Mandarin Chinese Foundation Course

Compilation by Harold Goodman

About

Disc 1

  1. 1.
    How to use this course / Background to Chinese
    6:58
  2. 2.
    Tones in Chinese languages
    3:03
  3. 3.
    Flat tone (green thumb out); zhōng ‘middle’
    4:01
  4. 4.
    Rising tone (blue finger up); rén ‘person’
    3:10
  5. 5.
    Falling and rising tone (red ‘V’ for victory); wǒ ‘I, me’
    4:40
  6. 6.
    Falling tone (black finger down); shì ‘to be’
    7:14
  7. 7.
    The form of the verb ‘to be’ in Chinese doesn’t change: shì (‘to be’) also means ‘am, are, is’; wǒ shì ‘I am’
    3:11
  8. 8.
    nǐ ‘you’; nǐ shì ‘you are’; the forms of Chinese verbs never change. No word for ‘a’ or ‘an’: wǒ shì rén ‘I am a person’.
    2:37
  9. 9.
    guó ‘kingdom, nation’; zhōng guó ‘middle kingdom’ = China; zhōng guó rén ‘middle kingdom person’ = Chinese (person)
    5:00
  10. 10.
    tā ‘he, him, she, her, it’; dōu ‘both, all’; hé ‘and’; position of doū ‘both, all’ in Mandarin sentences: ‘You and he both are Chinese’, not ‘are both’, as in English.
    4:57
  11. 11.
    měi ‘beautiful’; měi guó ‘America’; měi guó rén ‘American’; yīng ‘brave’; yīng guó ‘England, Britain’; yīng guó rén ‘English’
    6:07
  12. 12.
    men = plural form of individual, single form; wǒmen ‘we, us’; nǐmen ‘you’; tāmen ‘they, them’; kěshì ‘but’
    8:26
  13. 13.
    ma = question marker, to change a statement into a question; shì ‘is’ can be used to mean ‘yes’
    5:43
  14. 14.
    nǐne ‘how about you?’; tāmenne ‘how about them?’
    5:17
  15. 15.
    máng ‘busy’; also means ‘to be busy’
    2:07
  16. 16.
    bù ‘no, not’
    3:29

Disc 2

  1. 1.
    hěn ‘very’, also fulfils the twōsyllable meter rule: a dummy word to go with an adjective; bù máng ‘not busy’
    3:59
  2. 2.
    hěn ‘very’, also fulfils the twōsyllable meter rule: a dummy word to go with an adjective; bù máng ‘not busy’
    4:23
  3. 3.
    nǐ hǎo ‘hello’; hǎo ‘good, to be good, do well’; nǐ hǎo ma ‘you good? you doing well?’ = ‘how are you?’
    8:13
  4. 4.
    nǐ hǎo ‘hello’; hǎo ‘good, to be good, do well’; nǐ hǎo ma ‘you good? you doing well?’ = ‘how are you?’
    2:54
  5. 5.
    In Chinese the character/word has the same form for both individual and plural form; word order determines meaning
    3:35
  6. 6.
    yě ‘also, too’; bù hěn hǎo ‘not very good, well’
    6:44
  7. 7.
    bú shì ‘not is’ (‘trampoline’ rule)
    6:33
  8. 8.
    A question with a question word, such as wèi shénme ‘why’. All Chinese languages use the same characters to mean the same thing, but their pronunciation differs.
    5:43
  9. 9.
    kàn ‘to look, see’; shū ‘book’; kàn shū ‘to read book’; saying ‘yes’ by repeating verb
    4:23
  10. 10.
    xiàn zài ‘now’; zài ‘at’ emphasizes ‘at this very moment
    9:11
  11. 11.
    Word order in Chinese: who–when–what is happening
    3:34
  12. 12.
    xiǎng ‘would like to
    4:13
  13. 13.
    jiàn ‘to get together, see somebody, meet’; bù xiǎng ‘would not like to’
    6:14
  14. 14.
    tài ‘too’; néng ‘can’; bù néng ‘cannot’; tai ... bù néng ‘too ... no can’ = ‘too ... to’
    5:42

