MSLK covers survival Chinese. The vocabulary is intentionally limited to only the most frequent verbs, adjectives, nouns, and grammatical structures. By focusing on a small vocabulary, you’ll repeat the basic sentence structures enough so that they become second nature.
Here’s specifically what is covered:
Greetings
“Hello” with 你好
“Goodbye” with 再见
“Thanks!” with 谢谢
“Thank You” with 谢谢你
“Please” with 请Question-Related
“Question or Problem” with 问题
“Who?” with 谁
“What?” with 什么
“When?” with 什么时候
“Where?” with 哪儿
“Why?” with 为什么
“Which?” with 哪个
“How?” with 怎么
“What time?” with 几点
“How many, how much” with 几
“How many/much” with 多少Grammatical Concepts
Noun “is” Adjective with 很
Noun “and” Noun with 和
Negation with 不
Yes or No questions with Adj. + 不 + Adj.
Yes or No questions with 吗
Measure Word 个
Possession with 的
“Both or All” with 都
们 For Plural
“Not Have” & “Didn’t” with 没有
Completed Actions with 了
“Will/going to” with 要
“Not going to” or “Won’t” with 不要
Past experience with 过
“Presently” with 在
“But” with 但是
“Correct” with 对Common Verbs
“To say/speak” with 说
“To understand” with 懂
“To listen” with 听
“To look” with 看
“Can’t Understand” with 听不懂
“Is or Is Not” – 是/不是
“Located” with 在
“To have or possess” with 有
“Can/Can’t” with 可以/不可以
“To treat someone” with 请
“To like” with 喜欢
“Want to” with 想
“Called” with 叫
“To Know” with 知道
“To do” with 做
“To leave” with 走
“To come” with 来
“To go” with 去
“To buy” with 买
“To sell” with 卖
“To give” or “for” with 给
“To learn” with 学
“To be acquainted” with 认识
“To use” with 用Common Adjectives
“Good, fine, OK” with 好
“Fast” with 快
“Slow” with 慢
“Big” with 大
“Small” with 小
“Hot” with 热
“Cold” with 冷
“Young” with 年轻
“Old” with 老
“Tall” with 高
“Short” with 矮
“Heavy” with 重
“Light” with 轻Common Nouns
“This & That” with 这(个) & 那(个)
“Mom” with 妈妈
“Dad” with 爸爸
“Friend” with 朋友
“Thing, Stuff, Something” with 东西
“Person” with 人
“Teacher” with 老师
“Here & There” with 这儿 & 那儿
“Name” with 名字
“Beijing” with 北京
“China” with 中国
“Country” with 国家
“Chance or opportunity” with 机会
“Chinese” with 中文
“English” with 英文
“Meaning” with 意思Pronouns
“He/him” with 他
“She/her” with 她
“You” with 你
“I/me” with 我
“It” with 它
Plural with 们
“They/Them” with 他们/她们
“We/us” with 我们
“You all” with 你们Number & Time Related
Numbers Part 1
1, 2, 3, 10, 11, 12, 13, 20, 21, 22, 23, 30, 31, 32, 33
Numbers Part 2
4, 5, 6, 14, 15, 16, 40-46, 50-56, 60-66
Numbers Part 3
1 – 99
Numbers Part 4
1 – 9,999,999
“Zero” with 零
Months with 月
Measuring number of months
Dates with 号
Days of the Week
“Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow” with 昨天 今天 明天
“Morning, Afternoon, Night” 早上 下午 晚上
Seconds, minutes, hours, days, years
Time on the Clock
“Half or half past” with 半
“Quarter (of an hour)” with 刻
“Less or Before” with 差
“Now” with 现在
“A pair of” with 两个 两点 两百 两千