Intermediate Spoken Chinese

American professor Peter McCoy has recently arrived in Beijing, where he teaches American history at Beijing Normal University. Professor Jiang Zixiang has invited McCoy and his wife, as well as a number of Chinese guests, to a welcoming banquet at the Quan Ju De Roast Duck Restaurant. The banquet begins with welcoming comments and a toast by Professor Jiang to Professor and Mrs. McCoy.

Basic Conversation 15-1

1. PROFESSOR JIANG	Wŏ xiān lái jiăndānde shuō jĭjù. Jīntiān a, wŏmen dàjiā zài zhèr jùcān shi huānyíng Mò Jiàoshòu hé fūren lái wŏmen xuéxiào gōngzuò. Zhù Mò Jiàoshòu zài zhèli gōngzuò shùnlì, shēnghuó yúkuài! Xiànzài wŏmen lái jìng tāmen èrwèi yìbēi!
	I’ll first simply say a few words. Today all of us have gathered here for a meal to welcome Professor and Mrs. McCoy to our school to work. We wish Professor McCoy that his work here go smoothly and that his life be happy! Now let’s show our respect and toast the two of them with a glass of wine!
2. PROFESSOR MCCOY	Xièxie dàjiā, xièxie, xièxie. Wŏmen hĕn gāoxìng yŏu jīhui dào Zhōngguo lái. Tóngshí yĕ fēicháng gănxiè dàjiā jĭge xīngqī lái gĕi wŏmende bāngzhù hé zhàogu. Kŏngpà yĭhòu máfan dàjiāde dìfang hái hĕn duō.
	Thank you, everyone. We’re very pleased to have the chance to come to China. At the same time, we also very much appreciate the help and care you’ve given us the past few weeks. I’m afraid in the future we’ll still need to call on you frequently.

Build Up

1. Professor Jiang
lái	(indicates one is about to do something) [AV]
wŏ xiān lái shuō jĭjù	I’ll first say a few words
jiăndān	be simple [SV]
-de	(adverbial marker) [P]
jiăndānde	simply
jù	sentence, phrase [M]
jĭjù	a few sentences
jiăndānde shuō jĭjù	simply to say several sentences
dàjiā	everybody, everyone [PR]
wŏmen dàjiā	all of us
jùcān	get together for a meal [VO]
wŏmen dàjiā zài zhèr jùcān	all of us get together to eat here
Mò	Mo [SN]
fūren	madam, lady [N]
zhù	wish [V]
shùnlì	be smooth [SV]
gōngzuò shùnlì	(may one’s) work be smooth
shēnghuó	life [N]
yúkuài	be happy [SV]
shēnghuó yúkuài	(may one’s) life be happy
jìng	respectfully toast, drink to [V]
bēi	glass, cup (for beverages) [M]
yìbēi	a cup or glass
jìng tāmen èrwèi yìbēi	toast the two of them with a glass
Wŏ xiān lái jiăndānde shuō jĭjù. Jīntiān a, wŏmen dàjiā zài zhèr jùcān shi huānyíng Mò Jiàoshòu hé fūren lái wŏmen xuéxiào gōngzuò. Zhù Mò Jiàoshòu zài zhèli gōngzuò shùnlì, shēnghuó yúkuài! Xiànzài wŏmen lái jìng tāmen èrwèi yìbēi!	I’ll first simply say a few words. Today all of us have gathered here for a meal to welcome Professor and Mrs. McCoy to our school to work. We wish Professor McCoy that his work here go smoothly and that his life be happy! Now let’s show our respect and toast the two of them with a glass of wine!
2. Professor McCoy
tóngshí	at the same time [MA]
fēicháng	extremely [A]
gănxiè	thank [V]
fēicháng gănxiè dàjiā	very much thank everyone
jĭge	a few, several
jĭge xīngqī lái	in the past few weeks
bāngzhù	help [N/V]
zhàogu	care [N]
bāngzhù hé zhàogu	help and care
máfan dàjiāde dìfang	the areas where we’ll trouble
hái hĕn duō	everyone are still very many
Xièxie dàjiā, xièxie, xièxie. Wŏmen hĕn gāoxìng yŏu jīhui dào Zhōngguo lái. Tóngshí yĕ fēicháng gănxiè dàjiā jĭge xīngqī lái gĕi wŏmende bāngzhù hé zhàogu. Kŏngpà yĭhòu máfan dàjiāde dìfang hái hĕn duō.	Thank you, everyone. We’re very pleased to have the chance to come to China. At the same time, we also very much appreciate the help and care you’ve given us the past few weeks. I’m afraid in the future we’ll still need to call on you frequently.

