Answer to scenario on Handling Payment in the restaurant

Here is the answer to the one of the scenario from the last post on handling payment in the restaurant.
Translate the first scenario below:

Guest              : Fúwùyuán, qǐng jiézhàng. 服务员，请结账       
Guest: Waiter/Waitress (it is common for guests in the service industry to address the staff as "service staff"), please settle our bill.

Waiter/Waitress: Hǎode. Qǐng shāo děng yīxià. 好的， 请稍等一下
Waiter/Waitress: Sure. Please wait a moment.

Issueing bill…

Waiter/Waitress: Zhèshì nǐdě mǎidān. Qǐng chá yī chá . 这是你的买单，请查一查
Waiter/Waitress: Here is your bill. Please have a look.

Customer checking bill…

Guest              : Zhè shì shénme? 这是什么？
Guest: Wha is this? (it is not being rude, but rather to make sure that the bill is issued correctly)

Waiter/Waitress : Zhè shì kǎoyā. 这是烤鸭
Waiter/Waitress: This is roast duck.

Guest                          : Hǎo la. Dōu duì le. 好啦，都对了。

Nǐmen shōu bù shoū xìnyòngkǎ? 你们收不收信用卡？
Guest: Oh, okay. All are correct. Do you take Credit card?

Waiter/Waitress         : Shōu. 收                               
Waiter/Waitress: Take / We take / We do. (There is no one right way in translating this)

Guest                          : Zhège. 这个
Guest: Here you go.

Waiter/Waitress         : Xìnyòngkǎ xūyào mìmǎ ma? 信用卡需要密码吗？
Waiter/Waitress: Does the credit card need PIN?

Guest                          : zhèzhāng xūyào. 这张需要。
Guest: This one needs.

Waiter/Waitress         : Nà, bùhǎoyìsi, 那不好意思，

Nín kě bù kěyǐ gēn wǒ dào shōuyíntái qù？您可不可以跟我到收银台去？
Waiter/Waitress: In that case, I am sorry,
Can you come with me to the cashier?

Guest                          : hǎo  好
Guest: Okay.


How many of you get it right? I am not saying word by word kind of "right", as in translating, it is not merely taking words and translating it, sometimes we need understanding of the "context". It is very important. If you notice, when the guest said "Zhège. 这个", it doesn't mean that the guest was saying "this" as in pointing to an object, but rather as an expression when he/she passed something (in this case the credit card) to the waiter/waitress. So in English rather than saying "this", it is more appropriate to be translated as "here you go".

Try to digest all of the grammar and vocabularies used above and take note of something that you think might come handy in other context one day.

Happy Wednesday,
Linda Tan

Using Chinese / Mandarin in Restaurant - Part 2

Have you mastered all the common vocabularies from the previous post?

Here is the very first part of conversation that might happen in the restaurant.

(source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/thrillist/12-things-you-dont-unders_b_7213180.html)

Welcoming the guest.

SCENARIO 1:

Staff: Good afternoon, Sir. Have you had a reservation?

服务员： 先生，下午好。 您预订餐桌了吗？
Fúwúyuán: xián sheng, xiàwǔhǎo. nín yùdìng cānzhuō le ma?

Guest: Good afternoon. No, I don’t.

客人： 下午好，我没有。
Kèrén: xiàwǔhǎo, wǒméiyǒu.

Staff: Okay, no problem. How many of you?

服务员： 好的，没关系。 你们几位？
Fúwúyuán: hǎode, méiguānxi. Nímen jǐwèi?

Guest: 2 persons.

客人： 两个人
Kèrén: liǎng gè rén.

Staff: 2 persons. May I have your name sir?

服务员：两个人。 请问您的大名？

Fúwúyuán: liǎng gè rén. qǐngwèn nín de dà míng

Guest: Brian

客人： Brian
Kèrén: Brian

Staff: Mr Brian. Please wait for a while, while we check a table for you.

