20 keywords to get you speaking your target language from day 1…

My goal is to speak as much of my target language as possible during language tutorials, right from my very first lecture! This post looks at the basic phrases one should learn before your first language tutorial.

I’ve included translations for Mandarin Chinese, Spanish and French. Chinese is a tonal language, check out my post on The Layman’s Guide to Mandarin Tones.

So let’s get started on these keywords…

1. “Hello”

Mandarin Chinese: Nǐ hǎo

Spanish: Hola

French: Bonjour

2. “How are you?”

Mandarin Chinese: Nǐ hǎo ma?

Spanish: ¿Cómo estás?

French: (formal) Comment allez-vous ? (informal) Ça va ?

3. “I am good”

Mandarin Chinese: Wǒ hěn hǎo!

Spanish: Bien!

French: Ça va bien!

4. “Thank You”

Mandarin Chinese: Xiè xie

Spanish: Gracias

French: Merci

5. “You’re welcome”

Mandarin Chinese: Bù kèqì

Spanish: de nada

French: Il n’y a pas de quoi

6. “I don’t speak…”

Mandarin Chinese: Wǒ bù huì shuō pǔtōnghuà

Spanish: Yo no hablo español

French: Je ne parle pas français

7. “How do you say …… in ……”

Mandarin Chinese: Nǐ zěnme shuō… Yòng pǔtōnghuà

Spanish: Cómo se dice en inglés

French: comment dit-on en français

8. “Sorry, I don’t understand”

Mandarin Chinese: Wǒ tīng bù dǒng

Spanish: Lo siento, no entiendo



French: Je suis désolé, je ne comprends pas. (masculine) Je suis désolée, je ne comprends pas. (feminine)

9. “I understand”

Mandarin Chinese: wǒ dǒng

Spanish: entiendo

French: je comprends

10. “I am…”

“I am” gives you a much broader range of topics to choose from. Such as name, nationality, job etc, etc.

Mandarin Chinese: Wǒ shì…

Spanish: Soy…

French: Je suis…

11. “I’m sorry”

Mandarin Chinese: Hěn bàoqiàn or duì buqĭ

Spanish: Lo siento

French: Je suis désolé (masculine), Je suis désolée (feminine) or pardon

12. “Yes”

Mandarin Chinese: Shì *There is no word for “yes” in Mandarin, but in many cases ‘it is’ works well. Otherwise, just repeat the verb of the question.

*There is no word for “yes” in Mandarin, but in many cases ‘it is’ works well. Otherwise, just repeat the verb of the question. Spanish: Sí

French: Oui

13. “No”

Mandarin Chinese: Bú shì *There is no word for ‘no’ in Mandarin. You need to place the bù meaning “ not” before the verb in question.

*There is no word for ‘no’ in Mandarin. You need to place the meaning not” before the verb in question. Spanish: No

French: Non

14. “Repeat Please /Say That Again”

Mandarin Chinese: Máfán nǐ zài shuō yībiān

Spanish: ¿Disculpa? – ¿Perdón? or ¿Cómo?

French: Répétez s’il vous plaît

15. “Speak more slowly, please”

Mandarin Chinese: Gèng màn, qǐng

Spanish: Más despacio por favor

French: Plus lentement s’il vous plaît

16. “Please write it down…”

Mandarin Chinese: Máfan nǐ xiě yīxià, hǎo bù hǎo?

Spanish: por favor escribelo

French: S’il vous plaît écrivez-le

17. “I’d like…”

Mandarin Chinese: Wǒ xiǎng yào…

Spanish: Me gustaría…

French: J’aimerais…

18. “I don’t like…”

Mandarin Chinese: Wǒ bù xǐhuān…

Spanish: No me gusta…

French: Je n’aime pas …

19. “See you next week”

Mandarin Chinese: Xià zhōu jiàn

Spanish: Te veo la proxima semana

French: À la semaine prochaine

20. “Goodbye”

Mandarin Chinese: Zàijiàn

Spanish: Adiós

French: Au revoir

People will always appreciate the effort you have made to speak to them in their own language. Don’t worry about making mistakes as it is how we learn. The more we speak in our target language the better we will become.

Are there any phrases you think should be added to this list or a language you would like me to include?

Let me know in the comments section below

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