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chinese for dummies® published by wiley publishing inc 111 river st hoboken nj 07030-5774 www.wiley.com copyright © 2005 by wiley publishing inc indianapolis indiana published by wiley publishing inc indianapolis indiana published simultaneously in canada no part of this publication may be reproduced stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic mechanical photocopying recording scanning or otherwise except as permitted under sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 united states copyright act without either the prior written permission of the publisher or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the copyright clearance center 222 rosewood drive danvers ma 01923 978-750-8400 fax 978-646-8600 requests to the publisher for permission should be addressed to the legal department wiley publishing inc 10475 crosspoint blvd indianapolis in 46256 317-572-3447 fax 317-572-4355 or online at http www.wiley.com/go/permissions trademarks wiley the wiley publishing logo for dummies the dummies man logo a reference for the rest of us the dummies way dummies daily the fun and easy way dummies.com and related trade dress are trademarks or registered trademarks of john wiley sons inc and/or its affiliates in the united states and other countries and may not be used without written permission all other trademarks are the property of their respective owners wiley publishing inc is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book limit of liability/disclaimer of warranty the publisher and the author make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this work and specifically disclaim all warranties including without limitation warranties of fitness for a particular purpose no warranty may be created or extended by sales or promotional materials the advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for every situation this work is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal accounting or other professional services if professional assistance is required the services of a competent professional person should be sought neither the publisher nor the author shall be liable for damages arising herefrom the fact that an organization or website is referred to in this work as a citation and/or a potential source of further information does not mean that the author or the publisher endorses the information the organization or website may provide or recommendations it may make further readers should be aware that internet websites listed in this work may have changed or disappeared between when this work was written and when it is read limit of liability/disclaimer of warranty please be advised that travel information is subject to change at any time and this is especially true of prices we therefore suggest that readers write or call ahead for confirmation when making travel plans the author and the publisher cannot be held responsible for the experiences of readers while traveling for general information on our other products and services please contact our customer care department within the u.s at 800-762-2974 outside the u.s at 317-572-3993 or fax 317-572-4002 for technical support please visit www.wiley.com/techsupport wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books library of congress control number 2005923781 isbn-10 0-7645-8375-1 isbn-13 978-07645-8375-9 manufactured in the united states of america 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 1o/sr/qw/qv/in[close]
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dedication this book is dedicated to the memory of my nadymama and papa julia and joseph abraham whose incredible love and time spent with their grandchildren left a lasting imprint on our lives and has been a great source of strength throughout the years their nicknames for me when i was just a child monkey and china doll can only be attributed to some long-lost hungarian jewish gypsy roots in our family for how else could they have known so long ago that i was indeed born in the year of the monkey and that my life would be so deeply connected to all things chinese author s acknowledgments it all started with dinner at woo fong restaurant in bayside queens where i grew up although the place no longer exists it s the first distinct memory i have of falling in love with china more specifically with spring rolls and the little old proprietress in her golden qípáo who took me under her wing when i was barely 4 years old it was the beginning of a love affair with the chinese culture and later with the chinese language which has yet to end my first order of thanks therefore goes to my mother and father for introducing me to my first chinese meal to my father george for inspiring me with his own great love of language learning currently centered on egyptian hieroglyphics and for always pushing me to study study study to my mother marilyn for her unwavering support through thick and thin and for her reminders to relax and enjoy life in between all the studying no surprise then that her choice of foreign language in high school was italian to my sorella susan for her amazing courage and strength and for her incredible talent as a sculptor which i can only aspire to in another lifetime to my father s wife rhoda for her immense wisdom great help in emergencies of every kind and plain old common sense to michael and daisy fogarty for their loyalty to the abrahams and for the fun they bring wherever they go i would also like to thank my entire extended family for reaching out to me this past year in ways i couldn t have imagined and will not soon forget special thanks go to my aunt maxine cooper and cousin michael ian for being there with both humor and love.[close]
