Learn Chinese - Speak Mandarin - BCTV - Restaurant Language

[MrAligsf]

dude u are awesome

[dtriplett03]

: D!!

[USMCMarine]

HAHAHAHA.

am I the only one who thinks "braised lions head" comes totally out of left field?!?

so random, but so casual about it.

[jcolleenb]

@USMCMarine Yeah, it's common in China but when I saw it here, I thought, "What are people who don't yet know China well going to think when they see this???" It is pretty hilarious. As opposed to something like beef noodles or dumplings. But I guess it goes with the "local specialty." But, we aren't even told what area it is a specialty of.

[shayexu10]

Get Chinese Pinyin Books from pinyin com

[TheMrmi22]

it's a "little" different from english. That is the mother of all understatemants!

[ROCKNALD01]

i just say this Fuck you---jodete it`s hard--- que mierda tan dura

[busdriver153]

how to say, i want a orange juice?

[snertok]

are the characters in simplified chinese or traditional? must take forever to learn all the single characters!!

[askbenny]

@snertok ni hao! They are simplified characters. 

Benny

[davepivotfan123]

@askbenny 三江源有很大的幫助現在我是一個好一點

[SCNOUVICEWALZAS]

@snertok ni de ta bian chou bu chou?

[lifehouse123]

Xie Xie Benny

[kutari]

hi benny! I have some good news for you! I was studying with you for maybe more htan a year ago, I was using your videos, and many other things i can find in the internet

I am now in my first chinese class, and i have full conversations with my teacher and people form china every day!

我要给你很多鞋！就是因为你真的帮助我。我要告诉你这个因为我要­让你知道。我真的很幸福。谢谢benny!

[askbenny]

@kutari Great pleasure!  我也感到很幸福！

Benny

[Xevorim]

How long doesn't it take to reach spoken proficiency in Chinese?

[askbenny]

@Xevorim That depends on your efforts and language learning environments.

Benny

[mxr088]

I would like to know how to ask a chinese man if they know where to get a chinese shirt (you know the one bruce lee had in way of the dragon) :D the one with very cool long buttons...

[tibet4504]

自由西藏，中國出西藏。中國剛剛回到你的土地，我們不需要你的幫­助。自由西藏

Free Tibet . We don't need your help, just go back to your own land . Tibet is not part of china .

[joshuak47]

Very useful video! Thanks. This is exactly my Mandarin level (grammatically----I didn't know any of the words though).

I live in Japan, and am fluent in Japanese. In a restaurant in Japan, if I say "I am a vegetarian," they don't really understand. I have to explain to them what I don't eat. Is it like this in Chinese-speaking countries? I would like to know how to communicate my diet to someone in Mandarin Chinese.

[real998877]

Shizi to bu shi zhën zhën de shizi to -- scienzai wo zhidao. Ta shi ghe ro waoon!

狮子头不是真真的狮子头， 现在我知道，它是个肉肉丸。

The lion's head is not really a lion's head -- now I know. It's a meatball!

[MelancholiaImpact]

Ohhh my head hurts. I think I'll stick to Japanese and German

[wixiteam]

this is very hard. :(

[purpleshuang]

chinese is a language that needs a lot of patience to learn....reason being that there are over thousands different words.... i myself being a chinese and having learn the language for around 16 years, still do not have the confidence to say that i am proficient in that language because there are too many words to learn

[bandgeek375211]

谢谢

[officialbriangibson]

I don't understand how this translates into words. This and vietnamese. I don't thnk the words really mean anything . I think they go by tones like whales do.

[TolerantofMyselfxxx]

each phrase has at least three different meanings, the tones differentiate them. It sounds hard to understand believe me I know, I am twelve and have been taking chinese for six years. I used to think it was gibberish but it is awesome to be able to understand chinese.

[77777computerperson]

我想学习投寄，这点我看一些，可能很快日语或中文....感谢

[slix1991]

Its so Hard to learn man ! O_o

[real998877]

You are right. It's not so easy. I wrote "Nothing like la, le, il, i, l', gli, lo that Italian has" but I was WRONG!

Chinese has different "measure words" that must be matched to the noun. Measure words like ghe, bhu, zhi, fhën. Using my custom dictionary which now has over 1000 entries:

i ghe weiz=a seat

i bhu xe=a car

i zhi niaov=a bird

i fhën baozhi=a newspaper

(To be consistent, I put H as the 2nd char of each measure word. V is always silent, hence, niaov is pronounced niao.)