1A. This lesson takes place in one of the famous Quan Ju De roast duck restaurants in Beijing. Founded in 1864 in the third year of the reign of the Tongzhi Emperor during the late Qing Dynasty, the original Quan Ju De was located at the corner of Hepingmen in Xuanwu District. Many state-level banquets have been held there. There are now Quan Ju De branches throughout Beijing and other Chinese cities; there are even several branches overseas.

1B. The lái in wŏ xiān lái jiăndānde shuō jĭjù is the same lái that means “come,” but here it merely indicates in a general way the speaker’s intention, i.e., that he is about to do something. It can be omitted without any change in the meaning. This kind of lái sounds very colloquial and gives the speaker a bit more time to think about how he or she will finish the sentence. More examples:

1C. -DE AS ADVERBIAL MODIFIER TO EXPRESS MANNER. If there is an adverbial expression of two syllables or more that precedes a verb, a -de is usually added after the adverbial expression and before the verb. This is especially common in the case of two-syllable stative verbs; when -de is added to the stative verb, it makes the stative verb into an adverb that expresses manner. For example, jiăndān means “be simple,” but jiăndānde means “simply,” as in jiăndānde shuō jĭjù “to simply say a few sentences.” Some more examples:

1E. Learn the common and useful pronoun dàjiā “everybody, everyone.” It can be used alone or after plural pronouns. Note here wŏmen dàjiā “all of us.” The plural pronouns wŏmen, nĭmen, and tāmen can optionally be used before dàjiā. There is often a dōu after dàjiā to further stress that “everybody” is involved.

1F. Tāmen èrwèi “the two of them.” Èrwèi is sometimes used instead of liăngwèi. However, liăngwèi would also be correct here.

1G. Bēi is the measure that means “glass” or “cup” of some beverage, so you’d say yìbēi “one glass” or zhèibēi “this cup” or jĭbēi “how many cups?” The expression for “a large glass” is dàbēi and “a small glass” is xiăobēi. The noun for “cup” is bēizi and the noun for “glass” is bōlibēi. The word for “tea cup” is chábēi.

1H. BANQUET ETIQUETTE. Eating is one of the very best ways to meet Chinese people and make friends; in fact, for many Chinese, the epitome of happiness is a group of 12 friends or relatives seated around a table, with many expensive delicacies and even more alcohol, accompanied by loud conversation, laughter, wine drinking games, and singing. Banquets and formal dinner parties are ubiquitous in Chinese society. They represent an important forum for social, economic, and even political interchange, and allow participants to maintain and enhance their social status. As Professor Eric Shepherd has pointed out, the purposes of banquets include “to welcome a friend home or see him off on a journey, to gain or give face, to introduce two or more unfamiliar parties, to establish and strengthen relationships, to reaffirm familial ties, to request assistance, to reciprocate for help received, to celebrate important occasions such as weddings, holidays and promotions, to express gratitude, to repair strained relationships, and to get together with friends and consume rare foods and fine spirits.”*

If the dinner is at a restaurant, as is the usual practice, there is no need to bring a gift; on the other hand, if the invitation is to someone’s home, which is considered a special honor, you should bring a suitable gift, e.g., a large basket of special fruit, a box of small cakes, or one or two bottles of imported spirits. Getting invited to people’s homes is special, since many Chinese have small apartments and can’t easily invite guests; if you must decline an invitation to a Chinese person’s home, explain the exact reason why, so that they don’t misunderstand and think you dislike them or consider their home too primitive.

If you’re hosting, you can entertain at a restaurant just like most Chinese would, or you can entertain at home, which will be a special treat for your guests. If you do entertain at home, Western food will be expected, and many Chinese will enjoy the novelty. Don’t attempt to cook Chinese style unless you’re truly very good. Invitations are best handled through a phone call via a third party, such as your secretary; this reduces the awkwardness if the invitation should be declined. When entertaining, liquor is obligatory, even if you yourself don’t drink; without it, most of your guests will be disappointed.

