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Thread: Want to learn chinese language by heart dont know how to start-pls help!
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[quote=GUEST33119,269622]Hi, I was born in Guangzhou in Guangdong province but was raised in Hong Kong and in Toronto. I am fluent in English and Cantonese but not in Mandarin because I still have to learn the pronounciation (Chinese call it pinyin) of many words in Mandarin. Since I was brought up learning the traditional Chinese characters, the simplified Chinese charaters are also strange to me although I do recognise some of them. Out of some 100 dialects in China, Mandarin and Cantonese are the two dialects you need only to know, Cantonese is the official dialect spoken in Hong Kong and in Guangzhou city and Mandarin is the official dialect spoken throughout China but there are numerous local variations of Mandarin dialects in different provinces. Mandarin is easier for foreigners to learn because it has pure tones and sounds musical while Cantonese is harmonic and sounds very harsh with some words very difficult to pronounce. Here is a brief lesson on common daily conversation: The first line is English, the second line is Cantonese, the third line is Mandarin: How are you? Nay ho ma? Ni how ma? I am fine, thank you. Ngor ho, door jair (word to word translation: I fine, many thanks) Wor how, zair zair. (I fine, thanks thanks) What is your name? Nay gil mug man? (you call what name) Nie gel some more ming? (you call what name) My name is Tim. Ngor gil ah Tim. (I call ah Tim, ah is a commonly inserted before a name for unknown reason) Wor gel ah Tim. (same as above) Its nice weather today. Gum tin tin hay ho. (this sky sky air fine, gum tin = today, tin hay=weather) Gin ten ten chi how. (same as above) Please call a taxi for me. Ching nay gil dick-see bay ngor. (please you call taxi to me) Ching nie gel dar-see gate wor. (same as above) I am going to the Olympic Game in Beijing this year. Ngor gum nin hui bud ging O lum pug hug. (I this year go Beijing Olympic) Wor gin nan chi Beijing O lim pie kor. (same as above) "I or me", first person singular, in Cantonese is "ngor" sounds like a combination of snoring and a goose calling with mouth wide open, It is "wor" in Mandarin. "you", second person singular in Cantonese is "nay", it is "nie" in Mandarin. "he"or "she", third person singular in Cantonese is "tar" both in Cantonese and Mandarin. but there is a slight distinction in the characters for "he" and "she". So you see, Mandarin is easier to learn then Cantonese and it is the official language in China. If you learn, you should learn the typical Beijing dialect as there are many variation in Mandarin, the Mandarin spoken in Taiwan is not the same as that spoken in Beijing. Good luck. [/quote]
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