Learn Mandarin with Kemauan : Lesson 3  

Posted by Kemauan in


Learn Mandarin with Kemauan : Lesson 3


Ok guys, this is lesson 3 of Learn Mandarin with Kemauan but before you begin, it is better if you review again previously lessons, because it's been long time since the last lesson - sorry about this :)

OK let's begin

duì bu qǐ, qǐng wèn
nǐ huì shuō pǔ tōng huà ma?
wǒ huì yī diǎn er
nǐ shì Měi guó rén ma?
shì, nǐ huì shuō Yīng wén ma ?
bù huì , wǒ bù huì shuō Yīng wén

1. now say, english : .....
2. commond language : .....
3. I can speak : .....
4. tell me that you can speak mandarin : .....
5. a little : .....
6. now tell me you can speak a little mandarin : .....
7. do you remember how to say excuse me, please let me ask : .....
8. now you ask, can you speak ? : .....
9. again ask, can you speak mandarin? : .....
10. answer, no : .....
11. ask again, can you speak english? : .....
12. answer, yes : .....

In mandarin, the answer yes or no is depend on the question, in this case yes means can.

13. now answer, no I can't : .....
14. say I can't speak english : .....
15. say I can speak mandarin : .....
16. how to say I can speak a liitle : .....
17. I can speak a litlle english : .....
18. you are : .....
19. you are american : .....
20. do you remember how to say: excuse me, please let me ask : .....
21. are you american ? .....
22. answer yes : ..... (remember yes is depend on the question)
23. ask again are you american ? : .....
24. answer no, I'm not american : .....
25. I can't speak english : .....
26. I can speak mandarin : .....
27. I can speak a little mandarin : .....

In mandarin, hǎo means well, so to say I don't speak well : wǒ shuō de bù hǎo

hǎo : well
de : possessive

28. can you speak mandarin ? : .....
29. I don't speak well : .....
30. If you want to ask something just say, please let me ask : .....
31. say, I'm not american : .....
32. I can't speak english : .....
33. I don't speak well : .....

If you want to say Hello in chinese you say "nǐ hǎo" the meaning is "you well".
Suppose if you want to say how are you, you say "nǐ hǎo ma ?" (you well ?) - this is only if you want to ask someone about his condition, if not, just say nǐ hǎo, to greetings.

34. say, hello : .....
35. very well thanks : hěn hǎo, xiè xie
36. ask again are you well? : .....
37. very well : .....
38. which part is "very" in mandarin ? : .....
39. how are you ? : .....
40. very well thanks : .....

This is how to say good bye in chinese : zài jiàn (with two falling tone)

41. say hello : .....
42. how are you ? : .....
43. very well thanks : .....
44. goodbye : .....
45. are you american ? : .....
46. no, I'm not american : .....
47. I can't speak mandarin : .....
48. goodbye : .....
49. excuse me, please let me ask, can you speak english ? : .....
50. how do you answer No : .....
51. I can speak a little mandarin : .....
52. I don't speak well : .....
53. goodbye : .....

Now lets imagine that you meet with someone and you do a conversation with him. Answer with positive answers (or yes)

X: nǐ hǎo
You : ..... (you well)

X: nǐ shì Měi guó rén ma?
You : ..... ( yes, I'm american)

X : nǐ huì shuō pǔ tōng huà ma?
You : ..... ( a little, I can speak a little mandarin)
You : ..... (I don't speak well)

X : zài jiàn
You : ..... (good bye)

OK that's the end of lesson 3, if you can answer about 85% of above questions then you are ready for the next lesson, otherwise you need to spend more time to study again, but don't worry you don't need to pay anything, you are always welcome to my blog :)

