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Business Chinese for Beginners Season 1 Lesson 17 - Asking for a Day Off in China
INTRODUCTION
Michael: Hi everyone, and welcome back to ChineseClass101.com. This is Business Chinese for Beginners Season 1 Lesson 17 - Asking for a Day Off in China. Michael here.
Dehua: 大家好!(Dàjiā hǎo!) I'm Dehua.
Michael: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to ask for a day off. The conversation takes place at an office.
Dehua: It's between Monica and her secretary.
Michael: The conversation involves a formal request to a manager; therefore they will use formal Chinese. Ok, let’s listen to the conversation.
DIALOGUE
秘书: 王小姐,我想拜托你一件事。
(mìshū: Wáng xiǎojiě, wǒ xiǎng bàituō nǐ yī jiàn shì.)
王芳: 是什么事?
(Wáng Fāng: Shì shénme shì?)
秘书: 我下个星期要去银行,我想请假一天。
(mìshū: Wǒ xià gè xīngqī yào qù yínháng, wǒ xiǎng qǐngjià yītiān.)
王芳: 哪天?
(Wáng Fāng: Nǎ tiān?)
秘书: 最好是星期四。
(mìshū: Zuì hǎo shì xīngqīsì.)
王芳: 好,明白。发一通电邮给人力资源部,说我批准了。
(Wáng Fāng: Hǎo, míngbai. Fā yītòng diànyóu gěi rénlì zīyuán bù, shuō wǒ pīzhǔnle.)
秘书: 谢谢,知道了。
(mìshū: Xièxiè, zhīdàole.)
Michael: Listen to the conversation one time slowly.
秘书: 王小姐,我想拜托你一件事。
(mìshū: Wáng xiǎojiě, wǒ xiǎng bàituō nǐ yī jiàn shì.)
王芳: 是什么事?
(Wáng Fāng: Shì shénme shì?)
秘书: 我下个星期要去银行,我想请假一天。
(mìshū: Wǒ xià gè xīngqī yào qù yínháng, wǒ xiǎng qǐngjià yītiān.)
王芳: 哪天?
(Wáng Fāng: Nǎ tiān?)
秘书: 最好是星期四。
(mìshū: Zuì hǎo shì xīngqīsì.)
王芳: 好,明白。发一通电邮给人力资源部,说我批准了。
(Wáng Fāng: Hǎo, míngbai. Fā yītòng diànyóu gěi rénlì zīyuán bù, shuō wǒ pīzhǔnle.)
秘书: 谢谢,知道了。
(mìshū: Xièxiè, zhīdàole.)
Michael: Listen to the conversation with the English translation
秘书: 王小姐,我想拜托你一件事。
(mìshū: Wáng xiǎojiě, wǒ xiǎng bàituō nǐ yī jiàn shì.)
Secretary: "Ms. Wang, I have a favor to ask."
王芳: 是,什么事?
(Wáng Fāng: Shì, shénme shì?)
Monica: "Yes?"
秘书: 我下个星期要去银行,我想请假一天。
(mìshū: Wǒ xià gè xīngqī yào qù yínháng, wǒ xiǎng qǐngjià yītiān.)
Secretary: "I have to go to the bank next week, and I need a day off."
王芳: 哪天?
(Wáng Fāng: Nǎ tiān?)
Monica: "What day are we talking about?"
秘书: 最好是星期四。
(mìshū: Zuì hǎo shì xīngqīsì.)
Secretary: "Thursday would be the best."
王芳: 好,明白。发一通电邮给人力资源部,说我批准了。
(Wáng Fāng: Hǎo, míngbai. Fā yītòng diànyóu gěi rénlì zīyuán bù, shuō wǒ pīzhǔnle.)
Monica: "Sure, I understand. Please send an email to the HR Department. And please tell them that I'm okay with it."
秘书: 谢谢,知道了。
(mìshū: Xièxiè, zhīdàole.)
Secretary: "Thank you, I will do so."
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
Michael: In the conversation this time, the secretary needed a day off to go to the bank.
Dehua: Thankfully, Monica allowed it.
Michael: Do employees in China get much time off?
Dehua: Yes, they get five days of 年休假 (nián xiūjià).
Michael: "Paid annual leave." Is it always five days?
Dehua: It goes up if you’ve been at the company longer.
Michael: Okay. Do employees get sick leave?
Dehua: No. Some companies may give a couple of days a month, though.
Michael: How do we say "sick leave" in Chinese?
Dehua: 病假(bìngjià). You need to show a medical certificate if you are sick.
Michael: Is there maternity leave?
Dehua: Mothers can have 90 to 120 days of 产假 (chǎnjià).
Michael: "Maternity leave." Okay, now onto the vocabulary.
