Chinese: Lesson 2 - Basic Sentences

If you haven't read the first entry or need to review, please go out here.

One thing that a lot of Chinese people actually have problems with is saying western people's names. Choosing a shorter version of your name is typically a good idea. In my case, I went with my middle name. The name Anthony is too difficult for people to say, and Tony is a common name that teachers give their students in China. My middle name, Randolph, is too long as well, but Randy works just fine. Typically, choosing a 1-2 syllable name is a good idea.

The sentence structure in Chinese is very similar to that of English in many cases. For example,

• Wǒde míngzì shì Randy。
• My name is Randy.

This sentence is very simple, and shows how translating Chinese to English in most cases only really requires English speakers to understand the vocabulary and grammar, rather than having to also learn the sentence structure like with some other languages.

• 'Wǒ' means I, and 'wǒde' is my.
• 'míngzì' means name. ('Míng' like Ming dynasty, and 'Zì' like the sound a bee makes)
• 'shì' means is.
• Randy is Randy, which is my name. Many Chinese will say 'lándí,' but learning to say your name with a Chinese accent isn't really important, especially not for a beginner.

Try to say this sentence using your own name, and do your best to get the tones right. It shouldn't be too difficult. Remember: we're all still beginners, so don't be too hard on yourself if you're not perfect.

Next, I'm going to give you a sentence. Now, some of these words you might not know yet, but I want you to guess what the sentence probably means. Part of learning a language is being able to understand what someone says without understanding every single word used in a sentence. While this might sound crazy, getting comfortable with this idea helps you learn more words naturally and gives you more confidence in situations where people use vocabulary that you haven't learned yet. For example, 'Wǒ jiào Randy' also means "my name is Randy," but the literal translation is, "I'm called Randy." So imagine how many different ways you can say the same sentence in English, and you'll understand why this is important.

• Zhè shì wǒde gēgē。

So, which words do we know? What does 'wǒde' mean? How about 'gēgē'? And shì? So, what do you think Zhè means? You might say it means "this" or "that," both of which are good answers. Now, if you were introducing someone to your brother, which one would you use?

'Zhè' means this. That, just like in English, is a different word - 'nà.'

'Zhè' is pronounced Ger, like the beginning of German.
'Nà' is pronounced similarly to the end of the word Banana.

I'll give you another sentence. See if you can do this one as well.

• Wǒde mā shì sìshíqī suì.

Again, pick out which words you know. 'Wǒde' and 'shì' are in the previous sentence. If you look at the tone in 'mā,' then you can tell which one it is. Also, consider the context of the sentence. "My _______ is _________." Which word makes sense?

The last thing we have learned is 'sìshíqī.' This is actually 3 words put together. Any guesses on what this means? It means forty-seven. Literally, it means 'four tens (and) seven.'

So, what does it say? My mother is forty-seven _______. Only one word really makes sense here, and that's years old. So, the full sentence is, "My mother is forty-seven years old."

'Suì' is pronounced like sway.

Now, can you tell me your age in Chinese? How about your mothers? Fathers? Brothers or sisters? It's not that difficult, is it? You might even be willing to say that Chinese seems easy!

If you want some extra practice, which you'll want if you're serious about learning Chinese, I recommend looking into programs like Anki, or using My Chinese Coach for the DS to practice Chinese on a daily basis.

Anki is a free flashcard program and offers more than just Chinese. It uses SRS to teach you and help you review. You can find a variety of decks here. I highly recommend trying to use this, because a lot of these decks come with audio files which allow you to practice your listening and gives you something to compare your pronunciation to.

My Chinese Coach is a program I used a lot while I was in China. It is for the original DS, and was invaluable when I didn't have access to a computer. While it might not be something everyone wants to invest in, it is worth mentioning.

Probably the best thing about it is that it teaches you to write Chinese characters, and offers a variety of games designed to help you improve your Chinese. My biggest gripe with it is how slowly it gives you new games, and how a large number of the later games aren't very useful or interesting by the time you get them.



In the next lesson, I will show you how I taught myself to write Chinese, and why Chinese appears more intimidating than it really is.