Unit One: Let's Get to Know Each Other

Objectives: Learn how to introduce yourself and other people.

Part I: Introducing yourself

Listen and Learn

(Listen to the recording or your teacher several times. During the first two times, do not say anything. Just listen attentively and pay attention to pronunciation,  tones and sentence intonation. After the second time, you can follow the model and speak out loudly. Practice several times.)

Níhǎo
Hello.
你好。

Wǒ xìng Xiè. Wǒ jiào Xiè Dàzhōng.
My last name is Xie. My name is Xie Dazhong.
我姓謝。我叫謝大中。

Wǒ shì lǎoshī.
I am a teacher.
我是老師。

Zàijiàn.
Good-bye.
再見。

New Words

níhǎo | 你好 | hello
wǒ | 我 | I, me
xìng | 姓 | to be surnamed
jiào | 叫 | to be called
Xiè | 謝 | a popular Chinese surname
Dàzhōng | 大中 | a Chinese given name
shì | 是 | to be
lǎoshī | 老師 | a teacher
zàijiàn | 再見 | good-bye

Notes

1.	Both ‘xìng’ and ‘jiào’ are verbs in Chinese. ‘xìng’ in 'Wǒ xìng...' means 'to be surnamed'. It serves as a verb in Chinese while there is no such usage in English. 'My last name is Smith' would be: ‘Wǒ xìng Smith.’
2.	‘Wǒ jiào Xiè Dàzhōng.’ is similar to ‘My name is Xie Dazhong’ or ‘I am called Xie Dazhong.’ ‘jiào’ is like ‘xìng’ and it is also a verb. The English sentence ‘My name is John’ would be ‘Wǒ jiào John.’
3.	‘shì’ is the verb ‘to be’. 'Wǒ shì...' is 'I am..'.
'I am a teacher.' -- Wǒ shì lǎoshī.
4.	'shì' in Chinese never changes its form. 
5.	There is no article before the noun in Chinese. 'a teacher' is 'lǎoshī'.

Practice

•	Try to say the following words or phrases in Chinese

hello | 你好 | ________________
I, me | 我 | ________________
to be surnamed | 姓 | ________________
to be called | 叫 | ________________
to be | 是 | ________________
a teacher | 老師 | ________________
good-bye | 再見 | ________________

•	Practice the following common Chinese surnames and given names. (Listen to the recording or ask your instructor or your Chinese friend how to correctly pronounce the following names.)

Surname | Given name
Xiè 謝 | Dàzhōng 大中
Wáng 王 | Xiǎohuá 小華
Lǐ 李 | Sānpíng 三平
Zhāng 張 | Yīng 英

	Now say the following sentences in Chinese:

		My last name is Xie. _______________________.
		My (full, given) name is Xie Dazhong. _____________________________.
	My last name is Wang. _______________________.
		My (full, given) name is Wang Xiaohua. _____________________________.
	My last name is Li. _______________________.
		My (full, given) name is Li Sanping. _____________________________.
	My last name is Zhang. _______________________.
		My (full, given) name is Zhang Ying. _____________________________.
	My last name is Li . _______________________.
		My (full, given) name is Li Dazhong. _____________________________.

•	Try to introduce yourself. Ask your instructor or your Chinese friend to take a Chinese name for you. You are a student. The Chinese word for ‘student’ is ‘xuésheng 學生.’

Example:

	Níhǎo.
	Wǒ xìng Lǐ. 
Wǒ jiào Lǐ Yīng. 
Wǒ shì lǎoshī.
	Zàijiàn.

	Your introduction:

		______ (Hello!)
		__________ (My last name is…)
		_______________ (My first name is …)
		_______________ (I am a student.)
		___________ (Good-bye.)

Part II: Dialogue – What is your name?	

Listen and Learn

(Listen to the dialogue twice. Then follow the model and speak out loudly. Practice several times.)