[real998877]

Chinese is an easy language in many ways. Reasons:

- No tenses. Write, writes, written, wrote, writing become all the same. Easier than English here!

- No articles. Nothing like la, le, il, i, l', gli, lo that Italian has.

- No gender with nouns. Easier than French.

- Singular and plural have the same word. Car and cars become the same word in Chinese. Datum and data become the same word.

The difficulty is too many symbols.

[pepogomesmendes]

yes of course i have i friend that know and speak chinese like a chinese national, he had a chinese girlfriend and learnit in 8 months is amazing but he dont know write, i mean he is analphabet ,,,,

[funny4576]

@real998877

No it is hard

especially write chinese words

字不好寫(一字一形體)，一字多音，一音多字

[real998877]

@funny4576

Dway ah......

Sciev shi bu fonbièn. Suogli wo shii shii bie de fanfa sciev Zhoon wën.

(Ye hio tais duo toonyinzì.)

對啊。。。

寫是不方便，所以我試試別的方法寫中文。

(也有太多同音字。)

[funny4576]

@real998877

要是你沒打出中文的話，我可能都不了解你的意思~XD

Though Chinese is hard,it is interesting.

[mzzzhedison]

@real998877 NO, it is not easy. It is the hardest. It's not about gender and nouns and all that stuff. It's the dialect in itself that is difficult to speak and rather imitate. I learned German and French fluently in under 4 years. I'm going on my ninth year in Mandarin Chinese.

[heilong79]

@real998877

Exactly, oh and tones can be a pain too.

[real998877]

The "alphabetized" subtitles are so ugly. Someone needs to invent a new alphabetized system. Maybe I can try.

Dian xin is not just desert. It is dim sum, too; I believe.

[Nanashi123]

The "alphabetized" subtitles are called Pinyin, and, though they may be ugly, they are absolutely necessary in order to know how to pronounce chinese. The markings are the tone marks. The reason that letters like "q" and "x" are utilized is to differentiate there sounds that they make when coordinated with different vowels. You can try making a new one, but it's very difficult and Pinyin is very easy to read once you learn how.

Also, dim sum is cantonese, not mandarin

[real998877]

Yes, I already know everything you posted. Also, I have tried to create a different system with only about 1500 words for now. Only a small system.

I know dim sum is Cantonese. Like I said, it is not necessarily a desert.

[real998877]

The statement "absolutely necessary to pronounce" is not true. I learned Chinese since maybe 2 years old but never learned Pinyin until 2009. Hundreds and even thousands of years ago people learned Chinese without any of this Romanized PINYIN. However, certainly it is helpful and useful to know about it.

[Nanashi123]

Let me rephrase, they are absolutely necessary for people learning it as a second language. Learning it at two years old from actual chinese speakers is much more effective than formal classes or self-instruction in middle school and up. These "hundreds and even thousands if people years ago" had the advantage of immersion and early instruction from fluent speakers, something most non-chinese lack, and thus require a simple, constant system that expresses every possible sound, which is Pinyin.

[THEalexragonTV]

ME NO COMPRENDE!!!! LOL

[casacorrer]

Lol, verdad, pero la cosa mas dificil es los "tones." Otro que eso (y el escrito), el "sentence structure" es muy facil.

[statquo112]

华语真的那么难吗？我现在想学学些日语应该不会那么难吧

[Ovidius777]

Linguists that have learned tens of different languages say mandarin chinese is one of the hardest in absolute

[Kostas7117]

TOO DIFFICULT LANGUAGE,.....

[Rereversed]

Chinese spelt with the english alphabet doesnt sound like how you would spell it. Q is a ch noise, WHY CANT THEY JUST WRITE CH.

[Rereversed]

It's so diffucult of a language that this video is most popular in China.

[ChineseOpera8]

I Agree! I teach Chinese kung-fu, and when I write the Chinese words on the board, I spell them the way they actually 'sound'! ex; instead of Qi ( chee),.. instead of Ji, (Gee),... instead of Xie ( Syeh) , and so on'. It works out alot better , and makes more phonetic sense to them! Si-Fu Li ( sih-foo Lee)

[Brianmystic2]

That seems like a bit of a problem to me. Learning pinyin is important, if the students are taught using only phonetically sensible phrases, they will have a harder time getting the intonation down.

[ChineseOpera8]

Duai le' (correct) I show them both the 'book-translation' version,...AND write out the correct phonetic on the board. It is still difficult and a problem sometimes,...lol'. Just like the 'early' versions of translation; PeKing instead of Bei-Jing,...they didn't make it easy, that's for sure,..lol'. Keep studying and find a Chinese friend to talk too,...and hopefully they speak the same dialect you are studying,...lol'.

