11 Crucial Chinese Phrases You Must Know Before You Go to China
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- Опубліковано 9 гру 2013
- Before you head off to China, you must know some basic Chinese. Besides the typical hellos and goodbyes here are 11 CRUCIAL must know Chinese phrases you need to learn before you go.
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Hey Guys, I have a Joke about 'Nali Nali'...one day John a westerner was attending a friend's wedding in China. He walked up to the bride and groom and complimented the bride saying "你今天很美丽"（you look very lovely today. In which the bride replied "Nali Nali". John looked very confused and replied..."your eyes, your hair, your dress..."
Lol.
hahaha
and then the bride finally added: "do me on the counter... right here"
Nali nali means like 'no, no stop it, i dont' Alan Chang
Haha, I get it
funny story, when i first arrived in china to teach english, the teacher who met me at the airport and showed me my home, i looked in the bathroom and their was no TP, but she did not know what it was, so i had to try to use charades to explain and she still didn't get it, but she took me to a shop to see if i could find it, finally i did.
2 weeks later a guy from australia arrived, the same teacher went to meet him, the first thing she said to him was, do you want toilet paper
robert charlton Clearly she learned from you.
LMAO
I am chinese, I am born in china, and i still have no idea why I am watching this vid.
没关系，我觉的你们的视频挺好看的，继续努力，加油吧。
+Yoloanda hahahahahahahahaha this made me laugh
Yoloanda Me too. 😂😂😂
Yoloanda 那你怎么看到这个视频 哈哈哈哈哈
Yoloanda you are just like me
哈哈哈
Watching from the Philippines. I love Chinese topics like this. 🇵🇭😊❤
Hi Great Wallers!
Question we want to post is why is it that when a westerner speaks Chinese it's so cool and fascinating but when an Asian speaks English it's not a big deal? Is it because it's rare to find westerners speak Chinese or because it's almost expected that everyone speaks English?
Also if you haven't already, PLEASE like our facebook page as we will post regular discussion topics so we can all discuss them together :-)
I think it's because it's rare for a Bai Ren/Gweilo to learn and speak an Asian language cool, It is also expected nowaday for anyone to speak english.
It would be like that with any other language I think, and asian languages even more, because a sort of popular conception has it, that they are complicated as hell with tons of symbols! :o
I think it's just the culture. As an American, I appreciate English speakers by listening to their ideas as they express them in my language and try my best not to interrupt them. To them, I feel, they must express the fact that they think it's cool that I learned Chinese (often in the form of 你的中文很好 when it is, in fact, abysmal) in order for me to understand their appreciation. Before I got here, I was told that the Chinese are quite subtle with their social cues - which is quite true in some ways - but they're quite straightforward in just as many ways, I believe.
English is very easy compared to *any* other language in the world and has become an international language. Chinese, on the other hand, is *very difficult* to write and pronounce for *all* people. I, for one, find Chinese fascinating when spoken by Chinese people. It is not *who* speaks it, it is *the language* that fascinates.
Quest for Truth disagree. English is one of the hardest languages to learn if you didn't grow up with it (in some form). Part of the reason being, there are so many 'exceptions to the rule' situations that are hard for English learners to pick up and understand. English is so difficult, even a large amount of native Enlglish speakers have a hard time using the language correctly.
This is not true. English speakers have just a fine time using English. It's their language; it's literally impossible for native speakers (barring abnormalities) to consistently misuse their own language.
English for non-Western language speakers tends to be very difficult to learn because it's so different to them. Questions are formed very differently (Chinese questions make a lot more sense to me: "you want go store (yes/no)?" You can even ask something like, "leave/not leave?") in English than most (if not all) Asian languages.
There are also many sounds that are made in English that aren't made in Chinese, and some sounds that they make that many speakers of different dialects/language (depending on the perspective you take) don't distinguish - the most common one probably being "s/sh," which gets confusing for me (WHAT DO YOU MEAN 10?! YOU CLEARLY SAID 4! Oh, second tone? Well, I forgive you.... today).
Chinese speakers specifically have problems with grammar because morphology as we're familiar with it simply doesn't exist in that language. "Tenses" (I'm not sure you can truly call them tenses as you'd be stuck in the awkward situation of saying that things like 今天，昨天，明天 [today, yesterday, tomorrow] are "tensing" verbs, which gets pretty sticky) moods, and aspects (probably what we should mean when we say "tenses") all come from single-word particles that are tagged on to the end of verb phrases or sentences (I have yet to completely figure this rule out for myself, so apologies in advance for any mistakes in upcoming examples, but the point remains the same). They even distinguish things we'd never distinguish in a similar manner (e.g., "Did you ever go to that store?" 你去商店过吗？ (you go store (experiential past) (yes/no)?) v. "Did you go to the store?" 你去商店了吗？(you go store (past perfective) (yes/no)?) They have particles for things that we have to use adverbs for.
