Beginner Chinese in 7 Days - static.skillshare.com

Beginner

Chinese

in

7 Days

Contents

Foreword ................................................................................ 3

Day 1: Numbers 1 to 10 .......................................................... 4

Day 2: Pronouns, Please & Thank You .................................. 11

Day 3: Who, What, Where, When, How ............................... 15

Day 4: What and Why? ......................................................... 19

Day 5: Now, Immediately, Later ........................................... 22

Day 6: Asking Questions ....................................................... 25

Day 7: Useful words/ phrases ............................................... 30

Foreword

Beginner Chinese in 7 Days is a quick and practical guide to mastering

Chinese. This guide will give you all the short-cuts, hacks and tricks for

you to start speaking Chinese as soon as possible.

Going to China on a solo trip? Need some basic Chinese for work?

This 7-day guide will give you the fastest route to learning Chinese

quickly!

This practical guide will teach you Mandarin Chinese in a unique and

efficient way, focused solely on RESULTS.

The guide is divided into 7 days and 7 modules. This guide is structured

for maximum results and efficiency, covering important phrases you

need to master Chinese sentences quickly.

At the end of 7 days, you will be equipped with impressive

conversational skills that will usually take beginner learners months of

study.

If you want a deep understanding of Chinese characters, history and

culture, this is NOT the guide for you. This guide is results-focused only!

We hope you enjoy this quick 7-day bootcamp! It’s going to be tough

but rewarding, and we welcome any feedback on how to improve this

guide. Contact us at [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

Day 1: Numbers 1 to 10

The trick to learning Chinese in 30 days is to focus on speaking,

and to not be overly concerned with memorizing characters.

The best way to do this is to learn Hanyu Pinyin. This is a

phonetic system of reading Chinese, as well as the official

romanization system.

For English speakers, this actually won’t be that difficult

because the Hanyu Pinyin system is alphabetic. We

recommend watching a Youtube video on Hanyu Pinyin, for

the quickest impact to get yourself familiarized.

Source: Chinese for Kids, Song to Learn Pinyin in 4 minutes!

(Youtube: Chinese Buddy)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinyin

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocgsflnEgqY

Pro tip: Watch a quick nursery rhyme video for kids with

Hanyu Pinyin annotations and you’ll quickly get the gist of it.

Source: Youtube: Ezy Mandarin

What most foreigners struggle with is the four tones.

Source: Aminoapps

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgdENfdtbFg2vV_Zm2WV3vw

Often times, there are many hilarious incidents because a

certain phrase is pronounced in the wrong tone, creating a

totally different meaning.

For instance,

Chinese Character Hanyu Pinyin Pronunciation

Meaning

四 Si – 4th tone The number four

死 Si – 3rd tone Death

Pro Tip: Use Google Translate liberally in your learning journey.

Click on the “microphone” icon to hear the words being

spoken.

We’re gonna drop a truth bomb here. The fact is that even

after years of learning Chinese, many foreigners still struggle

with the 4 tones, and may never ever perfect it. This is

honestly very normal with languages, and even native Chinese

people have different accents which may not be understood

uniformly across the country.

Of course, in a perfect world, you should start learning Chinese

from the basics, write each stroke perfectly and master the

inflexes of each tone. However, if you’re in a time crunch, you

can choose to glaze over tones, and focus on acquiring more

vocabulary instead.

In the real world, people will figure out what you’re saying

from the context. As long as you are generally pronouncing the

word correctly, people will understand. Like the earlier

example of “Si”. Let’s say you want to order four dumplings,

and say “Wo Yao Si Ge Jiao Zi”, most waiters will understand

that you want four dumplings, and not death dumplings.

Chinese Character

Hanyu Pinyin Pronunciation

Meaning

我要四个

饺子

Wǒ yào sì gè jiǎozi

I want four dumplings.

With the above example, let’s get into Phrase Pattern #1.

