Lesson 3: New Vocabs + Greetings (A)

In this post, I would like to start with exercise. I want you to find the meaning for the following basic vocabs. If it is possible, you can try to recognize the Chinese characters too. Although speaking might be your goal in learning the language, however recognizing words (know how to read and the meaning) will come handy one day. It also helps you to understand it better.

Here is the example on how to do this to get the maximal benefit, write it down on a piece of paper, better if you have a book dedicated for this:

E..g 人 rén  human/people

1. 头

2. 目

3. 口

4. 嘴巴

5. 耳朵

6. 足 / 脚

7. 大

8. 小

9. 多

10. 少

This will give you the chance to practice using Pleco too :)  And of course, do not forget to pronounce it out loud when you have found the pinyin and the meaning. And stop for a while and digest the new vocab before you move on.

Next, I want you to translate from English to Chinese (you can choose to write the characters or just stick to the pinyin)

1. Sun

2. Moon

3. Mountain

4. Field

5. Rock

6. Water

7. Fire

8. Soil

9. Wood

10. I / Me

11. You

12. We /Us

13. He/She/It (same pronunciation different characters)

14. They / Them

Try finish the above, read your answer out loud so that it sticks. Revisit them regularly :)

Now, I am going to introduce you to some simple greetings in Chinese.

The most universal greeting that we use is Hello/Hi. In Chinese we say:

“你好” nǐhǎo   Hello

This literally means "you are good." It is something like saying I wish you good / good things.

Just the same as when how we response to "Hello." We say "Hello" too in return.

A: “你好”                  nǐ hǎo 

B: “你好”                  nǐ hǎo 

More specific greeting, depending on the time of the day:

1. Good Morning                            早上好            zǎo shàng hǎo       OR  早安   zǎo ān 

2. Good Noon (12PM - 1PM)         中午好            shàng wǔ hǎo       OR 午安    wǔ ān

3. Good Afternoon                          下午好            xià wǔ hǎo           OR 午安    wǔ ān    

4. Good Evening                             晚上好            wǎn shàng hǎo

5. Good Night                                 晚安                wǎn ān 

Another reminder, video can only be played on a desktop or laptop.

To avoid confusion, you can just try to memorize one version, for now. However, you have to know both, because certain countries, like Singapore and Taiwan like to use zǎo ān  /  wǔ ān / wǎn ān, while Mainland Chinese like to use the first that end with ... hǎo. So at least when someone say it, you know what they means. Most of the time, we reply to someone's greeting with the same version that they use. However, it is not wrong too when someone says: "zǎo ān", you reply with: "zǎo shàng hǎo." It is acceptable.

Apart from  the above, here are a few more phrases that beginner should know

1. Thanks                                        谢谢                   xiè xie

2. You are welcome                        不客气              bú kè qì

3. Sorry                                           对不起              duì bu qǐ

4. No worries / No problem            没关系              méi guān xi

5. Goodbye / See you again             再见                 zài jiàn

If you are on you handheld and can't play the video, you can always practice the correct pronunciation with the help of recorded audio on Pleco! =)

Again no need to rush to finish, revisit lesson 1 when you have time and before you know it, you will have them all on your fingertips :)

xiè xie,

Linda Tan