Greeting

you??ll learn how to greet people, ask them how they are, and reply when they ask you.

you??ll learn a few simple sentences to help you exchange names with the Chinese people you meet.

After you have said hello, and exchanged names, the next topic you are likely to want to talk about with the Chinese people you meet is where you are from. In this podcast you??ll learn the names of several common nationalities, plus one of the ways to say yes (yes, there are several!).

When you travel to China, the question on all Chinese people??s lips is ???Do you like China???. And you??ll definitely need to be able to talk about all your likes and dislikes - unless you??re happy to eat chicken??s feet for breakfast. In this podcast, you??ll learn how to express your preferences, and also learn another way to say ???yes??? in Chinese.

Restaurant culture is a huge part of life in China, and you won??t want to miss out on some of the world??s most interesting cuisine. But you??ll have to learn to ask for the menu first. In this lesson you??ll learn the vital phrase ???do you have??? (just insert toilet, bar, receipt, headache pills, etc etc.) You??ll also learn how to politely interrupt someone, and the verb to want.

China is a shoppers?? heaven, and in this podcast you??ll learn some key phrases to help you navigate the markets and shopping streets and get what you want. You??ll learn how to identify the items you want, and ask how much they are. You??ll also learn the colloquial term for money, so you can fit right in.

In today??s podcast, rather than providing another lesson, Ken and Jenny talk more generally about language learning, and offer a few tips and suggestions on how to keep making progress.

We start out easy??very easy, with the formalities. Be sure and pay close attention to the ???thank you??? and the ???how are you???, these will be the 2 phrases that will be repeated 20-30 times a day in China. Don??t worry too much about the infamous ???tones??? either; we will tackle those in a future podcast.

So, okay. We??ve established that you??re not from China, although your ???How are you??? and ???thank you??? is spot on. So where are you from? Also, if you??re in China, or speaking Chinese, chances are you??re keeping busy??so we??ll teach you ???very busy??? as well (it??s great for dodging staff meetings!).

Right, so you??ve said ???ni hao ma??? and ???xie xie??? so many times you??re repeating in your sleep??and the guy on the subway next to you thinks you??re mad. So, where are you going? I mean not in a existential type of way, but where? School? Let??s hope so, that??s what we??re teaching you today! Also, it??s time you learned Mr. and Miss.

How are you? Just okay? Why? Once you??re able to keep the conversation going like this, you??re going to impress!

You can tell us where you went, and now how you feel??unhappy? Why? Oh??.you don??t want to talk about it.

The first thing you are likely to hear when you step off the plane is ???can you speak Mandarin?????Listen to this podcast and you??ll be able to make a good first impression, and even if you can??t say much more in Chinese, you may find that your new friend speaks English.

The Chinese like to go out and party just as much as the rest of us. The trouble is, if you don??t listen to this podcast, you won??t be able to join them.

Wow! You??re now ready to listen to your first story in Chinese. Well done! Find out what Mr Li did yesterday and today, and then you??ll be able to describe the same things for yourself.