Thank you very much for learning Mandarin with Kemauan, if you like this article you can spread it to your friends for FREE but the term and condition apply : don't forget to give my blog link :), it's like a GNU license :). See you in the next part :)


the answer:
1. Yīng wén
2. pǔ tōng huà
3. wǒ huì shuō
4. wǒ huì shuō pǔ tōng huà
5. yī diǎn er
6. wǒ huì shuō yī diǎn er pǔ tōng huà
7. duì bu qǐ, qǐng wèn
8. nǐ huì shuō ma ?
9. nǐ huì shuō pǔ tōng huà ma ?
10. bù huì
11. nǐ huì shuō Yīng wén ma ?
12. huì
13. bù huì , wǒ bù huì
14. wǒ bù huì shuō Yīng wén
15. wǒ huì shuō pǔ tōng huà
16. wǒ huì shuō yī diǎn er
17. wǒ huì shuō yī diǎn er Yīng wén
18. nǐ shì
19. nǐ shì Měi guó rén
20. duì bu qǐ, qǐng wèn
21. nǐ shì Měi guó rén ma ?
22. shì
23. nǐ shì Měi guó rén ma ?
24. nǐ shì Měi guó rén
25. bù shì, wǒ bù shì Měi guó rén
26. wǒ bù huì shuō Yīng wén
27. wǒ huì shuō yī diǎn er
28. nǐ huì shuō pǔ tōng huà ma?
29. wǒ shuō de bù hǎo
30. qǐng wèn
31. wǒ bù shì Měi guó rén
32. wǒ bù huì shuō Yīng wén
33. wǒ shuō de bù hǎo
34. nǐ hǎo
35. hěn hǎo, xiè xie
36. nǐ hǎo ma ?
37. hěn hǎo
38. hěn
39. nǐ hǎo ma ?
40. hěn hǎo, xiè xie
41. nǐ hǎo
42. nǐ hǎo ma ?
43. hěn hǎo, xiè xie
44. zài jiàn
45. nǐ shì Měi guó rén ma ?
46. bù shì, wǒ bù shì Měi guó rén
47. wǒ bù huì shuō pǔ tōng huà
48. zài jiàn
49. duì bu qǐ, qǐng wèn, nǐ huì shuō Yīng wén ma ?
50. bù huì
51. wǒ huì shuō yī diǎn er pǔ tōng huà
52. wǒ shuō de bù hǎo
53. zài jiàn

Secret Diary  

Posted by Kemauan in ,


Even though we live in an age of blogging, some of us still prefer putting our thoughts down so only we can see them. Here comes the Secret Diary for you who don't like the traditional notebook diary, because it is completely digital.

The Secret Diary looks like a USB Flash Drive, but that’s just its cover. It lives up to its name as the designated user must enter in a 4 digit Pin number on the built-in numeric keypad in order to get in. The data is stored via 256-bit AES cypto.

And there is also another security feature that if someone tries to hack into your Secret Diary, it will run a self-destruct procedure that will erase all the sensitive information. In can be a good or bad thing, because if you forget your pin you will also lost your data :)

As for the software to make daily diary entries, it comes with many fun interactive features including My Stars, Dream Catcher, Thinking Deep, and Mood Art. It even has some type of emotion sensor that somehow analyzes the text you are writing and can display a swirl in the heading to match the “mood” of the writing.

So this might be a good product for you guys (especially for girl maybe, because girls always write down many thing as you need to say 500 words a day, right? hehehe.) The price is about $60. If you want to buy, try googling secret diary and you should find the product.

Say NO to NO  

Posted by Kemauan in

Waktu Ana masih sangat kecil, usia dua atau tiga, orangtuanya mengajarkannya untuk selalu bilang “iya.” Mereka mengajarkannya untuk selalu setuju dan maklum. Bila tidak, Ana akan dipukul dan dihukum. Ana lalu tumbuh menjadi anak yang sangat sopan. Dia tidak pernah marah, tidak pernah menyakitkan. Dia sangat peduli dan berbagi, tak pernah buat onar. Dan apapun yang orangtuanya bilang, dia selalu menganggapnya benar.

Di sekolah, Ana menjadi sangat disukai. Nilai-nilainya bagus dan akhlaknya terpuji. Gurunya menjadikannya contoh yang mulia. Tapi tak ada yang pernah tahu apa yang dirasakan oleh Ana. Ana punya banyak teman. Dia tak pernah berbohong. Dia adalah gadis manis yang sangat suka menolong. Ia selalu membantu teman-temannya tanpa diminta. Walau sebetulnya ia sedang sakit atau sangat lelah.

