Learn what to say and how to act during a business dinner while in China
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| Amber: Hello, and welcome back to the ChineseClass101.com , the fastest, easiest and most fun way to learn Chinese! I'm joined in the studio by... |
| Victor: Hello everyone. Victor here. |
| Amber: So, let the drinking begin! |
| Victor: Ah yes, welcome to the business meeting. |
| Amber: Haha well it should ‘loosen the lips a little’. I say we allow a little more time for the baijiu to really start doing its job, and we take a couple minutes to review the last lesson. |
| Victor: Well one interesting cultural word we learned was 'xinku' |
| Amber: Ah yes... the 'you're killing yourself working hard... but in a good way' word. |
| Victor: Xinku ni Amber. |
| Amber: Thanks Victor. We also learned the all-important word in China... the word to call the waiter or waitress. |
| Victor: Fuwuyuan!!! |
| Amber: If you don't know this word, you might not get food. |
| Victor: We also learned your favorite particle Amber. |
| Amber: Oh yes so favorite that I even use it in my English sentences now. It's the particle to imply a suggestion. 'ba' |
| Victor: Yep just add it onto the end of your sentence to sound a little softer... less bossy really. |
| Amber: Like when you and I go to a Chinese restaurant together Victor. I will always say, 'ni dian ba'. The Chinese person is the most qualified to order, in my opinion. |
| Victor: Speaking of ordering... we also learned how to order things. Using the phrase |
| Amber: Yes, 'fen' being the word for 'an order of'. |
| Victor: OK well the food has arrived... |
| Amber: And Maike is turning into a bit of a party side-show. Let's listen in. |
| Manager Wang: 干杯！ |
| Mr. Ma: 干杯！ |
| Mike: 干杯！ |
| Manager Wang: 我们吃吧。 |
| Mr. Ma: 迈克，尝尝这个。 |
| Mike: 好的。这是什么？ |
| Colleague #2: 凤爪。 |
| (MC tries it) |
| Mr. Ma: 味道怎么样？ |
| Mike: 好吃。 |
| Mr. Ma: 再尝尝这个。 |
| Mike: 这个。。。 还好。 |
| Colleague: （哈哈）他不喜欢这个。 |
| Mr. Ma: 迈克，你明天有空吗？ |
| Mike: 有。 |
| Mr. Ma: 明天我们要去杭州, 你和我们一起去吧。 |
| Mike: 好啊。 |
| Mr. Ma: 明天上午11点我们在火车站见。这是我的电话号码。 |
| Mike: 好的，明天见。 |
| English Host: Let’s hear the conversation one time slowly. |
| Manager Wang: 干杯！ |
| Mr. Ma: 干杯！ |
| Mike: 干杯！ |
| Manager Wang: 我们吃吧。 |
| Mr. Ma: 迈克，尝尝这个。 |
| Mike: 好的。这是什么？ |
| Colleague #2: 凤爪。 |
| (MC tries it) |
| Mr. Ma: 味道怎么样？ |
| Mike: 好吃。 |
| Mr. Ma: 再尝尝这个。 |
| Mike: 这个。。。 还好。 |
| Colleague: （哈哈）他不喜欢这个。 |
| Mr. Ma: 迈克，你明天有空吗？ |
| Mike: 有。 |
| Mr. Ma: 明天我们要去杭州, 你和我们一起去吧。 |
| Mike: 好啊。 |
| Mr. Ma: 明天上午11点我们在火车站见。这是我的电话号码。 |
| Mike: 好的，明天见。 |
| English Host: Now let’s hear it with the English translation. |
| Manager Wang: 干杯！ |
| Amber: Cheers! |
| Mr. Ma: 干杯！ |
| Amber: Cheers! |
| Mike: 干杯！ |
| Amber: Cheers! |
| Manager Wang: 我们吃吧。 |
| Amber: Let's eat! |
| Mr. Ma: 迈克，尝尝这个。 |
| Amber: Mike, taste this. |
| Mike: 好的。这是什么？ |
| Amber: Sure. What is it? |
| Colleague #2: 凤爪。 |
| Amber: Chicken feet. |
| (MC tries it) |
| Amber(Mike tries it) |
| Mr. Ma: 味道怎么样？ |
| Amber: How does it taste? |
| Mike: 好吃。 |
| Amber: Delicious! |
| Mr. Ma: 再尝尝这个。 |
| Amber: Now try this. |
| Mike: 这个。。。 还好。 |
| Amber: This... it's okay. |
| Colleague: （哈哈）他不喜欢这个。 |
| Amber: (ha ha) He doesn't like it. |
| Mr. Ma: 迈克，你明天有空吗？ |
| Amber: Mike, do you have free time tomorrow? |
| Mike: 有。 |
| Amber: Yes. |
| Mr. Ma: 明天我们要去杭州, 你和我们一起去吧。 |
| Amber: Tomorrow we are going to Hangzhou. Come with us. |
| Mike: 好啊。 |
| Amber: Sure. |
| Mr. Ma: 明天上午11点我们在火车站见。这是我的电话号码。 |
| Amber: We'll meet at 11 o'clock tomorrow at the train station. This is my phone number. |
| Mike: 好的，明天见。 |
