Text

他是哪国人?

Notes

1. “那是谁?” — “Who is that person?”

   The word “谁” has a modern pronunciation “shéi”, and a literary pronunciation “shuí”.

2. “他是哪国人?” — “What’s his nationality?”

3. “他是中国人。” — “He is a Chinese”.

   To express the idea of “a certain person of a certain nationality”, Chinese requires the addition of the word “人” to the name of the country.

4. “他是汉语老师吗?” — “Is he a teacher of Chinese?”

   “汉语老师” — means “a teacher who teaches Chinese.”

Pronunciation drills and conversation practice

Initials	(zh ch sh) r
Finals	ü ei ong

1. The four tones

   zhōng

   zhóng

   zhǒng

   zhòng

   guō

   guó

   guǒ

   guò

   } Zhōngguó rén

   (rēn)

   rén

   rěn

   rèn

   hān

   hán

   hǎn

   hàn

   } hànyǔ

   yū

   yú

   yǔ

   yù

   lāo

   láo

   lǎo

   lào

   — lǎoshī

2. Sound discrimination

   bēi — pēi
   lái — léi
   rǎo — shǎo
   nǚ — nǔ

   lǜ — lù
   róng — réng
   zhì — chì — shì — rì
   zhè — chè — shè — rè

3. Tone discrimination (1^st tone and 2^nd tone)

   guō — guó
   rāng — ráng
   chōng — chóng

   tōng — tóng
   fēi — féi
   yū — yú

4. Tone changes — half 3^rd tone and neutral tone

   wǒmen lǎoshī
   nǐmen lǎoshī
   tāmen lǎoshī

   wǒ gēge
   nǐ dìdi
   ta péngyou

5. Read out the following words and phrases:

   1. nǎ guó rén
   3. Zhōngguó rén
   5. Fǎguó rén
   7. Rìběn rén

   2. Éluósī rén
   4. Déguó rén
   6. Měiguó rén
   8. Tàiguó rén

Identifying people or objects

1. 
   (1)

   
   A: Tā shì shéi?
   B:

   
   A: Tā shì shéi?
   B:

   
   A: Tā shì shéi?
   B:

   
   A: Tā shì shéi?
   B:

   (2)

   A: Nà shì shéi?
   B: Nà shì wǒmen lǎoshī.

   nǐmen
   hànyǔ

   tāmen
   Zhōngguó

2. Asking about nationalities

   (1)

   
   A: Тā shì nǎ guó rén?
   B:

   
   A:
   B: Tā shì Rìběn rén.

   
   A: Тā shì nǎ guó rén?
   B:

   
   A: Тā shì nǎ guó rén?
   B:

   (2)

   A:

   Nǐ hǎo.

    

   B:

   Nǐ hǎo.

    

   A:

   Nǐ shì nǎ guó rén?

    

   B:

   Wǒ shì rén. Nǐ ne?

    

   A:

   Wǒ shì rén.

   (3)

   A:

   Nǐ shì nǎ guó rén?

    

   B:

   Wǒ shì rén.

    

   A:

   Tā yě shì rén ma?

    

   B:

   Tā yě shì rén.

    

   A:

   Nǐmen dōu shì rén ma?

    

   B:

   Wǒmen dōu shì rén.

Phonetics

How to pronounce these initial and finals

Initial r [ʐ] ≈ [ʒ]

The initial “r [ʐ]” is a voiced fricative, pronounced in the same way as “sh”, but with a very slight friction. The vocal cords vibrate.

Simple final ü [y]

The simple final “ü [y]” is produced by first articulating “i”, then rounding and protruding the lips as much as possible, leaving a very small opening, but with the tongue kept still.

Compound final ei [ei]

The “e” in “ei” is pronounced as [e]. “e” is pronounced both long and loud whereas “i” is pronounced light, short and indistinct.

Nasal final ong [uŋ]

The nasal final “ong [uŋ]” is produced by first pronouncing “о”, with the opening of the mouth somewhat smaller than in the case of the simple vowel “о” but about the same as for “u”, then promptly retracting the tongue backward to press the back of the tongue against the soft palate and lowering the soft palate at the same time to let the air out through the nasal cavity.

Rules of phonetic spelling

When forming a syllable by itself or when occuring at the beginning of a syllable, “ü” is written as “yu”, as in “hàn yǔ”.

Situational tasks

1. Ask from what country:
   — your Chinese teacher is;
   — a friend of your elder brother is;
   — your interlocutor is;
   — a friend of your interlocutor;
   — a teacher of your interlocutor.



2. Translate the following sentences into Chinese, then make them negative:
   — We are Russian.
   — He is a French.
   — She is a German.
   — Our teacher is a Chinese.
   — My friend is a Japanese.
   — They are all Americans.

Listen to the following word combinations. Write them in transcription pinyin. Lay tone marks:

日—师；这—蛇；让—长；绕-朝—少；
成—虫—容；懂—通；工—耕—空；
垄—冷；女—牛；绿—六；雨—又；
生日；由于；旅游；干杯；身体；
同班；导师；女士；读者。

Write the following sentences in Chinese characters adding tone marks above them:

1. Wǒ māma bú shì dàifu, tā shì lǎoshī.
2. Nǐde péngyou shì nǎ guó rén?
3. Zhè shì wǒmen hànyǔ lǎoshīde chē.
4. Nà shì shéide shū? — Nà shì wǒ bàbade shū.
5. Wǒmende hànyǔ lǎoshī hěn máng.
6. Wǒ bàba shì lǎoshī, gēge yě shì lǎoshī.
7. Tā shì dàifu ma?
8. Zhè shì tāde chē ma?

Write the following sentences in Chinese characters and pinyin, lay tone marks:

1. Tā bú shì 德国 rén, tā shì 法国 rén.
2. Wǒ shì 俄国 rén / 俄罗斯 rén, wǒde péngyou shì 美国 rén.
3. Tā bàba shì 日本 rén, māma shì 德国 rén.
4. Wǒmende hànyǔ lǎoshī bú shì 中国 rén, tā shì 俄国 rén / 俄罗斯 rén.
5. Dàifu shì 法国 rén.
6. Zhè shì 日本 chē.
7. Nà shì 德国笔.

Do you know?

The Chinese language has eight major dialects. The eight dialect areas are: North China (for the Northern dialect), Jiangsu-Zhejiang (for the Wu dialect), Hunan (for the Hunan dialect), Jiangxi (for the Jiangxi dialect), Kejia (for the Kejia dialect, a form of Chinese spoken by descendants of northerners who moved to Guangdong and nearby provinces centuries ago), northern Fujian (for the northern Fujian dialect), southern Fujian (for the southern Fujian dialect) and Guangdong (for the Yue, another name of Guangdong Province, dialect). Of all the Chinese-speaking population, about 70% speak the Northern dialect, which is the reason why it has been made the basis of the common speech.

The vocabulary and grammar are basically the same in all the dialects, the chief difference being in pronunciation. In order to remove barriers caused by dialectal differences and to facilitate and bring about a further political, cultural and economic development, a nation-wide campaign has been started to popularize the common speech.