Answer: Continents, Countries and Cities

Good Morning from Bali. How is our post last week? Have you got a hold of it? What is Asia in Mandarin? How about "Paris"? Have you found out more cities or countries in Mandarin on Pleco?

Anyway, here are the answers to a few exercises from the previous post:

Try translating the following:

1. Hi, I am Ms. Smith. I am from America.
Smith 女士好。我来自美国。Smith nǚ shì. Wǒ láizì měiguó.

Note: 来自 (láizì )= means "comes from"

2. I am looking for this hotel.
我在找这家酒店
Wǒ zàizhǎo zhè jiā jiǔdiàn.

Note: Still remember the "continuous tense"?, yup! We use 在zài + Verb = Verbing

3. Where is the popular Chinese restaurant?
出名的中国餐厅在哪儿？
Chūmíng de zhōngguó cāntīng zài nǎr?
  

4. I am sorry, your flight has taken off. You are late.
不好意思，您的航班起飞了。您迟到了
Bùhǎoyìsi, nin de hángbān, qǐfēi le. Nín chídào le.

5. This flight has just landed.

这个航班刚降落
Zhège hángbān gāng jiàngluò.

6. I am looking for a fast food restaurant. Can you help me?
我在找快餐店。您能帮我吗?
Wǒ zài zhǎo kùicāndiàn. nín néng bāng wǒ ma?

7. Is that Public Toilet?
那是公共厕所吗？
Nà shì gōnggòn cèsuǒ ma?

8. I lost my wallet. Where is the Police Station?
我丢失了我的钱包。警察局在哪儿？
Wǒ diūshī le wǒ de qiánbāo. jǐngchájú zài nǎr?

Have a good week ahead~

Regards, 

Linda Tan

Continents, Countries, and Cities

Names of countries normally are not too different from the "English" names， however there are indeed some that are quite different from the English versions. Here are a list of continents and countries in Chinese.

Continents

1. Asia                           yàzhōu             亚洲

2. America                     měizhōu           美洲

3. Europe                       òuzhōu             欧洲

4. Africa                         fēizhōu             非洲

5. Australia                     àozhōu             澳洲

6. Arctic                          běijí                 北极

7. Antarctica                   nánjí                南极 

Countries:
1. Indonesia              Yìndùníxiāyà or Yìnní              印度尼西亚 / 印尼
2. Malaysia                mǎláixīyà                                 马来西亚
3. Singapore              xīnjiāpō                                   新加坡
4. HongKong             xiānggǎng                               香港 
5. India                      yìndù                                       印度
6. Philippines            fēilǜbīn                                    菲律宾
7. Korea                    hánguó                                    韩国
8.  Thailand                tàiguó                                      泰国
9.  Vietnam                yuènán                                     越南
10.  Japan                     rìběn                                     日本
11.  England                 yīngguó                                 英国
12.  America                 měiguó                                  美国
13.  Australia                àodàlìyǎ                                 澳大利亚
14.  Italy                       yìdàlì                                       意大利
15.  France                   fǎguó                                       法国
16.  German                 déguó                                      德国
17.  Holland                 hélán                                       荷兰
18.  Spain                     xībānyǎ                                    西班牙
19.  Turkey                   túěrqí                                       土耳其
20.  Saudi Arabia         ālābó                                        阿拉伯
21.  Russia                    éluósī                                       俄罗斯
And many more…


Cities
1. Jakarta                        yǎjiādá                       雅加达
2. Island of Bali              bālídǎo                        巴厘岛
3. London                       lúndūn                         伦敦
4. Paris                            bālí                              巴黎
5. California                    jiāzhōu                         加州
6. Kuala Lumpur             jílóngpō                       吉隆坡7
7. Bangkok                      màngǔ                         曼谷
8. Saigon                         xīgòng                         西贡 
9. Yangon                       yǎngguāng                  仰光
10. Valencia                      bālúnxīyà                     巴伦西亚
And many more…

Travelling to another countries, here are a few vocabularies that you might need:
1. Airport                                     jīchǎng                       机场
2. Take off                                  qǐfēi                             起飞
3. Landing                                   jiàngluò                       降落
4. Bus Station                             Chēzhàn                      车站
5. Hotel                                       Jǐudiàn                         酒店
6. Motel/Smaller Hotel                bīnguǎn                       宾馆
7. Restaurant                               fànguǎn / cāntīng        饭
8. Fast-food                                kuàicān                        快餐
9. Police Station                          jǐngchájú                     机场
10. Make a phone call                  dǎ diànhuà                  打电话
11. Public Toilet                            gōnggòng cèsuǒ          公共厕所       
12. Go to/use toilet                       shàngcèsuǒ                  上厕所  


Try translating the following:

1. Hi, I am Ms. Smith. I am from America.

2. I am looking for this hotel.

3. Where is the popular Chinese restaurant?

4. I am sorry, your flight has taken off. You are late.

5. This flight has just landed.

6. I am looking for a fast food restaurant. Can you help me?

7. Is that Public Toilet?

8. I lost my wallet. Where is the Police Station?

Have a good week ahead....