It’s customary at banquets for the host to start the evening with a few remarks and for the guest of honor to reply in kind; so be prepared if you’re playing either of these roles. Typically, at the end of each person’s remarks, a toast will be proposed. As each new dish is brought to the table, the host may propose another toast. During the meal, the host will usually toast the other guests; this may be in order of rank or simply in the order in which the guests are seated. Of course, the guests should also toast the host. At banquets with more than one table, the host and hostess, sometimes accompanied by the guest of honor, often rise with their glasses and make a round of all the tables, starting at their own, drinking a toast at each. The guests at each table then stand for the toast.

A formal Chinese banquet consists of a dozen or more courses, served one after another. A common mistake made by foreigners is to eat too much of the first few dishes, since the best dishes are often saved until the end. Dishes are shared by all those present; unlike in the West, you’re not offered a separate entree for you alone. This practice is a reflection of Chinese society, which emphasizes the group rather than the individual. Food is enjoyed for its sè, xiāng, wèi “appearance, aroma, and taste,” as well as for its texture, rarity, medicinal value, and symbolism.

Wait until the host invites you to start eating. The guest of honor is expected to partake of each new dish first, with the other guests following. The dishes will typically be on a lazy Susan, and it’s considered polite to rotate the lazy Susan to the next diner after you have taken your portion. It’s best not to decline any food that is being offered. It will give the host face if you take something from each dish and eat and praise it, but if you really don’t want to eat it, you can always leave it on your plate or in your bowl. If you eat everything up each time, this is a signal that you’re hungry for more, so someone is sure to add another helping to your dish. If you’re the host, you should start the dinner by offering food to your guests. It’s the responsibility of the host to see to it that guests’ drinking glasses are refilled and that food is being added to the guests’ plates during the meal; the host may serve guests personally, or the guests to your right and left may serve you. Even if you’re only a guest, you should serve beverages and food to those seated to your right and left before serving yourself—this will impress Chinese people with your thoughtfulness and good manners.

Chinese banquets usually start at 6:00 or 6:30 PM and end by 8:30 or 9:00. Chinese people generally don’t sit around long after a meal is over. Once the last course has been served, the guest of honor should thank the host, toast him or her, toast all the guests together, and then slowly get up to leave. Neither the host nor any of the other guests can ordinarily get up before the guest of honor, unless they have another commitment, in which case they must formally excuse themselves (cf. line 7 in Basic Conversation 16-3). Depending on the formality of the occasion and the personality of the host, Chinese will sometimes take turns singing after the dinner, so it’s best to be prepared; if you’re able to offer a rousing rendition of your college song, “Old Mac-Donald,” “Row, Row, Row Your Boat,” or “Puff the Magic Dragon,” you’ll be sure to bring down the house.

1I. HOW TO HANDLE INTERPRETING. There may be times when giving toasts or speeches that you encounter the need for English-Chinese interpreting. If you ask someone else to interpret, whether a professional interpreter or a friend, give them an English version of your remarks beforehand if at all possible, so that they may better be prepared and not caught by surprise. The most common practice is to deliver the whole speech in English first, followed by a Chinese interpretation. But if you should desire simultaneous interpretation, be sure to keep your sentences short, pausing frequently between sentences. Speak loudly and distinctly at a moderate pace, eschewing both very formal and very colloquial terms. If you should encounter the need to interpret between two parties yourself, be aware that the interpreter normally stands or sits between the two parties and slightly behind them. Always interpret in the first person, exactly as the speakers say something, rather than using indirect speech, which adds to the complications of interpretation. For example, in your interpretation you should say “This is the best offer my company can make,” not “Mr. Jones said that this is the best offer his company can make.” Even if your Chinese is very good, it can sometimes be advantageous to ask an interpreter to interpret for you, since doing so will save you energy and give you extra time to think about what your Chinese interlocutor has said and what you should say next.

2A. Note the moveable adverb tóngshí “at the same time.” You’ve seen the bound form tóng- “same” previously in the following nouns:

Pay attention to recurring components in related words, as this will help you expand your vocabulary.

