New Year – New Language!

I’m a Vegetarian in Mandarin Chinese

If you’ve ever travelled to Asia as someone that doesn’t eat meat, you know that it can sometimes be difficult finding places that don’t serve you something with animal in it. In this lesson Fiona Tian takes you through ways to explain that you’re a vegetarian (or vegan) as well as all the different types of vegetarian found in Taiwan.

Hello, do you eat fish?
你好，吃不吃魚呢？
你好，吃不吃鱼呢？
Nǐ hǎo, chī bù chī yú ne?

Sorry, I don’t. I’m a vegan.
不好意思，不吃，我吃全素。
不好意思，不吃，我吃全素。
Bù hǎoyìsi, bù chī, wǒ chī quán sù.

A vegan huh? I think our seasoning has garlic in it? Is that OK?
吃全素啊，那我們調味料裡面好像有蒜，可以嗎？
吃全素啊，那我们调味料里面好像有蒜，可以吗？
Chī quán sù a, nà wǒmen tiáowèi liào lǐmiàn hǎoxiàng yǒu suàn, kěyǐ ma?

I can eat garlic, that’s all fine.
蒜頭可以！蒜頭我OK。
蒜头可以！蒜头我OK。
Suàntóu kěyǐ! Suàntóu wǒ OK.

The soup is pork rib soup. Can you eat that?
湯是排骨湯，可以嗎？
汤是排骨汤，可以吗？
Tāng shì páigǔ tāng, kěyǐ ma?

Then, do you have a vegetarian broth? Vegetarian broth would be ideal.
呃，那請問有素高湯嗎？有的話最好。
呃，那请问有素高汤吗？有的话最好。
È, nà qǐngwèn yǒu sù gāotāng ma? Yǒu de huà zuì hǎo.

I’m sorry. Is it possible not to put meat in that?
不好意思，可以不要放肉嗎？
不好意思，可以不要放肉吗？
Bù hǎoyìsi, kěyǐ bùyào fàng ròu ma?

We can’t make vegetarian meals.
唔，我們不能做素餐。
唔，我们不能做素餐。
Wú, wǒmen bùnéng zuò sùcān.

I’m sorry. Is it possible not to put meat in that?
不好意思，可以不要放肉嗎？
不好意思，可以不要放肉吗？
Bù hǎoyìsi, kěyǐ bùyào fàng ròu ma?

No meat huh? How about the gravy?
不吃肉啊？那肉汁呢？
不吃肉啊？那肉汁呢？
Bù chī ròu a? Nà ròuzhī ne?

Gravy(meat sauce)? Uh….no, can’t do that. I’m a vegan.
肉汁？呃，不行，我吃全素。
肉汁？呃，不行，我吃全素。
Ròuzhī? È, bùxíng, wǒ chī quán sù.

Can you have garlic or onions? How about eggs?
蔥蒜可以嗎？蛋可以嗎？
葱蒜可以吗？蛋可以吗？
Cōng suàn kěyǐ ma? Dàn kěyǐ ma?

Yup! I can have those things. I’m a “egg and dairy”vegetarian.
可以！我吃蛋奶素。
可以！我吃蛋奶素。
Kěyǐ! Wǒ chī dàn nǎi sù.

If you wanna check out loads more Chinese learning content, check out the other site I work on called ChinesePod

6 Awesome Ways to Say Thank you in Mandarin Chinese with Fiona Tian

Today’s post is great because no matter which phrase you use, you’re going to sound very polite and humble when using it.

These 6 phrases have been graded from Newbie to Superior, not necessarily based on the difficulty of saying them, but rather how you sound to a native speaker when saying these words. In my opinion, saying the “superior” one is easier than saying many of the others but this doesn’t matter. After watching this, we encourage you to avoid numbers 1 and 2 to really make you sound like a boss, but remember, all are good 🙂

Newbie

T.謝謝

S.谢谢

P.Xièxiè

Thank you

Elementary

T.哪裡哪裡

S.哪里哪里

P.Nǎlǐ nǎlǐ

No no (Thank you very much)

Intermediate

T.那兒的話，還不夠好

S.那儿的话，还不够好

P.Nà’er dehuà, hái bùgòu hǎo

Ah that’s nonsense, it’s still not good enough

Upper-Intermediate

T.差得遠呢

S.差得远呢

P.Chà dé yuǎn ne

I’m still really far off

Advanced

T.你過獎了，我的中文還有很大的進步空間

S.你过奖了，我的中文还有很大的进步空间

P.Nǐ guòjiǎngle, wǒ de zhōngwén hái yǒu hěn dà de jìnbù kōngjiān

You flatter me, my mandarin still has a lot of room for improvement

Superior

T.您不嫌弃

S.您不嫌弃

P.Nín bù xiánxì

It’s you guys not being critical of my Mandarin.

Better Ways to Say “I Don’t Understand” in Chinese

Based on an article by John Pasden on Sinoplice, this video teaches you new ways to say “I don’t understand”.

Sometime, learners will default to saying 聽不懂/听不懂 tīng bù dǒng. This is bad for learners because a native will think you don’t know Chinese, rather than what you actually mean which is that you don’t understand one word, concept, or maybe you just didn’t hear clearly. Listen as we teach you some better ways to say tīng bù dǒng