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Lesson Introduction
When you travel to China, the question on all Chinese people’s lips is “Do you like China”. So, in this podcast lesson, we help you to answer that all important question. You’ll learn how to give an emphatic “Yes! I like China!” in Mandarin Chinese. In this lesson you will also learn how to speak about your likes and dislikes – something of the utmost importance, unless you’re happy eating chicken’s feet for breakfast.
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horsesruleduh says
this is a great lesson it will help tramendouslyApril 26, 2007
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PhilAugust 4, 2006
I probably found a mistake in the Expansion section of this lesson in the subsection 来 --> 她第一次来中国。--> It’s my first time to come to China. there should be a 我 instead of 她 right? anyways great material and great page :) regards Phil
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AmyAugust 14, 2006
OK, I'm throwing in my two cents because I saw Ken's post about Newbies being so quiet. :-) Phil is right about the 我/她 - I found the same little mistake. I liked this lesson, and especially the expansion section. If I could add to a wish list, I think it would be wonderful if we could toggle the view of sentences in the Expansion sentence on and off, in the same way that we can switch between pinyin and hanzi in the grammar exercises. That way, I could work through the expansion sentences, and when I felt confident with them, I could test my listening comprehension by "masking" the hanzi and English and clicking the arrows to make sure I "got" the whole sentence without being able to see it. Just an idea...
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Mike in JubeiAugust 14, 2006
Hi Amy Welcome and great to see you post. Did it hurt? I am an old Cpoddie who has put my foot in mouth almost as many times as Aric. Your idea is a good one and a great reminder to the techies. Earlier we had asked if it was possible along with Amy's idea to be able to pause and play back parts of a sentence in the expanded section. Why? Well (1) to listen again and again to the lexical chunk bit and (2) in Intermediate and higher the sentences (paragraphs) get quite long and if one is using it without seeing the pinyin but trying to decipher it on ones own it is useful to play parts again and again. Mike in Jubei
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AuntySueAugust 28, 2006
Are the characters in the third expansion sentence right? It doesn't look the same as similar sentences. 你第几次来北京？ Is this your first time to Beijing?
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AuntySueAugust 28, 2006
Seventh sentence 她第一次来中国。 It’s my first time to come to China. That's "her first time", isn't it? Also the heading and descriptive paragraph near the top of this page aren't the right ones for Expansion.
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AuntySueSeptember 1, 2006
OK, it must be something I don't understand. Sorry if my last two comments were misleading to anyone.
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ChinesePodSeptember 7, 2006
Amy, Thanks for the suggestion. It's a good idea, and one that we will try to incorprorate. AuntySue, You bring up: This is definitely worth discussing. The issue here is not a bad translation or mistake, but rather a pragmatic translation over a literal translation. The reason we chose a pragmatic translation is because in English there is no grammatical literal translation. Let's break it down:
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DarrenFebruary 6, 2007
I'm enjoying the lessons, and find the expansion and exercises useful. However in the "find the grammar error" exercises is it possible to remove the hanzi? You only need to know one or two characters in the sentence to turn it into a "which pinyin match the hanzi?" exercise. I'm finding trying to work out the correct word order challenging, and having the correct answer right next to the question is distracting: it keeps spoiling the fun!
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Ankur GuptaMarch 12, 2007
wow!! i think i am the only newbie here! if in the exercise we could hear and then match with the right meanning then it would be a great listening test(an thus helping in practising to udnerstand)! :-) Ankur
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TangmuMarch 12, 2007
I just found out that “北京” can't be added to the vocab-list. It's the same error like with “名字” in intro-lesson 2 (message says it has been added but it hasn't). I would really appreciate a quick fix. Thanks! ;)
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ChinesePodMarch 13, 2007
Hi Tangmu, I'll have that checked out asap! :D - Eileen
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CarolApril 7, 2007
Am I correct in that "di er ci" means twice while "liang ci" means two times? (dialogue vs exercise #3) So that the word times is treated like a noun vis-a-vis two books?
