Vocabulary
The Chinese conjunction used to present two alternatives in a question, similar to "or".
What is 還是 (háishì)?
The specific grammar structure used to ask "A or B?".
What is A 還是 B?
"Do you want red tea or green tea?".
What is 你要紅茶還是綠茶？ (Nǐ yào hóngchá háishì lǜchá?)
In Chinese, "black tea" is literally called this color of tea.
What is Red tea (紅茶 hóngchá)?
The term for a waiter or waitress used in Mainland China.
What is 服務員 (fúwùyuán)?
These two measure words are used for liquids in "cups" and "bottles".
What are 杯 (bēi) and 瓶 (píng)?
"Excuse me, how many (people)?".
What is 請問，幾位？ (Qǐngwèn, jǐwèi?)
These are the two polite titles used to address male and female customers (Mister and Miss).
What are 先生 (xiānsheng) and 小姐 (xiǎojiě)?
These crescent-shaped food items are a staple in the lesson.
What are 餃子 (jiǎozi)?
These two measure words are used for food served on "plates" and in "bowls".
What are 盤 (pán) and 碗 (wǎn)?
"We want three bowls of soup and twenty dumplings".
What is 我們還要三碗湯和二十個餃子 (Wǒmen háiyào sānwǎn tāng hé èrshí ge jiǎozi)?
In Taiwan, this term is more commonly used for "waiter/waitress" instead of 服務員.
What is 服務生 (fúwùshēng)?
This verb-object phrase means "to order food".
What is 點菜 (diǎncài)?
This polite measure word is used by servers to ask how many people are in a party.
What is 位 (wèi)?
"I would like a glass of iced tea and a bottle of cola".
What is 我要一杯冰紅茶和一瓶可樂 (Wǒ yào yìbēi bīng hóngchá hé yìpíng kělè)?
This is the Taiwan-specific term for "dumplings" mentioned in the cultural notes.
What is 水餃 (shuǐjiǎo)?
The measure word used for a "pair" of items, specifically used for chopsticks in this lesson.
What is 雙 (shuāng)?
This adverb is used before a verb to indicate that an action (like drinking) should happen first.
What is 先 (xiān)?
"What would you (plural) like to drink first?".
What is 你們想先喝點兒什麼？ (Nǐmen xiǎng xiān hē diǎnr shénme?)
Before ordering food, customers in a restaurant usually look at this first.
What is the menu (菜單 càidān)?