Learning Mandarin Chinese

Mandarin Chinese is a difficult language to learn, especially given its unintuitive pronunciations and use of characters rather than an alphabet system. Learning Chinese can be a daunting idea, and often many beginner students dont know where to start. If you are feeling overwhelmed, this guide can give you the basic building blocks of Chinese grammar, introductory vocabulary, and pronunciation tips to help you build a foundation in Chinese. Be sure to click on hyperlinked text to access each lesson. The 4 Mandarin Tones Mandarin Chinese is a tonal language. Meaning, the way a syllable is pronounced in terms of sound and tone changes its meaning. For example, the syllable ma can mean horse, mother, scold, or hemp depending on which tone is used. Mastery of the four  Mandarin tones  is the essential first step to  learning this language. The  four Mandarin tones  are high and level, rising, falling then rising, and falling. You must be able to pronounce  and  understand the Mandarin Tones.   Once you have learned the tones, you can start learning new vocabulary and phrases while learning pinyin Romanization. Reading and writing Chinese characters is the last step. Mandarin Pronunciation Guide There are 37 unique sounds in Mandarin Chinese, which consist of 21 consonants and 16 vowels. Through a myriad of combinations, around 420 different syllables can be produced and are used in the Chinese language.   Lets take the Chinese word for often as an example. The character  Ã¥ ¸ ¸ is pronounced as chà ¡ng, which is a combination of the sounds ch and ang.   The sound  chart in this guide has audio files of all 37 sounds along with their Pinyin spellings. Pinyin Romanization Pinyin  is a way to write Chinese using the Roman (Western) alphabet. It is the most common of many forms of  Romanization, and is used in most teaching materials particularly for Western students learning Chinese. Pinyin allows beginner  Mandarin  students to read and write Chinese without using Chinese characters. This allows students to concentrate on spoken Mandarin before tackling the formidable task of  learning Chinese characters.   Because pinyin has many pronunciations  which are unintuitive to English speakers, it is necessary to study the pinyin system to avoid pronunciation errors.   Introduction to PinyinPinyin Pronunciation Essential Vocabulary Of course, there is a seemingly endless of vocabulary words to learn. Ease yourself in by starting with some of the most commonly used, everyday Chinese words. In order to refer to people in a conversation, you will need to know Mandarin pronouns. This is the equivalent to terms like I, you, he, she, they, we.  Mandarin words for colors  is also elementary vocabulary that can be easily learned. As you see different colors in your everyday life, try and remember the Chinese word for it.   Understanding Mandarin numbers  is also a good place to start. After you have mastered reading, writing, and pronouncing numbers, learning  calendar terms  (such as days  in  the week and months) and how to  tell time  will be easier.   Conversation Topics As you progress in your mastery of Mandarin, you will be able to have conversations. These lessons will prepare you for conversing about particular topics. All conversations start with a greeting. Learn Mandarin greetings  to be able to say hello or good afternoon! In introducing yourself, common questions might be where are you from? or where do you live? This handy list of  Mandarin names for North American cities  can help you respond. Many social events and get-togethers happen at restaurants. Learning  food vocabulary  and  restaurant vocabulary  can be helpful so that you know what to order or how to ask for help if you need another pair of chopsticks. If you are traveling in a Chinese-speaking country, you may be staying in a hotel or have to deal with banking in terms of withdrawing money, exchanging money, and so on. These  hotel vocabulary  and  banking vocabulary  lessons can be a good addition. Mandarin Grammar Mandarin Chinese grammar is very different from English and other Western languages. The first step is learning basic  Mandarin sentence Structures. For a beginner-level Mandarin student, it is also important to know how to  ask questions in Chinese  because asking questions is the best way to learn about a language and a culture. Particularly helpful questions to know include how do you say X in Chinese? or what does this idiom mean?  Ã‚   An interesting difference between English and Chinese is the use of  Mandarin measure words. For instance, in English one would say a piece of paper or a loaf of bread. In these examples, piece and loaf are measure words for the nouns paper and bread. In Chinese, there are many more measure words. Reading and Writing Chinese Characters Chinese characters  are the hardest part of learning Mandarin. There are over 50,000 Chinese characters, and a dictionary will typically list 20,000 characters. An educated Chinese person will know around 8,000 characters. And to read a newspaper you must learn about 2,000 to read a newspaper. The point is, there are a lot of characters! While the only way to really learn characters is to memorize them, knowing character  radicals  can give you some hints too. Engaging with beginner-level  Chinese text and books  can be a great way to practice. If you want to practice by writing Chinese online, here is how you can  write Chinese characters using Windows XP.

