Explanations to the Tea Vocabulary
Pingping: Now let me explain a little bit more about the key words in the dialogue. The first one, nǐ, you.
Ashely: nǐ.
Pingping: xǐhuan, the third tone and the light tone. It means like or love.
Ashely: xǐhuan.
Pingping: hē, is to drink. The first tone. Hē.
Ashely: hē.
Pingping: shénme, what.
Ashely: shénme.
Pingping: chá, tea. The second tone.
Ashely: chá.
Pingping: 你喜欢喝什么茶?
Ashely: nǐ xǐhuan hē shénme chá? What kind of tea would you like to have?

Pingping: And the answer to this could be wo xihuan plus whatever kind of tea you like. For example, if you like jasmine tea, you can say: 我喜欢喝普洱茶(wǒ xǐhuan hē Pǔ’ěrchá)
Ashely: wǒ xǐhuan hē Pǔ’ěrchá.
Pingping: wǒ is I.
Ashely: wǒ.
Pingping: again xǐhuan means like.
Ashely: xǐhuan.
Pingping: hē, to drink.
Ashely: hē.
Pingping: Pǔ’ěrchá is the Chinese for jasmine tea.
Ashely: Pǔ’ěrchá.
Pingping: 我喜欢喝普洱茶 (wǒ xǐhuan hē Pǔ’ěrchá)
Ashely: wǒ xǐhuan hē Pǔ’ěrchá. I like drinking jasmine tea.
Pingping: Or you can say “普洱茶 (Pǔ’ěrchá)” for short.
Ashely: Pǔ’ěrchá.

Pingping: 服务员,我们来两杯普洱茶. Two cups of jasmine tea please.
Ashely: Fúwùyuán, wǒmen lái liǎng bēi Pǔ’ěrchá.
Pingping: Fúwùyuán, waiter.
Ashely: Fúwùyuán.
Pingping: wǒmen, we.
Ashely: wǒmen.
Pingping: lái, the second tone. Originally it means "come". Here it refers to "want to have".
Ashely: lái.
Pingping: liǎng means two.
Ashely: liǎng.
Pingping: bēi is a measure word here.
Ashely: bēi.
Pingping: liǎng bēi, two cups of.
Ashely: liǎng bēi
Pingping: Pǔ’ěrchá, jasmine tea.
Ashely: Pǔ’ěrchá.
Pingping: 服务员,我们来两杯普洱茶. Two cups of jasmine tea please.)
Ashely: Fúwùyuán, wǒmen lái liǎng bēi Pǔ’ěrchá. Two cups of jasmine tea please.

Pingping: "结帐(jiézhàng)", means paying the bill.
Ashely: jiézhàng. Can I say "mǎi dān"?
Pingping: Yes. You can. Actually in Cantonese they say "mǎi dān" when paying the bill.
Ashely: mǎi dān. To me this is more colloquial.
Pingping: Right. 服务员, 买单!
Ashely: Fúwùyuán, mǎidān! Waitress, bill please.

 

(This is a newly produced program. Please feel free to contact us at chinese@cri.com.cn. Your comments and suggestions are welcome.)