Learn Chinese for beginners | Lesson 2: 40 Sentences for instant use (With Exercise)
How to learn Chinese for beginners is always the most difficult part to solve. In this video, I will dive into praxis. Introducing 40 sentences you can speak and understand within one video. I divided the Chinese language into 2 parts: Statements and Questions. In this video, I will show you how to:
𝟭. 𝗔𝘀𝗸 𝗮 𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗮 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝘂𝘀
such as: How's work? How's something?
and
𝟮. 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗯𝗲 𝗮 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝘂𝘀 𝗮𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗴:
Very Status: Work's been doing very well.
Not too status : Mangos are not that sweet.
Simply not status: Germany is not hot.
Not at all status: Chinese is not hard at all.
In my last video, I introduced 5 sentences that work as formulas to build any sentences for asking a question about or describing a status. In today’s video, I will dive into these 5 formulas and show you 40 sentences to make sure you understand each element and really make them become yours.
𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 𝟭: 𝗥𝗲𝗽𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗠𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘇𝗲.
The danger of learning too much theory is that you know what is right, but you can’t really understand or use them. And designing a course means to build a bridge to connect them. This video contains less theory but more praxis.
This part is just about repetition. You simply need to repeat what you have just learned. Read the sentences in pinyin, speak after me and write them down at the same time. Meanwhile, try to remember the English meaning of each word. By word, I mean one unit that is written together without space between the alphabets.
𝗙𝗼𝗿𝗺𝘂𝗹𝗮 𝗡𝗼. 𝟭: 𝗬𝗲𝘀 𝗡𝗼 𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝘂𝘀:
Ni hao ma?
Ni leng ma?
Ni re ma?
Ni gaoxing ma?
Ni shangxin ma?
Baba hao ma?
Mama hao ma?
Gongzuo hao ma?
Diannao hao ma?
Fangzi hao ma?
Fangzi gui ma?
Gongzuo mang ma?
Gongsi yuan ma?
Xuexiao jin ma?
That was the part “yes/no questions” asking about a status. Something how ma?
𝗙𝗼𝗿𝗺𝘂𝗹𝗮 𝗡𝗼. 𝟮: 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗵𝗼𝘄:
wo hen hao
tianqi hen re.
jintian hen leng.
chuntian hen mei.
gongyuan hen da.
xuexiao hen yuan.
Mangguo hen tian.
𝗙𝗼𝗿𝗺𝘂𝗹𝗮 𝗡𝗼. 𝟯: 𝗦𝘁𝗵 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘁𝗼𝗼 𝗵𝗼𝘄
wo bu tai hao
tianqi bu tai re.
jintian bu tai leng.
chuntian bu tai mei.
gongyuan bu tai da.
xuexiao bu tai yuan.
mangguo bu tai tian.
𝗙𝗼𝗿𝗺𝘂𝗹𝗮 𝗡𝗼. 𝟰: 𝗦𝘁𝗵 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗵𝗼𝘄
xigua bu da
deguo bu re
niunai bu tian
lajiao bu la
dianshi bu haokan.
dianying bu haokan.
𝗙𝗼𝗿𝗺𝘂𝗹𝗮 𝗡𝗼. 𝟱: 𝗦𝘁𝗵 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗵𝗼𝘄
xigua yidian ye bu da
deguo yidian ye bu re
niunai yidian ye bu tian
lajiao yidian ye bu la
dianshi yidian ye bu haokan.
dianying yidian ye bu haokan.
𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 𝟮: 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲
Now I want you to translate these sentences into Chinese. Write down your answers! If you can’t remember, go back to step one and learn these sentences again. Practice until you become fast and no longer need to think hard.
你好吗？
How are you? Are you fine?
你冷吗？
Are you cold?
你热吗？
Are you hot?
你高兴吗？
Are you happy?
你伤心吗？
Are you sad?
爸爸好吗？
How's Dad? Is dad fine?
妈妈好吗？
How's Mom? Is Mom fine?
工作好吗？
Is work going well?
电脑好吗？
Is the computer good?
房子好吗？
Is the apartment/house good?
房子贵吗？
Is the apartment/house expensive?
工作忙吗？
Is the job busy? Do you have a lot to do at work?
公司远吗？
Is the company far away?
学校近吗？
Is the school near here?
我很好。
I'm fine.
天气很冷。
It's cold. (Weather is cold.)
今天很冷。
It's cold today.
春天很美。
Spring is beautiful.
公园很大。
Park is big.
学校很远。
School is far (from here).
芒果很甜。
Mangos are sweet.
我不太好。
I'm not so we'll.
天气不太热。
The weather is not too hot.
今天不太冷。
Today is not very cold.
春天不太美。
Spring is not so beautiful.
公园不太大。
The park is not too big.
学校不太远。
The school is not too far away.
芒果不太甜。
Mango is not too sweet.
西瓜不大。
The watermelon is not big.
德国不热。
Germany is not hot.
牛奶不甜。
The milk is not sweet.
辣椒不辣。
Chili is not spicy.
电视不好看。
The TV (show) is not good.
电影不好看。
The movie is not good.
西瓜一点也不大。
The watermelon is not big at all.
德国一点也不热。
Germany is not hot at all.
牛奶一点也不甜。
The milk is not sweet at all.
辣椒一点也不辣。
Chili is not spicy at all.
电视一点也不好看。
The TV is not good at all.
电影一点也不好看。
The movie is not good at all.
Now compare your answers with these here. Did you write everything correctly? If you wrote ANYTHING wrong, go back to step one step.
𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 𝟯: 𝗨𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱
Now let’s do it the other way, listen to these sentences. Can you understand them all? Write down the meaning in English. Attention here: Be honest with yourself. A lot of things we do with a teacher is just to avoid cheating. But you don’t need to cheat if you really want to learn. If you don’t understand anything here, go back to step one.
𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗹𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻:
Let’s summarize again to finish this video, the 40 sentences we learned today belong to these 5 basic sentences that work as formulas:
1. A yes/no question
ni hao ma?
2. A very statement
wo hen hao
3. A not-very statement
wo bu tai hao
4. A simply-not statement
jintian bu leng
5. A not-at-all statement
jintian yidian ye bu leng.
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