Episode 15 | 最有用的中文词是…好吃! Yummy!

Joanne 00:06


哈喽大家好，欢迎大家来到我们新的一期瞎扯学中文。今天邀请到了一位正在学中文的外国朋友，而且他也是我的节目的忠实听众。Laura ！ Hello everyone and welcome to our new episode of Learn Chinese by Conversations! Today we have a foreign friend who is learning Chinese and is also a loyal listener of my show, Laura!


Laura 00:24


Hallo! 我是Laura。我是德国人，现在还在德国。 I’m Laura, I’m German and I’m still in Germany.


Joanne 00:29


我跟Laura其实是通过我的男朋友认识的，因为我的男朋友是德国人，他在德国，然后我其实第一次认识Laura的时候，就被她的中文水平给震惊了。因为我觉得Laura说的也算是我认识的外国人里面中文说的最好的几个非常的流利，而且学的时间非常短。 I actually met Laura through my boyfriend, because my boyfriend is German and he’s in Germany, and I was actually shocked by Laura’s Chinese language skills when I first met her. I think Laura speaks some of the best Chinese of any foreigner I know, and she is very fluent, and she has learned it in a very short time.


所以今天我们就想跟Laura聊一下他学中文的经历，以及有没有给大家一些小小的tip。对。 So today we would like to talk to Laura about her experience in learning Chinese and whether she has some tips for you.


Laura 01:04


所以我高中毕业以后就到中国过去，那时候我一句话中文都不会说，我去中国做一个Au Pair.
Au Pair的意思就是我去一个家帮他们照顾孩子，也帮他们的孩子学德语。 So I went to China after I graduated from high school, and at that time I couldn’t speak a word of Chinese, and I went to China to do an Au Pair.
Au Pair means I went to a home to help them take care of their kids and also help their kids learn German.


Joanne 01:23


对ok，这个概念好像在中文里面也没有，但我第一次听说我记得也是在德国的时候听说的，所以我想问一下，你当时 Au pair是在一个网站上面可以找到的吗？ Right ok, this concept doesn’t seem to exist in Chinese either, but the first time I heard about it I remember hearing about it when I was in Germany, so I wanted to ask, was there a website where you could find Au pair at that time?


Laura 01:39


对，在网上在网上找到的，第一次呢，你看我还在高中的时候，就看到一个墙上的 post，我都不知道怎么说（海报）对，大家说你可以来中国也是免费的。你看，因为我那时候没有那么多钱，但是我要去国外看别的过，这样就看到海报，告诉我我可以免费的到中国去。那么我就上网查这个网站，看到那可以网上就申请，然后网上也找家庭。 Yes, I found on the Interne. The first time, you see I was still in high school when I saw a.. I do not know how to say (poster) Yes, people say you can come to China , and it is free. You see, because I did not have so much money at that time, but I want to go abroad to see other countries. So I saw the poster, they told me I can come to China for free. So I went online to check this website and saw that I could apply online and then find families online as well.


Joanne 02:23


你当时是高中的时候第一次去中国吗？ Did you go to China for the first time when you were in high school?


Laura 02:27


对这是第一次。 Yes it was the first time.


Joanne 02:29


因为Laura和我说他去中国的时候一句中文都不会，我真的是震惊了，而且那个时候的中国现在可能外国人还会多一点，以前的时候肯定大家也没有见过外国人，也不会说英语你是怎么在中国存活下来的。 Because Laura told me that he didn’t know a word of Chinese when he went to China, and I was really shocked, and there were probably a little bit more foreigners in China now, and I’m sure people had never seen foreigners before, and they didn’t speak English, so how did you survive in China?


Laura 02:51


那时候…. 关于那个没见过外国人的有一个好好笑的故事。就是我觉得，因为我家，就我住家的家人，他们会说英语，也会说德语，所以他们没关系。但是呢，就爸爸妈妈很忙，就很常常不在家，家里还有一个阿姨。但她见过外国人，但是她从来没见过一个一句话都不会说的外国人，我第一天到他们的家，她想因为我是顾客，我是客人，她想给我吃饭，所以他问我你想吃饭吗？你吃过了吗？ That time …. There is a funny story about that people who have never seen a foreigner. I think , because my family, my stay family, they speak English and they speak German too so it’s okay for them. But then, the mom and dad are very busy, so they are often not home, and there is an auntie (cleaning lady) at home. She has seen foreigners before, but she had never seen a foreigner who didn’t speak a word of Chinese. So The first day I arrived at their house, she thought because I was a customer, I was a guest, she wanted to give me dinner, so he asked me “do you want to eat? Have you eaten?”