| Amber: All right. See you tomorrow. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Amber: Well there’s no better foundation for a budding friendship than a booze-filled evening of debauchery. |
| Victor: Yeah but you don’t want to wake up with a baijiu headache. When someone proposes a toast at a Chinese dinner, it is customary to clink glasses with everyone at the table, then down the entire drink in one go. |
| Amber: Yes. Everyone needs to come and share some tips for getting out of drinking on the site. It’s a skill that you may well want to hone. |
| Victor: Speaking of which, first vocab we hear in the dialogue is the Chinese toast! |
| Vocabulary and Phrases |
| Amber: Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| : The first word we shall see is: |
| Victor: 干杯 [natural native speed] |
| Amber: cheers, toast |
| Victor: 干杯 [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Victor: 干杯 [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Victor: 尝 [natural native speed] |
| Amber: to taste |
| Victor: 尝 [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Victor: 尝 [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Victor: 好的 [natural native speed] |
| Amber: okay |
| Victor: 好的 [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Victor: 好的 [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Victor: 味道 [natural native speed] |
| Amber: flavor, taste |
| Victor: 味道 [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Victor: 味道 [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Victor: 还好 [natural native speed] |
| Amber: passable, so-so |
| Victor: 还好 [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Victor: 还好 [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Victor: 喜欢 [natural native speed] |
| Amber: to like |
| Victor: 喜欢 [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Victor: 喜欢 [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Victor: 空 [natural native speed] |
| Amber: free time |
| Victor: 空 [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Victor: 空 [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Victor: 杭州 [natural native speed] |
| Amber: Hangzhou |
| Victor: 杭州 [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Victor: 杭州 [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Victor: 一起 [natural native speed] |
| Amber: together |
| Victor: 一起 [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Victor: 一起 [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Victor: 好啊 [natural native speed] |
| Amber: sure, okay |
| Victor: 好啊 [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Victor: 好啊 [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Victor: 火车站 [natural native speed] |
| Amber: train station |
| Victor: 火车站 [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Victor: 火车站 [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Victor: 明天见 [natural native speed] |
| Amber: see you tomorrow |
| Victor: 明天见 [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Victor: 明天见 [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCABULARY AND PHRASES |
| Amber: Let's have a closer look at the usuage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Victor: The first word/phrase we’ll look at is.... |
| Amber: OK so, cheer me, Victor. |
| Victor: 干杯 (Gānbēi!) (1st tone 1st tone) |
| Amber: I will drink to any ‘ganbei’ except a baijiu ganbei |
| Victor: haha I don’t believe you made it out of China without a baijiu ganbei or two. |
| Amber: Ha yes two, or three, or 50,000. |
| Victor: Well, that kind of brings us to the next couple of vocab words we want to bring out. |
| Amber: Yes, both about taste, or tasting things. |