I want ____________ → Wo Yao ____________ → 我要

____________

This is a very helpful phrase, that a beginner should master.

Let’s break it down further.

Chinese Character


Meaning

我 Wo I

要 Yao want

四 Si four

个 Ge ‘个’ (Ge) is a counter. This is

very useful fixed counter that can be added for most items.

饺子 Jiao Zi dumplings

Pro Tip: In this 30-day guide, we’ll skip over tones so you can

acquire vocabulary fast. In other words, when memorizing

vocabulary, you can glaze over tones. However, when

memorizing sentence patterns, you should put them into

Google translate to hear them being spoken out loud and get

the tones for the sentence pattern right.

From the above sentence example, let’s zero in on the

number 4 (“sì” in the 4th tone). Since we’re on a crash course,

it’s probably only necessary to memorize numbers 1 to 10. In

real life, most of the time you can use your hands to gesture

or write the figure down.

Pro Tip: Start by memorizing the characters for numbers 1 (一),

2 (二), 3 (三) and 10 (十) since they’re extremely intuitive. If

you can’t get the others right now, skip them and just focus on

retaining the pronunciation.

“520” “Wu Er Ling” (五二零)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Yi Er San Si Wu Liu Qi Ba Jiu Shi

一二三四五六七八九十

Do you know the significant of 520 in Chinese culture? 520 is

associated with ‘I Love You’ in Chinese because of its similarity

to the Chinese pronunciation for the phrase I Love You – ‘Wo

Ai Ni’ (我爱你).

Chinese Character


Meaning

我 Wo I

爱 Ai Love

你 Ni You

So how do you say ‘We love dumplings’?

我爱饺子。(Wo Men Ai Jiao Zi)

Note: zero is “ling” (零).

The other useful word you should learn is “dian” – this will

enable you to quickly tell the time.

Chinese Character


Meaning

点 Diǎn

O’clock Also means dot.

So very simply, [Number] + Dian = Time.

For 11, it’s read as [10 + 1] so read as “Shi Yi Dian”. （十一点）

For 12, it’s read as [10 + 2] so read is “Shi Er Dian”. （十二点）

One exception is the number 2. For 2 O’clock, you read it as “Liǎng diǎn” （两点）. This is also used when you want to

order two of any item – “Wo Yao Liang Ge Jiao Zi” (I want two dumplings) （我要两个饺子）.

Day 1 Summary: 1. Understand Hanyu Pinyin

2. Phrase Pattern #1

I want ________: Wǒ yào ________：我要 ________

3. Numbers 1 to 10

4. How to tell the time by adding ‘Diǎn’ (点)

Day 2: Pronouns, Please & Thank You

We have learnt our first pronoun, ‘I’ – ‘Wo’. Let’s learn other

basic pronouns.

Chinese Character


Meaning

我 Wo I

你 Ni You

她 Ta She

他 Ta He

他们 Ta Men They

我们 Wo Men We/Us

Note that He/She is the same pinyin – ‘Ta’. When there are

more people, you add ‘Men’. (Ta Men/ Wo Men)

Memory Tip: 门 is also the word for door. You can remember

this by thinking you need to add a door (‘Men’) when they are

more people.

Me and You.

我和你. (Wǒ hé nǐ)

My Name is Xiao Ming.

我的名字是【小明】。(Wǒ de míngzì shì [xiǎomíng])

Chinese Character


Meaning

和 He And

名字 Ming Zi Name

Next, let’s learn the word for please, ‘Qing’ (请). You can use

the term by itself, when you want to demonstrate manners,

for instance when you open a door for someone, and you can

just say ‘Qing’, to mean please go ahead. 请 also has an

alternative meaning for treat.

