Introduction to Mandarin Chinese

By Dan Hensley

From the time I was young, I have loved the Chinese people and their culture. India and China were the first countries in the world I was exposed to through social studies in grade school. As part of our lessons on China, we studied basic Chinese culture & Chinese language characters. It's not just a language, but an art as well.

The Chinese language is made up of several dialects; Mandarin is just one of them. Learning Mandarin Chinese starts with knowing that there are four tones. The four tones are the most important factor of pronunciation in this language because if you say "There is a nice movie playing tonight" and use the wrong tones even with the right words, the words take on a whole different meaning and you can end up saying something else by accident.

It has taken this author a while to know these four tones, and I'm still learning as time allows. When I first became ready to pursue my love of the Chinese language and Chinese culture, I went on Google and used the search terms "Chinese Music", "Chinese Pop", "Chinese Pop Rock", "Chinese Food", "Chinese Language", and "Mandarin Chinese Learning".

One of the first sites that came up in the Google listings was a Youtube Channel by someone called Yumiilove, AKA: "YY Sophie" and "Sophie Kuo".
Sophie turned out to be a talented instructor who is well rounded in what she does, and also one of the best there is. Sophie Kuo graduated from Washington State University, and represents the top of expectations a person can find in someone to be an ambassador to China to American citizens.

Sophie Kuo's Mandarin Chinese Youtube instructional videos are of excellent quality and the audio level is just right on each video. Sophie took time out of her own life schedule to share with the world, a basic instruction of Mandarin Chinese right from her own home.

If you are ready to learn Mandarin Chinese basics, follow me on an exciting virtual trip to Mandarin Chinese Language class, or "Mandarin Chinese 101"!

Mandarin Chinese Lesson 1 - The Four Tones
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bh2Gt4HzAw8

Mandarin Chinese Lesson 2 - Mandarin Chinese Numbers 1 to 10
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GD77sfgCRJI

Mandarin Chinese Lesson 3 - Simple Self Introduction
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmXf8HEcMrQ

Mandarin Chinese Lesson 4 - Day of The Week
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EaEmmc97nA

Mandarin Chinese Lesson 5 - Seasons
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9j4U7zTPYFk

Mandarin Chinese Lesson 6 - Time of The Day
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5a9cDLRwEG0

Mandarin Chinese Lesson 7 - Money
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAPwZCsa3t4

Mandarin Chinese Lesson 8 - Body Parts 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bcr-sLuK2Us

Mandarin Chinese Lesson 9 - Chinese New Year
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GI2NrJzFnDI

Mandarin Chinese Lesson 10 - Self Introduction 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjJKNxoLaW0

Yet another good Youtube channel I ran across is called ChineseTutoring
Here is a video by them called "Learn Chinese Mandarin: Food Menu and Characters Lesson" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jjgxUxxAmQ

How Much Is It? Counting Money
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCGDuyUp9do

Bargaining:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRzARrixa5Y&feature=player_profilepage

Colors:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-AWTW0Ml6z8

One more excellent Chinese learning guide with 203 Chinese language lessons is found at China Radio International's "Chinese Studio" at:

http://english.cri.cn/08chinese/

and at

http://english.cri.cn/7106/more/7115/more7115.htm

Thank you for allowing me to introduce you to the world of learning Chinese Mandarin and to the world of Chinese culture. For Language Love, this has been Dan Hensley. If you have enjoyed this, or any other piece, please let the Administrator of Language Love know how much you appreciate it and always know that the readers of Language Love are the reason for it's presence.

I really appreciate it that Dan Hensley took the time to introduce us to Mandarin Chinese, a wonderful and fascinating language. I will link to this post from the resources section as well because of the great links he provided me with. If you enjoyed his post, I am sure he would appreciate a visit to his blog on radio, Shortwave America.

Thank you, Dan!