Common Mistakes to Avoid in Learning Chinese

From research, we found some common mistakes made by many Chinese learners. We have listed some we consider serious one below. If you any happen to you, you’d better recover it.
Think knowledge as skill

Let’s take swimming as an analogy. Suppose you read a book on swimming to learn how to swim. Even after you have gone through the book and had professional knowledge on swimming, you are not able to swim. Why? Because swimming is not a kind of knowledge; instead, it is a kind of skill as well as Chinese language. Practice is not only the core of skill learning, but also the efficient way to turn the knowledge into application. You should learn how to use what you have learned through practice.
Believe in instant learning

I have no faith in some advertisements with slogan ‘learn Chinese in ten days’. Lots of learners fall into their traps, wasting time and money. Every serious learner should realize that no pain, no gain. There is no short-cut to learn Chinese, only existence of good way or poor way. For example, it is not good to recite a Chinese word by the way of dictating it as it only trains your eyes and hand. The good way is to keep your eyes on the word, write the words down and read it loudly as to improve your speaking and listening skills.
Use pinyin as character

I have read an article saying pinyin will soon take the place of Chinese characters in China. How ridiculous it is! There are only about 1700 syllables in Chinese and every character is single-syllable. There are more than 80,000 Chinese characters. What does that mean? It means that same pinyin leads to many different characters. So I strongly recommended that serious learner do not rely on pinyin too much, it is only used to indicate Standard Mandarin pronunciation. As an intermediate learner, you’d better read some books with no pinyin. If you encounter any Chinese symbol without knowing its pronunciation, consult this character in dictionary by radical and stroke method.
Lack of systematic learning

There are too many learning materials on the market. It is good as you will have more choices, but it will cause some problem. Some learners switch from one set of textbook to another frequently. The best way is to concentrate on a suitable set of text-book and have some other reading, listening materials as supplements.

Have not made any of above mistakes? congratulations! Go ahead. But keep in mind, always try to avoid them.

Elementary: Finding an Apartment

中国人和老外容易发生的10大误会 6

Top 5 鼓掌

　　当众发言的时候，如果别人给自己鼓掌，为了表达谢意，中国人通常都会暂停发言，而后随着听众一起鼓掌。 In this way he expresses his thanks to the audience. 可是老外就不理解为何要自己给自己鼓掌。自己给自己鼓掌，多不谦虚啊。Of course, when a Chinese speaker claps his hands as the audience is applauding, he is not applauding himself, but expressing his thanks to his audience. As noted earlier, Westerners feel puzzled when watching such a scene, since they think the speaker or the performer is applauding himself. 所以，以后老外在场，发言的人不妨用鞠躬或者挥手代替鼓掌。当然，微笑站立也是一种选择。

Chinese Characters

Chinese Characters are the foundation in Chinese language. If you totally have no idea of Chinese language or Chinese symbols, we recommend that you read the Chinese Character Overview first.

How to Write Chinese Characters

Chinese characters consist of strokes as their fundamental elements, the same way as English words consisting of letters. The stroke order refers to the way in which Chinese characters are written. The stroke order of a character gives the order and direction in which the strokes are written.

Here is an example how the character 永 is written stroke by stroke. The number of strokes is five. The number of strokes of Chinese characters varies from one to thirty.

» Tip

The number of strokes used to make each character is used as index when you come to look them up in a dictionary.

How to Pronounce Chinese Characters

There is a large and very diverse group of Chinese dialects spoken across northern and southwestern China. Standard mandarin is the official spoke language in Mainland China and Taiwan. In English, phonetic alphabet symbol provides the way how to spell the words. In Chinese, pinyin, a system of Roman alphabet, is used to express the sounds of characters.

For example, the character 车 means vehicle. Chē is pinyin for the character 车, while [`vi:ikl] is phonetic alphabet symbol for vehicle.

	Chinese	English
Pronunciation	chē or che1	[`vi:ikl]
Writing	车	vehicle

Pinying Tone Chart

There are four tones represented in pinyin by marks above the words. The tone of a Chinese symbol indictaes how the pitch of the speaker's voice changes as the character is said.

The diagram to the right shows the pitch changes of the four tones on a five-bar scale going from lowest (1), to highest (5), while the four tone marks are:

First tone	ˉ	high level
Second tone	ˊ	middle rising
Third tone	ˇ	low dipping
Fourth tone	ˋ	high fallin

There is also a neutral tone which is unstressed and usually goes unmarked.

