Survival Greetings

Imagine you are at Islamabad airport, terminal arrivals, holding a small sign for a Chinese engineer your father's company hired. He walks toward you. You have ten seconds to make a first impression. You do not need fluency. You need six sentences, said clearly, in the right tones. By the end of this lesson, you will own those six sentences for life.

Sentence two. Xiè xie, 谢谢, thank you. Pronounced shieh shieh, both syllables falling-rising in tone. Use it constantly. When the waiter brings tea, when someone holds a door, when a colleague forwards a file. Chinese business culture pays attention to small thanks. A Pakistani who says xie xie three times in a meeting is read as careful and respectful. Sentence three. Bù kè qi, 不客气, you are welcome, literally do not be polite. The reply when someone thanks you.

Sentence four. Duì bu qǐ, 对不起, sorry. Use this when you bump into someone, when you arrive late, when you ask the driver to repeat himself. Sentence five. Méi guān xi, 没关系, no problem, literally has no relation. Use it as the reply when someone apologises to you. These two sentences will save you from a hundred small embarrassments in a Lahore office where Chinese engineers work alongside Pakistani staff.

A small chained dialogue to drill. You arrive at a meeting. You say nǐ hǎo, the host says nǐ hǎo back. You say wǒ shì Bā jī sī tǎn rén, the host smiles and says huān yíng, welcome. You say xiè xie. The host says bù kè qi. Six exchanges, ten seconds, and you have already moved past the awkward stage that most foreign visitors stay stuck in for an entire trip.