Day Eight: First Class

After a week of life in Lanzhou, it was time to begin classes. Thursdays is 'Comprehensive Chinese', a study of reading and writing the Mandarin language.
We began, as all beginners must do, from the very basics. This was an introduction to the syllables of the language, composed of an 'initial' sound, e.g. b-, p-, m- or f-; a final sound, e.g. -a, -e, -ae, -in, -ing; and a tone.

Mandarin includes many sounds that English speakers are not used to producing, and the roman-letter representations (pinyin) does not always sound like what we may expect. On top of that, each syllable may be said in one of four basic tones: flat, rising, curved, or falling. A good introduction to pronunciation of Pinyin can be found here.

It was an interesting, although admittedly tiring class, but it is great to be beginning to learn the language! Now I have homework to do...