We should also learn the term for Thank You! ‘Xie Xie’ (谢谢)。

Chinese Character


Meaning

请 Qing Please / Treat

谢谢 Xie Xie Thank you

Sample sentences:

Let me treat you to a meal

我请你吃饭 Or 我请你吃东西

(Wǒ qǐng nǐ chīfàn Or wǒ qǐng nǐ chī dōngxī)

Let me treat you guys to a meal

我请你们吃饭

(Wǒ qǐng nǐmen chīfàn)

Let me buy you a drink

我请你喝一杯/喝水

(Wǒ qǐng nǐ hè yībēi/hē shuǐ)

Chinese Character


Meaning

吃 Chi Eat

饭 Fan Rice/Meal

东西 Dong Xi Thing/Object/Something

喝 He Drink

一杯 Yi Bei One Cup

水 Shui Water

Memory Tip: 东西 (Dong Xi) refers to a

thing/object/something but separately 东 means East and 西

means West. So you can remember it as “East meets West =

Thing!”.

Pro Tip: Let me buy you a drink - 我请你喝一杯 literally

translated means, I treat you to a cup. This expression is used

very often in casual conversations and usually refers to alcohol.

Let’s take a closer look at eating and drinking.

Chinese Character


Meaning

吃 Chi Eat

饭 Fan Rice/Meal

喝 He Drink

水 Shui Water

Don’t eat!

别吃！(Bié chī)

Don’t go!

别去！ (Bié qù!)

Don’t come over!

别过来！(Bié guòlái)

Chinese Character


Meaning

别 Bie Don’t

去 Qu Go

来 Lai Come

Day 2 Summary

1. Pronouns 我，你，他 (Wǒ, Nǐ, Tā)

2. Please & Thank you

请，谢谢 (Qǐng, Xièxiè)

3. Eating & Drinking

吃饭，喝水 (Chīfàn, Hē shuǐ)

4. Don’t

别 (Bié)

Day 3: Who, What, Where, When, How

Chinese Character


Meaning

谁 Shui Who

什么 Sh Me What

哪里 Na li Where

时候 Shi Hou Time/ When

怎么 Ze Me How

Sample sentences:

Who are you?

你是谁？(Ni Shi Shui?)

What are you doing?

你在做什么？(Ni Zai Zuo Sh Me?)

Where are you? (You can also say - What place are you at?)

你在哪里？(Ni Zai Na Li?) OR 你在什么地方？

(Ni Zai Sh Me Di Fang?)

I’m inside/outside.

我在里面 (Wo Zi Li Mian)/我在外面。(Wo Zi Wai Mian)

Where is it?

东西在哪里？(Dong Xi Zai Na Li?)

When? (or What time?)

什么时候？(Sh Me Shi Hou?)

How to go there?

怎么去那里？(Ze Me Qu Na Li?)

How? What to do?

怎么办? (Ze Me Ban?)

No solution/ Nothing we can do.

没办法。(Mei Ban Fa)

Chinese Character


Meaning

做 Zuo Do

去 Qu Go

这个 Zhe Ge This

那个 Na Ge That

这里 Zhe Li Here

那里 Na Li There

地方 Di Fang Place

地 Di Floor / Ground

方 Fang Square

里面 Li Mian Inside

面 Mian Noodle

办法 Ban Fa Way/Method/Solution

Negation

Chinese Character


Meaning

没 Mei No / Not have

不 Bu No

没有 (Mei You) = Don’t have

没事 (Mei Shi) = Don’t worry /No issue

不可以 (Bu Ke Yi) = Cannot

不会 (Bu Hui) = Don’t know how

Pro Tip: 没事 is a fixed expression that you can use to mean

‘don’t worry about it/no issues’.

Day 3 Summary 1. Who, What, Where, When How 谁，什么，哪里，时候，怎么

shui, sh me, nǎ lǐ, shí hòu, zě me

2. This, That, Here, There 这个/那个/这里/那里

zhè ge/nà gè/zhè lǐ/nà lǐ

3. Negation 没/不

méi/bù

Day 4: What and Why?

Chinese Character


Meaning

什么 Sh Me What

为什么 Wei Sh Me Why

What is the meaning of this?

