Austin Chinese Language Learners

In this online activity series for novice learners, we'll present some basic words/phrases, explain/discuss how to pronounce them, and take turns repeating them aloud.

During the meeting, please
[1] be in a distraction-free, quiet environment;
[2] use headphones/headset to minimize audio feedback;
[3] pay close attention to melody, rhythm, and sounds.

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my favorite resources
Immersive Chinese incremental lessons (first 20 lessons free; $15 gets you lifetime access to all 160)

What about apps? If your main goal is to be able to understand and speak some Mandarin, I would suggest the following three that focus on listening. The first two are available free of charge through many local public libraries!

Mango Languages is basically audio examples/flashcards, interspersed with text and audio explanatory notes. You may record yourself and play back both your sample and the native speaker's.

Pimsleur puts the focus on speaking. Compared with other programs, they give more detailed descriptions/explanations of pronunciation.

SuperChinese is essentially a combination of audio flashcards, with some multiple-choice and matching exercises for feedback. If you record yourself, it will give you a pronunciation score. It's the only app I've seen that has some parts only in audio and some questions that actually test comprehension.
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pronunciation tips
Běijīng: It really is "jing", not "zhing".
Zhōngguó: more like "joong-gwo", -not- "zhoong-gwaw", -not- "choong-gwaw".
"Wo" should not sound like "whoa"?! 😂

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review
Zhè shì shénme? "What is this?"
Zhè shì shuǐ. "This is water."
Nà shì shénme? "What is that?"
Nà shì mǐfàn. "That is rice."

Wǒ yǒu shǒujī. "I have (a) cell phone."
Wǒ méiyǒu chē. "I don't have (a) car/vehicle."
Yǒu méiyǒu xiāngjiāo? "Are there bananas?"; "Do you have bananas?"

Tā shì shéi? "Who is s/he?"
Tā shì wǒ māmā; bàba; gēgē; dìdì; jiějiě; mèimei.
"S/he is my mom; dad; big brother; little brother; big sister; little sister;"
Tā shì wǒ de péngyǒu. "S/he is my friend."
Nà shì wǒ de péngyǒu de chē. "That is my friend's car."

Xiànzài jǐ diǎn [zhōng]? What time is it (now)?
yī diǎn [zhōng] one o'clock
sān diǎn [zhōng] three o'clock

chī to eat
píngshí normally; ordinarily; usually
Nǐ [píngshí] jǐ diǎn chī zǎocān? What time do you [normally] eat breakfast?
Wǒ zǎoshang bā diǎn chī zǎocān. I eat breakfast at 8 in the morning.
Nǐ [píngshí] jǐ diǎn chī wǎncān? What time do you [normally] eat dinner?
Wǒ wǎnshang qī diǎn chī wǎncān. I eat dinner at 7 in the evening.

jǐ gè a few; several; how many?
jǐ wèi "Table for...?"; How many (are in your group)?
Duōshǎo qián? How much money (does it cost)?
Nǐ jiā yǒu jǐ kǒu rén? How many people are in your family?

hěn [default modifier for predicate adjectives] quite; [UK] rather
Wǒ de péngyǒu hěn gāo; kāixīn; piàoliang; shuài. My friend is quite tall; happy; beautiful; handsome/cool.

Nǐ hǎo ma? How are you?
[Nǐ] zěnmeyàng? How's it going [for you]?

[Wǒ] hěn hǎo [I am] quite well.
[Wǒ] hěn bùcuò [I'm] not bad at all.

Xièxie! Thanks!

zhīdào to know
[Wǒ] bù zhīdào. [I] don't know.
Ó, wǒ zhīdàole! Oh, I get it! (I know *now*!)

zài to be located at/in/on
Nǐ zài nǎlǐ? Where are you?
Wǒ jiù zài zhèlǐ! I'm (right) here!

zài jiā at home
zài bàngōngshì at the office
zài gōngyuán at/in a/the park

zài... [ne] to be in the process of
Wǒ zài chī wǎncān [ne]. I'm [right in the middle of] eating dinner.
zài kàn diànyǐng; zài tīng yīnyuè; zài xué Zhōngwén; zài zuòfàn watching movies; listening to music; learning/studying Chinese; cooking [a meal]

zuò to do; to make
Nǐ zuò shénme? What do you do?
Nǐ zài zuò shénme ne? What are you doing?

Jīntiān shì jǐ yuè jǐ hào? What is today's *date*? (lit. "Today is which month, which number?")
Jīntiān shì shí-èr yuè sānshíyī hào. Today is December 31st.

Jīntiān shì xīngqí jǐ? What day [of the week] is it [today]?
Jīntiān shì xīngqísān. Today is Wednesday.
Jīntiān shì xīngqítiān. Today is Sunday.

cóng Běijīng dào Shànghǎi from Beijing to Shanghai
Nǐ cóng nǎlǐ lái? Where did you come from?

hǎochī delicious
hǎokàn good-looking
hǎowán enjoyable; fun

yòng to use; using
hǎoyòng easy to use; user-friendly
yǒuyòng useful ("to have use")

zěnme shuō? How (does one) say (it)?

yòng Zhōngwén zěnme shuō? How (does one) say (it) in Chinese?
yòng kuàizǐ chīfàn to eat using chopsticks
yòng bǐ xiězì to write [Chinese characters] using a pen

xǐhuān to like
Wǒ xǐhuān ___. "I like ___."
Nǐ xǐhuān ___ ma? "Do you like ___?"

