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.

NEW WORDS

(1) My name is: wo(3) de ming(2) zi(4) shi(4)

(2) I am from: wo(2) lai(2) zi(4)

(3) Country: guo(2) jia(1)

(4) USA: mei(3) guo(2)

(5) England: ying(1) ge(2) lan(2)

(6) Germany: de(2) guo(2)

(7) Canada: jia(1) na(2) da(4)

(8) Australia: ao(4) da(4) li(4) ya(4)

LESSON

• Hi - my name is:
  hai(4) , wo(3) jiao(4)
  
• I am from the USA.
  wo(3) lai(2) zi(4) mei(3) guo(2)
  
• I was born in England but I live in Australia.
  wo(3) zai(4) ying(1) ge(2) lan(2) chu(1) sheng(1) , dan(4) zhu(4) zai(4) ao(4) da(4) li(4) ya(4).
  
• I have come from Canada.
  wo(3) cong(2) jia(1) na(2) da(4) lai(2).
  
• I have traveled to many countries.
  wo(3) qu(4) guo(4) hen(2) duo(1) guo(2) jia(1) lu(2) you(2).

* Tip: It is only recently that China has opened it's doors to the rest of the world and some Chinese people still hold out-dated or stereotypical views about people from other countries based on little more than watching TV shows (foreigners hold similar attitudes to Chinese--so it's even).

Often Americans are assumed to all be rich and arrogant, Australians are seen as lazy alcoholics while the English are seen as aloof snobs. Like all stereotypes they are, in the main, with some Chinese language skills, you can help people understand that people are people wherever you go.