A: Nǐ xìng shénme?
A: What is your last name?
A:你姓什麼？

B: Wǒ xìng Xiè.
B: My last name is Xie
B:我姓謝。

A: Nǐ jiào shénme?
A: What is your (full) name?
A:你叫什麼？

B: Wǒ jiào Xiè Dàzhōng. Wǒ shì lǎoshī.
B: My (full) name is Xie Dazhong. I am a teacher.
B:我叫謝大中。我是老師。

A: Xièxie.
A: Thank you.
A:謝謝。

New Words

nǐ | 你 | you
shénme | 什麼 | what
xièxie | 謝謝 | thanks

Notes

1.	‘nǐ’ in this dialogue is in the third tone, while it is in the second tone in ‘Níhǎo.’ ‘nǐ’ is the original form of ‘you’. The tone of  ‘nǐ’ in ‘Níhǎo’ is changed before ‘hǎo.’ This phenomenon is called ‘tone change’. 
2.	'shénme' means 'what' or 'which'. The literal translation of 'Nǐ xìng shénme?' is: 'What are you surnamed?' – (What is your last name?)
3.	The literal translation of  ‘Nǐ jiào shénme?’  is: ‘What are you called?’ – (What is your given name? or What is your full name?)

Practice

•	Follow the example and practice the dialogued using the names given.

Example:

Question 1 | | Nǐ xìng shénme?
Surname: | Xiè | Wǒ xìng Xiè.
Question 2 | | Nǐ jiào shénme?

Given name:
Profession:

Dàzhōng
lǎoshī

Wǒ jiào Xiè Dàzhōng.
Wǒ shì lǎoshī.

Closing | | Xièxie.

	Dialogue 1

Question 1 | |
Surname: | Wáng |
Question 2 | |

Given name:
Profession:

Xiǎohuá
xuésheng

Closing | |

	Dialogue 2

Question 1 | |
Surname: | Lǐ |
Question 2 | |

Given name:
Profession:

Sānpíng
lǎoshī

Closing | |

	Dialogue 3

Question 1 | |
Surname: | Zhāng |
Question 2 | |

Given name:
Profession:

Yīng
xuésheng

Closing | |

•	Ask your classmates about their names. Begin each conversation with greeting and finish it saying “Thank you.”

Example:

		A: Níhǎo! Nǐ xìng shénme?
		B: Wǒ xìng Wáng.
		A: Nǐ jiào shénme?
		B: Wǒ jiào Wáng Xiǎohuá. Wǒ shì xuésheng.
		A: Xièxie.

Now find three students and conduct your conversation one by one:

1.	A: ________  ________________?
	B: ________________.
	A: ________________?
	B: ___________________. __________________________.
	A: _____________.

2.	A: ________  ________________?
	B: ________________.
	A: ________________?
	B: ___________________. __________________________.
	A: _____________.

3.	A: ________  ________________?
	B: ________________.
	A: ________________?
	B: ___________________. __________________________.
	A: _____________.
Part III: Introducing someone

Listen and Learn

(Listen to the narration twice. Then follow the model and speak out loudly. Practice several times.)

Níhǎo.
Hello.
你好。

Tā xìng Wáng. Tā jiào Wáng Xiǎohuá.
His last name is Wang. His name is Wang Xiaohua.
他姓王。他叫王小華。

Tā shì xuésheng.
He is a student.
他是學生。

Xièxie. Zàijiàn.
Thank you. Good-bye.
謝謝。再見。

New Words

tā | 他 | he
Wáng | 王 | a popular Chinese surname
Xiǎohuā | 小華 | a Chinese given name
xuésheng | 學生 | a student

Notes

1.	‘tā’ is the third person singular pronoun. It also means ‘him’

Practice

•	Try to say the following words or phrases in Chinese

he | 他 | ________________
a student | 學生 | ________________
his (last name) is… | 他姓 | ____________________
his (given name) is… | 他叫 | ____________________

•	Try to introduce your friend using the following Chinese names. You can combine any surnames with given names, e.g., Xiè Sānping, Wáng Dàzhōng, etc.