服务员：Brian 先生。请稍等一下，让我们安排您的桌子。
Fúwúyuán: Brian xiān sheng. Qǐngshāoděng yīxià, ràng wǒmen ānpái nín de zhuōzi.

Guest: Okay.

客人： 好。
Kèrén: hǎo

Staff: Mr. Brian!
服务员：Brian 先生！
Fúwúyuán: Brian xiānsheng.

Guest: Yes.

客人： 是
Kèrén: shì

Staff: Your table is ready. Please come with me.
服务员：我们准备好您的桌子了。请跟我来。
Fúwúyuán: wǒmen zhǔnbèihǎo nín de zhuōzi le. Qǐng gēn wǒ lái.

Guest: Sure

客人： 好的。
Kèrén: hǎode.

SCENARIO 2:

Staff: Welcome. Do you have any reservation?

服务员：欢迎。您预订餐桌了吗？
Fúwùyuán: huānyíng. nín yùdìng cānzhuō le ma?

Guest: Yes, we do. Surname Wang, Called Kelly.

客人： 有。姓王，叫凯莉。
Kèrén: yǒu. xìng wáng, jiào kǎilì.

Staff: Yup, I have it. Ms. Kelly Wang, for 4 persons.

服务员： 是的。王凯莉小姐，四位。
Fúwùyuán: shìde. Wáng kǎi lì xiǎojiě, sìwèi.

Guest: Correct.

客人： 对了
Kèrén: duì le.

Staff: Do you want the table in smoking area or non smoking area.

服务员： 您要吸烟区还是禁吸烟区的桌子？
Fúwùyuán: nín yào xīyānqū háishì jìnxīyānqū de zhūozi?

Guest: No smoking area please.
客人：禁吸烟区吧
Kèrén: jìn xīyān qū ba.

Staff: Okay. Please wait for a moment.

服务员： 好的。请稍等一下。
Fúwùyuán: hǎode. Qǐng shāoděng yīxià.

Guest: Sure.

客人： 好的
Kèrén: hǎode.

Staff: Ms. Wang, please come with me.

服务员： 王小姐。请跟我来。
Fúwùyuán: wáng xiǎojiě. Qǐng gēn wǒ lái.

 - Show the table to the guests. -

Staff: Is here okay?
服务员： 这里号吗？
Fúwùyuán: zhèlǐ hǎo ma?

Guest: It’s fine. Thanks.

客人： 可以。谢谢
Kèrén: kěyǐ. Xièxie.

Staff: You are most welcome. This is the menu, please have a look first. My colleague will come to take your order in a moment.

服务员：不客气。这是我们的菜单，请先看。我的同事再会儿来帮您点菜。
Fúwùyuán: bùkèqi. Zhèshìwǒmendecàidān, qǐng xiānkàn. wǒdetóngshìzàihuìr lái bāng nín diǎncài.

Guest: Okay

客人：好
Kèrén: hǎo


If you have trouble in memorizing the whole sentence. Try to breakdown each sentence using all the previous sentence structures that you have learnt from the previous posts. It normally is easier to understand once you understand the structure of the sentence itself.

Happy learning~ Don't forget to watch out for next post on more materials on the same topic.

Regards,
Linda Tan

Mandarin Training in Bali / Pelatihan Bahasa Mandarin di Bali

Other than maintaining this blog in teaching people how to learn Chinese step by step, I also conduct training session for organizations in Bali that serve the growing Chinese market and those colleges that prepare the students to be ready in this challenging service industry.

WHY MANDARIN? WHY CHINESE?
Mandarin/Chinese is one of the most spoken languages in the world. We cannot deny the growing market of Chinese tourists in Bali. In order to serve the market better, one of the best thing that company can do is to equip their human resources with language skill.

WHY ME AS TRAINER?

If you are looking for quality, customized and easy-to-understand training session for your staff, please contact me at contact number provided below. I will be handling all the training as well as the customized materials/handbook for the training session in your organization.