| Victor: First of all, we hear Mike being invited to taste one of the delicious dishes, chicken feet! The verb for to taste is 尝 (cháng) |
| Amber: And there is a special Chinese verb phenomenon that we are going to tell you in a moment when we discuss the grammar that reduplicates the verb. |
| Victor: That’s why in the dialogue you don’t just hear尝 (cháng), but rather, 尝尝 (chángchang) |
| Amber: Now, next flavour word is the word for, well, flavor! |
| Victor: That is 味道 (wèidao) taste, flavor |
| Amber: Yes. 味道 (wèidao) taste, flavor. If you want to be a Chinese food connoisseur you are going to have to know how to talk about味道 (wèidao) this and味道 (wèidao) that. And all these opinions arose from the fact that the Chinese diners used the infamous ‘zenmeyang’ |
| Victor: Yes, remember zenmeyang? We remember it from Maike asking the hotel clerk ‘tianqi zenmeyang’ |
| Amber: Yes, tianqi zenmeyang is ‘how is the weather?’ |
| Victor: Right, so when they ask ‘weidao zenmeyang’ they really want to know what he thinks of the taste. |
| Amber: Yes, so now Maike has free reign to give his opinions. What are some options for us… we might not all think the weidao is ‘haochi’ necessarily. |
| Victor: Well, for example… if you think it tastes good, you can simply say ‘weidao hen hao’ |
| Amber: Or, if you think its bad, you can say… |
| Victor: Weidao bu tai hao. |
| Amber: Taste is not too good. |
| Victor: Or, as Mike felt. The chicken feet were ‘hao chi’! |
| Amber: Yes, delicious! |
| Victor: See Amber, you could learn something from this man. |
| Amber: You are right. I could. I could learn to eat animal feet. |
| Victor: haha yes! |
| Amber: But then I think, is that something I want to learn? |
| Victor: OK so maybe you would probably respond more like Maike did to the next dish he tried. |
| Amber: Ah yes… hai hao. This is more like the polite way to say ‘bu tai hao’ or not so great. |
| Victor: Yes, 还好(hái hǎo) |
| Amber: It kind of means like |
| Victor: Yeah like (happy tone) , 还好(hái hǎo) … |
| Amber: or (hesitant tone) , 还好(hái hǎo). |
| Victor: haha |
| Amber: OK next, as a reward for all his perseverance in the meal, Mike gets invited on a trip |
| Victor: Yes. First Mr. Ma checks in though… and asks if he has free time. |
| Amber: And ‘to have time’ or ‘to be free’ in Chinese is |
| Victor: 有空 (yǒukòng) to have free time |
| Amber: Yes, I love hearing those words. It means leisure is on the horizon. |
| Victor: Ok so next we get the details, and one key word to the puzzle is where they are going to meet. 火车站 (huǒchē zhàn) train station |
| Amber: And this is like one of those great words that is like a 3 words in one bonus |
| Victor: Yes first we have the word for fire 火 |
| Amber: Then, the word for vehicle/car 车 |
| Victor: And the word for ‘stop’. Zhan4. |
| Amber: Yes like bus stop kind of zhan |
| Victor: Yes bus stop is __________ |
| Amber: So exciting. Last but not least, they say Goodbye with a |
| Victor: 明天见! (Míngtiān jiàn!) |
| Amber: So we know the word for ‘to see’ or ‘to meet’ is ‘jian4’. |
| Victor: So all you do is put the time in front of the ‘jian’ |
| Amber: Like in this case, mingtian jian. Is ‘See you tomorrow!’ |
| Victor: Yep and it works for times as well. Say you were meeting at 3pm, you could say ‘san dian jian’ |
| Amber: Oh, the possibilities… like next week? |
| Victor: Yep, ‘xia ge xingqi jian’ |
| Amber: Wednesday? |
| Victor: Xingqi san jian. |
| Amber: Great! Now there is one more thing in vocab terms that I want to mention. Its that we hear yet another 2 incarnations of the word ‘hao’ in this dialogue |
| Victor: Yes we do. The ‘hao’ really gets around. |
