when you want to say 'yes', just nod and say '嗯', and if you want to emphasize, you say '对'/是的 another way is to ask 'yes/no' questions to people around you and observe there reply, so that when you are asked about the same question, you know how to answer. I always observe others when I learn English ;-)

Yes and no can be expressed in different ways depends on the situation. Following are some words for yes/ corresponding no. 是/否(不是) (yes/no) 对/不对 (correct/incorrect) 行/不行 (can/cannot) 可以/不可以 (can/cannot) 应该/不应该 (should/should not) 能/不能 (can/cannot) 好/不好 I have to say learning a second language is always accompanied by silly experience. Just do not care too much about it.

Yes or no is not equivalent to 是/没有。 However, if people ask you with 是/没有, then you won't be fine if you answer with 是/有 for yes， then 不是/没有 for no. Examples: 1. A: 你是不是刚来这儿？nǐ shì bù shì gāng lái zhè ér? Are you new here? B: 是的/不是的。Yes/No. 2. A:你有没有去过美国？nǐ yǒu méi yǒu qù guò měi guó? Have you ever been to the USA? B: 有/没有。Yes/No. It is very bacis spoken Chinese. Don't worry about it. You just need a little speaking practice to get to know how to repsond to this kind of questions more like an native speaker.

in Chinese, we don't use yes or no to answer general questions(yes or no questions) eg. 你去不去？去/不去 你吃了吗? 吃了/没吃 你喜欢听歌吗？喜欢/不喜欢 we only use 是or 不是 with questions asked with 是 eg. 她是你女儿吗？是/不是 有/没有 are the answers used for questions asked with 有 他有心脏病吗？没有。 你有没有去过北京？没有。

eg ---你是美国人吗？ ----我是美国人/我是/是/当然/当然是/必须的(this must be with a accent of the northeast of China,"东北话", or it is't right here. ) 【or不是】 ---你觉得她长得漂亮吗？ ---是的，（她）很漂亮/ 当然很漂亮/的确漂亮/漂亮啊~/大美人！/美女！/必须的(this must be with a accent of the northeast of China,"东北话", or it is't right here. ) ---1 + 1 = 2 吗？ ---是/是啊/是的/ 当然/当然是/肯定啊/还能是别的吗？ /必须的(this must be with a accent of the northeast of China,"东北话", or it is't right here. ) ---他是你的朋友吗？ ---是/是的/当然/他是我的朋友/是啊~/必须是/必须的(this must be with a accent of the northeast of China,"东北话", or it is't right here. ) ---你吃过火锅吗？ ---吃过/当然/是的，我很喜欢/上周刚吃过 是的/是，不是 are just used to confirm sb's words, to express that you agree/disagree with sb, If you just use them alone, that is weird. ps. "中" is a dialect in Henan Province, you should say in a Henan accent or that will make your Chinese friend laugh.