Anyone speak Mandarin Chinese?

[rincewind]

I'm just wondering if anyone here speaks, and is willing to help me with, Mandarin Chinese. I know a little, but my main problem is with the tonal system. I'd be grateful of any help whatsoever, even if it is as basic as pointing me in the direction of a particular book or website I'd still be eternally grateful.:)

[Yoshitsune]

I speak some, but the only way to get better at tones is to actually talk to people who speak Chinese

We can practice here though :)

[rincewind]

Thanks very much!
I knew that the best way to practise a language is to speak it with natives, that's how i learnt so much japanese in such a short time. I'd be hugely grateful if we could practise here.

I do have a few small problems though...
I'm not sure how to type Chinese on my computer, i tried to do it the same way as i would for Japanese but that hasn't worked for some reason.

Also, i can't type using the pinyin system either. :P

I'll stop whinging now...

Thanks very much for your offer of help, i'd be glad to take you up on it.

(Any chance of live practise using an IM of sorts (MSN, AIM?)?

[Yoshitsune]

You need to install the east asian languages, then just add the Chinese (pick simplified) from the list of keyboard input languages, in control panel >regional language settings> etc.

You can't type in Chinese in AIM though, only on msn
but you can practice with people here too

[yummysasuke]

But if you want to practise speaking it, and perfecting your pronouciation, it's WAY easier if you actually talk to people you can hear. I found that out when I was in China for 2 weeks. If I wanted to, I can talk fluent mandarin. XD

But by practising here, you can practise your grammar and extend your vocab. ^^

[rincewind]

Ah right, i thought i had already done that when i installed the Japanese font. I'll give it a go. :) Thanks.

The ideal thing to do until i actually visit China would be to use a web microphone or similar to practise...at least i think that would work? :S

EDIT: It's finally worked. Thanks! 谢谢

[Yoshitsune]

太好了！现在我们练习汉语吧！

[rincewind]

Thank you very much!
(I had to use a translator unfortunately. :( But, i did recognise some kanji :))

[DaSheWan]

呵呵~~我想知道《火影忍者》里各人物的英文名，谢谢啦~

我讲中文！

[Mrs.Lovett]

da jia hao! wo xian zhai bu zhai jia li, suo yi wo bu neng xie zhong wen zi mu. pingying ke yi ba?

[mr_shadow]

Wo de putong-hua bu hao, ke shi wo kai xue ^^

Xie yong yi zhe...

[mr_shadow]

Hua de ming shi Zhonguo-hua Putong-hua ma?

[The Black Knight]

你好！！！！




haha　私は其れしかしらないよ！ヨシツネさん　（笑）
^^Not a chinese sentence :P

[uchiha11223]

Is Madarin Chinese the main language in China

[mr_shadow]

Yes, mandarin is the dialect spoken in Beijing and large parts of the country, and is considered the standard form of chinese.

Being the language of the capital, in feodal times most chinese knew Mandarin as the language of the emperor and the upper class. After the revolution The Party changed the name to Putong-hua ("common speech") and made it the mainstream form of chinese, to show that The People now held the same status as the old feodal lords.


Ill put that up on my list of "Positive things to come out of The Party"...

[reepa]

I don't speak Chinese, but good, I can't stand Cantonese dialect lol. It's too rough. So it's comforting to know that Mandarin is most popular.

[Nsakura_hatakeU]

i know mandarin chinese =) actually its my first and native language... well my english's also good now, but i still know how to write most chinese words and can read chinese...

I can type some chinese words for you on the computer if you want...

[zagman505]

lol, i'm chinese-american. other than me, my whole family was born in china... so i can speak, but my reading and writing leave something to be desired. so yeah. call me or something O.o

[Silver_knight]

HUH?????? lol ill get a Asian friend to tell me something :p

[Kero-Chan]

I speak it, write it, and its my first second language. My Dad talks to me with it. I also talk to my mom cantonese. Its really hard to read it in just english letters but I sort of got what they said Lol.

[mr_shadow]

I speak it, write it, and its my first second language. My Dad talks to me with it. I also talk to my mom cantonese.

普通话和广东话迳庭吗

[Kero-Chan]

I talk to my dad in Mandarin chinese, i talk to my mom in cantonese chinese.
BTW, if you guys want to join a Chinese FC, its in my signature.

