Toilet
29. Money
30. Credit Cards
31. Want
32. Need
33. Airport
34. Tip
35. Taxis
36. Bus
37. Subway
38. Train
39. Walk/Stroll
40. Hotel
41. Room Service
42. Numbers
43. Counting Things
44. Counting People
45. Time
46. Days
47. Weeks
48. Months
49. Years
50. Drink
51. Bar
52. Eat
53. Dim Sum
54. Peking Duck
55. Like/Don’t Like
56. Pay
57. Have
58. Don’t Have
59. Telephone
60. Cell Phone
61. Computer
62. Internet/Email
63. Seasons
64. Weather
65. Meet/Meeting
66. Buy
67. Shopping
68. Gifts
69. Cost/Price
70. Newsstand
71. Post Office
72. Sightseeing
73. See
74. Travel Agent
75. Martial Arts
76. Beijing Opera
77. Emergency
78. Ill/Sick
79. Medicine
80. Doctor
81. Dentist
82. Hospital
83. Ambulance
84. Police
85. Embassy
86. Lost
87. Barber Shop
88. Beauty Parlor
89. Student
90. Read
91. Mistake
92. Rest
93. Rent (Car)
94. Bicycle
95. Street
96. Directions
97. Books
98. Business
99. Great Wall of China
100. Goodbye
Additional Vocabulary
China’s Provinces
China’s Autonomous Regions
Major Cities in China
Famous Places in Beijing
Famous Landmarks Near Beijing
Famous Shopping Districts in Beijing
Famous Places in Shanghai
Important Signs
Other Countries
Terms With Opposite Meanings
Words A to Z
PREFACE
In 1949 the newly established Chinese government issued an edict making Mandarin the national language of the country and mandating that it be taught in all schools. Today, virtually all Chinese speak Mandarin Chinese, known as putonghua (puutoong-whah) or “the common language,” as their first or second language.
This book uses English phonetics to represent the syllables making up Mandarin Chinese, making it possible for total newcomers to the language to communicate quickly and easily on a basic level without any previous introduction to the language.
This approach does not take into account the four “tones” that are part of Mandarin. But not all of the words in the language are spoken in tones, and the phonetic versions presented here are close enough to the “correct” pronunciation that the meaning is generally understandable.
With eight major “dialects” in China [some are actually different enough to be called languages!], the Chinese are used to coping with a variety of accents and variations in the tonal quality of speakers. They are especially tolerant of foreigners who make an effort to speak Chinese, and go out of their way to help them.
Here are a number of important introductory terms to get you started, keeping in mind that the phonetics are designed to be pronounced as English:
| China | Zhongguo (Johng-gwoh) 中国 |
| Chinese Language | Hanyu (Hahn-yuu) 汉语 or Zhongwen (Johng-wern)* 中文 |
* Hanyu is the literary term for the Chinese language; Zhongwen is the term generally used in ordinary speech.
| Chinese (person) | Zhongguoren (Johng-gwah-wren) 中国人 |
| Beijinger | Beijingren (Bay-jeeng-wren) 北京人 |
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