A bit of my background, I am an HSK, Level 6 certificate holder. HSK is certification issued by the Chinese government for those foreigners who learn Chinese to state their proficiency and credibility in the language. It is something like TOEFL/IELTS for English. There are 6 levels in total, Level 6 being the highest. 

CONTACT DETAILS
To discuss on your organization's need and what I can offer for your organization, please do not hesitate to contact me at:

Phone: +6287868920390

Email: linda_yunitan@yahoo.com

-------------

Selain dari memaintain blog ini dalam mengajarkan cara mudah belajar Bahasa Mandarin, saya juga memberikan training Bahasa Mandarin kepada perusahaan ataupun organisasi di Bali yang melayani tamu/pasar Chinese yang semakin berkembang pada saat sekarang ini. Saya juga mengajar di pusat pelatihan yang mempersiapkan murid-muridnya agar siap untuk bekerja dan bersaing di industri pelayanan yang semakin menantang.

MENGAPA BAHASA MANDARIN? MENGAPA BAHASA CINA?

Bahasa Cina adalah salah satu Bahasa yang paling banyak digunakan didunia. Kita tidak bisa memungkiri perkembangan jumlah turis cina yang datang ke Bali beberapa tahun terakhir ini. Agar dapat melayani tamu/customer Anda dengan lebih baik, salah satu hal terbaik yang dapat dilakukan perusahaan/organisasi di Bali adalah dengan melakukan pelatihan/training Bahasa Mandarin untuk pekerja/staff nya.

MENGAPA SAYA SEBAGAI PELATIH/TRAINER?
Jika Anda mencari pelatih bahasa Mandarin yang berkualitas, materi pembelajaran yang dapat disesuaikan sesuai kebutuhan perusahaan dan juga cara mengajar yang mudah dimengerti, Anda dapat menghubungi saya untuk mendiskusikan lebih lanjut tentang rincian mengenai training Bahasa Mandarin ini. Saya sendiri akan menangai semua sesi training/pelatihan dan juga bahan/buku pegangan siswa yang telah dicocokan sesuai input ataupun kebutuhan dari perusahaan Anda.

Sedikit mengenai latar belakang saya, saya adalah pemegang sertifikat HSK, Level 6. HSK adalah sertifikasi yang diberikan pemerintah Cina untuk orang asing yang belajar Bahasa Mandarin, yang mana berfungsi menyatakan tingkat kemampuan si pelajar dalam menggunakan Bahasa Mandarin/Bahasa Cina. HSK seperti halnya TOEFL/IELTS untuk Bahasa Inggris. Secara total ada 6 level didalam ujian HSK, dimana Level 6 merupakan level tertinggi.

CONTACT DETAILS

Untuk mendiskusikan lebih lanjut mengenai kebutuhan dari perusahaan Anda dan bagaimana saya dapat membantu perusahaan Anda, silahkan menghubungi saya melalui kontak dibawah ini:
Trainer: Linda Tan (Ms)

Phone: +6287868920390

Email: linda_yunitan@yahoo.com


Best Regards,
Linda Tan

"Perfect" tense in Chinese

Again, in Chinese there is no change in the form of the verb to identify the time when an activity/event takes place. We normally will add an adverb of time as well as adding word (s) before/after the main verb.

As we know, to identify a continuous/progressive tense, we use the word 在 zài，正zhèng，正在zhèngzài before the Verb

Example:
1.      他吃肉
Tā chī ròu                   
He eats meat

2.      他在吃肉
Tā zài chī ròu 
He is eating meat

3.      昨天我来的时候，他在吃肉
Zuótiān wǒ lái de shíhòu, tā zài chī ròu         
Yesterday when I came, he was eating meat

Today, we are going to discuss about “perfect” tense.