这什么意思？(Zhe Sh Me Yi Si?)

When did this happen?

什么时候的事情？(Sh Me Shi Hou De Shi Qing?)

What do you want to eat?

你想吃什么？(Ni Xiang Chi Sh Me?)

What are you doing?

你在做什么？(Ni Zai Zuo Sh Me?)

Why did you go there?

为什么去那里？(Wei Sh Me Qu Na Li?)

I went there to handle a matter

我去办事情。(Wo Qu Ban Shi Qing)

Pro Tip: In Beijing/mainland China, you will often hear 什么

(Sh Me) being replaced by 啥 (Sha).

For instance, what do you want to eat? (你想吃啥?) (Ni Xiang

Chi Sha?)

Chinese Character


Meaning

意思 Yi Si Meaning

想 Xiang Think

办 Ban Do/ Manage/ Handle

事情 Shi Qing Affair/ thing / matter

心情 Xin Qing Mood/ Feelings

What are you thinking about?

你在想什么？(Ni Zai Xiang Sh Me?)

My mood is very good today.

今天我的心情很好。(Jin Tian Wo De Xin Qing Hen Hao)

Chinese Character


Meaning

今天 Jin Tian Today

Memory Tip: 好 (Hao) is made of 女 + 子.

Chinese Character


Meaning

子女 Ji Nu Children/ Descendants

男 Nan Man/ Boy

女 Nu Woman/ Girl

Chinese Character


Meaning

天 Tian Day

今天 Jin Tian Today

明天 Ming Tian Tomorrow

昨天 Zuo Tian Yesterday

后天 Hou Tian Day after Tomorrow

Memory Tip: Note that ‘Ming’ 明 is made of 日 (day) + 月

(moon).

Day 4 Summary

1. What 什么 (Sh Me?)

2. Why 为什么 (Wèi Sh Me?)

3. Today, Tomorrow, Yesterday, Day after tomorrow 今天，明天，昨天，后天

(jīntiān, míngtiān, zuótiān, hòutiān)

4. Now, Immediately, Later 现在，马上，待会

(xiànzài, mǎshàng, dài huì)

Day 5: Now, Immediately, Later

Chinese Character


Meaning

现在 Xian Zai Now

马上 Ma Shang Immediately

等一下 Deng Yi Xia Wait a while

待会 Dai Hui Later/ In a While

Memory Tip: 马上 (immediately) is made of 马 ‘Ma’ (horse) +

上 ‘Shang’ (up). Reversing the words, 上马 literally means

getting on a horse, which has a sense of urgency.

Must I go right now? Can’t it wait a moment?

一定要先在去吗？不可以等一下？

(Yi Ding Yao Xian Zai Qu Ma? Ke Yi Deng Yi Xia Ma?)

No, you need to go there immediately.

不行，一定要马上去。

(Bu Xing, Yi Ding Yao Ma Shang Qu)

Ok, I will go right now.

好的，我现在就去。(Hao De, Wo Xian Zai Jiu Qu)

I’m really busy right now, I will go over in a while.

我现在很忙，待会儿就去。

(Wo Xian Zai Hen Mang, Dai Hui Er Jiu Qu)

Chinese Character


Meaning

现在 Xian Zai Now

一定 Yi Ding Must

可以 Ke Yi Can

能/不能 Neng/ Bu Neng Can/ Cannot

行/不行 Xing/Bu Xing Can/ Cannot

好的 Hao De Okay/Yes

忙 Mang Busy

Did you go anywhere special yesterday?

昨天你去了什么特别的地方吗？

(Zuo Tian Ni Qu Le Sh Me Te Bie De Ding Fang Ma)

Nowhere special, just staying at home to watch TV.

