Learn Chinese

By Jagdish Gambhir

"Learn Chinese" is an invaluable resource for individuals looking to embark on the journey of learning the Chinese language, specifically Mandarin. 
This book offers a systematic and comprehensive approach to mastering the language, catering to beginners and intermediate learners alike. It begins with the fundamentals of pronunciation, character recognition, and basic grammar, gradually progressing to more complex language structures and vocabulary. 
The book employs a combination of practical exercises, cultural insights, and real-life dialogues to enhance the learning experience. Readers will gain a solid foundation in Mandarin, enabling them to engage in conversations, read Chinese texts, and navigate the complexities of this fascinating language. With a focus on practical communication, 

 

"Learn Chinese" equips learners with the skills they need to connect with Chinese-speaking communities and opens doors 
to a deeper understanding of Chinese culture. Whether for business, travel, or personal enrichment, this book is an indispensable guide to becoming proficient in Mandarin.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jagdish Gambhir
• Release date: Nov 1, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223327561

Book preview

Chapter 1: Pinyin and Tones - The Foundation of Chinese Pronunciation

Learning Chinese can be an exciting and rewarding journey, but before going into the world of Chinese characters, it's crucial to establish a solid foundation in pronunciation. In this chapter, we'll explore the Pinyin system, the Romanization of Chinese characters, and go into the intricate world of tones.

Chinese doesn't have an alphabet in the same way that many Western languages do. Instead, it uses logographic writing, which means that each character represents a word or a meaningful unit, rather than a sound. Chinese characters are known as Hanzi (汉字) in Chinese.

However, the Chinese writing system includes thousands of characters, which can be daunting to learn all at once. To make this system more accessible, Chinese characters are often categorized into radicals and strokes. Radicals are components of characters that carry meaning or give clues to the character's meaning, while strokes are the individual brush or pen movements used to write the characters.

While there's no Chinese alphabet, you can think of Pinyin as a system for representing the sounds of Chinese using the Roman alphabet. Pinyin is a standardized system for Romanizing Chinese characters, and it's widely used for teaching Chinese pronunciation and for inputting Chinese characters on computers and smartphones.

Here are some basic Chinese Pinyin sounds:

Consonants: b, p, m, f, d, t, n, l, g, k, h, j, q, x, zh, ch, sh, r, z, c, s

Vowels: a, o, e, i, u, ü (notated as 'u' with an umlaut)

Tones: Chinese is a tonal language, and the tone in which a syllable is spoken can change the meaning of a word. There are four main tones and one neutral tone. These are often marked with diacritics in Pinyin, such as ma (first tone), má (second tone), mǎ (third tone), mà (fourth tone), and ma (neutral tone).

For example, the Pinyin nǐ hǎo (你好) means hello in Chinese. Nǐ is the Pinyin for the character 你, and hǎo is the Pinyin for the character 好.

To read and write Chinese, it's essential to learn both the characters and the Pinyin system to understand pronunciation and tone. Learning Chinese characters can be challenging, but it's an essential part of studying the Chinese language and culture.

Introduction to Pinyin

Pinyin (拼音) is the official Romanization system for Standard Mandarin in China. It was developed to represent the sounds of Mandarin using the Latin alphabet. Pinyin helps learners and Chinese speakers alike to pronounce words correctly and communicate effectively.

The Pinyin Alphabet

The Pinyin alphabet consists of 26 letters, similar to the English alphabet, with a few exceptions. Let's familiarize ourselves with the Pinyin alphabet:

A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z

Note: The letter V is used in Pinyin, but it's pronounced like W.

Pinyin Consonants

Pinyin has many sounds that are different from English. Here are some of the most important consonant sounds in Pinyin:

B: Pronounced like the English b.

D: Similar to the English d.

G: Close to the English g, but without the aspiration.

J: Similar to the English j, but with less zh sound.

K: Similar