My mentor who first came to China in 1984 told me his first Chinese word was [没有]（Mei2 You3）, meaning "No we don't have it". He said at that time he heard it everywhere, in hotels, restaurants and airports.

The second one he learnt was [不要] (Bu2 Yao4), meaning "No I don't want it". He was taught to say 不要 because people were always trying to sell him stuffs he didn't want.

But he did want something and it took him quite some time to finally get some. Brass Balls that are used by some people in North China to excercise wrists and fingers. Some of these people know martial arts, while others may just play them for fun. My mentor bought many Brass Balls and gave them as gifts to his friends back in the US, and they loved it.

I told my mentor that in rural areas in especially North China, boys may have nick names as 『铁蛋』(Tie3 Dan4)which literally means Brass or Iron Balls. And that's the third Chinese word he learnt.

What about you? What is the first Chinese word or sentence you have learned?

First 3 words: Ni hao, Xie xie, Ting bu dong.
First sentence: Wo bu hui jiang zhong wen.

Ni hao
pi jiu

ni hao
zuo, zuo, zuooooo!

Well I'd learnt some Chinese in the years before coming here. Once here I would say that my first street Chinese was giving taxi instructions in 3 different dialects.

for many of us i guess it was "Gubo he Palanka"...... i wonder if they ever did hit it off together in the end?!

scotch wrote:Ni hao
pi jiu

you like drinking beer.

First Word: cao 操 （****)
Second Word: ri 日 （boink)
Third Word: gan 干 （do it)

gun 滚
kai 开

I didn't know a single Chinese word when I first moved here. First I learned was, "zo ba!"; then I learned, "mei yo" and "pu yao" (written in the way I heard and learned them; not pinyin). The first phrase/sentence I learned was "lay se la", which means "tired to death". My translator used to say that quite often.

Ni Hao, Zai Jian

bù cuò (不错) = not bad

Thinking back, I actually think they were;

Ting bu dong
and
Wo yao liang ping pijiu

Kind of set the scence really.

first words - bu yao!!!!! (said very loudly and with annoyance)
first sentence - wo ting bu dong?? (said looking very confused and I still am)

blondesands wrote:first words - bu yao!!!!! (said very loudly and with annoyance)

HAHAHA! Yep!! Don't forget the hand swing!!

First was Cantonese, from the Chinese crews on the merchant ships; Dew neh loh mo

Who thinks up these questions, then feels the need to ask the world?

Who answers a question with a question?

Wo Ai Nie!

(Wo meiyo chen!)

For those who love beer, you'd better learn another word - Bing1 Zhen4, meaning Ice Cold!

Bing1 Zhen4 Pi2 Jiu3, Liang3 Ping2. [Two ice cold beers. I am in heaven.]

^tamade.

No, that wasn't the first Chinese word I learned. It's my reply to the post above this one.

Gambei

dalusheon wrote:My mentor who first came to China in 1984 told me his first Chinese word was [没有]（Mei2 You3）, meaning "No we don't have it". He said at that time he heard it everywhere, in hotels, restaurants and airports.

Agree, 没有 was my first Chinese word. Learnt it in 1985

For me, given I drove around in taxis most of the day, my first word was "fapiao".

Be interesting to know the differences in words between the genders. I expect "pi jiu" and "xiao jie" to be more words quickly learnt by the fellas.

Actually, after all these years, I still have no idea how to swear in Chinese. No plans to learn either.

Adrienne

wo yao hei feng bing da

First word was laowai as it was shouted at me constantly for the first 2 weeks I was here.

First sentence - yi/liang ge pi jiu.

At the moment I'm trying to memorise more taxi mandarin. Anyone know how to say 'SLOW DOWN! You're going to kill us all!'

man man zou ba! ni huo de bu nai fan le!

慢慢走吧！你活得不耐烦了！

(drive slower! are you tired of living?)

incidentally, the (easier) first part was one of the first things I learned here. Self-preservation!

Wo yao yi bao xiangyan.

First sentence: Wo bu hui jiang zhongwen

250 or shagua.