"Hanyu" means Chinese Language.
I am a level 1 student which means I'll be using the pinyin spelling.
There are 10 levels. Being able to speak fluently starts at level 3.
In Pinyin there are 21 initials, 36 finals and 5 different tones! Oh the tones are what make it really fun! At first it seemed like I was taking a singing class.
Verbs are not conjugated and the adjectives don't change from femine to masculin. (Somewhat like in English... but it makes a huge difference compared to French, German, Spanish, Greek, Latin..)
And sentences are structured in the following way:
WHO - WHEN - WHERE - HOW - DO (action) - WHAT
I've learned how to say some practical things such as :
Wo bù chi roù (I don't eat meat)
Shifu Nihao. Wo xiang qù ... (Hello Taxi Driver, I want to go to...)
But of course, like always when learning a foreign language, I've learned things like:
Wo de baba shi hanyu laoshi (My dad is a Chinese teacher)
or
Ni xihuan baisè ma ? (Do you like the color white?)
I don't know why we learn such sentences... but I guess these make more sense than the one I learned when I took German..: I see a UFO in the sky! (Wow, as if that's the first thing I need to know how to say!)
Chinese classes have be fun so far! It's like we're little kids learning how to read. We were taught the difference between the sound "P" and "B". Apparently, us Western people, don't differentiate the two...
ps: i'm still not able to upload pictures.
Also, I know I don't know much about China and Chinese...
what I share here is just what I've learned so far or noticed..
I am a level 1 student which means I'll be using the pinyin spelling.
There are 10 levels. Being able to speak fluently starts at level 3.
In Pinyin there are 21 initials, 36 finals and 5 different tones! Oh the tones are what make it really fun! At first it seemed like I was taking a singing class.
Verbs are not conjugated and the adjectives don't change from femine to masculin. (Somewhat like in English... but it makes a huge difference compared to French, German, Spanish, Greek, Latin..)
And sentences are structured in the following way:
WHO - WHEN - WHERE - HOW - DO (action) - WHAT
I've learned how to say some practical things such as :
Wo bù chi roù (I don't eat meat)
Shifu Nihao. Wo xiang qù ... (Hello Taxi Driver, I want to go to...)
But of course, like always when learning a foreign language, I've learned things like:
Wo de baba shi hanyu laoshi (My dad is a Chinese teacher)
or
Ni xihuan baisè ma ? (Do you like the color white?)
I don't know why we learn such sentences... but I guess these make more sense than the one I learned when I took German..: I see a UFO in the sky! (Wow, as if that's the first thing I need to know how to say!)
Chinese classes have be fun so far! It's like we're little kids learning how to read. We were taught the difference between the sound "P" and "B". Apparently, us Western people, don't differentiate the two...
ps: i'm still not able to upload pictures.
Also, I know I don't know much about China and Chinese...
what I share here is just what I've learned so far or noticed..
Courage, c'est super, continue car j'aurai besoin d'un interprète... pap
ReplyDeleteEnjoying all your posts Chelsea. Very, very interesting. I so look forward to them. Enjoy!
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean about phrases... I still can ask where is pepe in spanish! My husband knows how to say shut the window in french! :)
ReplyDeleteYour adventures, comments, thoughts, and observations are a pleasure to read. Thanks so much for opening up another part of the world that many of us will never experience. What a fantastic adventure for you and a fortunate benefit for us!
ReplyDeleteNancy
(a fan of your mom, family, and Tongue in Cheek!)
Big hugs
ReplyDeleteI follow your Mom's blog each day and now am enjoying yours so much
Love and hugs and smiles across the miles
Jeanne
My Son and his wife live in Seoul
One of the standard sentences taught in French I in the US back in my youth was, "La plume de ma tante est sur la table." Yeah, like a teenager is gonna use THAT a lot!
ReplyDeleteAs a married, middle-aged student taking introductory Portuguese, I chuckled when we had to study a chapter in our textbook on "Paquerando" (flirting). Farmboy Husband doesn't know a word of Portuguese, so the only use that knowing flirtatious language in Portuguese would ever be to me would be to know to avoid someone using it (not much of a risk at my age -- LOL!).
English-speakers DO differentiate between P and B, although both are bilabials (but P is made a bit farther forward on the lips).
ReplyDeleteWe learned in Linguistics at Cal that there are 3 different P sounds in English: the highly aspirated one in a word starting with P (e.g., "Provence" and "Pennsylvania"), the slightly aspirated one when P is in the middle (e.g., "espresso"), and a totally unaspirated P when it's at the end of a word (e.g., "stop"). Hold your hand in front of your mouth when you pronounce each of these in order to feel the difference. The same applies for B.
How exciting that you are studying in China! I am a new, happy, follower.
ReplyDeletejackie
bliss farm antiques