Pinyin with tone	Simplified Chinese Character	English meaning	Name of tone
mā	妈	Mother	1st tone
má	麻	To bother	2nd tone
mǎ	马	Horse	3rd tone
mà	骂	To blame	4th tone
ma	吗	Grammatical marker used in a question.	Neutral

» Tip

As it is hard to type mark above pinyin in computer, 1, 2, 3, 4 is commonly used to represent 1st tone, 2nd tone, 3rd tone and 4th tone separately. For example, mā is written as ma1

Newbie: Do you have....?

Mandarin Lesson : Telling time in Chinese Part 1

中国人和老外容易发生的10大误会 5

　Top 6 送别

　　中国人表达情感的方式相对内敛。送别的时候，他们强忍泪水，吝于拥抱，种种“冷淡”表现让老外深感诧异。所以，如果你和老外送别，举止不妨洒脱奔放一些，可别让他们觉得你是“冷血动物”。

　　Like everyone else we are affectionate to our friends and relatives, but perhaps we show our affection in public less than other peoples. Maybe the whole family as well as some friends will go to the railway station or the airport to see a person off, no matter whether he/she goes abroad to study or to another province for work. This may well strike many Westerners as very moving, yet they might be puzzled when they see that nobody will hug or kiss when the time comes for saying goodbye. Friends may shake hands with the person who is leaving and parents may hold his/her hand for a long time with tears in their eyes, but with no other physical contact. In fact hugging and kissing are seldom seen in public in China, no matter what the occasion is。

Elementary: Discussing Eating

Chinese Idiom: 成千上万 chéng qiān shàng wàn

成千上万 chéng qiān shàng wàn

成千上万 chéng qiān shàng wàn

解释：形容数量相当大，达到了千、万。用来指人，物都可以。

Explanation:
Numerous amount. Thousands upon thousands. It can refer to both people and objects.

Dialogue:
A：zhèbiān rén hǎo duō a!
A：这边 人 好 多 啊！So many people here!
B：měitiān dōu yǒu chéng qiān shàng wàn de rén lái cānguān qín bīngmǎyǒng bówùguǎn.
B：每天 都 有 成 千 上 万 的 人 来 参观 秦 兵马涌 博物馆。Thousands and thousands of people come to visit the Museum of Qin Terra-Cotta Warriors and Horses every day

Recommended Site: Chinese Multimedia

A：小王，你好！
B：你好，忙吗？
A：不忙，我刚下课。这是你的车吗？
B：是啊。
A：你现在用吗？
B：不用，你想用吗？
A：我用一下，行吗？
B：行。
A：谢谢，我去邮局买邮票。
B：哦，那不是我的车，我的车在这儿。

In addition to the lessons, you’ll find comprehensive lists of grammar points, vocabulary (including pronunciation audio samples), and characters (including stroke order writing practice drills).

http://www.ctcfl.ox.ac.uk/Chinese/index.html

Chinese Character Overview

This section is totally for beginners. After the 5-minute tour of this section, you will have good idea of Chinese characters, the foundation Chinese language.

Character is King

Character, the smallest meaningful unit in Chinese, is the foundation in Chinese such as word in English. Chinese characters are also often referred to Chinese symbols.

A small percentage of characters look like drawing, which are called pictogram. Centuries ago, Chinese people drew some simple paintings to show what they wanted to express.

Look at the up-right picture, could you get hint what 人 means? You may have got it already -人 means human or person (unisex). It is a simple picture of a man's side-view.

The down-right is another example, in which the character 女 means woman or female. It is a simple picture of a woman sitting in the traditional Chinese posture in ancient times.

» Tip

Not all Chinese characters are meant to look like the things they represent. Today, only 4% of the total characters are pictograms in current use.

While there are only three one-letter English words, a, I and O, one-symbol Chinese words are common. For example, the character 天 means day or sky; the symbol 空 means empty in English.

Combination of two or more characters always brings a new word. For example, 天空 means sky in English.

Character Forms

There are currently two standards for printed Chinese characters. Entire mainland China and Singapore use the Simplified Chinese characters while the Traditional Chinese characters only used in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau. The following table may give you some sense.

