2. Mandarin has the most native speakers of any language
in the world. It is the official language of
China, Taiwan, and one of the four official languages of
Singapore. Additionally, it is one of the six official
languages of the United Nations (UN).
The Chinese language has more than 1.3 billion speakers.
The English language has more than 760 million speakers.
The Spanish language has more than 420 million speakers.
The French language has more than 128 million speakers.
Mandarin - The Official Language in China
3. Chinese Characters
There are more than 50,000 Chinese characters
historically recorded but knowledge of approximately
3,500 characters allows the reader/writer to handle
daily Chinese literacy demands.
4. THREE POETS INFLUENCED BY CHINESE POETS
W. S. Merwin (Pulitzer prize for poetry 1971, 2009)
Octavio Paz (Nobel prize for literature, 1990
Rabrindranath Tagore (Nobel prize for literature
1913)
5. SU T’UNG PO AS A GREAT POET
“Humans have sad separations and happy
gatherings. 欢
The moon has times of haze and lucidity, waxing
and waning. 圆
Our endeavors since antiquity fail to sustain
perfect moments. 难
We can only wish for longevity, 长 ,
Though far apart, we shall share the
moon’s beauty. ” 婵 .
6. W. S. MERWIN A LETTER TO SU T’UNG PO
Almost a thousand years later
I am asking the same questions
you did, the ones you kept finding
yourself returning to as though
nothing had changed except the tone
of their echo growing deeper
and what you knew of the coming
of age before you had grown old
I do not know any more now
than you did then about what you
were asking, as I sit at night,
above the hushed up valley thinking
of you on your river that one
bright sheet of moonlight in the dream
of the water birds and I hear
the silence after your questions
how old are the questions tonight
http://poemof-theday.blogspot.com/2010/04/letter-to-su-tung-po-ws-merwin.html
7. CHUANG TZU
3000 years ago, one day Chuang Tzu
dreamed that he became a butterfly flying
happily flying around the flowers. After
Chuang Tzu woke up, he wondered if it was
the butterfly dreaming it was Chuang Tzu or
Chuang Tzu dreaming he was a butterfly.
8. CHUANG TZU BY OCTAVIO PAZ
A butterfly flew between the cars,
Marie Jose said: it must be Chuang Tzu,
on a tour of New York.
But the butterfly
didn't know it was a butterfly
dreaming it was Chuang Tzu
or Chuang Tzu
dreaming he was a butterfly.
The butterfly never wondered:
it flew.
http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/645
9. FIREFLIES BY RABRINDRANATH TAGORE
I touch God in my song
as the hill touches the far-away sea
with its waterfall.
The butterfly counts not months but moments,
and has time enough.
Let my love, like sunlight, surround you
and give you illumined freedom.
Love remains a secret even when spoken,
for only a lover truly knows that he is loved.
Emancipation from the bondage of the soil
is no freedom for the tree.
In love I pay my endless debt to thee
for what thou art. http://www.poetseers.org/nobel-prize-for-literature/tagore/fireflies/
12. 4 TONES
1st tone high level pitch
2nd tone rising in pitch
3rd tone low dipping pitch
4th tone abrupt falling in pitch
sī sí sǐ sì
shī shí shǐ shì
13. Qing nǐ gěi wǒ yī wǎn shuǐ jiǎo.
Qing nǐ gěi wǒ yī wǎn shuìjiào.
请你给我一碗水饺. 请你给我一晚睡 觉
.
Oops! I wanted one bowl of
dumplings, not one night of
sleeping with you!
14. TONGUE TWISTER
sìshìsì shíshìshí shísìshìshísì sìshíshìsishí
四是四 十是十 十四是十四 四十是四十
sì = 4
shì= is
shí = 10
15. USEFUL PHRASES
Ni hǎo? (How are you?) 你好
Wo hén hǎo (I’m fine) 我很好
Xiè Xiè nǐ (Thank you) 谢谢 你
Zài jiàn (Good bye) 再见
16. SPEAK IT!
Ni hǎo ? Ni hǎo?
Wo hén hǎo Xiè Xiè nǐ
Ni hǎo Ni hǎo
Wo hén hǎo Xiè Xiè nǐ
Xiè Xiè nǐ Zài jiàn Zài jiàn
Xiè Xiè nǐ Zài jiàn Zài jiàn
Wo hén hǎo Xiè Xiè nǐ
Zài jiàn Zài jiàn