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海宁 / HenningApril 8, 2007
Carol: 第二次 (dìèrcì) means "(the) second time" while 两次 (liǎngcì) means "two times" or "twice" The 第 is a bit like the English "No.", although the literal translation sounds a bit awkward ("You No. two time come China?"). Another example you will often find: 第二章 (dì èr zhāng) - Chapter No. 2. (lit.: "No. 2 Chapter")
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lantianApril 8, 2007
Hi Carol, FYI Jenny has also taken to saying in more recent podcasts in Chinese, 'first, second, third time' after each scripted dialogue by saying: "第一遍" "第二遍＂第三遍＂ di4 yi bian4，di4 er4 bian4, di4 san bian4 first time, second time, third time I'm not sure what the subtle difference would be between "yi bian" vs "yi ci", except my old schoolbooks use 'yi ci' and Jenny uses 'yi bian'. I'm going with Jenny's. :) Maybe I'm over-analyzing, but your question made me think, why don't the other combos work? o 第二次 (dìèrcì) x 第两次 (dìliǎngcì) o 两次 (liǎngcì) x 二次 (èrcì) To be quite honest, I learned the 'di + er' phrase together, so I never mix it up. I do sometimes forget to say 'liang' and will say 'er'. There's probably some nifty grammar reason that John and Amber know, but I just look at is as word order in Chinese. Reading (di + er) ci carries the meaning (second) occurrence/time. Reading (liang + ci) means (two occurrences). By the way liang3 ge means two. 两个 If I was to start over studying Chinese again, I would tell myself to pay a lot of attention to the order of words. I don't get the feeling in English that the order of words carries as much grammatical meaning because we do things like conjugation. But in Chinese placement of a word in a certain part of the sentence can change it's use from noun to verb to adjective with relative ease. In your question the position of the 'liang' just BEFORE the 'ci' implies a 'times' as you mentioned.
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海宁 / HenningApril 8, 2007
I fuzzily remember that it is 二 (èr) when the number stands on its own (as in "1,2,3,..." or in the above discussed "No. 2" - 第二次 dìèrcì) but 两 (liǎng) when we are counting things, e.g. the times we have visited China. As Lantian mentioned: After a while the rule fades. What stays is an emotion of correctness. Lantian: I am always unsure about the correct word order in the English language as well, so nothing special here. But what I am afraid most in all languages are prepositions. I would suspiciously watch those when starting to learn Chinese.
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ChinesePodApril 8, 2007
Hi Carol, Henning, Lantian, That's right, when you add the 第 (dì) to the front of the number, it indicates that it's in a sequential order. Now, the difference in usage of 遍 (biàn) and 次 (cì), is that if 遍 (biàn) is used it's most often used in combination with one of the following verbs, and when the action is to be done from beginning to end.: 读 dú 听 tīng 说 shuō 写 xiě 看 kàn Also, you cannot use 第 dì + 两 (liǎng). It is always 第 dì + 二 (èr) + ... (ordinal numbers) ~amber :)
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ricardoApril 12, 2007
Hi all, First post... On the matter of 一遍 vs 一次, I was taught that Yibian indicates repetition of an action, as in "say again" (再说一遍). It does not mean repeat ONE time. Yibian is one word, like Yixiar, 一下儿 (notion of action being quick or slight), whereas (yi ci) means literally "one time" (two words). 再说两遍 does not mean "please say twice". My teacher told me that it should be used with the verbs you listed, not for statistical occurrence reasons, but rather because they are human actions, subject to being repeated by the one being addressed. 做 一遍, 可以 雨一遍, 不可以. Is this correct or did I get it all wrong? Thanks, Ricardo
excuter says
Hi, fellows if I´m asked: ni xǐhuan zhōngguócài ma? ,how can I say that I didn´t try it til now? Can I say somthing like: wo mai jo zhōngguócài? excuterApril 21, 2007
nonigirl2006 says
