URLLesson Introduction
Cold tea, warm water, sticky menu, dirty chopsticks, and why in the world won't they bring the stinking rice--isn't this CHINA?! You're starting to recall why it was you don't tip as your 'fuwuyuan' shriek is drowned out by the clamor of the raucous beer-swilling luncheoners beside you. You are not alone. Listen to this lesson and learn how to stand up and yell for the waiter without shame.
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john says
January 8, 2008
Based on a true story!
pchenery says
January 8, 2008
Great lesson. I've had a couple of similar experiences. (hair in the food, foreign objects thrown by a kid at another table that landed in my plate etc...) The most recent one was at a Chinese restaurant. I ordered tea with my meal. The fuwuyuan forgot to bring the tea but still charged me for it. When I complained, she said it was my fault for "not reminding her". I only wish this lesson would have come out a few months ago ! Sure would have been fun to practice some of the choice vocab. with the mei suzhi de ren.
tsack says
January 8, 2008
I enjoyed hearing Jenny repeat Tolstoy's quote in Chinese at the end... Thanks for the interesting segment and vocab.
magnus says
January 8, 2008
GREAT FREAKING LESSON!!! Especially for living in Shanghai. Oh my... I have too many stories... but one that I can remember is where I used to work... ordering dumplings like I've done many many times, the boss comes out in just pants... big belly sticking out, the guy was hot...right? Shirtless wonder... FUNNY. The other story I always use for examples is a "FAMOUS RESTAURANT" on Guangdong road and I think Fujian middle road, my wife and I ordered, went upstairs to sit and we checked the menu a bit more, we asked a FUWUYUAN a question. She didn't move from her leaning position holding the restaurant up, she didn't even look in our direction. She spoke in Shanghainese, "MMMMA." meaning MEI YOU. My wife added, "what is this stuff?" the same lady again with the special stance and without looking but this time with a wonderful shaking of the hand, "MMMMMMA." My wife added, "When do you you have it." Well this got her really angry now, the FU WU YUAN, not my wife. She finally looked at us and said in a loud voice, "MMMMMMMMA! Xian zai, MMMMMMA!" Like we were interfering into her personal time. This was normal to both of us since we're used to BAD SERVICE in shanghai...but we lost our appetite right then and there... Good ending: We did get our money back but the nasty waitress disappeared so when we talked to the hostess we couldn't point her out. Now a rule of thumb for restaurants in Shanghai: If it's old and famous it means the service sucks and it is really dirty and the FU WU YUANs could care less. AM I RIGHT??
alexyzye says
January 8, 2008
I'm curious about the construct : 冲着里面 Why would you use 冲着 instead of just 对 ? Thanks.
amber says
January 8, 2008
hi alexyzye, You can also use 对 (duì) here, but the tone of 冲着 (chōngzhe) is stronger, more intense. Very suitable for someone sneezing into one's food.
jennyzhu says
January 8, 2008
Go to BSR with a sense of humor, you might enjoy the whole thing.
amber says
January 8, 2008
It's an experience not to be missed. Any interested cpoddies can include a trip to the BSR as part of their tour of the ChinesePod factory. It's truly a legend (in our minds, at least). If you're lucky, JP of SpanishPod will even do his 500 decibel 'fuwuyuanr' yell for your entertainment.
changye says
January 8, 2008
我曾在一家食堂退过一盘太难吃的炒饭。 服务员端上来的所谓的扬州炒饭里竟然 一点儿鸡蛋都没有而且更让我失望的是 吃一口后我发现那道炒饭根本没有味道， 就像油和米饭以外什么材料都没有似的。 我叫服务员重做了一遍但是结果更悲惨。 几分后重新隆重登台的扬州炒饭非常咸， 很明显是厨师在退货里放盐后搅拌而做。 那时跟我在一起的中国朋友劝我不要吃， 因为厨师偷偷往饭里吐痰的可能性很大。 关于食堂服务员服务态度太差劲的问题， 如果考虑劳动条件我不敢轻易责怪他们。 服务员的月资怎么说也不会超过几百块， 再说一桌菜的价格往往超过他们的工资。 你在这样的环境下能认真为人民服务吗? 不能原谅的不是服务员而是不逊的老板。
john says
January 8, 2008
jenny, Exactly... Every time we go to our local BSR and the service is OK, we leave disappointed, because we go there for the stories! (Although the "OK service" doesn't happen often, mind you...)
