Lesson29: "Refuse" Culture

This is so far the most interesting part of all. In Chinese culture, you should always refuse for the FIRST time when you are offered something like drink or food, although you really want it. Don't worry because you will get it in the end (most of the time it works!)

So, let me share my experience. As usual, I always have my breakfast in the same breakfast shop almost every morning. Yeah, almost every morning! So the boss has already recognized me. It turned out one day, the boss offered me more drink without charge a.k.a FREE. I was like, umm, I don't need, I am enough with this. So I REFUSED. The boss didn't stop her effort. She kept on forcing me to accept her offer and I kept on refusing. In the end, she took my cup and refilled it fully.

This does not happen once but every time I go there since that day. And the same situation happens; she keeps on offering and I keep on refusing but in the end, I get more drink WITHOUT charge. lol

Finally, I did some research on Chinese culture. I found out something astonishing me. Here, the situation is "Visiting (Chinese) friend". Your friend will keep on offering you something in order to be a GOOD HOST and you should refuse for the first time to be a GOOD GUEST.

Happy exploring!

Lesson28: Steak = 牛排 = Beef Steak

This one is confusing, really confusing. Steak, as a general term, is called 牛排 (niu pai | ㄋㄧㄡˊ ㄆㄞˊ). On the other hand, 牛排 (niu pai | ㄋㄧㄡˊ ㄆㄞˊ) is also mean Beefsteak.

Let's say, you and your friend is thinking about what to eat for lunch. As you are walking, you see a steak house. You will see the word steak is written as 牛排 (niu pai | ㄋㄧㄡˊ ㄆㄞˊ). Then you say that you want to eat steak.

I want to eat steak = 我要吃牛排 (wo yao chi niupai | ㄨㄛˇ 一ㄠˋ ㄔ ㄋㄧㄡˊ ㄆㄞˊ)

If your meaning is to eat beefsteak.

I want to eat beefsteak = 我要吃牛排 (wo yao chi niupai | ㄨㄛˇ 一ㄠˋ ㄔ ㄋㄧㄡˊ ㄆㄞˊ)

They are the same in the Chinese language!

Pork steak = 豬排 (zhu pai | ㄓㄨ ㄆㄞˊ)

Fish steak = 魚排 (yu pai | ㄩˊ ㄆㄞˊ)

Chicken steak = 雞排 (ji pai | ㄐㄧ ㄆㄞˊ)

And finally, tell your friend to go there.

Let's go there = 去那兒吧 (qu nar ba | ㄑㄩˋ ㄇㄚˋ ㄦ ㄅㄚ)

Lesson27: Breakfast/ Lunch/ Dinner

It is a custom for Chinese people to ask have you eaten? as part of the greetings. If you meet your friend in the morning, you can ask have you had your breakfast?; have you had your lunch? at noon, and have you had your dinner? at night.

Have you eaten? = 你吃過了嗎? (ni chi guo le ma? | ㄋㄧˇ ㄔ ㄍㄨㄛˋ ㄌㄜ ㄇㄚ?)

Have you had your breakfast? = 你吃過早餐了嗎? (ni chi guo zaocan le ma? | ㄋㄧˇ ㄔ ㄍㄨㄛˋ ㄗㄠˇ ㄘㄢ ㄌㄜ ㄇㄚ?)

What did you have for your breakfast? = 你早餐吃什麼? (ni zaocan chi sheme? | ㄋㄧˇ ㄗㄠˇ ㄘㄢ ㄔ ㄕㄜˊ ㄇㄜ?)

lunch = 午餐 (wu can | ㄨˇ ㄘㄢ)

dinner = 晚餐 (wan can | ㄨㄢˇ ㄘㄢ)

Is it delicious? = 好吃嗎? (hao chi ma? | ㄏㄠˇ ㄔ ㄇㄚ?)

Delicious = 好吃 (hao chi | ㄏㄠˇ ㄔ)

Do you like it? = 你喜歡嗎? (ni xihuan ma? | ㄋㄧˇ ㄒㄧˇ ㄏㄨㄢ ㄇㄚ?)