Wow I'm impressed by everyone. You all certainly don't seem like Newbies. I really am. I just started to learn Chinese for the first time. In reference to the difference usage of 二 (èr) and 两 (liǎng), my teacher explains it simply by stating that in Mandarin, the first is used in Beijing and in most communications but the 2nd liang is used in the Shanghai area. Also er is the more formal usage and liang is a more common, daily speech usage. I know this doesn't seem like a very grammatical explanation but it works for me. But I love all the other comments and I'm writing them down for future reference. ThanksMay 10, 2007
lybongbup says
Dear Excuter if you want to say: I didn't try it until now? you can say: dao1 xian4 zai4 wo3 hai2 mei2 chi1 guo4 Zhong1guo2cai4? Best Regards HoaMay 20, 2007
krswanso says
This is great! I am a newbie and I feel like I can start to talk to people who are from China!May 21, 2007
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This is a very helpful site!! 谢谢！[xiexie]....Thank you!!June 4, 2007
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Dear lybongbup, What do the numbers besides the Mandarin words stand for? (EX: dao1) ~AcerneyJune 4, 2007
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Do I write xiexie as 谢谢 or as 写 写?June 4, 2007
amber says
lybongbup, You could say: 我从来没有吃过。(Wǒ cónglái méiyǒu chī guo.) hi italiana, It's 谢谢 （xièxie) :)June 5, 2007
siung99 says
just my two cents worth --- re: 二 vs 两 . i would say 两 has something to do with amount e.g. there are two things, two times. but in the context where "two" doesnt mean "amount", the word 二 is used. e.g. 第 二 名 (di4 er4 ming2) means "No.2"/runner up/ ranked second, it doesn't mean there are 2 people, so 二 is used instead of 两June 15, 2007
mimimi says
Thank you for your lessons. I like them very much.June 26, 2007
hashmi says
wo xihuan lai cher.June 27, 2007
toadie1951 says
HI, I understand that Zhongguo means China but then later zhongguocai is used for Chinese food. How did the China become chinese? or is it just because it is attached with cai and so an assumption is made.? In the expanded exercises it uses a totally different word for chinese food as does my dictionary. Help! Is one formal and one more standard useage?? Thanks HeatherJuly 12, 2007
KennyK says
toadie1951 - "Zhongguo cai" literally means "China food".... in English, we change the word to Chinese (which just means "from China"), but in Chinese you don't need a new word to express that...July 12, 2007
az90925 says
对于中文的学习，也就是对中国文化的学习．如能了解中国的习俗，回答这类问题将是非常容易的．大伙一起努力吧． by honk luo(az90925)August 7, 2007
charlie8chan says
I'd like to suggest to fellows Zhongwen xuesheng do not try to find or look for an exact translation from Chinese to any other language included English since Chinese Langauge has a very simple grammar yet a complicated way to express the tenses of the actions. Remember the acronym KISS adopt common expression. . .repetition is the key ! Xie xieAugust 29, 2007
brian85 says
TO: excuter ni xǐhuan zhōngguócài ma?(你喜欢中国菜吗？) ,how can I say that I didn´t try it til now? wo mai jo zhōngguócài?（Is your mean i have bought some chinese food ? 我买佐中国菜。It's not natural mandarin.it is dialect's grammar in GuangDong and HongKong. you should say "wo mai le zhōngguócài"我买了中国菜。） is it clear? if you have any question,email to me brianhuazhong@gmail.com i will do my best for help everyone who want to study chinese~August 31, 2007
ngocthang says
wo xi huan zhong guoSeptember 7, 2007
ashish says
ni xǐhuan zhōngguócài ma?( mi xikgegfd zhooiing na!!!September 7, 2007
chinesegurl73 says
wow this is really good for school if people learn chinese and this wil really help me! im really happy that my teacher gave this internet site! Sinceraly, Chinesegurl73September 12, 2007
greatmidy says
i like chinese food.September 24, 2007
mrmark says
what happened to the 60's? where have they gonE?October 11, 2007
bluewater says
a little techno help. i want to buy a mp3 player and the question is should i buy a ipod or a non apple (samsung, sansa) model. i was told the ipods are more difficult to download since you have to go through an intermediary step to go to media center and then to you mp3 player. also the non ipod's dont seem to give you the same control over rewinding slowly , etc. all comments appreciated randall xiexieOctober 21, 2007
