oral presentation in chinese

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How to Give a Presentation in Chinese?

From the Beginning to the End: How to Give the Perfect Presentation in Chinese

Written by Juliette Pitt

Giving a presentation can be nerve-racking in any language, especially if it is in Chinese! But not to worry, you’ve come to the right place, here are a couple of tips that can help you guide you to deliver the perfect presentation to your fellow colleagues!

#Opening 

When opening your presentation in Chinese, remember to start by expressing thanks to the host of the event and to the previous speakers. If you are at an event or meeting that has distinguished guests, it is also worth expressing thanks to them too.

For example, a good way to start is: 

• 尊敬的……，女士们，先生们，下午好! 我对……表示感谢。(zūnjìng de……, nǚshì men, xiānshēng men, xiàwǔ hǎo! wǒ duì……biǎoshì gǎnxiè）

After this it is usually good to introduce yourself and express which department you represent.

For example, you can say:

• 我是…，请允许我代表…。(wǒ shì…, qǐng yǔnxǔ wǒ dàibiǎo…)

Unlike in the West where perhaps one only says your name, it is best when delivering your presentation in Chinese to add a bit more and perhaps say a couple of words of who you are speaking on behalf of.

You could even go as far as to praise the previous speaker by remarking on their content.

For example, you could say:

• 他/她的发言条理清晰。(tā/tā de fǎyán tiáolǐ qīngxī)

After all the pleasant introductions, it is best to go straight into your intended speech. Our advice to you would be to avoid using humour , unless you are familiar with a couple of Chinese jokes, but it is best to avoid as some jokes are may be hard to translate and it might cross some cultural barriers.

A good structure to use when giving your presentation is  First, Second, Third . It is straight forward and provides your presentation with a good flow.

Here are a couple of key words and sentences that you may find useful to use:

• 本次会议的议题是…(běn cì huìyì de yìtí shì…)
• 首先…(shǒuxiān…)
• 再次…(zàicì…)
• 最后…(zuìhòu…)
• 首先，我们来看一下全球电子商务消费行为的调查结果。(shǒuxiān, wǒmen lái kàn yīxià quánqiú diànzǐ shāngwù xiāofèi xíngwéi de diàochá jiéguǒ)

Congratulations! You are nearly at the end of your speech! To end the talk, it is best to use some highly energetic and heroic words as a form of encouragement to your colleagues!

Also, it is important to summarize your main points and thank everyone for listening and for coming to attend your presentation!

For example, some useful sentences to incorporate towards the end are:

• 最后，我想说的是…( zuìhòu, wǒ xiǎng shuō de shì…)
• 感谢你们对本次会议的大力支持。(gǎnxiè nǐmen duìběn cì huìyì de dàlì zhīchí)
• 希望我们能够借此机会加强沟通。(xīwàng wǒmen nénggòu jiè cǐ jīhuì jiāqiáng gōutōng)
• 要实现这美好的愿景，我们只有埋头苦干。(yào shíxiàn zhè měihǎo de yuàn jǐng, wǒmen zhǐyǒu máitóu kǔ gàn.

So, there you have it, a quick guide on how to give your presentation in Chinese. Remember to stay calm and collected .

Its best to  practice your presentation with your colleagues first and perhaps with your Chinese teacher. You could even practice a joke with them or two, to see if they get it!

Good luck!  加油 ! If you have presented a talk or lecture before in Chinese, we’d love to hear all about your experience. Why not comment down below and share some useful tips!

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Giving Presentations in Chinese || Essential Phrases and Cultural Tips

• By LTL Team HQ
• Business Chinese
• August 22, 2024

Use These Phrases and Insights to Take Your Chinese Presentations to the Next Level

It could be nerve-racking to give a presentation in Chinese when you’re still learning the language.

Public speaking in China is a powerful way to build your reputation and develop your career or business. But don’t worry. We’ll guide you to be an effective public speaker to give powerful presentations.

In this blog post, we’ll introduce several essential phrases and effective cultural tips for giving a well-prepared presentation. You’re in good hands!👋🏻

Presentations and Public Speaking || Techniques for Delivering Effective Business Presentations Presentations and Public Speaking || Phrases for Starting and Introducing Topics Presentations and Public Speaking || Phrases for Explaining and Transitioning Presentations and Public Speaking || Phrases for Concluding Topics Presentations and Public Speaking || FAQs

Presentations and Public Speaking || Techniques for Delivering Effective Business Presentations

✅ know your audience.

It’s important to know who your presentation is for, especially the senior executives and their specific titles in Chinese to address them properly.

Get to know the history, industry, and cultural background of the company you’re presenting to and remember to be aware of the strict hierarchical structure that exists in Chinese companies.

🤵 Be aware that business attire in China is usually formal – and make sure to avoid green hats !

It also helps to be aware of Face Culture and the concept of building Play 关系 (guānxì; relationships), both of which emphasise harmony and respect. Maintaining ‘face’ also means you might want to go easy on self-deprecating jokes, sarcasm and criticism of others.

30+ Basic Business Chinese Vocabulary: Business Essentials

Do Business Like a Local || Commonly Used Business Chinese Vocabulary So, you have decided to do business in China. That’s great! However, you should be prepared to deal with locals who don’t speak English.  If you want to develop…

✅ Use Clear and Strong Language

Use simple sentences to convey your message. People don’t really appreciate complex jargon. Even though it was the case before, complex official jargon is outdated now in official business settings.

So practice simple phrases in Chinese that help you to set a strong presentation style.

✅ Practice (Including Your Body Language!)

Chinese value a smooth and authentic presentation. But don’t be too rigid and just recite your scripts.

Rehearse your presentation multiple times. Take some time to familiarize yourself with gestures that are considered rude in China

🚫 For instance, pointing with your index finger is a no-no . Instead, gesture towards something with an open palm.

And avoid those excessive hand movements during your presentation – to Chinese people that might come across as too dramatic or even impatient.