Regards,
Linda Tan

Answer to scenario on Handling Payment in the restaurant

Here is the answer to the one of the scenario from the last post on handling payment in the restaurant.
Translate the first scenario below:

Guest              : Fúwùyuán, qǐng jiézhàng. 服务员，请结账       
Guest: Waiter/Waitress (it is common for guests in the service industry to address the staff as "service staff"), please settle our bill.

Waiter/Waitress: Hǎode. Qǐng shāo děng yīxià. 好的， 请稍等一下
Waiter/Waitress: Sure. Please wait a moment.

Issueing bill…

Waiter/Waitress: Zhèshì nǐdě mǎidān. Qǐng chá yī chá . 这是你的买单，请查一查
Waiter/Waitress: Here is your bill. Please have a look.

Customer checking bill…

Guest              : Zhè shì shénme? 这是什么？
Guest: Wha is this? (it is not being rude, but rather to make sure that the bill is issued correctly)

Waiter/Waitress : Zhè shì kǎoyā. 这是烤鸭
Waiter/Waitress: This is roast duck.

Guest                          : Hǎo la. Dōu duì le. 好啦，都对了。

Nǐmen shōu bù shoū xìnyòngkǎ? 你们收不收信用卡？
Guest: Oh, okay. All are correct. Do you take Credit card?

Waiter/Waitress         : Shōu. 收                               
Waiter/Waitress: Take / We take / We do. (There is no one right way in translating this)

Guest                          : Zhège. 这个
Guest: Here you go.

Waiter/Waitress         : Xìnyòngkǎ xūyào mìmǎ ma? 信用卡需要密码吗？
Waiter/Waitress: Does the credit card need PIN?

Guest                          : zhèzhāng xūyào. 这张需要。
Guest: This one needs.

Waiter/Waitress         : Nà, bùhǎoyìsi, 那不好意思，

Nín kě bù kěyǐ gēn wǒ dào shōuyíntái qù？您可不可以跟我到收银台去？
Waiter/Waitress: In that case, I am sorry,
Can you come with me to the cashier?

Guest                          : hǎo  好
Guest: Okay.


How many of you get it right? I am not saying word by word kind of "right", as in translating, it is not merely taking words and translating it, sometimes we need understanding of the "context". It is very important. If you notice, when the guest said "Zhège. 这个", it doesn't mean that the guest was saying "this" as in pointing to an object, but rather as an expression when he/she passed something (in this case the credit card) to the waiter/waitress. So in English rather than saying "this", it is more appropriate to be translated as "here you go".

Try to digest all of the grammar and vocabularies used above and take note of something that you think might come handy in other context one day.

Happy Wednesday,
Linda Tan

Using Chinese / Mandarin in Restaurant – Part 4 - LAST

Here are a few vocabularies that might be useful during payment, not only in the restaurant setting, but as well as other service and retail industry:
1. Cashier Counter                      Shōu yín tái
2. Bill                                          Mǎi dān
3. Receipt                                    Fā piào
4. Tax                                          Shuì fèi
5. Government Tax                     Zhèng fǔ shuì
6. Service Charge/ Tax                Fú wù shuì
7. Exclude Tax                            LÌng fù shuì
8. Total                                        Zǒng gòng                              
9. Before tax                               Shuì qián
10. After tax                                 Shuì hòu
11. Change                                    Zhǎo qián
12. Tip                                           Xiǎo fèi
13. Collect/Take/Accept               Shōu
14. Credit Card                             Xìn yòng kǎ
15. Cash                                        Xiàn jīn
16. Rupiah                                     Yìn ní dùn
17. RMB (Chinese Yuan)             Rén mín bì
18. USD                                        Měi jīn
19. Dollar (general)                       kuài / yuán
20. Sign                                         Qiān míng
21. PIN                                         Mì mǎ
22. American Express                   Měi guó yùn tōng
23. Visa                                         Wēi shì kǎ
24. MasterCard                             Wàn shì dá

Translate the first scenario below:

Guest              : Fúwùyuán, qǐng jiézhàng. 服务员，请结账       
Waiter/Waitress: Hǎode. Qǐngshāo děng yīxià. 好的， 请稍等一下

