“buy”; but with fourth tone mài 卖 means “sell”! What a big difference in their meanings! You don’t want to get this wrong when you shop in China.
Okay! Now that you have learned what pinyin is all about, and you know the initials, finals, and tones, it’s time to use them. You will see that you’re able to speak Chinese sentences already. Listen to the audio and follow along with me to read some “Practice Pinyin.” Nice and loud…
Practice Pinyin 拼音练习
| bā | bá | bǎ | bà |
| gē | gé | gě | gè |
| mēi | méi | měi | mèi |
| wō | wó | wǒ | wò |
| hē | hé | hě | hè |
| mā | má | mǎ | mà |
| jiē | jié | jiě | jiè |
| dī | dí | dǐ | dì |
| yōu | yóu | yǒu | yòu |
Sentence 1
I have dad, mom, an older brother, an older sister, a younger sister, and a younger brother.
Wǒ yǒu bà ba, mā ma, gē ge, jiě jie, mèi mei hé dì di.
我 有 爸 爸，妈 妈，哥哥，姐姐，妹 妹 和弟弟。
Let’s keep practicing:
| shī | shí | shǐ | shì |
| guō | guó | guǒ | guò |
| zāi | zái | zǎi | zài |
| zhōng | zhóng | zhǒng | zhòng |
| mēi | méi | měi | mèi |
| rēn | rén | rěn | rèn |
| xuē | xué | xuě | xuè |
| wēn | wén | wěn | wèn |
Sentence 2
I’m American. I’m learning Chinese.
Wǒ shì měi guó rén. Wǒ zài xué zhōng wén.
我 是 美 国 人。我 在 学 中 文。
Ho, ho! You have now spoken two very important sentences. Practice them with your friends and family. They’ll be surprised with your progress in your first lesson. You’re able to speak some real Chinese sentences! Not bad!
Now, take a break, and then we’ll start a new chapter. There are a lot of interesting things ahead for you to learn.
Note 注释
The pinyin system has some rules which you need to know. I don’t want to go through them one by one here, because it would be too dry for you. Instead I will discuss these rules in the following chapters using examples, to make the pinyin rules easier for you to learn and to memorize.
Wǒ kě yǐ jìn lái ma?
May I come in?
Měi gè rén dōu xǐ huān zhōng guó cài.
Everyone loves Chinese food.
Hěn gāo xìng jiàn dào nǐ.
Nice to see you.
CHAPTER 1
第一章
Dì yī zhāng
Greetings 问候 Wèn hòu
This is Jack’s first time in Beijing. He is working in China as a representative of an American company. Jack met Lily two years ago when she was a visiting scholar in the United States. Now Lily is a professor at a university in Beijing. They have not seen each other for two years. One Friday afternoon, Jack comes to Lily’s house to visit her.
In this chapter, you will learn how to greet people in Chinese. You also will learn useful sentences, ways to extend your vocabulary (yes, already!), a saying by Confucius, idioms, a well-known Chinese poem, and interesting Chinese culture tips.
Let’s start!
Turn on your audio and listen to the list on the right: New Words 1. Then follow along with me to read each word, and repeat it during the pauses provided. Pay carefully attention to the tones, please.
Okay, are you ready to move on to Dialog 1? Listen to each sentence of the dialog as you read along. Then, join us as we repeat the dialog. You can practice as much as you want. It may take a few times before you start to feel comfortable with saying the dialog sentences!
Jack:Excuse me, is Lily home?
Qǐng wèn, Lì li zài jiā ma?
请 问, 丽丽在家吗？
Lily:Yes. Please come in!
Zài, qǐng jìn!
在, 请 进！
Jack:Hello, Lily!
Nǐ hǎo, Lì li!
你 好, 丽丽！
Lily:Hello, Jack!
Nǐ hǎo, Jié kè!
你 好, 杰克！
Jack:I haven’t seen you for a long time. How are you?
Hǎo jiǔ bú jiàn, nǐ hǎo ma?
好 久 不 见, 你 好 吗？
Lily:I’m fine, how about you?
Wǒ hěn hǎo, nǐ ne?
我 很 好, 你呢？
Jack:I’m fine, too.
Wǒ yě hěn hǎo.
我 也 很 好。