Other things to avoid in Chinese business presentations include winking, standing with your hands on your hips and prolonged eye contact, which may appear more aggressive than engaged.

Having an awareness of these cultural aspects will help the engagement during your presentation.

✅ Use Visual Aids

Use slides with charts, interesting images, and other visual aids to make your points more engaging. A sleek and captivating design is super helpful for presentations in China.

Also be aware that there is a certain level of censorship in China – avoid sensitive topics and if you think an image could be interpreted badly, just don’t use it.

👉 This also applies to using the Chinese flag , do not alter it in any way from its original form (e.g. don’t include a version of it in another shape or colour).

✅ Engage with the Audience

In Chinese culture, people often remain serious during presentations. Silence is their way to show respect for the presenter in a business setting.

They are not often used to raising questions or openly showing their reactions in public.

So, it becomes more essential to engage actively with the audience with nonverbal cues.

You could encourage participation with these phrases.

Play 大家有什么问题吗？ dà jiā yǒu shén me wèn tí ma? Does anyone have any questions?

Presentations and Public Speaking || Phrases for Starting and Introducing Topics

It’s supremely important to have a strong opening for a business presentation. In China people usually stay serious before a presentation starts . But by using these phrases, you can set a positive vibe and catches the audience’s attention.

Play 大家好 dà jiā hǎo Hello everyone

This is a typical phrase to use to address distinguished guests in a formal setting.

Play 尊敬的女士们，先生们 zūn jìng de nǚ shì men, xiān shēng men Ladies and gentlemen

Use this phrase to introduce the topic of the presentation.

Play 今天我要谈的是… jīn tiān wǒ yào tán de shì Today I will talk about…

You could also start with an interesting fact or a question that provokes thoughts.

Use these phrases to catch everyone’s attention and provoke their curiosity. They sound very friendly and draw you closer to the audience.

Play 大家知不知道 dà jiā zhī bù zhī dào Does everyone know

Play 首先，我问大家一个问题 shǒu xiān, wǒ wèn dà jiā yī gè wèn tí First, I will ask everyone a question

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Presentations and Public Speaking || Phrases for Explaining and Transitioning

There are several simple phrases to help keep your languages clean during the presentations. These are super easy to remember!

Play 其次… qí cì Secondly…

Play 接下来… jiē xià lái Next…

To further explain a point, use these phrases to set an example.

Play 比如… bǐ rú For example…

Play 举个例子 jǔ gè lì zi To give you an example

Play 另一方面… lìng yī fāng miàn On the other hand…

If you were interrupted by a question or some random hiccups, use these phrases to get back to your agenda.

Play 我们继续… wǒ men jì xù Let’s continue…

Play 让我们回到 ràng wǒ men huí dào Let’s get back to…

Presentations and Public Speaking || Phrases for Concluding Topics

Now, as you approach the ending, use these phrases to properly grab the audience’s attention again. They are simple and set a firm tone to wrap up.

Play 总结一下… zǒng jié yī xià To summarize…

Play 最后… zuì hòu Finally…

This phrase is more literal but a great one to use. It could showcase your Chinese skills.

Play 总而言之… zǒng ér yán zhī In conclusion…

Now it’d be helpful to recap the key takeaways for your audience. You could use these phrases.

Play 我们已经讨论了… wǒ men yǐ jīng tǎo lùn le We have discussed…

Play 今天的重点是… jīn tiān de zhòng diǎn shì The main points today are…

As usual, never miss this phrase to show your gratitude to the public listening to you.

Play 谢谢大家！ xiè xiè dà jiā Thank you all!

These phrases are a little more complex, but they are what Chinese people often use as a respectful ending. It shows modesty and offers opportunities to engage with your audience even off stage.

Now, you know better how to speak in public! Keep the tips in mind and practice. You’ll definitely shine in the room when doing a presentation in China.

Chinese Business Etiquette and Cultural Norms: Do’s and Don’ts

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Presentations and Public Speaking || FAQs

You can begin with a greeting like 大家好 (dà jiā hǎo) . In a formal setting, you should address the audience with 尊敬的女士们，先生们 (zūn jìng de nǚ shì men, xiān shēng men) , which means “Ladies and Gentlemen”.

You could say phrases like 首先，我们来看一下… (shǒu xiān, wǒ men lái kàn yī xià) to introduce your first topic.   其次… (qí cì) means “Secondly”. 接下来… (jiē xià lái) means “Next” which is very common to use.

You can start with a question like 大家有什么问题吗？ (dà jiā yǒu shén me wèn tí ma?)  to encourage the audience to engage with you.

To summarize your points, you could use phrases like 最后 (zuì hòu) and 总结一下 (zǒng jié yī xià). Then, use the official thank you phrase 谢谢大家！(xiè xiè dà jiā ) to wrap up your presentation.

You can always use 我们继续… (wǒ men jì xù) , which means “Let’s continue,” and 让我们回到 (ràng wǒ men huí dào) , which means “Let’s get back to” to smoothly transition back to your original presentation.

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Give a Presentation in Chinese

Yes you are right. This is an article about how to give a presentation in Chinese . It sounds ridiculous because you might be an expert since high school. But today what we are talking is to give a presentation not only in Chinese mandarin, also in Chinese way.

So you are already up on the stage. After your make sure the slides do work and clear your throat, how do you begin?

Like the common structure of your other presentation. You would firstly say Hi, “大家好，我是**( dà jiā hǎo，wǒ shì **)” Good morning/afternoon everyone, my name is ** . If you are new to people, introduce yourself by giving interesting take away message. If you want to make business with someone in China, you should probably introduce your family, share your education experience, list some results you achieved in your business, etc, letting people get to know you.

The topic 主题(zhǔ tí) of your presentation should be clear like in other languages. Let’s talk more about content内容(nèi rónɡ). Design of the slides could be a little changed as reading and recognizing Chinese characters is much faster than western characters so you could put some stuff on it but not too much. Reading word by word what was written on the slides is considered bad practice in China as well.