但我一句话中文都不会说，我听不懂吃饭这个词，然后她再让我“那你，坐下来，你坐下来吃饭”但坐下来这个词我也听不懂，所以他就后来我学中文的时候，我们交个朋友，我和那个阿姨，但她真的不可以想象有个人连吃饭也听不懂。 But I couldn’t say a word in Chinese, I couldn’t understand the word “eat”, and then she asked me to “sit down, you sit down and eat”, but I couldn’t understand the word “sit” either.. So later we made a friend when I finally learned Chinese, me and the auntie, but she really couldn’t imagine someone who couldn’t even understand the word “eat”.


Joanne 04:04


所以说你刚刚过去的时候什么都不会说，你是每一天跟住家的阿姨怎么交流呢？ So you just went over there and you couldn’t say anything, how did you communicate with your stay family and the cleaning lady every single day?


Laura 04:16


怎么交流…我现在也不太记得了，那么当时我们用手，我很快就学到“ 这个” 那个字，我们就是指，这个这个，就可以了，那是很难，我还记得是很难的，那个时候。 How do you communicate… I don’t really remember now, but at that time we used our hands, and I learned very quickly the word “this”, we just pointed, this, this, and that was it, it was very difficult, I remember it was very difficult, at that time.


Joanne 04:34


你还记不记得你最开始学到的什么是哪几个词，除了“这个”以外？ Do you remember what were the first words you learned, other than “this”?


Laura 04:41


我还记得是“好吃”。比如说他们家的奶奶，她常常会带我，就带我去城市里面做什么事。那我经常就。。她会带我吃饭，然后我学到第一个词，好像就是好吃。因为她问我好不好吃，我说好吃，她很开心。 I remember “delicious”. For example, their grandmother, she used to take me, take me to the city to do things. Then I used to ….. She would take me to dinner, and thet the first word that I learnt, I think it seems to be “delicious”. Because she asked me if it was good, and I said it was good, and she was very happy.


Joanne 05:04


这个挺逗的，因为我男朋友他也是德国人，他前年12月份的时候见到了我爸爸妈妈，但他也不会说中文。 This is funny because my boyfriend, who is also German, met my mom and dad in December of the year before last, but he didn’t speak Chinese either.


当时我教他的第一句中文也是“好吃”，就是因为在中国很重要，就是吃很重要，然后评价称赞这个食物会让中国人特别的高兴。所以说，比如说你也不用学，你好，谢谢，再见。你只要学会 “ 好吃” ，就会让中国人觉得很高兴。 The first Chinese word I taught him at that time was also “yummy”, because in China it is very important to eat, and then it makes Chinese people very happy to praise the food. So, for example, you don’t have to learn, “Hello, thank you, goodbye. You just have to learn “ good food” and it will make the Chinese people feel happy.


Laura 05:38


对，也是一种礼貌。我觉得比如说我的德国家人，他们半年后就来中国看我。然后我跟他们教的，也是“好吃”。还有一个“不用”。比如说你在街上，你是个外国人，有很多人，比如的士司机。 Yes, it’s also a kind of politeness. I think for example, my German family, they came to see me in China after six months. And then what I taught them was also “yummy”. There is also the word “no need (no, thank you)”. For example, if you are on the street and you are a foreigner, there are many people, such as cab drivers.


Joanne 06:01 Joanne 06:01


出租车司机 Taxi driver


Laura 06:04


就是对出租车司机，也有那些卖小东西的，买菜买什么的人，他们都会叫你，或者给你 卖小东西，那些留念的东西。（纪念品）对，他们都会叫你，买这个买这个，所以我就教他们说“不用”。 Yes, taxi drivers, but also for people who sell small things, who sells food, who sells anything, they will call you or try to sell yousmall things, things that are souvenirs. (souvenir) Yes, they will ask you to buy this, buy this, so I taught them to say “no”.


所以他们就会说“ 好吃”，“不用”。 So they only know how to say “yummy” and “no need”.


Joanne 06:35


“不用”的话，如果比如说，你住家的家人一直要给他们吃东西，吃太多了也可以说“不用”。 for” No need”, for example, when your stay family keeps giving them food and they’re eating too much, you can say “no need” too.


Laura 06:44


所以“不用”也是一个很重要的字。 Yes! So “no need” is also a very important word.


