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156 Responses to “CT_003: Introductions”

  1. Catherine van Heel

    Ni hao everyone,

    I’m very curious to find out what: Holland a.k.a The Netherlands is and ‘I’m Dutch’ (not to be mistaken with I am Deutsch…;-) that always seems to be tricky…;-)

    Xie Xie!

    Catherine

  2. Hi everyone

    I really like your podcast. Thank you so much for offering it. I hope I can use my knowledge when I will travel to Asia this summer.

    Now my “country” question: Could you tell me how ‘Switzerland’ is written in Mandarin?

    Have a nice weekend
    Chris

  3. I’m happy to say that the Vocabulary section above has been updated with all the countries you asked for with Simplified, Traditional characters and Audio! So pick your favorite country and learn how to pronounce it. These countries are also now part of the Word-bank.

  4. Haakan Olsson

    你好!

    I’m revisiting these erlier lessons and realize that I don’t know my contry name in chinese. If I would like to say “I am from Norway” will it be in this way then? In this exampel but here you don’t use “guó =国” for country

    wǒ láizì nuówēi should be like this in chinese 我来自挪威 or could I also say it in this way “wǒ shì cóng nuówēi = 我是从挪威”

    I look forward to your answer

    regards Haakan

  5. Hi Haakan.

    As you noted, there are a couple of ways to say it.

    1. Wǒ láizì Nuówēi.
    2. Wǒ cóng Nuówēi lái.

    In lesson 13, I go over the question and answer format for the #2 format.

    Hope that helps!

    -Adam

  6. Hello KC,

    Philippines is Fèilǜbīn in Mandarin. To learn how to say it, click on the Vocabulary link above to hear the pronunciation of many countries. To say someone is Filipino, you just add a rén at the end so a Filipino would be a Fèilǜbīnrén.

  7. Hello Josemon,

    If you go to the Vocabulary page above, and click on “Next” a couple of times in the vocabulary section, you will see India translated as Yìndù. A person from India then becomes an Yìndùrén.

    Similarly, Yemen is Yěmén while a Yemeni would be Yěménrén

    Hope that helps!

  8. Hi Ksenia,

    Russia is Éluósī. You may also hear it as Éguó. If you click on the Vocabulary link above, and click on Next a couple of times, you will see both versions in the Supplementary vocabulary (red).

    For a Russian person, just add rén giving Éluósīrén or Éguórén.

    Thanks!

  9. Anushka

    Hieee,,,, i love this site…. ! I had been looking for chinese learning classes in my country [India] . The only classes held here are in the embassy. But then I found this site. :D..

    so,,umm,,, How do you say ‘India’ and ‘Indian’ ?

  10. Hi Pamela,

    Wow you’re really testing us here!

    Falkland Islands would be Fúkèlán qúndǎo (福克兰群岛 / 福克蘭群島), which literally means “Falkland group of islands.” So a Falkland Islander would be a Fúkèlán qúndǎorén.

    As for Kelper, assuming the Chinese person you were talking to understood the context, it might be Hǎidàirén (海带人/海帶人) which literally means “Kelp person.”

  11. Michelle Kratt

    Hi again,
    Don’t need an answer anymore as I’ve figured out the problem. Just needed to wait for the boxes to move ( patience !) and make room for the new word before letting go of the mouse. Thanks for creating such a great website for learning Chinese.
    Michelle

  12. Anne Bach

    Ni Hao

    Adam I Enjoy learning chinese from your website. But If I were to take my own notes how can I then implement the diferent tones in the spelling, with a normal keyboard?

    Also I would like to ask how I wold say: “I am Danish I come from Denmark”

    Xie Xie

  13. Claudia

    Sorry Adam, I already saw my comment and your answer.
    But, still, could you add it on the list?? I feel bad if you do not add my country to the list.
    How would you feel if your country was not on the list?

  14. Hi Jun,

    Congratulations on completing the course! After lesson 420, I recommend you use the newclo.com website. There are additional features there such as the built-in dictionary, My Articles and My Vocabulary section. The idea is that you can look for articles and even other podcasts on the internet, add them to your section and add the new vocabulary from them. This way you can continue your learning using our tools but using content that interests you. Let me know if you find these tools useful.

    Adam

  15. 你好!

    I find these lessons excellent! However, I am having trouble following the increased speed of the stroke order on the vocabulary page (英 and onwards). Is there a way to slow it down? Yet I don’t mind a gradual increase in speed as the lesson no. progresses. Other than that, I find these lessons very helpful.

    谢谢你!

  16. Thanks so much! and would Nepali (the language) be Níbóěrwén?
    This is such a great learning facility! Is there a part of the premium program that explains the parts of the characters because I’ve noticed that some look like two characters put together and I was wondering what each individual part meant.

    Xièxie

  17. Hi, I’m a little disappointed because the front page said that these lessons were taught in Taiwanese mandarin, and the dialect I’m hearing sounds like Beijinghua. I’m looking to learn mandarin with a Taiwanese accent so I thought this website was the miracle I was looking for :/

  18. Luise (admin)

    Hi Christine,

    Yes, stroke order is crucial! We show the animated stroke order on the web site in the New Characters section of each lesson. The idea is to refer to that initially, then try practicing on your own using the PDF.

    If you follow this approach for every lesson you should find yourself not having to refer to the stroke order animations in later lessons, as you’ll slowly figure out the rules on your own. So we’d rather put them separate from the PDFs, so you only have to refer to them if necessary.

    Keep sending us such feedback though, as it’s very useful to us!

  19. Christine

    I was just reading the character worksheet (all characters) and notices you had put 家and 加 what is the difference between the two….when would you use each of them? Is one of them specifically for da jia hao? and the other only used in a ‘family’ context? Thanks.

  20. violetcloutman

    This isn’t Chinese-related, but I thought I should point it out anyway… England & Britain aren’t interchangeable, England is the country of England; Britain is the countries of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. ‘Great Britain’ and ‘United Kingdom’ ARE interchangeable, however. Sorry to be a pedant!

  21. fearcharm@fastmail.fm

    Actually, even violetcloutman’s definition leaves something to be desired. (Great) Britain strictly does not include any part of Ireland, and so it only covers Scotland, England and Wales. The official title of the UK is “The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland”. Of course, just to confuse things, many people from Northern Ireland like to refer to themselves as “British”.

  22. MaximeGosso

    大家好!I am an Italian living in The Netherlands and learning Chinese! 😉 I have a question: what if we’d translate “The Low Lands” in Chinese instead of transliterating the WRONG “Holland” (two tiny but rich Provinces in NL)? Would it sound something like 低国?

    • Adam (Admin)

      Black = individual characters
      Purple = individual characters that also function as words on their own
      Green = multi character words from current lesson
      Red = supplementary vocabulary that wasn’t taught in the lesson

      In general, you should focus on the purple and green ones. Study the black and red for a deeper understanding

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