Lessons 1-10

Lesson 17 我要住在大连。 I will live in Dalian.

要 yào Will, want / 青岛 qīngdǎo Qingdao / 中餐 zhōngcān Chinese food
/ 加拿大 Jiānádà Canada /
要 yào means "will" or "want to" depending on the context. 要 yào is not usually used in the negative form.

当然 Dāngrán means "of course" and is used in the same way that the English expression is used, with a few minor differences. For instance, in response to a request you could say 当然可以 Dāngrán kěyǐ "Of course you can!" but it English we frequently drop the verb and just respond "Of course!"

Example sentences:

她 要 去 北京。 She will to go to Beijing.
Tā yào qù Běijīng.
She will go North Capital.

周 小姐 要 住 在 青岛。 Ms. Zhou will live in Qingdao.
Zhōu xiǎojiě yào zhù zài qīngdǎo.
Zhou little-big-sister will live at Blue/Green-Island.

我 要 住 在 大连。 I will live in Dalian.
Wǒ yào zhù zài Dàlián.
I will live at Big-Link.

我 要 喝 啤酒。 I want to drink beer.
Wǒ yào hē píjiǔ.
I will drink beer.

她 要 学习 汉语 吗? Will she study Mandarin?
Tā yào xuéxí Hànyǔ ma?
She want study Han-language question?

王 小姐 要 去 加拿大 学习。 Ms. Wang will study in Canada.
Wáng xiǎojiě yào qù Jiānádà xuéxí.
Wang little-big-sister want go Canada study.

他 要 去 买 电视。 He will buy a television.
Tā yào qù mǎi diànshì.
He want go buy electric-look upon.

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Sound files for the example sentences:

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>> Download SS teacher reading these sentences (right click to save)

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Dialogue: 

A 你认识汉字吗?
   Nĭ rènshi hànzì ma?
   Can you read Chinese characters?

B 我不认识。
   Wŏ bú rènshi.
   I can’t read them.

A 你要学吗?
   Nĭ yào xué ma?
   Will you study them?

B 当然要学。
   Dāngrán yào xué.
   Of course I will study them.

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Sound files for the dialogue:

>> Download DL teacher and DP teacher performing this dialogue (right click to save)

Lessons 11-20
Lessons 21-30
Lessons 31-40
Lessons 41-50
Lessons 51-60
Lessons 61-70
Lessons 71-80
Lessons 81-90
Lessons 91-100
Lessons 101-110
Lessons 111-120
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The Mandarin language is not as difficult as you might think. There’s a reason why it’s the world’s most spoken language! A lingua franca for much of Northern China since the Yuan dynasty, Mandarin has a simple, no-nonsense grammatical system and a vocabulary that builds upon itself. So don’t be daunted! You too can speak this beautiful language.