The Great Gatsby Book Report Essay - 3269 Words

Summary At the onset of this book, the reader is introduced to the narrator, Nick Carraway, who relates the past happenings that construct the story of Jay Gatsby and Nick during the summer of 1922. After fighting in World War I, or the Great War as Nick called it, Nick left his prominent family in the West of America for the North where he intended to learn the bond business. Nick was originally supposed to share a house in West Egg near New York City with an associate of his, but the man backed out and so Nick lived with only a Finnish cook. Right next door, Gatsby lived in a glorious mansion with expansive gardens and a marble swimming pool, among other luxuries. Yet Nick did not even hear about Gatsby until he went to visit his†¦show more content†¦They met again in New York and took a taxi to the apartment that Tom had purchased for the two of them. Myrtle called her sister Catherine and the McKees that she and Tom were friends with on the phone and the six of them sat around i n the apartment and got exceptionally drunk once they arrived. During this time, Nick learned about Tom and Myrtle, as well as the fact that neither of them could stand their spouse. Nick could hardly remember what had gone on that night at the apartment and the next thing he knew, he was in Penn Station waiting for the four o’ clock train to go home. Every weekend, Nick’s next door neighbor Gatsby had extravagant parties at his house. One Saturday morning, Gatsby’s butler came to Nick’s house and invited him to the party that was to be held that evening. Nick showed up that night, not knowing a soul there, and not even knowing what the host himself looked like. He soon found Jordan, and spent the rest of the evening with her. Nick found himself speaking with a man he recognized from the war. Nick told him that he did not even know who the host was, but that he had just been invited by him. The man looked puzzled and then told Nick that he was Gatsby. Both were embarrassed and apologized to each other. At that moment, a butler appeared and told Gatsby of a phone call that he had to attend to. Gatsby excused himself and said that he would talk to Nick later thatShow MoreRelatedThe Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald1741 Words   |  7 PagesBook Report The Great Gatsby Book Report Book Written by F. Scott Fitzgerald This report is based upon the book, The Great Gatsby, written by Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald. This book is published by Simon Schuster in 2004, and it is an imprint of Charles Scribner’s Sons, originally published in 1925. It is also considered as one of Francis Fitzgerald’s â€Å"magnum opus† or great work. Introduction Do you appreciate a good mystery? In the Great Gatsby, Francis Fitzgerald gives a glimpse inside theRead MoreThe Great Gatsby By F. 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Greek Beliefs and Culture Essay Example For Students

Greek Beliefs and Culture Essay Greek beliefs changed over time. In the beginning the Greeks believed strongly in the gods. These ideas were very similar to those of earlier peoples (Craig, Graham, et. al. 57). The Greek gods shared many of the same characteristics of the Mesopotamian deities (Craig, Graham, et. al. 57). The Greek pantheon consisted of the twelve gods who lived on Mount Olympus (Craig, Graham, et. al. 83). These gods were: -Zeus, the father of the gods, -Hera, his wife, -Zeuss siblings: Poseidon, his brother, god of seas and earthquakes, Hestia, his sister, goddess of the hearth, Demeter, his sister, goddess of agriculture and marriage, -Zeuss children: Aphrodite, goddess of love and beauty, Apollo, god of sun, music, poetry, and prophecy, Ares, god of war, Artemis, goddess of the moon and the hunt, Athena, goddess of wisdom and the arts, Hephaestus, god of fire and metallurgy, -Hermes, messenger of the gods (Craig, Graham, et. l. 83). The gods were seen as behaving very much as mortal humans behaved, except that they possessed superhuman qualities and they were immortal (Craig, Graham, et. al. 83). These qualities are shown in many of the stories that are passed down through Greek history. The Greeks respect for their gods came partially out of fear. An example of superhuman qualities to be feared is stated in Theogony: Then Zeus no longer held back his might; but straight his heart w as filled with fury and he showed forth all his strength. From Heaven and from Olympus he came immediately, hurling his lightning: the bolts flew thick and fast from his strong hand together with thunder and lightning, whirling an awesome flame. The life-giving earth crashed around in burning, and the vast wood crackled loud with fire all about. All the land seethed, and Oceans streams and the unfruitful sea. The hot vapor lapped