The Conversation With A Chinese Engineer

This is the capstone. Five short lessons of vocabulary and grammar are about to be put to work in one five-minute conversation that you will rehearse, then perform, then record on your phone. The setting is simple. You are visiting Sahiwal Coal Power Plant, a CPEC project. You are introduced to Mr. Li, a Chinese site engineer. He has been in Pakistan for two years. He speaks limited Urdu and decent English. You are going to choose Mandarin anyway, because that is the move that earns respect.

Section two, small talk. Ask, nǐ lái Bā jī sī tǎn duō jiǔ le, 你来巴基斯坦多久了, how long have you been in Pakistan. He answers, liǎng nián, two years. You say, nǐ xí guàn ma, 你习惯吗, are you used to it. He laughs and says, xí guàn le, kě shì xià tiān tài rè, used to it, but the summer is too hot. You say, duì, Sā hé wā ěr xià tiān shì sì shí dù, 对，萨赫瓦尔夏天是四十度, yes, Sahiwal summer is forty degrees. He nods. You have used numbers and weather words from earlier lessons. The conversation is no longer scripted; it is alive.

Section four, the human moment. Ask, nǐ xiǎng jiā ma, 你想家吗, do you miss home. Let the silence sit. He may answer in one word, xiǎng, yes. Or in three, xiǎng, dàn shì gōng zuò zhòng yào, yes, but the work is important. Either answer is real. Then say something honest back. Wǒ bà ba zài Dí Bài gōng zuò shí nián, 我爸爸在迪拜工作十年, my father worked in Dubai for ten years. Wǒ dǒng. I understand. The conversation is no longer about engineering. It is about two people whose families have lived through migration. That is where a real working relationship begins.

Section five, closing. You say, xiè xie nǐ de shí jiān, 谢谢你的时间, thank you for your time. He says, bù kè qi, you are welcome. You say, xià cì zài jiàn, 下次再见, see you next time. He hands you his WeChat QR code. You scan it. You message him hǎo de, 好的, okay, that night. He replies with a thumbs up. The relationship is now in your phone. The next visit, you will not be a stranger. You will be Aamir, the Pakistani who speaks Mandarin.