2B. TIME EXPRESSION + (YĬ)LÁI. In this line, notice the expression jĭge xīngqī lái “for the past few weeks.” The pattern TIME EXPRESSION + (yĭ)lái means “(in) the last...” or “(during) the past....” A time expression followed by yĭlái or lái indicates a period from a certain point in the past extending up to and including the present. Examples:

2C. Here, bāngzhù functions as a noun. However, it can also function as a verb. Example:

2D. Máfan dàjiāde dìfang hái hĕn duō literally means “the places where (we’ll) trouble everyone are still very many,” that is, “There are still lots of areas where we’ll be needing your help.” Often, where in English we would say “There are many...,” Chinese will use a noun followed by the stative verb duō “be many.” Two more examples:

“American children have too much pocket money.” (lit. “American children pocket money is too much.”)

The preferred, most natural position for an adjective in Chinese is as stative verb at the end of the sentence, while in English the preferred position is as adjective before a noun. In Chinese, the focus is on the stative verb at the end of the sentence; therefore, if you say something like *Mĕiguo háizi yŏu tài duōde língyòngqián, the focus will seem strange to a Chinese native speaker and the whole sentence will sound like a poor translation from English.

SV2. Xiăo háizi “small child.” The following words containing the bound form hái- “child” have already been introduced:

In addition to the above, nánháizi “boy” and nǚháizi “girl” are also common.

SV3A. In this lesson two words for “happy” are introduced—kuàilè and yúkuài—and in 2-2 you had previously encountered gāoxìng. All three of these are stative verbs that all mean “be happy,” but they aren’t used in exactly the same way. In general, kuàilè expresses deeper and longer-term “happiness,” while gāoxìng expresses a person’s feelings at one particular moment in time, which could easily change from one moment to the next. The sense of yúkuài is somewhere between kuàilè and gāoxìng.

SV3B. BIRTHDAYS. Zhù nĭ shēngrì kuàilè literally means “(I) wish you (that your) birthday is happy.” This sentence is sometimes sung four times as the Chinese translation of “Happy Birthday to You.” Traditionally, only older people celebrated birthdays, but due to Western influence, urban families now celebrate birthdays for their children with cake and presents much as in the West. At birthday dinners for older persons, long noodles may be served, symbolizing “long” life. These “long-life noodles” shouldn’t be cut or sliced, since that would be most inauspicious. Peaches are another symbol of longevity and are also given or eaten on birthdays. On birthdays and other happy occasions such as Chinese New Year, Chinese people are reluctant to talk about unpleasant topics such as death, illness, or accidents, so be careful what you talk about!

1. jùzi	sentence [N]
Zhèige jùzi shi shémme yìsi?	What does this sentence mean?
2. zhàogu	take care of [V]
xiăo háizi	small child [PH]
Ta hĕn huì zhàogu xiăo háizi.	She really knows how to care for children.
3. kuàilè	be happy [SV]
Zhù nĭ shēngrì kuàilè!	Happy birthday to you!

Xiànzài wŏ lái wèn nĭ.	“Now I’m going to ask you.”
Nĭ xiūxi ba, ràng wŏ lái nòng.	“Why don’t you rest and let me do it.”
Nĭ shēntĭ bù shūfu, wŏ lái zuò ba.	“You don’t feel well; why don’t I do it.”
Zhèxiē wèntí wŏmen lái yánjiū yixia.	“Let us study these problems.”

shāngxīnde kū		“sadly cry”
rènzhēnde liànxí		“diligently practice”
gāoxìngde tiàoqilai		“happily jump”
hĕn kuàide guò mălù		“quickly cross the street”
búduànde măi xīn yīfu		“constantly buy new clothes”

tóngshì			“colleague” (2-3)
tóngwū			“roommate” (2-2)
tóngxué			“classmate” (2-1)
tóngzhì			“comrade” (9-4)

zhèijĭge yuè yĭlái		“the last few months”
zhèiyìnián yĭlái		“during the past year”
zhèijĭtiān lái		“these past few days”
duō nián lái		“for many years”

háizi	“child” (1-2)
xiăohái(r)	“small child” (6-2)
nánháir	“boy” (7-1)
nǚháir	“girl” (7-1)

Footnote