Chinese Lessons
Experiencing Chinese
Lesson 2 Basic Dialog
Learn some useful social expressions .
The Beijing winter is cold, but it is also beautiful. Close your eyes and try to picture the snow-covered roofs of the Forbidden City; or a light frost blanketing the rustic grounds of the Temple of Heaven, or people braving the winds for a bowl of steaming hot soybean milk before heading off to work amid a steady stream of taxis and bicycles.
According to Chinese customs, when a guest says goodbye, the host would usually ask him or her to stay longer to show politeness. If a guest visits for something special, he or she usually shows gratefulness or apologies to the host, i. e. to be thankful to the host for the friendly reception and help, and shows his or her apology for disturbing the host.
Chinese (Mandarin) is the language of the Han nationality and the main language of China. The standard language of the modern Chinese is putonghua (the common spoken Chinese). Based on the northern dialect, putonghua uses Beijing phonetics as the standard and typical modern vernacular works as the grammatical norm. Studying putonghua, people should learn the Chinese phonetic alphabet first which gives phonetic notation to Chinese characters and putonghua.
The longitudinal mode of Chinese thinking is usually from big to small and from general to specific. This is often shown when people talk about the earliness and lateness of time.
Learn how to introduce yourself.
Learn how to express the exchange rate. Learn the denominations for RMB: yuan, jiao, fen.
Learn common expressions for exchanging money at a bank.
Learn how to describe items that you have lost.
Learn the common phrases to ask for emergency help.