Mengjun Liu

Thanks to the global nature of many Chinese businesses today, speaking Chinese at work is quickly becoming a primary reason for people to learn Chinese. Whether you’re looking for a job in a Chinese-language location or just need to talk with coworkers there, you'll need to know some key words and phrases to help ease your way.

When you're traveling in Chinese-speaking locations, you'll find that the words and phrases you use most frequently will be the common Chinese greetings. These words and phrases will quickly become second nature to you because you'll use them day in and day out with everyone you come across. As you'd expect, you should use a polite greeting when you run into someone you know or want to know.

How do you ask basic questions in Chinese? Well, Chinese interrogative words mean the same as they do for English: who, what, when, where, why, and how. By knowing basic Chinese interrogatives, you'll be able to express your questions, even without an extensive vocabulary. For example, say you're at a store and you want find a digital camera that you like.

Whether you're on a short visit to a Chinese-speaking country or planning to live there, knowing how to order food in Chinese is essential. Fortunately, food in China is fantastic and inexpensive. There’s nothing like a big, steaming bowl of noodle soup on a cold day to warm you up. The fact that you only paid 75 cents for the soup, makes it even more satisfying!

When making plans, appointments, and travel arrangements in Chinese-speaking countries, you need to be able to state dates and other calendar terms in Chinese. Knowing how to say and understand dates, the days of the week, and the months of the year can help you to avoid confusion. Days of the week Days in Chinese are very simple: Monday through Saturday are days (xīngqi) 1 through 6, while Sunday is either "day of sky" (xīngqitiān) or "day of the sun" (xīngqirì).

In most Chinese-speaking countries, people are more formal than in the United States. They prefer to set appointments for most everything. So, know how to make appointments in Chinese so that you don't waste any time. Whether you want to get together with friends or make an appointment at the embassy, the following words will come in handy.

Making small talk in Chinese is just the same as in English. Touch on familiar topics like jobs, sports, children — just say it in Chinese! Small talk describes the brief conversations that you have with people you don't know well. Small talk is where friendships are made. If you know how to make small talk in Chinese you'll be able to "break the ice" and get to know some of the people you meet during your trip.

Learning numbers and counting in Chinese is simplified because the Chinese number system is extremely regular. The entire number system is based on counting the number of tens and then adding the ones. For example, 11 is shíyî, which is 10 (shí) plus 1 (yî); 21 is èrshíyī, which is 2 (èr) times 10 (shí) plus 1 (yî).

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