I like it = 我喜歡 (wo xihuan | ㄨㄛˇ ㄒㄧˇ ㄏㄨㄢ)

I don't like it = 我不喜歡 (wo bu xihuan | ㄨㄛˇ ㄅㄨˋ ㄒㄧˇ ㄏㄨㄢ)

Share my experience

Here I list some of my favorite for breakfast:

pancake = 蛋餅 (dan bing | ㄉㄢˋ ㄅㄧㄥˇ)

Cheese pancake = 起司蛋餅 (qisi dan bing | ㄑㄧˇ ㄙ ㄉㄢˋ ㄅㄧㄥˇ)

Bacon pancake = 培根蛋餅 (peigen dan bing | ㄆㄟˊ ㄍㄣ ㄉㄢˋ ㄅㄧㄥˇ)

Ham pancake = 火腿蛋餅 (huotuoi dan bing | ㄏㄨㄛˇ ㄊㄨㄟˇ ㄉㄢˋ ㄅㄧㄥˇ)

Pork pancake = 豬肉蛋餅 (zhurou dan bing | ㄓㄨ ㄖㄡˋ ㄉㄢˋ ㄅㄧㄥˇ)

Tuna pancake = 鮪魚蛋餅 (weiyu dan bing | ㄨㄟˇ ㄩˊ ㄉㄢˋ ㄅㄧㄥˇ)

Meat Floss pancake = 肉鬆蛋餅 (rousong dan bing | ㄖㄡˋ ㄙㄨㄥ ㄉㄢˋ ㄅㄧㄥˇ)

burger = 漢堡 (han bao | ㄏㄢˋ ㄅㄠˇ)

Fried Chicken burger = 卡辣雞漢堡 (kalaji han bao | ㄎㄚˇ ㄌㄚˋ ㄐㄧ ㄏㄢˋ ㄅㄠˇ)

Pork burger = 豬肉漢堡 (zhurou han bao | ㄓㄨ ㄖㄡˋ ㄏㄢˋ ㄅㄠˇ)

Fish burger = 魚漢堡 (yu han bao | ㄩˊ ㄏㄢˋ ㄅㄠˇ)

sandwich = 三明治 (san ming zhi | ㄙㄢ ㄇㄧㄥˊ ㄓˋ)

milk tea = 奶茶 (nai cha | ㄋㄞˇ ㄔㄚˊ)

black tea = 紅茶 (hong cha | ㄏㄨㄥˊ ㄔㄚˊ)

*black is 黑 (hei | ㄏㄟ) and 紅 (hong | ㄏㄨㄥˊ) is red. 紅茶 (hong cha | ㄏㄨㄥˊ ㄔㄚˊ) is translated as black tea instead of red tea. Weird??? I have ever asked about this and the answer that I got is because when you pour the red tea into a big container, you will see the tea color as BLACK. That's how it gets the name black tea.

soya bean milk = 豆漿 (dou jiang | ㄉㄡˋ ㄐㄧㄤ)

Lesson26: Fruits

Here are some names of fruit:

01. Mango = 芒果 (mang guo | ㄇㄤˊ ㄍㄨㄛˇ)

02. Apple = 蘋果 (ping guo | ㄆㄧㄥˊ ㄍㄨㄛˇ)

03. Banana = 香蕉 (xiang jiao | ㄒㄧㄤ ㄐㄧㄠ)

04. Orange = 橙子 (cheng zi | ㄔㄥˊ ㄗˇ)

05. Watermelon = 西瓜 (xi gua | ㄒㄧ ㄍㄨㄚ)

06. Strawberry = 草莓 (cao mei | ㄘㄠˇ ㄇㄟˊ)

07. Winter melon = 冬瓜 (dong gua | ㄉㄨㄥ ㄍㄨㄚ)

08. Lemon = 檸檬 (ning meng | ㄋㄧㄥˊ ㄇㄥˊ)

09. Pineapple = 鳳梨 (feng li | ㄈㄥˋ ㄌ一ˊ)

10. Melon = 甜瓜 (tian gua | ㄊㄧㄢˊ ㄍㄨㄚ)

11. Peach = 桃子 (tao zi | ㄊㄠˊ ㄗˇ)

12. Cherry = 櫻桃 (ying tao | 一ㄥ ㄊㄠˊ)

Lesson25: "Don't eat all of your food"

A few days ago, one of my foreigner friends told me about his experience of eating with a Chinese family. He said that the host of that eating session kept on asking him to add more every time he finished eating. Thus, he shared with me about the meaning of the culture of "Don't eat all of your food" that he has ever read before. According to that, it means you are still hungry. In my opinion, I don't see any relation between them. If you have eaten everything on your plate, it doesn't mean that you are still hungry. I have ever read the same thing too! As for me, I always eat'em all. lol. The fact that the host will keep on asking you to add more and more is true, especially the old people. It is just like a custom. So you, young people, when you are eating with a Chinese family, REMEMBER to control your speed! Don't eat too fast because they won't let you alone while others are eating.

