This is a first of a series of short Chinese lessons. Its purpose is to help my Lao friends better understand the language of their northern neighbour, and is suitable for Lao people who already have a good command of English. (Sorry, my Lao language is not good enough yet!) Please note that I am a Singaporean Chinese, so my pronunciation and teaching methods reflect what I have been exposed to in Singapore.
Understanding how to learn Chinese
- Chinese (Mandarin) is a tonal language with 4 tones. Listen here:
In this series, we will use hanyu pinyin to help with the learning here. For simplicity, the tone will be denoted by the corresponding number after the phoneticized spelling of the word. For example:
Bu1:
Bu2:
Bu3:
Bu4:
- Written Chinese is a pictorial language, not a phonetic one. Knowing this will help you to remember the written Chinese words and their meanings better. For example:
(Source: http://www.shenzhenparty.com/chinese-culture/photos/interesting-chinese-characters)
Lesson
Since the thing on our minds now is covid-19, let’s start with 6 relevant phrases:
ຂ້ອຍຮູ້ສຶກບໍ່ສະບາຍ.
我觉得不舒服。 Listen here:
| ChineseHanyu pinyin | 我
wo3 |
觉得
Jue2 de2 |
不
Bu4 |
舒服
Shu1 fu2 |
| English | I | feel | not / no | well / comfortable |
ເຈົ້າຮູ້ສຶກບ່ອນໃດບໍ່ສະບາຍ?
你觉得哪里不舒服？Listen here:
| Chinese
Hanyu pinyin |
你
Ni3 |
觉得
Jue2 de2 |
哪里
Na2 Li3 |
不
Bu4 |
舒服
Shu1 fu2 |
| English | You | Feel | Where | not / no | well / comfortable |
ຂ້ອຍຮູ້ສຶກເຈັບຫົວ, ໄອ ແລະ ປວດຄີງທັງຕົວ.
我觉得头痛，咳嗽 和 浑身酸痛。Listen here:
| Chinese
Hanyu pinyin |
我
Wo3 |
觉得
Jue2 de2 |
头痛
Tou2 tong4 |
咳嗽
Ke2 sou4 |
和
He2 |
浑身
Hun2 shen1 |
酸痛
Suan1 tong4 |
| English | I | Feel | headache | Cough | and | Whole body | In pain (achy) |
- 痛 (tong4) = pain Listen here:
ຂ້ອຍພາເຈົາໄປໂຮງໝໍກວດເບິ່ງ.
我带你到医院去检查一下。Listen here:
| Chinese
Hanyu pinyin |
我
Wo3
|
带
Dai4 |
你
Ni3 |
到
Dao4 |
医院
Yi1 yuan4 |
去
Qu4 |
检查jian3 cha2 | 一下
Yi1 xia4 |
| English | I | Bring / take | you | To | hospital | To go to / for | check | For a little while / for a bit |
ວັດອຸນຫະພູມຮ່າງກາຍເບິ່ງໄຂ້ຮ້ອນຫລືບໍ່.
量一下体温，看看有没有发烧。Listen here：
| Chinese
Hanyu pinyin |
量
Liang2 |
一下
Yi1 xia4 |
体温
Ti3 wen1 |
看看
Kan4 kan4 |
有
You3 (pronounced as “ຢີວ”) |
没有
Mei2 you3 |
发烧
Fa1 shao1 |
| English | Measure | For a little while / for a bit | Body temperature | See | have | Don’t have | Fever |
ລ້າງມືແລ້ວບໍ່?
洗手了吗？Listen here:
| Chinese
Hanyu pinyin |
洗
Xi2 |
手
Shou3 |
了
Le4 |
吗
Ma1 |
| English | Wash | Hands | Already | (normally used at the end of a yes-or-no question) |
Was this useful?
Please give me your feedback. How can this be improved to help you learn better? What do you want to learn?
March 27, 2020 at 6:26 am
Well done! Keep it up.👍
March 28, 2020 at 1:24 pm
Excellent. Thank you!
March 2, 2021 at 5:18 am
Yes this is useful specially for those who are new in chines regions to understand their locals. Great https://gt-credits.com/
October 2, 2022 at 2:15 pm
You could hire a private online Chinese tutor through TUTOROO. They have tutors and speakers of the language who you can hire to help you learn a new language faster and better, both online and in person.
You can use this link to find a tutor that fits your needs and budget: https://www.tutoroo.co/chinese-mandarin-tutor and talk to them directly about the classes.
You can find out more about them on their website. Helpful, right?