Note: The spoken Chinese Mandarin language has 4 spoken tones. We have attempted to re-create those below where after each syllable we tell you (1), (2), (3), or (4) as they correspond to each of the 4 tones. We encourage you to complement your Xianzai.com Emergency Chinese newsletter with a good offline study program.

Pets: chong(3) wu(4)

NEW WORDS
Dog: gou(3)
Cat: mao(1)
Goldfish: jin(1) yu(2)
Animal doctor: shou(4) yi(1)

LESSON

• Is this dog a male or female?
  zhe(4) shi(4) tiao(2) gong(1) gou(3) hai(2) shi(4) mu(3) gou(3)?
  
• Do you sell cats?
  ni(3) mai(4) mao(1) ma?
  
• What type of food should I feed the goldfish?
  wo(3) ying(1) gai(1) gei(3) zhe(4) tiao(2) jin(1) yu(2) wei(4) shen(3) me shi(2) wu(4)?
  
• Are you are an animal doctor?
  ni(3) shi(4) shou(4) yi(1) ma?

* Tip: As China develops, pets are becoming increasingly popular. It's no longer uncommon to see people walking their dogs at night and animal clinics and beauty parlors are popping up in all of China's main cities.

China does have strict rules about keeping pets though. All dogs should be registered with the local police office who will charge you an annual fee - around 5,000 Chinese yuan (US$600) for a license. In addition most cities have rules about when dogs can be walked in public.

Dogs are man's best friend indeed but make sure you keep your pooch lawfully registered or face losing him or her.