Mandarin is the main language of government, the media and education in China and Taiwan, and one of the four official languages in Singapore. There are also significant communities of Mandarin speakers in Malaysia, Indonesia, Russia, the USA, Mongolia, Vietnam, Brunei, South Africa, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Hong Kong, the UK and Mauritius.
Mandarin is spoken by about 870 million people as a first language. An additional 180 million or so people speak Mandarin as a second language. The total number of speakers is over 1 billion.
Mandarin is known as the 'common language' in China, 'national language' in Taiwan, and as the 'Chinese language' in Singapore and Malaysia.
Written Chinese is based on spoken Mandarin, although the written language tends to be more concise than the spoken language. Speakers of other varieties of Chinese have to learn the grammar and vocabulary of Mandarin in order to read and write Chinese.
Pronunciation
Most letters will be pronounced as in English with the exception of a few:
a: as in 'father'
ai: as in 'high'
ao: as in the 'ow' in 'cow'
e: as in the 'u' in 'fur'
ei: as in the 'ei' in 'weigh'
i: as in the 'ee' in 'meet' or like 'oo' in 'book' if after c, ch, r, s, sh, z, or zh.
ian: as in 'yen'
ie: like the word 'yeah'
o: as in 'or'
ou: as the 'oa' in 'boat'
u: as in 'flute'
ui: as in the word 'way'
uo: like a 'w' followed by a 'o'
yu: as in the German 'ü'
ü: as above
c: like the 'ts' in 'bits'
ch: as in 'chop'
h: as in 'hay'
q: like the 'ch' in 'cheese'
r: like the 's' in 'pleasure'
sh: as in 'ship'
x: as in the 'sh' in 'ship'
z: like the 'dz' in thuds'
zh: like to 'j' in judge
Basics
Hello: Ni hao
Good bye: zaijian
Thank you: Xiexie
You're welcome: Bukeqi
I'm sorry: Duibuqi
What's your name?: Nin guixing?
Where are you from? Ni shi cong nar laide?
No (don't have): Mei you
No (not so): Bushi
I don't understand: Wo fingbudong
Do you understand?: Dong ma?
Accommodation
Hotel: luguan
Single room: danrenfang
Double room: shuangrenfang
Can I see the room?: Wo neng kankan fangjian ma?
Directions
Where is the...?: ...zai nail?
Post office: youju
Telephone: dian hua
Airport: feijichang
Turn left: zuo zhuan
Turn right: you zhuan
Straight ahead: Yizhi zou
Time
What time is it?: Ji dian?
Now: xianzai
Today: jintian
Tomorrow: mingtian
Yesterday: zuotian
Numbers
1: yi, yao
2: er, liang
3: san
4: si
5: wu
6: liu
7: qi
8: ba
9: jiu
10: shi
To learn Mandarin why not consider some Foreign Language Tution?
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