ENGLISH –
CHINESE
FOOD MINI
(Taiwan Version)
Brand Smit
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Copyright 2011 Barend J. L. Smit
Smashwords Edition, License Notes
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Introduction
Food
Phrases
Food
Drinks
Fruit
Vegetables
Seafood
Desserts
& Snacks
Condiments
& Other Extras
Cooking
Methods
In
The Kitchen
National
Cuisines
Chinese
Food
Taiwanese
Dishes, Delicacies, Desserts & Beverages
Any tourist, traveler, Western business person or English teaching expat can attest to the occasional challenge ordering food in Taiwan.
Unless you’re in a five star restaurant or pointing at a picture of a hamburger at some fast food joint, you may find it difficult to figure out exactly what you’re going to get, or to get what you really want.
This mini food dictionary and phrase book aims to make the process somewhat less confusing.
Taiwan has a lot to offer in terms of local cuisine and delicacies. Use the final section to explore local tastes. You can even point to the Chinese characters to make sure you end up with the right item!
About the Romanization
Since 1982 Hanyu Pinyin has become the international standard system to transcribe Chinese characters into the Roman alphabet. This is the system followed in this booklet. (To make it easier on the eye and avoid confusion I use hyphens to separate the syllables of a romanized word, although this is not the custom in Hanyu Pinyin.)
Correct pronunciation of Mandarin Chinese words can be a daunting challenge, especially when trying to wrap your tongue around the four tones (some other dialects have even more!). These tones have the function of clarifying the meaning of words, since there are many similar sounding words in Chinese.
In romanized form, the four tones are indicated by tone marks or numbers. The latter is used throughout this booklet, ex. mian4-bao1 indicates the first character is pronounced in the fourth tone, and the second character in the first tone. When no number or tone is indicated, the word or syllable is toneless.
Traditional Chinese Characters / Simplified Chinese Characters
The traditional form of written Chinese is used in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. The simplified form of written Chinese is used in China and Singapore. The characters in this guide are in the traditional form.
The Four
Tones:
First tone – high
level
Second tone – rising
Third tone – falling, then
rising
Fourth tone – falling
Please
follow this link for a quick guide on pronouncing the
tones:
http://www.foodminis.com/mandarin/tones
Pronunciation
Pronunciation
of initials:
b : as in [spit]
p
: as in [pay]
m : as in [may]
f
: as in [fair]
d : as in [stop]
t
: as in [take]
n : as in [nay]
l
: as in [lay]
g : as in [skill]
k
: as in [kay]
h : as in [hay]
j
: as in [hatch]
q : as in
[cheek]
x : as in [she]
zh
: as in [junk]
ch : as in
[church]
sh : as in [shirt]
r
: as in [ray]
z : as in [reads]
c
: as in [hats]
s : as in [say]
w
: as in [way]
y : as in
[yea]
Pronunciation of finals
with zero initial:
-i : a buzzed
continuation of the consonant following z-, c-, s-, zh-, ch-, sh- or
r-. (In all other words, -i has the sound of [bee])
a : as
in [father]
e : similar to [duh]
ai : like [eye]
but lighter
ei : as in [hey]
ao : approximately as in
[cow]
ou : as in [so]
an : as in [bun]
en
: as in [taken]
ang : as in the German [Angst]
eng
: like e in [taken] but with ng added
er : similar to the
sound in [bar]
Pronunciation
of finals beginning with i- (ex. yi-ge):
i
: as in [bee]
ia : as in
[yard]
ie : similar to the
initial sound in [yet]
iao : as
in [i] + [ao]
iu : as in [i] + [ou]
ian
: as in [yen]
in : as in [i] +
[n]
iang : as in [i] + [ang]
ing
: as in [i] + [ng]
Pronunciation of
finals beginning with u- (ex. wu-fu):
u
: as in [boo!]
ua : as in [u] +
[a]
uo, o : as in [u] + [o] where the
[o] is pronounced shorter and lighter
uai
: as in [why]
ui : as in [u] +
[ei]
uan : as in [u] + [an]
un
: like the [on] in [won]
uang :
as in [u] + [ang]
ong : starts with the
vowel sound in [book] and ends with the sound in, as in
[sing]
Pronunciation of
finals beginning with ü- (ex. yun):
u,
ü : as in German [über] or French [lune]
ue,
üe : as [ü] + [ê]; the ü is short and light
uan
: as [ü] + [ê] + [n]
un : as [ü] +
[n]
iong : as [i] +
[ong]
Interjections:
ê
: as in [bet]
o : approximately
as in [office] in a British accent
io
: as [i] + [o]
Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinyin
Measure Words
In
Chinese different measure words are used depending on the noun. It is
used after the number and before the noun, for example, san1
(number) ge4 (measure word) ping2-guo3 (noun) (three
apples).
Common measure words:
個
: ge4 : used as a generic measure word, or when you
don’t know the correct measure word
杯
: bei1
: cup (of water, coffee, etc.)
片
: pian4 : slice (of
bread, pizza, etc.)
