Thank”.
So the whole sentence has the meaning of “Don’t mention it.”

But I think one thing is important.
And that is the pronunciation of 不 would be changed to bú, the second tone, when it’s put in front of the one that has the fourth tone.
So it is 不用 bú yòng instead of bù yòng?

There is another way to say “Thank you”.
感谢 is the formal way of 谢谢.
It’s widely used in writing. For example, 感谢你.

感谢你(gǎn xiè nǐ )
Thank you.

When you want to show your great appreciation to somebody.
The proper saying is 非常感谢.
Thank you very much.
非常 is an adverb, which means “very”, “quite”.

非常感谢(fēi cháng gǎn xiè )

But the order of the words is different from that of in English.
Very much thank you. 非常感谢.

***************Key Words Reminder:
谢谢你。Thank you.

非常感谢。Thank you very much.

不用谢。You are welcome.
***************

Lesson 006 Goodbye‏

My best friend Trish is leaving tomorrow.

She is catching a flight in the afternoon and I will be seeing her off at the airport.

What should I say?

The first thing you need to learn is goodbye.

In Chinese, goodbye is 再见.

再 is again, 见 is see.

Literally, 再见 is to see you again.

再见 zài jiàn.

The pronunciation is a little bit confused sometimes.

It’s okay. Let me explain.

You know “一” means one.

The first tone “一” should be changed to yì, the fourth tone, when you put it in front of a third tone.

一会儿见 yì huǐ er jiàn.

I don’t want my friend to go back to Ireland.

I’ll miss her. She is one of my best friends.

And she had a fun time in Beijing.

But tell me how to say, “take care” in Chinese.

It’s 保重. Take care, 保重, bǎo zhòng.

You know there’s another useful saying, which is 一路顺风(yí lù shùn fēng)，Have a nice trip!

Is it common?

Yes, but it’s probably not suitable to say it when your friend is catching a plane.

That’s because in Chinese, 一路顺风 literally means “sail with the wind”.

But if you are taking a plane, too much wind might cause turbulence!

So it’s probably not best to say at the airport.