It is very important to understand that in China everything is related to relations关系(ɡuān xi). You cannot do something without relations in China. At the end of your presentation, it is necessary to show gratitude towards those people who had helped you. Here are some basic rules:

• Show pictures of people you worked together with
• Show pictures of groups while you organized events
• Show pictures of the panels that run events
• Show your partners (for business not only clients but also people you are buying from or working together with in general)

When you are done, it’s common to leave your contact data if you want to communicate with more people. Remember Twitter and Facebook are blocked in China. Use QQ or Wechat.

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Browse Course Material

Course info.

• Dr. Haohsiang Liao

Departments

• Global Studies and Languages

As Taught In

Learning resource types, chinese iv (regular), oral report and final presentation, oral report guidelines 第一次口头报吿/第一次口頭報告: 我最喜欢的故事/我最喜歡的故事 (gùshì: story).

• Method of Report
• Your report should be about 3 to 4 minutes long.
• You are to stand in front of the class. You may quickly look at your notes, but don’t be tied to them.
• You can use PowerPoint slides or bring any visual aids as you see fit.

When you prepare, besides accuracy and fluency that you have been working on along the way, be sure to pay attention to coherence of your discourse (e.g. Is your language logical and consistent by using appropriate connection words?). Also, try to incorporate a few new sentence patterns from Unit 16 and Unit 17 into your report.

• Roles of Audience

One of the purposes of oral reports is to learn how to use Chinese to elaborate your thoughts and engage in meaningful conversations with your classmates. Listeners will be required to ask the presenter one or two questions at the end. Your participation is expected and will be evaluated.

• Grading Rubric

• A Useful Online Dictionary

Online Chinese-English Talking Dictionary

Use this online dictionary with caution. It is recommended to know how the words you need are properly used contextually by consulting your teacher or a native speaker.

Final Presentation Guidelines 期末表演

You may consider, but are not limited to, the following topics:

• 麻省理工学院/麻省理工學院
• 我的中文学习经验/我的中文學習經驗
• Format of Script
• Using 14 point font size
• Double-spaced
• Format of Presentation
• 5–7 minutes
• In-class presentation or video presentation
• No script is allowed during presentation

Your grade for final presentation will be based on the following components:

1. Script: 50% (graded as a group) 

2. Oral Presentation: 50% (graded individually)

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Helping chinese students with oral presentations.

Updated December 19, 2020 By Nicholas McKay

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Do your Chinese students need help with oral presentations?

Whether you’re teaching English in China , or you’re teaching Chinese students in your country, sooner or later, your students will need to do an oral presentation.

This is especially the case if your students are in middle school or above.

The very idea of doing this can cause some of your Chinese students great distress. After all, Chinese students are, pardon the stereotype, synonymous with shyness.

Regardless of who we are, most of us experience anxiety speaking in front of a group of people, though this is rarely of little comfort to students.

There are many ways, however, that you can help relax your students, and leave them feeling more prepared.

So, here are six ways you can help your Chinese students with oral presentations.

1. Remind them that no one is perfect

Imagine this – you’re writing on the blackboard, and you make a spelling error. One of your students notices, and points it out, for the whole class to hear.

How do you respond?

For a number of teachers I’ve witnessed, they’re quick to save face. “I deliberately misspelled that word to check that you’re paying attention,” they might say.

I however know that spelling is not my biggest strength (yes, I’m an English teacher and a professional editor, and still fumble my letters).

With this in mind, I’m quick to admit my mistakes.

This is relevant to what I want to discuss, because honesty is very important for capturing the attention of your learners.

Even teachers make mistakes.

I have told my students that I too experience anxiety when speaking in front of a class. I’m not brave all the time. Students appreciate it when their teachers are human, and admit that they too make mistakes.

(Melbourne University has some good tips and ideas for managing stress for oral presentations .)

As an example, I have a speech impediment. Sometimes when I speak, I stutter. It rarely happens, but my students have noticed.

One lesson, after a couple of students laughed, I admitted it, and explained my stutter to them. They were so eager to know more about me, they were hanging on my every word.

2. Demonstrate and ask them to assess you

Students’ interest in you can be capitalized on in another way.

When my students are expected to complete an oral presentation, I will often do one for them.

If students are expected to stand in front of the class for five minutes, speak about a topic, and use evidence to back up their speech, then that’s exactly what I’ll do.

Not only this, I ask students to assess my performance, marking me on the same criteria that I will be looking for in their speeches.

Occasionally, I deliberately insert a few errors. But as I said previously, I’m not the greatest public speaker, so I know for a fact my performance will not be flawless.

In doing this, I’m making myself vulnerable, as vulnerable as they will later be.

Ask your students to assess your oral presentation.

I ask students to not only assess me on paper, but later call on them to share their responses. I’ll ask them:

• What did I do well?
• What areas do I need to improve on?

Some teachers may not like putting themselves into the crosshairs of their learners, and opening themselves up to criticism.

I don’t think for a second this will cause the respect students have for you to diminish. If anything, I imagine they will respect you more. Not only are you modelling the task for them, you are showing your honest, true self.

3. Use YouTube for good and bad examples

For teachers who might be a little shy at the idea of presenting in front of a class, or who want to give their learners additional examples, YouTube is filled with people giving presentations.

(Remember to download a VPN app before you head to China for access to sites like YouTube.)

There are even videos on the do’s and don’ts of giving a presentation, like the one below.

It can be an idea to pick a video where the presenter has given a shockingly awful presentation, and another where the speaker has been really amazing.

Using the same analytical sheet learners will be assessed on, students use this to assess the performance of those they observe in the video.

Students then have a discussion on what the presenter did well, and what the student could improve on.

Some questions to get those discussion juices flowing could be:

• Did the speaker have a clear opening/conclusion?
• Was the speaker understandable. Why/why not?
• Did the speaker engage the audience? If so, how?
• Did the speaker make their presentation entertaining?

