N? ha?o! Wo? xia?ng hé n? zuo? (wéi) péng yo?u, bu? zh? da?o n? ke? bu? ke? y? jie? sho?u wo? de q?ng qiu?? To?ng yì de hua? q?ng hé wo…….(Sentence trails off) I don’t know why, it translates to a complete sentence.

“Hello! I would like to become your friend, can you accept this? If you agree, please contact me, okay?”

? – zuo? – “do” (can mean “become” in this context)
? – wéi – “become” (it is not necessary in this context)
So, ?? – zuo? wéi – is “do become”, “become become” or possibly, “do do” (Its a double verb structure that is not necessary). Note that above, I indicated how ? – (wéi) should/could be deleted.

“?????, ????, ???????????????.”

N? fe?i cha?ng yo?u ha?o ,da?n shì ba?o qia?n,wo? bu? lia?o jie? Zho?ngwén. Wo? zh? huì du? hé jia?ng Y?ng yu? .

“You are very kind, but sorry, I don’t understand Chinese. I read and speak English only.”

Obviously, these are not word for word translations, as this is only possible in short sentences. However, they relay the exact meaning intended.

Mandarin used to be written with traditional characters. The transition from traditional to simplified on the mainland took place sometime in the later part of the middle of the last century (1930’s – 1940’s). I have done cross-referencing that puts forth argument as of when it began and how long it took.

However, traditional characters are the norm in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and in many Chinese communities abroad (preserved due to the absence of “influence”). Traditional and simplified are both used in Cantonese; its only a regional application. I live in Guang Dong (Canton), and most Cantonese speakers use simplified.

A good site for Pinyin tones]

hello , i consider you a friend , and i wish to know if you can understand my request to contact you

i am sorry but i dont know about the chinese bit

hope the first bit helps

all the best
Ian