im trying to create my own cover for my ipod and i want to put life on the back in Chinese. Whenever I look it up on the interent, they give me different symbols and i dont want to put the wrong symbol on it and think it means something else. Also, is it two symbols or just one? And if it is two, is there a way I can just put one part of the symbol and it still mean life? Thanx

其實...我在國外因為我父母出國工作.為了有個好生意 what i'm trying to say is that i'm out of the country because in order to get/have a good business, my parents work abroad. or i'm out of the country because my parents work abroad in order to get/have a good business.

For those of you who know or have heard multiple Chinese dialects, which one(s) do you think is most beautiful-sounding?

Hey, I decided I might start learning Chinese the thing is that, some things don’t make sense to me. First of all, is pinyin ONLY written with English letters? So there are no symbols or marks or anything for pinyin, except that it’s written in Latin letters? Also, I read that simplified Chinese are more used than traditional Chinese. So, if I go to China, or any Chinese speaking country, or if I watch a movie about China, everything that's written in stores, streets, schools, books, EVERYTHING, is in simplified Chinese? Also, how does u read Chinese? Any website that could help me? Do u just learn chinese by MEMORIZING what each symbol is? and what about writing? it seems to me like it would take me like 5 hours to only draw ONE symbol and if i see a random symbol, how do i know how to pronounce it? and how do i know what it means? Any online Chinese dictionaries?

Is it different?

I have already taken three years of college-level Chinese. Due to my interest in classical languages (I also know Latin, Ancient Greek, Classical Arabic, and a little bit of Classical Persian), I'd like to learn some Classical Chinese (文言文). My Chinese teachers told me that most resources for Classical Chinese are only in Chinese. Does anyone know of any English-language resources for learning Classical Chinese?

Can you please translate this into English: 尼古拉斯，我決定，我想在週五。所以，我會的。耶！這是中文的方式。大聲笑。烏姆…

How do you say "oh my gosh" or "omg" in Mandarin Chinese? I know the Korean equivalent of "omg" is "omo." I would like to know the Mandarin Chinese one. Also, if possible, please tell of some common Mandarin expressions. Thank you!

This sounds like such an ignorant question and I apologize. But it is something I genuinely don't know the answer to. I am planning to visit Beijing, China and stay there for a couple of months. I wanted to learn some Chinese before I go to make it easier for my travel. The only classes I found available in my city is a Mandarin course. I was wondering if learning mandarin would be helpful when I go to China. Thank you in advance to all the answers. :)

Zhe - it means 'this' in English but im not quite sure how to pronounce it. Anyone who can help please? Thanks (:

I want to know how to say the following in Chinese (preferably Mandarin, but Cantonese is fine, too): "Who am I?" "Who are you?" "I...don't know a thing..." (as if the guy has amnesia) give me like the romaji (or whatever it's called) form and the characters. Please!!

I love learning Chinese online with native Chinese teachers. Where can I find online Chinese teachers?

What are the differences in accent, vocabulary, grammar, and usage?

hi ppl.. cud anyone help me out with chinese translation for the following expressions..?.. it wud be great if u also give the corresponding english word in brackets for each chinese word in the translation.... 1) Hi.. how do you do 2) I am doing fine/great 3) Thank you 4) You are very pretty 5) Had your lunch/dinner? 6) Good morning 7) Have a nice day plz do keep the pronounciation in mind.. if the word in chinese is, for eg, "jian", but pronounced as "juan", just give the translation as "juan".. i mean, just get the tones right and don mind the spellings.... i juz wanna strike conversation with a few ppl.. thanks a lot

I learnt mandarin Chinese for 6 years in elementary school, so I know a few words, strokes, and basic sentence structure/grammar. My vocabulary however is very limited. I'd like to take it up again but I actually cannot afford real classes at the moment. I'm thinking of buying a book and learning a few words everyday - maybe 10 new words? Are there other more efficient ways to improve?