I know Mandarin and Cantonese are both dialects of Chinese but do they use different characters and is the sound very different from each other?

But, I don't know which self study book is the best to help me learn beginner Mandarin language or which is really suitable for a learner like me.

my name is Vika and i want it to be translated to Chinese language and can you please help me..

any proverbs about family for a Christmas card for grandparents.

It is more like I want to say that I don't have a living room for my (non existent) sofa to be in. (Before I wrote about having a sofa and big white cat that slept on it. But, I don't have the sofa. I don't have a cat.). I don’t know whether the Chinese grammar in this sentence is right or not. I need someone who is really good at Chinese grammar to answer my question.

I am studying Chinese and writing; do ALL Chinese words; ie., ai or ang all have five different meanings depending on the stroke 1,2,3,4, (5) over them. I have of a listing of about 400 words; (Dolch words in Chinese ;) but if each has 5 tone marks HELP It gets harder and harder to learn Chinese. Does anyone have some good ways to learn Chinese?

A: Do you know the art of chopsticks? B: Could you teach me how to use chopsticks?

I'm kind of confused about these terms. So please help me understand them well enough. What is Mandarin/Mandarin Chinese or Chinese Mandarin? (Are they any different at all?) Traditional Chinese and Simplified Chinese Cantonese Han Chinese Hanyu(or is it Han Yu?) that's all. I just need some simple explanations for each. Thanks so much in advance.

Which one and why? I would pick Chinese because there are more things Chinese around me than Japanese. I could also speak Chinese in Chinatown and stuff. LOL.

Just give me the Chinese pinyin or Chinese characters for it

I want my boyfriend and my name tattooed on me somewhere but I want it in Chinese letters. My name is Nani, his name is Irving. Throughout our relationship we created Nanirving as our special thing. I can't find this anywhere in Chinese, so I tried combining NaniIrving to make this 纳尼欧文boyfriend . It's disappointing how I can't literally combine them, but this will do. Is this a good idea or no? Also, I would like the Chinese letters to "Inner Strength" such as making yourself the strength to keep you moving. Thanks a bunch!

can't read Chinese characters and my friend says it’s a secret and he won't tell me!! Please help

Hi, I have a number of questions about Chinese pinyin pronunciation: 1. How do you know when "i" in Chinese pinyin should be pronounced "uh" or "ee" or "er" as in the English word "fur" (examples of usage in chi and shi)? I've heard it as all these ways and am very confused as to which is correct, keeping in mind I am aiming for the Beijing accent. 2. In the Chinese pinyin "e", how does one know if it is to be pronounced as the English sound "uh" or "eh"? I have heard "ye" as both "yeh" and "yuh". 3. Does it really make a huge difference if you give your "ch" and "zh" different forces of air, like I know some of the sounds have more air than others, like "p" and "b"...?

1.我为了过汉语6级正在努力学习。 2.我在家正在唱歌。 3.我跟朋友一起在商店正在买茶。

Please do NOT send me something from Google. I want to be able to ask a store when they close. Thanks :)

I was talking to one of my Chinese friends and he called me Shi Pei, I was wondering what it means exactly and I did not get to ask before he logged off. Can anyone help?

My roommate's older sister is visiting our small New York apartment from China tomorrow. I'm already going to say "很高兴再次见到您" but I also want to say, "Welcome to our humble home!" Can I say, "huan ying ni lai wo men de peng bi (蓬筚; péng bì)"? Any other tips on how to make her feel welcome in our home? This is her first time in America. She is from Beijing.

I'm not interested in the "biggest population", "fast developing country" or any economic reasons. I've been studying Mandarin Chinese in Beijing for 3 months and I find myself asking, "Why do I care? Why do I want to study this language?" If china were a slum with no future today, I want some ideas about why I would still want to study the language.