Unit 6: I Am Learning Chinese

Part I: Listen and Learn

1. 

W# sh= Xi8 l3osh9. W# sh= Zh!nggu@ r6n. 
I am Prof. Xie. I am Chinese.
§Ú¬OÁÂ¦Ñ®v¡C§Ú¬O¤¤°ê¤H¡C

W# hu= shu! Y9ngy&. W# y7 hu= shu! Éy&. 
I can speak English. I can speak Russian too.
§Ú·|»¡­^»y¡C§Ú¤]·|»¡«X»y¡C

W# b4ba m1ma d!u b^ hu= shu! w4iy&. 
Both my parents do not speak foreign languages.
§Úª¨ª¨¶ý¶ý³£¤£·|»¡¥~»y¡C

T1men zh- hu= shu! Zh!nggu@ hu4. 
They only speak Chinese.
¥L­Ì¥u·|»¡¤¤°ê¸Ü¡C

2.

Zh8 sh= w# d=di.
This is my younger brother.
³o¬O§Ú§Ì§Ì¡C

T1 sh= g!ngch6ngsh9, z4i Sh4ngh3i g!ngzu$. 
He is an engineer. He works in Shanghai.
¥L¬O¤uµ{®v¡A¦b¤W®ü¤u§@¡C

T1 b^ hu= shu! Y9ngy&.
He cannot speak English.
¥L¤£·|»¡­^»y¡C

T1 hu= shu! R=y&.
He can speak Japanese.
¥L·|»¡¤é»y¡C

T1 z4i xu6 Y9ngy&.
He is learning English.
¥L¦b¾Ç­^»y¡C

3. 

Zh8 sh= W2ng Xi3ohu2.
This is Wang Xiaohua.
³o¬O¤ý¤pµØ¡C

T1 sh= c@ng B7ij9ng l2i de.
He came from Beijing.
¥L¬O±q¥_¨Ê¨Óªº¡C

T1 Y9ngy& shu! de h7n h3o. 
He speaks English very well.
¥L­^»y»¡±o«Ü¦n¡C

T1 h2i hu= shu! F3y& h6 D6y&. 
He can also speak French and German.
¥LÁÙ·|»¡ªk»y©M¼w»y

T1 xi4nz4i z4i xu6 R=y&.
He is learning Japanese.
¥L²{¦b¦b¾Ç¤é»y¡C

4. 

A: John, n- Zh!nggu@ hu shu! de h7n h3o.
B: John, you speak very good Chinese.
A:John,§A¤¤°ê¸Ü»¡±o«Ü¦n¡C

B: N3l- n3l-. Shu! de b* h3o. W# zh- hu= shu! y=di3r Zh!nggu@ hu4.W# xi4nz4i z4i 
     xu6 Zh!ngw6n.
B: Oh, no, not that well. I can speak a little Chinese. I am learning Chinese now.
B:­þ¸Ì­þ¸Ì¡C»¡±o¤£¦n¡C§Ú¥u·|»¡¤@ÂI¨à¤¤°ê¸Ü¡C§Ú
  ²{¦b¦b¾Ç¤¤¤å¡C

A: N- de l3oshi sh= Zh!nggu@ r6n ma?
A: Is your teacher Chinese?
A:§Aªº¦Ñ®v¬O¤¤°ê¤H¶Ü¡H

B: Sh=de. T1 sh= Zh!nggu@ r6n, c@ng Sh4ngh3i l2i de.
B: Yes, he is Chinese and he came from Shanghai.
B:¬Oªº¡C¥L¬O¤¤°ê¤H¡A±q¤W®ü¨Óªº¡C

A: T1 hu= bu hu= shu! Y9ngy&?
A: Can he speak English?
A:¥L·|¤£·|»¡­^»y¡H

B: Hu=. T1 Y9ngy& shu! de h7n h3o.
B: Yes, he speaks English very well.
B:·|¡C¥L­^»y»¡±o«Ü¦n¡C

5. 

A: N- h2i hu= shu! sh6nme w4iy&?
A: What foreign langauges do you also speak?
A:§AÁÙ·|»¡¤°»ò¥~»y¡H

B: W# zh- hu= shu! Y9ngy&. Xi4nz4i w# z4i xu6 Zh!ngw6n.
A: I can only speak English. I am learning Chinese now.
A:§Ú¥u·|»¡­^»y¡C²{¦b§Ú¦b¾Ç¤¤¤å¡C

A: N- Zh!ngw6n shu!  de b^cu$.
A: You speak Chinese very well.
A:§A¤¤¤å»¡±o¤£¿ù¡C

