Action Verbs

Chi1fan4 (literally "eat food") = eat; have a (proper) meal
kan4 bao4 (look +at paper) = read the paper
xi3zao3 = bathe
zou3 = leave; go; walk
shang4 ke (literally "ascend class") = teach a class (of a teacher); attend a class (if student)
xia4 ke4 (literally "descend class") = finish teaching a class (teacher); be out of class (student)
shang4 ban1 (literally ascend job + shift) = go to work; start work
xia4ban1 (literally descend job +shift) = get out of work; quit (for the day)


Wo3 bu4 zou3 = I'm not leaving.
Ta1men bu4 xi3zao3. = They're not going to bathe.
Ta1 bu4 chi1 le=He won't eat anymore.
Ta1 bu4 yao4 chi1fan4. = She doesn't want to eat.
Ta1men bu4 xiang3 shang4 ke4.=They don't feel like going to class.

mei2=not (as in "have not").
Mei2 chi1fan4. = (We) didn't eat; (we) haven't eaten.
Mei2you xi3zao3. = (I) didn't bathe; (I) haven't bathed.
Mei2 shang4 ban1.=(She) didn't go to work; (She) hasn't started work.

All for now.
-Denaz

Lesson 1 Exercises

Exercise 1
1. Ask him if (he) was busy yesterday?
Zuo2tian1 mang2 ma?
2. Respond that (it's) quite cold today.
Hen3 leng3!
3. Remark that (it's) got cold today.
Jin1tian1 hen2 (shift tone) leng3 le.
4. Say (you) didn't fell well yesterday.
Zuo2tian1 bu4 shu1fu.
5. Respond that she is nervous.
Hen jin1zhang1.

-Denaz

Lesson 1 Part 2-Important Verbs :D

Lesson 1 Part 2
The ten celestial stems (tian1gan1)
jia3 甲 A
yi3 已 B
bing3 丙 C
ding1 丁 D
wu4 戊 E
ji3 己 F
geng1庚 G
xin1 辛 H
ren2 任 I
gui3 癸 J

Jia3 Mang2 ma? (Are you) busy?
Yi3 Hen3 mang2. (I am) busy (here "hen", which means "very" literally, is just a confirmation of the fact and is not used as emphasis to just how busy. it is like saying "yes, busy."


Verbs:
ma (neutral) at the end of a statement turns it into a question.
hao ma =Are (you) well? or more literally, "Okay?"{remember, h is a hard h, not an English h but like the spanish pronunciation of the letter j ("jota"/hhhhhota)}?
Mang2 ma? = (Is she) busy?
Lei4 ma?=Tired?
E4 ma? =Hungry? {sounds like "Uh ma?" :D}
Ke3 ma? = Thirsty?
Jin3zhang1 ma? =Nervous? {remember, the pronunciation of "zh" is a "j" with the tip of your tongue raised, making it sound like a j with a hint of an r...}
Shu1fu1 ma? = Comfortable? {remember, the pronunciation of "sh" is also with the tip of your tongue raised, giving it a hint of an r sound...)
Leng3 ma?= Cold?
Re4 ma? = Hot?
Gao1 ma? = (is she) tall?

Bu4=no, before other fourth tones, shifts to di'er tone (2nd tone).
tai4=too; very; soooooo ___ :D
bu tai=not very
Practice:
Hao3 ma? Bu2 tai4 hao3. (Well?/Okay?) (I am) Not very well.
Mang2 ma? Bu2 tai4 mang2. Not very busy.

More detailed in another lesson is the negative questions with ma (neutral).
Ni3 bu2 lei4 ma?= Aren't you tired?

hai = neutraling adverb.
hai2 hao3=(I'm) Okay, so-so. "fine"

Jin1tian1=today
Zuo2tian1=yesterday
ming2tian1=tomorrow (must include a helping verb like "hui4".)
Jintian jiu3yue4 ba1 hao4. Today (is the) 8th of September.
Zuo2 tian1 qi1 hao4. Yesterday (was the) 7th. (literally "Yesterday 7 day")

Xian4zai4=now.
Zuo2tian1 bu4 shu1fu, jin1tian1 hao3 le. Yesterday, (I did) not feel well, (but) today good (okay).
Wo xian4 zai4 bu2 e4 le! (I now not hungry!)=I'm not hungry anymore!
Jin1tian1 re4 le!=Today (it's) hot!
NOTE: "le" is assotiated with the new situation, not the original state. :)

End of Lesson 1.
-Denaz

MIT Course Lesson 1

It starts off with pinyin, not characters because it is how we learned our native langauges first-listening and speaking/repeating.

Many new vocabulary words here: (#=tone)
Date is different than in English:year-month-day (in chinese)
Jin1tian1 shi4 er4-ling-ling-ba1 nian2 shi2-yi1-yue4 er4shi2si4 hao4 (hao3=good; hao4=day).
Today is 2008/11/24; Today is November 24th, 2008.

To make an ordinal number add the prefix "di4". Di4yi1=1st, etc.

End of Part 1 of Lesson 1

-Denaz

New Course Found!

Ninmen hao!
"Qian1 li3 zhi1 xing2 shi3 yu2 zu2 xia4." (1000 mile's journey begin with foot down)
A long journey begins with a single step.-Lao3zi3
Wo de xing2 shi3 jin1tian1. (My journey begins today)

I found a new source for Chinese learners. MIT has open online courses (free) for those people learning languages such as Mandarin Chinese on their own. I just learned this today, browsing the web. :D
MIT is on of the top schools in the US, known for its high standards. Therefore to offer mandarin for free online-from beginner to fluency, it makes the top ten in my book as well. ;P
Here is the URL for the link to its website:
http://dspace.mit.edu/bitstream/handle/1721.1/36828/21F-101Fall-2004/OcwWeb/Foreign-Languages-and-Literatures/21F-101Fall-2004/Readings/index.htm

-Denaz

Chapter 1

Wo mai le yi ben shu jiao "Learning Chinese Characters". Wo..."will post" shenme xue "here". :D
Chapter 1:
huo (fire) 火+ ding (nail)丁 = 灯 deng (lamp) :D
da 大(big) ren 人(person)=adult
nü(woman) + ye (also) 也 = ta (she) 她
kou (mouth) 口
ji ( originally meant "stool", now means "several") 几
bu (no, not) 不

All for now
-Denaz

Ni hao! Back from Sabbatical!

Da jia hao! Well, it has been a long time since I posted to this website even though I continue my language studies. So, first off Huanying nimen hui lai! (welcome back you all!) and in this year, 2008. My focus is on learning to write chinese characters. I recently bought a book called "Learning Chinese Characters", a book for "Level A" Chinese learners. I will post my lessons learned here. :)

Jintian wo xue le yi ge ci "tai yang", "sun" :D.
Also, I learned that the chinese characters "huo"(fire) and "ding" (nail) together make "deng" (lamp). My lesson for the day. :P

Well, wo qu gongzuo, soyi....zai jian!


-Denaz