Chinese For Dummies (130 page)

Yǒu méiyǒu jiǎng Yīngwén de dàifu?
有没有讲英文的大夫
?
(
有沒有講英文的大夫
? (yo mayo jyahng eeng-one duh dye-foo?) (
Are there any English-speaking doctors?
)

When you finally get someone on the line who can help you, you need to know what to say to get immediate help:

Wǒ bèi rén qiǎng le.
我被人抢了
. (
我被人搶了
.) (waw bay run chyahng luh.) (
I've been robbed.
)

Wǒ yào huì bào yíge chē huò.
我要汇报一个车祸
. (
我要匯報一個車禍
.) (waw yaow hway baow yee-guh chuh hwaw.) (
I'd like to report a car accident.
)

Yǒu rén shòu shāng le.
有人受伤了
. (
有人受傷了
.) (yo run show shahng luh.) (
People are injured.
)

Receiving Medical Care

It's everyone's greatest nightmare — getting sick and not knowing why or how to make it better. If you suddenly find yourself in the
yīyuàn
医院
(
醫院
) (ee-ywan) (
hospital
) or otherwise visiting an
yīshēng
医生
(
醫生
) (ee-shung) (
doctor
), you need to explain what ails you — often in a hurry. Doing so may be easier said than done, especially if you have to explain yourself in Chinese (or help a Chinese-speaking victim who's having trouble communicating), but don't worry. In the following sections, I walk you through your doctor's visit step by step.

When you travel, don't forget to bring your prescription medicines. Carry them in a separate carry-on bag or in your purse. You don't want to pack them in a piece of check-in luggage, never to be seen again if the luggage gets lost.

Here are a couple of additional medical-emergency tips for traveling in China:

Unless you're in a big city like Beijing or Shanghai, if you get seriously ill while staying in mainland China, your best bet is to fly to Hong Kong or back home for medical care. Don't forget to check into evacuation insurance before you go.

Warning:
Chinese people don't have O-negative blood, so Chinese hospitals don't store it. If you have a medical emergency in China that requires O-negative blood, you should check directly with your country's nearest embassy or consulate for help. You may need to be airlifted out to get the appropriate care. You may also want to take your own hypodermic needles in case you need an injection because you can't guarantee that the needles you may come across are sterilized. Better safe than sorry away from home.

Deciding whether to see a doctor

If your luck is good, you'll never need to use any of the phrases I present in this chapter. If you end up running out of luck, however, keep reading. Even if you've never smoked a day in your life, you can still develop a cough or even bronchitis. Time to see a
yīshēng.

Talkin' the Talk

Dàlín and his wife, Miǎn, are on their first trip back to China in 20 years. Miǎn becomes concerned about a sudden onset of dizziness. The two discuss her symptoms.

Dàlín:

Nǐ zěnme bùshūfu?

nee dzummuh boo-shoo-foo?

What's wrong?

Miǎn:

Wǒ gǎnjué bùshūfu kěshì bù zhīdào wǒ déle shénme bìng.

waw gahn-jweh boo-shoo-foo kuh-shir boo jir-daow waw duh-luh shummuh beeng.

I don't feel well, but I don't know what I have.

Dàlín:

Nǐ fā shāo ma?

nee fah shaow mah?

Are you running a fever?

Miǎn:

Méiyǒu, dànshì wǒ tóuyūn. Yěxǚ wǒ xūyào kàn nèikē yīshēng.

mayo, dahn-shir waw toe-yewn. yeh-shyew waw shyew-yaow kahn nay-kuh ee-shung.

No, but I feel dizzy. Perhaps I need to see an internist.

Dàlín calls the nearest medical clinic to make an appointment and then returns to Miǎn.

Dàlín:

Wǒ jīntiān xiàwǚ sān diǎn zhōng yuē le yíge shíjiān. Nǐ zuì hǎo zànshí zuò xiàlái.

waw jin-tyan shyah-woo sahn dyan joong yweh luh ee-guh shir-jyan. nee dzway how dzahn-shir dzwaw shyah-lye.

I've made an appointment for 3:00 this afternoon. In the meantime, you'd better sit down for a while.

Although verbs don't express tense in Chinese, you often connect them to things called
aspect markers,
which come directly after the verb and indicate the degree of completion of an action. The aspect markers
xiàlái
下来
(
下來
) (shyah-lye) and
xiàqù
下去
(shyah-chyew) are two such examples.
Xiàlái
refers to an action that slowly turns into a non-action or a calmer state, such as
zuò xiàlái
坐下来
(dzwaw shyah-lye) (
to sit down and rest
) in the previous Talkin' the Talk section.
Xiàqù
refers to continuing action.