B: N3l-, shu! de b* h3o.
B: No, not that well.
B:­þ¸Ì¡A»¡±o¤£¦n¡C

A: N- hu= bu hu= xi7 Zh!nggu@ z=?
A: Can you write Chinese characters?
A:§A·|¤£·|¼g¤¤°ê¦r¡H

B: B^hu=. W# b^hu= xi7 Zh!nggu@ z=.
B: No, I cannot write characters.
B:¤£·|¡C§Ú¤£·|¼g¤¤°ê¦r¡C

Part II:  Utterances and Notes

	Here are some words for languages:

D6y&	German	
Éy&	Russian	
F3y&	French	
R=y&	Japanese	
Y9ngy&	English 	
Zh!nggu@ hu4	Chinese	
Zh!ngw6n	Chinese 	

'y&' means 'speech'. 'hu4' is 'speech' too. 'wen' refers to a written language, but 'Zh!nggu@ hu4' and 'Zh!ngw6n' can be use interchangeably.

	'hu=' means 'to be able to'. 'hu= shu!...' means 'to be able to speak...'

	Pay attention to the position of 'd!u' which means 'all'. In the sentence ;W# b4ba m1ma d!u b^ hu= shu!...', the adverb 'd!u' is placed after 'b4ba m1ma'. Never say: 'D!u w# b4ba m1ma...' 

	Pay attention to the position of 'zh-' which is before the verb 'hu='. 'I can speak French only.' would be 'W# zh- hu= shu! F2y&.'

	'z4i' is a grammatical marker which indicates that an action is or was in progress. 'z4i' xu6 Y9ngy&' means '...am, is learning English'

	Pay paricular attention to the sentence: 
	'T1 Y9ngy&  shu!    de  h7n h3o.' 
	He English speaks DE very well.
	This type of sentence is very much different from English.  Remember: in Chinese you never say: T1 shu! Y9ngy& h7n h3o.

	'n3l-' or 'n3l- n3l-' is a polite way to respond to the compliment such as 'You speak Chinese very well.' Never respond to it saying: 'Xi8xie.' Chinese people are modest and humble. They will not say 'xi8xie' to respond to compliments. Also note that the actual pronunciation of 'n3l-' is 'n2l-' because of tone change.

	'b^cu$' is synonymous to 'h7n h3o'.

Part III: New Sentence Modules

1. You really speak English (Chinese) well! Not at all, I am learning it...

Y9ngy&
Zh!nggu@ hu4
Zh!ngw6n
h7n h3o!
b^cu$

shu! de 
N-

N3l- n3l-
Shu! de b* h3o
W# zh- hu= shu! y=di3r Zh!nggu@ hu4.
W# xi4nz4i z4i xu6...

2. Can you speak ...Can you write? Yes, I can... No, I can't

Y9ngy&
R=y&
D6y&

shu!

xi7 Zh!nggu@ z=

hu= bu hu=
N- 
T1
N- b4ba m1ma

Y9ngy&
R=y&
D6y&

shu!

Hu=, w# hu= 
T1 b^ hu=
xi7 Zh!nggu@ z=

3. What other foreign languages can you speak? I can speak ... only.  I can also speak...

N- 
N- b4ba
T1
h2i hu= shu! sh6nme w4iy&?

D5y&
F2y&
R=y&
Y9ngy&
Zh!nggu@ hu4
Zh!ngw6n

W#
T1
zh-
h2i

hu= shu!

Part IV: Practice makes perfect

How to say the following phrases? Please speak out!

to speak Chinese, English, German, Japanese
cannot speak Chinese, English, Geman, Japanese
speak Chinese (English, German, Japanese) very well
do not speak Chinese (English, German, Japanese) very well
to write Chinese characters
they all can speak, they all cannot speak
he can only speak
I am learning
he also can speak

Answer the following questions based on your own situation. Please be sure to give real answers. 
If you need a word, please send an email message to the instructor to ask for it.

N- hu= bu hu= shu! Y9ngy&?
N- hu= bu hu= shu! Zh!nggu@ hu4?
N- hu= bu hu= xi7 Zh!nggu@ z=?
N- h2i hu= shu! sh6nme w4iy&?

N- y#u m6iyou g5ge (d=di)?
T1 hu= bu hu= shu! w4iy&?
T1 hu= shu! sh6nme w4iy&?
T1 xi4nz4i z4i xu6 w4iy& ma?
T1 z4i xu6 sh6nme w4iyu?

Now try to say something about yourself.

Now try to find a Chinese looking person and make a conversation with him.
You come across a Chinese looking person. Greet him in Chinese. Can you identify where he is from? Is he from Beijing? Is he married? Does he have children? What does he do? Does he speak English? Compliment on his English. Tell him where you live. Give him your telephone number. Say good-bye.