bazza says
January 9, 2008
That picture is brilliant.
john says
January 9, 2008
Bazza, Ha ha, I thought you were going to mention your own Shanghai "BSR" experience. You had to wait almost an hour for your food, but at least the staff were nice (if infernally slow...).
changye says
January 9, 2008
Bovine Spongiform Restaurant
amber says
January 9, 2008
Stay tuned for an upcoming lesson on the also famous "Toxic Fumes Restaurant" and "Filthy Delicious Restaurant" from ChinesePod neighborhood food joint fame.
bazza says
January 9, 2008
John, was that the place I got lasagne?
emski says
January 9, 2008
I live in Guangdong province; it's so dramatically different than the rest of China. In Guangdong, food is like a religion--I can't tell you how many times I have been driven to the countryside to eat "the best chicken in the world" or "the best pork;" these people will go to any lengths to get a good meal. Bad service isn't tolerated too well here--other than a few sulky, slow waitstaff (亮女 we say instead of 服务员--weird, isn't it!) I haven't had anything even near as horrifying as this at a restaurant! I wonder if it's a Guangdong thing? Any idea?
hagithpsion says
January 9, 2008
我第一次参观北京期间，和些朋友一起去 Silk Market。中午时我们去 Silk Market 的对面吃饭，但我们进后，每个人在看着我们。先想这个有点奇怪，仍要在那里吃。因为我的朋友不会说中文的关系，我自己点了，可是接着开始说英文。 服务员们猜测我们不会听懂中文似的，因为然后开始讨论在我们的方面，被服员笑话，等。;_; 他们端出来后饭里有头发。我们就走了。
longdehua says
January 9, 2008
我有一次去过徐家汇的味千拉面。我很清楚地问服务员我想点的菜有没有肉（因为我吃素）。她说一点都没有。那，她把碗端出来之后我用筷子发现一只又大又硬的东西。你们都知道吧：是个有肉的骨。 我估计服务员一直没有懂吃素有什么道理不过她让给我新的一碗面，还有一份饺子。饺子是什么样的呢？ 当然是猪肉饺！
artkho says
January 9, 2008
The guy in this lesson got mad enough to miss an afternoon's worth of work. Since the lesson is based on a true story, which Cpod staff person skipped work? :)
martian2 says
January 9, 2008
Not exactly a service problem, but I was wandering aimlessly around Shanghai a few weeks ago, and as I passed an empty restaurant, I glanced inside to see a nice little dog doing a nice big crap on the floor. Chefs were sitting 15 feet away having a cigarette. Very China.
changye says
January 9, 2008
I sometimes feel this way at a restaurant in China. "RESISTANCE IS FUTILE!"
longdehua says
January 10, 2008
Ha ha ... just remembered. At another small cafe I saw a waitress chase a mouse out of the kitchen and splat it with a high heeled shoe that she had in her hand :-)
tvan says
January 10, 2008
I can usually figure grammar questions out on my own, but the use of 地方 here was one I hadn't run across。In the lesson the angry customer states, "这就是让我气的地方。Of course, I have always seen it used to indicate a physical location. However, I don't recall seeing it used figuratively before. I would appreciate any grammar ideas regarding this as the lesson dialogue flowed much more smoothly than the hack job that I currently use to make the same point.