goulnik says
I bought a slim 8Gb Meizu M6 miniplayer recently in Shanghai for little less than1100 RMB at 易・买得 (eMarket) and I'm quite happy with it, interface is pretty simple. I also has FM which I listen to a fair amount when I go to China. I'm not a fan of Apple (though I once was) because of their close system (iPod and iPhone alike) as you mention and higher prices. But then I'm manually copying downloads to my mp3 players rather than using automatic feeds. Another popular player beyond Apple in Europe is the Cowoon D2, which has an expansion slot for additional storage.October 21, 2007
goulnik says
oops, got the store wrong, 易・买得 is e-MART not (eMarket)October 21, 2007
bigto says
Why isn't there a "ma" 吗 at the end of the question 你 喜欢 什么 ？October 29, 2007
kevinchinesepod says
I think that when you put the words "什么" it automatically makes it a question, so there is no need for 吗.October 29, 2007
bigto says
ok, that is, what I thought... 谢谢October 29, 2007
kevinchinesepod says
Don't mention it! We're here to help ourselves.October 29, 2007
bjdashushu says
lets help you to learn mandarine.I am an faculty of a uni in Beijing,and good at english,if you in beijing either and want to practice your chinese,just deliver a measge to my Email......bjdashushu@163.com.I will be happy to be alittle help to ya.October 30, 2007
carefulplum says
Bigto: Actually, 吗 is only used for questions that can be answered with Yes or No, I think. (So kevin's answer is of course correct ;-) )October 30, 2007
littlepatch says
many guy in chinese say thanks as 3X in the internetNovember 11, 2007
reginititita says
Hey! I didnt understandwhat does " ba" means in "wo men qu chi zhong guo cai ba" .. can anyone help me please ^^ ??November 17, 2007
AuntySue says
I'm not very good at explaining it, but it sort of makes the sentence become a friendly suggestion. The dictionary gives many examples of its use, and that should give you a good feel for it. http://labs.chinesepod.com/?q=node%2F4&search=ba5 You'll see that there is also a list of other lessons that include this ba word.November 17, 2007
amber says
Hi reginititita, When you see the 吧 (ba) particle at the end of a sentence, it indicates that it is a suggestion.November 18, 2007
meirab00 says
Hello Chinesepod team i am tring to download the MP3 files, but i can not. Only the Fix file works. the same problem is in newbie 3 also. could you please check it. Thank you, Meira. thank you!December 23, 2007
jackfrombelgium says
HI, On the picture huan is first tone. Is this a mistake? JackJanuary 20, 2008
amber says
hi jack, Thanks for pointing that out, it's been fixed now. :)January 20, 2008
ulver684 says
Hi everyone, I'm new and I want to wish you all a Happy New Year.February 9, 2008
AuntySue says
Happy new year and a warm welcome to you, ulver684, and to everyone else who has recently started here! Feel free to join in the conversations with us old timer students, we'd love to get to know you all and hear how your study is progressing.February 9, 2008
ratjetoe73 says
我 很 喜欢 中国! 明年 我 去 北京. 我 很 喜欢 吃 北京 烤鸭. :-pFebruary 12, 2008
ulver684 says
Thank you AuntySue for the welcome. This year seems like a bad year for me because I'm from the year of the rat and everybody thinks that I'm like a rat. :(February 19, 2008
AuntySue says
I see you've never known a rodent rat. Rats or humans in excessive numbers in the wrong place are disgusting. But individual rats, or rats in their family groups are charming creatures. They are warm and caring, very intelligent, and they have astounding skills at creative problem solving. I don't think rat year is really bad for rat people, but even if it was, of all the animals rats have the best potential to make the most of it and turn it to their advantage. Pity us poor monkeys. Everyone loves us on the surface, but for some strange reason, when it comes to the crunch, nobody wants to take us seriously. I don't know why that would be, hoo hoo whaa whaaa hee hee hooo..... look! bananas! bye!February 20, 2008