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right up there with woo fong restaurant was the inn of the sixth happiness that 1958 classic that had ingrid bergman the missionary saving all those orphans in northern china during the sino-japanese war acknowledgments to those who played a part in my early childhood exposure to all things chinese can t be made until that film s name has been solemnly uttered in addition to clinching my passion for china it made me want to adopt a hundred orphans from xi an and it began my great love affair with the movies first in line for childhood recognition is my beloved aunt carol rothenstein who regularly schlepped a gaggle of us cousins down to new york city s chinatown and plied us with all manner of colorful chinese knick-knacks to take home to my childhood friend cynthia sargent who went with me on jaunts to visit our elementary school buddy wanda chin at her family s laundry chin s on springfield boulevard where the back room doubled as home for the family of four i can still smell the freshly starched shirts and see the swirls of steam wafting up from the ironing boards as we passed by on our way to the back from my days at hunter college where i distinguished myself by being the only jewish kid to try to join the chinese students association i m proud to have hung out with the likes of jon ho winnie chin mon lan jee nora lee karen lee and our classmate conmay whose untimely death while we were all undergrads bonded us for one brief but memorable moment jon and winnie in particular have remained good loyal friends and i m grateful for their fun jon and calming winnie presence this past year mention of hunter college in the 70s wouldn t be complete if it didn t also include a serious note of thanks to my very first chinese language teacher professor yu-shih chen whom we all loved from my georgetown days i would like to especially thank my best friend of nearly three decades now pei dalin for being his wonderful self thanks also to his wife mian and my little talented godchildren julia and christopher dalin also helped immensely with the cultural editing of this book he was on call at all hours as emergency questions popped up to my dear friend wen yang for all his help as technical editor of this project and for our great years at georgetown together some things really do come full circle i would also like to mention places of particular importance in my study of the chinese language to middlebury college for an incredible summer intensive language program and to national chengchi university in taiwan for giving me the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to study oracle bones from the shang dynasty for one whole glorious year and especially to my former language teacher from nankai university in tianjin professor pang bingjun poet-laureate and scholar-gentleman who spent countless hours helping me transcribe my taped oral histories of the chinese jewish descendants of kaifeng.[close]
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to all the chinese jewish descendants of kaifeng whose lives have so deeply touched my own and whose regional dialect i can never hope to master at stanford i d like to thank carl bielefeldt director of the stanford center for buddhist studies for his compassion patience and understanding these last few months and as always for his signature zen sense of humor to rabbi dov greenberg of stanford chabad for his amazing ability to listen for the spoken as well as the unspoken for his wise counsel and keen intellect and most of all for his humorous common sense to carol zimbelman for her dedication and innate decency and to all my new friends in palo alto who keep showing me why not to give up just five minutes before the miracle happens for entrusting me with this project in the first place immediate and heartfelt thanks go to my literary agent for this book carol susan roth immense thanks are also due to project editor tim gallan for his patient prodding and gentle suggestions while making sure this book went to print to acquisitions editor stacy kennedy for keeping tabs on the whole process and to the incredible trio of copy editors josh dials kristin demint and tina sims who made the book come alive finally words can t quite express my deep gratitude to christine huo kristina smith and f marland chancellor iii for ensuring that this book would be only the first of many to come about the author wendy abraham is the associate director of the stanford center for buddhist studies and the asian religions cultures initiative she has taught courses on chinese language chinese literature and asian cultures at hunter college georgetown university new york university and stanford university where she s currently pursuing her second doctorate in modern chinese literature she spent a year researching shang dynasty oracle bones in taiwan which sparked her deep interest in the development of china s written language wendy has directed chinese language programs for american students in beijing and shanghai and has interpreted for high-level arts delegations from china her first doctoral dissertation from teachers college columbia university was on the chinese jews of kaifeng a subject about which she has written widely and continues to lecture frequently throughout the united states she also created jewish historical tours of china bringing people to visit shanghai and kaifeng on educational trips her interest in all things chinese continues unabated.[close]
