Chinese For Dummies (133 page)

Treating yourself to better health

Not everything can be cured with a bowl of
jī tāng
鸡汤
(
雞湯
) (jee tahng) (
chicken soup
), despite what my grandmother told me. If your grandmother cooks as well as mine did, however, the soup couldn't hurt . . .

Your doctor may prescribe some
yào
药
(
藥
) (yaow) (
medicine
) to make you feel better.
After you
tián
å¡«
(
å¡«
) (tyan) (
fill
) your
yīliào chǔ fāng
医疗处方
(
醫療處方
) (ee-lyaow choo
fahng) (
prescription
), you may find the following instructions on the bottle:

Fàn hòu chī.
饭后吃
. (
飯後吃
.) (fahn ho chir.) (
Take after eating.
)

Měi sìge xiǎoshí chī yícì.
每四个小时吃一次
. (
每四個小時吃一次
.) (may suh-guh shyaow-shir chir ee-tsuh.) (
Take one tablet every four hours.
)

Měi tiān chī liǎng cì, měi cì sān piàn.
每天吃两次
,
每次三片
. (
每天吃兩次
,
每次三片
.) (may tyan chir lyahng tsuh, may tsuh sahn pyan.) (
Take three tablets twice a day.
)

Calling the Police

Ever have your pocketbook
tōu le
(toe luh) (
stolen
)? Being a victim is an awful feeling, as I can tell you from experience. You feel angry at such a scary experience, especially if it happens in another country and the
zéi
è´¼
(
賊
) (dzay) (
thief
)
táopǎo
逃跑
(taow-paow) (
escapes
) quickly.

I hope you're never the victim of a crime like theft (or something worse). Still, you should always be prepared with some key words you can use when the
jǐngchá
警察
(jeeng-chah) (
police
) finally pull up in the
jǐngchē
警车
(
警車
) (jeeng-chuh) (
police car
) and take you back to the
jǐngchájú
警察局
(jeeng-chah-jyew) (
police station
) to identify a potential
zéi.
Hopefully the culprit will be
zhuā le
抓了
(jwah luh) (
arrested
).

You may also find yourself in an emergency that doesn't involve you. If you ever witness an accident, here are some phrases you can relay to the police, emergency workers, or victims:

Bié kū. Jǐngchá hé jiùhùchē láile.
别哭
.
警察和救护车来了
. (
別哭
.
警察和救護車來了
.) (byeh koo. jeeng-chah huh jyo-hoo-chuh lye-luh.) (
Don't cry. The police and the ambulance have arrived.
)

Tā bèi qìchē yàzháo le.
他被车压着了
. (
他被車压着了
.) (tah bay chee-chuh yah-jaow luh.) (
He was run over by a car.
)

Tā zài liúxiě.
他在流血
. (tah dzye lyo-shyeh.) (
He's bleeding.
)

Acquiring Legal Help

Nine out of ten foreigners never need to look for a lawyer during a stay in China, which isn't as litigious a society as the United States, to be sure. If you do need a
lǜshī
律师
(
律師
) (lyew-shir) (
lawyer
), however, your best bet is to check with your country's
dàshǐguǎn
大使馆
(
大使館
) (dah-shir-gwahn) (
embassy
) or
língshìguǎn
领事馆
(
領事館
) (leeng-shir-gwahn) (
consulate
) for advice.

It can be very annoying and stressful to have to deal with
lǜshī,
no matter what country you're in, but you have to admit — they do know the
fǎlǜ
法律
(fah-lyew) (
law
). And if you have to go to
fǎyuàn
法院
(fah-ywan) (
court
) for any serious incident, you want the judge to
pànjué
判决
(
判決
) (pahn-jweh) (
make a decision
) in your favor. Moral of the story: Good
lǜshī
are worth their weight in gold, even if you still consider them sharks in the end.

 Fun & Games

Identify the following body parts in Chinese. Check
Appendix D
for the answers.

1. Arm: ______________

2. Shoulder: ______________

3. Finger: ______________

4. Leg: ______________

5. Neck: ______________

6. Chest: ______________

7. Eye: ______________

8. Ear: ______________

9. Nose: ______________

Chapter 20

Ten Ways to Learn Chinese Quickly

In This Chapter

Practicing by listening and watching

Speaking while you cook, eat, and shop for food

Seeking out opportunities to practice

T
his chapter contains ten good activities that can help speed up your Chinese learning curve. Having useful, easy-to-access, and easy-to-follow learning tools makes a big difference in your progress. And besides, you can have fun with them, too.

Listen to Chinese-Language Tapes, CDs, and CD-ROMs

Just imagine trying to figure out what Chinese tones sound like without actually hearing them spoken out loud; it's kind of like imagining what Beethoven's Fifth sounds like based on a written description. Even if you read this book cover to cover, you'll be hard pressed to figure out just what the first, second, third, and fourth tones actually sound like unless you listen to the accompanying audio tracks. Be creative with your discovery of the language (and your language listening) by picking up all the language tapes, CDs, and CD-ROMs you can find out there. Keep mimicking what you hear over and over again so that your pronunciation and intonation become better with each go-round. Pretty soon, you'll be able to tell a native Mandarin speaker from a native Cantonese speaker.

