Cam: And wo shi Cam. Yajie, one of my favorite parts of Christmas is Christmas dinner! And I want to know how to say some of that delicious food in Chinese!
YJ: let’s first listen to key words of the day!
Key Words of the Day
Turkey. 火鸡 mashed potatoes 土豆泥Pumpkin pie, 南瓜派 salad. 沙拉 Can you please pass the salt and pepper? 请把盐和胡椒递给我好吗？ All in today’s Chinese Studio.
YJ: Wow, so much delicious food for Christmas dinner… my mouth is watering…
Cam: What’s the Chinese for turkey?
YJ: it’s 火鸡 (huo3 ji1)
Cam: 火鸡 (huo3 ji1)
YJ: which literally means “fire chicken”.火鸡 (huo3 ji1)
Cam: interesting, 火鸡 (huo3 ji1). Also we’ll have mashed potatoes.
YJ: In Chinese it’s: 土豆泥 (tu3 dou4 ni2)
Cam: 土豆泥 (tu3 dou4 ni2)
YJ: tu3 dou4 means potato.
Cam: tu3 dou4
YJ: ni2 originally means earth or soil, here means a mashed mixture.
Cam: ni2
YJ: 土豆泥 (tu3 dou4 ni2)
Cam: 土豆泥 (tu3 dou4 ni2) mashed potatoes.
Conversation1:
A：圣诞晚餐你们吃什么？
B： 我们吃火鸡还有土豆泥。
YJ: What else do you usually have for Christmas dinner?
Cam: ah…we’ll have pumpkin pie.
YJ: Isn’t it a classic dessert served at Thanksgiving?
Cam: Yes, but also we’ll have it for Christmas. What’s the Chinese for pumpkin pie, Yajie?
YJ: it’s 南瓜派 (nan2 gua1 pai4)
Cam: 南瓜派 (nan2 gua1 pai4)
YJ: nan2 gua1 means pumpkin
Cam: nan2 gua1
YJ: nan2 means south,
Cam: nan2
YJ: gua1 means melon.
Cam: gua1
YJ: nan2 gua1.
Cam: nan2 gua1,pumpkin.
YJ: pie in Chinese is 派（pai4）, it’s the same with the English pronunciation.
Cam: Easy. 派（pai4）
YJ: 南瓜派 (nan2 gua1 pai4)
Cam: 南瓜派 (nan2 gua1 pai4), pumpkin pie.
YJ: I know salad is another food you usually have for Christmas.
Cam: yes, what’s it Chinese, Yajie?
YJ: it’s 沙拉（sha1 la1） or 色拉 (se4 la1). It’s another example of similar pronunciation.
Cam: right. 沙拉（sha1 la1） or 色拉 (se4 la1) sounds like salad.
Conversation2:
(1) A: 你喜欢吃南瓜派吗？
B: 喜欢啊，南瓜对身体很有好处。
(2) A: 你好，请问还要点什么？
B: 我还要一份沙拉。
A：好的，请稍等。
Cam: Yajie, You know in the west, we don’t have the table with a lazy Susan on it like you have in China.
YJ: I agree. It’s really convenient when a big family is having dinner together.
Cam: Well when we have dinner together, you can hear people say “Can you please pass the salt and pepper?” I wonder how to say it in Chinese?
YJ: It’s 请把盐和胡椒递给我, 好吗？(qing3 ba3 yan2 he2 hu2jiao1 di4gei3wo3 hao3 ma?)
Cam: it’s a long sentence.
YJ: don’t worry. qing3 means please.
Cam: qing3
YJ: Salt is yan2
Cam: yan2
YJ: pepper is hu2jiao1
Cam: hu2jiao1
YJ: he2 means and
Cam: he2
YJ: pass is chuan2 di4, here is short as di4.
Cam: di4
YJ: hao3 ma? it’s a polite way of asking.
Cam: hao3 ma?
YJ: 请把盐和胡椒递给我, 好吗？(qing3 ba3 yan2 he2 hu2jiao1 di4gei3wo3 hao3 ma?)
Cam: 请把盐和胡椒递给我, 好吗？(qing3 ba3 yan2 he2 hu2jiao1 di4gei3wo3 hao3 ma?) Can you please pass the salt and pepper?
Conversation3:
A: 请把盐和胡椒递给我好吗？
B: 没问题，给你。
Key Words Reminder
Turkey. 火鸡 mashed potatoes 土豆泥Pumpkin pie, 南瓜派 salad. 沙拉 Can you please pass the salt and pepper? 请把盐和胡椒递给我好吗？ All in today’s Chinese Studio.