Simplified Chinese Character	Traditional Chinese Character	English Translation
龙	龍	Dragon
风	風	Wind
马	馬	Horse
天	天	Day; Sky
月	月	Moon

You maybe have noticed that the simplified version and traditional version of the last two symbols are same. Yes, not every character has been simplified, only some complicated forms. Some characters are totally same in both forms.

As personal opinion, we strongly recommend you learn Simplified Chinese characters, because:

1. They are much easier for memory than traditional ones.
2. Keep in mind that all people from mainland China use the Simplified Chinese symbols. That means you are studying a writing system used by more than 1.3 trillion people

Important !

Focus your efforts on just one of these two forms to avoid getting confused.

Number of Characters in Use

There are over 80,000 Chinese characters, but most of them are seldom used today. So how many Chinese characters do you need to know? For basic reading and writing of modern Chinese, you only need a few thousands. Here are the coverage rates of the most frequently used Chinese characters:

Tier of MFU Chinese Characters	Coverage Rate
Most frequently used 500 characters:	72.1%
Most frequently used 1,000 characters:	90.0%
Most frequently used 2,500 characters:	98.0%
Most frequently used 3,500 characters:	99.5%

中国人和老外容易发生的10大误会 4

Top 7 称呼

　　当外国人听到中国人称呼他们为“老外”的时候，他们心里是不高兴的，因为他们觉得自己并不老，且很健康。他们dislike being labelled as "old", being young valued above being old。

　　而当他们听到中国人管外国小孩也叫“老外”的时候，他们才明白“老”其实是对某个人的尊称，比如老张，老王。"Lao" is a commonly used term by Chinese people to address someone who is older than the speaker to show his politeness, respect and closeness. The term does not necessarily mean old age. "Lao Wai" is a colloquial term of address for foreigners。

Elementary: Are you free?

重组句子

1.十分 前来 中国的 于是 日本 派员 仰慕 考察 文化，。

2.时光 始终 友情 童年的 而过 不变 虽然 但同学之间 飞逝，。

3.学生对 中华文化的 加深 这次 认识 大会 透过 希望能 比赛，。

4.呢 看电视的 老师 你觉得 还是 好处多 学生 坏处多 提问：，？‘ ’

Please give your answer in the comment space.

Chinses for Kids Demo

I found an interesting software demo for Chinese learning for kids. Adults may find it useful too. Enjoy.

http://www.chineseforsmartkids.com/samplemovie.aspx

Ten Tips to Help Your Kids Learn Chinese

Chinese comes easily to many children, especially if they start young. Bilingualism will give them opportunities to communicate with a broader range of people around the world and serve them well throughout their lives.

Start to learn Chinese early well before your child reaches school age if possible. Language acquisition comes quite easily to children who are just learning to speak, and they can pick up more than one language simultaneously.

1. Start Simple.

Begin with 一, 二, 三 (one, two and three in Chinese) as A, B, C when you learn English. That is also the way how we Chinese learn Chinese. SinceChinese characters are basic units of Chinese language, it is naturally the beginning of learning. You may move on to simple Chinese words, simple phrases and then simple sentences step by step.

2. Be consistent.

Set aside a certain time of day, or a certain set of activities, for the Chinese learning. It does not matter what you do, reading books, singing songs or baking cookies, as long as you do it all in Chinese.

3. Learn Chinese with peers

Find out if your school system offers a Chinese-language immersion program and ask to see the curriculum.

4. Learn Chinese by practice

Encourage your child to use his Chinese, and make it clear that he does not have to be embarrassed by mistakes. Many children are afraid of looking silly, but the only way to become fluent in Chinese, same as any other language, is to speak it regularly. The more reinforcement she or he gets in Chinese language, the faster and more thoroughly she will learn it. Always remember: practice, practice, practice.

5. Choose right learning materials

Get books, videos and music in Chinese to help your kids learn Chinese. Children love interesting pictures, vivid screen and sounds to mimic. They like stories accompanied by bright, clear, realistic pictures. And of course they love rhymes. If you are familiar with Chinese yourself, read the interesting story to her.

6. Enjoy Chinese together with your kids.

Set aside part of your time to learn with them, I believe the books or the tapes are quite easy to you. After then, you will find many common topics with your kids and you both can communicate with the words or sentences you have learned quite often.