There are a few ways to show that certain activity/event has or had happened:
1.      Using 已经。。。了yǐjīng… le
了Le should be placed after the verb. 了le can be used with/without the word已经“yǐjīng”. However, 已经 yǐjīng can’t be used without 了le

Example:
She has eaten.
他吃了 / 他已经吃了
Tā chī le or tā yǐjīng chī le

I have gone to Beijing
我去北京了 /  我已经去北京了
Wǒ qù Běijīng le / Wǒ yǐjīng qùBěijīng le

2.      Using 过guò
过guò should be used after the verb. The usage sometimes can be combined with 了le. However, without 了 le, 过 guò itself indicates that certain events has taken place.

Example:
I have eaten this （before）.
我吃过这个
Wǒ chī guò zhège.

I have been to Beijing before. (been here means that I have “gone”/”visited” there before)
我去过北京。
Wǒ qù guò běijīng le.


Depending on the context of speaking, at times, there is actually slight difference in the meaning of the sentences using已经…了 yǐjing.. le and using 过guò.

Let’s see the difference.

When I say:
-          我去过北京 wǒ qù guò Beǐjīng --> It means that I had been to Beijing before, the time when it happened can be last month, 2 years ago, etc and I am no longer in Beijing now.
-          我去北京了wǒ qù Beǐjīng le--> This sentence means that I have gone to Beijing and now I am still in Beijing.

When I say:    
-          我吃过这个 Wǒ chī guò zhège  -->  it means that I have eaten this before. The activity of eating not necessarily had just happened at the moment of speaking, it can be 5 minutes ago, it can be yesterday, it can be 2 years ago, the point is that “I have tasted this thing before”
-          我吃了这个 Wǒ chī le zhège --> It means that I have just finish eating this dish or not too long ago I have eaten this.

However, in the following sentences, there is not much difference in meaning:
-          我看了这部电影 Wǒ kàn le zhè bù diànyǐng.
-          我看过这部电影 Wǒ kàn guò zhè bù diànyǐng.

Both of the sentences above means that “I have watched this movie before”, the slight difference maybe in the time when the event of “watching” happened. The impression that people will get is that when you use 过 guò, it feels that the event has happened quite a while ago or not recent, although it might not necessarily true.

The negative sentence for perfect tense is formed by adding 还没 háiméi before the verb or or  没 méi + Verb + 过 guò.

For example:
I haven’t eaten this dish yet                wǒ háiméi chī zhèdào cài
--> Means that I haven’t eaten this dish yet, but I didn’t say that I had never tried it before. I might have or haven’t tasted the same kind of food before

I haven’t eaten this before                  wǒ méi chī guò zhèdào cài
--> Means that I haven’t tried/tasted this kind of dish before

Another example:
She hasn’t worn her skirt yet              tā háiméi chuān tā de qúnzi
--> Means that she has put on her shirt but not her skirt.

She hasn’t worn this skirt before        tā méi chuān guò zhètiáo qúnzi.
--> Means that the skirt is still new as she has never worn it before


Try translating the following:
1.      My little brother has graduated
2.      Her office had been renovated before.
3.      My uncle has taken my grandma to the hospital
4.      They hasn’t called me yet.
5.      They had never called me before.
6.      Have you read this book before?
7.      Has she returned your book already?
8.      His Wife has prepared the breakfast

Regards,

Linda Tan

Telling simple story 1

My Name is Linda. 我叫Linda /我的名字是Linda wǒ jiào Linda / wǒ de míngzì shì Linda

I am a teacher. 我是个老师  wǒ shì gè lǎoshī

I have an elder sister. 我有个姐姐     wǒ yǒu gè jiě jie

My sister is a housewife. 我姐姐是个主妇 wǒ jiějie shì gè zhǔfù

Note: Sentence 2，3 & 4 use the word 个 as a unit of measure. Without it, it doesn’t change the meaning much. It simply means: I am a teacher or I have an elder sister. She is a housewife.

She has 3 children, 2 beautiful girls and a cute boy. 他有三个孩子， 两个美丽的女儿和一个可爱的儿子    tā yǒu sāngè háizi, liǎnggè měilì de nǚér hé yīgè kěài de érzi.