Check Out a Peking Opera Performance

Okay, I admit that the first time I attended a performance of Peking Opera, I wished I had brought a pair of ear plugs. The opera is an acquired taste, to be sure. Kind of like caviar. But I recommend spending time cultivating an appreciation for it. Peking Opera originated in the late 1700s, when opera troupes originally staged performances for the royal family. Only later did it become such a public art, and now it's all the rage for any person who claims to appreciate Chinese culture. The makeup, costumes, cacophonous music, and stylized movements are predictable and much treasured by the Chinese people. Listening to Peking Opera not only helps you develop an appreciation for a great Chinese art form but also fine-tunes your recognition of the pronunciation of standard Mandarin. You can even learn a few tunes at the same time. A win-win situation all around.

Cook with a Wok

You may be surprised what cooking with a wok can do for your Chinese. Not only do you start eating healthier, but you also soak in Chinese words by osmosis because you're forced to visit some Asian food markets to gather the ingredients you need to cook with. Ever hear of
dòufu
豆腐
(doe-foo) (
soybean curd
)? How about bok choi? Okay, so that's Cantonese, but the Mandarin is
bái cài
白菜
(bye tsye) (
Chinese cabbage
). The best traditional Chinese cooking, all done with a wok, puts you in the proper frame of mind to want to absorb some more Chinese language. Try following some recipes from a Chinese cookbook and repeat the names of the ingredients over and over. And if you're not a great cook, get into the habit of eating at Chinese restaurants and mastering the names of at least ten dishes before the end of the meal.

Shop for Food in Chinatown

Mingle with the Mandarin-speaking masses while you attune your ear to the sounds and tones of Chinese. Buying food is only one of the fun things to do in Chinatown, of course, but it's one worth doing often. Not only do you cultivate a good ear for Chinese, but you also become privy to the gestures that often go along with the sounds.

Surf the Net

Tons of information on Chinese language and culture is only a mouse click away. Now that you're in the information age, take advantage of it. Everything from writing Chinese characters to discovering Peking Opera is out there. (Head to the earlier section “
Check Out a Peking Opera Performance
” for more on that particular option.) Whatever motivated you to start speaking Chinese in the first place, the World Wide Web keeps you involved. Just do a quick search for places such as Shanghai, Beijing, or Taipei or for cultural keywords such as
wok
or
pagoda.
You'll be amazed at what you can come up with.

Watch Kung-Fu Flicks

Bruce Lee is only the tip of the iceberg. Go to your local public library and ask to see the list of kung-fu movies. Everything from Hong Kong action films to mainland martial arts flicks — you should find them all there. Pick whatever interests you. Directors like Zhang Yimou and Chen Kaige have become famous around the world. (Okay, so they didn't direct kung-fu movies . . . but they're still worth checking out.)

The best way to grasp Chinese is to watch the films over and over to see how many words and phrases you can pick up in one sitting. You soon become adept at anticipating which gestures go with which words, and you develop a great ear for all those tones.

Exchange Language Lessons

Finding a language partner has to be one of the best ways to pick up Chinese. You get to learn the language, but you also develop a friendship along the way. Tons of students come to the United States every year from China. Whether you're in school at the moment or just live near one, you should have no problem putting up a sign offering a language exchange. And don't forget to ask your language partner to compare notes about Chinese and American culture. That's when the real fun begins.

Make Chinese Friends

Possibilities for meeting Chinese-speaking people are endless. Check out the cubicle next to you at your office or the desk ahead of you in class. Or how about the mother of the kid who's in your child's karate class? Wherever you go, you have a chance to make a new friend who not only knows Chinese but can also teach you a little about the culture. You may even find a new friend to see that kung-fu movie with or to help you navigate grocery shopping in Chinatown (not to mention how to use a wok after you buy all your food).

Study Chinese Calligraphy

Chinese calligraphy is one of the most beautiful art forms in the world. Why not pick up a brush and create those beautiful strokes yourself on rice paper? The whole ritual of preparing the ink and paper is an exercise in patience and meditation, and you get to appreciate the difficulty Chinese schoolchildren have in learning to write Chinese. You can discover how to write your name in Chinese (have your English name transliterated, because there's no alphabet in Chinese) and then practice writing those characters over and over until you can sign your name to a Chinese New Year's card and mail it to a friend.

Be Curious and Creative

If you look for opportunities to practice Chinese, I guarantee you can find them. Be imaginative. And stop worrying about failing. In fact, make as many mistakes as it takes so that you can make a mental note of what you should do or say differently the next time around. Give yourself a pat on the back every time you discover something new in Chinese or figure out a novel way to find out more about the Chinese language and people. Keep yakking away with the new words and phrases you find in this book
and enjoy watching the reactions on people's faces when you open your mouth.