Chinese (Mandarin) - Phrase Dictionary and Study Guide (Book only)

BOOKLET ACCOMPANIES BY CASSETTE 442 3474

Phrase Dictionary and Study Guide

Chinese

(Mandarin)

CONTENTS INTRODUCTION GENERAL EXPRESSIONS SalUfa/ions

.•......... _......•....•....•........ 1

Visits and Introductions .....•.....•...••...••.... 1 Inquiries on the Street .......•....•....•....•.... J Everyday Expressions ... . . . . . • • . . . . • . . • • • . . • . . . . .. 3 PERSONAL NEEDS

Food At the Ac the Al the

..........................•....•....•..... Amusement Places ........••..••........... Hotel ..... _. . . . . . . . . . . . . • . . . . . . . . . • . . . . .. Restauranl ..............••....•...••......

S 6 7 8

TIME, NUMBERS. COLORS

Days 01 the Week .............•....•....•....... 9 Monrhs of the Year _•••••••..•.•...... . 10

Season-Weather . ..................•....•...... .10 Time . .................••...••....•....••....... 11 Numbers ....................•....•...••........ 12 Colors .......................•...••...••........ 14 COMMUNICATIONS

At the Post Office . .........•....•....•....•..... 14 At the Telegraph Station ........•••..••.•••.•..... 15 AI the Telephone ...............•....•....•...... 15 Handling Money ...............•....•...•....... 16 At Customs .... .............••••..••....••...... 16 TRANSPORTATION

@ 1974 Educational Servtces, Washlnglon, D.C. All rights resaMtcl. No part 01 this book may be reprodlJC8d In any Iorm without permission from the publlshar.

All Languagel30 components produced In the U.S.A.

Means of Transportation .......••..•••..•••....... 17 Railway Travel ...............•....•............. 17 At tile Airport ..............•....•.............. 18 Driving an Automobile , 1B Automobile Maintenance , 20 SOCIAL CUSTOMS AND POLin EXPRESSIONS

22

Important Signs

24

ALH MBRA PUALIC LIBRARY All rr./ 11,.~. r ,I ~r-J,

Stut cassette SIDE 1 and lislen 10 the taped introduction before reading.

,

INTRODUG/ON More people speak Chinese than any other of the world's langUilges. It is the official language for the approximately 850,000,000 population of the People's Republic of China and is spoken b)' millions more in Taiwan and in the colonies of overseas Chinese in South East Asiill, North and South AmeriCill, and other parts of Ihe world. The Chinese given in the C.llSSelles and booklet is slillndard Mandarin, known in Chinese as Cwo yu (national languillge). With locilll vuiilltions, this is the native language of Jlboul 8S% oj the Chinese people. II is the medium of instruction in neuly 0111 Chinese schools, world-wide, except in Hong Kong. There are reveral other Chinese dialects that ue related linguistically. Numerically the most important of these are Cantonese (spoken in Kwangtung province, Hong Kong and overseas, including the United Slates), Wu (spoken in the Shanghai area), Amoy {spoken in Fukien, Taiwan and Singaporel, and Hakka (spoken in parts of Kwangtung, Kwangsi, Fukien and Taiwan). The first three are spoken by well over 50 million people each, while Hakka has about half as many speakers. This cassette course has been prepared to furnish you with the basic phrases you will need to communicate in Chinese: what you wish to say and what you can expect to hear in reply. The Chinese phrases you will hear when you listen to the cassettes will enable you to make yourself understood and establish communication so you can get what you want, find your way about, and make friends in China. The phrases on the cassettes arc shorl, easy to repeat and memorize, and they are the phrases that Chinese people use many times each day. The number of words and phrases employed in everyday conversation is surprisingly smarr, and the vocabulary of this cassette course includes and stresses these. Your repetition of these