Issueing bill…

Waiter/Waitress: Zhèshì nǐdě mǎidān. Qǐng chá yī chá . 这是你的买单，请查一查


Customer checking bill…


Guest              : Zhè shì shénme? 这是什么？

Waiter/Waitress : Zhè shì kǎoyā. 这是烤鸭

Guest                          : Hǎo la. Dōu duì le. 好啦，都对了。

Nǐmen shōu bù shoū xìnyòngkǎ? 你们收不收信用卡？

Waiter/Waitress         : Shōu. 收                               

Guest                          : Zhège. 这个


Waiter/Waitress         : Xìnyòngkǎ xūyào mìmǎ ma? 信用卡需要密码吗？

Guest                          : zhèzhāng xūyào. 这张需要。

Waiter/Waitress         : Nà, bùhǎoyìsi, 那不好意思，

Nín kě bù kěyǐ gēn wǒ dào shōuyíntái qù？您可不可以跟我到收银台去？

Guest                          : hǎo  好


Answer will be updated on this same post in a week time. Please do check back! :)

Here is the second scenario in explaining the bill (in case the customers are confused looking at all the numbers with so many zero in the bill and not familiar with the language printed on the bill):

Guest: I am sorry, what’s this?

顾客：不好意思， 这是什么？
Gùkè: bùhǎoyìsi, zhèshì shénme?

Waiter/Waitress: This is your beverages. There are 3 cups in total. This is the amount before tax, to be added to our government tax and the service charge. So the final total is IDR 853,000.

服务员：这是你们的饮料。 总共是三杯。 这个呢是税前。加上政府税喝服务税，所以税后是八十五万三（千）。
Fúwùyuán:  zhèshì nǐmen de yǐnliào. zǒnggòng shì sānbēi. zhègè ne sì shuìqián. jiāshàng zhèngfúshuì hé fúwùshuì, suǒyǐ shuìhòu shì bāshíwǔwànsān (qiān).

Guest: I think this dish is not serve.

顾客：这道菜好像没有。
Gùkè:zhèdàocài hǎoxiàng méiyou.


Waiter/Waitress: Hmmm, let me check for you. This plate is for that dish.
服务员：让我帮你查一下。这张盘是那道菜。
Fúwùyuán:ràng wǒ bāng nǐchá yīxià. Zhèzhāng pán shì nàdàocài.

Guest: Okay, got it.

顾客：啊，好的
Gùkè: a, hǎode.


Waiter/Waitress: Any other problems?
服务员：有没有别的问题？
Fúwùyuán: yǒu méiyǒu biéde wèntí?

Guest: That’s all. Do you take USD?
顾客：没了。你们收美金吗？
Gùkè:méile. Nǐmen shōu měijīn ma?

Waiter/Waitress: I am sorry, we don’t. We only take IDR and AUS$.

服务员：不好意思，我们不收。我们只收印尼盾和澳元
Fúwùyuán: bùhǎoyìsi, wǒmen bù shōu. wǒmen zhǐ shōu yìnnídùn hé àoyuán.

Guest: Hmmm. IDR then.

顾客：那印尼盾吧。
Gùkè: nà yìnnídùn ba.

Guest gives IDR 900,000

Waiter/Waitress: I am collecting from you IDR900,000. Please wait for your change.
服务员：我收了九十万。请稍等一下。
Fúwùyuán: wǒ shōu le jiǔshíwàn. qǐng shāo děng yīxià.

Guest: Okay.
顾客：好
Gùkè: hǎo.

Waiter/waitress comes back with change.

Waiter/Waitress: Here is your change, sir. Is that correct?

服务员：先生，这是你的找钱。对了吗？
Fúwùyuán: xiānsheng, zhè shì nǐ de zhǎoqián, duì le ma?

Guest: Correct. Thank you

顾客：对了。谢谢。
Gùkè: duì le. Xièxie.

Waiter/Waitress: Please come again next time. Be safe.

服务员：欢迎下次光临。慢走。
Fúwùyuán: huānyíng xiàcì guānglín. màn zòu.

Guest: Thank you.

顾客：谢谢。
Gùkè: xièxie.

Happy Digesting,

Linda Tan

Using Chinese / Mandarin in Restaurant – Part 3

In taking order, here are some scenarios that might happen after you show the guests to their table.

Source: http://therestaurantexpert.com/upselling-important-guest-experience/

Scenario 1:

Waiter/waitress:   Here is our menu. Please have a look first.
Fúwùyuán:           zhèshì wǒmen de càidān. Qǐng xiānkàn ba.

Guests:                   Okay. Do you have any recommendation?
Gùkè:                     hǎo. Nǐ yǒu méi yǒu shénme tuìjiàn ne?

Waiter/waitress:   This is our best seller menu. (show them the item on the menu)

Fúwùyuán:           Zhèshì wǒmen zuìrèmài de dānwèi.

