each one of the "words" below denotes at least one chinese character......
 

bo         ba    ban   bang        ben   beng     bi     bin     bing          bu
po         pa    pan   pang         pen   peng      pi     pin     ping           pu
mo        ma    man   mang       men   meng      mi   min    ming           mu
fo         fa    fan    fang         fen   feng                                          fu
 
 

bai  bei  bie  bao                 biao bian
pai   pei  pie  pao  pou         piao  pian
mai  mei mie  mao mou miu  miao mian
        fei


de        da    dan   dang                       deng     di             ding      dong       du      duan
te        ta     tan   tang                       teng      ti              ting        tong      tu         tuan
ne        na     nan  nang           nen       neng      ni    nin     ning        nong   nu    nü    nuan
le        la      lan   lang                         leng       li    lin       ling        long    lu      lü    luan
 

dai dei dui  die  dao  dou  diu  diao dian           dun  duo
tai        tui   tie  tao  tou           tiao tian           tun   tuo
nai nei          nie  nao          niu   niao nian niang         nuo  nue
lai  lei          lie   lao   lou   liu            lian liang   lun   luo  lue

 

ge        ga      gan    gang       gen       geng                      gong             gu          guan guang
ke        ka       kan   kang        ken      keng                      kong              ku         kuan   kuang
he        ha       han     hang       hen      heng                      hong              hu         huan  huang
 

gai   gei   gui        gao   gou  guai gua  guo
kai           kui        kao  kou  kuai  kua  kuo
hai    hei   hui        hao  hou   huai  hua huo


ji         jia      jian       jiang                            ji    jin      jing              jü       juan
qi         qia     qian       qiang                           qi    qin     qing              qü      quan
xi         xia     xian      xiang                           xi   xin      xing            xü       xuan
 

jie   jiao  jiong 
qie  qiao  qiong
xie  xiao  xiong


zi          za       zan       zang                 zeng            zu    zun    zuan      zong
ci          ca        can       cang                 ceng            cu     cun                 cong
si          sa        san        sang      sen                        su     sun     suan    song
 

zai  zei    zui     zao    zou
cai           cui      cao
sai            sui     sao

                


zhi        zha    zhan     zhang      zhen  zheng           zhu  zhun  zhuan  zhuang  zhong
chi        cha     chan    chang       chen   cheng           chu  chun  chuan  chuang   chong
shi        sha     shan   shang        shen   sheng           shu   shun             shuang
ri            ra     ran      rang         ren    reng              ru               ruan                rong
 

zhai          zhui   zhao    zhou   zhuai
chai          chui   chao     chou   chuai
shai  shei  shui   shao     shou   shuai

                rui    rao      rou   

 


yi            yia       yan     yang          yong               yi   yin   ying     you    ye    yiu  yü yue
wo           wa    wan    wang     wei      wen     weng           wu
e                                                 en       er
 

ai             ao
ei             ou

an           ang
en           eng

note the w and y sounds are not quite like English - they in fact start with a vowel
'w' starts with u (as in u in bull) and 'y' starts with an English e (i)
Just ask a chinese person to say:  "In winter when the weather is wet and windy I wear my woollen sweater"  (they don't understand the word jersey very often) and you'll pick up the first language interference!  So don't make the same mistake going back the other way!
 
 


and that's about it......  all in all, its not a lot of words for an entire language.....

each one of the "words" above denotes one chinese character

Usage of tones obviously increases the range of meanings, plus the combinations of  characters will create new meanings too

playing around with direct translations can help to pin down grammatical differences in your memory... eg:

"what's your name?"   ni jiao shen me ming zi?  =  you call what name?

 

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Chinese words 1 2 3 top   (help with pronunciation)

More thoughts on learning a new language
(with a Chinese angle)

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