zuì the most; "-est"
zuì xǐhuān de favorite

yùndòng exercise; movement; sport
Nǐ zuì xǐhuān de yùndòng shì shénme? "What is your favorite exercise/sport?"
Wǒ zuì xǐhuān de yùndòng shì ___. "My favorite exercise/sport is ___."

pǎobù to run
yóuyǒng to swim
dǎ lánqiú to play basketball
dǎ wǎngqiú to play tennis
tī zúqiú to play soccer
dǎ páiqiú to play volleyball

yánsè color
Nǐ zuì xǐhuān de yánsè shì shénme? "What is your favorite color?"
Wǒ zuì xǐhuān de yánsè shì ___. "My favorite color is ___."

hēisè black
hóngsè red
huángsè yellow
báisè white
lánsè blue
jīnsè gold
lǜsè green
zǐsè purple

new
hǎo ma? Okay?
hǎo a! Okay! (Let's do that!)

shì ma? Is that so?
shì a! Yes! That's right!

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Wonder what we mean by "novice", "beginner", "pre-intermediate", or "intermediate-ish"?

Listen to and/or watch the following audio clips at each level. If you can recognize most (more than 5 out of 6) of the words and comprehend the rough meaning of most of the sentences in a sample, have a listen to clips at the next level. When you reach a level where nearly half of what's being said is not comprehensible to you, the previous level is probably the one at which you can learn most effectively.😉

novice (HSK 0 to 1) classroom numbers colors
beginner (HSK 1 to 2) dialogues [Taiwan accent] video

advanced beginner (HSK 3) story A B C
pre-intermediate (HSK 3 to 4) story D E [Taiwan accent] F [Taiwan accent] G tips [SW 贵州 accent] H

low intermediate (HSK 4) story tips J K
high intermediate (HSK 5) story [Beijing accent] series tips 中美饮食 [southern accent] demo

advanced (HSK 6+) series

native-like humor
expert/professional/technical

tiny HSK vocabulary test

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Participants should recognize and understand over 800 words and be familiar with a variety of verb complements (不得了，到，好，起來，完). An ideal participant should be able to understand the use of 比 in comparisons, 把 in "disposal" constructions, and 被 to express passive voice. We will emphasize fairly standard Putonghua pronunciation but also work towards comprehending regional accents.

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During the meeting, please
[1] be in a distraction-free, quiet environment;
[2] use headphones to minimize audio feedback;
[3] pay close attention to melody, rhythm, and sounds.

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my favorite resources
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9:00 听力 listening / "comprehensible input" warm-up
大鹏说中文 Speak Chinese with Da Peng
Chinese Talk Ep. 30 牛仔节

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9:15 发音 pronunciation/accent warm-up
紫 (zǐ; ㄗˇ) "purple"
指 (zhǐ; ㄓˇ) "finger"
词/詞 (cí; ㄘˊ) "word"
迟/遲 (chí; ㄔˊ) "late"
四 (sì; ㄙˋ) "four"
是 (shì; ㄕˋ) "to be"

tone pair practice

绕口令 (tongue twisters)

这千字幕只是前年之前值钱。
Zhè qiān zìmù zhǐshì qiánnián zhīqián zhí qián.
These thousand subtitles were valuable only before (until) the year before last.

即使技术解释及时结束继续接收建议。
Jíshǐ jìshù jiěshì jíshí jiéshù jìxù jiēshōu jiànyì.
Even if the technology explanations conclude in time, we'll continue to accept suggestions.

其实，即使七十名骑士及时知道的知识确实只是事实，也没事。
Qíshí, jíshǐ qīshí míng qíshì jíshí zhīdào de zhīshì qíshí quèshí zhǐshì shìshí, yě méishì.
Actually, even if the knowledge that seventy knights knew in time was in fact simply factual, it would be fine.

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9:25 听力 listening / "comprehensible input" and study
瞎扯学中文 Convo Chinese
Ep. 17 加纳利岛上的爱情故事

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10:00 口语词汇 conversational vocabulary
rénshānrénhǎi "people everywhere"
Nǐ xíng, nǐ shàng "Put up or shut up."
xiǎng dé měi "In your dreams!"; "Dream on!"
méimén; méimé'r "No way!"

wàng méi zhǐ kě (lit. “quench thirst by looking at plums") to satisfy one's desire only through one's imagination
Bù pà yīwàn, jiù pà wànyī. "Better (to be) safe than sorry."

slang terms
1-10 11-20

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10:15 "comprehensible input" "cool down" and/or conversation

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Participants should already

understand how pinyin notation expresses the precise pronunciation of Mandarin Chinese, including the "melody";

be familiar with a few hundred words;

be able to ask and answer questions like these:
"Do you like to dance/eat/sing/swim?" "I like to sing." "I don't like to dance."
"Who is she?" "She's my friend."
"What is this?" "This is a book/cup/fruit."
"What time are we going to see a movie?" "Tomorrow, at 7:30 in the evening."
"Where is David?" "He's at home."
"Why do you study Chinese?" "Because I would like to speak Chinese."

and have a general idea of the "golden rule" of basic sentence structure
subject [+ time] [+ location] [+ manner] + verb [+ duration] [+ object]

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my favorite resources
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"lighten up" and "tighten up"
Do you pronounce "wo" like "whoa"? (You should NOT! 😂)

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HSK Level 3 audio translated
第十二课，课文一 (Lesson 12, Text 1)

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supplementary listening

YouTube
张峻豪/Zhāng Jùnháo 随便跳舞/"random dance"
Blabla

podcasts
TeaTime Chinese Why Chinese?

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Use calendar view to see other upcoming events at a glance.