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Introductions

Y: Perfect Chinese your way, in only five minutes a day. Welcome to Chinese Studio, a brand
new Chinese learning program on China Radio International. I’m Yajie.

Cam: Hello, everyone, I’m Cam. It’s good to be back. This daily show will teach Chinese at
the elementary level, which is perfect for me, because I’m just learning Chinese myself! Now
Yajie, last time we learnt greetings. What’s today’s topic?

Y: After you’ve greeted someone, you are supposed to introduce yourself, or introduce your
friends. This is done in English too, right?

Y: It sure it!. Let’s check Key words of the day!

Key words of the day

Today we’ll learn a few of popular introduction expressions. 你好，我叫 Yuanbao，是加拿大人。

你好,我是 Yajie，中国人。这位是 Lucy, 来自美国。All in today’s Chinese Studio.

Y: Introductions happen between two people who meet for the first time. It can also happen
among three happen or more. In this case, the person will introduce his or her friends as well.
Let’s first learn how to introduce yourself. 你好,我是 Yajie，中国人。

Cam: 你好(nǐ hǎo)，我叫(wǒ jiào)Yuanbao，是加拿大人(shì Jiānádà rén)。

Y: First you can say your name, and then your nationality. 我是 Yajie. Wo shi Yajie. Wo, I. Shi,
is. 加拿大人, Canadian. Wo is the same as “wo hen hao” – I’m very good, that we learned last
week. Wo is in the third tone. Wǒ.

Cam: Wǒ.

Y: 是(shì) is equal to the meaning of “be” in English, but there is no change of time. You can
just use it. There is no need to consider the time change or the form of the subject, no matter
the single or plural, or the first person or the second person.

Cam: Does that mean I can say “你是中国人吗” (nǐ shì Zhōngguó rén ma)?

Coryright 2007 cchello.com

 www.cchello.com

Y: Yes. Of course you can. Now let me explain how to express one’s nationality. You can put
the name of the country in front of the Chinese character 人. For instance, you can say 美国

人, American. 美国, Měiguó, America. 加拿大人, Jiānádà rén, Canadian. 加拿大, Canada. 中国
人, Zhōngguó rén, Chinese.

Y: There are two ways of expressing the nationality of the person. You can say 我是加拿大人
(wǒ shì Jiānádà rén), Wǒ shì Jiānádà rén. Or you can say. 我来自加拿大, Wǒ láizì Jiānádà. I’m
from Canada. 来自, from.

Cam: (repeat) 来自. (láizì). 我是加拿大人(Wǒ shì Jiānádà rén). 我来自加拿大(Wǒ láizì Jiānádà).

(conversation)

Cam: Yajie, do you know how to introduce one to another? For example, suppose you and
Lucy are with me. How can I introduce Lucy to you?

Y: Well, you can say “这位是 Lucy, 来自美国”. 这位, this one. Zhè wèi, or you can say zhèi wèi.

Cam: It seems easy. How should Lucy continue with the conversation?

Y: Then Lucy can deliver the self-introduction. So does the other person.

Cam: OK. I see.

Key words reminder

你好，我叫 Yuanbao，是加拿大人。Hello, my Chinese name is Yuanbao. I’m from Canada. 你

好, 我是 Yajie，中国人。Hi, I’m Yajie. I’m Chinese. 这位是 Lucy, 来自美国。This is Lucy, from
America. 来自 is a preposition word, meaning from.

Cam: Yajie, do you know how to introduce my parents to my friends?

Yajie: Well, when you introduce your parents to your friends you can say 这是我爸爸和妈妈。
爸爸, papa, 妈妈, mum. 和 means and. Can you repeat?

Cam: 这是我爸爸和妈妈。Zhè shì wǒ bàba hé māma.

Coryright 2007 cchello.com

 www.cchello.com

Yajie: Great! Hopefully you’ll find this useful! I hear your parents are visiting soon, so maybe
you’ll be able to practice!

Cam: Yes, thanks for the lesson Yajie! Well, that’s it for today. One more important thing,
you can win a gift by answering the question of the day: How do you express the nationality
of a person in Chinese? You can make a sentence.

Coryright 2007 cchello.com