| Amber: And in these cases they are hao plus a little particle |
| Victor: Yes, we heard ‘hao de’ |
| Amber: And hao de is just basically similar to a softer form of ‘good’. Like ‘all right’ or ‘sure’ |
| Victor: And we also heard ‘hao a’ |
| Amber: Which really isn’t that much different. Just sort of a ‘sure’, ‘yeah’ |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Victor: Ok Amber so you promised to tell everyone about an exciting verb phenomenon. Now you have to deliver. |
| Amber: Ah yes… the ‘reduplication of verbs’ in Chinese. It’s so exciting because it’s really so easy. |
| Victor: Basically, it softens the verb in this case. So in the dialogue we heard |
| Amber: Which means ‘taste this’ |
| Victor: Yeah, except when we say the verb twice like this, it just sort of softens the tone. It’s more like, ‘hey, try this’ or ‘hey have a little taste’ |
| Amber: Ah yes, so it’s not like ‘shove this in your mouth man!’ |
| Victor: No, we must be gentle with these things like chicken feet. |
| Amber: Yes.. gentle, graceful chicken feet. |
| Victor: And, while we are in a ‘changchang’ sentence, I think we can review a grammar point we learned earlier, just in a different context now, to really burn it in your brains. |
| Amber: Yes, the other sentence we have here using changchang is almost the same, its just that they want Maike to be the guinea pig again for another, this time anonymous dish. |
| Victor: So because they are telling him to do something again, they use the word ‘再’. |
| Amber: Let’s hear the whole sentence Victor. |
| Victor: 再尝尝这个。 |
| Amber: So first he was to 尝尝这个。’taste this’ |
| Victor: Now they are like ‘OK, now try this one’ |
| Amber: Do it again! All over again! |
| Victor: Yes, this zai appeared before when we learned about ‘say it again’ or ‘could you repeat that’ |
| Amber: Which, in Chinese was… |
| Victor: 请再说一遍。 |
| Amber: Great review. |
| Victor: And now we have our friendly little verb 'yao' popping up again. |
| Amber: Yeah and there are so many nuances and uses for the verb 'yao'. Let's hear what incarnation we are getting today? |
| Victor: Míngtiān wǒmen yào qù Hángzhōu |
| Amber: Ah yes. Well really with the yao, its all context. In this case, where we hear the yao combined with the verb for 'to go' |
| Victor: qu4 |
| Amber: It means, 'to be going to' or 'to have to' |
| Victor: Yes, so Míngtiān wǒmen yào qù Hángzhōu |
| Amber: Means 'tomorrow we are going to Hangzhou'. Basically the context tells us the meaning. Really the yao is quite flexible and can sort of cross over between 'to want' and 'to need' all the way to 'to have to' or 'to be going to'. |
| Victor: OK and last but not least, we have a little ‘Chinese sentence word order’ for you. |
| Amber: We all love ‘Chinese sentence word order time’ |
| Victor: So today’s sample word order is a sentence that includes (subject + place + verb) |
| Amber: And we heard it in the sentence |
| Victor: 我们在火车站见 |
| Amber: So in this kind of sentence, where you have a location and an action that will happen at that location, we use the order subject first (which is ‘us’ here, women), then the location. |
| Victor: and we know it’s a location because we first here the preposition at ‘zai’ |
| Amber: Yes, so in this case the location is ‘zai huoche zhan’… the train station. |
| Victor: Then we put the verb. What we are doing at the huoche zhan. Which is… ‘jian’ |
| Amber: to meet. So, unlike English, the location doesn’t come at the end. It comes right after the subject. |
| Victor: And in fact, the subject here can even be omitted. |
| Amber: Easy as that! |
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