Chinese made easy

It's not too late to start learning Mandarin — and it's easier than you think. If you missed the CD on Saturday, don't worry — you can download the first six lessons free here. Below we reprint the first two conversations. Conversation eight is in times2 today.

Getting to know people
(Conversation 1 on CD)

Part 1 Getting to know people (1)

Wang Nin hao! Wang Hello.

Brown Ni hao! Brown Hello.

Wang Nin shi Bulang xiansheng ma? Wang Are you Mr Brown?

Brown Shi. Brown Yes.

Wang Wo jiao Wang Lili. Wang My name is Wang Lili.

Brown Wo jiao Peter Brown Brown My name is Peter Brown.

Wang Bulang xiansheng, huanying nin lai Beijing. Wang Mr Brown, welcome to Beijing.

Brown Xiexie. Brown Thank you.

Fun-etics Hao is pronounced “how”, shi is much like “Cher”, and xiansheng is pronounced “shen-shung”. Jiaois the “jow” in “Tessa Jowell”, and huanyingis a breathy “hwon-ying”. Xiexie, which, of course, means “thank you”, is “share-share”.

Part 2 Getting to know people (2)

Leigh Qing wen, ni shi Chen xiaojie ma? Leigh Excuse me, are you Miss Chen?

Chen Shi. Wo jiao Chen Yingying. Ni shi . . ? Chen Yes, my name is Chen Yingying. You are?

Leigh Wo jiao Pat Leigh. Wo lai jie ni. Leigh My name is Pat Leigh. I’ve come to meet you.

Chen A, Li xiansheng, ni hao! Chen Ah, Mr Leigh, hello.

Leigh Chen xiaojie, huanying ni lai Lundun. Leigh Miss Chen, welcome to London.

Chen Xiexie ni lai jie wo. Chen Thank you for coming to meet me.

Fun-etics Qing is said “ching”, and xiaojie is the show of “shower” plus the “je” of “jet”. Lundun is obviously London, but in Chinese it is said as “Lun” plus the “dun” of “dung”.

Exchanging information and asking for a telephone number (Conversation 2 on CD)

Part 1 Exchanging information

Brown Ni you mingpian ma? Brown Do you have a name card?

Wang Duibuqi. Mei you. Wang I am sorry. I don’t (have one).

Brown Mei guanxi. Brown It doesn’t matter. (No problem.)

Wang Zhe shi wode dianhua. Wang This is my telephone (number).

Brown Ling yao er san qi ba jiu liu wu si. Brown 0123 789 654.

Wang Dui. Wang Correct.

Brown Xiexie ni. Brown Thank you.

Wang Nin-de dianhua ne? Wang What about your telephone number?

Brown Ling yao er san qi ba jiu si san liu. Brown 0123 789 436.

Wang Xiexie, xiexie. Wang Thank you.

Fun-etics You is a shortish “yoh” and mingpian is “ming” plus “paeon”. Duibuqi is “do-i”, plus “bu”, plus “chi”, while mei is “may” and guanxi is the “guan” of “guano” plus “she”. Zhe is the “Ger” of “Germany”. Dianhua is the “Dien” of “Dien Bien Phu” and hua is “who-are” but said very, very quickly. Of the numbers, yao is “yow”, er is “err”, qi is “chi”, jiu is a little like “d’you”, si is the “si” of a very polite “sir”, and liu is “lee-oo” said rapidly.

Part 2 Asking for a telephone number

Chinese woman Wei, ni hao! Chinese woman Hello.

Brown Shi Chen Yingying ma? Brown Are you Chen Yingying?

Chinese woman Bu shi. Chen Yingying bu zai. Chinese woman No. She is not in.

Brown Ni you ta-de shouji dianhua ma? Brown Do you have her mobile phone number?

Chinese woman You. Qing deng-yi-deng. Chinese woman Yes. A moment, please.
(A moment later.) (A moment later.)

Chinese woman Yao san er. Chinese woman 132.

Brown Yao san er. Brown 132.

Chinese woman Si liu ba wu. Chinese woman 4685.

Brown Liu ba wu. Brown 685.

Chinese woman Bu dui, si liu ba wu. Chinese woman No, it’s 4685.

Brown Si liu ba wu. Brown 4685.

Chinese woman Ling si yao qi. Chinese woman 0417.

Brown Ling si yao qi. Brown 0417.

Chinese woman Dui. Chinese woman Correct.

Brown Yao san er si liu ba wu ling si yao qi. Brown 132 4685 0417.

Chinese woman Dui. Chinese woman Correct.

Brown Xiexie ni. Brown Thank you

Chinese woman Bu xie. Chinese woman You’re welcome.

Fun-etics Wei, always used as “hello” in Chinese phone calls, is “weigh”. Shouji is “show-ji”, qing “ching” and deng-yi-deng is “dung-i-dung”. Dui, meaning correct, is correctly said as “do-i”.

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