Note. Try to play around! Be the first to finish eating and eat everything that's on your plate (anything edible only, lol) and see what will happen.

Lesson24: Apologize

When you are walking, you may step on someone's foot. In this situation, you should say I am sorry = 對不起 (dui bu qi | ㄉㄨㄟˋ ㄅㄨˋ ㄑㄧˇ). In other situation, if someone says to you, to reply it is it doesn't matter = 沒關係 (mei guan xi | ㄇㄟˊ ㄍㄨㄢ ㄒㄧˋ)

You have done wrong = 你做錯了 (ni zuo cuo le | ㄋㄧˇ ㄗㄨㄛˋ ㄘㄨㄛˋ ㄌㄜ)

*can be replaced with:

I = 我 (wo | ㄨㄛˇ)

We = 我們 (wo men | ㄨㄛˇ ㄇㄣ)

They = 他們 (ta men | ㄊㄚ ㄇㄣ)

He = 他 (ta | ㄊㄚ)

She = 她 (ta | ㄊㄚ)

What I have done wrong? = 我做錯了什麼? (wo zuo cuo le sheme? | ㄨㄛˇ ㄗㄨㄛˋ ㄘㄨㄛˋ ㄌㄜ ㄕㄜˊ ㄇㄜ?)

Wrong! = 錯! (cuo | ㄘㄨㄛˋ)

Lesson23: Sport

"Healthy inside, Healthy outside" that's my motto to be healthy in life. lol

So, let's start with sport = 運動 (yun dong | ㄩㄣˋ ㄉㄨㄥˋ)

what sport do you like? = 你喜歡什麼運動? (ni xihuan sheme yundong? | ㄋㄧˇ ㄒㄧˇ ㄏㄨㄢ ㄕㄜˊ ㄇㄜ ㄩㄣˋ ㄉㄨㄥˋ?)

I like ___ = 我喜歡 ___ (wo xihuan ___ | ㄨㄛˇ ㄒㄧˇ ㄏㄨㄢ ___)

soccer = 足球 (zu qiu | ㄗㄨˊ ㄑㄧㄡˊ)

volleyball = 排球 (pai qiu | ㄆㄞˊ ㄑㄧㄡˊ)

basketball = 籃球 (lan qiu | ㄌㄢˊ ㄑㄧㄡˊ)

swimming = 游泳 (you yong | 一ㄡˊ ㄩㄥˇ)

badminton = 羽毛球 (yu mao qiu | ㄩˇ ㄇㄠˊ ㄑㄧㄡˊ)

table tennis = 桌球 (zhuo qiu | ㄓㄨㄛ ㄑㄧㄡˊ)

taekwondo = 跆拳道 (tai quan dao | ㄊㄞˊ ㄑㄩㄢˊ ㄉㄠˋ)

To play = 玩 (wan | ㄨㄢˊ) is usually used in sport.

You can find it in a conversation like:

Do you want to play with us? = 你要跟我們一起玩嗎? (ni yao gen women yiqi wan ma? | ㄋㄧˇ 一ㄠˋ ㄍㄣ ㄨㄛˇ ㄇㄣ 一ˋ ㄑㄧˇ ㄨㄢˊ ㄇㄚ?)

or simply

Do you want to play? = 你要玩嗎? (ni yao wan ma? | ㄋㄧˇ 一ㄠˋ ㄨㄢˊ ㄇㄚ?)

Can I play? = 我可以玩嗎? (wo keyi wan ma? | ㄨㄛˇ ㄎㄜˇ ㄧˇ ㄨㄢˊ ㄇㄚ?)