[QuoNina]

I talk to my dad in Mandarin chinese, i talk to my mom in cantonese chinese.... Then... Which language do they use to speak to each other? :S

[Kero-Chan]

What do you mean. Mandarin and Cantonese are both chinese languages.

[QuoNina]

^Just wondering which one they use mainly. Or they just talk to each other using thier own dialect.

[Leen]

You will be surprised to see the amount of chinese who don't know how to speak in mandarin but can speak cantonese fluently. It's very normal nowadays. People do speak in their dialects all the while. Chinese have so many dialects that it is hard to understand one another and so, mandarin is chosen as the bridge, communicator to the whole chinese community. It is accepted widely that mandarin is the core of chinese but then again, a lot still opt for dialects like cantonese, hokkien, teochew, foochow, hakka and so on and so forth. Diversity is good for the culture as well. It flourishes chinese.

[Yasha]

You will be surprised to see the amount of chinese who don't know how to speak in mandarin but can speak cantonese fluently. It's very normal nowadays. People do speak in their dialects all the while. Chinese have so many dialects that it is hard to understand one another and so, mandarin is chosen as the bridge, communicator to the whole chinese community. It is accepted widely that mandarin is the core of chinese but then again, a lot still opt for dialects like cantonese, hokkien, teochew, foochow, hakka and so on and so forth. Diversity is good for the culture as well. It flourishes chinese.

I can speak fluently in Mandarin, Cantonese and Hokkien. I guess I'm the lucky one. ^^

[Kero-Chan]

I can speak fluently in Mandarin, Cantonese and Hokkien. I guess I'm the lucky one. ^^
Me too, I understand and speak both, and write the language.
You will be surprised to see the amount of chinese who don't know how to speak in mandarin but can speak cantonese fluently. It's very normal nowadays. People do speak in their dialects all the while. Chinese have so many dialects that it is hard to understand one another and so, mandarin is chosen as the bridge, communicator to the whole chinese community. It is accepted widely that mandarin is the core of chinese but then again, a lot still opt for dialects like cantonese, hokkien, teochew, foochow, hakka and so on and so forth. Diversity is good for the culture as well. It flourishes chinese.
Ya, its true. So many different, but the main ones are mandarin and cantonese.

[Join my FC for Chinese speakers, writers, and chinese people. And if your not chinese you can join too.]
http://forums.narutofan.com/showthread.php?t=112324

[Dommy]

Chinese is my mother language so I can speak and write it well. ^^

[QuoNina]

Chinese (Mandarin) is the only language I've spoken for about 15 years of my life. If I don't speak/write/read it well, I am in serious trouble and should go hit myself on tofu. :amuse

I can understand a little bit Taiwanese, Hakka, and Sichuan dialect.

[Kero-Chan]

Thats awesome.
YOU REALLY SHOULD JOIN MY CHINESE FC!

[QuoNina]

That also makes me feel I can never learn English well, especially around the area I live, where you would still live happily w/o having to learn English at all. -_- Not very awesome. This situation gets better in college though.

Anyway. I'll lurk around your FC. :amuse You guys have an awesome banner.

[Suu]

Chinese was my first language...actually that's a lie, Cantonese was (dialect).

But after staying here in Australia for so long, my speaking ability has sort of...died down a lot. Now I'm just average at it. I can handle Mandarin too, but pretty basic writing, reading and speaking skills.
Enough to read a lot of the Japanese words that are the same as Chinese in the Naruto manga =P

[Kero-Chan]

Im not racist or anything, but Japanese people stole some chinese words. They use it, and koreans have also done it too, they just made it less hard to write.

Thanks :D. That banner does look nice.
And Garra's head, the "I\" like, I, but AITE sound, means love. Also does in chinese. So thats like Half japanese, and chinese right there.

[kenken]

各位大大，哈囉
o(n____n)oo~ hrmm, i think for japanese kanji they use both traditional (mostly used in taiwan nowadays) characters and simplified(mostly used in china nowadays) like "kuni国(simplified)" and "aida間(traditional)" o___o" and japanese calls their kanji as "chinese characters" i think :D so hehe chinese people should be happy that all these asian countries are using their system *nods* and i think learning chinese first and english later is easier than english first and chinese later >~~~< but that is how i feel : D

------
oh, and as to the question of the thread n___n;; do you mean tones as in speaking them or writing them? *scratches head* i'll try my best to help you!!