round the earthborn Titans: flame unspeakable rose to the bright upper air: the flashing glare of the thunderstone and lightning blinded their eyes for all that they were strong(Hesiod 10). The Greeks believed that the will of the gods was sacred: So it is not possible to deceive or go beyond the will of Zeus: (Hesiod 9). As time continued the Greeks beliefs changed in some ways. Some Greeks began to speculate about the nature of the world and its origin. In doing this they made guesses that were completely naturalistic and did not include any reference to supernatural powers or anything else divine (Craig, Graham, et. al. 57). They were one of the first societies to use nature to explain natural events. The Greeks began to lose their beliefs in the divine as Euthyphro says in Euthyphro: for when I speak in the assembly about divine things, and foretell the future to them, they laugh at me and think me a madman. (Plato 2). The relative unimportance of divinity helped to characterize Greek views of law and justice. Although most Greeks liked to think that laws came from the gods, they realized that the laws were made by humans and should be obeyed because they represented the expressed consent of the citizens (Craig, Graham, et. al. 57). These new beliefs led to the characteristic Greek institution of the polis. Polis means city-state. All Greek poleis began as little agricultural villages and they all had a sense of being independent political units. The poleis were generally a group of relatives where all the citizens were theoretically descended from a common ancestor (Craig, Graham, et. al. 77). In The Heritage of World Civilizations it is stated: Aristotle argued that the polis was a natural growth and that the human being is by nature an animal who lives in a polis. .u28db84fdfcab5f0583f60b31e53ee821 , .u28db84fdfcab5f0583f60b31e53ee821 .postImageUrl , .u28db84fdfcab5f0583f60b31e53ee821 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u28db84fdfcab5f0583f60b31e53ee821 , .u28db84fdfcab5f0583f60b31e53ee821:hover , .u28db84fdfcab5f0583f60b31e53ee821:visited , .u28db84fdfcab5f0583f60b31e53ee821:active { border:0!important; } .u28db84fdfcab5f0583f60b31e53ee821 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u28db84fdfcab5f0583f60b31e53ee821 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u28db84fdfcab5f0583f60b31e53ee821:active , .u28db84fdfcab5f0583f60b31e53ee821:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u28db84fdfcab5f0583f60b31e53ee821 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u28db84fdfcab5f0583f60b31e53ee821 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u28db84fdfcab5f0583f60b31e53ee821 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u28db84fdfcab5f0583f60b31e53ee821 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u28db84fdfcab5f0583f60b31e53ee821:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u28db84fdfcab5f0583f60b31e53ee821 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u28db84fdfcab5f0583f60b31e53ee821 .u28db84fdfcab5f0583f60b31e53ee821-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u28db84fdfcab5f0583f60b31e53ee821:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: The Epidemiology Of Tuberculosis ( Tb ) EssayHumans alone have the power of speech and from it derive the ability to distinguish good from bad and right from wrong, and the sharing of these things is what makes a household and a polis. (Craig, Graham, et. al. 77). This means that the Greeks realized that they could decide for themselves what was good and bad, and accounts for why they abandoned such strong beliefs in the gods and their decrees. With the development of the polis came need for a way to enforce the laws and pass judgement on the laws. Before the laws were ones of the gods. Now the laws were ones of the citizens of the polis and they had to pass judgement on fellow Greeks in order to create a healthy society. The work Euthyphro is the story of two men Socrates and Euthyphro who are going to court. Socrates is being faced with a charge brought against him by another Greek and Euthyphro is bringing a charge against his own father (Plato 1-18). The Greeks started out believing in the gods alone. They believed that everything that the gods said was good, and they should do whatever those gods told them to do. In the beginning the Greeks did not think for themselves they simply listened to what others before them said. As time progressed the Greek society evolved. The Greeks begin to question things that had been told to them. They begin to think for themselves. They learned that they could decide what was best for themselves and their society. They never lost complete faith in the gods. They continued to worship the gods, but they learned to make their own laws and to pass their own judgement on those laws.

