What to Expect from Your First Chinese Language Class

You’ve bought the Chinese language textbook and Mandarin Chinese dictionary. Maybe you’ve even flipped through them a little, perhaps getting a little overwhelmed by all those Chinese characters you’ll be expected to learn and wondering what you’ve gotten yourself into (and whether it’s too late to switch to something easier- like Spanish or German.)

But never fear! Your first Chinese language class will be fun! Promise!

Most Chinese language classes designed for beginners don’t attempt to throw you into the language without any preparation. In your first class, you’ll probably learn how to greet people and you’ll start learning how to say things properly and all about tones.

Essentially, tones are the different ways that any given Chinese syllable can be pronounced- and each separate syllable has four possible tones, conveniently called first, second, third and fourth tone. Saying something in a different tone can completely change the meaning, so you’ll learn in your first class how to properly say the tones.

As far as that greeting goes, I’ll give you a quick hint:
In Mandarin Chinese, you’ll greet people by saying “Ni hao.”
Practice that a few times before your first class and you’ll be ahead of all your classmates already.