Lessons 1-10

Lesson 13 学外语很难。It is difficult to learn a foreign language.

说 Shuō Speak / 汉语 Hànyǔ Chinese (language) / 难 nán difficult
/ 写 Xiě to write /
说 普通话 很 难。 Speaking Mandarin is very difficult.
Shuō pǔtōnghuà hěn nán.
Speak common-dialect very difficult.

学 汉语 很 难。 Learning Mandarin is difficult.
Xué Hànyǔ hěn nán.
Learning the Han dialect is not difficult.

说 汉语 难 吗? Is it difficult to speak Mandarin?
Shuō Hànyǔ nán ma?
Study Han dialect difficult question?

写 英语 不 难。 Writing English is not difficult.
Xiě Yīngyǔ bù nán.
Write English not difficult.

学 英语 很 难。 English is difficult to learn.
Xué Yīngyǔ hěn nán.
Study English very difficult.

学 外语 很 难。 It is difficult to learn a foreign language.
Xué wàiyǔ hěn nán.
Study external-language very difficult.

学 俄语 很 难。 Russian is very difficult to learn.
Xué Éyǔ hěn nán.
Study Russian-language very difficult.

>> Download this as a PDF (right click to save)

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

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

DIALOGUE

A 写汉字难吗?
   Xiĕ hànzì nán ma?
   Is it difficult to write Chinese characters?

B 很难。我不认识汉字。
   Hĕn nán. wŏ bú rènshí hànzì.
   Yes, it’s very difficult. I can’t make out Chinese characters.

A 说也难吗?
   Shuō yĕ nán ma?
   Is speaking also difficult?

B 说不太难。
   Shuō bú tài nán.
   Speaking is not too difficult.

>> Download this as a PDF (right click to save)

>> Download MQ teacher and VG teacher performing this dialogue (right click to save)

>> 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
> Send us an email
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.