Category: Mandarin

  • Cantonese vs Mandarin:(2)

    1)Let’s continue to compare Cantonese and Mandarin pronunciation B)There are some Cantonese sounds that do not exist in Mandarin. e.g. Sounds with the ending ‘m’: saam1 三(three)/衫(clothes) caam3 杉(fir) sim4禅(Zen) In Mandarin, they are pronounced as: san1三 shan1衫(clothes)/杉(fir) chan2禅(Zen) From the above, you know that the different characters with the same pronunciation with the same…

  • Cantonese vs Mandarin:(1)

    The Cantonese vs Mandarin or Mandari vs Cantonese Series (1) Although Cantonese use the same set of Chinese characters (almost… maybe 5% difference), there are a lot of differences between Cantonese and Mandarin. Not just the differences in pronunciation, but also in grammar and word usage. Today, we are starting a series to show the…

  • How to say: “Will you marry me?” in Mandarin 2

    Now the 2nd way to say “Will you marry me?” This is used by a lady to ask a man: nǐ     yuànyì        qúwǒ     ma ni3  yuan4yi4 qu2wo3 ma? 你   愿意      娶我     吗? you be willing  marry  me question?  (= Are you willing to marry me?) yuan4yi4 愿意= to be willing qu3 娶 = to marry…

  • How to say: “Will you marry me?” in Mandarin

    In Mandarin, there are two ways to say “Will you marry me?” The first one is for a man to say it to a lady: jia4 gei2 wo3 ba, hao3 ma? 嫁 给 我 吧,好 吗? Marry to me question, good question? (Marry to me, will you?) Want to know the 2nd way? See you…

  • Learn Mandarin with a Song

    This song is about a classmate who shared the same desk. Some think it is a love song. Tong2 Zhuo1 de ni3 ( You who once shared my desk at the class) by Lao3 Lang2 (old wolf), a famous singer. It starts like this: Ming2 tian1 ni3 shi4 fou3 hui4 xiang3 qi3 (Tomorrow will you…

  • 2-minute lessons Basic Mandarin

    2-minute Mandarin Lesson One: Talking about food.

  • Pinyin’s 50 years of success

    According to Shanghai Daily (2/11/2008) , HANYU Pinyin, the Chinese phonetic system, celebrated its 50th anniversary in Feb, 2008. About one billion Chinese have used it to learn Mandarin since the first edition of pinyin was issued in 1958. “Pinyin is useful … it helps us to learn Chinese characters … thanks to pinyin, we…