🗣️ Survival Chinese: What to Say When You Don’t Understand
Whether you're just starting to learn Mandarin or planning your first trip to China or Taiwan, these basic survival phrases can save the day when you’re struggling to understand or be understood. 📘 Key Phrases to Use in Real Life: --- 🔹 What did you say? 你说什么？ Nǐ shuō shénme? → Literal: You say what? --- 🔹 I don’t understand. 我听不懂。 Wǒ tīng bù dǒng. → Literal: I listen but don’t understand. ✅ Use this when someone is speaking too fast or with vocabulary you don’t know. --- 🔹 Please speak up. 请大声点。 Qǐng dà shēng diǎn. → Literal: Please louder a bit. 👉 请 (qǐng) means “please”, 大声 (dà shēng) means “loud voice”, 点 (diǎn) means “a bit”. --- 🔹 I can’t speak Chinese. 我不会说中文。 Wǒ bù huì shuō zhōngwén. → Literal: I not can speak Chinese. --- 🔹 I can speak English. 我会说英文。 Wǒ huì shuō yīngwén. ✅ Very useful in situations where you need help or want to ask if someone speaks your language. 💡 BONUS VOCAB: 汉字 Pinyin Significado 说 shuō decir, hablar 听 tīng escuchar 不懂 bù dǒng no ...