[queenielimqueenie]

cuz they have ch also in there alphabet..ahah

[Brianmystic2]

^_^

[dogcom]

Dian Xin is SNACK, not DESSERT

[xswertghh44]

THANKS A LOT

[Heikki1]

Are mandarin and cantonese different languages??

[jenniferrsze]

yes they are.

they have similar words but most of them are really different from each other.

[SOxASIAN]

They're different dialects.

However, they're not mutally intelligiable with one another, so one who speaks mandarin would probably not understand cantonese.

They have some similar words, but they sound pretty different most of the time.

[jared771]

@kookygoth13:

You're thinking of Xiè Xiè (thanks).

[13scarecrows]

*Try*

[13scarecrows]

Awesome man! I'm gonna tray to learn this beautiful language! Thanks!!!

[tacknet1821]

GreAT"!!!!!!! thanks up load!!

[kookygoth13]

I thought Shi shi meant thank you...

[QueTerco]

OK. No problem

[quoiarocks1]

hey this cool i get it the x is a ch sound

awesome

[RandomTask3000]

Not quite, but close :)

The X represents a sound which is between sh, and s. Basically, you pull your lips back over your teeth, and leave your tongue flat in your mouth with your teeth together.

[hoobnet]

These videos have been a great help thanks. One question about Restaurant Language. How do you politely say "I'll get the bill" or "Let me pay" so they can let you pay?

[hoobnet]

what I mean is how do you say "Let me pay" to your dinner guest or host? Rather than the staff.

[arghydoodles]

wei, Benny. What is please in Mandarin/Chinese?

[IncredibleManx]

qing, or 請

[chenyun01]

this is mandirn not chinese,china have more chinese !!!

[jemAjem89]

Chinese language includes just the two, mandarin and cantonese. Within thoses two are hundreds of variations of the dialect based on which provence you live in. Variations include using different tones, or even different words. If you speak national mandarin or cantonese, chinese people will be able to understand what you are trying to say, however there will always be misinterpretations that will be corrected through experience. Good Luck :)

[RoamAure]

That's not correct at all. It is inaccurate to say that all Chinese dialects are variations of Mandarin or Cantonese. That is not correct. There are, in fact, hundreds of dialects (although some are, as you suggest variations of Mandarin or variations on other large dialects), many of which are quite different from Mandarin or Cantonese.

[Jennybabz]

Is gei wo please?

[johnpennello555]

gei wo means.."give me".......qing gei wo is"please give me.

[Jennybabz]

Can one say please on its own?

[johnpennello555]

Yes.You can say "qing",or "qing wen" is like saying excuse me,or asking a question.Hope this helps.

[JaeHo2JaeMinLuvBoth4]

You can say baitou.

[nimisimipacposeyda]

Thanks for the videos i really wont to learn the langauge. How do you understand the symbols how to read the differences.Zaijian

[shainadiaz]

ni hao benny what is the chinese word of thank you?

[askbenny]

Thank you in Chinese is "Xie xie(谢谢)".

[aznxalvin]

how do you say "Secret"in chinese please reply back Benny.

[askbenny]

Ni hao, Secret in Chinese is "mì mì(秘密)".

[aljensen1]

Benny is amazing! Check out mandarintoplist online to find more great sites like Benny's.

[askbenny]

I would say in most cases, the sound of the character won't change, but there are some special cases

Benny

[smoothtofu]

When you use the word "cai", does it refer to any type of dish or just vegetable or does it depend on usage?

[anitaisunique]

in this case, its talking about dishes. Hehe, vegetables is called "qian cai"

or something like that. Sorry, I speak cantonese at home and I live in Australia so i'm sorta hopeless at Madarin. xD

[askbenny]

Vegetable is called "shū cài" and "qīng cài" is one kind of Chinese vegetable

If you have any question, please post to my website.

Benny

[askbenny]

"cài" could be used as "food" and "cuisine" for example:

nǐ xǐ huān chī shěn me cài? = What kind of food do you like to eat?

wǒ xǐ huān zhōng guó cài = I like Chinese cuisine

Also it could be used as "vegetable", for example:

Spinach = bō cài

cabbage = juǎn xīn cài

Benny

[BlackDragonRiverBoy]

thanx for that benny. Its helpful and a good way for me learn and I'm in china....practise your english r's in the meantime...great work

[kimo2010h]

very nice video voice so clear

[askbenny]

Xie xie!