Note: Pay attention to the usage of adjective in explaining the nouns (i.e. girls and boy). We use the word 的 de in between the adjective and noun.

I love my nieces and nephew. 我爱我的侄女和侄儿们。Wǒài wǒdezhìnǚ hé zhìér men.

Today is my mom’s birthday. 今天是我妈妈的生日。Jīntiān shì wǒmāma de shēngrì.

After finishing my breakfast, I called my mom. 吃完早餐之后，我给我妈妈打电话。

Chīzǎocān zhīhòu,wǒgěiwǒmāma dǎdiànhuà.
I wished her happy birthday. 我祝她生日快乐。Wǒzhùtā shēngrì kuàilè.

Note: To be grammatically correct “I call her” is translated as 我给她打电话wǒgěitā dǎdiànhuà and NOT 我打电话给她 wǒ dǎdiànhuà gěitā.

The pattern to follow is:

S + 给 gěi Object + Verb (do something)

Other Example:

Wàigōng gěi Brian jiǎng gùshì

Grandpa tells Brian a story = Grandpa tells story to Brian

She told me that she is going to spa with her friends this afternoon. 他告诉我这个下午他跟他的朋友要去做水疗治疗。Tāgaòsùwo zhège xiàwǔ tā hé tāgēnpéngyǒu yàoqùzuò shuǐliào zhìliáo.

Note: “this afternoon” is an adverb of time, it must come before or after the Subject. Thus in the sentence above, I place it before “she and (with) her friends”。Also, I use 跟 gēn for the word “with” instead of 和 hé that we normally used for “and”. There isn’t much difference for the two words.

My brother and I go to grandma’s house.

我跟我哥哥去外婆的家  
Wǒ gēn wǒgēge qù wàipó de jiā

If you notice, all the above sentences are relatively short. By doing this, there will be less grammatical error that you can avoid. Remember, all the sentences formed should follow the pattern given before.

Here is the recording of the whole short story above (again, I am sorry that it can only be played on a PC):

Regards,

Linda Tan

Answer: Before & After

Here is the answer to the previous post on describing sequence of event by using the word before & after 

1. Before I study in China, My Chinese is not too good.

在中国留学之前， 我的汉语不太好

Zaì Zhōngguó liūxué zhīqián, wǒ de Hànyǔ bù tài hǎo

NOTE:

-          Adverb of place, “in china”, has to come before the activity .

-          In this case, w do not use xiān because the subjects are 2 different things (First is “I”, Second is “My Chinese”)

2. After I move to London, I learn dancing.

我班去伦敦之后， 我就学跳舞。

Wǒ bān qù Lúndūn zhīhòu, wǒ jiù xué tiàowǔ.

NOTE:

-          London is not really an adverb of place, it is a destination, thus, it comes After the word “move”. Other example is I go to Beijing. Beijing is a “destination”, thus the sentence will be “wǒ qù Běijīng”. Unless we would like to say, I have a meeting in Beijing. Then, Beijing is the place where the activity (having a meeting) happens. Thus the sentence will say: “wǒ zài Běijīng kāihuì”

3. My mother picks up my brother first before picking me up.

我妈妈接我之前，她先接我弟弟

Wǒ māma jiē wǒ zhīqián, tā xiān jiē wǒ dìdi

NOTE:

             - Pay attention to this, I use 2 words/phrase that refer to the same subject (my mom and she). By doing this, the sentence is clearer and more complete. But it is okay if we change it to: jiē wǒ zhīqián, wǒ māma xiān jiē wǒ dìdi

             

4. Before eating, she drinks a cup of water first.

吃饭之前，她先喝一杯水

Chīfàn zhīqián, tā xiān hē shuǐ.

5. After pick up the guests, I send them to the hotel.

接客人之后，我就送他们去酒店了。

Jiē kèrén zhīhòu, wǒ jiù sòng tāmen qù jiǔdiàn le.