4. Use cut and paste

As briefly mentioned above, educating students on the do’s and don’ts can be key to their success.

There are two ways to get students thinking about what makes a speech successful, and what should be best avoided.

The first would be to write a series of strategies on the board, and ask students whether they think they are things speakers should do, or not do.

The second, involves collating these techniques into a document, and asking students to cut them out, and paste them into their books, under specific sub-headings.

An example of what terms could be included is demonstrated below:

5. Organize the presentation into smaller components

Giving a demonstration to your learners on what students are expected to produce is one thing. For your visual learners, this may work like a charm, though as I’ve said previously, not everyone learns the same way.

For those many students (and there will be many of them), a graphic organizer might prove to be invaluable.

Simply put, the components of the student’s presentation, from their introduction to their conclusion, are separated into different components.

The organizer offers students a step-by-step guide, with some examples, as to what they’re expected to produce.

As an example, for their introduction, students might need to include:

• An opening hook, to grab the attention of their audience, maybe with a fun fact
• Their topic and contention/point of view, where they clearly state what their presentation is about, and the stance they are taking
• A summary of their arguments.

For some students, the organizer will work like a checklist, and allow them to know they have fulfilled all of the expectations required of them.

6. Write everything on the board

When teaching in China, one of the main pedagogies is rote learning .

Students are given information and they memorize it, reproducing it at the end of the school year.

Sometimes a good method to make sure your Chinese students are aware of what is expected of them, is to write everything on the board.

Chinese students are used to copying information from the board.

You could model an example oral presentation on the board, showing how the introduction, main body and conclusion are developed.

While this may be called ‘spoon feeding’ where you’re from, it’s a technique nonetheless and your Chinese students will be familiar with this kind of instruction.

Anything that works, right?

Oral presentations in ESL classrooms are inevitable

Teaching in China involves getting your Chinese students to use the language, verbally, not just literally.

Regardless how daunting an oral presentation is, you will be required to have your students complete this during the class.

It’s natural for students to be worried, but hopefully some of the ideas mentioned here will help them, and improve the quality of oral presentations in your classroom.

I hope you liked my blog about helping Chinese students with oral presentations. You may also like the one I wrote about embodied pedagogy (no, I haven’t made that term up). Enjoy!

Commercial relationship disclosure: Hello Teacher! has commercial arrangements with organizations that may appear on this page, such as affiliate links. See our terms for more info.

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How to improve Chinese speaking for oral

In the second part of my “ how to improve Chinese oral ” series, I’m going to share 5 helpful tips to help you improve your Chinese speaking skills for your oral exam.

Many Primary 6 students in Singapore find the video oral component in their PSLE oral exam more challenging than the passage reading component.

I agree too.

If the purpose of the oral exam is to test your proficiency in conversational Chinese, then this is the part is the most telling. No wonder it has a higher PSLE Chinese oral weightage in the national examination.

Ready to sound like a pro Chinese speaker?

Top 5 tips to improve your Chinese speaking

1. identify the main theme in the oral video, followed by the details.

All e-oral videos that you see in your Chinese oral exam will revolve around a theme. Hence, it’s going to be extremely helpful if you can identify what that theme is as you are watching it.

As you are watching, look out for any details in the video (for example, the location, time, characters, actions etc) too.

Once you have a good overview of the theme, it’ll be easier to brainstorm the relevant vocabulary to speak about it.

2. Recycle good Chinese composition phrases for Chinese oral

Who says that the good phrases that you’ve learnt for your Chinese compositions can only be used for compo writing ?

To fully utilise what you’ve learnt in your Chinese class, reuse the good Chinese compo words and phrases for your Chinese oral conversations. It’s called killing two birds with one stone.

Using these good phrases during your e-oral videos will not only make you sound more interesting, but also enhance your examiners’ impression of your Chinese speaking skills.

3. Imagine your examiners as friends or watermelons

Having a conversation with your examiners doesn’t have to be stressful.

Imagine yourself talking to your friends rather than taking an exam. This helps you feel more relaxed and speak more naturally in conversations.

If you get nervous easily, try looking at your examiners’ forehead instead of looking at them in the eyes. You can also imagine yourself talking to watermelons (just be careful not to burst out laughing halfway).

4. Don’t be afraid to a sk the oral examiner to repeat the question when in doubt

When you are nervous, you tend to hear extra things or mishear things.

If you didn’t catch the questions your examiners are asking the first time, don’t be afraid to ask them to repeat. You won’t get penalised for it anyway.

Understanding what is being ask helps you answer it better instead of responding wrongly because of your assumption.

5. Take your time to speak when answering the oral questions

Most examiners do not expect you to give an immediate response when a question is being asked. No marks will be deducted if you take your time to pause and organize your thoughts before answering.

Hence, take your time to think and speak during your oral, This will make you appear more confident and you have more time to think about your choice of words and bring your points across more clearly.

How confident are you about your Chinese oral speaking skill?

Now that you’ve learnt all these tips for your Chinese oral exam, don’t forget to u practise them regularly to improve your chinese speaking skills. Let me know how your conversations went.

Follow my blog for updates

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• Comprehension Tips
• Useful Phrases

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9 Chinese Conversation Scripts to Prepare You for Real-world Dialogues

Textbook Chinese dialogues are the worst.

It doesn’t matter how many times you read through the conversations—once you go to a restaurant in China , you’ll likely be thrown for a loop within a sentence or two.

That’s because we can’t predict exactly what someone will say in any given situation.

Think of the Chinese dialogues in this post as guides —you don’t need to memorize them exactly.

Instead, these nine scripts will give you a sense of conversational flow and the kind of questions and responses you might run into in the real world to help prevent you from freezing up.

Let’s begin!

