Learn Chinese: Flash Cards for Beginners
By Matthew Driver
Editor: Matthew Driver
Cover Design and Illustrations: Matthew Driver
Published by Wells Gray Press
Great Britain
Copyright © Matthew Driver 2011
All rights reserved.
Smashwords Edition
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Contents
Chapter 1: A Basic Guide to Pinyin
Chapter 6 Countries & Capital Cities
Introduction
These flash-cards have been designed as a basic introduction for beginners wanting to learn to read Chinese characters. They introduce a range of simple characters across a variety of everyday topics.
There are over 80,000 Chinese characters and the prospect of trying to learn to read Chinese mandarin can seem extremely daunting. However, many of these are not normally used and it is possible to read and understand the language, knowing only a small proportion of characters.
These flash cards show the Chinese, English and Pinyin expressions of each word. The Chinese character in each case is displayed first, followed by a card displaying the English translation and Pinyin pronunciation.
*If reading on an EBook reader, then make sure that it is set to show pictures as all flash-cards are in image format.
Chapter 1: A Basic Guide to Pinyin
Pinyin is a method used to represent Chinese characters and express them using the alphabet. There are a number of systems used to express Mandarin, but of these Pinyin is the most common and widely used. An understanding of Pinyin makes it possible to pronounce any word in Mandarin. Although Pinyin uses the Roman alphabet, many of the letters are not expressed with the same sounds as English.
Initials and Finals
Words in pinyin use a set of 21 sounds representing the beginning of the word called initials, and a set of 37 sounds representing the end of the word called finals. When combined these form about 420 different sounds.
For example: Where the word in pinyin is huá, in this word the letter ‘h’ is the initial and ‘uá’ is the final. Words can further be combined to form compound words. An example of this would be the word for sun in Chinese, which is tài yang, whereby both elements of the word are created from an initial and a final.
Tones
Words in Mandarin that have the same pronunciation can have different meanings depending on how the word is spoken and the tone used. The tone of a word describes how the pitch of the speaker’s voice should change as the word is spoken. There are four different tones in Mandarin which are represented in Pinyin using marks above the word. Tones are read from right to left across the top of the word.
The straight line over the word indicates that the word should be said with a flat and unchanging high tone. (Known as the 1st tone) (Meaning - Mother).
The mark going up above the word indicates the word should be said in a rising tone. (Known as the 2nd tone) (Meaning - To bother).
This mark above the word indicates that the word should be said with a falling tone and then a rising tone. (Known as the 3rd tone) (Meaning - Horse).
The down mark above the word indicates that the word should be said with a falling tone. (Known as the 4th tone) (Meaning - To scold).
When a word has no tone or mark above the word it is said to be neutral and is pronounced in an abbreviated manner with no emphasis. (Known as neutral tone) (Meaning - is used as a question mark).
Chapter 2: Reading Pinyin
Read the words as if you were reading English, but the following differences apply:
H has a harsher sound, like the Scottish ch in loch
Q sounds like the ch in cheer
X sounds like the sh in shy
C sounds like the ts in cats
Z sounds like the ds in heads
The next four are pronounced with your tongue rolled back:
Ch sounds like the ch in cheer
Sh sounds like the sh in shy
Z sounds like the dge in fudge
R sounds like the r in ring
A sounds like the a in car
An sounds like the an in can’t
E sounds like the e in the or mother
En sounds like the en in shaken
I can sound like the ee in sheen, o like the i in shirt
In sounds like the in in fin
O sounds like the o in more
Ong sounds like the ung in sung, but longer, like soong
U sounds like the oo in too
Chapter 3: Numbers
