Learn Foreign Languages

The word wu in Mandarin’s first tone means “room,” in tone two it means “vulgar,” in tone three it means “five,” and in tone four it means “disobedient.”

Let’s have a look at the sentence “Mother is scolding the horse.” This is a very popular example among those that are learning the Chinese language. The spoken Chinese for this sentence transliterates as ma ma ma ma. When you make it a question – “Is mother scolding the horse?” just add another “ma” to it. Without tones, a Chinese person would not understand what you say at all. With correct tones, however, it would be as clear to him as “Peering at a pair of pairs on the pier” is to us.

It’s ideal if you know each word’s tone and the circumstances under which it shifts tones. However, on your way to the peak of mastery, it will be okay for you to try your best to imitate the native Chinese speaker’s tonality on your video and audio materials.

The soul of Chinese can be read through the language. “Tomorrow” literally means “bright day” in Chinese. The symbol for “good’ literally depicts a woman with baby, which implies that a mother with a child is the emblem of all good things. The character for “peace” is literally a woman under a roof. That for “discord,” however, depicts three women under one roof.

All of this is really fun. But it’s far away from the code cracker for the soul of Chinese. After all, how much can you tell about the English soul by noting that the word breakfast really means “breaking” the “fast” you’ve engaged in since your last bite the night before?