The following are 6 essential phrases guaranteed to be the best thing you ever learned in Chinese!
- 谢谢 (xièxie) “Thanks.” The Chinese aren’t big on ‘please’, but they love thank you so much that they’ll often hit you with a barrage of it, ‘xiexiexiexiexiexiexiexie’.
- 听不懂 (tīngbùdǒng) “I don’t understand what you are saying.” This phrase is going to be your best friend, go-to and solace.
- 你好 (nǐhǎo) “hello” If you don’t know it yet, we don’t know where you’ve been.
- 不知道 (bù zhīdào) “I don’t know.” You may hear this phrase more than use it, however learn from the Chinese how to bu zhidao every situation you wish to evade, play dumb about, or avoid.
- 不好意思 (bùhǎoyìsi) “Sorry.” Buhaoyisi literally means ‘bad feeling’, and can be used to apologize to all the dainty toes your oversized foreign feet will step on in the crowded subway, to repent over some cultural faux pas you likely don’t know you’ve committed, or to just curry favor, in general.
- 让一下 (ràng yīxià) “Let me through.” Buhaoyisi’s slightly stronger cousin. Use this when you’re trapped in a subway car and can’t get out, or stymied in your efforts to crowd-worm through a city of 18 million people.
There you go. Just don’t blame us if #4 doesn’t work 😉
