Chinese For Dummies (21 page)

Talkin' the Talk

Eva introduces her friends Oscar and David to each other. (Track 5)

Eva:

Oscar, qǐng ràng wǒ jièshào wǒde péngyǒu David.

Oscar, cheeng rahng waw jyeh-shaow waw-duh puhng-yo David.

Oscar, allow me to introduce my friend David.

Oscar:

Nǐ hǎo. Hěn gāoxìng jiàndào nǐ.

nee how. hun gaow-sheeng jyan-daow nee.

Hi. Nice to meet you.

David:

Hěn gāoxìng jiàndào nǐ. Wǒ shì Eva de tóngxué.

hun gaow-sheeng jyan-daow nee. waw shir Eva duh toong-shweh.

Good to meet you. I'm Eva's classmate.

Oscar:

Hěn gāoxìng jiàndào nǐ.

hun gaow-sheeng jyan-daow nee.

Nice to meet you.

David:

Nǐmen zénme rènshì?

nee-mun dzummuh run-shir?

How do you happen to know each other?

Eva:

Wǒmen shì tóngshì.

waw-mun shir toong-shir.

We're co-workers.

Greeting and Chatting

When you
dǎ zhāohu
打招呼
(dah jaow-who) (
extend greetings
), you're sure to maintain and possibly even improve your connections with others. This goes for starting the day right with your
àirén
爱人
(
愛人
) (eye-run) (
spouse
), showing respect for your
lǎoshī
老师
(
老師
) (laow-shir) (
teacher
), keeping on the good side of your
lǎobǎn
老板
(
老闆
) (laow-bahn) (
boss
), or paving the way for that deal with your new
shēngyì huǒbàn
生意伙伴
(
生意夥伴
) (shuhng-yee hwaw-bahn) (
business partner
).

After the opening greeting, stick around to chat for a bit so you can get to know each other better. You can make new friends and find out more about each other through small conversations. This section gives you the important phrases to know.

Addressing new friends and strangers

In your hometown or home country, you may have plenty of
lǎo péngyǒu
老朋友
(laow puhng-yo) (
old friends
), but in any other city or country, you need to get off on the right foot by addressing people the way they're used to being addressed. You can get chummier as time goes by, but try to avoid sounding too friendly or presumptuous too soon.

You can always safely greet people in professional settings by announcing their last name followed by their title, such as
Wáng Xiàozhǎng
王校长
(
王校長
) (wahng shyaow-jahng) (
President [of an educational institution] Wang
) or
Jīn Zhǔrèn
金主任
(jeen joo-run) (
Director Jin
). Here are some other examples of occupational titles:

bùzhǎng
部长
(
部長
) (boo-jahng)
(
department head or minister
)

fùzhǔrèn
副主任
(foo-joo-run) (
assistant director
)

jiàoshòu
教授
(jyaow-show) (
professor
)

jīnglǐ
经理
(
經理
)
(jeeng-lee) (
manager
)

lǎoshī
老师
(
老師
) (laow-shir) (
teacher
)

If you don't know someone's title, you can safely address the person by saying his or her family name and then either
Xiānshēng
先生
(shyan-shuhng) (
Mr.
) or
Xiǎojiě
小姐
(shyaow-jyeh) (
Miss
).

Chinese folks often instruct their young children to address older people as
shúshu
叔叔
(shoo-shoo) (
uncle
) or
āyí
阿姨
(ah-yee) (
aunt
). Getting to know a Chinese family makes you feel like you're actually part of the family in a new country.

Sometimes people add the terms
lǎo
老
(laow) (
old
) or
xiǎo
小
(shyaow) (
young
) in front of the last name and omit the first name completely. It indicates a comfortable degree of familiarity and friendliness that can only develop over time. But make sure you know which one to use —
lǎo
is for someone who's older than you, and
xiǎo
is for someone who's younger than you. Also keep in mind that these names can sometimes sound kind of funny to non-Chinese. If someone's surname is pronounced
Yáng
(yahng), which sounds like the word for
goat,
you may end up sounding like you're calling the person an old goat when you become good friends.