auntie68 says
January 10, 2008
Dear tvan, I think you've actually asked a very subtle -- and useful -- question there, which I hope Amber can help to answer. This figurative use of 地方 (di4fang5) to indicate an "aspect" instead of a physical location feels natural to me; I habitually use it in speech. Having said that, I sometimes use a different, but rather similar construction which uses “令我“ (ling4) in place of "让我“ (rang4): Eg. 这就是令我最失望的一点 Cf. 这就是让我气的地方 My first question for Amber is: Are the "-的地方" and "-的一点" interchangeable? As to the choice between 让 and 令, is this guided by some rule of grammar? Thing is, I do seem to have a clear preference in any given context, but can't explain why. To my fuzzy mind, I think that this may have to do with the fact that in the Chinese language, the delineation between "verbs" and "adjectives" can be pretty different from English. Meaning, a word which normally functions as a verb in English may be an adjective in Chinese. And vice versa. In the specific examples I mentioned, are "气“ and "失望“ adjectives, or verbs? You would say, "他气死我“ ("he made me so angry"), but I don't think you would say, "他失望我" ("he disappointed me"), would you? Sorry to everybody for the excessive posting of the past few days. Since Monday I have been spending the best part of each day wrapped around the needs of a 2-year-old nephew who is just starting school, and adjusting to some complicated new routines. All this posting feels so good when I am trying to rest my brain from that! Thanks!
auntie68 says
January 10, 2008
Another "verb?/adjective?" example: 吓 (xia4; to frighten) As in - 你别吓我！"Don't frighten me!" 你别吓 ！"Don't be frightened!" 他吓呆了 "He was frightened silly" And to boot, Chinese seems to have intransitive forms of verbs that can function as adjectives, such as I've seen in the Japanese language. Phew. Thank God for Amber.
auntie68 says
January 10, 2008
Okay, last example, I promise: - 闷 （"men4"; boring/ to be bored):- 整天闷在家里 = To be bored at home all day 家里很闷 ＝ Home is very boring 你不觉得闷？＝ Isn't it boring?
amber says
January 11, 2008
tvan and auntie68, 这就是让我气的地方 Zhèjiù shì ràng wǒ qì de dìfang The 地方 (dìfang) here is much like how we would say in English, "the thing" or "the part" that made me angry. 这就是令我最失望的一点 zhèjiù shì lìng wǒ zuì shīwàng de yīdiǎn 这就是让我气的地方 Zhèjiù shì ràng wǒ qì de dìfang Yes, here the 的地方 (de dìfang) and 的一点 (de yīdiǎn) are interchangeable. Just the difference between saying 'the thing' or 'the part' and 'the point'. 让 (ràng) and 令 (lìng) 让 (ràng) is used more often in spoken Chinese, 令 (lìng) is more formal. In this kind of context, they are interchangeable, however: 让我气的地方 Ràng wǒ qì de dìfang 令我气的地方 Lìng wǒ qì de dìfang
changye says
January 11, 2008
Hi auntie68, 我一直以为闷字只有一个声调， 今天才知道这个字也是多音字。 第一声对我来讲还是非常重要， 当然因为我每天都得自己闷饭。 但我刚发现第四声也不可轻视， 就是因为辞典里有闷酒这个词。
auntie68 says
January 11, 2008
Dear changye, Heh heh. Thank you for writing in Chinese; it's good practice for me. I like the word, "闷酒"! Another tricky word for me is 数 (shu4 or shu3?). Cheers, Auntie
tvan says
January 11, 2008
Auntie68 and Amber, Thank you both for very detailed, responsive, and informative posts. Giving the alternative of "的一点“ especially helped, as I now realize that is what I generally use. Your point on taking verbs that also function as adjectives in English and using them as such in Chinese is well taken and one of my failings. It is interesting that you brought up the point of 令 versus 让。I recently got marked down on an essay for using 让 instead of 使 due to the whole written/spoken thing. Then I got marked down for using 使 instead of 令 because of some other convention involving emotions。I guess that's my grammar point for the day.
longdehua says
January 11, 2008
我的词典没有“闷酒”这个词。What's it mean???
tvan says
January 11, 2008
Londehua, 我的词典的定义："alcoholic drinks for drowning one's cares, sorrows, etc. (usually said of drinking alone)".