There are certainly many more differences that lead to Chinese English Learners having more language interference than your average English Learner, but from personal experience, morphological tense/inflection is very difficult for many Chinese English speakers. From close friends to my girlfriend, they'll often misuse or overapply the present progressive, perfective, simple present, or whatever. This is to say nothing of infinitival phrases, which I'm not sure how my girlfriend will react when I tell her that, sometimes, verbs are added into sentences in the exact same way as in Chinese.
Long story short, English isn't the most difficult language. It's truly a bastard language, to be sure, having its roots in Germanic origins and then having its mother country invaded many times, not least of which by the Norman French in 1066. And then it took over most of the world for a not insignificant period of time and is now considered the language of international business. But I wouldn't say it's any harder, on average, for someone to learn English than, say, Chinese. Each language has its own nuances and annoyances that one must deal with to successfully learn a language, and English is no different.
In Guangzhou, I got away with "WC" for bathroom since they influenced by Hong Kong (which was influenced by Britain). But when I traveled North, I had to use 厕所。For toilet paper (any type of tissue), I used 纸巾. And bargaining is a type of art in China; you all should do a video on 'how to bargain in China'.
hmmm....perhaps we will :-)
Yay!
Off the Great Wall Could you teach the sign language used for numbers that people use to bargain? That would be great :)
Annalisa Steinnes born in China, raised in China, spend a lot of time in China, I have never seen those hand signal numbers used.
Oyibo Boy Which region did you live in? I've seen them in Guangdong. Maybe they use them for foreigners. But once I could speak some of the language, I didn't see the hand signs as much.
*"I don't want"* had me cracking up
This is so true!!!! I've just returned from my trip to China and I used these "太贵了，不要，厕所在哪儿" and other phrases thousand times during just two weeks))
The most common phrase I used in china was 我要这个 (wo yao zhe ge) which means I want this. This phrase saved me a lot!
That phrase at 3:00 literally means "you are very cow"
I took Chinese my senior year in high school and I loved it so much! Our teacher was actually on a working visa and from China, so it was awesome having someone authentic teach us the class. It was more about just the language too, she taught us the culture and the etiquette for having tea or eating dinner. I wish I was able to take more than one year, it was definitely my favorite class. This video was awesome by the way, it reminded me how much I loved my Chinese teacher and how much fun I had learning the language! :D
Your guys' enthusiasm is amazing. THANK YOU!!
This is really helpful - a definite must watch!
Thank you! It is really cool video and really important phrases in Chinese!!! I wish I learned thm before I caome to China)))
I loved this! I’m traveling to China this year and this video is very helpful! Plus you guys taught it in a fun way that will help me remember.
Luv this,great job!
Thanks!
This is awesome!! :D
thankyou so much!!
This is great! I don't know when I'll get to China but I will use this for my students (they are Chinese and learning English).
這個影片很牛！
Looking at going next fall (to get our son!) so this was super helpful. Thanks guys!
No problem, have fun! Congrats on your son :-)
好胖。I think foreigners need to learn this so they can understand when people call them fat. Lol
lol
haha, I will make sure to remember the whole phrase 好胖老外
@Radio 4Men
I like it
Radio 4Men muscled is very different from fat tho
Cool lesson ! Thanks!
Wow, this is such a good video. Thanks! This'll help me a lot when I go on my Asian trip.
Cool, glad we could help!
My children are studying Chinese...I'll have to show this to them!
I'm going to china in 14 days, I only know basic Chinese like, ni hao, zaijian,ni hau Ma! This is so helpful!
So helpful!
Your enthusiasm is contagious so easy to understand! I wish you would repeat the sentence more than just one time, please.
❤❤❤
HELLO
Great video
Thankyou
Thanks!!! :)
nice presentation👌
great video, OTGW!
Thanks!!!
I love how I'm Chinese and still watching this video. I love you guy's accent. Also you should tell them what WC means.
Love this! :D
太贵了 and 便宜点儿 must be the phrases I used most when I was living in Shanghai.
Also, 哪里哪里 is my favourite phrase ever!
You guys are so funny haha. I am glad to see Mike in this video. You made these phrases so memorable. Maybe i'll go to China one day.
Thanks for watching! Glad these could be one day helpful :-)
Great Basics which is very useful.
you guys are brilliant
We have alot of Chinese massage shops and it would be helpful if you did a series on common parlance with that environment. Such as: I have pain right here. or Don't touch me here. or Really work the neck. etc.
