Thank you so much Avishay,

I really appreciate the encouragement, It's so great
to hear from other members of this yahoo group I
formed
Except for 3 or 4 others it's very rare to hear from
the members. I want more for this group then just
"Look and see" what I've been up to. Another new
member stated he wanted to learn more about Chinese
culture so I thought this would be fun and see where
it goes.

Mel


--- avishay <avishayisaiah@...> wrote:

> oh btw have you checked out zhongwen.com its a
> great site for
> chinese-english / english-chinese online dictionary
>
> --- In tristatewushukungfu@yahoogroups.com, "Mel"
> <tonji152@y...>
> wrote:
> >
> > Hi group, I'm far from being a linguist expert
> but I have been
> > studying Pu Deng Hwa (Mandarin) from a native
> speaker for nearly 8
> > months. I love the reaction I get when I greet a
> Chinese National
> > using such a simple phrase. Ni hao ma? Pronounced
> "KNEE"-"HOW"-
> "MA?"
> > if you leave off the "MA?" Ni hao will simply mean
> "HI". Ni (KNEE)-
>
> > Means "YOU", Hao (HOW) refers to being good and
> "Ma?" in this case
> > signifies the phrase as a direct question with an
> expected answer.
> > Whereas just saying "Ni Hao?" without the "MA?" on
> the end. (Hi)
> as
> > you are walking by without having time to stop for
> a long
> > conversation, no answer is really expected or you
> are very
> familiar
> > to the person you are speaking with and there is
> no need to be
> > formal. To say hi to more than one person or a
> group you add "MEN"
> to
> > the word "NI" Changing the phrase to "Nimen Hao?"
> These greetings
> are
> > appropriate for morning, noon and night. The
> answer back is the
> same.
> > If someone says "Ni Hao?" to you, you would anwer
> back "Ni Hao!"It
> > gets more complicated when Ma is used. THe answer
> back will be
> more
> > invloved. "I'm very well, thank you and you?"
> would be "Wo hen
> > hao,xie xie,ni neh?" Wo sounds like "Wa" which
> means I, "Hen"
> (means
> > very) Hoa (Good or well) and thank you "Xie Xie"
> sounds like "Shay-
> > Shay!" "Ni Neh" sounds like "Knee Nuh?" (And you?)
> NOw the
> question
> > is back in the in face of the person who started
> the conversation
> the
> > standard response would be I'm also very good or
> Yeh hen hao! Yeh
> > (also) Hen (Very) and Hao (Good or well).
> >
> > Zhai Jian, Sound like (Z'eye Gee-ann) means Bye!
> > Mel
>
>
>


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