{"id":10854,"date":"2019-11-21T06:56:38","date_gmt":"2019-11-21T06:56:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chinesemoment.com\/spoken-chinese\/lesson-001-greetings\/"},"modified":"2019-11-21T06:56:38","modified_gmt":"2019-11-21T06:56:38","slug":"lesson-001-greetings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chinesemoment.com\/my\/lesson-001-greetings\/","title":{"rendered":"Lesson 001 Greetings"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Y: Perfect Chinese your way, in o<\/em>nly five minutes a day. Welcome to Chinese Studio, a brand new Chinese learning program on China Radio International. I’m Yajie. <\/span>
Cam: Hi, everyone, I’m Cam. This daily show will teach Chinese at the elementary level, which is very appropriate, co<\/em>nsidering I’m just starting to learn myself! Hi Yajie, may I have the ho<\/em>nour of suggesting our first topic?<\/p>\n

Cam: Sorry… I was kidding. I guess it’s too soon for that! In fact, the first thing I wanna learn is all a<\/em>bout greetings. How to say hello?<\/p>\n

Y: I think it is also wher most foreigners want to start learning Chinese. Now let’s check Key words of the day!<\/p>\n

***************** Key words of the day
Today we’ll learn a few of popular ex<\/em>pressions of greeting. \u4f60\u597d, Cam\u3002\u4f60\u597d, ..\u3002\u60a8\u597d\uff0cDirector. \u4f60\u597d\u3002Hi, Cam, \u4f60\u597d\u5417\uff1f\u6211\u5f88\u597d\u3002\u8c22\u8c22\uff01All in today’s Chinese Studio.  <\/span>
*************
Y: In Chinese there are several different ways to say hello. The most popular ex<\/em>pression is \u4f60\u597d\u3002It means ‘hi’ or ‘hello’ and can be used at any time, on any occasion and by anybody. It can be used on either a stranger or a person you’ve already known.<\/p>\n

Cam: When somebody says\u4f60\u597d to you, what should you reply?<\/p>\n

(converstation)<\/p>\n

Y: Right, your reply should be same – \u4f60\u597d. \u4f60 means ‘you’. \u597d means ‘good’. Together ‘you- good’: \u4f60\u597d\u3002<\/p>\n

Cam: The pro<\/em>nunciation of \u4f60 is similar to that of the English word ‘knee’, and\u597d similar to ‘how’.<\/p>\n

Y: But the tone is totally different. That’s because Chinese is a to<\/em>nal language. It has four basic tones.<\/p>\n

Cam: That’s what I always have a problem with. It’s so confusing!<\/p>\n

Y: Don’t worry. We’ll have plenty chances to practice the to<\/em>nes in the future.<\/p>\n

Cam: \u4f60\u597d means ‘Hi, hello’. Actually ‘Hi’ is also used in Chinese to make a greeting. So when you forget how to say hello in Chinese, it still works if you say \u55e8. The reply can be same.<\/p>\n

Y: \u55e8can be used on anybody, at any time, like \u4f60\u597d. And both of them are very causal ex<\/em>pressions. So when greeting someone older, or, in a formal manner, we usually say Nin Hao. Nin is the polite form of \u4f60\u3002<\/p>\n

Y: Of course, after you say Nin Hao, you won’t expect the same words as a reply. Actually the reply can be \u4f60\u597d, or simply a nod.<\/p>\n

C: If you want to greet somebody you have already known, you can also say \u4f60\u597d\u5417\uff1fRemember, like the English ex<\/em>pression ‘How are you?’, it’s o<\/em>nly used on acquaintances.<\/p>\n

Y: \u4f60\u597d\u5417\uff1fHow are you? It’s \u4f60\u597d plus\u5417. Like a question mark, \u5417 is a sign of a question in Chinese. <\/span>
Cam: In a reply to \u4f60\u597d\u5417?, we usually say\u6211\u5f88\u597d. I’m very well.<\/p>\n

Y: \u6211 is I, \u5f88 means ‘very’, and \u597d is ‘good’, remember? So word for word, \u6211\u5f88\u597d means ‘I – very good.’<\/p>\n

C: \u4f60\u597d\u5417, Yajie\uff1f<\/p>\n

Y: \u6211\u5f88\u597d. \u8c22\u8c22\uff01Thanks. \u8c22\u8c22\uff01<\/p>\n

*********** Key words reminder: <\/span>
Hi, \u4f60\u597d, is the most popular greeting that can be used at any time, on any occasion and by anybody. \u60a8\u597d, also means hello. It’s a more polite ex<\/em>pression you can use when meeting someone older. \u4f60\u597d\u5417\uff1fis what you can use on somebody you have already known.  <\/span>
*********<\/p>\n

C: In fact there are in China some special ways to say hello, which may co<\/em>nfuse we foreigners if we don’t know the local culture.<\/p>\n

Y: Yes. For instance, ‘\u4f60\u5403\u4e86\u5417’  – ‘have you eaten’ . You’ll hear this very very often in Beijing. But never be serious to answer ‘Yes, I’ve eaten blah blah blah at my dinner.’ Don’t play fool.<\/p>\n

C: In fact, ‘\u4f60\u5403\u4e86\u5417’ – Have you eaten? – is simply a casual greeting like \u4f60\u597d. It’s like we Canadians always talk a<\/em>bout weather in our daily greetings. But this doesn’t mean we’re all meteorologists. Got it?<\/p>\n

Cam: Well, that’s it for today. One more im<\/em>portant thing, you can win a gift by answering the question of the day: What’s the difference between \u4f60\u597d and \u60a8\u597d?<\/p>\n

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