One of the best Spanish phrases I learned was, "estoy bien borracho no entiendo lo que se dice." Essentially, I am really drunk I don't understand...
As I am sure you know, often a touch of humor defuses tension in an otherwise bad situation.
Wonderfully funny and useful.
"I don't want" is amazing. My boyfriend has mastered this, particularly in Suzhou when we were exploring the streets to find the gardens. We were a Chinese family plus one white dude, but because we weren't with a tour, we got harassed big time.
Nice!
多谢！
Oh maaaan! you guys are awesome! i've been there many times, i understand English can not help me ! xaxa cool tnxalot!
Thank you for this delightful way of presenting important phrases to know. I had to laugh out load several times and you both made me feel good. My grand daughter 6 yrs. old is going to see them today- she likes doing the characters just for the love of doing them.
I LOVE IT!!!
I was under the impression that the tone on 不 changes from a falling tone to a rising tone when it precedes another falling tone. Yet they have 不要 as two 4th tones. Am i mistaken or is there a mistake?
i enjoy this cause i understand all of these
This is actually useful.
haha I was surprised about the 'hole in the ground', but fortunately most of the bathrooms had toilet paper
and for shopping...thank god I went with my chinese friend :D
Lol I found this funny and good tips for me hehe
Can u please do more video like this one it could do with some more new words and u make it fun too
Good job guys
Thanks for watching!
Hey tengo ya meses viéndolos y he aprendido mucho! se los agradezco muchísimo!! y de verdad no hay vídeo que no me guste son fabulosos! LOS ADORO
I'm going to hong kong in a few weeks. Could you please upload a cantonese version, please? (:
good overview :)
the one with spicy stuff could be number one sometimes, especially in sichuan or yunnan !!!!
Yea people who never ate real spicy food would get a rude awakening
Off the Great Wall There's a story I usually tell my non-Asian friends about that. As an ABC you'd think I'd fare a little better, but I remember eating in a corner stall in Chengdu right before I left for college and suffering through the amount of spice that was in the food. My stepmom's friend's daughter was eating the same thing next to us and found it not spicy. She was 11.
Wo yao cafe; This phrase was the building block for my long Taiwan adventure..
It's I want coffee.
Can you do it in Cantonese for Hong Kong.
Lol these lads are a riot.
I was adopted from china, and trying my very best to learn it, and this is deffo a funny way to do it 哈哈 xx
there are chinese tourists in my small town during summer any advice on if and how i can aproach them im interested in learning mandarin aswell as about the culture
Thanks!! LUV THIS!!! Please make more like this.
Bernadette
Glad you liked it! Thanks for watching :-)
3:27
That's a 1st tier urban bathroom!
If you ACTUALLY go into the countryside, #2 bathrooms are actually concrete pits with no barriers, no privacy, no flush, all stench. latrines are undivided, just a horizontal concrete thing that drains into a hole. The pits are usually too dark to see the bottom of, but do not try; you'll just smell a ton of dung.
Just go on a road trip to 壶口瀑布, and you'll understand. The view is beautiful, but the latrines in the surrounding villages are often as described above
I think Ni hen niu started trending about 5 years ago. A few years ago "gei Li" or "give energy" and "zhen neng liang" positive energy was used as recently as last year. These trending phrases are like "FTW" "epic". Pretty germane. If you don't watch Chinese programming, u won't see it catching on.
Do people still use gei li and zhen neng liang...? As in, would it still be "cool" to use it...? xD I've heard of gei li before. :)
I'm Sarah Some still do on weibo. I've seen it.
Haha, I said "nali nali" to a Chinese person when they complimented my pronunciation. Her reaction was great!
Yea if your western especially, Chinese people would be very surprised you would know that phrase
I love it.
can you please do the cantonese version? :DDD
幽默了！ 多谢 😂
Can u do a cantonese version too because it depends where you go
Aha I know someone called nali...
Awesome video guys!
Thanks!
I like the phrases in this video however I feel like they speak too fast and don't really break down how to say it I had to rewind a bunch of times and slow it down myself it would be helpful to hear it a little bit slower a couple of times
The Flying Spaghetti Monster I agree with you 100%, I think it Chinese way Fast and Loud.
+Thimm eE. usually languages you don't speak sound faster than your native language
No, Chinese is just naturally faster than English
thnk u =)
Thanks for watching!
I'm taking Chinese at university (I want it to be my minor), and I'm happy I found this channel :D It can help while I practice over break ^~^
we are happy you found us as well :-)
Isn't 不 the second sound for things like 我不要 and 不要加辣椒？
When are the Skits coming? I really like the skits.
