First Mandarin Chinese Lesson

Learning new languages is amazing. It brings with it not only the language itself, but the whole culture of the people who speak it. So learning a new language, getting to know a new culture, exploring and growing is a wonderful opportunity.

I was very happy to have our first Mandarin Chinese lesson at work yesterday, to help us understand better the culture of our clients, of the country, and to help us provide better service.

This post is a copy and expansion of my notes from the lesson:

We first explored what comes to mind when we think of China and here is what we came up with:

- Busy
Máng 忙

- History
Lìshǐ 历史

- Hong Kong
Xiānggǎng 香港

- Culture
Wénhuà 文化

- Pollution
Wūrǎn 污染

Then we learnt to introduce ourselves and some basic words:

I am [Shalveena]
Wǒ Shì [Shalveena] 
我是

I am also [Shalveena]
Wǒ yěshì  [Shalveena] 
我也是

Indian
Yìn duó rén
印度人

Lawyer
Lǜshī 
律师

I am Shalveena. How about you?
Wǒ yěshì  Shalveena. Ni ne

Please
Qǐng 
请

Please stand up
Qǐng qǐlái
请起来

Please sit down
Qǐng zuò
请坐

Nice to meet you
Qǐng duō guānzhào
请多关照

Please guess
Qing cai
What is this
Zhè shì shénme
这是什么

Everyone
Dàjiā
大家

Lastly, we learnt some words that sounded similar to their English version:

Salad
Shālā 
沙拉

Chocolate
Qiǎokèlì
巧克力

Coca cola
Kěkǒukělè
可口可乐

Coffee
Kāfēi
咖啡

Our assignment for next time is to find 2 other words that sound similar in English and Chinese!