Meeting the Chinese Ambassador - Help!

dahouxiaohou
July 03, 2009, 04:22 PM posted in General Discussion

Help!

I'm due to attend a reception with the Chinese ambassador to Ireland next week, and will be expected to show off a little Mandarin skills in front of my boss.

Can anyone think of any suitable formal phrases to help 拍a little马屁?

I was planning to open with 久仰大名 but any other suitable terms would be much appreciated!

Cheers...

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shi_lei
July 03, 2009, 04:32 PM

what you want to say??I mean the contect you want to expression~~

I can help you ~~fox example ,you want to admire him or his country~~

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dahouxiaohou
July 04, 2009, 09:59 AM

Hi shi lei,

perhaps just to say "it's an honour to meet you", or something 好听!

How should I address her? What's the correct Chinese term for ambassador?

I'm really quite worried about this! 哈哈

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helenshen_counselor
July 06, 2009, 02:31 AM

Hi, I think simply "您好,很荣幸见到您", "nín hǎo,hěn róngxìng jiàndào nín", will impress him. (remember, make pronunciation as perfect AP!) Good luck!

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changye
July 06, 2009, 02:48 AM

Hi dahouxiaohou

I agree with shenyajin. I just recommend you speak plain Chinese slowly. Otherwise, your interlocutor would mistakenly think that you are very fluent in Mandarin, which could cause grave trouble to you in front of your boss!

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matt_c
July 20, 2009, 09:36 AM

@Dahouxiaohou How did your meeting with the Ambassador go? 

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dahouxiaohou
July 21, 2009, 01:34 PM

thanks for your help guys!

actually the meeting went very well, very 顺利, I spoke a little Chinese, said a few 好听 phrases, and eveything was fine, everybody(most importantly my boss) seemed happy.

One thing - one of the attaches called me a 中国通, so I jokingly replied that he was a 马屁精!haha!

everybody laughed, so I'm assuming that isn't a very rude phrase to use (here's hoping!!!) but if it is, then I'm blaming you Chinese pod, since that's where I learned it!! ;-)

anyways, it was very interesting,  thanks for all the advice guys!

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Joachim
July 21, 2009, 02:38 PM

Chinesepod should display a disclaimer with every lesson:

Chinesepod is NOT responsible for any inappropiate usage of expressions taught on this site. In particular, Chinesepod refuses to be responsible for any language items put forward on this site by the general public, i.e. those unruly students posting comments ...

dahouxiaohou: I do hope that the person you addressed as 马屁精 is an 爱尔兰通!