Joanne 06:49


对，然后其实我特别想听一听Laura你在中国待了一年，你肯定有很多好笑的事情，或者说嗯比如说你可以先想一想有没有什么对德国的刻板印象，比如说你跟大家介绍说我是德国人，大家一般都会是什么反应。 Yeah, and then actually I’d love to hear Laura, you’ve been in China for a year, you must have a lot of funny things, or um, for example, you could start by thinking about any stereotypes about Germany. For example, if you introduce yourself as a German, what’s the general reaction of people?


Laura 07:07


其实我发现很多人他们不怎么认识德国，尤其是在农村什么的，他不才知道德国是什么，因为他们可能认识美国或者俄罗斯。比如说很多人他都问我，那你是俄罗斯人吗？因为可能是他们以前唯一认识的国家就是俄罗斯。 In fact, I found that many people don’t know much about Germany, especially in rural areas or something, they don’t know what Germany is because they may know the United States or Russia. For example, many people he asked me, so are you Russian? Because probably the only country they knew before was Russia.


Joanne 07:33


我跟你讲，你确实有一点像俄罗斯人，还有一个真的，因为你有一些头发有点卷，我觉得然后是，金棕色。是有一点像俄罗斯。 I am telling you, you do look a little bit like a Russian. And the other thing..really, because you have some hair that’s a little bit curly, I think it is golden brown. It’s a little bit like Russia.


Laura 07:50


因为我以前也去过新疆。我在去新疆的路上，因为我坐火车，在去新疆的路，还有很多人他们问我，我是不是维族？ Because I’ve been to Xinjiang before. On the way to Xinjiang, because I took the train, there are a lot of people who ask me if I’m a Uyghur?


Joanne 08:06


所以你看你确实长得会有一点像俄罗斯，维族，那一块的。然后你会跟他们说我是德国人，但是德国，也是一个很大的国家。在城市里，南京的话，肯定大家都认识德国。 So you see you do look a little bit like a Russian, Uyghur, that area. And then you would tell them I’m German, but Germany, too, is a very big country. In the big Chinese city, if you’re in Nanjing, for sure everyone knows Germany


Laura 08:26


一般他们都是很吃惊。因为一般他们都会用英语跟我说，但是他们英语总是很差。我听不懂他们的英语，后来我就跟他们说，啊我会说中文，你用中文说吧。然后他们就看我你怎么会说中文呢？你不是外国人吗？，我觉得有点好笑。 Usually they are surprised. Because usually they speak to me in English, but their English is always very poor. I couldn’t understand their English, and then I said to them, ah I can speak Chinese, you can say it in Chinese. Then they looked at me like how can you speak Chinese? Aren’t you a foreigner? I thought it was kind of funny.


Joanne 08:54


所以是不是有经常是在超市或者餐厅，火车上，这种。 So is it often in supermarkets or restaurants, on trains, that kind of thing.


Laura 09:00


比如说警察，在一个比如说在地铁上有警察检查包什么的，他们也经常有一些牌子。 For example, the police. In the subway there are police checking bags or something, they also often have some signs


对牌子上写了一些写着英语的东西，比如说你要合作什么的。后面我跟他说不用，我会说中文，他们也很吃惊。也有一个，比如说因为我是外国人了，皮肤白白的。所以好多，比如说我去博物馆什么的，我在那里排队。有一些阿姨什么的，他们的孩子他们就把孩子放在我的旁边拍照，然后把孩子拿出来。 On the sign there is something written in English, like you have to cooperate or something. I told him no need for the sign because I can speak Chinese, and they were surprised. There was also one, for example, because I’m a foreigner now, with white skin. So many, for example, I went to a museum or something, and I was in line there. There were some aunties and their kids. They love to put their kids next to me and take pictures, and then move the kids aways.


这个真的有点奇怪，因为有时候会觉得他们有点怕我，尤其是在农村他们有点怕我，但是还是觉得好像一个动物园的里面的动物，他们就把孩子放在我的旁边，但是也有点怕我，所以他说 “ 别动，然后把他拿回去”。就是我觉得很多想问我，我可不可以给你拍照，（他们用中文吗？）他们就看我，然后 “Photo, Photo”。 但是也有很多人，他们不问我，就直接把孩子放在我的旁边。 This is really a little strange, because sometimes I think they are a little afraid of me, especially in the countryside they are a little afraid of me. Itl feels like in a zoo. They put the child next to me, but also a little afraid of me, so he said “ do not move” , and then take the kids back. So I think a lot of people who want very much to ask me to take photos (Do they ask in Chinese?) They just look at me and say “Photo, Photo”. But there’s also a lot of people who don’t ask me, they just put their kids right next to me.


