


中文 Mandarin Speakers…..?

1. Translate: I went home very late yesterday. When I came home my parents were watching T.V.

2. Translate: Every night I watch T.V. for an hour and a half.

3. How do you say "learned"?… character and pronunciation please.

Real Mandarin speakers only, no online translators.


Mandarin of Beijing vs. Mandarin of Taipei?

So today we’re basically comparing the Mandarin Chinese language as spoken (and written) in mainland China vs. Taiwan.

I understand mainland China uses simplified characters while Taiwan uses traditional characters.

Native Mandarin speakers, please consider the following aspects:
– grammar
– pronunciation/accent
– spelling rules (besides the simplified vs. traditional characters)
– vocabulary
– expressions (e.g. slang, etc.)
– usage

On a scale of 0 to 100 (0 being totally different languages like Swedish vs. Vietnamese, 100 being exactly identical), how close is the Mandarin language of mainland China to that of Taiwan?

Thank you.

Could someone help me translate this Mulan story that is written in Mandarin, to english? It has the pingying, and the characters just so you know. It’s not that long. It’s just a brief summary, i’m sure most of you fluent mandarin speakers can skim over easily. I have difficulties in Mandarin, even though i’m chinese.. languages.. are not my best subjects.

Please translate it clearly.. thank you in advance!!

Story :

How to count 1 to 10 in Mandarin?

Please write in pinyin, and since there’s tones, please write it too. Thanks.

Just wondering, to Mandarin speakers, how can you differentiate the tones? I really want to learn Mandarin cause I watch alot of Taiwanese shows (in Mandarin), but only through subs or translations can I understand what they’re saying.

I only know i love you, or thank you…but the tones really trouble me. I plan on taking some classes, but it’s hard to decipher the language.

Learning Mandarin in Malaysia or Singapore?

Among the Chinese communities of Malaysia and Singapore, in which country would I find more Mandarin speakers in general that speak fluent and proper Mandarin? Thanks.

Should I Learn Mandarin or German?

My college major deals with science, and I want a language that I could use with international colleagues in the future.

While Mandarin has numerous speakers worldwide, Germany has always excelled in the sciences. But I hear Germans speak excellent English so is there really a point?

Any suggestions?
I am already a master at speaking and understanding English. I am looking into learning a foreign language.
I am majoring in physics.

Can I learn basic mandarin after basic Cantonese?

Hi! I’m a native English speaker, and I only speak English and some French (since I’m in Canada). I have started to use Pimsleurs Cantonese learning software because i want to learn Cantonese. Perhaps when I complete it (12/30 lessons done) I will take classes to improve my learning. I know people who speak Cantonese (however I’m not Chinese so my family doesn’t) so I’d like to learn it. However I’d also like to learn mandarin since it’s the official language of china, and has 800 million (about?) speakers worldwide. Would I confuse my Cantonese if after this pimsleurs, I did the 100 lesson mandarin one? Also could I continue to learn Cantonese at the same time I do the mandarin lessons? I’m not to worried about the writing system, tho learning mandarin for pinyan would be very useful, Id much rather learn for the speaking aspect. Thanks for your help!!!!

Best way to go about learning Chinese Mandarin?

I have decided to start learning Mandarin. Where I live currently there are no mandarin speakers. Should i try to look for a teacher or should I try to learn the language using audio tapes and DVD’s?

I’m leaning towards the audio tapes because then I can learn in my own time/on my own schedule but I think it will be a lot harder and perhaps take a lot longer. What do you think?

Thanking you 🙂

Simple Mandarin movies, to learn Mandarin?

I am learning Mandarin, and I am almost finished with my Book-CD set:


I would like to watch a Mandarin movie that will allow me to learn more Mandarin from the dialog. I want to select a Mandarin movie with a very SIMPLE dialog that is easy to understand.
Do you think the the movie "Together" (link below) is simple enough? I looks like a simple and beautiful movie:


What simple movies (preferably for Chinese children) do you recomend for an American to learn Mandarin?

I included the first link to give you an idea of how much Mandarin I already know.

**Mandarin speakers, it has always been a joy to hear from you, thank you for sharing your heritage with me.

Is this fair to non-mandarin speakers? Which singapore office operates fully on Mandarin? Or is this an indirect way to weed out non-chinese applicants? Please explain.

Simple Mandarin translation please?

I am on my school’s ping pong team. I play the funny caucasian person who can’t communicate with anyone else very efficiently. We are taking a trip to St. Louis this weekend for a tournament and I think it would be fun for me to say something in Mandarin to the people I’m driving before we leave.

