Tag: mandarin

The neutral tone in Mandarin Chinese

Mandarin Chinese is a tonal language, meaning that the pitch contour of a syllable influences the meaning of that word. This is introduced in all basic textbooks, often even before the first chapter begins. Mandarin Chinese has four tones that are often introduced properly (with the exception of the third tone, which is often not described clearly at all).

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Airport Vocabulary List

Mandarin Chinese vocabulary related to the airport. Audio clips aid in Mandarin pronunciation, and animated Chinese characters show the proper stroke order of each airport vocabulary item.
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Airline Representative

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Top English Phrases Borrowed from Chinese

Although a debate currently rages amongst Chinese academics, linguists and lexicographers over English’s place within the Chinese dictionary, English speakers all over the world continue to use bits and pieces of the Chinese language on a daily basis, through various phrases and loanwords previously “borrowed” from Chinese. Here are the top 10 Chinese phrases that made it over the Great Wall and into the vocabularies of English speakers everywhere, with a few that might just surprise you.

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