Chinese Conversation Openers

Chinese dialogues to use with anyone, talk about them, talk about the weather, talk about recent activities, talk about work, chinese dialogues for use in your country, talk to a chinese worker, talk to a chinese student, talk to a chinese traveler, chinese dialogues to use in china, talk to a taxi driver, talk to a local, helpful phrases for any chinese conversation, 不好意思 (bù hǎo yī si).

• 对不起 (duì bù qǐ)
• 没听懂 (méi tīng dǒng)
• 不明白 (bù míng bái)
• 不知道什么意思 (bù zhī dào shén me yī si)

Politeness in Basic Chinese Conversation

And one more thing....

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)

Before you start any conversation, you want to make sure that approaching someone in Chinese will not be offensive. People of other Asian nationalities probably won’t appreciate you assuming they’re Chinese.

If you aren’t sure whether the other person is Chinese or not, you can say “Hello” in English along with your 你好 (nǐ hǎo) . Saying 你好 will work for you because you’re foreign, though it’s generally not how Chinese people greet each other .

If you can confirm that someone is Chinese before you start a conversation with them (for example, if you overhear them speaking Chinese), then you can skip the 你好 greeting altogether.

In that case, a much more natural way to start a conversation in Chinese is to state the obvious.

It’s like the way an English speaker might use a rhetorical question, like asking a colleague, “Hey, done with lunch?”—even though it’s clear that the colleague has already finished eating and gone back to work.

So in Chinese, you can try out these neutral conversation starter statements with a friend, a colleague, an acquaintance, your boss or even a stranger!

• 你回来了！ (nǐ huí lái le!) — You’re back!
• 你来了！ (nǐ lái le!) — You made it/You’re here!
• 好久不见！ (hǎo jiǔ bù jiàn!) — Long time no see!
• 吃饭了吧。 (chī fàn le ba.) — You’ve already eaten. (This is similar to asking “I take it you’ve already eaten?” and can be used if you’re meeting up with someone close to a mealtime. It’s also just a polite way to greet someone .)
• 最近很忙吧。 (zuì jìn hěn máng ba.) — [It seems like] You’ve been busy lately.
• 你的新工作已经开始了吧。 (nǐ de xīn gōng zuò yǐ jīng kāi shǐ le ba.)  — So your new job has started.
• 这里的咖啡很好喝。 (zhè lǐ de kā fēi hěn hǎo hē.) — The coffee here is great.
• 今天天气还不错。 (jīn tiān tiān qì hái bù cuò.) — The weather is pretty good today.

These conversations can be used almost anywhere. You’ll have greater success if you can tweak the script to really fit your location and situation, but these base-level interactions will serve you well as is!

For each dialogue, you are person A and your conversation partner is person B.

Who doesn’t like talking about themselves sometimes? Inviting someone to do so is a great way to start a conversation.

The follow script could be a conversation in its own right, or simply the intro to a longer chat. Of course, if you’re in China, you’ll probably be safe skipping the first question.

A: 你是中国人吗？ (nǐ shì zhōng guó rén ma?) Are you from China?

B: 是啊！ (shì ā!) I am!

A: 中国哪里？ (zhōng guó nǎ li?) Where in China are you from?

B: 我是__的。 (wǒ shì __ de.) I’m from __.

A: 在那里有方言吗？ (zài nà li yǒu fāng yán ma?) Is there a dialect in that area?

B: 有。 (yǒu.) There is.

A: 你的母语是普通话吗？ (mǐ de mǔ yǔ shì pú tōng huà ma?) Is Mandarin your mother tongue?

B: 是的 / 不是。 (shì de / bú shì.) It is / No, it’s not.

Note that to answer the question 中国哪里？they may say either a Chinese province or a Chinese city, which you can learn more about here .

To expand on the above conversation (or start a new one—notice the conversation opener below!), you can engage the other person in further questions about their background, hometown or nationality.

Just as in English, these topics are fair game for small talk in the Chinese-speaking world.

A:  今天天气还不错。 (jīn tiān tiān qì hái bù cuò.) The weather is pretty good today.

B:  是啊！ (shì a!) True!

A:  请问，您是哪里人？ (qǐng wèn, nín shì nǎ lǐ rén?) May I ask, where are you from?

B:  我是哈尔滨人。 (wǒ shì hā ‘ěr bīn rén.) I’m from Harbin.

A:  哇， 哈尔滨！那里的天气怎么样？ (wa, hā ‘ěr bīn! nà lǐ de tiān qì zěn me yàng?) Wow, Harbin! What is the weather like there?

B:  哈尔滨的天气非常冷！ (hā ‘ěr bīn de tiān qì fēi cháng lěng!) Harbin’s weather is very cold!

To really be prepared for this conversation, brush up on your Chinese weather vocabulary . You can also practice including information about your own hometown and corresponding weather as well.

Another casual conversation you can have (especially if you really hit it off with someone) is discussing what you or they have been up to.

This also works great if you run into an acquaintance or friend you haven’t see in a while. Here’s a sample dialogue between two old pals:

A:  好久不见！ (hǎo jiǔ bù jiàn!) Long time no see!

B:  是的！ (shì de!) Yeah!

A:  你最近怎么样？ (nǐ zuì jìn zěn me yàng?) How have you been recently?

B:  我最近很忙。你呢？ (wǒ zuì jìn hěn máng. nǐ ne?) I’ve been very busy. What about you?

A:  我也很忙，我每天都在学中文！ (wǒ yě hěn máng, wǒ měi tiān doū zài xué zhōng wén!) I’ve been busy too. I’ve been studying Chinese every day!

B:  能听得出来！你的发音很有进步！ (néng tīng de chū lái! nǐ de fǎ yīn hěn yǒu jìn bù!) I can hear the difference! Your pronunciation has really improved!

An easy continuation of this conversation could be asking them what hobbies they’ve been enjoying in their free time .

If you work with native Chinese speakers, they will probably greatly appreciate you learning their language.

Striking up a casual conversation with Chinese-speaking colleagues is a great way to build camaraderie and language skills.