Guests:                   Is this spicy?

Gùkè:                     zhège là ma?

Waiter/waitress:   No, it’s not spicy.

Fúwùyuán:          bùlà.

Guests:                   Okay. Give me one then. What vegetables that is delicious?

Gùkè:                     hǎo de. Lái yī gè ba. Shénme shūcài hǎochī?

Waiter/waitress:   How about Kangkung?

Fúwùyuán:           kōngxīncài, zěnme yang?

Guests:                   We don’t like that. Do you have any broccoli?

Gùkè:                     wǒmen bù xǐhuān. nǐ yǒuměiyǒu xīlánhuā ?

Waiter/waitress:   We do. This one. (show the item on the menu)

Fúwùyuán:           yǒu. zhège.

Guests:                   I would like to have one of this.

Gùkè:                     wǒ yào zhègè.

Waiter/waitress:   Okay.

Fúwùyuán:           hǎo

Guests:                   That’s all.

Gùkè:                     gòu le.

Waiter/waitress:   How about drinks?

Fúwùyuán:           hē de ne?

Guests:                   Give me one mineral water and one orange juice.

Gùkè:                     gěi wo yīgè kuàngquánshuǐ hé yī běi chéngzizhī.

Waiter/waitress:   For mineral water do you want the cold one?

Fúwùyuán:           kuàngquánshuǐ yào lěng de ma?

Guests:                   Okay.

Gùkè:                     kěyǐ ba.

Waiter/waitress:   Let me repeat your order, one roasted duck, one garlic broccoli, one mineral water and one orange juice.       

Fúwùyuán:           Ràng wǒ zài niàn gěi ni, yīgè kǎoyā, yīfèn xīlánhuā chǎo dàsuān, yīpíng kuàngquánshuǐ, háiyǒu  yībēi chéngzi zhī.

Guests:                   For the Orange juice, less ice please

Gùkè:                     chéngzi zhī shǎobīng, hǎobùhǎo.

Waiter/waitress:   Okay. Your food will be ready in about 20 minutes.

Fúwùyuán:           hǎode. Nǐdecài èrshífēnzhōng zuǒyòu zhǔnbèihǎo.

Guests:                   Thank you.

Gùkè:                     xièxie

Waiter/waitress:   You are welcome.

Fúwùyuán:           bùkèqì

Scenario 2:

Waiter/Waitress: Here is your menu, do you want to order now or have a look first?

Fúwùyuán:           zhèshì nín de càidān. yàoxiànzài diǎn háishì xiān kàn?

Guests:                 Order now. We want a portion of spaghetti bolognaise, one French fries, and then.. 

Gùkè:                     xiànzài diǎn. Wǒmen yào yīfèn fánqiěròujiàng yìdàlìmiàn, yīfèn shǔtiáo, háiyǒu…

Waiter/Waitress: Sorry, for the fries, do you want big or medium?

Fúwùyuán:           bùhǎoyìsi, shǔtiáo, nín yào dàde háishì zhōngde?

Guests:                   Big one please

Gùkè:                     dàde ba

Waiter/Waitress: Okay. Anything else?

Fúwùyuán:           hǎo. háiyǒu ne?

Guests:                   We also want  a bowl of thick corn soup.

Gùkè:                     wǒmen ye yào yīwǎn yùmǐnóng tāng

Waiter/Waitress: Sure.

Fúwùyuán:           hǎo de.

Guests:                   That’s all for now. Can you leave the menu here?

Gùkè:                     xiān lái nàge ba. Nǐ kěǐ bǎ càidān liú zài zhèr ma?

Waiter/Waitress: No problem. Do you want to order any beverages?

Fúwùyuán:         Méi wèntí. Nín yào diǎn xiē yǐnliào ma?

Guests:                   Yes. Please give us 2 bottles of beer.

Gùkè:                     Yào. gěi wǒmen, liǎng píng píjiǔ ba.

Waiter/Waitress: Let me repeat your order first… (Repeat order)

Fúwùyuán:           Ràng wǒ zài niàn gěi nǐ, nǐ diǎn de cài. (Repeat order)

Guests:                   That’s correct.

Gùkè:                     duìle

Waiter/Waitress: Please wait for awhile.

Fúwùyuán:           Qǐng shāoděng yīxià.

Guests:                   Okay

Gùkè:                     Hǎo

Waiter/Waitress: Thank you.

Fúwùyuán:           Xièxie


Conversation can vary from one to another. I don't recommend memorizing sentences but rather to memorize the words as well as the pattern in forming a simple good sentence.

Next post will be the last post on this topic and it will be something to do with billing and payment. Stay updated!

Regards,
Linda Tan