{"id":1071,"date":"2013-11-11T14:14:49","date_gmt":"2013-11-11T14:14:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.digmandarin.com\/?p=1071"},"modified":"2015-05-09T12:08:41","modified_gmt":"2015-05-09T12:08:41","slug":"mandarin-you-need-that-you-cant-find-in-a-textbook","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.digmandarin.com\/mandarin-you-need-that-you-cant-find-in-a-textbook.html","title":{"rendered":"Mandarin You Need that You Can\u2019t Find in a Textbook"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"1\"As an English teacher<\/a> in the Guandong<\/a> province for the last five weeks, I\u2019ve noticed many things in my daily conversations that none of the Chinese textbooks I studied from prepared me for.\u00a0 Real conversation with people here in China definitely does not follow all the patterns in the textbook and the best resources out there cannot take al cultural nuances into account. Here are some useful things to know about real Chinese conversation:<\/p>\n

1) Learn more than just your country\u2019s name<\/h2>\n

It is important to know how to talk about some interesting facts regarding one\u2019s country. All foreigners are asked about the length of their journey, and many basic cost of living questions. Money is a much more casual and open topic in China. If you really do not want to answer, you can always feign ignorance. Here are some useful phrases to know and the questions to look out for:<\/p>\n

Q1:<\/strong> How long did it take you to get here?
\n\u4f60\u6765\u4e2d\u56fd\u8981\u82b1\u591a\u957f\u65f6\u95f4\uff1f
\nn\u01d0 l\u00e1i zh\u014dng gu\u00f3 y\u00e0o hu\u0101 du\u014d ch\u00e1ng sh\u00ed ji\u0101n<\/p>\n

A:<\/strong> It took about _______ hours by airplane.
\n\u5750\u98de\u673a\u8981\u82b1_______\u5c0f\u65f6\u3002
\nzu\u00f2 f\u0113i j\u012b y\u00e0o hu\u0101 ______ xi\u01ceo sh\u00ed<\/p>\n

Q2:<\/strong> How much does it cost to live in your hometown for a month?
\n\u5728\u4f60\u5bb6\u4e61\uff0c\u4e00\u4e2a\u6708\u8981\u82b1\u591a\u5c11\u94b1\uff1f
\nz\u00e0i n\u01d0 ji\u0101 xi\u0101ng, y\u00ed g\u00e8 yu\u00e8 y\u00e0o hu\u0101 du\u014d sh\u01ceo qi\u00e1n<\/p>\n

A: <\/strong>The cost of living for one month is about _______.
\n\u4e00\u4e2a\u6708\u8981\u82b1_______\u7f8e\u5143\u3002
\ny\u00ed g\u00e8 yu\u00e8 y\u00e0o hu\u0101 _______ m\u011bi yu\u00e1n<\/p>\n

Q3: <\/strong> How much does a plane ticket cost?
\n\u673a\u7968\u8981\u82b1\u591a\u5c11\u94b1\uff1f
\nj\u012b pi\u00e0o y\u00e0o hu\u0101 du\u014d sh\u01ceo qi\u00e1n?<\/p>\n

A: <\/strong>A plane ticket costs around _________.
\n\u673a\u7968\u5927\u6982\u8981_______\u7f8e\u5143\u3002
\nj\u012b pi\u00e0o d\u00e0 g\u00e0i y\u00e0o ______ m\u011bi yu\u00e1n<\/p>\n

2) Don\u2019t be afraid to pull out your dictionary\/translation app in the middle of conversation<\/h2>\n

Usually this works in your favor since the people you are conversing with appreciate your drive to push the conversation forward. They are also usually fascinated by the app and the way you have managed to beat the language barrier being the technologically savvy Ninja that you are. I recommend Pleco<\/a> as the app of choice. Here\u2019s how to express your desire to use the dictionary:<\/p>\n

I don`t understand, let`s look at the dictionary.
\n\u6211\u4e0d\u61c2\uff0c\u6211\u4eec\u770b\u4e00\u4e0b\u5b57\u5178\u5427\u3002
\nw\u01d2 b\u00f9 d\u01d2ng, w\u01d2 men k\u00e0n y\u00ed xi\u00e0 z\u00ec di\u01cen ba<\/p>\n

3) Point out your poor Chinese on days when you feel bad about it<\/h2>\n

\"2\"If you have days where you feel hopeless despite your best attempts, just point out your poor Chinese publicly. Most people will quickly reassure you that you sound great; that you will improve fast, and that they are extremely happy that you are trying. The following phrase works like magic for the much needed boost:<\/p>\n

My Chinese is too bad, sorry.
\n\u6211\u7684\u4e2d\u6587\u592a\u5dee\u4e86\uff0c\u4e0d\u597d\u610f\u601d\u3002
\nw\u01d2 de zh\u014dng w\u00e9n t\u00e0i ch\u00e0 le, b\u00f9 h\u01ceo y\u00ec si<\/p>\n

4) Food is serious business<\/h2>\n

Find out the common local food\/cultural food habits and bring gifts everywhere to impress your counterparts. Furthermore, it is always better to try a little and then stop instead of outrightly refusing something because this often ends with it being forced upon you.<\/p>\n

5) We don\u2019t actually ever ask\u4f60\u597d\u5417 (n\u01d0 h\u01ceo ma)?\u201d here!<\/h2>\n

It took me a while to figure it out but whenever I would ask \u201c\u4f60\u597d\u5417?\u201d or \u201c\u4f60\u600e\u4e48\u6837?\u201d, I received blank stares in return. Soon, I noticed that in China, it is much more common to ask questions like \u201c\u4f60\u5403\u996d\u4e86\u6ca1\u6709\uff1f(Did you eat?)\u201d and\u201c\u4f60\u53bb\u54ea\u91cc\uff1f(Where are you going?)\u201d. The idea is to say something directly related to the actual things happening in the other person\u2019s life. While this sounds absurd and slightly intrusive if translated, it is equally absurd to most Chinese people to be asked \u201c\u4f60\u597d\u5417? \uff08How are you?\uff09\u201d or \u201c\u4f60\u600e\u4e48\u6837? (How are you doing?)\u201d.<\/p>\n

Now, do you have any useful phrases or sentences used on real Chinese conversation?\u00a0 just share to us.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As an English teacher in the Guandong province for the last five weeks, I\u2019ve noticed many things in my daily conversations that none of the Chinese textbooks I studied from prepared me for.\u00a0 Real conversation with people here in China definitely does not follow all the patterns in the textbook and the best resources out…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":4284,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[122,89],"post_series":[],"yoast_head":"\nMandarin You Need that You Can\u2019t Find in a Textbook<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"As an English teacher in China, I\u2019ve noticed many things in my daily conversations that none of the Chinese textbooks. 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