[Yoshitsune]

Im not racist or anything, but Japanese people stole some chinese words. They use it, and koreans have also done it too, they just made it less hard to write.


They didn't steal them, Chinese was the basis for the Japanese writing system. A lot of hanzi have been derived from Chinese for Japanese words, but what makes Japanese harder is that they aren't simply just added to sentences to make sense. Japanese also has another writing system so that's why it's an integration of the Chinese symbols mixed with Japanese pronounciation of the symbols.

Some words, like you said look the same, but are pronounced differently and can mean different things. Such as:
Chinese: 先生 xiansheng = Mr.
Japanese: 先生 sensei = teacher

And some are the same
Chinese: 当然 dangran = of course
Japanese: 当然 touzen = of course

So yeah. :)

Edit: Japanese uses primarily semi-traditional characters from Chinese. Not simplified ones like 语 but instead 語
But not overly traditional like the traditional one for 学 for example

[mr_shadow]

Chinese: 先生 xiansheng = Mr.
Japanese: 先生 sensei = teacher

I think that one is semi-correct actually. I think xiansheng LITTERALY means teacher/master, but over time it has become a polite way of adressing people, showing submission

"Ni shi mang, Wu-xiansheng" = Are you busy, master Wu? (see, it works in english too ^^)

[Hattori~Hanzo]

I can read and speak Mandarin Chinese but I can't write very well. :P

Edit: Japanese uses primarily semi-traditional characters from Chinese. Not simplified ones like 语 but instead 語
But not overly traditional like the traditional one for 学 for example
That's because the influence of Chinese over the Japanese language happened in the past, not in modern times.

[carpetmaster]

I can speak, read and write Mandarin although my skill has deteriorated quite a bit over time. I'm not great anymore but I can pass. At home my mom often speaks the "Wu" dialect (Shanghainese), so I can understand some of that too (it's hard though).

Actually, Shanghainese is the second most spoken dialect of Chinese after Mandarin. Cantonese always seemed to be, but that was only because that region exported more culture (in form of products, emmigrants, etc). I was quite surprised to learn this myself, but there are fewer cantonese speakers than shanghainese speakers. (btw, Shanghainese referring to the Wu dialect in general, not just urban Shanghai)

[urotsukidoji]

wei wei..^^ i see chinese classes have begun..! i speak cantonese and very lil mandarin.. but i would like to learn some shanghainese.. and if any1 needs help with translation cantonese to english.. let me know... :P

[darksage78]

I speak it, write it, and its my first second language. My Dad talks to me with it. I also talk to my mom cantonese. Its really hard to read it in just english letters but I sort of got what they said Lol.
Opposite for me, I speak to my mom in Mandarin. My dad cantonese. I'm a mix between Taiwanese and Hong Kong lol Unfortunately I can't read much or write much in chinese only listen and speak. Hopefully I can learn some more words and from this thread ^_^

As for the dialect part, there's tons even within canton itself there's different minor dialects within it.

[Kero-Chan]

Ya, My dads from Taiwan and moms from vietnam.
We are not alike at all 0.0.

[carpetmaster]

Lol Shanghainese is one weird language, and it's all very fast. I can try to romanize some of the easy words. It'll be in English, then Mandarin, then Shanghainese.

Hello - Ni hao - Nong ho
Bye - Zhai jien - zewei
Thanks - Xie xie ni - Jiaya nong
Sleep - Shui jiao - Kuan gao
I - Wo - Ngo
You - Ni - Nong
We - Wo men - (are you ready for this?) A la

Haha that's the basics I guess :D!

[Kenji310]

My moms Taiwanese, My dads Chinese. I'm living in Taiwan now.

[kokoro_angel]

你们好！ My Mandarin is not very good, but I know enough to read manga. lol

Dialect usage has died down a lot among the younger generation in Singapore where I live. We tend to speak a mixture of mandarin/english/malay/tamil.
So when my relatives speak in Hokkien, I only understand a few words.

[darksage78]

Unfortunately I've never been to Taiwan, was supposed to last year but typhoon got in the way. Been to HK a couple times now, plan to get my ID card during Xmas time and go back again in the summer. I love that place too much lol

Anyone wanna teach me how to read? lol I could read Kokoro's phrase ^__^

[Kami Uta]

I think that one is semi-correct actually. I think xiansheng LITTERALY means teacher/master, but over time it has become a polite way of adressing people, showing submission

"Ni shi mang, Wu-xiansheng" = Are you busy, master Wu? (see, it works in english too ^^)

actually you shouldn't use Ni shi mang (你是忙) if you're trying to ask somone if they're busy or not. Those three words are actually gramatically incorrect, and the direct translation for that sentence is actually "you are busy, mr wu?"