Waktu Ana dewasa dan telah menikah, ia punya rumah dan anaknya dua. Setiap kali orang bertanya “Apa kabar, Ana?”, dia selalu menjawab “baik-baik saja.” Suatu malam yang dingin, saat orang sedang tidur semua, tiba-tiba banyak pikiran buruk berputar-putar di kepalanya. Dia tidak tahu mengapa, tapi dia ingin sekali mati. Lalu ia berkata pada Tuhan “Ambillah nyawaku, aku sudah tak tahan lagi.” Lalu ia mendengar nuraninya bersuara. Ia mendengar kata “tidak”, keras sekali dari lubuk hatinya.

Sejak saat itu, Ana tahu apa yang harus dilakukannya. Kini ia merasa hidupnya jadi lebih sempurna. Kini Ana sudah bisa bilang “tidak, aku tidak mau”, “tidak, kamu saja”, dan “tidak, aku tak setuju.” “Tidak, itu tidak cocok”, “tidak, yang lain saja”, “tidak, aku capek dan sibuk”, dan “tidak, aku tidak suka.”
Keluarganya jadi kaget, teman-temannya juga. Ana tidak peduli kini Ana beda. Ana bahagia karena Ana mulai bisa mengucapkan “tidak” setiap waktu. Matanya lebih bercahaya sejak malam bersejarah itu. Ana kini menjadi orang yang lebih hidup dan dia hanya melakukan hal-hal yang dirasanya sanggup.

Kini Ana punya bakat, ambisi, dan mimpi. Ia punya uang, perasaan, dan juga opini. Dan juga kepada anak-anaknya, ia selalu berkata “Kalian boleh tidak setuju, walau damai itu indah. Kalian boleh bilang ‘tidak’, kapan saja kalian mau. Karena dengan begitu, kalian bisa tumbuh menjadi manusia yang sempurna dan penuh.” “ Anakku, Mama tahu bahwa Mama hanya orang biasa. Bisa saja, sangat bisa, Mama juga salah. Jadi walaupun kalian bilang ‘tidak’ kadang-kadang, percayalah nak, bahwa kalian akan tetap Mama sayang!”

Disadur dari Chicken Soup for The Soul
Oleh:Mark Victor Hansen & Jack Canfield

Learn Mandarin with Kemauan: Lesson 2  

Posted by Kemauan in


Learn Mandarin with Kemauan: Lesson 2


I'm trying to make these mandarin lessons as simple as I can, as the expert says that, our brain can more remember a new word if it is reoccurance for many times and use in the sentences.
So I will use this approach to make these mandarin lesson simple, as our motto : the easy way to speak mandarin :)

Another thing that I should tell you is .. if you learn mandarin you must read loudly, because it will accelarate you to speak faster.

In this lesson you will see "....." it means you must answer the question (speak loudly)


Ok let's begin

read this sentences loudly :

duì bu qǐ, qǐng wèn
nǐ huì shuō Yīng wén ma ?
bù huì , wǒ bù huì shuō Yīng wén
wǒ huì shuō yī diǎn er pǔ tōng huà
nǐ shì Měi guó rén ma?
shì, wǒ shì Měi guó rén

Please read again and try to make your pronunciation sound exactly like the chinese person with the following accent mark in each word. If you still not familiar how to read the pinyin system, than you should go back to Mandarin Lesson 1

duì bu qǐ = excuse me
qǐng wèn = please let me ask
Yīng wén = english
huì = can
bù huì = can't
shuō = speak
nǐ = you
wǒ = I, me


Now try to say:
(the answers are in the bottom of this post but try to not see that)

1. you can speak = ..... (ex: nǐ huì shuō -> again speak loudly)
2. you can speak english = ..... (ex: nǐ huì shuō Yīng wén)
3. can't speak = .....

nǐ huì shuō ma ?
4. which part of that sentence is 'you' ? .....

5. ask a question if I can speak : .....

6. say, excuse me : .....

7. now translate, please let me ask : .....

8. now say: excume me, please let me ask : .....

9. ask again : can you speak ? : .....

10. now say, english : .....

11. try to ask : can you speak english : .....

12. answer no, I can't : .....

13. and now say : you can't speak : .....

14. say, I can speak : .....

15. say, I can speak english : ......

16. say again, you can speak : ......

17. excuse me please let me ask : .....

18. ask, can you speak ? : .....

19. can you speak english ? .....

20. answer no : ......

21. now answer : I can't speak : .....


In Mainland china the mandarin commond language is pǔ tōng huà

22. say, I can speak : .....

