{"id":4757,"date":"2011-06-06T08:37:51","date_gmt":"2011-06-06T12:37:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/?p=4757"},"modified":"2011-06-06T08:39:18","modified_gmt":"2011-06-06T12:39:18","slug":"pinyin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/pinyin\/","title":{"rendered":"Learning Chinese with Pinyin"},"content":{"rendered":"

For anyone raised on the ABCs and 1-2-3s, learning Chinese can seem to be a daunting task.\u00a0 During my first few weeks in Beijing, I would often stare in disbelief at newspapers, menus, and street signs while thinking to myself, \u201cHow am I ever going to understand this language?\u201d\u00a0 Luckily for me, and other equally befuddled foreigners, there is an excellent system in place to assist us in our attempts at learning to speak Chinese<\/strong> (\u6c49\u8bed\u00a0 – h\u00e0n y\u01d4)\u00a0 –\u00a0 pinyin<\/strong> (\u62fc\u97f3 – p\u012bn y\u012bn).\u00a0 This is the Romanization of Chinese phonetics, and your gateway to understanding how to speak Chinese.\u00a0 For beginning learners hoping to functionally speak the language, learning to master the \u62fc\u97f3 system should be the first step.<\/p>\n

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Get this chart down and you're set.<\/p><\/div>\n

In my case, I moved to China on a whim, having zero experience with the language.\u00a0 I also came to work <\/strong>(\u5de5\u4f5c\u00a0 – g\u014dng zu\u00f2) as an English teacher<\/strong> (\u82f1\u8bed\u8001\u5e08 – y\u012bng y\u01d4 l\u01ceo sh\u012b), so I didn\u2019t have the free time to enroll in a university<\/strong> (\u5927\u5b66 – d\u00e0 xu\u00e9) Chinese program.\u00a0 While I had aspirations to learn how to read<\/strong> (\u8bfb – d\u00fa) and write<\/strong> (\u5199 – xi\u011b) Chinese, I quickly realized that doing so requires a great deal of work, and is quite difficult to do on your own.\u00a0 I was more concerned with being able to order food<\/strong> (\u70b9\u83dc – di\u01cen c\u00e0i), bargain<\/strong> (\u8bb2\u4ef7 – ji\u01ceng ji\u00e0), and chat<\/strong> (\u804a\u5929 – li\u00e1o ti\u0101n) with taxi drivers. Learning to read and pronounce words and sentences in \u62fc\u97f3 helped facilitate this.<\/p>\n

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Learn how to read and understand pinyin and you can avoid calling your teacher a mouse.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Speaking of speaking Chinese, two of the most useful phrases for a person visiting China are \u201c\u6211\u4e0d\u4f1a\u8bf4\u6c49\u8bed\u201d(w\u01d2 b\u00f9 hu\u00ec shu\u014d h\u00e0n y\u01d4 \u2013 I can\u2019t speak Chinese) and \u201c\u4f60\u4f1a\u8bf4\u82f1\u8bed\u5417?\u201d(n\u01d0 hu\u00ec shu\u014d y\u012bng y\u01d4 ma? \u2013 Can you speak English?) In my early experiences, being equipped with these two phrases saved me in many situations.\u00a0 For one, I found that by simply practicing my \u4f60\u597d, people would take that as evidence of my stellar Chinese abilities.\u00a0 This would encourage them to speak at their normal speed, which left me looking wide-eyed and confused.\u00a0 Also, I noticed that if the person I was talking to didn\u2019t speak English, there was a good chance they knew someone who did.\u00a0 If you have a bit of confidence and want to practice the Chinese you do know, you can also say \u201c\u6211\u53ea\u4f1a\u8bf4\u4e00\u70b9\u6c49\u8bed\u201d(w\u01d2 zh\u01d0 hu\u00ec shu\u014d y\u012b di\u01cen h\u00e0n y\u01d4 \u2013 I can only speak a little Chinese).\u00a0 Most people will be considerate and will slow down quite a bit and will repeatedly ask \u201c\u660e\u767d\u5417?\u201d(m\u00edng bai ma \u2013 Is it clear?\/Do you get it?\u201d)\u00a0 In my experience, Chinese people are quite accommodating and understanding when it comes to a \u8001\u5916s lackluster Chinese abilities.<\/div>\n