7. Demonstrate your own love of Chinese

Your kid wants to imitate you. If she or he sees Chinese books all around the house and knows that you like to settle down with one whenever you have a moment to yourself, the kid will learn those books as well. Modeling your own love of reading is more powerful than making your child sit through a rigid story time.

8. A good dictionary matters

Be sure to have a good bilingual dictionary around, especially if you are not completely fluent in Chinese language.

9. Make storytelling a part of life

Promoting reading readiness is more than reading a traditional book. While you are at the dinner table or in the car, tell stories - standards like anecdotes from your own childhood, or stories that feature your child as a central character. Make books of your child's drawings or favorite photos, and tell stories about them — or ask her to be the narrator.

10. Point out words everywhere

Wherever you see Chinese, you can show your child that word. Even the youngest toddlers quickly learn.

Source http://www.aboutchinese.info

5 Questions to Ask Before You Start to Learn Chinese

Five important questions designed for beginners to learn Chinese. Ask yourself before you make any decision to choose a proper learning method.

Do you have a general idea about Chinese?

If not, please take a short tour of Chinese 101 first.

What is your purpose of learning Chinese?

You may want to learn Chinese for travel to China, for further your business or career in China, or for exam. Also, you may want to teach your kids Chinese. Different purposes may lead to totally different learning plan including your time spent on learning, your efforts on percentage of speaking, listening, reading and writing as well as your learning method.

What level you want to get to?

This question is also very important. You answer decides how much effort you need to make. If you are learning Chinese for a better job, see, you’d better know what requirement the employers usually ask for.

What is your time limitation to reach your targeted level? How long time will you spend on studying Chinese per week?

With clear time limitation and targeted level you want to reach, you may time your learning schedule reasonably. It never means that more time may bring better results, but smarter arrangement can.

Your budget of learning Chinese?

For different budget, you should choose different learning methods. If you have enough budgets, you can equip yourself with best learning supplement freely. If you have fewer budgets, you can choose self-teaching with help of necessary learning tools. But no matter how many budgets, the most important thing is persistence. There is a Chinese proverb 有志者, 事竟成 meaning "where there is a will, there is a way".

» Tip

If you plan to spend three hours per week, separate them into six 30-minute slots on different days instead of concentrating three hours in one day. This way may leave you time to refresh tomorrow’s new knowledge.

Source: http://www.aboutchinese.info

A Chinese Idiom about Snake Feet 画蛇添足

http://blog.chinesehour.com/?p=1287

画蛇添足【huà shé tiān zú 】 Adding feet to a drawing of a snake

:: to ruin the effect of something by adding something superfluous. ::

——–

An official in the ancient State of Chu gave a pot of wine to his men to celebrate the Spring Sacrifice ceremony. One of the men said: “We have only one pot of wine, and it’s only enough for one. So, let’s play for it. The first one to finish drawing a snake in the ground wins the pot of wine.”

The others agreed and started drawing their snakes in the ground.

Then, there was a winner, or so he thought. He had finished his drawing and reached for the pot of wine. But, when he saw that the others hadn’t finished their drawings, he arrogantly said to them: “How slow you are! The way you’re going, I can add feet to my snake and still win the pot of wine.”

So, he did. He added feet to his snake. But before he could finish, another man grabbed the pot of wine and said: “What snake has feet? That’s not a snake! So, I win!”

The moral of the story is that sometimes going too far can be as bad, or worse, than not going far enough.

中国人和老外容易发生的10大误会 3

Top 8 出游

　　中国人结伴出游的时候，如果买什么东西，花钱的那个人一般都会先统计有几个人，然后按照人头购买东西，即便有人之前客气地说不要，中国人还是会给他买 上一份。When a Chinese offers refreshments or drinks to his colleague, his colleague often declines the offer politely, because he doesn't want to trouble the person who offers and it also shows his politeness. Normally the person who offers still prepares or buys refreshments or drinks, and this will be expected by his colleague. Sharing food and drink when going out together is common among colleagues and friends。

　　然而和老外结伴出游，如果你客气地推说不需要某样东西，那么对方真的就不会给你买。他们觉得不给你买是尊重你的决定。Respect one's own decision, "yes" means one wants it, "no" means one doesn't, politeness is usually shown by the expression_r 'thank you' or "please"。所以，想要什么东西，就直接说出来吧，事后真诚地说声谢谢才是他们眼中的礼貌做法。