23. I can speak mandarin : .....

24. I can't speak mandarin : .....

25. You can speak mandarin : .....

26. Excuse me please let me ask : .....

27. ask if I can speak mandarin : .....


Here is the word "some" or "a little" in mandarin : yī diǎn er

28. I can speak a little : .....

29. I can speak mandarin : .....

30. excuse me : .....

31. a little : .....

32. ask, can you speak english : .....

33. say, I can speak a little english : .....

34. mandarin / commond language : .....

35. can you speak mandarin ?: .....

36. answer No : .....

37. I can speak a little mandarin : .....


Here is the word "America" in mandarin : Měi guó

and the word "person" in mandarin : rén

so, to say america person in mandarin : Měi guó rén

to be : shì


38. I am america person : .....

39. you are : .....

40. you are america : .....

41. are you : .....

42. are you american : .....

43. excuse me, let me ask : .....

44. can you speak mandarin ? : .....

45. can you speak english : .....

46. are you american ? : .....

47. what part of it is 'are' ? .....


You can use shi as an answer yes


48. ask again are you american ? : .....

49. answer yes, I'm american : .....


OK now read again loudly :

duì bu qǐ, qǐng wèn
nǐ huì shuō Yīng wén ma ?
bù huì , wǒ bù huì shuō Yīng wén
wǒ huì shuō yī diǎn er pǔ tōng huà
nǐ shì Měi guó rén ma?
shì, wǒ shì Měi guó rén

Now you do speak a little mandarin :)

OK that's the end of lesson 2, if you can answer about 85% of above questions then you are ready for the next lesson, otherwise you need to spend more time to study again, don't worry you don't need to pay anything, you are always welcome to my blog :)

It is the first time I write an article like this, I need you, to give me some feedback about this lesson.
1. Is it in good format ? or should I use different method ?
2. Can you understand after you read this article ? or Can you follow the lesson ?
3. Do you have any idea for the next lesson ?

Thank you very much for learning Mandarin with Kemauan, if you like this article you can spread it to your friends for FREE but the term and condition apply : don't forget to give my blog link :), it's like a GNU license :). See you in the next part :)


The answer :
1. nǐ huì shuō
2. nǐ huì shuō Yīng wén
3. bù huì shuō
4. nǐ
5. nǐ huì shuō ma ?
6. duì bu qǐ
7. qǐng wèn
8. duì bu qǐ , qǐng wèn
9. nǐ huì shuō ma ?
10. Yīng wén
11. nǐ huì shuō Yīng wén ma ?
12. wǒ bù huì
13. nǐ bù huì shuō
14. wǒ huì shuō
15. wǒ huì shuō Yīng wén
16. nǐ huì shuō
17. duì bu qǐ , qǐng wèn
18. nǐ huì shuō ma ?
19. nǐ huì shuō Yīng wén ma ?
20. bù huì
21. wǒ bù huì shuō
22. wǒ huì shuō
23. wǒ huì shuō pǔ tōng huà
24. wǒ bù huì shuō pǔ tōng huà
25. nǐ huì shuō pǔ tōng huà
26. duì bu qǐ , qǐng wèn
27. nǐ huì shuō pǔ tōng huà ma ?
28. wǒ huì shuō yī diǎn er
29. wǒ huì shuō pǔ tōng huà
30. duì bu qǐ
31. yī diǎn er
32. nǐ huì shuō Yīng wén ma ?
33. wǒ huì shuō yī diǎn er Yīng wén
34. pǔ tōng huà
35. nǐ huì shuō pǔ tōng huà ma ?
36. bù huì
37. wǒ huì shuō yī diǎn er pǔ tōng huà
38. wǒ shì Měi guó rén
39. nǐ shì
40. nǐ shì Měi guó rén
41. nǐ shì ma ?
42. nǐ shì Měi guó rén ma ?
43. duì bu qǐ , qǐng wèn
44. nǐ huì shuō pǔ tōng huà ma ?
45. nǐ huì shuō Yīng wén ma ?
46. nǐ shì Měi guó rén ma ?
47. shì
48. nǐ shì Měi guó rén ma ?
49. shì , wǒ shì Měi guó rén

Mandarin Lesson 1: The Pinyin System and The Tone  

Posted by Kemauan in


Lesson 1: The Pinyin System and The Tone

Ok guys and gals, let's start with the first lesson of mandarin chinese, I will try to share 'the simple way to speak mandarin chinese' (in my opinion hehehe ).