Joanne 10:48


人家老是，问你要照片拍照片，你会不会觉得奇怪，还是你一般都会说，ok要拍照就拍照。 So when the people are always asking you for a photo, to take a photo, do you feel weird? Or do you usually say ok to take a photo?


Laura 10:58


一般就会说，拍照就拍照。比如我在中国的时候就觉得中国人就非常喜欢，给别人看，我认识外国朋友。所以说，一开始可能是我在中国的一个月，他是孩子的奶奶的邻居的儿子结婚，就给我邀请，去他的结婚的（婚礼）。 Generally will I say it is okay to take photos. For example, when I was in China, I think Chinese people , they realy like to show others that they know foreign friends. So for example in the beginning, maybe one month after I went to China.. This guy, he was the child’s grandmother’s neighbor’s son and he got married. He gave me an invitation to go to his wedding


Joanne:


他们非常想要邀请一个外国人去他们的婚礼 They really wanted to invite a foreigner to their wedding


Laura:


对，那个时候我不会说中文呢，还去他们的结婚的婚礼。然后他们拍结婚的照片（也邀请）我。所以我不认识这个人，但我还是再他们结婚的照片上。我还记得后面，就是结婚的那个男人，他会说英语，会说一点点的英语。然后他用wechat告诉我，你是我们最重要的客人，然后我还不认识他！所以我觉得也是比较有意思。 Yes, I didn’t speak Chinese at that time, and I went to their wedding. And then they invited me for the wedding pictures. So I didn’t know this person, but I was still in their wedding pictures. I remember then afterwards, the man who was getting married, he spoke English, a little bit of English. And then he told me on wechat that you were our most important guest, but I didn’t even know him ! So I think it’s also really interesting.


Joanne 12:23


所以你在中国的时候，会不会有时候觉得因为你是外国人，或者你是白皮肤的外国人，会受到一些拿到一些优惠或者拿到一些好处。 So when you’re in China, do you sometimes feel like because you’re a foreigner or you’re a white skinned foreigner, you’re going to get some get some discounts or get some benefits.


Laura 12:35


对的对的，比如他们的婚礼，我也可以参加一些，比如男性去女性的家，所有的那一天，我都而已跟他们一起去，就是跟他们的家人，最近的朋友，和我。那么可以看到，一整个真实中国的婚姻

（婚礼的流程，但你当时还听不懂？）

对听不懂，他还有一个朋友，他要会说简单的英语，告诉我现在有什么，现在有什么。 Definitely! For example, their wedding, I can also attend some of the events. For example, when the men went to women’s home. For that whole day, I just went with them, that is, with their family, their nearest friends, and me. Then I got to experience a whole real Chinese marriage

(Yes, the whole flow of the wedding, but you did not understand Chinese then?)

Yeah I couldn’t understand, but he had a friend who was going to speak simple English and he toldl me what was there and what was there now.


Joanne 13:19


你后来中文说的变好了以后，有没有会被邀请到参加一些活动，或者后来知道你会说中文，或者有没有在中国给别人上过英语课德语课之类的。 After you became better at speaking Chinese later on, did you ever get invited to events or come you know you speak Chinese, or did you ever give English lessons or German lessons to people in China or anything like that？


Laura 13:36


没有没有。因为一般，我在路上认识的那些人，他们都会说”啊你可以教我英语，你可以教我德语”。 但是后来，就加一下那些个 wechat微信，但是后来就没有什么交流。 No no. Because generally, the people that I met on the road, they would say “Ah you can teach me English, you can teach me German”. But then we just added on ewcaht, but then there’s no communication.


Joanne 13:55


然后你有没有被问到过什么奇怪的问题？因为你是德国人. And have you ever been asked any weird questions? Because you’re German.


我比如说我我是中国人，在国外经常会被问到一些问题，我遇到过最有意思的一个问题是他们有些人知道中文字是什么样子的，是因为中文字它不是拼音，它是每一个字符都不一样。然后就有一个人问我说，你们是怎么打字的呢？你们是有一个键盘上面有5000个不一样的就是按钮？然后你要去找那个按钮吗？然后我就告诉他说我们是可以用拼音来打字的。 I’m Chinese, for example, and I’m often asked questions abroad, and one of the most interesting questions I’ve encountered is that: some of them know what Chinese characters are like. Because it’s not pinyin. Every character is different. Then one person asked me, “How do you guys type? Do you have a keyboard with 5,000 different buttons on it? And then you have to find each button? “ And then I told him that we are able to type in pinyin (prononciation).


