Concept art: a traveler listens in a busy street market
Concept art from VocaBound: Worlds

Hello and names

MandarinPinyinEnglish
你好Nǐ hǎoHello
我叫……Wǒ jiào …My name is …
你叫什麼名字？Nǐ jiào shénme míngzi?What's your name?
很高興認識你Hěn gāoxìng rènshì nǐNice to meet you

Where you're from

MandarinPinyinEnglish
你從哪裡來？Nǐ cóng nǎlǐ lái?Where are you from?
我是美國人Wǒ shì Měiguó rénI'm American
英國人 / 加拿大人 / 澳洲人Yīngguó rén / Jiānádà rén / Àozhōu rénBritish / Canadian / Australian

Talking about learning

MandarinPinyinEnglish
我在學中文Wǒ zài xué ZhōngwénI'm learning Chinese
我的中文不太好Wǒ de Zhōngwén bú tài hǎoMy Chinese isn't very good
你會說英文嗎？Nǐ huì shuō Yīngwén ma?Do you speak English?
不客氣Bú kèqìYou're welcome
再見 / 掰掰Zàijiàn / BāibāiGoodbye / Bye-bye掰掰 is very common in Taiwan.

Try it: meeting a neighbor

  1. Neighbor你好！你叫什麼名字？Nǐ hǎo! Nǐ jiào shénme míngzi?Hi! What's your name?
  2. You你好，我叫Sam。你呢？Nǐ hǎo, wǒ jiào Sam. Nǐ ne?Hi, I'm Sam. And you?
  3. Neighbor我叫林美玲。你從哪裡來？Wǒ jiào Lín Měilíng. Nǐ cóng nǎlǐ lái?I'm Lin Meiling. Where are you from?
  4. You我是美國人。我在學中文。Wǒ shì Měiguó rén. Wǒ zài xué Zhōngwén.I'm American. I'm learning Chinese.
  5. Neighbor很好！很高興認識你。Hěn hǎo! Hěn gāoxìng rènshì nǐ.Great! Nice to meet you.

Good to know

Turn questions around with 呢 (ne)

After answering, add 你呢？ (Nǐ ne?) — “and you?” — to bounce the same question back.

Family name first

Chinese names put the family name first: in 林美玲 (Lín Měilíng), 林 (Lín) is the family name.

國語 (Guóyǔ) vs 中文 (Zhōngwén)

In Taiwan, Mandarin is often called 國語 (Guóyǔ). 中文 (Zhōngwén) — “Chinese” — is understood everywhere.