Before that, let's read this rhyme :

Qiān lǐ zhī xíng, shǐ yú zú xià.
1000 mile’s journey, begin at foot down
A long journey begins with a single step. (Laozi)

So, first thing that I think is the most important is knowing the Pinyin system to accelerate our study in mandarin. If we know it, we can speak mandarin ASAP, although we still don't understand what we read :), so at least we can more confidence to speak (this is very important if we learn a foreign language, we must not shame to speak, or "tidak tahu malu" in bahasa :) , that way, we can learn and speak faster)

Pinyin, more formally Hanyu Pinyin, is the most common Standard Mandarin romanization system in use. Hanyu means the "Chinese Language", and pinyin means "spell sound", or the spelling of the sound.

Rules given in terms of English/Bahasa pronunciation

All rules given here in terms of English/Bahasa pronunciation are approximate, as several of these sounds do not correspond directly to sounds in English/Bahasa.

Pronunciation of initials

Pinyin


Read









Explanation
b


[p]









unaspirated p, as in spit or pisau in bahasa
p


[b]









aspirated p, as in pit, or babi in bahasa
m


[m]









as in English mum
f


[f]









as in English fun
d


[t]









unaspirated t, as in stop, or tong in bahasa
t


[tʰ]









aspirated t, as in top, or dop in bahasa
n


[n]









as in English nit
l


[l]









as in English love
g


[k]









unaspirated k, as in skill, or kuil in bahasa
k


[kʰ]









aspirated k, as in kill or gagah in bahasa
h


[x]









like the English h if followed by "a"; otherwise it is pronounced more roughly .
j


[tɕ]









like q, but unaspirated. Like cuaca in bahasa
q


[tɕʰ]









like church; in English both "ch" and "q" are often pronounced the same. Like juanda in bahasa
x


[ɕ]









like sh or palatalised s, Like siuman in bahasa
zh


[ʈʂ]









ch with no aspiration (a sound between joke and church). Like tz in bahasa
ch


[ʈʂʰ]









as in chin, but with the tongue curled upwards; very similar to nurture American English. Like jarang in bahasa
sh


[ʂ]









as in shinbone, but with the tongue curled upwards; very similar to undershirt in American English
r


[ʐ] or [ɻ]









Similar to the English r in rank
z


[ts]









unaspirated c (something between suds and cats). Like coba in bahasa
c


[tsʰ]









like ts in bats, however more aspirated. Like juga in bahasa
s


[s]









as in sun
w


[w] or [u]









it is pronounced as the "u" (pinyin-pronounced) that "w" replaced.
y


[j] or [i]









case 1)it is pronounced as the "i" (pinyin-pronounced) that it replaced.

case 2) Similarly, note that "yu" is not pronounced as a "yu", rather it is pronounced as the (pinyin-pronounced) "ü" that it replaced.



Beside the pinyin system, what we also should know in the first time is the pitch tone.

The most famous example of this, is the word "ma" :

() The first tone (High Level Tone) is represented by a macron (ˉ) added to the pinyin vowel

() The second tone (Rising or High-Rising Tone) is denoted by an acute accent (ˊ)

() The third tone (Falling-Rising) is marked by a caron (ˇ)

() The fourth tone (Falling or High-Falling Tone) is represented by a grave accent (ˋ)

(·ma) The fifth or neutral tone (Neutral Tone) is represented by a normal vowel without any accent mark


If you want to know how to spell the tone, you can click -> hear the mandarin tone (this is tone 1-4 only)


Now, let's try to familiar with the sounds and syllables of pinyin. Beginning now, I will use bahasa pronunciation to read the pinyin (but I have an obstacle to write the accent mark - above is only copy paste :) , so no accent mark here - any body know how to write that mark ?)

ok let's begin :

Wo yao xue xi zhong wen (read: wuo yao sie se chong wen) = I want to learn mandarin
Wo bu zhi dao (read: wuo pu tze tao) = I don't know
Beijing (read: pei cing) = Capital of PRC


Hope you can understand this first lesson, if you don't, please review again and again until you are familiar with this pinyin system, so that we can begin to learn the mandarin the faster way - using daily conversation :)