Before I left for China, the only words I knew in Chinese were: "Nǐ hǎo," Hello.
If I can learn how converse in Chinese (broken, granted) in two weeks, then you can learn a couple words here and there.
Lǎoshī (La-ow-shir) - means "teacher" and we usually put it after the surname of the Chinese professor. It's like calling someone Professor Smith, only now it's Smith Professor
Wǒ jiào (Woah-Chow) - literally translates to "I am called" but pretty much means "my name is". Wǒ jiào Liz.
Unlike really any other language, Mandarin is based completely off tones - which means if I say "Lǎoshī" in a monotone voice, it means nothing. If I say it with the dip on the "a" and the high tone on the "i," it suddenly means teacher. Tones are the most important, yet the most difficult part of learning this language.
Simple and short! That's it for now!
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