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publisher s acknowledgments we re proud of this book please send us your comments through our dummies online registration form located at www.dummies.com/register some of the people who helped bring this book to market include the following acquisitions editorial and media development senior project editor tim gallan acquisitions editor stacy kennedy copy editors josh dials kristin demint tina sims editorial program assistant courtney allen technical editor wen yang media development specialists sarah faulkner rich graves editorial manager christine meloy beck media development manager laura vanwinkle editorial assistants hanna scott melissa s bennett cartoons rich tennant www.the5thwave.com composition services project coordinator maridee ennis shannon schiler layout and graphics denny hager stephanie d jumper lynsey osborn heather ryan janet seib proofreaders laura albert david faust betty kish indexer techbooks production services publishing and editorial for consumer dummies diane graves steele vice president and publisher consumer dummies joyce pepple acquisitions director consumer dummies kristin a cocks product development director consumer dummies michael spring vice president and publisher travel kelly regan editorial director travel publishing for technology dummies andy cummings vice president and publisher dummies technology/general user composition services gerry fahey vice president of production services debbie stailey director of composition services[close]
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contents at a glance introduction 1 part i getting started 7 chapter 1 getting to know a little chinese 9 chapter 2 the nitty gritty basic chinese grammar and numbers 25 chapter 3 introductions and greetings nî hâo 51 part ii chinese in action 65 chapter 4 getting to know you making small talk 67 chapter 5 eating and drinking gnbi 79 chapter 6 shopping made easy 109 chapter 7 exploring the town 129 chapter 8 enjoying yourself recreation and sports 153 chapter 9 talking on the phone 165 chapter 10 at the office and around the house 177 part iii chinese on the go 197 chapter 11 money money money 199 chapter 12 taking the road less traveled asking for and giving directions 215 chapter 13 staying at a hotel 231 chapter 14 transportation 245 chapter 15 traveling abroad 265 chapter 16 handling emergencies 279 part iv the part of tens 297 chapter 17 ten ways to pick up chinese quickly 299 chapter 18 ten things never to do in china 303 chapter 19 ten favorite chinese expressions 307 chapter 20 ten phrases that make you sound chinese 311 part v appendixes 315 appendix a chinese verbs 317 appendix b chinese-english mini-dictionary 321 appendix c answer key 339 appendix d about the cd 343 index 345[close]
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table of contents introduction 1 about this book 1 conventions used in this book 2 foolish assumptions 3 how this book is organized 3 part i getting started 4 part ii chinese in action 4 part iii chinese on the go 4 part iv the part of tens 4 part v appendixes 5 icons used in this book 5 where to go from here 6 part i getting started 7 chapter 1 getting to know a little chinese .9 grasping chinese dialects 10 the written word yikes no alphabet 11 pinyin spelling beijing not peking 13 sounding off basic chinese sounds 14 starting off with initials 15 ending with finals 16 perfect pitch presenting the four tones 18 adding idioms and popular expressions to your repertoire 19 mastering basic phrases 21 chapter 2 the nitty gritty basic chinese grammar and numbers .25 the basics of chinese parts of speech 26 nouns 27 definite versus indefinite articles 30 adjectives 31 verbs 32 adverbs 37 bù and méiyôu total negation 38 getting possessive with the particle de 40[close]
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xii chinese for dummies asking questions 41 the question particle ma 41 alternate choice questions using bù in between repeating verbs 42 interrogative pronouns 42 counting in chinese 44 numbers from 1 to 10 44 numbers from 11 to 99 45 numbers from 100 to 9,999 46 numbers from 10,000 to 100,000 and beyond 47 how bout those halves 47 ordinal numbers 48 asking how many or how much 48 chapter 3 introductions and greetings nî hâo .51 making introductions 51 acquainting yourself 52 introducing your friends and family 52 asking people for their names 53 greeting and chatting 54 addressing new friends and strangers 55 conversing around the clock 55 talking about the weather 58 finding out where people are from 60 taking a.k.a rejecting compliments 62 saying goodbye 62 part ii chinese in action 65 chapter 4 getting to know you making small talk .67 establishing a connection 67 posing simple introductory questions 69 chatting about family 70 making small talk on the job 72 talking about where you live 75 chapter 5 eating and drinking gnbi .79 all about meals 79 satisfying your hunger 80 sitting down to eat 81 practicing proper table manners 84[close]