Elementary: Adding Credit to a Cell Phone

I want blah blah blah in Chinese

Vocabulary: Fruits 水果

菠萝 bō luó
pineapple

草莓 cǎo méi
strawberry

甘蔗 gān zhè
cane

哈密瓜 hā mì guā
Hami melon (a variety of muskmelon)

金橘 jīn jú
kumquat

梨 lí
pear

李子 lǐ zǐ
plum

荔枝 lì zhī
litchi fruit

芒果 máng guǒ
mango

猕猴桃 mí hóu táo
Chinese gooseberry

木瓜 mù guā

papaya

苹果 píng guǒ
apple

葡萄 pú tao
grape

石榴 shí liú
the pomegranate

柿子 shì zi
persimmon

桃子 táo zi
peach

西瓜 xī guā
watermelon

香蕉 xiāng jiāo
banana

香瓜 xiāng guā
muskmelon; also different varieties of sweet melon

杏 xìng
apricot

椰子 yē zi
coconut

樱桃 yīng táo
cherry

柚子 yòu zi
pomelo / shaddock

枣 zǎo
jujube

中国人和老外容易发生的10大误会 2

Top 9 致谢

　　中国人认为对家里人或者好朋友的帮助是one's own obligation, no need to thank or be thanked，彼此根本不必说谢谢，说了反而显得关系生分。而老外

　　对家人或者朋友的帮忙都习惯说谢谢，他们期待polite expression_rs like "please", "thank you", etc.。所以，和老外相处，千万不要吝啬“谢谢”两个字。“谢”少了只会让老外觉得你羞涩且不懂礼貌。

Poker King 撲克王

Randy (Louis Koo) is the heir to a major casino business, but has never been interested to inherit the gaming empire after his father’s death. While Uno (Lau Ching Wan) has been helping to run the business, he has every intention for Randy to take over the business empire. Randy is obsessed with online gaming of Texas Hold 'Em Poker and Uno takes the opportunity to put Randy in a real tournament. Randy is put through some hardship before he learns the art of the game. Along the way, Randy falls in love with Smiley (javascript:void(0)Cherrie Ying), a girl who has a winning streak at the casino. Meanwhile, Uno starts a relationship with rival casino owner Ms Fong (Josie Ho). At the end of the championship match, the two top players – Randy and Uno face off against each other. As the last hand of cards is dealt to the two players, who is going to be the Poker King?

上映日期：2009年10月22日
,導演：陳慶嘉，秦小珍 ,
演員：古天樂 ，劉青雲，鄧麗欣 ,

故事大綱 : 世界撲克王大賽進入了最後決賽，賭桌兩邊坐的男人，以贏取撲克王的榮譽，來了結兩人之 間的恩怨。
張人杰(古大樂飾) 與卓一(劉青雲飾) 之間的賭局，早在一年多前的現實中開始。

卓一是博彩企業的大總管，張人杰父親死前，給他一個三國時諸葛亮面對的難題----- --如果張的獨子張人杰沒有接管賭業的能力，卓一可以取而代之。

張已死了三年，卓一幾乎忘記了自己並非真正的老闆，直到這天賭場的新撲克廳開業，況小 姐(何超儀飾) 來祝賀時，提起這一點。

況小姐是敵對賭博集團的第二代，剛接管了家族生意。上場第二天，就把所有父親的親信炒 掉。她是不折不扣的賭徒性格，不贏盡，情願輸盡。

她是故意激怒卓一的，她欣賞卓一，很想羅致旗下，但不成功，從此針對他，不讓他有好日 子過。

卓一這才記起像人間蒸發了的張人杰，立即派人天涯海角去尋找。

張人杰本來很不喜歡父親開賭，他從不願離開校園，在加拿大大學唸完一個學位又一個學位 ，直至他在網上遇上了德州撲克。

過去三年，他躲在卡加里的屋中，幾乎沒出過來。唸數學的他，迷上了這種撲克遊戲，每天 對著三個電腦屏幕，同時玩十六局。三餐都是叫外賣pizza，像個活在深山的武林高手 。

卓一的手下爆門進入他屋時，他剛贏了一局大牌。這時他在網上的籌碼已滾存至百多萬美金 。卓一真的想把生意交回給張人杰，但完全不通世情，甚至不懂與人相處的他，回來之後， 很快便成了行業中的笑柄。最大問題是他一點也不尊重卓一。

