Learn Mandarin Newsletter 4
Sitting At Home Edition
In case you missed the previous newsletters: Newsletter 1 | Newsletter 2 | Newsletter 3
你好 (NiHao!) and welcome to the Fourth Edition of the Learn Mandarin Newsletter.
This week at the home of Learn Mandarin:
This plus watching anime on Netflix over crackers and wine, that is.
Mandarin Conversation Week 4
你会说英语吗？ Ni Hui Shuo 🗣️ YingYu Ma? Can you speak 🎤 English?
嗯，我会说。👍 你会说汉语吗？En, Wo Hui Shuo. Ni Hui Shuo HanYu Ma? Yes, I can. Can you speak Chinese? 🇨🇳
会一点儿？ Hui Yi Dianr. A bit. 🤪
你学了多长时间？📜 Ni Xue Le DuoChang ShiJian? How long have you been learning? 👩💻
两个月。⏱️ Liang Ge Yue. 2 Months ⌛
你汉语说的很好！💃 Ni HanYu ShuoDe Hen Hao! You speak Chinese very well! 🔥
Chinese Language Note
In the conversation above, where I used “一点儿” (Yi Dianr) meaning “a bit” or a “a little,” the “r” in the end is typically used in the Beijing dialect whereas Standard Mandarin would have only the “n”.
Cool Language App
Internet Polyglot — a nice supplement to your Chinese lessons, this free site has games and pictures to teach languages (including Chinese)
Book of the Week
This week I’m listening to Steven Pinker’s book, The Language Instinct on Scribd where he argues that all humans are born with an innate ability for language. Since children learn grammar without studying it, they must have some natural capability to understand it.
Interesting Course
The Secret Life of Words: English Words and Their Origins — I’m taking this lecture by Anne Curzan on the Great Courses. I found it very interesting — especially starting from Lecture 9 and 10 where Anne goes on to detail the ways in which Latin, Celtic, and French have influenced and changed the English language.
If you have any comments or questions, please email me on support @ learnmandarin.com.au. I’d love to hear from you.
Stay safe and healthy until next time!
Zai Jian,
Rui