没去什么特别的地方，只在家里看电视。

(Mei Qu Sh Me Te Bie De Di Fang, Zhi Zai Jia Li Kan Dian

Shi)

Chinese Character


Meaning

只 Zhi Only

特别 Te Bie Special/ Unique

家 Jia Home

家人 Jia Ren Family

电视 Dian Shi Television

视 Shi See/ Vision

Day 5 Summary

1. Now, Immediately, Later 现在，马上，待会

(xiànzài, mǎshàng, dài huì)

2. Must 一定 (Yīdìng)

3. Special 特别 (Tèbié)

4. Family 家人 (Jiārén)

5. Television 电视 (Diànshì)

Day 6: Asking Questions

Add ‘Ma’ (吗)at the end of a sentence in order to form a

question.

Chinese Character


Meaning

吗 Ma Used in a Question

口 Kou Mouth

马 Ma Horse

Memory Tip: 吗 is made of two parts – 口 (mouth) + 马 (horse).

How are you?

你好吗？(Ni Hao Ma?)

I’m fine.

我很好。(Wo Hen Hao)

Are you okay?

还好吗？(Hai Hao Ma?)

Are you free tomorrow?

明天有空吗？(Ming Tian You Kong Ma?)

Have you arrived?

你到了吗？(Ni Dao Le Ma?)

Chinese Character


Meaning

明天 Ming Tian Tomorrow

天 Tian Day / Sky

有 You Have

空 Kong Space / Empty

到 Dao Arrive

Phrase Pattern #2 ：Adjective + ‘Ma’ = Question.

Chinese Character


Meaning

痛 tòng Pain

舒服 shūfú Comfortable

饱 bǎo Full

饿 è Hungry

吵 chǎo Noisy

冷 lěng Cold

热 rè Hot

Pro Tip: Food related words have the same side character 饭

(Fan – Rice/Meal),饱 (Full - Bao),饿 (Hungry - E).

Sample Sentences:

Is it painful?

痛吗？(Tong Ma)

Is it comfortable?

舒服吗？(Shu Fu Ma)

Are you very hungry?

很饿吗？(Hen E Ma)

Is it not noisy?

不吵吗？(Bu Chao Ma)

Is it not cold?

不冷吗？(Bu Leng Ma)

Is it too hot?

太热吗？(Tai Re Ma)

Chinese Character


Meaning

不 bù Not

很 hěn Very

太 tài Too

I’m not comfortable/ I’m very cold/ I’m Too Full

我不舒服/我很冷/我太饱了。

(Wo Bu Shu Fu/ Wo Hen Leng/ Wo Tai Bao Le).

Pro Tip: 了(Le) is often added to the end of short sentences to

sound more natural, especially when using a single-character

adjective.

Chinese Character


Meaning

会 Huì Know/ Allow/ Enable

Do you know how to do this?

你会不会？(Ni Hui Bu Hui)

May I/Can I?

可以吗？(Ke Yi Ma?)

I can do it.

我可以做到。(Wo Ke Yi Zuo Dao)

Can I borrow your computer?

我可以借你的电脑吗？(Wo Ke Yi Jie Ni De Dian Nao

Ma?)

Please remember to return to me.

请记得还给我。(Qing Ji De Huan Gei Wo)

Chinese Character


Meaning

做 zuò Do

电脑 diàn nǎo Computer

电 diàn Electric

脑 nǎo Brain

借 jiè Borrow

还 hái Return

给 gěi Give

Memory Tip: 电脑 literally translated is electric brain.

Pro Tip: 还 can be pronounced two ways. Huan meaning

borrow, or Hai.

还好 (Quite good) 还没 (Not Yet)

Day 6 Summary

1. Phrase Pattern #2：Adjective + ‘Ma’ (吗) = Question.

2. Basic adjectives

痛/ 舒服 / 饿 / 吵/ 冷/ 热

tòng/ shū fú/ è/ chǎo/ lěng/ rè

3. Not/Very/Too 不/很/太

bù/hěn/tài

4. Know 会

Huì

5. Can 可以

Kě yǐ

Day 7: Useful words/ phrases

Ending the guide with useful words and phrases!