為了見他網上撲克情人施晨(應采兒飾) 一面，他不惜重金贊助撲克王比賽。他以為可以在情人面前威一下，結果相反，他在初賽已 出了局，而且輸得很難看。

他大發脾氣時，卓一說他的技術沒問題，是輸在不懂得看人。他當然不忿，卓一這時拿出他 父親的遺囑並連同錄影帶，說要接管他的賭業，因為再下去，這個王國將敗在他手上。

他有最後一個機會-------可以跟卓一賭一局。他選了他擅長的撲克，輸了。

離開時他還有網上贏來的百多萬美金，但不到一晚已給一個女孩子騙去。

他才真正知道他真的不懂看人，在網上虛擬世界還可以，現實世界會一敗塗地。

在他最失意的時候，他遇上了一個幸運的女孩。賭場一角忽然圍上一堆人，原來一個女孩連 逐贏了十舖大細，但每次只是一小注一小注地押，旁邊跟她賭贏錢的，都比她押得大。贏了 近一千元，她便離開。

好奇心驅使，張人杰認識了何笑容(鄧麗欣)。她原來從少多病，自覺是個不幸的人，不知 何解，前幾天發覺自己有了幸運，不相信，到賭場試試，果然贏了。害怕幸運很快失去，她 不敢賭得太盡，贏一點葯費便算。

張人杰利用了她的幸運，為自己贏回第一注本。同時，他認識了賭場少女荷官樂樂(KAM A飾) ，教他如何在賭桌前分析不同人的賭法。

況小姐得悉杰在撲克廳中贏了錢，主動邀約合作。由她打本讓他參加撲克王大賽，並策劃讓 他從卓一手上取回他的博彩王國。

逐步建立起聲譽的杰重遇施晨，幸運的笑容此刻竟發覺她已失去了她的運氣，再沒能力幫助 杰。她怕杰會因她而得到不幸，施晨與他反正是開了很合襯的一對。

笑容離開了杰。

卓一從趕走杰的一刻起，一直在暗中照顧他。他知道杰一定要在現實生活磨練才可成功。他 很矛盾，既想保留這個王國，又想杰最終可以從他手中贏回。他千方百計看穿別人，卻看不 清自己。

小縱明白他。她是他的貼身保鏢，也是暗戀著他的女人。他一直以為她是女同性戀。用撲克 來形容，她是一個明知底牌沒機會勝出的玩家，她甘心跟下去，只是為了讓她喜歡的人有機 會看清她的底牌。

杰向卓一發出邀請，請他參加即將舉行的世界撲克王大賽。卓一明白，是決勝負的時刻。

比賽之前，荒謬的事發生了，卓一居然胡塗地與對頭況小姐上了床。

比賽到最後，兩雄相遇。卓一不是因杰計算之準而驚訝，杰不只能看透人，還懂得影別人 的思想和判斷。

正因如此，杰看穿了卓一，他一直想他成為真正的賭王。

最後一局的牌發下來，誰會是真正的撲克王？

Elementary: A Walk in the Park

What is the Difference between Chinese and Mandarin. Which one shall I study?

After sharing so much Chinese learning materials and Chinese related entries, let us go back to the basics.

The other day, a follower of this blog asked me what is the difference between Chinese and Mandarin and which one she should study. Here is a simple explanation.

Chinese includes all dialects used in China, including Mandarin, Cantonese, Hokkien, Teochew etc. These are the few major ones and there are too many to be listed.

Mandarin is the standard official language in China. Just like Japanese which exists many dialects such as Kansaiben, however, the Kanto version is chosen as the standard Japanese. Mandarin is also known as 国語(guo2 yu3), meaning " the national language" in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. It is also commonly known as 普通話(pu3 tong1 hua4), meaning " a common language". In Singapore, Mandarin is commonly known as 華語(hua2 yu3), meaning " the Chinese language" in order to identify the Chinese race among others such as Malay and Indian in this multiracial nation.

Since Mandarin is most commonly used, when people mention about "Chinese", it usually refers to Mandarin. In the case when referring to other Chinese dialects, people usually indicate the specific dialect such as Cantonese etc. Hence, Chinese, Mandarin, 国語(guo2 yu3), 普通話(pu3 tong1 hua4) and 華語(hua2 yu3) generally means the same thing.