Laura 14:35


啊我有一个（故事）。就是我们家的阿姨，她问我你姓什么？就是我的姓名。那我告诉她，啊我没有中国的姓名。她说没事，因为她知道韩国日本他们的姓名跟中国的可能就不太一样的，（但是）还是可以用汉字写。但是我告诉她，不是不是，我真的没有中文的姓。她说你怎么没有姓，你爸爸没有姓吗？ Ah I have a (story). It’s our auntie at home, she asked me what’s your last name and my first name. Then I told her, ah I don’t have a Chinese name. She said it was okay, because she knew that Korean and Japanese names might not be the same as Chinese ones, (but) they could still be written in Chinese characters. But I told her, no no, I really don’t have my last name in Chinese, and he said how come you don’t have a last name? Does your father have a last name?


但是他就不可能想象，我们的这个名字，跟他们真的是不一样的。 But then she couldn’t possibly imagine that name for us, it’s really different from them.


Joanne 15:14


就是你告诉他你的比如说名字是Laura，她就一定要说Laura把它翻成中文。 It’s when you tell him your, for example, your first name is Laura. She has to ask you to translate Laura into Chinese.


Laura 15:24


一般他们都叫我罗拉，对。 Usually they call me Luo La, yeah.


Joanne 15:31


你在中国的时候没有给自己取一个中文名字吗？ Didn’t you give yourself a Chinese name when you were in China?


Laura 15:35


给了，但是我不太喜欢这个名字。那时候的名字是时乐，时间的时，快乐的乐。 I did, but I didn’t like the name very much. The name back then was Shi Le, the time of Shi, the joy of Le.


因为一开始，就是我们的老师让我们取自己的中文名字，这个时候我觉得这两个字，我已经学到了，觉得很喜欢这个字，就用这个字，但是现在我觉得这不太像一个中文名字。 Because in the beginning, our teacher asking us to pick our own Chinese name, and at this time I felt that I had learned these two characters, and I felt like this character, so I used this character. But now I don’t think it’s quite a common Chinese name.


Joanne 15:59


是时间的时，乐趣的乐。时乐。 It’s 時 for time and 乐 for fun. 時乐.


Laura 16:05


比如说我后来又去中国，就又一次去中国。那时候，把自己就称为“罗拉”。
For example, when I went to China again, At that time, I called myself “Luo la”.



Joanne 16:31



但是罗拉的话听起来就是外国人的名字，所以你还是需要想一个真正的中文名字。下次我们可以帮你想一想你的中文名字，因为我经常看到外国人取一些也是蛮奇怪的中文名字，但是也一样中国人有时候会给自己起一些英语名字，也很奇怪。(对对对）而且你现在会读中文，有的时候你也会看到有一些外国人的纹身，Tattoo。他会选一些特别奇怪的中文字，就可能我觉得 tattoo的店里面根本也不知道这个字是什么，我还看到过有人写一个中国的菜名，就类似于番茄炒蛋，然后把它放在纹身。
But Laura sounds like a foreign name, so you still need to think of a real Chinese name. Next time we can help you think of your Chinese name, because I often see foreigners with some pretty weird Chinese names, but also Chinese people sometimes give themselves some English names, which are also weird. (Yes, yes, yes) and you can now read Chinese, sometimes you will also see that there are some foreigners tattoo. They would choose some particularly strange Chinese characters. I think maybe tattoo store inside also simply do not know what the word is. I even saw someone tattooed a Chinese dish name, something like “scrambled eggs with tomatoes” and then put it in the tattoo.


Laura 17:13


对，但这个对我来说也是很难的，因为我现在还说不清楚，什么是一个真正的中国名字，什么不是。因为这些名字，你就需要看到很多名字，才能知道什么是一个一般的名字，什么不是一般的名字，英语可能是也是这样的。 Yeah, but this is also hard for me because I can’t say right now what is a real Chinese name and what is not. Because.. the names, you need to see a lot of names to know what is a common name and what is not a common name. For English it is probably the same way.


Joanne 17:40


好呀！我们下一期再见，谢谢Laura给我们分享这么多在中国有意思的事儿。 Great! We’ll see you next time, and thank you Laura for sharing so many interesting things about being in China.


Larua 17:48


好好好，谢谢拜拜。 Thanks bye.