Ordering
4.3 The bill
4.4 Complaints
4.5 Paying a compliment
4.6 Requests
4.7 Drinks
4.8 The menu
5. Getting Around
5.1 Asking directions
5.2 Traffic signs
5.3 The car The parts of a car
5.4 The gas station
5.5 Breakdowns and repairs
5.6 Bicycles/mopeds The parts of a bicycle
5.7 Renting a vehicle
5.8 Getting a lift
6. Arrival and Departure
6.1 General
6.2 Customs
6.3 Luggage
6.4 Tickets
6.5 Information
6.6 Airports
6.7 Subway trains
6.8 Long-distance trains
6.9 Buses
6.10 Taxis
7. A Place to Stay
7.1 General
7.2 Hotels/hostels/budget accommodations
7.3 Requests
7.4 Complaints
7.5 Departure
8. Money Matters
8.1 Banks
8.2 Settling the bill
9. Mail, Phone and Internet
9.1 Mail
9.2 Telephone
9.3 Internet/email
10. Shopping
10.1 Shopping conversations
10.2 Food
10.3 Clothing and shoes
10.4 At the hairdresser
11. Tourist Activities
11.1 Sightseeing
11.2 Places of interest
11.3 Going out
11.4 Nightlife
11.5 Cultural performance
11.6 Booking tickets
12. Sports Activities
12.1 Sporting questions
12.2 By the waterfront
12.3 In the snow
13. Health Matters
13.1 Calling a doctor
13.2 What's wrong?
13.3 The consultation
13.4 Medications and prescriptions
13.5 At the dentist
14. Emergencies
14.1 Asking for help
14.2 Lost items
14.3 Accidents
14.4 Theft
14.5 Missing person
14.6 The police
15. English-Chinese Word List
Introduction
• Welcome to the Tuttle Essential Language series, covering all of the most popular world languages. These books are basic guides in communicating in the language. They’re concise, accessible and easy to understand, and you’ll find them indispensable on your trip abroad to get you where you want to go, pay the right prices and do everything you’ve been planning to do.
Each guide is divided into 15 themed sections and starts with a pronunciation table which explains the phonetic pronunciation to all the words and sentences you’ll need to know, and a basic grammar guide which will help you construct basic sentences in your chosen language. At the end of this book is an extensive English–Chinese word list.
Throughout the book you’ll come across boxes with a beside them. These are designed to help you if you can’t understand what your listener is saying to you. Hand the book over to them and encourage them to point to the appropriate answer to the question you are asking.
Other boxes in the book—this time without the symbol— give listings of themed words with their English translations.
For extra clarity, we have put all phonetic pronunciations of the foreign language terms in bold.
This book covers all subjects you are likely to come across during the course of a visit, from reserving a room for the night to ordering food and drink at a restaurant and what to do if your car breaks down or you lose your money. With over 2,000 commonly used words and essential sentences at your fingertips you can rest assured that you will be able to get by in all situations, so let Essential Chinese become your passport to learning to speak with confidence!
Pronunciation guide
The imitated pronunciation should be read as if it were English, bearing in mind the following main points:
Consonants
b, d, f, g, h, k, l, m, n, p, s, t, w, y as in English
| c | like English ts in its |
| j | like English j in jeep |
| q | like English ch in cheer, with a strong puff of air |
| r | like English ur in
|