I am a linguistics student, so you can use IPA contour markers or some sort of superscript to denote tone. Whatever it be, I’ll be able to understand it (unless your handwriting sucks).

I’d like to say:

Let’s go!

To St. Louis! (idiomatic equivalent)

Buckle up! (as in seat belts)

and one last one that I think I could use to make things funny.

"Of course" (like "yes, obviously")

Thanks people for your help. I’d look this stuff up myself, but it might be better for me to finish my homework and let you Mandarin speakers provide me with correct translations.

I appreciate your help

Why to learn mandarin?


Please translate to Simplified Chinese (Mandarin)?

No Google translations please. Only Native Mandarin speakers. Thanks.

1. What do you study apart from Australian History?
2. Do you want to go to USA in the future?
3. In the future, do you want to work in Australia as a foreign diplomat or work in China as a teacher?
4. How many countries have you been to apart from China and Australia?
5. Could you talk about the future situation regarding studying English in Australia?

In Pinyin theory, the consanont "J" should represent the "dy" sound, but when I listen to CDs it sound so me like they are just pronouncing the consanant "J" as "J" as in English ("Just", "Jump" for example).

I know Mandarin speakers use Hanzi instead of characters, so I use Zhongwen Zi below as examples:

When you pronounce (就 = Jiu4) do you say the "dy" sound or the English "J" used in "Jump", "Just"

How does the pronounciation of (Ji1 = 乩) compare to (汁 = Zhi1)….Do you say the "乩" with a "dy" sound or an English "J" sound.

I think the best thing for me to do is to make a Mandarin friend, and hear him/her speak, but I have no Mandarin people in my surroundings or in my neighberhood ect. thus I ask this question on Y/A

Thank you for sharing your culture and your knowlege with me.
I appreciate your kindness.

How long to speak Mandarin?

I am going to be taking intro classes and studying very hard!

I live in an area where there are lots of Mandarin speakers to practice on.

About how long till I can practice speaking with them? I mean simple small talk like about school and what or where I am going.



I can practice one hour a day.

I have mastered pinyin (writing, and pronunciation) and am starting on grammar.

How long will it take me?

ALSO: I learn "somewhat" fast…


Also, I’m 14… If that helps at all…
& I’m on a tight budget, so I HAVE to teach myself. To listen to other mandarin speakers, I go on YouTube.

How do I talk to native technical support?

My friend recently bought a computer directly from HP due to it being the lowest price, and since he doesn’t speak much English he left the talking to me… Nothing against the people of India, but I would be stoked to talk to a native person (American, but even Hispanic so I can use high school espanol to clarify or China/Taiwan since I speak fluent Mandarin)!

First, his speakers won’t turn on, it was sent without an AC adapter; simple enough problem, right? After 6 tries of asking them to ship it, they seemingly didn’t get it and I haven’t seen it… It was the worst call I ever made. Then not wanting to go through the hell again, I used their chat and they tell me it’s discontinued. Then, he finds out they denied his rebate when he definitely sent it out on time… They REFUSE to acknowledge that something is wrong!
Actually I just discovered a loophole… Since you can speak to a Spanish representative (which I found out that branch is in Minnesota, good ol’ US of A), some also Speak English (after asking with my high school level Spanish)… Problem solved!

However, does anybody have a better idea? Please share!
Actually the power adapter isn’t the issue; now it is the 0 rebate.

Strange Mandarin translation, please help?

I need help with how the words of this Mandarin translation work to produce the English translation, please help.

Let me give you the context:
In a dialogue between two people, one of them says "You should NOT go to the game", while the other, being a sports fan insisting that the game is important replies in the following sentence:

I am sorry for not being able to write with tone marks (I write with numbers instead of tone marks):

“Jin(1)tian(1) shi(4) zui(4)hou(4) yi(4) chang(3) guan(4) ya(3) jun(1) jue(2)sai(4).”

I do not understand the words in between (but not including) "shi(4)" and "jue(2)sai(4)" contribute to the English translation:

"Today is the finals–the championchip competition"…for this English translation, the pinyin should be:

"Jin(1)tian(1) shi(4) jun(1) jue(2)sai(4).", correct??… you see, deleted the middle words, because I don’t understand how they contribute to the English translation…

Therefore, HOW do the middle words in sentence A contribute
to the English sentence B?

To all Mandarin speakers, thank you for sharing your treasure with me,

Do firms want Mandarin speakers? Will they need Mandarin speakers 3 – 5 years from now? Will I benefit from learning Mandarin? I already know English and Hindi.