key phrases will give you an instinctive grasp of how Chinese is put together. II will help you to make your own sentences as you .Iearn new words. You will discover that simply listening, readl~g, and repeating the Chinese souds will give you a heilld start In speaking modern idiomatic Chinese. After a brief introduction by Charles Berlitz, the well known linguist, you will hear phrases in English immediately translillted into Chinese, repeated twice, and followed by a pause. During the pause say the Chinese words aloud. Remember, you CilIn always stop the cassette and replay any phrase you feel unsure ilIbout. Just listening is not enough! You must repeat the words and phrases listened to, as often illS possible. Say the words aloud many times to impress them on your memory. The Chinese phrases are spoken at normal conversationilll speed, illS you will hear them spoken by Chinese people. Practice repeating them at the same speed in order to be understood. It ha:s been proven by testing that ill word spoken 10 to 20 times will impress itself on the conscious mind more reilldily thiln ill word seen 50 to 100 times. When the two systems are combined, as in this course, you will be surprised ilIt the ease with which you will acquire ill whole new vocilbulary. After reading this introduction, notice that on page 1 the English phrase is on the left, and the equivalent Chinese phrase. written in English letters, in the middle. The chJlracters Jlt the right mJlY be used 10 point out what you want 10 say if pronouncing JI phrase is difficult. The beautiful Chinese script is also well worth examining and, in time, studying as ill way of underslillnding the people ilInd culture of ChinJi. It is interesting to note that all Chinese dialects use the same writing systeman important link in national unity that makes Cantonese and Mandarin mutually understandable when wriuen, although not when spoken. Some Chinese ideographs were originally pictures, and these are frequently combined. When the character "woman," for example, is combined with that for "child:' it means "good." One woman under a roof means "peace." The combination of "tree" and "sun" form a character meaning "east," and this is sometimes explained as the morning Sun seen through the trees. However, such traditional explanations, while helpful in memoriZing the characters, do not explain everything. For example the characters "east" and "west" written in sequence represent a two syllable word meaning "thing". The word for "middle" is also the Chinese word for "China" (the Middle Kingdom), going back to an early concept that the Chinese Empire was the center of civilization, with other, less civilized nations on its fringes. Chinese grammar is relatively simple and, like English, depends largely on word order for meaning, rather than changes in word forms.

The pronoun list below will help you identify these important little words when you hear them in Chinese. English Pronunciation Chinese I

WO

yo, he, she, it

fa'

nr

ENGLISH

PRONUNCIATION

:Ut

CHINESE

SALUTATIONS

'fir.

flI! !@ !I< 1M

:t

women nimen yo, 'fir.iJ'j .hey ta men ill! 1I'l !@ ~, :t 11' English, in common with many other languages, uses tonal changes to indicate meaning. such as the dlfference between a statement and a question. In English Ihe lone is related to the sentence pattern, and not 10 Ihe word. (Different words may be substituted to change the meaning without changing the tonal pattern of the sentence.) In Chinese the tone is an inherent pari of the word. The Chinese must, therefore, use a different method in asking questions, ralher than depending on tone alone? It is important to learn Ihe senlence patterns provided, as, otherwise, your ques-tions may not bc identified as such. Mandarin Chinese has four major tones and a fifth caned a light tone. Since the tones are pronounced correctly on Ihe cassettes, simply pronounce the words as you hear them and your own tones will be correcl. The four tones are relative to each other, not a mailer of absolute pitch, and they are given the following lone marks in the book; 1. Normal tone (flat) - ma = "mother" 2. Said as if asking question - ma = "hemp" 3. Said as if saying wh-a-a-H - rna "horse" 4. Said as if giving an order - ma = "scold"

we

GENERAL EXPRESSIONS

=

The use of Ihe same syllable in the above shows how Ihe tone can completely change the meaning of a word. Now proceed with the book and turn on the cassette. And, as soon as you are familiar with the cassette tape, put the book aside and practice repeating each phrase aloud in the time pause after the Chinese phrase is repeated for the second timc. We suggest that you play these casselles not only 411 special "study times" but at different times during the day, even when you are doing something else, like gelling dressed, having breakfast or a coffee break, sipping cocktails, ignoring a TV commercial, or in bed, before going to slccp. Each timc you hear and practice repeating the language will become casier; and the more ohen you repeat the words and phrases the beller you will remember them. Finally they will easily come to mind as needed. ·masculine, feminine and neuter gender

,

Good morning. Mt. lee.

