Getting to Know a Little Chinese

Time to get your feet wet with the basics of Chinese. This chapter gives
you guidelines that help you pronounce words in standard Mandarin (the
official language of both the People’s Republic of China and Taiwan) like a
native speaker and helps you get a handle on the four tones that distinguish
Mandarin Chinese. After you have the basics down, I show you how to construct
basic Chinese phrases.

But before you dive in, here’s a bit of advice: Don’t be intimidated by all the
tones! The best thing you can do when learning a foreign language is to not
worry about making mistakes the minute you open your mouth. Practice
speaking Chinese first to your dog or cat, and then work your way up to a
couple of goldfish or a niece or nephew under the age of 10. When you finally
get the nerve to rattle off a few phrases to your local Chinatown grocer, you’ll
know you’ve made it. And when you visit China for the first time, you discover
how incredibly appreciative the Chinese are of anyone who even
remotely attempts to speak their language. All the hours you spent yakking
away with the family pet start to pay off, and you’ll be rewarded greatly. Still
have doubts? You’ll be amazed at how much you can say after snooping
through Chinese For Dummies.

Encountering the Chinese culture is just as important as exploring the
Chinese language. In fact, you can’t quite master the language without
absorbing a little of the culture by osmosis. Just making the effort to speak
Chinese is an act of positive diplomacy. Don’t worry about how you sound
when you open your mouth — you’re contributing to international friendship
no matter what comes out.