Before diving into a work-related request or asking for help on a project, try easing into your conversation with a dialogue like this:

A:  你回来了！ (nǐ huí lái le!) You’re back!

B:  回来了！ (huí lái le!) I’m back!

A:  吃饭了吧？ (chī fàn le ba?) You ate already?

B:  吃完了。 (chī wán le.) [Yes,] I ate.

A:  那请问，你现在有空吗？ (nà qǐng wèn, nǐ xiàn zài yǒu kòng ma?) Then may I ask, are you free right now?

B:  有，怎么了？ (yǒu, zěn me le?) Yeah, what’s up?

A:  你可以帮我回一封邮件吗？ (nǐ kě yǐ bāng wǒ huí yī fēng yóu jiàn ma?) Can you help me reply to an email?

B:  可以，没问题！ (kě yǐ, méi wèn tí!) Sure, no problem!

The following few conversations are great to learn because you can ask a lot of the same questions and end up having totally different interactions in each situation.

Don’t forget to start with a basic greeting or quick “get-to-know-you” question first!

Perhaps you’ve bumped into a Chinese speaker out and about in your hometown. You can strike up a chat like this:

A: 你读书还是上班？ (nǐ dú shū hái shi shàng bàn?) Are you studying or working here?

B:  上班。 (shàng bàn.) Working.

A: 你住在这里多久了？ (nǐ zhù zài zhè li duō jiǔ le?) How long have you lived here?

B:  我__年搬到这里了。 (wǒ __ nián bān dào zhè li le.) I moved here in __ [referring to the year].

A: 习惯了吗？ (xí guàn le ma?) Have you gotten used to living here?

B: 习惯了。 (xí guàn le.) [Yeah,] I’ve gotten used to it.

There are, of course, plenty of alternative answers the other person could give in this conversation. For instance, other answers to the question 你住在这里多久了？may include:

• 已经__ 年 了。 (yǐ jīng __  nián le.) — It’s already been __ years .
• 已经__个 月 了。 (yǐ jīng __ gè yuè le.) — It’s already been __ months .
• 就__ 天 了。 (jiǔ __  tiān le.) — It’s only been __ days .
• 我__ 年 来了。 (wǒ __ nián lái le.) — I got here in __ [referring to the year ].

If it was recent enough, they may just tell you the date they arrived.

In Chinese, durations of time are generalized. The only two components you really need for this answer are duration of time (years, months , days , etc.) and numbers (one to 10 generally are good enough).

Another answer to 习惯了吗？could be 还没   (hái méi) — “Not yet.” Or, they might say 不习惯   (bù xí guàn) to mean “Not used to it,” which would usually be said when they’ve given up hope of getting accustomed.

This conversation could start from the same questions as the last one. See where it diverges:

B:  读书。 (dú shū.) Studying.

B:  已经__个月了。 (yǐ jīng __ gè yuè le.) It’s already been __ months.

A: 喜欢这边吗？ (xǐ huān zhè biàn ma?) How do you like it here?

B:  不错！ (bú cuò!) It’s not bad!

A: 你的父母还在中国吗？ (nǐ de fū mǔ hái zài zhōng guó ma?) Are your parents still in China?

B:  还在。 (hái zài.) They are.

Again, there are a range of answer options here, some of which we went over above.

In this example, the student answered 喜欢这边吗？with 不错, meaning “not bad” or “I’m liking it so far.” They could also say:

• 不太喜欢。 (bú tài xǐ huān.) — I don’t like it so much. (As in, “I’m only here because I have to be.”)
• 还可以。 (hái kě yǐ.) — It’s good. (As in, “It’s doable.”)
• 喜欢。 (xǐ huān.) — I like it here. (As in, “Two thumbs up.”)

Next, the answer to 你的父母还在中国吗？could also be 不在 (bú zài) — “They aren’t.”

If the person is older, however, you may not want to ask about their parents for obvious reasons. It would be more appropriate to ask:  你的家人也在这里吗？ (nǐ de jiā rén yě zài zhè li ma?) — “Is your family here, too?”

We started the last two conversations with the same question: 你读书还是上班？

The word  还是 means “or” and creates a sort of multiple choice question for the other person to select one of the two options you’ve presented—in this case, working or studying.

But what if they’re not doing either?

In that case, they’ll likely respond by telling you what they’re doing instead. The most common answer: 旅游 (lǚ yóu) — traveling.

Here’s how you can continue chatting with a Chinese traveler:

A: 你多长时间在这边？ (nǐ duō cháng shí jiān zài zhè li?) How long will you be here?

B:  一共__天。 (yǐ gōng __ tiān.) In total __ days.

A: 你和家人一起旅游吗？ (nǐ hé jiā rén yī qǐ lǚ yóu ma?) Are you traveling with your family?

B: 我一个人旅游。 (wǒ yī gè rén lǚ yóu.) I’m traveling by myself.

A: 喜欢这边的天气吗？ (xǐ huān zhè biàn de tiān qī ma?) How do you like the weather here?

B:  喜欢！ (xǐ huān!) I like it!

A: 你觉得走来走去容不容易？ (nǐ jué de zǒu lái zǒu qù róng bù róng yì?) Do you think it’s easy to get around here?

B:  可以的。 (kě yǐ de.) It’s manageable.

Alternative responses to 你和家人一起旅游吗？might include:

• 和家人一起。 (hé jiā rén yī qǐ.) — [Yes,] I’m with family.
• 我和__。 (wǒ hé __.) — It’s me and __. (Likely a family member or 朋友 [péng yǒu]  — friend.)
• 我出差了。 (wǒ chū chāi le.) — I’m on a business trip.

And did you notice how we changed 喜欢这边吗？to 喜欢这边 的天气 吗？in this dialogue?

Adding this 的 + Noun structure is great for conversations, because it means, “Do you like the __ here?” You can try replacing 天气 with 菜   (cài) — food, or 人 (rén) — people.

