Travelers who can speak a few words in the language of the country they’re visiting in will find it a little easier to cope with the language barrier. The Chinese are more apt to help a foreign traveler who attempts to speak their language than one who insists only on speaking English. Good words to learn in any language are please, thank you, hello, goodbye and so on. The chart below gives these words with phonetic translations; the translations aren't 100 percent, but close enough so that the Chinese will understand a traveler who uses them.
Thanks to Beijing hosting the 2008 Summer Olympics, more Chinese than ever speak English, but travelers cannot always count on finding a person who speaks English, especially if an emergency occurs.
Foreigners Who Try to Speak Chinese Have an Advantage
Even if words are mispronounced, the mere fact that a traveler attempted them is sure to score points with the Chinese. Mandarin, the official language of China, is difficult to learn because it is tonal. A word in pinyin, which is Romanized characters, can have four different meanings depending on which tone is used.
Learning Chinese Online
There are many online Chinese courses out there. Many are totally free while others offer only a few free lessons as teasers to buy the expensive Chinese language courses. Most travelers can pick up enough conversational Chinese in the free portions to get them by in China. When choosing an online course in Chinese it’s important to pick one that has audio, preferably mp3 capability. Travelers need to hear the word spoken, then repeat it themselves until it’s pronounced correctly.
Most online Chinese courses teach Putonghua, which is the Beijing dialect of the Mandarin language. Hundreds of dialects of Mandarin are spoken throughout China, and Cantonese is spoken in the Guangzhou and Hong Kong areas.
Reviews of Online Chinese Courses
Here are brief reviews of some online Mandarin courses:
- Chinese 101 provides a good explanation of tones. It is very important to get off to a good start with tones and pronunciations. It teaches good basic words, giving them in characters, pinyin and English.
- Chinese for Travel is a more advanced site that would be useful for travelers who have learned some conversational Chinese. It uses complete sentences and phrases in a scenario, then breaks the exercise down into more doable phrases and sentences.
- Chinese Tools has 40 online lessons with audio. A traveler who completes these lessons should do well in China.
- My Language Exchange is a website that matches an English-speaking person wanting to learn Mandarin with a native Mandarin speaker who wants to learn English. The idea is that each teaches the other. A person should have advanced basic Mandarin skills before trying this.
Travelers can start with the basic phrases of one course, then move on to a more advanced online Chinese course as their Mandarin language skills increase.
Cheryl Probst - Cheryl Probst is an award-winning photojournalist who specializes in writing about motorcycles, China and the Pacific Northwest.
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