How are you/ How are you recently? 你好吗？最近还好吗？

Nǐ hǎo ma? Zuìjìn hái hǎo ma?

Nice to meet you, see you again! 很高兴认识你。下次再见！

Hěn gāoxìng rènshì nǐ. Xià cì zàijiàn!

Excuse me, where is the toilet? 不好意思，厕所在哪里？

Bù hǎoyìsi, cèsuǒ zài nǎlǐ?

I’m sorry. Please give me another chance. 对不起。请再给我一次机会。

Duìbùqǐ. Qǐng zài gěi wǒ yīcì jīhuì

Thanks for your help, thanks for your hard work/efforts. 谢谢你的帮忙。辛苦了。

Xièxiè nǐ de bāngmáng. Xīnkǔle.

Of course! I will definitely do it. 当然！我一定会做到。

Dāngrán! Wǒ yīdìng huì zuò dào.

Pro Tip: 不好意思 is a fixed expression, ‘Excuse me’.

Pro Tip: 辛苦了 is a fixed expression, used most commonly in

work settings to thank others for their hard work and effort.

辛苦 by itself refers to something being tough/requiring a lot

of effort.

Pro Tip: 您 is a honorific term for you (你) used for elders or

when you want to be respectful and polite. For instance,

thanking someone - 谢谢您。

Chinese Character


Meaning

最近 Zuì jìn Recently

高兴 Gāo xìng Happy

认识 Rèn shì Know

下次 xià cì Next time

再见 Zài jiàn See you again/ Goodbye

厕所 Cè suǒ Toilet

对不起 Duì bù qǐ Sorry

再 zài Again/Another

给我 gěi wǒ Give Me

一次 Yī cì One Time

机会 Jī huì Opportunity/Chance

帮忙 Bang máng Help

当然 Dāng rán Of Course

一定 Yī dìng Must/Definitely

做到 zuò dào Do it

Useful Vocabulary Grid

Conjunc-tions

因为/所以

Because/ Therefore

Yīnwèi/

suǒyǐ

但是/可是

However/ But

Dànshì/

kěshì

很/太

Very/Too

Hěn/tài

应该/一定

Should/ Must

Yīnggāi/

yīdìng

可以/会

Can/ Know /Able to

Kěyǐ/huì

Place 地方

Place

Dìfāng

工作办公

室

Work Office

Gōngzuò

bàngōng

Shì

餐厅

Restaurant

Cāntīng

医院

Hospital

Yīyuàn

飞机场

Airport

Fēijī

chǎng

Verbs 来/去

Come/Go

Lái/qù

吃饭/喝酒

Eat meal/ Drink alcohol

Chīfàn/

Hējiǔ

拍照

Take photo

Pāizhào

运动

Exercise

Yùndòng

解释

Explain

Jiěshì

Adjective 开心/难过

Happy/Sad

Kāixīn/

nánguò

快/慢

Fast/Slow

Kuài/

màn

之前/后来

Before/After

Zhīqián/

hòulái

重要/不重

要

Important

Zhòngyào

/bù chóng

yào

合理/不合

理

Reasonable

Hélǐ/

bù hélǐ

Opposites 对/错

Right/Wrong

Duì/cuò

多/少

More/Less

Duō/

shǎo

简单/难

Easy/Difficult

Jiǎndān/

nán

贵/便宜

Expensive/ Cheap

Guì/piányí

老/年轻

Old/Young

Lǎo/

niánqīng

Persons 朋友

Friend

Péngyǒu

家人

Family

Jiārén

老师/学生

Teacher/ Student

Lǎoshī/

xuéshēng

好人/坏人

Good person/ Bad person

Hǎorén/

huàirén

外国人/老

外

Foreigner

Wàiguó

rén/

lǎowài (Colloquial)

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Beginner Chinese in 7 Days - static.skillshare.com