To greet all group members, regardless of time zone:
Good morning, good afternoon and good evening.
早上好，下午好，晚上好
Zao3 shang4 hao3, xia4 wu3 hao3, wan3 shang4 hao3*
Welcome, everybody.
欢迎大家
Huan1 ying2 da4 jia1
Literal translation: Gladly embrace (receive) the big family.
If you can’t remember what to say and want to pass your turn to another group member:
Apologies. Next person, please.
抱歉，请下一个人
Bao4 qian4, qing3 xia4 yi1 ge4 ren2
Literal translation of bao4 qian4:
hold, adopt, hug, accept (my) apology, guilt
Please speak Chinese.
请说中文
Qing3 shuo1 zhong1 wen2
Please use the chat.
请使用聊天框
Qing3 shi3 yong4 liao2 tian1 kuang1
Literal translation:
Please use the chat-about-the-day box.
No interruptions, please.
请不要打断别人
qing3 bu2 yao4 da3 duan4 bie2 ren2
(Difficult to translate literally. Please ask your teacher.)
No corrections, please.
请不要纠正别人
qing3 bu2 yao4 jiu1 zheng4 bie2 ren2
Literal translation:
Please don’t change to upright other person.
If you have gone over one minute to think in silence, the facilitator will say:
Next person, thanks.
下一位，谢谢
Xia4 yi2 wei4, xie4 xie
Literal translation:
Next position, thank you.
Sorry, I don’t know what to say.
对不起，我不知道要说什么
Dui4 bu4 qi3, wo3 bu4 zhi1 dao4 yao4 shuo1 shen2 me
Literal translation:
Sorry, I am not aware of the way to speak what.
Would you say it again slowly, please?
请你慢慢重说一遍，好吗？
qing3 ni3 man4 man chong2 shuo1 yi2 bian4, hao3 ma?
Literal translation: Please you slowly re-say it, is it good for you?
At 45 minutes, the facilitator will say:
We are almost done.
我们快结束了
Wo3 men kuai4 jie2 shu4 le
Literal translation:
We went fast and it will finish soon.
Your performances are all great. Thanks for your participation.
你们的表现都很好，谢谢你们的参与。
Ni3 men de biao3 xian4 dou1 hen3 hao3, xie4 xie ni3 men de can1 yu3
Literal translation:
Your expression appears all very good. Thank you for your participating and being with us.
See you next time.
下次见
xia4 ci4 jian4
*Literal translation/explanations
zao3 shang4 hao3:
Early up good. The sun rises in the morning; it’s going upwards.
xia4 wu3 hao3
Down noon good. The sun falls after noon; it’s going down.
wan3 shang4 hao3
Evening up good. After 6:00 PM, hours progress upwards towards midnight.
Note: These are phrases that may be helpful to people who are participating in a beginning Mandarin Chinese conversation group.
If you are interested in joining the group, please contact Anne Giles.