Hey! Thanks for this useful video. By the way, I notice a lot of people keep on talking about Rocelangue Method (search on google), but I'm not sure if it is good. Have you tried this how to speak practical foreign language tutorial known as Rocelangue Method? I have heard several great things about it.
+Sumaiya Afrin Thanks for the advertisement... -_-
Haha, that's a very... generous picture of the squatting toilet you got there. ;P I remember something slightly different when I was in SH...
Yes we didn't want to blindside ppl with some of the rural 'toilets'
谢谢你们~! 一个月以后, 我要去中国。在河南大学，我要学习中文。^^ I love learning from your videos, wish me luck!
Oh cool! Seems you know some Chinese already :-) Thanks for watching :-)
Miss cocokitty when will you post more videos we miss you
Can you guys make more videos regarding chinese culture~? Your videos are great !
Just for you we will ;-)
Off the Great Wall Thank you so much ! ^_^
My favorite Chinese phrase is 搞砸迪克黑德笑🤭
Can you guys do a video where you show us the formal words to say to chinese parents please? I want to memorize it for when the time comes
thank for you help we planing to go china next year don't stop doing videos because firts time visitors we need it I hope don't get lost lol
I think it's cool and great when I see a Chinese person speaking English . Plus u can really hear they're Chinese accents make the English sound better lol
Can you do one of these for Cantonese?!
2:48 'You're very cow?' Is what I first thought at first lol
there's an important sentence missing, when you're invited to a Chinese dinner then 吃饱了 (i'm full) will also come in very handy because Chinese will keep giving food until you actually say you're full
Very true
Canton version please but with more pick up lines or cheese catch phrases for the ladies ;D
I'm going to china with my bf in january to visit his grandparents. I think I'll try to impress them with the complement! (My cultural background is vietnamese)
Nice! See how many of these you can use :-)
Not just China, here in la, Chinese and Spanish are very useful.
oh yeah... I still use these phrases a lot XD XD
Thanks guys, 谢谢你们！When I said 你很牛！ to my Chinese boyfriend, he went totally nuts, he was so impressed and happy! ^___^
I think it's amazing you want to help us this way, I really thank you sincerely!
Yass I'm going to China next year
Asking for wei4 sheng1 zhi3 when going to ce4 suo3 is definitely helpful not only in China but also in most South East Asian countries. Pretty much the single most annoying thing when travelling
The first one I thought of was, "我不會說中文" :P
Pretty sure you speak 漢語. 中文 is the written language I think.
both are okay :)
+Petrifyer saying 我不會說漢語 is pretty wierd
the tones on bu4 are suppose to be 2nd tone
can you guys do a canto version?? (even tho carmen is gone :'( )
We are still looking for a canto replacement, will do canto soon as we can :-)
2:47 I accidentally said it wrong and "niu" can also mean cow. I really need to get my pronunciation right lol
Haha. The "Asian squat" xD
Much more powerful than regular squats!
Ha ha! LOVE it. Spot ON!
I've been learning 仪电 Chinese Mandarin and trying to practice with natives :). One guy asked me how I learned and I said "online". He said "you're very smart" and I forgot how to say "nali nali" and said thank you instead. so I looked like the arrogant American i am LOL
How did you guys know I'm going to China next year? ;)
I could have definitely used some of these phrases when I was there last time. I just started learning some Mandarin, so hopefully I can get by a little in next June.
where do u want to go ? I'm Chinese here ! Are u going to travel ? Maybe I can recommend some places if u need :)
Matt Bai
Thanks for the suggestion, but I have it planned already. :)
I found out about this place wikitravel.org/en/Pingyao and now it's the main attraction for my visit this time. I'm also going to spend some time in Beijing, but it will be my second time there, so I'll mostly know my way around there.
Great Vid, I definitely used Tai Guile a lot but I don't need number 9, I eat most my Asian friends friends under the table when it comes to chili! And what about Piow Liang? That one's useful.
Simon Russell Red chilli peppers are pretty much what they consider spicy. Haha, it is never a problem to eat their "spicy" food.
哪里，哪里 (nali nali) the origin of this particular phrase is from “哪里的话” (nali de hua),
literally it means "which (foreign) language (you're talking)".
Chinese speaking habit like to replicate the words to emphasize "a little more than ordinary", or "(it looks like) tend to be", for example "辣辣的“ (lalade) a little spicier or hotter than ordinary, ”贵贵的”(guiguide) it tend to be pricey.
instead of saying 哪里的话，哪里的话 (nali de hua x2), Chinese always tend to shorten it down became 哪里哪里。
Number 10 is crucial