zm1107 says
I want to study English. who can help me？ I am Chinese and I can teach you our language. My MSN: o_o.zm@hotmail.com My QQ: 715329929March 4, 2008
dakertunisian says
非常好的课 我喜欢 i rememeber this lesson it was my first lesson in chinese on Cpod.com just i want to say for the newbie in chnese please keep on working chinese is not as difficult as you think :)March 4, 2008
light487 says
The dialogue makes me laugh a lot.. they are good presenters and make it seem easy to understand and fun to learn. I am enjoying my first days of learning immensely. Should I just keep going through the lessons in order? or are there some fundamental/foundation lessons that will help me out more?March 24, 2008
beth3077 says
Hi the downloads dont seem to be working?April 15, 2008
edgarveragdi says
I can't download the audios....only the fix onesApril 15, 2008
lunyalu says
How do u say, I really likesomething... Wo hen xi huan?April 26, 2008
kencarroll says
lunyalu, Yes. That is correct.April 26, 2008
clay says
edgarveradi, i just checked the auido, and they are working. what browser are you using?April 29, 2008
yourskiki521 says
My darling told me he had been learning mandarin on Chinesepod.com. I am happy to hear that. My darling doesn't speak Chinese, and my English is also so so. Some people might think language is not important for lovers' communication, because they can rely on eyes contact, and body language.. Haha, that's true. But for me, I still think it is regret if we could not communicate deeply on some topics. My darling never knows how deep I love him, maybe I also don't know how much he loves me:-P If one day he can use Chinese to tell me:“我爱你，我要你嫁给我！” Then, I will marry to him without any hesitation:)))))) Hehe, missing my darling deadly!May 13, 2008
tauanhquanui85 says
I really like study mandarin Chinese because I hope in the future I can go to Hong Kong or Macao to work .So I try my best to learn Chinese .need helping from all of you hihihihihhihhiMay 18, 2008
bigboy1994 says
June 11, 2008
I have learned alot just by studing 4 lessons
liamob says
June 17, 2008
I have just started my study of Chinese, and I notice in the expanded vocabulary that there is another expression for Chinese food using the word "can1" for food.
Is there a rule for using this instead of "cai4" as I see that "guo1" is also missing in this term?
amber says
June 18, 2008
hi liamob,
中国菜 (Zhōngguó cài) and 中餐 (Zhōngcān) can be used interchangeably to mean "Chinese Food."
coosecoose says
July 15, 2008
okay, i'm new one here, and i can only download certain lessons.... does anyone know why that is happening to me?
mayor_bombolini says
July 15, 2008
coosecoose,
Not sure what the problem is from your description. I know on some of the older lessons the files save as HTML instead of MP3.
After select "Save As" make sure the file ending is ".mp3"..physically edit the file name to be saved. Save the file type as "all files" or mp3 if that's available.
If that doesn't anser your question, your best bet is to contact CPOD by e-mail directly.
Some of this stuff was covered under a "frequently asked questions" section that went away with the upgrade of CPOD (I think it was last month).
I'm sure CPOD will reintroduce this section after they compile the new questions list.
alexc says
July 15, 2008
Hello,
In the expansion section, the word 'guo' in the "Have you been to China?" sentence, does not have an English translation when you move the mouse over it.
Is this a past tense particle?
amber says
July 15, 2008
hi alexc,
Yes it is. 过 (guò) is used to indicate a past experience; that something has happened before, i.e.
看过 (kànguò) to have seen before
去过 (qǜguò) to have gone before
alliejaynes says
July 25, 2008
I'm confused about the use of "is" ("shi") in Chinese. Why is "shi" used in "He is English" and not in "Chinese food is delicious"?
shenhe says
July 26, 2008
@Alliejaynes
shi4 does not correspond directly to "is". A lot of things that in English would be express with "is" will be different in Chinese. He is 34 years old - Ta1 san1shi2si4 sui4.