auntie68 says
January 11, 2008
The kind of alcohol that hits the spot when you are feeling 闷? Hee hee, thanks tvan.
changye says
January 11, 2008
Hi longdehua, your dictionary is more sober than mine.
mikeinewshot says
January 12, 2008
For anyone who would like help understanding the discussion, here are some words I have picked out – I hope they are correct. Lookups mainly courtesy of http://www.mdbg.net/.....?page=main 简称 jian3 cheng1 abbreviation 经历 jing1 li4 experience / go through 遇到 yu4 dao4 to meet / to run into / to come across 比喻 bi3 yu4 metaphor / analogy / figure of speech / figuratively 极度 ji2 du4 extremely 情绪 qing2 xu4 feeling / sentiment 状态 zhuang4 tai4 state of affairs / state / mode 冲动 chong1 dong4 impetus / impulse / emotional impulse / impulsive 承认 cheng2 ren4 to admit / to concede / to recognize / recognition (diplomatic, artistic etc) / to acknowledge 骗人 pian4 ren2 to cheat sb / a scam 故意 gu4 yi4 deliberately / on purpose 省略 sheng3 lüe4 to leave out / an omission 客观 ke4 guan1 objective 违反 wei2 fan3 to violate (a law) 社会 she4 hui4 society
mikeinewshot says
January 12, 2008
Word order - that's one of my many problems. For example the text has 那她什么反应？ Now, when I was beginning to study this language, I was told that the order of a question was the same as the statement and that 什么 should therefore be placed after the verb: 那她反应什么? The text feels more Chinese but ...
fudapeng says
January 12, 2008
有一次再美国的PHILIDELPHIA， 我跟朋友去了一家中国馆儿。他胖死了，400磅差不多。我们点了16个饺子，就开始吃。可是，服务员们竟然都站再我们桌子的旁边，给我们看看。他们把他们的手机那出来，找了好几相。 他们让我们有一点儿不舒服，可是，饺子好吃的我们不管他们。突然，一为说“GOBBLE GOBBLE！”。 吃完了后，在火车上，我们谈话 ”去费城好玩儿，可是奇怪的售货员更好玩儿。 If anyone ever see those photos, let me know. They probably posted them on the internet somewhere, probably labeled "fat man eats dumplings". Not exactly a BSR, but not the typical dining experience.
fudapeng says
January 12, 2008
oops, typo. First sentence should be 有一次在美国的。。。
fudapeng says
January 12, 2008
MikeinEwshot, About 7:08 into the podcast, John poses an indirectly related question about the same sentence. The sentence, if it were to appear in a textbook, would probably read "那她有什么反应？“ as in "She had what reaction?" or "how did she react?" --- also, after reading my above post again, I have a few more typos (its a new program, I'm still becoming accustomed). Line Three- 再 should be 在 Line Four- 那 should be 拿 Line Five- 的 should be 得 Line Five- 为 should be 位 SORRY!!!!
heruilin says
January 15, 2008
I really enjoyed the exuberant performance of the actor who voiced the outraged unfortunate victim of this most heinous culinary crime. It also had me smiling at the recollection of one my own experiences in one of Boston's Chinatown restaurants. As a side dish, my s.o. and I ordered 豆苗. We were both enjoying it when I noticed some sauteed 小蟲子 in it. My s.o., who is a native Chinese, was outraged and confronted our 服務員. The ensuing argument was way too fast and furious for me to understand, so when subsequently I asked her what he had said, she translated that the 服務員 had said not too worry and that this type of 蟲子 would not harm you and might actually be 對身體很健康. At hearing this, I immediately lost my indignation and became absolutely hysterical with laughter .... in a short while she started laughing with me. Needless to say we we didn't stay to finish the 豆苗 or the rest of meal for that matter. Since then every time we pass this particular restaurant we joke about going back and ordering some more 蟲子豆苗。 再見， 何睿林
henning says
January 27, 2008
请问。。。 I have some trouble parsing the following sentence: 结果拿进去一分钟就出来了 How do I need to compile the 拿进去 here and how why is the time 一分钟 in between this and the 就出来了?
