Ok boys and girls, it's that time again. Hopefully everyone practiced their hellos and goodbyes last week. We should call this one Mandarin Monday Manners since that is the focus this week. Just a few words to help us be polite American visitors.
I have listed the English, Pinyin and then a pronunciation HINT in parentheses. Remember it is just a HINT since the tones are very important. I have a link below to hear two of the three this week.
Words For The Week:
Please - Qing (Ching)
Thank You - Xie Xie (Sh-eh Sh-eh)
You are welcome - Bu ke qi (boo kua che)
Click here to hear the pronunciation for "Thank You" and "You are Welcome" - look for number two on the page. I didn't have a chance to find an example of Qing but according to my CD's that I have been listening to, I think you will be ok if you pronounce it "Ching" (without any American accent of course). I'm using a different site than I used last week for the pronunciation since I am trying to find free sites for the examples.
Extra credit:
1. Notice the X is pronounced "sh" as in sheep.
2. Notice the Q is pronounced "ch" as in chore.
Yes, there are exceptions but we have to start somewhere.
It is helpful to learn these pronunciations because if you take a Chinese phrasebook with Pinyin representation with you to China, it isn't going to help much unless you know how to pronounce the sounds.
Remember to use these words at least once each day. Also, don't forget last weeks words. You know what will happen if you don't use them. As my Mom so nicely pointed out last week, I don't remember "jack" from high school/college French. How much do you remember from high-school language classes? Exactly.
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