The following scripts will help you connect with locals as you travel through China or other Chinese-speaking regions.

Again, remember to start with a greeting or conversation opener!

One of the most reliable conversation partners of any traveler is the curious cabbie.

In China, these drivers are so famously chatty that they’ve inspired entire blog posts  about the full-immersion experience of learning Chinese in taxis!

Here’s how an example conversation could go:

A: 早上好。我要去语言学校。 (zǎo shang hǎo. wǒ yào qù yǔ yán xué xiào.) Good morning. I’m going to the language school.

B: 好。 (hǎo.) OK.

A: 请问，现在几点？ (qǐng wèn, xiàn zài jǐ diǎn?) Excuse me, what is the time now?

B: 差一刻八点。您会说汉语啊？ (chà yī kè bā diǎn. nín huì shuō hàn yǔ a?) It’s a quarter to eight. You can speak Chinese?

A: 我会说一点儿汉语。我现在要去上汉语课了。 (wǒ huì shuō yī diǎn er hàn yǔ. wǒ xiàn zài yào qù shàng hàn yǔ kè le.) I can speak a little Chinese. I’m going to Chinese class right now.

B: 你们几点上课？ (nǐ men jǐ diǎn shàng kè?) What time do you guys have class?

A: 八点上课。师傅，我们八点能到吗？ (bā diǎn shàng kè. shī fù, wǒ men bā diǎn néng dào ma?) We have class at eight o’clock. Driver, can we arrive by eight?

B: 能到。您的汉语很好。 (néng dào. nín de hàn yǔ hěn hǎo.) Yes, we can. Your Chinese is good.

If you’re in an interesting area and want to get chatty, find someone nearby who seems friendly and give it a go!

A: 你是本地人吗？ (nǐ shì běn dì rén ma?) Are you a local?

B:  是的。 (shì de.) I am.

A: 我是__的。你认识过__人吗？ (wǒ shì __ de. nǐ rèn shi guò __ rén ma?) I’m from __. Have you ever met a __ before?

B:  认识过。 (rèn shi guò.) I have.

A: 你去过别的国家吗？ (nǐ qù guò bǐe de guó jiā ma?) Have you been to any other countries?

B: 我去过__。 (wǒ qù guò __.) I’ve been to __.

To say where you’re from, simply fill in the name of your country in Chinese . The name of a country followed by 人 (person) means someone is “a citizen of” said country. For example, 美国 (měi guó) means “America,” and 美国人 (měi guó rén) means “American.”

Other possible answers to “Have you met a __ person before?” might be:

• 我没有。 (wǒ méi yǒu.) — I have not.
• 这是第一次。 (zhè shì dì yī cì.) — This is the first time.
• 你是第一个。 (nǐ shì dì yī gè.) — You’re the first.

If your conversation partner has never left China, they could answer 你去过别的国家吗？with  没去国外   (méi qù guó wài) — “I haven’t been to another country.”

Lastly, if they answer the first question with 不是 (bù shì) , meaning that they’re not a local of the place you’re in, you could also ask them: 你喜欢__吗？ (nǐ xǐ huān __ ma?) — “Do you like [the name of the city or province you’re in]?”

To this they might say some phrases you’ve already learned, like:

• 不太喜欢。 (bú tài xǐ huān.) — I don’t like it that much.
• 还可以。 (hái kě yǐ.) — It’s good/okay.
• 不错。 (bú cuò.) — It’s not bad/pretty good.
• 喜欢。 (xǐ huān.) — I like it here.

Memorizing these common phrases will help you out if any of your conversations go so off-track that you’re having trouble following along or keeping up.

This is most commonly used like “Excuse me” is in English. You can use this phrase to apologize when you don’t understand what the other person is saying.

Of course, try to take the conversation sentence by sentence and not word by word. If you get the gist of what they’re trying to say—roll with it! And if it turns out later that you missed something important, you can apologize then.

(You can also learn the chorus to this song !)

对不起   (duì bù qǐ)

This is how you say “I’m sorry” in Chinese . It carries more weight than 不好意思, so it’s better to save this one for when you need to apologize because you have to chalk up the conversation as a loss (it happens).

Learning to apologize as a Chinese learner is culturally important. Apologizing for not understanding the other person shows that you won’t demand that they come down to your level of Chinese.

It also shows that you want to communicate with them despite your language limitations. An apology can be viewed as both respectful and endearing. After all, it’s not their fault they went “off script!”

没听懂   (méi tīng dǒng)

The literal meaning of this phrase is “Didn’t hear and get it,” which implies that while you did hear what they said, you don’t know what it means. Use 没听懂 when the other person says a word or phrase that you’ve never heard before.

Note that there’s a very similar phrase, 听不懂 (tīng bù dǒng) , that basically means the same thing, but you’d say it as a reason to end a conversation instead of ask for explanation.

不明白   (bù míng bái)

Literally “Don’t understand,” the implied meaning here is “I heard and understood what you said, but I don’t understand your point.”

You can use this phrase if you know the words the other person is saying, but you don’t get the gist of what they’re trying to communicate.

不知道什么意思   (bù zhī dào shén me yī si)

What you’re saying with this phrase is, “I don’t know what [that] means,” as in “I don’t understand what that has to do with what we’re talking about.”

If you understood every word that was said and what those words or phrases mean on their own, but you don’t understand how it fits into the context of the conversation, you can say 不知道什么意思.

To be more specific about what you didn’t understand, you can say:  [word/phrase] 什么意思？ (__ shén me yī si?)  to ask “What does [word/phrase] mean?”

To further hone your conversational prowess, try starting questions with 请问   (qǐng wèn) — “Excuse me” or “Please, may I ask…”

This is a polite way to start a question when speaking with someone you don’t know (or don’t know well), or someone who may hold a respected status—such as a manager, teacher or elderly family member.

In the latter scenario, you can also consider switching any instances of 你   (nǐ) — “you” to 您   (nín) — the honorific form of “you.”

