Hey everyone,

I'm currently looking for a job in Beijing...Any ideas as to how I could go about finding one?

I'm 18 and I've just graduated from high school in Germany. English isn't my native language but I've been learning it from very early on, so I thought maybe I could teach English or German. But any kind of work is fine, really, I just need to be able to afford food and maybe a place to live. I'm more or less fluent in Chinese since I've lived in China for one year when I was 16. I've already asked many of my Chinese friends for help, written to some schools and done almost everything else I can think of, but I'd still be really grateful for any advice one of you might have.

I don't know whether this is the right place to post this but I'll do so anyway. Thanks for your help!

I sometimes stumble when I try to translate the word ‘work' into Chinese.  Most of us know that the most basic translation of ‘work' is 工作.  In English however, the usage of ‘work' hardly stops there.  I'm hoping that we can translate these sentences.

1.       My computer isn't working.  我的电脑坏了wǒde diànnǎo huàile

2.       My computer works.

3.       I don't know how to make my cell phone work.  (yes, similar to 2, but I think subtly different; regardless, a useful sentence construction)

4.       Look, this relationship/cooperation isn't working.

5.       That singer really can work a crowd.  (i.e. he/she can get the crowd excited.)

6.       Let's work together to solve this problem.  

7.       We need to work towards a solution.

谢谢 in advance!

Bonus question: Do Chinese people ever say anything like "Thanks in advance"?