Learn useful words and phrases for beginners
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| Hi! |
| Welcome to Introduction to Chinese. |
| My name is Alisha and I'm joined by... |
| Hi everyone! I'm Rui |
| In this lesson, we'll focus on teaching you the most useful Chinese words and phrases for absolute beginners! |
| Make sure you're repeating the words out loud after me! |
| Are you ready? Let's get started! |
| Expressing Thanks and Forgiveness |
| The best phrase to learn when studying a new language is one that expresses gratitude and appreciation. If you had to learn only a single phrase, this would be it! |
| We taught you this phrase in the first lesson of this series. Do you remember what it was? |
| 谢谢。(xièxie) |
| It means "Thank you." |
| Keep repeating after ... until you get it! |
| 谢谢 (xièxie) |
| Your turn! |
| 谢谢 (xièxie) |
| 谢谢 (xièxie) |
| In lesson 2, we mentioned the pronunciation of the consonant... |
| x. It sounds like "sh," only with flatter lips. |
| Then we have the compound vowels. |
| ie |
| The tone in the first syllable is fourth falling tone. |
| xiè |
| And the second syllable is neutral tone. |
| xie |
| Altogether... |
| 谢谢 (xièxie) |
| You can see the radical in this character 谢 (xiè) is 讠. |
| This indicates that the meaning of this character has something to do with speech. |
| The next phrase we'll teach you is perhaps the second most useful phrase of all. It's to apologize or to excuse yourself. |
| 对不起 (duìbuqǐ) |
| Which means "I'm sorry." |
| This is a formal way to apologize, for when you did something wrong. |
| Repeat after ... |
| 对不起 (duìbuqǐ) |
| But if you want to interrupt someone and ask a question, we don't often use this phrase. Instead, we use... |
| 请问 (qǐngwèn) |
| before a question. |
| It literally means "may I please ask..." |
| 请问 (qǐngwèn) |
| If you want to get the waiter or waitress's attention, in English you might say "excuse me." But in Chinese, you just need to raise your hand and your voice and say... |
| 服务员 (fúwùyuán) |
| which means "waiter" or "waitress." |
| 服务员 (fúwùyuán) |
| Don't worry, it won't sound rude. Everyone in China does it. It's the most common way to get a waiter's attention in China. |
| Now you can say "thank you very much," "excuse me," and "I'm sorry," in Chinese. Let's move on. |
| Where is...? |
| Asking where something is is an incredibly important and useful phrase to learn. You're going to need this when asking where the bathroom, the train station, or where the hotel is. |
| ...在哪里？(...zài nǎlǐ?) |
| 在 (zài) means "at." 哪里 (nǎlǐ) means "where." |
| So the pattern is [something/location] + 在哪里？(zài nǎlǐ?) |
| For example, if you want to ask "Where is the bathroom..." |
| 洗手间在哪里？(Xǐshǒu jiān zài nǎlǐ ?) |
| Or for the subway station, you say... |
| 地铁站在哪里？(dì tiě zhàn zài nǎlǐ ?) |
| To sound more polite, you can add "may I please ask" before the sentence. We mentioned this phrase earlier in this lesson. |
| 请问，洗手间在哪里？(qǐngwèn，xǐshǒu jiān zài nǎlǐ ?) |
| 请问，地铁站在哪里？(qǐngwèn，dì tiě zhàn zài nǎlǐ ?) |
| So altogether, the polite way to ask where something is is... |
| 请问，...在哪里？(qǐngwèn, ...zài nǎlǐ ?) |
| If you know the person you're talking to well, you can simply say... |
| ...在哪里？(...zài nǎlǐ ?) |
| Your turn! |
| ...在哪里？(...zài nǎlǐ ?) |
| 请问，...在哪里？(qǐngwèn，...zài nǎlǐ ?) |
| OK. Now let's teach you some vocabulary to use in the sentence. |
| Here are some of the most common words you'll need to learn: |
| 洗手间 (xǐshǒu jiān) |
| "bathroom" |
| 洗手间 (xǐshǒu jiān) |
| 洗手间在哪里？(xǐshǒu jiān zài nǎlǐ ?) |
| Next, we have... |
| 地铁站 (dì tiě zhàn) |
| "subway station" |
| 地铁站 (dì tiě zhàn) |
| 地铁站在哪里？(dì tiě zhàn zài nǎlǐ ?) |
| Next... |
| 超市 (Chāoshì) |
| "super market, or convenience store." |
| 超市 (Chāoshì) |
| 超市在哪里？(Chāoshì zài nǎlǐ ?) |
| Next... |
| 我的座位 (Wǒ de zuòwèi) |
| "my seat" |
| 我的座位 (Wǒ de zuòwèi) |
| 我的座位在哪里？(Wǒ de zuòwèi zài nǎlǐ ?) |
| You can ask where anything is, simply by saying the place or location and... |
| ...在哪里？(...zài nǎlǐ ?) |
