Essential Chinese: Speak Chinese with Confidence! (Mandarin Chinese Phrasebook)

By Philip Yungkin Lee

This portable, user-friendly Chinese language guide, phrasebook and dictionary is the cheapest and easiest way to learn Chinese before and during your trip.

If you only want one Chinese language book--Essential Chinese is the way to go. Part of Tuttle Publishing's Essential Phrasebooks Series, it is a great first introduction and beginner guide to the language of China and Taiwan and is also designed as a great Chinese phrasebook, making it the most versatile Chinese language learning tool on the market.

Perfect for business people or tourist traveling to China or for students who want to supplement their learning, this book's easy indexing feature allows it to act as a Mandarin phrase book or as English-Chinese Dictionary. A clever "point to" feature allows you to simply point to a phrase translated in Chinese without the need to say a single word or read a single character. You will soon find yourself turning to Essential Chinese again and again when visiting or working in China.

In this book you will find:

• Over 1500 practical sentences for everyday use.
• A glossary of over 2000 terms and expressions.
• Terms and phrases covering essential aspects of traveling and living in China.
• Extensive information about Chinese grammar and pronunciation.

This beginner Chinese book will help you quickly and easily learn Chinese. Your ability to read Chinese, write Chinese, speak Chinese, and comprehend Chinese will be vastly improved without having to take an entire Chinese language class. Other titles in this bestselling series of phrasebooks include: Essential Japanese, Essential Arabic, Essential Korean, Essential Tagalog, and Essential Arabic.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tuttle Publishing
• Release date: Sep 3, 2013
• ISBN: 9781462913374

Book preview

1 The Basics

1.1 Personal details

1.2 Today or tomorrow?

1.3 What time is it?

1.4 One, two, three...

1.5 The weather

1.6 Here, there...

1.7 What does that sign say?

1.8 Legal holidays

1.9 Telephone alphabets

1. The Basics

1.1 Personal details

• In China the family name comes first and the given name next. Titles come after the name. For example, Mr Wang is Wáng xiānsheng 王先生 and Ms Wang is either Wáng xiǎojie 王小姐 or Wáng nǚshì 王女士. The title tàitai 太太 is given to married women and is placed after the husband’s surname. This is the convention still used by Chinese women in Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and outside China. In Mainland China, however, Chinese women now do not adopt their husband’s surname after marriage. Overseas Chinese and foreigners will have to get used to this new convention and address married women by their maiden name, e.g. if her surname is Lǐ 李 she should be addressed as Lǐ xiǎojie 李小姐 or Lǐ dàjiě 李大姐 (for older woman). However, you may even use the older title tàitai 太太 after the husband’s surname in formal