Learning basic Mandarin phrases will make your trip less daunting and make a connection with locals easier. Mandarin is a tonal language; finding your voice tone will determine whether or not your comprehension increases.
This guide will teach you all of the essential travel phrases every foreigner should know.
Getting There
No matter where your travels may lead you, knowing some basic phrases is an invaluable way to enhance any trip. From cruise ships and mountaineering excursions to taking public transit services like busses or trains directly to their destinations, learning useful language will make any adventure much more pleasurable and enrich your experience.
Learning Mandarin may appear to be daunting at first, but it doesn’t have to be. Mandarin is a tonal language so getting its tone right is integral for understanding. FluentU is an app which offers native speaker video clips as well as learning tools designed to help retain what you learn.
When booking a train or flight ticket, say this phrase to book it: ‘Wo men hui anpai yi ge dao you, ni you wenti keyi wen ta’ This can also be used when someone does something nice for you – such as letting you pass in line faster or offering up their seat on public transit.
Getting Around
Traveling Mandarin makes life simpler when you learn some key words and phrases to help navigate around more efficiently, including avoiding getting lost, social awkwardness and miscommunication – plus it will enable you to connect with locals on your trip more easily!
Beginning your Chinese studies should begin by learning the words for “where is” (ni) or (“how far away”) so you can ask for directions in Mandarin. Next is greetings such as hello (nihao) and goodbye (xie xie).
Learn the words for money and time; this will come in handy if you plan on taking public transport or need to ask questions at tourist attractions.
Mandarin is a tonal language, making it essential to get its tones right. Pinyin provides an invaluable aid, romanizing Chinese by placing tone markers over alphabetic letters. By doing this, beginners can ensure they say all syllables in their correct tones – something pinyin makes easy!
Accommodations
China has long been popular with those wanting to travel there who do not speak the local language, enabling many trips with no translation services required. From day trips, 10 day or longer journeys guided by experts – just remember all manners your mother taught you while traveling; remember you are representing your family, country and yourself.
When greeting someone in the morning, instead of saying both hello and nihao you can say simply “zao.”
Food
Mandarins are one of the seven or ten Chinese dialect groups, covering an expansive geographical area from Yunnan in the southwest to Xinjiang in the northwest and Heilongjiang in the northeast. Mandarin speakers boast their own cuisine characterized by less emphasis on rice than other Chinese cuisines.
Genetic evidence supports the view that continental mandarins represent one species.[1] However, natural and cultivated hybridization with citrus ryukyuensis has resulted in various island cultivars like Tachibana orange from Okinawa and Taiwan Shekwasha from Taiwan.
The term “mandarin” was coined by Portuguese missionaries during the 16th century to refer to magistrates of Imperial Chinese court who spoke Beijing dialect, as well as standard Chinese (Pu Tong Hua), spoken throughout mainland China; Guo Yu or guyu is popularly known in Taiwan and Hong Kong while in Singapore and Malaysia it translates as a national language – therefore falling under this group of languages.
Mandarins are widely recognized in both Canada and the US, where they are shipped out as gifts each November by rail in brightly painted boxcars, an tradition started by Japanese immigrants giving them as presents to their families in November. A second popular variety, called seedless tangerines or clementines, are typically harvested between November and May.
Transportation
Traveling in China requires understanding the language. This guide will introduce some essential Chinese transportation vocabulary such as verbs and vocabulary phrases; you’ll also become acquainted with some common modes such as buses, trains and taxis.
Mandarin is used in English to refer to a group of languages spoken on mainland China, including their standard dialect, known as Mandarin Chinese. The name originated as Portuguese mandarim from Malay menteri and Sanskrit mantrin which ultimately derive from Chinese character mandarin (). Historically, the term originally referred to officials who had successfully completed imperial examination systems.
Mandarin Chinese is the most widely spoken dialect, covering an expansive region from Yunnan in the southwest to Xinjiang in the northwest and Heilongjiang in the northeast. Westerners tend to see it as the standard among all the Chinese dialects, while some Chinese see it as an easy means of communication across diverse China – some even refer to it as Guo Yue or Hua Yue (meaning national language).