| ... to ask where something is in Chinese. |
| In this final lesson, you learned how to say "thank you", "excuse me", "I'm sorry", and to ask where something is in Chinese. |
| And in this series, we introduced you to the basics of Chinese pronunciation, grammar, writing, and more. |
| Let's conclude with some parting advice from Rui, and listen to some of her tips on how to learn Chinese from a native Chinese perspective. |
| Parting Advice - Insider Knowledge |
| The best way to learn Chinese, particularly if you want to improve your communication skills, is to watch and study contemporary Chinese videos. That's because we often use expressions in daily conversation that aren't necessarily introduced in grammar textbooks. |
| Even though Mandarin is a common language in China, men and women, elderly people, and children have their own ways of speaking. This means they have their own vocabularies and tones. For example, women use 呢 (ne) at the end of their statements a lot, with the purpose of softening their tones. But if men use that, they would sound very feminine. Make sure you mimic the right person. |
| Watching contemporary videos, such as our videos here at ChineseClass101, will ensure that you're learning real, applicable Chinese in the fastest and most effective way. |
| You've reached the end of this course 'Introduction to Chinese.' But it's only the beginning of your journey to Chinese fluency! Where do you go from here? Try our Ultimate Guide to Chinese Pronunciation series where we teach you all the sounds of the Chinese language. Or, check out any of our other video series. We have many different categories for you to choose from. |
| Good luck as you continue learning Chinese, and we'll see you in another video! |
| Bye! |
| Bye! |
Comments
HideWhere do you go from here? Try our Learn Chinese in Three Minutes series where we teach you beginner vocabulary and even more useful phrases!
https://www.chineseclass101.com/index.php?cat=52
Hello Bob Havey,
Thank you for your comment. We do have video lessons on our website, you may go to our lesson library and use the filters on the left to find the video lessons:
https://www.chineseclass101.com/lesson-library/absolute-beginner
For example, the Chinese in 3-minute videos series:
https://www.chineseclass101.com/lesson-library/chinese-in-3-minute-videos/
We also have graded reading materials in the audio format:
https://www.chineseclass101.com/lesson-library/extensive-reading-in-chinese-for-absolute-beginners/
However, most of our main series are in the form of podcast, so students can listen to them on the go, for example the Level 1 Chinese series for absolute beginners:
https://www.chineseclass101.com/lesson-library/level-1-chinese/
We'll take your feedback into consideration for our future development. Meanwhile, we're constantly adding new materials to the website, stay tuned! Hope this helps, let us know if you have any questions.
Ngai
Team ChineseClass101.com
In the video Rui mentions videos, implying that there are videos available on the website. I can't find any videos, and the videos on the YouTube channel are all either sample l lessons or word lists. Are there any videos of actual conversations - clips from TV shows or movies would be nice.
While I am complaining, I have a feature request. Things to read at the level of children's stories would be extremely helpful to beginners such as myself.
Hello Yury,
Thank you for your comment. The Chinese language does not have genders, you can learn by listening to both male and female voices, the key is to get the pronunciation correct.
In fact, 呢 (ne) has quite many usages, it's just that women tend to use it in statements more often to soften the tone. You may listen to the dialogues in our lessons, learn to use the words and pick up natural expressions in context.
Check out our lesson library for the lessons:
https://www.chineseclass101.com/lesson-library/absolute-beginner
Hope it helps, let us know if you have any questions.
