\tThe rules of etiquette in Chinese culture state that compliments must be rejected. Therefore, if someone tells you that you speak Mandarin well, a good way of responding would be, “Not at all, my Mandarin is very poor.”<\/p>\n
\tOne way of saying this is with the Mandarin Chinese phrase \u25bam\u01cem\u01ceh\u016bh\u016b. This could be prefaced with n\u01celi n\u01celi, which means “where?” – as in, “Where is my good Mandarin? I don’t see it.”<\/p>\n
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\t0:44<\/p>\n
\t HOW TO SAY "ARE YOU OK" | MANDARIN
\tm\u01cem\u01ceh\u016bh\u016b is made up of four Chinese characters: \u9a6c\u9a6c\u864e\u864e\/\u99ac\u99ac\u864e\u864e (the second is traditional Chinese). The first two characters mean “horse” and the second two characters mean “tiger.” This makes the phrase very easy to remember, but why does “horse horse tiger tiger” mean “mediocre?” It’s neither one nor the other – it’s so-so, mediocre.<\/p>\n
\tEXAMPLE OF MAMA HUHU
\tClick on the links to hear the audio.<\/p>\n
\t\u25baN\u01d0 de guóy\u01d4 shu\u014d de h\u011bn h\u01ceo.
\t\u4f60\u7684\u570b\u8a9e\u8aaa\u5f97\u5f88\u597d\uff61
\t\u4f60\u7684\u56fd\u8bed\u8bf4\u5f97\u5f88\u597d\uff61
\tYour Mandarin is very good.<\/p>\n
\t\u25baN\u01celi n\u01celi – m\u01cem\u01ce h\u01d4h\u01d4.
\t\u54ea\u88e1\u54ea\u88e1 \u99ac\u99ac\u864e\u864e\uff61
\t\u54ea\u91cc\u54ea\u91cc \u9a6c\u9a6c\u864e\u864e\uff61
\tNot at all – it’s very bad.
\tIt should be noted that this phrase is very common in many beginner textbooks, but that few native speakers actually use it and it might come across as a bit strange or out-dated. It's a little bit similar to textbooks in English as a second language having "it's raining cats and dogs" because it's a cute expression that students like, but very few people actually say that.<\/p>\n
\tIt's fine to use, of course, but don't be surprised if you don't hear other people saying it all the time.<\/p>\n