塊
: kuai4
: chunk, irregular shaped piece (cake, watch, etc.)
份
: fen4 : portion (of deep fried cauliflower,
etc.)
碗
: wan3 : bowls (of rice, noodles, soup, etc.)
瓶
: ping2 : bottle (of beer, soda, etc.)
包
: bao1 : packet (of popcorn, cigarettes,
etc.)
Numbers
1
: 一
: yi1
2 : 兩
: er4 / liang3*
3 : 三
: san1
4
: 四
: si4
5
: 五
: wu3
6
: 六
: liu4
7
: 七
: qi1
8
: 八
: ba1
9
: 九
: jiu3
10
: 十
: shi2
11
: 十一
: shi2-yi1
12
: 十二
: shi2-e4r
13
: 十三
: shi2-san1
14
: 十四
: shi2-si4
15
: 十五
: shi2-wu3
16
: 十六
: shi2-liu4
17
: 十七
: shi2-qi1
18
: 十八
: shi2-ba1
19
: 十九
: shi2-jiu3
20
: 二十
: er4-shi2
21
: 二十一
: er4-shi2-yi1
22
: 二十二
: er4-shi2-er4
23
: 二十三
: er4-shi2-san1
24
: 二十四
: er4-shi2-si4
25
: 二十五
: er4-shi2-wu3
30
: 三十
: san1-shi2
40
: 四十
: si4-shi2
50
: 五十
: wu3-shi2
100
: 一百
: yi1
bai3
500 : 五百
: wu3-bai3
1000
: 一千
: yi1-qian1
*
When using the number “two” with a measure word and a noun, use
the word “liang3”
instead of “er4”,
for example, liang3 bei1 ka1-fei1
(two cups of coffee).
Money
New
Taiwan Dollar (NT$) : 新台幣
: xin1-tai2-bi4
(yuan2)
US Dollar ($) : 美元
: mei3-yuan2
Euro
(€) : 歐元
: ou1-yuan2
GBP
(£) : 英鎊
: ying1-bang4
Pronouns
I
: 我
: wo3
You
: 你
: ni2
You
(more formal) : 您
: nin2
He,
She, It : 他,她,它
: ta1,
ta1, ta1
We : 我們
: wo3-men
You
(plural) : 你們
: ni2-men
They
: 他們
: ta1-men
Colors
black
: 黑色
: hei1-se4
blue
: 藍色
: lan2-se4
brown
: 褐色/咖啡色
: he2-se4
/ ka1-fei1-se4
color : 顏色
: yan2-se4
gray
: 灰色
: hui1-se4
green
: 綠色
: lü4-se4
orange
: 橘黃色
: ju2 huang2-se4
pink
: 粉紅色
: fen3-hong2-se4
purple
: 紫色
: zi3-se4
red
: 紅色
: hong2-se4
yellow
: 黃色
: huang2-se4
white
: 白色
: bai2-se4
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That’s it for the basics. I hope you enjoy your stay in Taiwan. Good luck on your culinary adventures!
[Back to the Table of Contents]
A table for (two),
please.
(兩)位,謝謝。
(liang3)
wei4, xie4-xie4.
Smoking/Non-Smoking
吸煙/非吸煙
xi1-yan1
/ fei1 xi1-yan1
Miss!/Sir!
小姐!/先生!
xiao3-jie3!
/ xian1-sheng1!
Excuse me, do you have
a menu?
請問，你們有沒有菜單?
qing3-wen4,
ni3-men you3 mei2-you3 cai4-dan1?
What would you like to
drink?
你想喝什麼?
ni3
xiang3 he1 shen2-me?
Can I have (a cup of
coffee), please?
請給我(一杯咖啡)。
qing3
gei3 wo3 (yi1-bei1 ka1-fei1).
(Two coffees),
please.
請給我(兩杯咖啡)。
qing3
gei3 wo3 (liang3 bei1 ka1-fei1).
I want (a)
(hamburger).
我要(一個)(漢堡)。
wo3
yao4 (yi1-ge4) (han4-bao3).
I don’t want (a hot
dog).
我不要(熱狗)。
wo3
bu4-yao4 (re4-gou3).
Do you want (coffee or
tea)?
你要(喝咖啡或茶)?
ni3
yao4 (he1 ka1-fei1 huo4 cha2)?
(I want
coffee.)
(我要咖啡。)
(wo3
yao4 ka1-fei1.)
What would you like (to
eat/drink)?
你要(吃/喝)什麼?
ni3
yao4 (chi1 / he1) shen2-me?
Could you recommend any
dishes?
你能介紹一些菜嗎?
ni3
neng2 jie4-shao4 yi1-xie1 cai4 ma?
I don’t like spicy
food.
我不喜歡辣的食物。
wo3
bu4 xi3-huan la4 de shi2-wu4.
I don’t like
greasy/rich food.
我不喜歡油膩的食物。
wo3
bu4 xi3-huan you2-ni4-de shi2-wu4.
Are you ready to
order?
你們準備點菜了嗎?
ni3-men
zhun3-bei4 dian3 cai4 le ma?