Explore basic vocabulary and speech for general greetings in this free online course on your journey to Chinese fluency.

Learning a new language is an adventure into a new world. China’s rich culture, cuisine, festivals and industries can attract many people. With technology able to connect people worldwide, more people are willing to explore other cultures, be it for school, business or leisure. While you may have preconceived notions of how hard or simple it may be, you can master Mandarin Chinese quickly when approached with an open, curious mind and start with a very simplified course such as this.

We will teach you how to greet people in the Chinese language, beginning with new vocabulary and its proper pronunciation and tones. You will also discover the differences in speech when you greet your peers, a group of people or an older person to show respect. Next, we explain how to ask someone their name and say yours. Generally, in Chinese, surnames come before the first name. A Chinese name is most commonly composed of two or three characters and there is no equivalent of a middle name in Chinese. Another interesting fact about surnames is that, culturally, women don't change theirs when they get married.

Finally, we will discuss how to ask someone about their nationality. You will find that some popular country names, such as ‘America’, ‘Britain and ‘France’, are spelled and pronounced entirely differently from how they are in English. There is a compiled list of all the vocabulary words taught in the course, which you can download and print from the ‘Resources’ section and use for practice. Whatever your motivation for learning Mandarin Chinese, you can get started quickly with this free short course today!