What is the difference between saying 叉 and 叉子 ? I have seen 2 forms for the word fork and the same with the word for spoon. For fork: 叉Chā and 叉子chāzi for spoon: 勺 and 勺子 . What is the difference between these 2 forms? Does adding 子 make it more formal? I have seen other words that in some dictionaries have a 子 at the end and other word lists don't include it. Does 子 add any meaning? Also, what is the correct word for a knife you use at the table along with a fork, is it 晚餐刀 ? I have seen a few words that seem to mean a knife you eat with and am not sure which one to use.

Asking for a pair of chopsticks in Mandarin What is the correct way to ask for a pair of chopsticks? (For example, in a restaurant or someone's home) Is this correct? 你有筷子吗？ or in pinyin: Nǐ yǒu Kuàizi ma? Is 筷子 the correct word for chopsticks? Also, is there supposed to be a measure word used with chopsticks? For example, even in English people will often ask for a "pair of chopsticks".

Is there a word for "a little" that is pronounced "ee dee ar"? On one of my audio CDs for the word that means "a little" or "a bit" it sounds like they are saying (transliterated not pinyin) "ee dee ar". Is this really the word yi4 dian3 ( 一点 ) just with a different local pronunciation or is there a diff

meaning of the word 商店助手 (shāngdiàn zhùshǒu) ? I have a new vocabulary word 商店助手 (shāngdiàn zhùshǒu) it is translated as store assistant and seems to literally be the combination of store + assistant. What kind of role is this exactly ? Would this be a regular store employee (a generic term for any store employee)? Is it an assistant manager? Does anyone know?

In the sentence 长安街,坐公共汽车吧 If I understand it correctly it means"Chángān Jiē, take the bus (from that street) In the sentence 长安街,坐公共汽车吧 If I understand it correctly it means"Chángān Jiē, take the bus (from that street) ba4. I don't know what that last word "ba4" means. An online dictionary says it is used for emphasis but how and why?Thanks everyone for replying but it is as Robert said , I understood that someone is saying "take the bus to Changan Street" the question is what the word "ba" means in the sentence. If it turns the sentence into a suggestion, I don't get what the English translation would be , would it be something like "Hmm, Changan Street.......you could take the bus [to there]." ?

any tips for pronouncing the Chinese R as in 日本 (rìběn) ? With help, I can occasionally get a close enough pronunciation for the Chinese R in 日本 (rìběn) and 人 (rén). Does anyone have any helpful tips as to how my mouth and tongue should be to pronounce it right and/or any tips on how to say it correctly?

Chinese-English language exchange via Skype Hi everyone,

I am looking to do Chinese-English language exchange via Skype. I am a native English speaker from the U.S. As I am only a beginning Mandarin student, I will need someone who is at least at the intermediate level in English so that we can communicate. If that sounds like you and you do not mind learning with a beginner then I will be happy to hear from you!
My vocabulary is just over 100 words with characters that I recognize mostly in context. I have a basic knowledge of the four tones but really need feedback on my pronunciation as it is much harder to combine them back-to-back in words than by speaking separate syllables.
I am usually on at night which would be morning for all of you. If that does not work for someone who is motivated about language exchange I could probably squeeze in a time around 10-11 am by me which would be 10-11 pm by you.
If you are interested, let me know , along with what times are good for you. You can either reply to this forum message or send me a message directly from my profile page.

<a href="http://www.nciku.com/search/zh/detail/%E8%B0%A2%E8%B0%A2/1848737" class="tc_link u">谢 谢</a> !!  and looking forward to hearing from you,

Meir

tone marks for phrase "nali you" When asking about where something is (directions), my book , which never uses tone marks has it as 那里 有. When I looked up 那里 on nciku it lists it as both nǎli and nàli. Which tones for nali would be the correct ones in this case (3rd tone or 4th tone)? Is 有 3rd tone (yǒu) like the normal case of the verb to have?the same goes for saying "over there" listed as 在 那里. I don't know what tones to use for "nali" in that case either : ((

the meaning of "laile" My book mentions the phrase "lai le" as meaning "here you are" when you hand something over (in their example it is food as in kafei lai le". My dictionary has the character "lai" as 2nd tone and meaning to come but it doesn't have the "le" character. Is "le" pronounced fifth tone?