Ngai Lam
Team ChineseClass101.com
Hello ChineseClass101.com,
In the video Rui says, "For example, women use 呢 (ne) at the end of their statements a lot, with the purpose of softening their tones. But if men use that, they would sound very feminine. Make sure you mimic the right person." When I practice using this wordlist: "https://www.chineseclass101.com/chinese-word-lists/?coreX=2000" there is only a female voice. Rui said to, "...mimic the right person". I am a male. I could not find how to change the female voice to a male voice. Could you please help me find it or recommend a word list for total beginners that has a male voice.
Thank you,
Yury
你好 robert groulx,
谢谢 for commenting. We are very happy to have you here. Let us know if you have any questions.
Kind regards,
雷文特 (Levente)
Team ChineseClass101.com
thank you for the lesson transcript
favorite phrase is 我的座位在哪里？(Wǒ de zuòwèi zài nǎlǐ ?)
robert
Hi Keroline,
Please check out these lessons:
5 Sentence Patterns for Beginners
https://www.chineseclass101.com/lesson/absolute-beginner-chinese-for-every-day-50-5-sentence-patterns-for-beginners/
What is the Correct Word Order of a Chinese Sentence?
https://www.chineseclass101.com/lesson/absolute-beginner-questions-answered-by-yinru-21-what-is-the-correct-word-order-of-a-chinese-sentence/
Chinese Grammar Made Easy
https://www.chineseclass101.com/lesson-library/chinese-grammar-made-easy/
Hope this helps! Please let us know if you have any questions.
Sincerely,
Cristiane
Team ChineseClass101.com
I started liking Chinese language after watching many Chinese dramas ...So,I have no difficulty in pronunciation .Only thing is I don't know how to make sentence .I want to learn making sentence ..
Hi Tanow,
Thank you for joining us! Great to hear you're enjoying our lessons!
To improve your pronunciation skills, please check out our special series Ultimate Chinese Pronunciation Guide:
https://www.chineseclass101.com/lesson-library/ultimate-chinese-pronunciation-guide/
Feel free to let us know if you have any questions.
Sincerely,
Cristiane
Team ChineseClass101.com
Hi Austin,
This lesson is part of the Introduction to Chinese series, which you can check out the summary here:
https://www.chineseclass101.com/lesson-library/introduction-to-chinese/
It has 5 video lessons.
The lessoon is also part of the Getting Started with ChineseClass101.com pathway. In this pathway, the lesson is the second in the summary:
https://www.chineseclass101.com/lesson-library/getting-started-with-chinese-class-101-com/
Hope this helps! Please let us know if you have any questions.
Sincerely,
Cristiane
Team ChineseClass101.com
Hey! I’m confused, this says it’s lesson two, but in the video it says “Lesson 5,” and they reference something in lesson two which I never learned. Where are lessons 2, 3 and 4?? As far as I can tell this is the second video. Please help!
This is the best Chinese online which I ever seen before. this VDO is the second lesson of mine, even I had to learn twice on the next day. it is still hard for me to remember the pronunciation. As a matter of fact, I knew this website from your Podcast.
Now I have become your member. In the future, I will become your customer too.
Bangkok
Hi Salma,
Great to hear you're enjoying our lessons!
Looking forward to seeing you often here.
Sincerely,
Cristiane
Team ChineseClass101.com
Hello,
I really love your lessons.it is simple and interesting.
Hi Ben,
Please check out our Ultimate Chinese Pronunciation Guide series:
https://www.chineseclass101.com/lesson-library/ultimate-chinese-pronunciation-guide/
And the Reading & Writing section of our Chinese Resources:
https://www.chineseclass101.com/chinese-resources/
In case of any questions, please feel free to contact us.
Sincerely,
Cristiane
Team ChineseClass101.com
includes writing and pronunciacition lessons?
Hi Ngawai,
Thank you for studying with us!
Feel free to let us know if you have any questions.
Sincerely,
Cristiane
Team ChineseClass101.com
Xièxiè nǐ de bāngzhù Thanks so much for your help. I am so grateful. ❤️️
Hi April,
Thank you for posting.
Please check out our Chinese Learning Apps for the Android, iPhone & iPad here:
https://www.chineseclass101.com/apps/
In case of any questions, please don't hesitate to contact us.
Sincerely,
Cristiane
Team ChineseClass101.com
I just wanna ask..what is the name of your app?