Learning simple Mandarin Chinese phrases and words is easier than it seems. While the prospect of learning a new language may ...

Burt: Correct! Mandarin characters don't give us the sound of a word, so the Chinese invented pinyin to help their learners. They took the letters of the Roman alphabet, the same we use for ...

Students learn four different systems for writing Mandarin. In Kindergarten, they begin with a phonetic alphabet, called BoPoMoFo. As they grow comfortable with the individual sounds and tones, they ...

Karen I. Chen is a writer, editor, and travel advisor. Karen's work has appeared in publications including The Wall Street Journal, Food & Wine, Departures, and more. While the prospect of ...