Hi gang or Da Jia Hao!

I know these lessons are far and few inbetween. I'm trying to get
better at it. IN this scenario, you may want to ask a Chinese person
if they speak English or you may be asked this question from one of
them.

The Mandarin phrase would be:

"Ni Hoy Shwar, Pu Tung Hwa-Ma?" Ni=You..Hoy=can Shwar=speak..Pu
Tung Hwa= "The common language" aka "Mandarin" "Ma" indicates a yes
or No question. Do you speak Mandarin?

There are no simple yes or no's in Chinese. It changes depending on
the question. If the answer is yes, you could respond positively
with "Hoy!..Wa Hoy Shwar Pu Teng Hwa!" = "Can Speak!" I can Speak the
common language!" But that may mean you are an expert speaker so if
you are not you may want to respond by adding Yi Di Ar (A little)
before Pu Teng Hwa.
"Hoy!".."Wa Hoy Shwar, Yi Di Ar, Pu Tung Hwa."="I speak alittle or
some Mandarin."

If your response is "No" then you would use "Bu Hoy" or "Wa Bu Hoy
Shwar Pu Tung Hwa" = "I can't speak Mandarin."

What if you want to ask a Mandarin speaker if they can speak English?
The word for English is.."Eng Gwun" the phrase would be:

"Ni Hoy Shwar Eng Gwun Ma? The responses are the same as before but
substituting "Eng Gwun" for "Pu Tung Hwa".

If the situation was spoken in Cantonese, the language is known
as "GuanDong Hwa". The phrase you would use or be asked yourself
is: "Nay Sik/Umm Sik Gong, Guan Dong Hwa Ah?" "Sik gong" means "Can
Speak" adding "Umm" makes it negative or "Can't Speak" Yes/No
questions are asked in a yes/no or can/can't style. "Can you/Can't
you speak Cantonese?" if yes, then the response is "Sik Gong! Naw
Sik Gong Guan Dong Hwa!" = "Can Speak!" "I can speak Cantonese!".. A
little or some you would add "Yut Ti" Before Guan Dong Hwa for the
full phrase: Naw Sik Gong Yut Ti Guan Dong Hwa! "I speak Some/little
Cantonese." if the answer is no then "Umm" would be added before the
word Sik (Can) making it "Can't". "Gong" means speak. "Umm Sik Gong"
means "Can't speak". The full response wuld be "Naw Umm Sik Gong,
Guan Dong Hwa.

The Cantonese word for English is "Ying Mon". SO if you want to ask
a Cantonese speaker if they can speak English the Phrase is:
"Nay Sik/Umm Sik Gong, Ying Mon-Ah? "Can you/Can't you Speak
English?"

Cheers!

Mel