Revolutions of 1848 The conflict in interests bet Essays

Revolutions of 1848: The conflict in interests between urban middle-class and working class The revolutions throughout 1848 were aimed to politically reform countries across Europe and assure that discrimination based upon social class would be abolished when resolving political issues. Living with the ideology that everyone is treated equally by government no m atter what social class you belong to is something that we today take for granted. Sadly, this was an everyday issue for many European countries. T hroughout this essay I will give evidence to demonstrate how these revolutions drastically failed and that the wo rking class always seemed to be blatantly discriminated against. I will be looking at examples of social discrimination and separation amongst the social classes in countries including Czech Republic and conflict between the upper-class Austrian garrison and the lower class Milanese civilians during the tobacco riot. The first example that I am going to talk about regarding the lack of consideration for the working class involves the Czech Republic, where the liberal organization called for a public meeting at the Saint Vaclav's Baths in order to discuss th e announcement of the revolution. Here, several thousand people turned out, which for a population that was significantly smaller than it is today, was an extremely large and impressive turn out. Less than half of these people in attendance were of the middle-class . This is stated in Mike Rapport's book Year of Revolution' states that "eight hundred of the more 'respectable' demonstrators- young intellectuals, officials, burghers, artisans, almost all of them Czech- were allowed into the baths" These baths were warm and sheltered and were a big upgrade on where the working class attendants would be situated. Rapport then goes on to tell us where the working class would be situated during the meeting: " The excluded workers huddles together in the street, battered by a heavy rain." This description by Rapport puts into perspective just how blatantly unfair the working class were treated in comparison to the middle-class. Furthermore, during this meeting a pe tition announced which was deman ding that more jobs were made available to the middle-class with a suitable wage level where the working class could not steal their jobs by willing to work for substantially less. The petition also called for the labor obligations to be revoked from the working class as the middle-class wanted the working class to have no laws and regulations protecting them when working. Having no labor obligations could mean that work for the working class could become a lot more dangerous and there would perhaps be no certainty of receiving any pay for the work they do. However, why do the middle-class treat the working class with such little to no respect? Well this would all be explained by the revolt in 1844 where the working class drove the middle class out of their jobs causing the middle class to retaliate. In 1844 whilst the industrial revolution was going on the boom in heavy industrial processes was going on. At this time in the industrial revolution , I believe three classes existed , l ower, middle and upper class. The lower-class being the peasants' with minimal to no education and living in extremely poor conditions. The middle-class being the well-educated and hard working with degrees who had jobs such as engineers, lawyers, doctors and craftsman. Then the upper-class or in other words could be described as the elites' who would have priorities including showing off their wealth by wearing expensive fashionable clothing and attending social events with fellow upper-class associates. T he men of the upper-class would typically dress in a three-piece suit with dress pants and dress shoes, whilst the women would wear matching jacket and skirt worn with a high-collared shirt. Simply by briefly describing each class it's obvious to distinguish the differences between them. The gap between each class is large, especially from lower to upper . The upper-class looked down on both the middle and lower, considering both peasants, whilst the middle-class disliked both, the y looked down at the lower-class as worthless and disliked the upper-class as they considered them lazy and people with too much political power. Therefore, when