Useful Chinese Language Phrases (if needed) - author unknown

Pinyin is a system of tranliterating Chinese characters into the Roman alphabet. Most of the sounds are similar to those in English with the following exceptions:

j, q, x should be pronounced j, ch, and s respectively, with your tongue touching your bottom front teeth, and the air hissing over the middle, flat part of your tongue.
zh, ch, sh, should be pronounced j, ch, and sh respectively, with your tongue curled up and back, reaching up and touching the middle of the roof of your mouth.
z, c, and s should be pronounced dz, ts, and s respectively, with the tip of your tongue somewhere near the base of your front teeth.
a as in father
e as in the a in about
i as in see
o as in flow, but don't put the w on the end. Just let it hang without pursing your lips
u as in oooooo
ao as in you dropped something on your foot
ei as in hey!

Pinyin letters b ch d f g h j k l m n p s sh t w y sound much the same as in English

Translation	Pinyin	Pronunciation
hello	ni hăo	knee-how
good-bye	zàijiàn	Ji-yen
please	qĭng	Ching
I'm sorry, Excuse me	Duibuqi	d-way-boo-chi
thank you	xièxie	Syay syay
that one	nèige	nay guh
Excuse me	qing yuan liang	Ching you ann li ang
how much?	Duōshăo quian	Door shao Chi en
yes	shi	sher as in sherpa
no	bù	boo
where's the toilet?	cèsuō zài náli?	Ters war dzai nah lee?
What is this?	zhe shi shen me?	Jer sher shen ma?
Don't want	Bu yao	Boo jow!
I don't understand	Wo bu dong	War boo dong
Do you understand?	Ni dong ma?	Nee dong ma?

Footnotes

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