If you want to ask if someone is busy or not, you should put it this way.
qing wen ni mang ma? (請問你忙嗎?)

Also, we use "shi fu" (師傅) for the word master. "xian sheng" (先生) is used to address someone in a polite manner. (e.g mr.)

Hope that was helpful. :amuse

[urotsukidoji]

wei wei, carpet master.. xiexie ni ^^
i found those shanghainese words very helpful, please teach me some more and your helping me learn more mandarin.. if you need help with cantonese. let me knw..

:D

[Kero-Chan]

I went to the dentist once, and I had to sit there, trying to read a chinese comic. Which wasnt funny and I couldnt understand. (I was small back then).

I hope I dont have to go to chinese school this year too.. been going all my life. To the same school..

[Hattori~Hanzo]

actually you shouldn't use Ni shi mang (你是忙) if you're trying to ask somone if they're busy or not. Those three words are actually gramatically incorrect, and the direct translation for that sentence is actually "you are busy, mr wu?"

If you want to ask if someone is busy or not, you should put it this way.
qing wen ni mang ma? (請問你忙嗎?)
你在忙嗎﹖ will also do the trick. :)

[carpetmaster]

I always just asked it as

你忙不忙？

I use that __-bu-__ too often i think :P.

And yeah, Kami Uta is right about the difference between shi fu and xian sheng.

师傅 = shi fu = master (as in like master of their trade)
先生 = xian sheng = Mr. or Mrs. (used after, much like japanese)

You can get some really really neat shanghainese phrases here:
http://www.sinosplice.com/chinese/dialects/

It has the mandarin and shanghainese sounds for phrases as well as the (simplified) characters. You'll notice that Shanghainese doesn't use the same words to represent the same ideas often.

BTW, I'm not a great teacher of this stuff. I've never been to chinese school so everything I know I learned on my own, therefore everything I learned was subject to my own interpretation. Don't take everything I say for truth :P!

[urotsukidoji]

hey carpet sifu.. mm goy sai.. ^^
thanks the website was really good for shanghainese.. do you know any other website or more words.. i want to learn... >.<

wel appreciate the help so far... xia ya nong :D

[specify]

I speak shanghainese too, and I have to say, it's much more pleasant sounding than some of the other wu dialects I've heard (ningbo isn't kind to the ear).

[shadycheese]

im taiwanese but i can only understand it
i can speak madarin and understand it
but i can work on my writing and reading

[Kero-Chan]

Shanghinese is near the language cantonese, if you understand cantonese like me youll understand a bit shanghi.

CANTONESE LANGUAGE TOPIC:

Click HERE (http://forums.narutofan.com/showthread.php?p=4886673)

[Kitee]

I was born in China, but I was shortly shipped to New Zealand at five years of age. But now my English has surpassed my Mandarin. I don't think my vocabulary can rival with those of a seven year old. x___X;

Oh, and about the Japanese-Chinese language issue -- in a similar sense, was like how roughly 50% English (as well as many other European languages) were derived from Latin. In a sense, you could say the Japanese took a lot of ... influences... from ancient China, especially considering 60% of the Japanese language was derived from Chinese, but it's technically not 'stealing.'

[tommyrt]

XD you were shipped? Seriously, that must've taken weeks

(我只在開玩笑啦)

希望你可以繼續學點中文，因為是蠻有用的!

Right now, I'm quite fluent with chinese, but I'm trying to learn some japanese and there is alot of correlations.

baka - 笨蛋 - Idiot
chana - 再間 - See You

If someone knows both jap and chi fluently, could they tell me if the sentence structures are also similar? and. Although this is a chinese thread, you start off learning hiragana right?

If anyone needs help just ask.


Thanks~
Thomas 錢仁智

[Hattori~Hanzo]

chana - 再間 - See You
It is 再見, not 再間. You must have typed wrongly.

[carpetmaster]

japanese and chinese sentence structures are very different. As you probably know, the main difference is in that japanese structure goes normally Subject-Object-Verb whereas chinese follows most other languages in Subject-Verb-Object. Also, japanese has verb forms and conjugations, something that chinese lacks.