Although there are many dialects in Chinese, the dialects are mainly used as verbal communication tools in different regions of China. For the written form, Mandarin is the only standard. Therefore all written documents in modern China are written in Mandarin and students learn Chinese by writing in the Mandarin form as well.

In Hong Kong and most parts of Guangzhou, the main communication tool is Cantonese. The Chinese education system in Hong Kong had been using Cantonese as the medium of teaching for a long time until near the end of the British rule. The learning of Chinese using Cantonese is possible as the written Chinese text can be read 100% using Cantonese pronunciation. However, it is important to know that reading Chinese text in Cantonese is different from conversational Cantonese. Although the language structure and grammar of both Mandarin and Cantonese is very similar, we use different words for the grammar such as "is", "at" and many other vocabularies are totally different. I understand that this can be very difficult to understand for non-Chinese and non-Cantonese speakers. If I am not wrong, it will be similar to French and German or Spanish where the structure and grammar are similar but they are totally different languages.

Due to this difference between written Mandarin and spoken Cantonese, Hong Kong people has developed a written form of "conversational Cantonese". This written form of "conversational Cantonese is usually found in casual texts such as magazines, comics, letter to friends, online chat rooms etc. This explanation can be a little confusing, what it means by "written form of "conversational Cantonese""?? It means by reading the Chinese text in Cantonese, it will sound like conversational Cantonese. To illustrate further, it will be like "yar, wads up?", "Nah, I'm not gonna be a cop.", "I wanna", that expresses verbal conversation. However, the differences in the words when compared to the standard written Mandarin is so great that a non-Cantonese, even if he is proficient in Mandarin, will have no idea what the written form of "conversational Cantonese" is talking about.

To end this completed entry, Mandarin or Chinese is also knows as 中文(zhong1 wen2) and 汉语(han4 yu3). In Japanese, it is 中国語 or 北京語. Good luck. You guys learning Chinese are really brave.

Water Calligraphy

DJH Chinese & Japanese Localization

DJH Chinese & Japanese Localization helps companies to bring their businesses into the Chinese and Japanese Market by transforming their product and service information into Chinese and Japanese context, allowing their Chinese and Japanese customers to have an accurate understanding and access to their products and services more quickly, overcoming the language and cultural barrier.

Services

1. Translation of all languages to Chinese (traditional or simplified) and vice versa.
2. Including Business documents and Academic documents
3. Examples: Websites, letters, mails, certificates, contracts, proposals, invoices, reports, presentations, user manuals, posters, brochures, licenses, awards, name cards
4. Providing subtitles and time coding to movies

Behind The Scenes

Our translators are native Chinese and Japanese who have studied or lived overseas for a substantial period of time. They are proficient in the languages, cultures, businesses as well as technical aspects of both the foreign country and the Chinese and Japanese market. With talents who are equipped with the necessary knowledge and skills of both sides of the world, inaccurate interpretation and unnecessary misunderstandings, which are a common problem with translators who are only paper-certified in the languages, are avoided. Our hassle-free services are delivered efficiently and at competitive prices.

For enquiries please email to:
enquiries@djhchinese.com
Tel: +81-08-3825-1950 (Japan)

+65-93371191 (Singapore)

Numbers and Gesture in Chinese

中国人和老外容易发生的10大误会

　你和老外闹过笑话或者误会吗？中西文化差异会造成两方人对某些事情的态度和做法的不同。加强沟通，理解万岁。为了让你和老外轻松相处，我们总结出经常发生的10种误会及其解决方法。

　　Top 10 赞美

　　西方人乐于赞美别人，同时也乐于接受别人的赞美。而中国人为了显示谦恭，常常会“拒绝”他人的赞美。这种“拒绝”会让老外觉得莫明其妙，好像你不领他的情似的。

　　还有，中国人出于礼貌，或者想跟人套近乎，总是愿意说些关心人的话。为了献殷勤，我们常喜欢对客人说"You must be tired? Have a good rest."。然而，普通的问候之语却有可能让西方人误解为你对她的身体状况表示担忧。他们很喜欢别人夸他们年轻、强壮，如果你质疑他们的身体健康，他们 甚至会发怒的。

　　

Visiting a Doctor in Chinese (Finish Him)