[7270nohpyt]

I learnt some English from this video. :)

[askbenny]

that's good! I can help people either learning Mandarin or English :)

[eliza250]

i learned so chinese from this video!!!!!

i still dont know how to write in chinesse!!!!!!

[lipton111]

hi friend, learn how to write in chinese is very hard work even for us chinese, if u have time just buy some books and practise at home. My teacther is now learning chinese but he only can speak. Anyway good luck. Hope you can write chinese one day

[heavenlyrikku]

Ni hao! Wo you yi ge "question". In a restaurant can you say: "ni you xue bi ma?" for like "do you have sprite"?

[askbenny]

dui, fei chang hao!!

you also can say:

ni you ke le ma? = Do you have coke?

ni you cheng zhi ma = Do you have orange juice?

[messalini]

Ni hao.Wo ye you yi ge "question".Are there no need to put yi ge before xue ma?

[MiasmaMoon]

Oh wow! Sprite in Mandarin Chinese is Xue Bi???

Oh yeah. Personally, I would say "Wo yao wen." instead of "Wo you yi ge 'question'."

"Wo yao wen" basically means "I want to ask."

The sign for "wen" looks like the sign for "mouth" inside the sign for "door".

[313xys]

YOU FORGOT ALL ABOUT DIM SUM

[Raymasaki]

Dim sum is Korean

[askbenny]

Dim sum is Cantonese, you get a lot in Hong Kong

[Raymasaki]

shi ma, bui bu qi

[tkcwu]

Kim chee is friggin korean thats whats korean

[askbenny]

That's actually a Cantonese style of cooking... China has 8 main styles of cooking! Check our website and click on Benny's friend : Blazing Buddha, he explains everything!

[ostatniecycki]

they don't have lions thre so haw can eat lion head?

[askbenny]

Exactly! The meat ball shape just looks like a lions head! ;o)

[ostatniecycki]

cool!

[Mitsuiro]

中国人一般都说"尝一尝"，而不会说"试试"，即使说的话也用"­试一试"而不用"试试"。发音很别扭啊！

[lymon29]

thanks for posting this video...it helps me to learn chinese

[askbenny]

Ni Hao lymon29! My pleasure as always!

[tsymnz]

Bennnnnyyy!! Awesome video dude..always wanted to pick up some new restaurant words. 谢谢你好老师

[askbenny]

Glad to be of service tsymnz!

[askbenny]

Ni Hao Lee KS! Thanks for your wonderful comment and support! Actually if you go to my website, our whole system is based on belts and levels which is the reasons for our videos... check it my site out and please register.. it's still ALPHA version so it's all in testing but would love to hear your comments!

Xie Xie Ni!

[leeks5229]

Hi Benny! Good morning from Australia. I find your video teaching extremely helpful and useful. I believe "zui hao de" so far. However I have only one comment. Can all your videos be rearranged in accordance to the levels of difficulties ie level 1,then level 2 and so? Thank you and zai jian. Regards, Lee KS

[askbenny]

Ni Hao Lee KS! Thanks for your wonderful comment and support! Actually if you go to my website, our whole system is based on belts and levels which is the reasons for our videos... check it my site out and please register.. it's still ALPHA version so it's all in testing but would love to hear your comments!

Xie Xie Ni!

[zhenpiaoliang]

Wow, this helps me a lot when customers speak mandarin to me at work.

[askbenny]

I'm glad to hear it! and if there is anything further you need to know! Just let me know!

[bthalaengkit]

Love you Benny!! you're very kind posing these vids! I'm one of ur fan from Thailand.

[askbenny]

Thank you! Glad to know in Thailand I have fan! (hehe) It's a pleasure and I hope we can exchange cultures in the future! Sa wa di krap!

[gimccartnney]

oh my God :S

it's too difficult! :/ but I'd really like to learn it!

Great.

Cheers!

[askbenny]

Just take it step by step and you'll eventually get it! Also remember, you can download the PDF Transcript of every video online on my website! Just register and everything is for FREE!

[askbenny]

That's the most important thing, that you "really like to learn!" Keep it up and I am always here for you!

[xnametaken1515x]

xie xie

[askbenny]

"Xia ci Jian" and "Zai Jian" are both correct! You can say either one! It's like in English we have "See you later, See you soon, See you again" - all means generally the same thing! Hope that helps! Zai Jian!

[xnametaken1515x]

i've seen goodbye written as "ci jian" & "zai jian" which one is correct?

[piss2u]

zaijian