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How to make friends in Chinese society;
Part I Chinese 101
Dialogue:
A:先生,请问怎么称呼?
xiān shēng ,qǐng wèn zěn me chēng hū?
Sir, how do I address you?
B:我姓高。
wǒ xìng gāo.
My surname is Gao.
A:高先生,这是?
gāo xiān shēng ,zhè shì?
Mr. Gao, who is this?
B:这是我的朋友,张小姐。
zhè shì wǒ de péng yǒu ,zhāng xiǎo jiě。
This is my friends, Ms. Zhang.
Words & expressions:
【先生】xiānsheng;sir, husband, a male you respect
这是王先生。Zhe shi wang xian sheng. This is Mr. Wang.
这是我先生。Zhe shi wo xian sheng. This is my husband.
【称呼】chēng hū; call
您怎么称呼? How should I call you?
【的】de; (prep)of
Grammar
*The determiner and the determined
wǒ de我的 “my”
nǐ de你的 “your”
tā de / tā de他的 / 她的 “his”; “hers”
wǒmen de我们的 “our”
nǐmen de你们的 “your”
tāmen de / tāmen de他们的 / 她们的 “their (male)”; “their (female)”
*Adjectives as determiners
漂亮的小姐。Piàoliang de xiao jie. The pretty woman.
好吃的菜。Hǎo chī de cài. The appetizing food.
*Verbs as determiners
我吃的苹果。Wǒ chī de píngguǒ.The apple I’m eating.
我说的话。Wǒ shuō de huà.The words I say.
*Locators as determiners
家里的人。People at home.
学校里的学生。Students in school.
【朋友】péng yǒu; friend
【小姐】 xiǎo jiě; Ms. Young male
Part II Language Tips
How to address someone? Male and Female
Tips for how to make Chinese friends
Part III Story of The Day
EP11 称呼 How To Address Someone?
俞伯牙和钟子期 Yu Boya and Zhong Ziqi
高山流水
gāo shān liú shuǐ
High mountains and flowing rivers
Chinese people often call their close friend or soul mate 知音,which means "know music" literally. Why do Chinese people relate friendship to music? It begins with the story of "High mountains and flowing rivers".
中国人经常把知心的朋友称作知音,字面意思是理解音乐。为什么中国人会把友情与音乐联系起来?这一切都是从高山流水的故事开始的。
Literal meaning: high mountains and flowing rivers
Explanation: the difficulty of finding someone whose' "music" you can truly appreciate.
E.g
他的作品虽然动听,但是高山流水,知音难觅。
tā de zuò pǐn suī rán dòng tīng ,dàn shì gāo shān liú shuǐ ,zhī yīn nán mì .
His performance is excellent, but like the music of "high mountains and flowing rivers", it is very hard to find someone that could appreciate his music.