Further, if you find yourself struggling to carry on a conversation, you can try ending responses with 你呢？ (nǐ ne?) — “and you?” Like in English, this can be added onto responses like “I’m doing well” or “I’ve been busy lately” to bounce the question back to your partner.

Most Chinese dialogue scripts follow the same, very basic structure: a greeting, then a Chinese-language-based conversation. Again, the downside of a script is that, in real life, the other person could say anything at any point during the conversation.

You can continue preparing for this by consuming more realistic Chinese content. Movies and television will give you great examples of how native speakers really hold conversations in Chinese.

For help selecting the right video clips to watch, you can try using FluentU , an immersive language learning program . The video clips on this program come from authentic Chinese media, so you’ll learn the language as it’s actually spoken by native speakers.

Review the nine Chinese dialogues in this post and expose yourself to more Chinese conversations, and you’ll feel more and more prepared each time you meet a native Chinese speaker!

If you want to continue learning Chinese with interactive and authentic Chinese content, then you'll love FluentU .

FluentU naturally eases you into learning Chinese language. Native Chinese content comes within reach, and you'll learn Chinese as it's spoken in real life.

FluentU has a wide range of contemporary videos—like dramas, TV shows, commercials and music videos.

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FluentU brings these native Chinese videos within reach via interactive captions. You can tap on any word to instantly look it up. All words have carefully written definitions and examples that will help you understand how a word is used. Tap to add words you'd like to review to a vocab list.

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• Cambridge Dictionary +Plus

Translation of presentation – English–Traditional Chinese dictionary

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presentation noun ( EVENT )

• The presentation was a collaborative effort by all the children in the class .
• The charity invited the press to a presentation of its plans for the future .
• The magazine asked its readers to send in their comments about the new style of presentation.
• Jenny's retiring and I think there's going to be a small presentation this afternoon .
• Graduates must be in full academic dress at the presentation of certificates .

presentation noun ( APPEARANCE )

(Translation of presentation from the Cambridge English-Chinese (Traditional) Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Examples of presentation

Translations of presentation.

Get a quick, free translation!

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kick something into the long grass

to delay dealing with something, especially because you want people to forget about it

Like a bull in a china shop: talking about people who are clumsy

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Anxiety and enjoyment in oral presentations: a mixed-method study into Chinese EFL learners’ oral presentation performance

Xixin Ding and Min Chen are postgraduate students in Guangdong University of Foreign Studies (GDUFS). Xixin Ding is interested in second language writing and the xu -based language teaching. Min Chen has participated in a project of Scientific and Technological Innovation Program in Guangdong Province. She also managed to co-edit a textbook for Business English reading. Min Chen shows interests in second language acquisition and xu -based approaches to language learning. Qi Xu is a professor in School of English for International Business, GDUFS. She holds a PhD in applied linguistics from The Chinese University of Hong Kong. Her research interests include second language acquisition, xu -based approaches to language learning, and corpus linguistics. Her works has appeared in TESOL Quarterly , System , Computer Assisted Language Learning , Journal of Computer Assisted Learning , etc.

Despite the prevalence of emotion-centered studies in foreign language classrooms, there are scant studies focusing on one specific task, the oral presentation task. This research utilized questionnaires to measure 25 Chinese Business-English major sophomores’ Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety (FLCA) and Foreign Language Enjoyment (FLE) in a group oral presentation task. It aimed to unveil the relationships between FLCA/FLE and oral presentation performance, and to dig out factors affecting FLCA and FLE in oral presentations through self-reflective journals. It was reported that most participants generally enjoyed delivering oral presentations rather than felt anxious. Participants exhibited better performance in the content of their presentations as opposed to the delivery manner. Unlike the limited influence of FLE on oral presentations, FLCA showed significant negative correlations with overall presentation performance, particularly in participants’ vocal delivery, enthusiasm, and eye contact. Qualitative data revealed that participants’ FLCA and FLE in oral presentations were predominantly influenced by personal and peer-related factors. Based on the major findings, pedagogical suggestions were put forward to enhance learners’ oral presentation skills and promote academic oracy in higher education.

Funding source: National Social Science Fund of China

Award Identifier / Grant number: 21CYY015

About the authors

Acknowledgments.

The authors would like to express their gratitude to the anonymous reviewers for their valuable suggestions that helped improve this manuscript. They also extend their thanks to the students who took part in the study. This research was supported by the National Social Science Foundation of China (21CYY015) and the Xu Lab at Guangdong University of Foreign Studies.

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Self- and Peer Assessment of Oral Presentation in Advanced Chinese Classrooms: An Exploratory Study

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Self- and peer assessment allows students to play a greater role in the assessment process. Twenty-one non-heritage undergraduate students who took the Advanced Chinese course at Duke University were involved in a project on self- and peer assessment of oral presentations. The project included rubric designing, training, practice, observation, evaluation, discussion, survey, and feedback. The assessment components were designed by the instructor and the students collaboratively during the first week of the course. They included content and organization of presentation, vocabulary and grammar, fluency and voice, accuracy of pronunciation, posture, and support. In addition to scoring for each of these components, the students were also asked to provide written comments on their own presentation and those of their peers. Self-, peer, and instructor assessments were analyzed and compared quantitatively and qualitatively. The results showed that the practice and discussion in the training session had a positive effect on the accuracy of students’ self- and peer assessment. Over 90% of the students liked participating in the assessment process and thought the self- and peer assessment conducive to their Chinese language learning. This study highlights the potential pedagogical benefits of involving students in assessment at both the cognitive and affective levels.

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The research described in this paper was conducted when I worked at Department of Asian and Middle East Studies, Duke University.

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Wang, D. (2017). Self- and Peer Assessment of Oral Presentation in Advanced Chinese Classrooms: An Exploratory Study. In: Zhang, D., Lin, CH. (eds) Chinese as a Second Language Assessment. Chinese Language Learning Sciences. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-4089-4_13

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