Disc 3

  1. 1.
    yīnwei ‘because ’
    6:33
  2. 2.
    -de indicates possession: wǒde ‘my, mine’; nǐde ‘your, yours’; tāde ‘his, her, hers, its’; wǒmende ‘our, ours’; nǐmende ‘your, yours’; tāmende ‘their, theirs’; péngyǒu ‘friend’
    8:47
  3. 3.
    lǎoshī ‘teacher’
    7:13
  4. 4.
    wén ‘literature, culture’; zhōngwén ‘Chinese language ’; yīngwén ‘English language’; xiǎng (‘would like to’) in Chinese can only be followed by a verb.
    5:19
  5. 5.
    kàn diànshì ‘to watch TV’; diàn ‘electrical’; shì ‘vision’; zài ‘at’ represents doing something at this moment; word order in Chinese: who–when–how–what is happening
    11:59
  6. 6.
    zhè ‘this’; nǐ(de) hé wǒde ‘your and my’: you can omit the first de (possessive marker) after nǐ ‘you’ when you have both nǐde ‘your’ and wǒde ‘my’
    9:13
  7. 7.
    nà ‘that’; shì ‘is’: can be used to answer ‘yes’ to a question without using the verb in the question; bù ‘not’: can be used to answer ‘no’ to a question without using the verb
    4:02
  8. 8.
    tàitai ‘wife’; tài ... bù néng ‘too ... no can’ = ‘too ... to’
    9:22
  9. 9.
    shénme ‘what’; zhè shì shénme ‘what is this?’; nà shì shénme ‘what is that?’; word order in questions and answers
    7:56
  10. 10.
    shuō ‘to speak, say’; shuō yīngwén ‘speak English’; shuō zhōngwén ‘speak Chinese’
    4:12

Disc 4

  1. 1.
    huì ‘to be able to’ (involves ability); bú huì ‘not able to’; huì shuō ‘able to speak’; wǒ huì ‘I am able to’
    7:18
  2. 2.
    yìdiǎnr ‘a little bit of’
    2:58
  3. 3.
    dāngrán ‘of course’
    6:23
  4. 4.
    shéi ‘who’
    5:34
  5. 5.
    xuéshēng ‘student’; hé (‘and’) cannot be used to connect sentences or phrases
    7:13
  6. 6.
    zhēnde ‘really’; zhēnde ma ‘really?’ (as a question); māma ‘mother, Mom’
    7:07
  7. 7.
    ge = classifier; zhège shū ‘this book’; nàge rén ‘that man’; nàge péngyǒu ‘that friend’; nǚ ‘female’
    11:32
  8. 8.
    yíge ‘a, an, one’; yíge xuéshēng ‘a student’; yíge hǎo lǎoshī ‘a good teacher’; yíge shū ‘a book’
    7:27
  9. 9.
    yíge ‘a, an, one’; yíge xuéshēng ‘a student’; yíge hǎo lǎoshī ‘a good teacher’; yíge shū ‘a book’
    7:46
  10. 10.
    jiā ‘home’; zài jiā ‘to be at home’; zài in Chinese can be used as and functions as a verb (‘to be at ...’)
    11:04

Disc 5

  1. 1.
    nǎr ‘where’; zài nǎr ‘at where’
    3:16
  2. 2.
    yuǎn ‘far’
    5:53
  3. 3.
    dàgài ‘maybe’; běijīng ‘Beijing’ (‘northern capital’)
    5:35
  4. 4.
    zhù (zài) ‘to live, stay’; shàng hǎi ‘Shanghai’ (‘on the sea’); shàng ‘on’; hǎi ‘sea’
    2:47
  5. 5.
    yǒu ‘to have’
    4:08
  6. 6.
    nán ‘male’; word order: who–when–what is happening
    8:31
  7. 7.
    nán ‘male’; word order: who–when–what is happening
    3:08
  8. 8.
    cèsuǒ ‘toilet’
    2:18
  9. 9.
    méi yǒu ‘not have’
    5:00
  10. 10.
    nàme ‘well, in that case’; yǒuge (from yǒu yīge) ‘have a’; shìge (from shì yīge) ‘be a’
    7:46
  11. 11.
    More practice with yǒu ‘have’ and zhù ‘live’
    9:27
  12. 12.
    tài hǎo le ‘wonderful’
    9:19
  13. 13.
    zài jiā ‘to be at home / in the house’; zài jiālǐ ’inside the house’; zài[possessive] jiālǐ ‘in [someone’s] house’
    8:59