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table of contents getting to know chinese cuisines 85 dining out 86 understanding what s on the menu 88 placing an order and chatting with the wait staff 94 dipping into some dim sum 98 finding the restrooms 99 finishing your meal and paying the bill 99 all the tea in china 100 taking your chinese to go 102 sizing up weights and measures 103 making comparisons 104 how much is that thousand-year-old egg 104 xiii chapter 6 shopping made easy .109 going to stores 109 just browsing 112 asking for help 113 shopping for clothes 115 what s your size 115 comparing quality good better best 118 comparing two items 119 what are you wearing chun versus dài 121 asking about the color 122 shopping for other items 123 hunting for antiques 124 buying high-tech and electronic things 125 getting a good price and paying 126 negotiating prices at the night market 126 paying for your purchase or demanding a refund 127 chapter 7 exploring the town .129 knowing the time and day 129 talking about days weeks months and more 130 telling time in chinese 135 attending a performance 138 exploring museums and galleries 143 visiting historical sites 145 going to the movies 146 listening to a concert 148 hopping around bars and clubs 150[close]
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xiv chinese for dummies chapter 8 enjoying yourself recreation and sports .153 naming your hobbies 154 exploring nature 156 tapping into your artistic side 159 striking up the band 159 playing on a team 161 chapter 9 talking on the phone .165 using a telephone 165 going mobile with a cell phone 166 making a phone call 167 calling your friends 168 ringing hotels and places of business 169 phoning a client 170 using a calling card 172 sorry i m not home right now 172 listening to messages that people leave you 172 understanding other people s greeting messages 173 leaving messages 173 chapter 10 at the office and around the house .177 your office digs 177 conducting a meeting 180 scheduling and planning a meeting 180 making the initial greeting 181 starting the meeting 182 making a presentation 183 ending the meeting 183 discussing business and industry 185 using the internet 187 checking your e-mail 189 hunting for an apartment 190 furnishing your new digs 193 part iii chinese on the go 197 chapter 11 money money money .199 staying current with chinese currency 199 rénmínbì rmb in the prc 200 xn táibì in the roc 201 hong kong dollars 201 singapore dollars 202[close]
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table of contents making and exchanging money 202 spending money 205 cashing checks and checking your cash 205 paying with plastic 207 doing your banking 208 making withdrawals and deposits 210 accessing an atm machine 210 tips on tipping 211 xv chapter 12 taking the road less traveled asking for and giving directions .215 avoiding 20 questions just ask where 216 different strokes for different folks nâr versus nâlî 217 getting direction about directions 219 answering where questions 219 giving directions 221 expressing distances time and space with lí 224 discovering ordinal numbers 226 specifying cardinal points with directional coverbs 227 chapter 13 staying at a hotel .231 making a room reservation 231 checking in before you hit the pool 235 taking advantage of hotel service 237 checking out before heading out 241 chapter 14 transportation .245 flying around the airport 245 making it past the check-in counter 246 boarding your flight 249 going through customs 252 navigating around town 254 hailing a cab 255 hopping on the bus 258 riding the rails 260 chapter 15 traveling abroad .265 when do you want to travel 265 celebrating the chinese holidays 266 where do you want to travel 269 packing for your trip 273 enlisting the help of a travel agency 275[close]
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xvi chinese for dummies chapter 16 handling emergencies .279 calling for help in times of need 279 receiving medical care 280 finding a doctor 282 describing what ails you 283 discussing your medical history 287 making a diagnosis 288 treating yourself to better health 290 calling the police 293 acquiring legal help 294 part iv the part of tens 297 chapter 17 ten ways to pick up chinese quickly .299 listen to chinese-language tapes cds and cd-roms 299 attend a peking opera performance 300 cook with a wok 300 shop for food in chinatown 300 surf the net 301 watch kung-fu flicks 301 exchange language lessons 301 make chinese friends 302 study chinese calligraphy 302 be curious and creative 302 chapter 18 ten things never to do in china .303 never accept a compliment graciously 303 never make someone lose face 303 never get angry in public 304 never address people by their first names first 304 never take food with the wrong end of your chopsticks 304 never drink alcohol without first offering a toast 305 never let someone else pay the bill without fighting for it 305 never show up empty handed 305 never accept food drinks or gifts without first refusing a few times 306 never take the first no thank you literally 306 chapter 19 ten favorite chinese expressions .307 gngxî gngxî 307 yí lù píng n 308 y yán nán jìn 308 mâmâ hh 308 ki wân xiào 308[close]
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table of contents máfan nî 309 zênme yàng 309 qîng wèn 309 zìjî lái 310 iyá 310 xvii chapter 20 ten phrases that make you sound chinese .311 hunyíng hunyíng 311 bîcî bîcî 311 jiûyâng jiûyâng 312 màn màn ch 312 wô qîng kè 312 yôu kng lái wán 312 láojià láojià 313 zhù nî zâo rì kng fú 313 búkèqi 313 hâo jiû méi jiàn 314 part v appendixes 315 appendix a chinese verbs .317 appendix b chinese-english mini-dictionary .321 appendix c answer key .339 appendix d about the cd .343 index 345[close]
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