The first thing you want to do is study hiragana and katakana. That will help you absorb more from a plethora of sources.

[az0r]

I dont know mandarine i speak cantonese ^^

[Yoshitsune]

but there is no 'hiragana' or 'katakana' in Chinese...just hanzi (kanji)......

[Jimmie]

Could someone tell what the following sentences mean?

Xianzai wo cai ming bei shei cai shi wo de hao peng you!
Yu jian ni shi wo yi sheng de rong xing!

[shady0008]

atm something something good friend

and i dont no the rest -.-"

[Hattori~Hanzo]

Could someone tell what the following sentences mean?

Xianzai wo cai ming bei shei cai shi wo de hao peng you!
Yu jian ni shi wo yi sheng de rong xing!
Now then I know (understand) who is my good friend.
Meeting you is the honor of my life.

Some of the romanization (hanyu pingyin) is a little off though, but I get what it is saying.

[Jimmie]

Thank you for the quick answers. http://forums.narutofan.com/images/icons/icon14.gif

[RPG_Fan04]

Ahh Ni how! Wo whe swro zhonwhen! (Tai how the! the smile-big) Cu shi wo bu cuie shei zhonwhen hiyo bu cuie kun zhonwhen :cry

Translation: Hello! I can say chinese (great!) But, I can't write chinese. Also I can't read chinese :cry

[freewill]

Hehe,I am a chinese and my MSN is microwolf007@hotmail.com. If you need any help in using chinese, please feel free to contact me.

[urotsukidoji]

hey freewill.. will you help me with translations and learning mandarin..? :P

[Jotun]

Wo ai ni 1313!

[Leen]

Wo ai ni 1313!

I thought it should be wo ai ni 1314? :laugh

[trebors]

what language is this -----> ya gao - very good

[Chee]

I just started taking Chinese in HighSchool. So far I can only say basic greetings and I am Danielle (and I'm learning the finals and initials too). -.- It's only been 2 weeks so yea...

[freewill]

hey freewill.. will you help me with translations and learning mandarin..? :P

sure, my pleasure, you can contact me via msn.

[seamless]

我中文不好
我四福人

Grr...I was born in China and used to be very fluent in both fuzhounese and mandarin. Stupid English washed out all of it xD And I failed Chinese school when I tried taking it again when I was 11 x_x

Would you mind giving me a few lessons as well freewill?

[99NineTails99]

I can speak mandarin, too. I can help if anyone here needs help as well.

How do you type chinese characters online? I guess I can just type pinyin, but it's kind of hard to read and understand without the tone marks.

Edit: seamless, the third character in the second line means happiness. I'm guessing that you meant to say that you are a westerner. so it should have been xi(1) fang(1) rather than xi(1) fu(2). unless you meant to say happy.

[kakashi&jiraiya]

Ni hao ma?
Ni shenti hao ma?
Wo xian ziwo jieshao yixia, wo jiao kakashi hatake

xiexie ni de bangzhu

:jounins

[seamless]

I was just saying I was from Fuzhou, not very good at character reconization (I moved to America before I entered first grade) and it's been a while since I looked over hi-ying ping yin so yeah ^^'

[freewill]

我中文不好
我四福人

Grr...I was born in China and used to be very fluent in both fuzhounese and mandarin. Stupid English washed out all of it xD And I failed Chinese school when I tried taking it again when I was 11 x_x

Would you mind giving me a few lessons as well freewill?

It is my pleasure, please add my msn. but I am just afraid that the time differences will become a small problem.

[monk3]

wow, i really have to learn mandarin. i'm 15 and i only know the most basic stuff

[AZIZ_FROST]

what language is this -----> ya gao - very good


thats "hok kian"

ya gao = very good = hen hao

hok kian...english....mandarin

[AZIZ_FROST]

I speak some, but the only way to get better at tones is to actually talk to people who speak Chinese

We can practice here though :)



OMG!! you speak japanese, english and chinese!!! what other languages can you speak?? ur good =)

[specify]

没人了 :notrust

[AuxunauxiaNoname]

I speak mandrin fluently.

But I'm not so good at writting.

^_^ I can type some (when I have the language system to do it with on the computer I'm using)

Knowning pinyin well is very helpful though.

Wo hui shuo zhong wen. Dan shi wo bu hui du huo xie tai duo.

Shuo shi ken ding mei wen ti da.