Surname | Given name
Xiè 謝 | Dàzhōng 大中
Wáng 王 | Xiǎohuá 小華
Lǐ 李 | Sānpíng 三平
Zhāng 張 | Yīng 英

Example:

	Níhǎo.
	Tā xìng Lǐ. 
Tā jiào Lǐ Yīng. 
Tā shì xuésheng.
	Xièxie. Zàijiàn.

	Your introduction:

		______ (Hello!)
		__________ (His last name is…)
		_______________ (His first name is …)
		_______________ (He is a student.)
		___________ (Thank you. Good-bye.)
Part IV: Dialogue – What is his name?

Listen and Learn

A: Tā xìng shénme?
A: What's his last name?
A:他姓什麼？

B: Tā xìng Wáng.
B: His last name is Wang.
B:他姓王。

A: Tā jiào shénme? 
A: What is his name?
A:他叫什麼？

B: Tā jiào Wáng Xiǎohuá. Tā shì xuésheng.
B: His name is Wang Xiaohua. He is a student.
B:他叫王小華。他是學生。

A: Xièxiè. Zàijiàn.
A: Thank you. Good-bye.
A:謝謝。再見。

Note

1.	You may have already noticed that the word order in Chinese questions is different from English. The question word such as ‘who’, ‘when’ and ‘where’ is always placed at the beginning of a Yes/No question in English. Do not place the question word ‘shénme’ (what, which) at the beginning of the question in Chinese. This feature is very important to remember when you learn Chinese.
2.	The pronoun ‘tā’ refers not only to ‘he’ and ‘him’, but also ‘she’ and ‘her’. Feel free to use ‘tā’ for females.

Practice

•	Follow the example and practice the dialogue using the names given.

Example: 
	
		Wáng Xiǎohuá, xuésheng

	A: Tā xìng shénme?
		B: Tā xìng Wáng.
		A: Tā jiào shénme?
		B: Tā jiào Wáng Xiǎohuá. Tā shì xuésheng.
		A: Xièxie. Zàijiàn.

Now find a partner and conduct your conversation using the names and professions given:

1.	Lǐ Yīng, lǎoshī
A: ________________________?
	B: ________________.
	A: ________________?
	B: ___________________. __________________________.
	A: ___________  ___________.

2.	Zhāng Xiǎohuá, xuésheng
A: ________________________?
	B: ________________.
	A: ________________?
	B: ___________________. __________________________.
	A: ___________  ___________.

3.	Xiè Ying, xuésheng
A: ________________________?
	B: ________________.
	A: ________________?
	B: ___________________. __________________________.
	A: ___________  ___________.

Part V:  Self-Test

•	Can you say the following words in Chinese after learning this unit?

I, you, he (or she), to be (am, are and is), thank you, good-bye, to be surnamed, to be called, teacher, student, what or which

•	I am Xiè Dàzhōng, your teacher. You are yourself. Please respond to the following questions in Chinese. Please speak out. For question 3 and 5, please tell that you are a student and I am a teacher after you have specified your name or my name. 

1. Nǐhǎo.
2. Nǐ xìng shénme?
3. Nǐ jiào shénme? 
4. Wǒ xìng shénme?
5. Wǒ jiào shénme?
6. Zàijiàn. 

•	What would you say in the following situations?

Greet a person in Chinese.
Ask what a person's last name is.
Ask what a person's first name (or full name) is.
Tell your last name.
Tell your full (or given) name.
Say ‘thank you.’
Say ‘good-bye.’

Vocabulary List of Unit One

Dàzhōng | 大中 | a Chinese given name
jiào | 叫 | to be called
lǎoshī | 老師 | a teacher
níhǎo | 你好 | hello
nǐ | 你 | you (singular)
shénme | 什麼 | what
shì | 是 | to be
tā | 他, 她 | he, him, she, her
Wáng | 王 | a popular Chinese surname
wǒ | 我 | I, me
xìng | 姓 | to be surnamed
Xiǎohuā | 小華 | a Chinese given name
Xiè | 謝 | a popular Chinese surname
xièxie | 謝謝 | thanks
xuésheng | 學生 | a student
zàijiàn | 再見 | good-bye