Moving on to your example: 中国菜很好吃。 (zhong1guo2cai4 hen3 hao3chi1) Literally, Chinese food - very - tasty. Words like hen3 ("very"), fei1chang2 (extremely) or zhen1 (really) replace the shi4, they can function like verbs. Hen3 in this case does not mean very unless it's stressed.
"Chinese food >having the property of being< delicious"
The shi4 equates two nouns (He = person from England), it does not express an adjectival relationship. To do that, you need either these intensifiers (hen3, zhen1 etc.) or a so-called adjectival verb (don't worry...) like gao1 (tall) gui4 (expensive) or xiao3 (small). These don't take a "shi4" either, e.g. ta1gao1 (she is tall) - ta1hen3gao1 (she is (very) tall) - ta1bu4gao1 (she is not tall) Personally, I prefer the second variant to the first one.
And again, bie2 dan1xin1 (don't worry), it's much easier and clearer than having to memorise conjugation charts and the like. Jia1you2! (cheering)
jorgechile says
August 7, 2008
es exelente para aprender chino y practicar mi ingles saludos desde chile en el sur del mundo
vandydrew says
August 14, 2008
Why does "Ni xihuan shenme?" not end with "ma"? Thanks for the help.
calkins says
August 14, 2008
Hi vandydrew,
The reason there is no 吗 ma is because 什么 shénme asks the question "what?".
You like what?
There are some other question words that make the use of 吗 ma unnecessary:
为什么 wèishénme : why?
什么时候 shénme shíhou : when? / at what time?
哪 nǎ : which? (singular)
哪些 nǎxiē : which? (plural)
哪儿 / 哪里 nǎr / nǎli : where?
干吗 gànma : why?
怎么 / 怎么样 zěnme / zěnmeyang : how? / how about?
多少 duōshao : how much?
几 jī : how many?
Have I missed any?
alexmikos says
August 15, 2008
Hey..everyone..
i am from China.
would like to make friends with you..
ali144321 says
August 17, 2008
since i am new to this it is a bit difficult. but these lessons help and it makes me want to learn more. =)
ooileongsiew says
August 23, 2008
Thanks, enjoyed my first lesson.
zamzara says
August 25, 2008
Hello!
I just wanted to know what role does "guo" play in the next sentence:
你去过中国吗？
Have you been to China?
Thank you very much!
auntie68 says
August 25, 2008
Hi zamzara. The entry in the "Grammar" section has not been completed yet, but for now, I would say that the 过 (guo4) in that sentence is an "aspectual participle" which indicates that the action (ie. 去 qu4) is in the past.
Eg. 你去中国 ＝ ni3 qu4 zhong1guo2 = You go (/are going) to China
你去过中国 = ni3 qu4guo zhong1guo2 = You have been to China (before).
Cf another aspectual particle -- 了 le -- which can indicate a past action (in a slightly different way from 过 guo4；here the 了 -- le -- merely indicates that the action 去 -- qu4 -- has been completed):
我吃很多中国菜 ＝ wo3 chi1 hen3duo1 zhong1guo2 cai4 = I eat a lot of Chinese food.
我吃了很多中国菜 = wo3 chi1le hen3duo1 zhong1guo2cai4
= I ate a lot of Chinese food (zhong1guo2cai4)
but
我吃过中国菜 ＝ wo3 chi1guo4 zhong1guo2cai4
= I've eaten Chinese food before.
