Guangdong, China 2007

It's not hard to find people anywhere in the world who speak English, but it sure helps if you can speak a few words of the local language. Here are some common phrases in English and Chinese that should get you going. The Chinese spelling is English phonetic as accurate as I could get it.

Greetings:
Hello - nee how
How are you - nee how mah
Good morning - nee tsao
Good morning - zow shung how
Good afternoon - she ah woo how

Goodby:
Good by - zie jeen
See you tomorrow - ming tein jein
Take care - Man zow
Good night - Wan ann

Yes/No:
Yes - yow
Yes - shr
No - boo (boo shr)
Correct - dway
Not Correct - boo dway

Courtesy:
Thank you - shay shay (shay shay nee)
You're welcome - boo shay (boo yong shay)
Excuse me - boo how ee tsa
I'm sorry - dwee boo chee
It is no problem - may wen tee
Please excuse me - wo guy zoe lah

Introducing:
I am glad to meet you - jeen dow nee wo hun gow sheng
Nice to meet you - ren shee neen hun gow sheng
What is your name - nee jhow shen me ming tzah
My name is Caya - wo jhow caya

Basic Phrases:
Where is the rest room - sah zwa zie nar

Transportation:
Car - chee cha
Bus - gong gong chee cha
Bicycle - tsu shing cha
Plane - fay chee
Airport - jee chang

Hotel:
Hotel - fan dian
Hotel - joe dian
Hotel - bin guan

Food:
Rice - mee fahn
Fried rice - chow fahn
Noodles - meein teeow
Ice cream - bing jee ling

Counting:
0 leeng 1 ee 2 are 3 sun 4 tsuh 5 woh
6 leeoh 7 chee 8 bah 9 geo 10 shuh
10 shuh 11 shuh ee 12 shuh are 13 shuh sun
20 are shuh 21 are shuh ee
100 ee bie 1000 ee cheein

Family:
Father - foo cheen
Mother - moo cheen
Son - are tzah
Old Bro - gah gah