Starting to Learn Chinese

Starting to Learn Chinese

note: this dialogue is based on material from Rocket Chinese, an online program that you are recommended to visit::

How to use:

The dialogue has been assembled into two sections, Speaker A and Speaker B. The missing reply in each part is shown by question marks ???????
For learning, first read the entire conversation. Secondly, challenge yourself to remember the response from either Speaker A or Speaker B.
This dialogue is very elementary. However, parts of it can be extended with questions that have similar grammar: For example:

<> Can you ... understand my Chinese (speech) / drive / do computer programming / come next Sunday / help me / tell me where to buy shoes ...
<> How long have you been ... driving for / living in China / working in Brisbane / coming to this meetup / looking for a job / shopping this morning / wearing those shoes ....

[SPEAKER A]

Lin: 你会说汉语吗？

Lin: nǐ huì shuō hàn yǔ ma?

Lin: Can you speak Chinese?

??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

Lin: 你学习汉语多长时间了？

Lin: nǐ xué xí hàn yǔ duō cháng shí jiān le?

Lin: How long have you been studying Chinese for?

??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

Lin: 当然可以。你学习汉语多长时间了？

Lin: dāng rán kě yǐ. nǐ xué xí hàn yǔ duō cháng shí jiān le?

Lin: Of course. How long have you been studying Chinese for?

??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

Lin: 你的汉语很棒！

Lin: nǐ de hàn yǔ hěn bàng!

Lin: Your Chinese is wonderful.

??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

[SPEAKER B]

??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

Dave: 会，可是我只会说一点儿。

Dave: huì, kě shì wǒ zhǐ huì shuō yī diǎnr.

Dave: Yes, but just a little bit.

?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

Dave: 对不起，请你说慢一点儿，好吗？

Dave: duì bu qǐ, qǐng nǐ shuō màn yī diǎnr, hǎo ma?

Dave: Excuse me, please speak a little bit more slowly, OK?

?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

Dave: 谢谢。我学习汉语已经一个月了。

Dave: xiè xie. wǒ xué xí hàn yǔ yǐ jīng yī gè yuè le.

Dave: Thanks. I have been studying Chinese for a month.

?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

Dave: 不如你的汉语棒！

Dave: bù rú nǐ de hàn yǔ bàng!

Dave: Not as good as your Chinese!