6. I borrow her notes, after she finish writing.

他写完之后，我就借他的笔记。

Tā xiě wán zhī hòu, wǒ jiù jiè tā de bǐjì.

NOTE:

-          In Chinese, we can describe the phrase “finish doing something” by using the word “… wán” or “… hǎo” before the activity.

Example:

(write = xiě 写)                        finish writing                写完

                                         (Xiěwán)

(eat (rice) = chī( fàn) 吃饭)     finish eating (rice)        吃完饭

                                                                                    (Chīwánfàn)

(read = kàn/dú 看/读)             finish reading               看完，读完，读好

                                                                              (kànwán, dúwan, dúhǎo)

Try digesting the above before translating the following sentences to Mandarin:

My Name is Linda. I am a teacher. I have an elder sister. My sister is a housewife. She has 3 children, 2 beautiful girls and a cute boy. I love my nieces and nephew.

Today is my mom’s birthday. After finishing my breakfast, I called my mom. I wished her happy birthday. She told me that she is going to spa with her friends this afternoon.

Happy Translating!

Regards,

Linda Tan

Before and After in Chinese

In describing 2 activities/events that happen one after another, we usually use the words "before" and "after".

In English, we can say:
BEFORE something happen, we do something else first OR
We do something else first BEFORE some other things happen.

AFTER finish with an activity, we will do something else OR
We will do something else AFTER  we completed one activity.

Remember not to get confuse with the placement of "before" and "after" in the sentence.

BEFORE zhīqián  之前

Example:

Before sleep, I “first” brush my teeth

Sleep               shùijiào            睡觉

Brush teeth      shuā yá            刷牙

睡觉之前， 我先刷牙

Shuìjiào zhīqián, wǒ xiān shua yá

Before something happen (2^nd activity), we normally will do Something first (1^st Activity). When using the word “before”, it is often for us to use the word “xiān” that indicates that the subject has completed the activity that follows after the word. Xiān 先 literally means “at first”.

e.g.      she left first                 tā xiān zǒu            她先走

            I eat first                     tā xiān chī             我先吃

Let’s see another example:

My brother puts on his shoes before he goes to school.

1^st Activity: Puts on shoes                  chuān xiézi                  穿鞋子

2^nd Activity: Go to school                   shàng xué                    上学

上学之前， 我弟弟先穿鞋子

Shàng xué zhīqián, wǒ dìdi xiān chuān xiézi.

(Because, the subject that “perform” the 2 activities are the same person, we can also move the subject to the front, see the sentence below. However, the above is more commonly used. Avoid repeating it, because it will be redundant)

我弟弟上学之前， 先穿鞋子

Wǒ dìdi shàng xué zhīqián, xiān chuān xiézi.

AFTER  zhīhòu   之后

Example:

After I brush my teeth, I go to sleep.

刷牙之后， 我就睡觉了

Shuā yá zhīhòu, Wǒ jiù  shuìjiaò le

After putting his shoes on, my brother goes to school

穿鞋子之后，我弟弟就上学去了

Chuān xiézi zhīhòu, wo dìdi jiù shàng xué qù le.

Note: In this case, we add the word jiù… le to emphasize that the 2^nd activities (i.e sleep and go to school) happen RIGHT AFTER the first activities (i.e. brush teeth and putting shoes on).

Try translating the following:
1. Before I study in China, My Chinese is not too good.
(Hint: be careful of the placement of adverb of place)


2. After I move to London, I learn dancing.
(move = bān 搬，dance = tiàowǔ 跳舞)


3. My mother picks up my brother first before picking me up.
(pick up = jiē 接)


4. Before eating, she drinks a cup of water first.

5. After pick up the guests, I send them to the hotel.

(guest = kèrén 客人, send (someone) = sòng 送)

6. I borrow her notes, after she finish writing.
(borrow = jiè 借, notes = bǐjì 笔记)

Happy Learning!  

I am signing off first

我先告退
Wǒ xiān gàotuì,
Linda Tan