HTH. Good luck!
fewer says
September 6, 2008
Dont you think that they spoke Chinese so cleerly and too slow...?? =皿=
tengreenapple says
September 11, 2008
hi vandydrew,
吗 (ma) is to be used only when you are asking a question answerable by yes or no.
qonix says
September 19, 2008
Calkins,
Just a few more question words:
谁 （shei 2 ） who
谁的 (shei2 de) whose
啥 (sha 2) similar to 什么 , but a little "rube"
咋 (za 3) similar to 怎么, but a little "rube"
teukiewella says
September 25, 2008
ni hao..wo de ming zi jiao Louella Fe Sajol. I'm from Philippines. Reng shi ni ye heng gao xing. Thanks for this lesson. I'm studying mandarin through this site. Hope that You guys will help me. Xie Xie...
chiyombwe says
September 28, 2008
guys u are doing a great job !keep it up.am a zambian guy studying chineese at yunnan normal universisty and I use your website for studying and I have realy learnt alot of things from you..xiexie!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
china4me says
September 30, 2008
How come in the sentence, "ni xihuan shenme" you don't add the "ma" at the end of the sentence to make it a question?
Also, in the expansion there is a sentence (你去过中国吗). Why is there a "guo" in the middle?
Thanks!
andrew_c says
September 30, 2008
Hello china4me,
You don't use the ma particle when there is already a question word like shen2me. The same goes when you ask a how/zen3me question, for example "how are you so fast?" is "ni3 zen3me zhe4me kuai4?" The same goes for when/"shen2me shi2hou" questions. “When did you arrive here?” "ni3 shi4 shen2me shi2hou lai2 zhe4li3 de?".
If you didn't have the guo, it would mean "are you going to China?" The guo makes it mean "have you gone to China?" or "have you experienced going to China?"
china4me says
September 30, 2008
Okay! Thanks for your help! It makes more sense now!
andrew_c says
October 1, 2008
Woops! This is one of the first times I had the confidence to answer a question, and I managed to mess it up. I meant dao4, not lai2.
bababardwan says
October 1, 2008
andrew_c,
What was wrong with lai2 in your sentence?
..and what's the difference between lia2 ,dao4 ,and lai2dao4 ?
andrew_c says
October 1, 2008
I corrected myself because I thought about it, and seemed to remember only hearing dao4 in that context, even though lai2 was what first came to mind when I wrote my initial response. I asked a (native Chinese speaking) friend, and he told me that in that context there's no difference between the two.
jesslyn15 says
October 8, 2008
i'm a newbie- and i know nothing on chinese. but i do know english (of course) and spanish.
i like to travel and hope to someday travel to HK China to see what its like there- so i signed up to hopefully know a little chinese so that when i go there i wouldn't be compleatly confused, just a litlte bit... well if i don't know all chinese then yea i will be pretty confused. all i know is nihao. lol i'm getting there! :)
stifler says
October 25, 2008
很高兴你们喜欢中国和汉语
我们共住地球村，是一种缘分！
so glad you guys like China ,and my language-mandarin...
it really is a fate we'd be in the same planet at the same time...
stifler says
October 25, 2008
有缘千里来相会
my QQ :751316265
my msn:luwei.wu@hotmail.com
nothing is gonna be in the way of us being friends.
tony104 says
November 1, 2008
I liked this lesson alot. I already started to use the phrase xihuan with my friend :)
xiaoyue52 says
November 4, 2008
This is a great reinforcement for my classes at university :) Thank you!
tynchtykbek says
November 4, 2008
i want to learn chinese language
trigrgrip says
November 8, 2008
Do we have to use 'Newbie' in these intro lessons? It sounds too much like nui bi and I wonder if this is an insight into Chinese sense of humor. Well, the joke's not on me. When I start a new language I look at the swear words first.
trigrgrip says
November 8, 2008
Do we have to use 'Newbie' in these intro lessons? It sounds too much like nui bi and I wonder if this is an insight into Chinese sense of humor. Well, the joke's not on me. When I start a new language I look at the swear words first.
pearltowerpete says
November 9, 2008
Hi trigrgrip,
No pun intended. Actually we used to use the word 菜鸟 but that led to even more confusion.
weicky says
November 18, 2008
喜欢 means like,love(vt.).
