Taxi Chinese 1
Here's a secret. You can actually get by in China without speaking much Chinese.
You can get by in day to day life with body language, pointing, and a helpful bilingual friend. You really can.
But the one place where every foreigner needs to interact with locals regularly is in the taxi. You'll be in taxis regularly here, and no taxi drivers speak any English. As a taxi driver told me once, "If I could speak English I wouldn't be driving this bloody taxi" or words to that effect.
Most foreigners in China can get by in a taxi without any language problems after a year or so of practice. But after watching this video (and the 2 sequels) you'll be able to learn Taxi Chinese much more quickly.
In this first lesson you'll learn how to get your driver headed in the right direction.
到――――路，――――路。
Dào--- lù, ---lù.
To the crossroads of ___road and ___road.
If you're able to say where you're going, use this expression. The first syllable dào means 'to', and lù, means 'road'. So you're saying "to__road, ___road". It's important to have two roads; roads are really long here and just saying a single road will be a problem.
After you say the above phrase, substituting the address you want to go to, you might get the response ha? Don't worry, this is a standard response, and translates as "pardon me?" Just say your address again. If he says ha? again, you're probably saying it wrong. Maybe try the next phrase.
地址给你。
Dì zhǐ gěi nǐ.
Here's the address.
You would say this phrase as you handed the driver a piece of paper with the address written in Chinese. Dizhi is address, gei is give and ni is you, so you are literally saying "give you the address".
It's a good idea to get your destination written in Chinese, because Chinese pronounciation can be difficult. And be sure to get it written in Chinese characters, or HanZi. Don't show the driver something that looks like this: it will just confuse him. Show him something that looks like this.
Now before setting off, the taxi driver might suddenly ask you a question. In Chinese. Before you panic, just know that he's probably just asking which route you think he should take. He's probably saying "lupu bridge a little crowded today; do you think we should take Yan'An road or just take the tunnel?"
If the driver starts asking you which way you should go, just answer him this way.
走最快的。
Zǒu zuì kuài de.
Go the fastest way.
Zǒu means "walk" or "go". Zuì kuài is fastest, and de is 'the one'. Literally you're saying "go the fastest one" or "take the fastest way".
And you'll be on the way!
You're only halfway there though. Well, to be precise a third of the way. You still have to chit-chat with the driver while he drives, and let him know what to do when you're near the destination. Tune in next time for Taxi Chinese part two, where you learn how to talk with the driver during the journey.