marcelbdt says
January 27, 2008
My guess would be to parse it as a narration, with two events following each other. First (他)拿进去 then 一分钟(他)就出来了
henning says
January 28, 2008
marcelbdt, makes sense now! Thanks a lot! The beauty of Chinese - total absense of white space and not even the shadow of a comma where it would be really needed...
feb2008 says
February 6, 2008
interesting, very well done.
clay says
February 7, 2008
we are moving offices soon, so we will have to find a new BSR!
applesina says
March 18, 2008
hi, I don't understand this 结果拿进去一分钟就出来了 too. Why 拿进去? Not 拿回去 for example? :(
amber says
March 18, 2008
hi applesina, 结果拿进去一分钟就出来了 Jiéguǒ ná jìnqu yī fēnzhōng jiù chūlai le Here, the 拿进去 (ná jìnqu) would indicate that they took the noodles into somewhere--likely the kitchen in this case, then came out again.
applesina says
March 19, 2008
amber, oh, "into somewhere" makes sense, thank you!!! :-*
guolanusa says
March 21, 2008
你好，我是一个刚刚到这个网页的新学生，知道这个课比较旧，只是想试试留言。我一次到一个在中国的东南边的饭店，点了一盘老奶洋芋，一般很好吃。可是，吃一口后，发现了做菜的人没放辣椒。在中国的东南边，做老奶洋芋，一定要放很多辣椒！我问服务员为什么没放辣椒的原因，他这样给我解释：你是外国人，我们知道你们外国人不会吃辣椒，所以我们就没放！我太吃惊了，可是很会理解，可能有一次一个别的外国人点了这种菜，以后因为太辣就抱怨了，所以我说谢谢，可是我吃辣的已经习惯了，还有很喜欢，还有觉得没放辣椒的老奶洋芋好像没有味道，你们愿意再来一盘吗？他们的服务态度很好，很快把那盘没有味道的老奶洋芋改成一盘很好吃的老孬洋芋。
man2toe says
May 29, 2008
Hi Cpod-
On the Dialogue tab, 3rd line, last phrase-
你也別去
Audio says:你也千萬別去
Line 16 missing a 天阿- Audio has it-script doesn't
amber says
May 30, 2008
hi man2toe,
My dialogue section displays the whole line, and matches the audio... strange... hmm.
man2toe says
May 30, 2008
A simplified/traditional conversion issue? I checked again this morning and the 千萬 and 天阿 are both absent. Guess they didn't want to come to my school today:(
lazypupil says
July 22, 2008
中文播客的員工們好! 我想請教一下, "誣賴"跟"冤枉"的用法有沒有什麼不同? 講到"to blame", 另外還有"怪"跟"賴". 我知道用"賴"的時候必須用"賴在...身上"的結構. 但是意思上跟"怪"差不多嗎? 最後還有一個. "指責"也可以表示"to blame"的意思碼? 算是比較正式一點馬? 多辛苦你們了! 剛剛問了很多. 清你們隨時回答. 謝謝!
lujiaojie says
July 23, 2008
lazypupil:
“诬赖”和“冤枉”：
“诬赖”是verb，
“冤枉”可以是verb，也可以是adj.
As a verb, “诬赖” 和 “冤枉” 用法一样。
但是冤枉更常用。例如：
你别诬赖好人。/ 你别冤枉好人。
Nǐ bié wūlài hǎorén. / Nǐ bié yuānwang hǎorén.
As a adj., “冤枉” 意思是“吃亏；不公平“。例如：
这个菜又贵又不好吃，真是花了冤枉钱。
Zhège cài yòu guì yòu bù hǎochī，zhēnshì huāle yuānwangqián.
“怪” 和 "赖"：
意思是"to blame"的时候, “怪”和“赖”差不多。
“指责”也可以表示"to blame"，比较正式。口语中很少用。
lazypupil says
July 24, 2008
lujiaojie, 我現在很清楚了. 謝謝你的說明!