世上只有妈妈好。Only my Mum is the best in the world

世上只有妈妈好
私のお母さんだけが世界一です
Only my Mum is the best in the world

有妈的孩子像个宝
お母さんの子供は宝のようです
Children with their mums are like tresure

投进了妈妈的怀抱
お母さんの胸に抱かれて
Hugging my dear Mum

幸福享不了
私は終わることのない幸せを感じます
I feel endless happiness

没有妈妈最苦恼
お母さんがいないと最も苦しい
Life is tough without my Mum

没妈的孩子像根草
お母さんいない子は草のようです
Children without their mums are like weeds

离开妈妈的怀抱
お母さんの胸を离れたら
If I left my dear Mum

幸福哪里找
幸せはどこだろう→どこに幸せを見つけられるのだろうか
From where can I find happiness

Elementary: A Very Special Day

How to reply How are you? in Chinese 最近好吗？

Elementary: A Ticket to Suzhou

Newbie: A Ghost Outside

What is your telephone number?

DJH 中国語教室 京都

DJH 中国語教室は京都に住んでいる地元の日本人の方と外国人の方に中国語のレッスンを行います。学ぶのが早い子供たちのための中国語レッスンも用意しています。

DJH 中国語教室はシンガポールで創立し、外国人と子供たちに中国語レッスンを行ってきました。今まで一緒に中国語を勉強してきた生徒はアメリカ、フランス、日本、デンマーク、ベルギー、ドイツ、インドネシア、オーストラリア、ハンガリー、イギリスなどの国々の人々です。生徒には社会人から四才の幼児までいます。レッスンの内容は日常会話、リーディング、ライティング、ヒアリングと仕事で使えるビジネス中国語とHSKという中国語能力試験の対策などがあります。

2009年の秋、 DJH 中国語教室は京都の皆さんのために、京都に中国語教室を開きました。レッスンはグループで行われ、英語と日本語で指導します。 DJH 中国語教室は京都に中国語を広めて、一緒に練習したり交流したりするコミュニティーを作りたいと思っています。

中国の急激な経済発展と共に、中国語は世界中で一番人気のある言語であることが分かりました。中国語が身に付いたら、中国だけではなく、香港、台湾、また世界中の中国系コミュニティーの扉が開きます。つまり、人生においてたくさんのチャンスがあなたのことを待っているのです。新しい言語を楽しむことにより、あなたと子供達の時間に最高の投資をすることになるでしょう。

レッスン費：18000円　10レッスン

2000円　１レッスン

時間：　月、火、水、木、金、午後8時~10時

　土、日、午前10時~12時、午後1時~3時、4時~6時、8時~10時

場所：　京都市 向島（近鉄向島駅と観月橋から徒歩10分）

メール： enquiries@djhchinese.com

電話： 080-3825-1950

担当： トン

ウェブサイト： www.djhchinese.com

ブログ： www.djhchinese.blogspot.com

フェイスブック：http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=117779193140&ref=tshttp://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=117779193140&ref=ts

DJH Chinese Course Kyoto

DJH Chinese Courses is glad to announce that it has started a brunch at Kyoto from September 2009. Similar to our operation in Singapore, DJH Kyoto will be providing Chinese courses to expatriates living and working in Kyoto, as well as to the local Japanese who are interested in learning another major language in Asia.

Lessons will be conducted in English as usual, however it will also be conducted in Japanese for the locals or people who are more comfortable with Japanese. After all, there are some similarities between Chinese and Japanese such as the Kanjis and some expressions.
DJH Kyoto hopes to bring the Chinese language and culture to Kyoto and its people. With a rich history and well preserved Japanese culture in Kyoto, we wish to have an international, inter-cultural exchange with people in Japan, as well as the rest of the world.
Hopefully, with our first oversea branch in Kyoto, DJH is able to help people to learn and enjoy the Chinese language better even in a non-Chinese speaking environment.

Lesson fee: 18000yen per course of 10 lessons

Timing: Monday to Friday 8pm to 10pm

Saturday and Sunday 10am to 12 am, 1pm to 3pm, 4pm to 6pm

Location: Kyoto-fu, Kyoto-shi, Mukaijima, Nakajima-cho 85-15 (10 min walk from Mukaijia Station or Kangetsukyo Station)

Telephone: 080-3825-1950

Email: enquiries@djhchinese.com

Contact person: Tong

Website: www.djhchinese.com

Blog: www.djhchinese.blogspot.com

Facebook group: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=117779193140&ref=tshttp://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=117779193140&ref=ts