Chinese For Dummies (47 page)

Talkin' the Talk

Audrey and William meet after work in New York and decide where to eat.

William:

Audrey, nǐ hǎo!

Audrey, nee how!

Audrey, hi!

Audrey:

Nǐ hǎo. Hǎo jiǔ méi jiàn.

nee how. how jyoe may jyan.

Hi there. Long time no see.

William:

Nǐ è bú è?

nee uh boo uh?

Are you hungry?

Audrey:

Wǒ hěn è. Nǐ ne?

waw hun uh. nee nuh?

Yes, very hungry. How about you?

William:

Wǒ yě hěn è.

waw yeah hun uh.

I'm also pretty hungry.

Audrey:

Wǒmen qù Zhōngguóchéng chī Zhōngguó cài, hǎo bù hǎo?

waw-men chyew joong-gwaw-chuhng chir joong-gwaw tsye, how boo how?

Let's go to Chinatown and have Chinese food, okay?

William:

Hǎo. Nǐ zhīdào Zhōngguóchéng nǎ jiā cānguǎn hǎo ma?

how. nee jir-daow joong-waw-chuhng nah jya tsahn-gwahn how ma?

Okay. Do you know which restaurant in Chinatown is good?

Audrey:

Běijīng kǎo yā diàn hǎoxiàng bú cuò.

bay-jeeng cow ya dyan how-shyang boo tswaw.

The Peking Duck place seems very good.

William:

Hǎo jíle. Wǒmen zǒu ba.

how jee-luh. waw-men dzoe bah.

Great. Let's go.

Nǐ hǎo
你好
(nee how), which appears in the nearby Talkin' the Talk dialogue, can be translated as
Hi.,
Hello.,
or
How are you?.

Understanding what's on the menu

Are you a vegetarian? If so, you want to order
sùcài
素菜
(sue-tsye) (
vegetable dishes
). If you're a dyed-in-the-wool carnivore, however, you should definitely keep your eye on the kind of
hūncài
荤菜
(
葷菜
) (hwun-tsye) (
meat or fish dishes
) listed on the
càidān
菜单
(
菜單
) (tsye-dahn) (
menu
). Unlike the rice or noodles you may order, which come in individual bowls for everyone at the table, the
cài
菜
(tsye) (dishes) you order arrive on large plates, which you're expected to share with others.

You should become familiar with the basic types of food on the menu in case you have only Chinese characters and
pīnyīn
Romanization to go on. Having this knowledge allows you to immediately know which section to focus on (or, likewise, to avoid).

Take meat, for example. In English, the words for
pork, beef,
and
mutton
have no hints of the words for the animals themselves, such as
zhū
猪
(
豬
) (joo) (
pig
),
niú
牛
(nyoe) (
cow
), or
yáng
羊
(yahng) (
lamb
). Chinese is much simpler. Just combine the word for the animal and the word
ròu
肉
(row), meaning
meat,
such as
zhū ròu
猪肉
(
豬肉
) (joo row)
(
pork
),
niú ròu
牛肉
(nyoe row) (
beef
), or
yáng ròu
羊肉
(yahng row) (
mutton
). Voilà! You have the dish.

Table 8-2
shows the typical elements of a Chinese menu.

Table 8-2 Typical Sections of a Chinese Menu

Talkin' the Talk

Ernest, Otto, and Cecilia meet at a restaurant in Shanghai after work, and a host greets them on the way in. (Track 10)

Host:

Jǐ wèi?

jee way?

How many are in your party?

Otto:

Sān wèi.

sahn way.

There are three of us.

The host shows them to their table. The three must now decide what to order for their meals.

Host:

Qǐng zuò zhèr. Zhè shì càidān.

cheeng dzwaw jar. jay shir tsye-dahn.

Please sit here. Here's the menu.

Otto:

Nǐ yào chī fàn háishì yào chī miàn?

nee yaow chir fahn hi-shir yaow chir myan?

Do you want to eat rice or noodles?

Ernest:

Liǎngge dōu kěyǐ.

lyahng-guh doe kuh-yee.

Either one is fine.

Cecilia:

Wǒ hěn xǐhuān yāoguǒ jīdīng. Nǐmen ne?

waw hun she-hwan yaow-gwaw jee-deeng. nee-men nuh?

I love diced chicken with cashew nuts. How about you guys?

Ernest:

Duìbùqǐ, wǒ chī sù. Wǒmen néng bù néng diǎn yìdiǎr dòufu?

dway-boo-chee, waw chir soo. waw-mun nung boo nung dyan ee-dyar doe-foo?

Sorry, I'm a vegetarian. Can we order some tofu?

Cecilia:

Dāngrán kěyǐ.

dahng-rahn kuh-yee.

Of course we can.

Otto:

Bù guǎn zěnme yàng, wǒmen lái sān píng píjiǔ, hǎo bù hǎo?

boo gwahn dzummuh yahng, waw-mun lye san peeng pee-jyoe, how boo how?

No matter what, let's get three bottles of beer, okay?

Ernest:

Hěn hǎo!

hun how!

Very good!

Vegetarian's delight

If you're a vegetarian, you may feel lost when looking at a menu filled with mostly pork (the staple meat of China), beef, and fish dishes. Not to worry. As long as you memorize a couple of the terms shown in
Table 8-3
, you won't go hungry.

Table 8-3 Vegetables Commonly Found in Chinese Dishes

When you have a good understanding of the vegetables that go into Chinese dishes, you, oh proud vegetarian, can start to order specialized vegetarian dishes at all your favorite restaurants.
Table 8-4
shows some vegetarian dishes good for a night on the town.

Table 8-4 Vegetarian Dishes