Disc 6

  1. 1.
    zhuōzi ‘table’
    3:24
  2. 2.
    lǐ not used with geographical location; lúndūn ‘London’
    7:27
  3. 3.
    yào ‘to want’; bú yào ‘not want’
    6:38
  4. 4.
    yào ‘to want’; bú yào ‘not want’
    6:02
  5. 5.
    hěn duō ‘a lot of’; wǒ yào zhège / nàge ‘I want this one / that one’
    6:42
  6. 6.
    qǜ ‘to go to
    4:39
  7. 7.
    rènshi ‘to meet, to be acquainted with’
    4:23
  8. 8.
    jīntiān ‘today’; jīn‘current’; tiān ‘day’
    6:17
  9. 9.
    qǐng wèn ‘excuse me’; qǐng ‘please’; wèn ‘to ask’; aiya ‘too bad, very bad, my God’
    7:48
  10. 10.
    shàng ‘to be on’; zài ... shàng ‘on ...’
    2:21
  11. 11.
    kàn jiàn ‘to notice, see’
    10:55

Disc 7

  1. 1.
    zài ... xià ‘to be under...’
    7:20
  2. 2.
    dà ‘big’; bú dà ‘not big’
    4:24
  3. 3.
    yǒu ‘there is, there are’; méi yǒu ‘there is not’; zài nǎr yǒu shū? ‘where is there a book?’; omitting zài‘to be at’ with yǒu ‘there is’ and méi yǒu ‘there is not’
    8:46
  4. 4.
    xuéxiào ‘school’
    10:12
  5. 5.
    zhèr ‘here’; zài zhèr ‘to be here’; nàr ‘there’
    10:57
  6. 6.
    měi ‘every’; měitiān ‘every day’
    3:20
  7. 7.
    yǒude ‘(there is / are) some’; zài ‘to be at’ can be omitted with yǒu ‘there is’ and méi yǒu ‘there is not’ when there is no ambiguity as to who is doing the action; jiā ‘family’; měi jiā ‘every family’
    7:05
  8. 8.
    duì ‘correct’; bú cuò ‘not bad’; cuò ‘bad’; three ways to say ‘yes’: repeat the verb, shì ‘is’, duì ‘correct’; yě ‘either / too’
    7:36
  9. 9.
    bú duì ‘not correct’
    3:57
  10. 10.
    zài jiā ‘to be at home’; zài jiālǐ ‘at [somebody’s] home’
    7:10
  11. 11.
    zài jiā ‘to be at home’; zài jiālǐ ‘at [somebody’s] home’
    4:48

Disc 8

  1. 1.
    qǐng wèn ‘excuse me’; twōsyllable meter rule
    10:10
  2. 2.
    bàba ‘father, Dad’; zhī dào ‘to know’
    4:57
  3. 3.
    yào shuō ‘want to speak’; néng shuō ‘can speak’
    8:17
  4. 4.
    xiānsheng (or shēng) ‘Mister, husband’; xiān ‘first, before’; wáng xiānsheng ‘Mr. Wang’
    7:02
  5. 5.
    hěn duō ‘very many, many’
    5:14
  6. 6.
    xiè xie ‘Thank you, thanks’ bú xiè ‘no thanks, you are welcome’; when to say xiè xie
    5:02
  7. 7.
    zài jiàn ‘Good bye, see you again’; zài ‘again’; jiàn ‘to see someone/meet’; lái ‘to come’; bù néng lái ‘cannot come’
    8:55
  8. 8.
    duì(ma)? ‘right?’
    3:08
  9. 9.
    mǎi ‘to buy’; bú yào ‘not want’
    4:21
  10. 10.
    dōngxi ‘a thing, things’
    4:28
  11. 11.
    kànkan ‘to take a look’
    5:00

Reviews

Similar Releases