In China,if a boy love a girl,he offten say:我 喜欢 你！
wxgcathy says
November 18, 2008
weicky
喜欢——to like
爱----to love or n. love
matthijs says
December 11, 2008
i've had chicken feet a few times, nothing wrong with it ;)
jaimemayo says
January 8, 2009
Can someone help me with the pronunciation of the word for "food"? The pinyin word is "cài" and while I know pinyin is not a phonetic transcription of English I for some reason hear a /t/ instead of a /k/ sound at the beginning of "cài" when I listen to Ken and Jenny speak. How is it pronounced phonetically in English? Thanks!
pearltowerpete says
January 8, 2009
Hi jiamemayo
You are correct in detecting a /t/ sound at the beginning of 菜 cai4. For a more detailed discussion of this and other pinyin phonetics, please see the pronunciation guide.
jaimemayo says
January 8, 2009
Thanks, Pearltowerpete, for the link to the pronunciation guide. I bookmarked it.
pearltowerpete says
January 8, 2009
Hi jaimemayo
Glad to be helpful!
The guide is very useful but apparently a little tricky to find. Maybe we should do more to steer our poddies toward it.
wq3221882 says
January 27, 2009
这里是学中文的吗？
sallu786 says
February 4, 2009
i m in china from 5 month and my chinese is bu hen hao please tell me how i can improve my chinese
mophous says
February 13, 2009
hi everybody, i am from china,i want to make some friends there!!
alexyu_yxj says
February 13, 2009
我个人将“喜欢”和“爱”分得很开，喜欢比较平常就可以用了，但是爱之后感情很热烈的时候才会用到
iamxqd says
February 15, 2009
I like China,But I do not have the past Beijing.
Greatwall长城
zevils says
February 15, 2009
http://www.myspace.com/ravingradio
this is chinese band.
hmlpj says
March 4, 2009
hey sallu786 ,I think you'd better chat with chinese people more,and it will help your chinese become better.and you'd better talk to Beijingnese,as a matter of fact Beijing hua (话）is PU TONG HUA, xian dai huan yu jiu shi zhe me ding yi de (现代汉语就是这么定义的）
hesen says
March 20, 2009
这么多人学中国话啊？
smiker says
April 6, 2009
smiker9@hotmail.com
I want to study english
My english is poor
I am chinese,but I know a little english,If you want to chat with english or chinese,please add me ,
I think we can improve our language level
Welcome to you !
mysophia says
April 10, 2009
Hello everyone: i'm sophia , I am a member of the new .i hope meet more friends in here .Would like to know more about some of my friends ,Can come here to understand what I .MSN:gecaijuan@hotmail.com QQ:183046660
eileena says
April 11, 2009
alinari says
April 11, 2009
Hi!) i'm from novosibirsk. i started to learn chinese 5-6 months ago. and i mant to know it very well! but sometimes it seems unreal to learn chinese in our university...((
swindydan says
April 18, 2009
你们好，我是一个中国女孩儿，我今年16岁，我非常希望认识你们，因为我想学好英语。如果你们有兴趣和我交朋友的话，请加我的QQ：1106081624或者发邮件到我的邮箱（sanqianhou@163.com）
chinaman4him says
April 27, 2009
Ok--here's my first Newbie post. Get the hook ready!
The way the end of word for soccer ( zu2qui2) is pronounced in the dialogue is different than the pinyin chart pronunciation you also graciously provide ( I love that chart!).
Am I tone deaf, too?
chinaman4him says
April 27, 2009
As a followup to my first post ( the last one), I found (in the Expansion section) that the last part of the word for soccer (zuqui) seems to change if the -ma is added to the end in a quesiton. With the -ma, the qui sound then agrees with the Pinyin Pronunciaiton chart that I have come to love. Does the sound actually shift with the -ma ending or am I not hearing this right?
她不喜欢足球。
She doesn’t like soccer. 1 (She doesn’t like soccer.)
你喜欢足球吗？--here is where the sounds agrees with the chart.
Do you like soccer? 1 (Do you like soccer?)