3 Greetings and family

In chapters 1 and 2, you learned the basics of the Chinese pronunciation transcription system, commonly known as Hanyu Pinyin. This includes initials, finals, tones, and spelling rules. Now it is time to use your knowledge about Hanyu Pinyin to learn Chinese for communication.

Chapter 3 consists of two lessons. In Lesson 1, you will learn expressions and etiquette to greet and address someone appropriately in a Chinese community. For example you will learn how to say hello and ask and answer some simple questions about yourself and others, such as name and nationality. You will be able to find out if someone is a student and where he or she is from.

In Lesson 2, you are the focus. You will talk about yourself, introduce your family members, and tell what your family members do. Once you have completed this lesson, you can introduce yourself and your friends to Chinese people.

Learning goals

At the end of Chapter 3, you will be able to:

• Conduct simple greetings in Chinese
• Ask and answer simple questions about yourself and others
• Find out simple personal information such as name and nationality
• Talk about friends and family

Lesson 1. Greetings 你好

Lesson 2. My Family 我的家

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