1. Mandarin Chinese 中文 Mandarin Facts
1. Most spoken language around the world.
Spoken in China, Taiwan, Singapore, and Malaysia.
No alphabet
4. Traditional and simplified characters.
5. Over 100,000 characters
6. Pinyin-system to write Chinese with the Roman alphabet
There are 4 tones
Easy grammar: no conjugation of verbs, no singular or plural, articles, no gender specific nouns.

2. Zhongwen, Zhongguohua, Putonghua, Guoyu, Hanyu
Why learn Chinese?
Left side and right side of the brain.
2. Chinese characters increase IQ.
China’s economic rise
Learn about the culture

3. Chinese Basics Pinyin Initials Romanization C=ts Q=ch X=sh Zh=j
Other sounds can be be pronounced as they are written.

4. Chinese Basics Pinyin Finals Romanization Ai = long i EI = long a
Ui = way
Ao = ow
Ou = long o

5. Practice sounds and tones
The 4 Tones
Using “ma”
Practice sounds and tones

6. Chinese? Dialects Mandarin There are many dialects spoken in China.
Each province and even regions within provinces have their own local language.
Tulsa to NYC vs. Beijing to Hong Kong

7. How do the Chinese communicate?
Chinese characters!
Also, most Chinese have learned to speak Mandarin since it is the official language of China.

8. Oracle Bones People in China began writing around 1,500 BC.
Animal bones-shoulder of an ox and turtle shell
Priests could tell the future.
Strips of bamboo
Silk cloth
Paper-100 BC

9. Hanzi 汉字 Characters Radicals Chinese symbols Pictograms
Traditional or Simplified
Over 50,000 characters
3,000-5,000 to read a newspaper
Radicals

10. How would you look up a Chinese character?
Hanzi 汉字
How would you look up a Chinese character?
Radicals
Number of strokes and the radical.
A radical is a classifier
214 or 187

11. “One state, one people, one language.”
Why simplify?
“One state, one people, one language.”
Educational Reformer
Chairman Mao implemented this change after the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949.
Language and literacy reforms in China opened peasants and workers to a better more sustainable life.
80% could not read before

12. Traditional vs. Simplified
There is a debate over which characters should be used.
Traditional characters are learned in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore.
Which do you prefer?

13. Characters

14. Simple Characters

15. All strokes
Yong3
Forever

16. Biang2(Biao1biao1) noodles 58 strokes
Complex characters
Zhe2-Talkative
64 strokes
Biang2(Biao1biao1) noodles 58 strokes

17. Chinese Basics Common Chinese Surnames
The Book of Hundred Family Surnames (百家姓)
Common Chinese Surnames
Last name first Over 10,000 surnames 85% of the population has the top 100 surnames. I can’t marry you! 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

18. References http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/tps/1000bce.htm#language
uage.htm
“How Hand Writing Trains the Brain,”    Wall Street Journal  October 2010
honghua Xinshi Dachi dian 《中华姓氏大辞典》 (Great Dictionary of Chinese Surnames) by Yuan Yida (ISBN )