Chinese Learn Chinese!

Okay me.

How do you say. where's the TP at. and im being seroius on this.

 

...excuse me? Where's the what at?

- Teddz

 

TP= Toilet paper. I think that is what he means. I think. I have a few questions though. Which language would be most commonly used? Cantonese or Mandarin? Would it be best to learn both?....but yeah, I want to learn chinese. Pretty much all of it. Verbs, nouns, etc.

 

Well, in Cantonese it will be: "Cheng mun sen chi ji hai been dou".

As for which language is mostly spoken, definately Mandarin followed second by Cantonese. Mandarin, in Chinese: 國語 - guo yu/kwok yu [Mandarin/Cantonese] literallly means 'the nation's language'.

- Shen

 

If I may ask, perhaps you could dissect that phrase? I mean, knowing a phrase or two isn't as good as understanding how to make your own phrases, right?

I'm curious to see how verbs conjugate in Chinese, actually. Are there more than one kind as there are with Spanish? (-ar, -er, -ir endings) Is there perhaps a table of sorts you could give?

 

Well, the chinese language is known as the most difficult language to learn. Think about it, you need to use both sides of the brain to completely understand it. Also, as in Spanish, it has accentuation, but 4 different accent tones! So, watch out when you say: ma, ma, ma or ma (they have radical differences). That's what I read in a local newspaper sometime ago.

I have another question. I want to learn Mandarin Chinese seriously, not just some phrases here and there. As a beginning, it'd be in the internet by myself. How should I do it? Should I start with pinyin, then chinese characters and last, pronounciation? Any other suggestions?

Thanks in advance.

[EDIT]TP = TelePhone?

 

I'd say go with both. Pinyin and "Hanzhi" go hand in hand. Actually, if you know the pinyin, you know the pronounciation. It's like Japanese "Romanji".

There are special ways to speak the words, it's higher a high tone, or a low tone etc. I think I have a table of that somewhere...I will post it up here when I find it.

- Teddz

Oh and as for the toiletpaper...

"Qing weng, che sho zhi tuo zai na li"

 

Hehe, it's Xie Xie. Or, you could say " Dou Xie " - Much Thanks.

- Teddz

 

Just to add in my point. Chinese is actually a very unique language. The way you pronounce a word can mean something different if you pronounce it in another way. Basically in pronouncing a word, there a 4 different stress tone. Sorry i can't get any audio files to make things easier.. =( But i'll try to explain the best that i can =)

1st stress tone is actually kind of mono, as in the same pitch throughout word.

2nd stress tone is to say a word in a rising pitch.

3rd stress tone is to say a word in a dropping pitch, but rising back up at the end of the word.

4th stress tone is to say a word by dropping in pitch quickly and strongly.

Sorry if my explaination actually makes you people more confused instead of being helpful... =\

But i'll still show what i mean my four different tones on a same word, thus a different meaning.

Lets say i use the word 'Ma' (The same way you call your mum)
Ma using the first tone means mother
Using the second tone means numb, third means horse and fourth means 'to scold'

Thats it for all my meaningless crap =P

 

So, if you say it wrong, you could accidentally call someone's mother a horse?

eek

I think I understand what you're saying, though.

 

Well, mostly, you can hear the differences. It's all in the tongue

- Teddz

 

You mean , right?

You can say that Chinese is spoken singing.

 

Well, in a way it's. Most people find it rather "harsh" than Japanese, but it's peoples opinions.

Anyone up for translations / lessons?

- Teddz

 

I'd like to know how to say these phrases:

Saber Marionette is the best anime serie

I love Cherry

I love you










What? I'm a Saber Marionette Otaku

 

Same here, I'd like to know those phrases.

How about some simple phrases, like "How are you?" "I'm good" and the like? Phrases you'd want to know to carry on a simple conversation.

 

dude

DUDE i wanna lurn chinese yaaaa illll be asian and egyption yaaaaaa

 

Saber Marionette is the best anime serie

Saber Marionette shi zhui hao de man hua dian ying!

I love Cherry

Wo ai Cherry

I love you

Wo ai ni !

Normal Conversation

Usually the chinese never say "how are you", basically the phrase of hello, is based on "how are you", "Ni hao".

It's quiet common that the chinese as what your "aftername" is, mostly to chinese people. I.e. Zhang Ziyi, her "aftername" would be Zhang.

A basic convo would sound something like this:

"Ni hao, wo jiao Teddz, nin xing shen me?"

"Nin" is a more formal way to say "you". That sentence is translated as:

"Hello, my name is Teddz. What's your "aftername" ?"

"Ni hao, wo xing Zhang."

"Hello, my after name is Zhang"

It's very common to talk like this in China, since this is a very polite way to ask ie. "Mr. or Mrs."

- Teddz

 

FYI, the equivalent of Teddz's phrases in cantonese are:

"Lei ho, ngor ghiew Teddz, lei shing sum mor?"

and

"Lei ho, ngor shing Cheung"

A lot harder to pronounce I know. Feel free to ask me ho to pronounce any words which seems hard to spell (Mandarin spelling is more self-explanatory, hence easier to learn).

For beginners, Mandarin is more favourable to Cantonese... so basically Teddz will have to do most of the talking in the forum I'll add my cantonese to parts where I find appropriate.

- Shen