Oliu-'in, Ii syiinsheng.

'i'-'I< 1

Good aflernoon, Mr. lee.

Wli-iin, Ii sy'insheng.

'r'/i'1i!f.~!E

Good evening. Mr. lee.

WIn-:in, Ii sy:insheng.

I!ll:1!f1!'l?

1 .11m ~f)' ple.llsed 10 meel )'OU-

Wo

ll! 1ll ;to ~ JUlll>l:

Th.llnk you.

Syesye no.

Iltot!tl>l:

Pleue

Ching

li.lI

Good by.

Dzii

hen g:iusying jyin d.1u ni.

win.

$~!E

:JIll/.

VISITS ,..NO INTROOUQtONS

00 you know himl

NT rensht l'i m.lll

l>l: 112 lii fUll ?

Allow me 10 introduce him. he.

R.1Ing WQ jyes!w.u rii.

~

m~lf

IUt tiJ it:! •

l~

Jl!!

wO di ji

ll!1lIc.

Here is my urd.

Ie shr wOde mingpyin.

iliil\ll!m~!t

How do you dol

Ni hlu m.lll

''r. I!f I!!l •

Ate you Mr. leel

Ni shr Ii sy~nsheng milll

l>l:Ji!i!f.l\';!E'!ll ?

Where are you stayingl

NT juddi n.jlil

l>l: j£ :(£ mll!l ?

I am Slaying .Ill lhe hotel.

Wo

ll!

Do you speak Englishl

Ni !lwei shwo Ying wen mal

Yes, .. little.

Hwei

judl;i Iyuguin Ii.

y~ir.

j£ :(£

liHlll!J! •

l>l:tllll:ll:x"-'l {'I-!!.\ll·

?

PRONUNCIATION

CHINESE

I don't speak. your language welt.

Wo budi

<Jt'f';;;~iOl:tl: I!

1\Ii* ~lM

tf!jjt III "Pi ;l tJ

'*

;;'1

lIIl'f WlJ ~~ ~ll'lll

,

ENGLISH

d.>•., eggs fish grapes lamb

I.mo,,, IoMle, mangon meat milk oranges oyslers peaches

"',.

pineapples plums po,k

potatoes ,ice (uncooked) rice (cooked) shrimp soda .....aler ~p

.,

string beans

lomalon turnips vegelablei

PRONUNCIATION

CHINESE

lilT

ddudz j,"din

f!J.

pUlau yln..ou ningmt:ng lungS)'. mang-swO

'IiJ'lii

'l'J1J

*'~ lUll

"'lI!

,0,

PRONUNCIATION

CHINESE

~t

SyisYlngchi ~ide shr shemmol syH

Please reserve lwo lickels for friday,

Wo ylu ding lySng[~'ng sy'lngchi wilde pyiu,

l' £. lPI :lI O'HHt ilH!l ? lJ1 'Ii! lIT iii 'ill liLiI1l

AI what lime does Ihe ploly beginl

Jechu syi shbnma ,hmou kJ'"rylonl

pb,y is Kheduled next weekI

Iillili

y"

ENGliSH

AT THE HOTH

JIJ

'FjJl

nyou-nai iyudz

flail

"',

~

liT

liudz

I;

~

ill:1Ii lilT

bwCllw6 m~idz

iiirau m3lingsh\i

sy:i sUdSshwei chishwei ltng dou;yau

Wholl is lhe rate per dolyl

Chi"g-wen Utlgjyi shl dwiishlu chyS" Y;ly.lin! yisyingchi yige ywe

)Jl i(t '"

Do you accepl credit u.dsl

Nimen jyeshOu syin-yung kl moll

ti !I< iHul
;IOU, ~ i'I' •

When can I have them back!

Shemma shrhou keyi gci weil

It Il! ~'i fill 1lf J;l!k

I want a key to my room.

W6 yau U:ngiy~'nde yaushr.

III 'l\!

I want to spe",k to Ihe manager.

Wci yau he jihgli iyJnghwJi.

<JI

Here is my new olddress.

Ii!' shr wade syih dlji'.

ill J