Learn Chinese with Me

The ancient English word for greeting “Ho”, which “Hello” derives from, is a sound meant to attract attention. Chinese too has a word used for this purpose which also serves as a form of greeting: 喂 (wèi), it sounds much like the French word for “yes”, though for greetings this word is mostly used on phone instead of in-person, unless you want to be particularly rude.

The proper way to greet a person is to say 你好 Nǐ hǎo,which literally translates to “You Good”. 你 means “you”, and 好 means “good”. Though 好 could also mean “healthy, beautiful, kind, goodness, peace”. So there is not a little flattering in the first greetings of the Chinese: we are a generous race.

When you are greeted “你好”, the usual way is to greet back with the exact same word “你好”.

— 你好！Nǐ hǎo

谢谢 Xièxiè, meaning thank you, and in certain contexts interestingly means, to apologize or to decline. The character has body (身) in it which reminds one of the Asian custom of taking a bow when expressing gratitude.

不客气 Bù kèqì, you are welcome, literally means “No guest air” or “don’t be a guest”.

Now we know how to say “thank you” and “you are welcome”.

— 谢谢! Xièxiè

— 不客气! Bù kèqì

对不起 Duìbùqǐ, sorry, literally means “facing (you) no rise”. It is again the taking of a bow. In the heavily hierarchy social form, to put oneself lower, to take a low bow is the way to say “sorry”. Or it’s the learning of humility, to admit one’s fault.

没关系Méiguānxì, it does not matter, literally means “no closed tie”, 关系, relations, closed connections. You have to give it to the Chinese for its straightforwardness(at least in some cases): no matter! It’s not like we are close relations.

Now we know how to say “Sorry” and “It does not matter” in Chinese.

— 对不起! Duìbùqǐ

— 没关系! Méiguānxì

再见 Zàijiàn, is very different from the English “Goodbye”, derived from the phrase “god be with you”, the Chinese simply say “again see” . 再 means again, and it could use before other verbs to mean again do something. 再吃一碗(米饭) (Have anohter bowl of rice). 见 means to see, the character derives from the drawing of an eye of a human.

Now we know how to say “Goodbye” in Chinese.

— 再见! Zàijiàn

This ends your very first Chinese lesson. Have fun learning!

Here is the audio material for this lesson:

Lesson 1: Say “你好 Nǐ hǎo”

But I have to admit it’s too ambitious a topic, and I could only attempt to touch the surface here and there.

There is something brave and childish about the Americans. They admirably and naively believe that every problem has a solution.

It is partly this confidence, this optimism attracts me as a Chinese person. For being Chinese, you are forever silenced, you are never confident, you are not to see yourself. True that you could be if you are in a different class, but that’s the sort of authoritative, assertive confidence that repels rather than inspires.

There is health and happiness in this willingness to communicate, in this frankness and openness. In the street, on the subway, you forever hear Americans talking on the phone, talking to their family, friends or coworkers. Yet, this confidence, if combined with stupidity, could easily become arrogance and madness.

Maybe it’s a matter of where you derive this confidence, from within, from self-respect or from the conviction of your superiority and others’ inferiority.

Then among the Americans, there are white and non-white people(never in my life, I am reminded I am non-white as in America, then it’s understandable, given the circumstances). The white, to speak generally, has more of a chance to walk down an avenue in Manhattan like they own this world. Again, there is health in believing one’s strength until, of course, it goes down to a poisonous direction.

The non-white, oh, but what a hard road for those to travel. It too serves as a two-blade sword. It could make you an infinitely more interesting person: you are not considered cool, you are not seen, you are negligible. The mainstream, the main standard is never your friend. And from early on, you know you are different, and you are willing to accept difference. It’s easy for you to see both worlds, the white and the non-white, and have different perspectives, (as many of you speak both English and another language, or have ties back in the original country), while it’s more difficult (or the structure of the societly makes it unnecessary, or simply it does not make economic sense to do so.) for the white to understand the non-white. So, to speak roughly, the white could be (simply because it’s never required of them, at least not in a non-fictional sense, to see the others), it could sound paradoxical as they are more likely to get better educated therefore more cultured and open-minded, conventional.

Or, as a narrow income, a harsh surrounding, a squalid home could easily poison the mind and make one bitter. If you, as non-white in America, have not the strength to overcome (and it’s a lot to overcome) the hardships, you could easily be subdued and twisted.

How powerful what other people think of us could work on our minds! After walking by a few times by the blinding strong lights the police put out on the street corner, you begin to wonder if you are, as they think you are, a criminal.

But I am off topic now. The Americans, 美国人 Měiguó rén, the Chinese name them, beautiful country people. Here we are, with its problems and its optimism, paddling on.