There are some verbs to replace to play to indicate that you are really playing such as hit = 打 (da | ㄉㄚˇ), kick = 踢(ti | ㄊㄧ) or practice = 練 (lian | ㄌㄧㄢˋ)

play volleyball = 打排球 (da pai qiu |ㄉㄚˇ ㄆㄞˊ ㄑㄧㄡˊ)

play soccer = 踢足球 (ti zu qiu | ㄊㄧ ㄗㄨˊ ㄑㄧㄡˊ)

play taekwondo = 練跆拳道 (lian tai quan dao | ㄌㄧㄢˋ ㄊㄞˊ ㄑㄩㄢˊ ㄉㄠˋ)

Lesson22: To Have

to have = 有 (you | 一ㄡˇ)

to have here can mean ownership or existence.

For example:

Do you have any telephone? (ownership) = 你有電話嗎? (ni you dianhua ma? | ㄋㄧˇ 一ㄡˇ ㄉㄧㄢˋ ㄏㄨㄚˋ ㄇㄚ?)

Is there any telephone here? (existence) = 這裡有電話嗎? (zheli you dianhua ma? | ㄓㄜˋ ㄌㄧˇ 一ㄡˇ ㄉㄧㄢˋ ㄏㄨㄚˋ ㄇㄚ?)

So, in conclusion:

Do you have ___ ? = 你有 ___ 嗎? (ni you ___ ma? | ㄋㄧˇ 一ㄡˇ ___ ㄇㄚ?)

Is there any ____ here? = 這裡有 ____ 嗎? (zheli you ___ ma? | ㄓㄜˋ ㄌㄧˇ 一ㄡˇ ___ ㄇㄚ?)

Lesson21: Weather

I am having a summer break while I am writing this post. The weather today is obviously hot. In Chinese language, weather = 天氣 (tian qi | ㄊㄧㄢ ㄑㄧˋ)

To say Today is very hot = 今天很熱 (jin tian hen re | ㄐㄧㄣ ㄊㄧㄢ ㄏㄣˇ ㄖㄜˋ) or The weather is very hot today = 今天的天氣很熱 (jin tian de tianqi hen re | ㄐㄧㄣ ㄊㄧㄢ ㄉㄜ ㄊㄧㄢ ㄑㄧˋ ㄏㄣˇ ㄖㄜˋ)

hot (weather) = 熱 (re | ㄖㄜˋ)

cold (weather) = 冷 (leng | ㄌㄥˇ)

I like this weather = 我喜歡這樣的天氣 (wo xihuan zheyang de tianqi | ㄨㄛˇ ㄒㄧˇ ㄏㄨㄢ ㄓㄜˋ 一ㄤˋ ㄉㄜ ㄊㄧㄢ ㄑㄧˋ)

Today weather is very good = 今天的天氣很好 (jintian de tianqi hen hao | ㄐㄧㄣ ㄊㄧㄢ ㄉㄜ ㄊㄧㄢ ㄑㄧˋ ㄏㄣˇ ㄏㄠˇ)

rainy day = 下雨天 (xia yu tian | ㄒㄧㄚˋ ㄩˇ ㄊㄧㄢ)

sunny day = 晴天 (qing tian | ㄑㄧㄥˊ ㄊㄧㄢ)

spring = 春天 (chun tian | ㄔㄨㄣ ㄊㄧㄢ)

summer = 夏天 (xia tian | ㄒㄧㄚˋ ㄊㄧㄢ)

fall/ autumn = 秋天 (qiu tian | ㄑㄧㄡ ㄊㄧㄢ)

winter = 冬天 (dong tian | ㄉㄨㄥ ㄊㄧㄢ)

Lesson20: Making Appointment

This topic came across my mind as I was making an appointment a moment ago. So, the first thing you may ask is when do you have time?

when do you have time? = 你什麼時候有空? (ni sheme shihou you kong? | ㄋㄧˇ ㄕㄜˊ ㄇㄜ ㄕˊ ㄏㄡˋ 一ㄡˇ ㄎㄨㄥˋ ?)

where to go? = 要去哪裡? (yao qu nali? | 一ㄠˋ ㄑㄩˋ ㄋㄚˇ ㄌㄧˇ?)

who wants to go? = 誰要去? (shei yao qu? | ㄕㄟˊ 一ㄠˋ ㄑㄩˋ?)

