Beginner Mandarin Chinese: Your First 180 Words & Phrases

This course designed for absolute beginners, offering a comprehensive introduction to Basic Mandarin Communication, structured across several practical sections. It is designed to equip you with the essential language skills needed for everyday interactions.

During our course, you will learn:

The course content covers a wide range of foundational topics, starting with Basic Greetings and Questions. You will learn fundamental greetings like nǐ hǎo！(Hello) and expressions for politeness such as xiè xie (thank you) and bú xiè (you're welcome). Important phrases for asking and responding to questions, including shì bu shì? (Is it?), yǒu méi yǒu? (Do you have?), néng bu néng? (Can you?), and yào bu yào? (Do you want?) are also covered. You'll also practice time-related greetings like zǎo shang hǎo (Good morning) and learn to ask and give names.

Moving beyond greetings, the course delves into Numbers, Dates, and Daily Activities. This includes learning to ask for and state prices, such as duō shǎo qián? (How much?) and shí kuài qián (ten yuan). You'll acquire basic verbs necessary for describing daily actions like chī fàn (eat), hē shuǐ (drink water), and kàn shū (read). Learning to talk about dates and months, from yī yuè (January) to shí èr yuè (December), and specific days of the month like wǔ yuè liù hào (May 6th) is a key part of this section. You'll also learn about weekdays, including xīng qī jǐ？(What day of the week?) and specific days like xīng qī yī (Monday).

Identifying things and basic actions are addressed in the Identifying Things and Basic Actions section. You'll learn to ask zhè  shì shén me ? (What is this?) and identify items like tea or beer. Practical actions like buying fruit (mǎi shuí guǒ ) and ordering or eating Chinese food  (chī běi jīng cài, diǎn cài ) are introduced.

The course includes dedicated sections on practical topics like Asking About and Telling Time and Transportation and Getting Around. You will learn how to ask shén me shí hou ? (When?) and talk about specific times like zǎo shang liù diǎn  (AM). The transportation section covers verbs like qù shàng hǎi (go to Shanghai), qù fēi jī chǎng (go to the airport), and modes of transport such as zuò fēi jī (take a plane) or zuò dì tiě (take the subway). You'll even learn phrases useful when taking a taxi, like dào le (We've arrived) or màn yì dián er (Slow down a bit).

Later sections cover Family, Friends, and People, introducing terms like qián xiáo jiě (Miss Qian), gāo xiān sheng (Mr. Gao), wǒ ài nǐ! (I love you), and wǒ bà ba (my father). The Shopping, Ordering and Preferences section builds on earlier skills, focusing on ordering food  (diǎn cài ), buying things  (mǎi dōng xi ), and expressing willingness or desires like xiǎng huí jiā (want to go home). You'll also learn to talk about Weather and Preferences, asking rè bu rè ? (Is it hot?) or expressing whether you like something  (xǐ huan ma ?).

Key practical skills covered also include discussing Possession and Location (e.g., shuí de dōng xi - whose thing, zài zhè ér - here), making Friendly Comments and Compliments (e.g., hěn piào liang - very beautiful, hěn hǎo tīng - very pleasant to listen to), and identifying important Practical Nouns: Places and People such as yī yuàn (hospital), pài chū suǒ (police station), lǎo shī (teacher), and xué shēng (student).

After taking this course you will be able to:

1. Engage in basic greetings and polite exchanges.

2. Ask and answer fundamental questions in various contexts.

3. Introduce yourself and ask others' names.

4. Understand and use numbers for counting, price, time, and quantity.

5. Discuss dates, months, and weekdays.

6. Describe basic daily actions using common verbs.

7. Identify common objects and describe what they are.

8. Ask for and tell the time.

9. Navigate simple travel scenarios, including asking for directions and using various transportation methods, even interacting with taxi drivers.

10. Talk about your family, friends, and other people.

11. Handle situations involving shopping and ordering food.

12. Express your desires or intentions.

13. Talk about the weather and express your likes and dislikes.

14. Discuss who owns something and where things are located.

15. Make simple positive comments and compliments.

16. Identify key places and people in practical situations.