Learn how to introduce yourself
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| So when you are in China, hopefully you will meet lots of new people, lots of new friends. So today we are going to go over how to introduce yourself. The first phrase for today is, my name is. In Chinese this is 我叫(Wǒ jiào) and then you say your name. In my case, I say 我叫(Wǒ jiào) Michael, 我叫(Wǒ jiào) Michael, 我叫(Wǒ jiào) Michael. In your case, you would use your name or whatever you happen to want to be called. So the tones are 我(Wǒ), third tone, the falling rising tone,我(Wǒ). 叫(jiào), fourth tone, the falling tone, 叫(jiào) and Michael has no tones. You say it just sort of flat. You got that, all right good. The meanings for this are 我(Wǒ) which means I or me and 叫(jiào) which means to call and Michael here means he who is like God but I am not totally sure about that one. Literally it is me call Michael or I am called Michael which we can use as My name is Michael. Again you are going to want to use your name. The next thing you might say after you tell them your name and then they tell you their name, so you will say 我叫(Wǒ jiào). There is also another way you could introduce yourself. You could say I am, 我是 (Wǒ shì). So I would say I am Michael, 我是 (Wǒ shì) Michael. 我(Wǒ), third tone, falling rising tone, 我(Wǒ). 是 (shì) fourth tone, falling tone, 是 (shì). Michael, no tone again. 我是 (Wǒ shì) Michael, 我是 (Wǒ shì) Michael, 我是 (Wǒ shì) Michael. Literally 我(Wǒ) means I or me and 是 (shì) means is or am. So literally it means I am Michael or I am whatever name you choose to use. So I am American and when I introduce myself, I use my first name. I said my name is Michael, 我叫(Wǒ jiào) Michael but it is more common when people are first meeting you for them to only give you their family name. So when somebody introduces themselves to you, it’s pretty safe to assume the name they gave you is their family name, their last name. Now-a-days a lot of young people when meeting other young people, they use their given names. They just tell their given names right away but it is still much more common for people to introduce themselves with their last name, their family name. So if somebody says 我叫王(Wǒ jiào Wáng.), my name is 王(Wáng). Then from that point on, you can call them 王先生(Wáng xiān sheng) or 王小姐(Wáng xiǎo jie) depending on their gender. 先生(xiān sheng) means Mr. It’s two first tones in a row, 先生(xiān sheng), 王先生(Wáng xiān sheng). [note that in the phrase "先生", "生" has no tone. So "先生" pronounces "xiān sheng".] And 小姐(xiǎo jie) means Ms. It’s two third tones in a row. So it becomes a second tone and then a third tone, 小姐(xiǎo jie). [note that in the phrase "小姐", "姐" has no tone. So "小姐" pronounces "xiǎo jie".] So Mr. Wong is 王先生(Wáng xiān sheng) and Ms. Wang is 王小姐(Wáng xiǎo jie). |
| All right, to close our today’s lesson, we’d like you to practice what we’ve just learned. I will provide you with the English equivalent of a phrase and you are responsible for shouting it out loud. You will have a few seconds before I give you the answer. So 加油(Jiā yóu!) first phrase for today was I am called or my name is 我叫(Wǒ jiào). The next one I am going to give you is Mr. 先生(xiān sheng). The next one is I am, 我是 (Wǒ shì). Next we have Ms. 小姐(xiǎo jie). |
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