ITT Ryan learns Mandarin

[RyanThunder]

Greetings
你好。 : nǐ hǎo : Like "Hello" or "How are you?"
你 : nǐ : (pronoun) 2nd person singular pronoun. Like "you" or "you're".
好 : hǎo : (adjective) Like "good".
Sounds almost playful if you get the tones right. Will have to be careful not to read too far into it.

我很好。 : wǒ hěn hǎo : Like "I'm very good."
我 : wǒ : (pronoun) 1st person pronoun. Like "I", "me", or "I'm".
很 : hěn : (adjective) Like "very" or "extremely".

你呢？ : nǐ ne : Like "How about you?"

我很好。谢谢。 : wǒ hěn hǎo, xie xie. : Literally "I'm very good, thanks."

我叫RyanThunder。你叫什么名字？ : wo jiao RyanThunder. ni jiao shenme mingzi? : Like "My name is RyanThunder. What's your name?" (lit. "I [be called] RyanThunder. You [be called] what name?")

我从Toronto来。你从哪里来？ : wo cong Toronto lai. ni cong nali lai? : Like "I'm from Toronto. Where are you from?" (lit. "I from Toronto come. You from where come?")

晚安。 : wǎn'ān : Like "Good night."
晚 : wǎn (noun) : like "night" or "evening".
安 : ān (adjective) : like "safe", "secure", "quiet", "calm", "content", "still", or "satisfied".

我的中文还好 : wǒ de zhōngwén hái hǎo : "My Chinese is just okay."
我的中文还坏 : wǒ de zhōngwén hái huài : "My Chinese is just bad."
中文 : zhōngwén (noun) : Chinese language.

Numbers
零一二三四无六七​八九​十 : ling yi 'er san si wu liu qi ba jiu shi : 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
For numbers above ten the pronounciation is [tens digit]十[ones digit], with the exception of teens where the format is simply 十[ones digit]. For writing purposes the single digits are used like arabic numerals. i.e. 24 written as 二四, pronounced 二十四.

Also, fucking tones. I like the sound it gives the language, but its almost impossible to determine whether somebody's using the 3rd or 5th tone for some syllables.

I do wonder what effect if any it has on how easy it is to read somebody's emotional state from their speech. Anybody know any good Chinese dramas I could watch for this?

[RyanThunder]

Man, level 11 in this app and they still haven't taught me grammar except for what I can gather from substituting words into other sentences.

Still no verbs.

Ah well, at least I found somebody to practice with, so I can pick it up from them.

[Infinity Biscuit]

The idea that the best way to learn a language is by being taught its grammatical structure and lists of vocabulary words is rather lacking in evidence. How well are you remembering what you've been taught outside of using the app?

[RyanThunder]

It's sorta how I learn computer languages. I remember enough to piece together simple sentences out of phrases I've been taught, with predictable errors like saying "I will look at you" instead of "see you then". My friend tells me my tones are horrible, but that's normal.

[Zod]

The difference between computer languages and people languages is that you need an actual person to practice with in order to develop any sort of competency. Otherwise there's a lot of little things you can miss really easily.

[RyanThunder]

Oh, yeah. I practice with my friend when I can. I hope to be able to handle simple but meaningful conversation by the end of next year at least.

[RyanThunder]

Oh, cool. I didn't know Toronto had a Chinese name, but apparently it's "多伦多" or "duolunduo". If you say it with a Mandarin accent it sounds a bit like "Toronto", so it's probably just some kind of transliteration.

[RyanThunder]

Windows 8 has pretty decent support for typing shit in pinyin out of the box, it seems. For instance, "我的中文是平庸“ （"My Chinese is mediocre") can be simply typed as "wodezhongwenshipingyong" and then pressing '1' to select the first suggestion.

[RyanThunder]

And now I'm being told that I speak like a caveman because I use 是 between the subject and adjective when I don't have to, and also that I have a heavy Japanese accent.

[RyanThunder]

早 (zǎo) can be used like 上午 for morning for a shorter greeting (造好 / "zǎo hǎo")

你在做什么？ - nǐ zài zuò shénme? - "What are you doing?"
also used like "What are you up to?"

再看 - zài kàn - to look at or watch
i.e. “你再看Blade Runner吗？” - "Nǐ zài kàn Blade Runner ma?" => "Do you want to watch Blade Runner?"

I need to learn how to say more things, but my friend says my accent is improving.

[Ralin]

And now I'm being told that I speak like a caveman because I use 是 between the subject and adjective when I don't have to, and also that I have a heavy Japanese accent.

The first time I took Japanese I was told I spoke it with a Chinese accent.

再看 - zài kàn - to look at or watch
i.e. “你再看Blade Runner吗？” - "Nǐ zài kàn Blade Runner ma?" => "Do you want to watch Blade Runner?

"You're watching Blade Runner again?"

[RyanThunder]

Unrelated; turns out it was terrible. We were both staggeringly bored by it.