what time to go? = 幾點去? (ji dian qu? | ㄐㄧˇ ㄉㄧㄢˇ ㄑㄩˋ?)

how to go? = 怎麼去? (zenme qu? | ㄗㄣˇ ㄇㄜ ㄑㄩˋ?)

where to meet? = 在哪裡見面? (zai nali jian mian? | ㄗㄞˋ ㄋㄚˇ ㄌㄧˇ ㄐㄧㄢˋ ㄇㄧㄢˋ?)

remember to ___ = 要記得___ (yao jide___ | 一ㄠˋ ㄐㄧˋ ㄉㄜ___)

01. tell me = 告訴我 (gaosu wo | ㄍㄠˋ ㄙㄨˋ ㄨㄛˇ)

02. call me = 叫我 (jiao wo | ㄐㄧㄠˋ ㄨㄛˇ)

03. call me (phone) = 打電話給我 (da dianhua gei wo | ㄉㄚˇ ㄉㄧㄢˋ ㄏㄨㄚˋ ㄍㄟˇ ㄨㄛˇ)

Lesson19: Restaurant

Service in small restaurant like those you can find on road side is different from big restaurant. Here I am going to take small restaurant as the situation. Once you step in, you may want to choose your seat and then ask for the menu (if it is not on the table)

menu = 菜單 (cai dan | ㄘㄞˋ ㄉㄢ)

When asking for the menu, you may want to start with excuse me.

excuse me = 不好意思 (bu hao yi si | ㄅㄨˋ ㄏㄠˇ 一ˋ ㄙ)

please give me the menu = 給我菜單一下 (gei wo caidan yixia | ㄍㄟˇ ㄨㄛˇ ㄘㄞˋ ㄉㄢ 一 ㄒㄧㄚˋ)

I want to see the menu = 我要看菜單 (wo yao kan caidan | ㄨㄛˇ 一ㄠˋ ㄎㄢˋ ㄘㄞˋ ㄉㄢ)

Here is a list of some meat

chicken = 雞肉 (ji rou | ㄐㄧ ㄖㄡˋ)

beef = 牛肉 (niu rou | ㄋㄧㄡˊ ㄖㄡˋ)

lamb = 羊肉 (yang rou | 一ㄤˊ ㄖㄡˋ)

pork = 豬肉 (zhu rou | ㄓㄨ ㄖㄡˋ)

fish = 魚肉 (yu rou | ㄩˊ ㄖㄡˋ)

*肉 (rou | ㄖㄡˋ) means meat. If you remove the word, you will get the Chinese word of the animal.

chicken = 雞 (ji | ㄐㄧ)

cow = 牛 (niu | ㄋㄧㄡˊ)

sheep = 羊 (yang | 一ㄤˊ)

pig = 豬 (zhu | ㄓㄨ)

fish = 魚 (yu | ㄩˊ)

please give me ___ = 請給我 ___ (qing gei wo ___ | ㄑㄧㄥˇ ㄍㄟˇ ㄨㄛˇ ___)

spoon = 湯匙 (tang chi | ㄊㄤ ㄔˊ)

fork = 叉子 (cha zi | ㄔㄚ ㄗˇ)

chopstick = 筷子 (kuai zi | ㄎㄨㄞˋ ㄗˇ)

cup = 杯子 (bei zi | ㄅㄟ ㄗˇ)

straw = 吸管 (xi guan | ㄒㄧ ㄍㄨㄢˇ)

Now for the check-out, you may want to tell the waiter that you want to pay the bill.

pay the bill = 結帳 (jie zhang | ㄐㄧㄝˊ ㄓㄤˋ) OR 買單 (mai dan | ㄇㄞˇ ㄉㄢ)

I want to pay the bill = 我要結帳 (wo yao jiezhang | ㄨㄛˇ 一ㄠˋ ㄐㄧㄝˊ ㄓㄤˋ)

OR 我要買單 (wo yao maidan | ㄨㄛˇ 一ㄠˋ ㄇㄞˇ ㄉㄢ)

I want to pay = 我要付錢 (wo yao fu qian | ㄨㄛˇ 一ㄠˋ ㄈㄨˋ ㄑㄧㄢˊ)