VOCAB LIST
Michael: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is…
Dehua: 拜托(bàituō) [natural native speed]
Michael: "to request somebody to do something"
Dehua: 拜托(bàituō)[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Dehua: 拜托(bàituō) [natural native speed]
Michael: Next we have…
Dehua: 银行(yínháng) [natural native speed]
Michael: "bank"
Dehua: 银行(yínháng)[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Dehua: 银行(yínháng) [natural native speed]
Michael: Next we have…
Dehua: 哪天(nǎ tiān) [natural native speed]
Michael: "which day; some day"
Dehua: 哪天(nǎ tiān)[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Dehua: 哪天(nǎ tiān) [natural native speed]
Michael: Next we have…
Dehua: 明白(míngbái) [natural native speed]
Michael: "to understand"
Dehua: 明白(míngbái)[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Dehua: 明白(míngbái) [natural native speed]
Michael: Next we have…
Dehua: 人力资源(rénlì zīyuán) [natural native speed]
Michael: "human resources"
Dehua: 人力资源(rénlì zīyuán)[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Dehua: 人力资源(rénlì zīyuán) [natural native speed]
Michael: Next we have…
Dehua: 批准(pīzhǔn) [natural native speed]
Michael: "to approve"
Dehua: 批准(pīzhǔn)[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Dehua: 批准(pīzhǔn) [natural native speed]
Michael: Next we have…
Dehua: 知道(zhīdào) [natural native speed]
Michael: "to know; to acknowledge"
Dehua: 知道(zhīdào)[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Dehua: 知道(zhīdào) [natural native speed]
Michael: And last, we have…
Dehua: 请假(qǐngjià) [natural native speed]
Michael: "to take a day off"
Dehua: 请假(qǐngjià)[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Dehua: 请假(qǐngjià) [natural native speed]
KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES
Michael: Let's have a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first phrase is…
Dehua: 请假三天(qǐngjià sān tiān),
Michael: meaning "to take three days off."
Michael: This is the first phrase for this lesson.
Dehua: First is 请假(qǐngjià).
Michael: It means "to take time off." Next is "three."
Dehua: 三(sān). Finally is 天(tiān).
Michael: "Days." If you want to take a day off from work, you can tell your boss that you want to apply for a holiday by saying;
Dehua: 请假(qǐngjià). You can then put the number of days afterwards.
Michael: Can you give us an example using this phrase?
Dehua: Sure. For example, you can say 我想请假三天去旅行。(Wǒ xiǎng qǐngjià sān tiān qù lǚxíng.)
Michael: This means "I want to get three days off for travelling."
Michael: Okay, what's the next phrase?
Dehua: 发电邮给人力资源部 (fā diànyóu gěi rénlì zīyuán bù),
Michael: meaning "send an email to the HR department."
Michael: This is our final phrase for this lesson.
Dehua: First is 电邮(diànyóu),
Michael: "email; to send an email to." Next is "to give to."
Dehua: 给(gěi). After this is 人力资源(rénlì zīyuán) and 部(bù)
Michael: "Human resources" and "department," respectively. “To receive an email” is
Dehua: 查收电邮 (cháshōu diànyóu)
Michael: Can you give us an example using this phrase?
Dehua: Sure. For example, you can say 你可以发电邮给人力资源部查詢任何問題。(Nǐ kěyǐ fā diànyóu gěi rénlì zīyuán bù cháxún rènhé wèntí.)
Michael: "You can email the HR department to ask any question."
Michael: Okay, now onto the lesson focus.

Lesson focus

Michael: In this lesson, you'll learn about asking for a day off. When asking for a day off, you might need to phrase it as a favor. How should we approach someone for a favor?
Dehua: You should call them by their name and tell them you need a favor.
Michael: Then you can use formal language to make your request and state the reason for it. For example, the secretary begins her request with
Dehua: 王小姐,我想拜托你一件事。(Wáng xiǎojiě, wǒ xiǎng bàituō nǐ yī jiàn shì.)
Michael: "Ms. Wang, I have a favor to ask." The pattern is
Dehua: [NAME],我想拜託你一件事。([NAME], wǒ xiǎng bàituō nǐ yī jiàn shì.)
Michael: "[NAME], I have a favor to ask." Dehua, can you give us a couple of examples?
Dehua: Sure! Mark,我想拜托你一件事。(Mark, wǒ xiǎng bàituō nǐ yī jiàn shì.)
Michael: "Mark, I have a favor to ask."
Dehua: Mary,不好意思,你现在有空吗?想拜托你帮我打一通电话。(Mary, bùhǎoyìsi, nǐ xiànzài yǒu kòng ma? Xiǎng bàituō nǐ bāng wǒ dǎ yī tōng diànhuà.)
Michael: "Mary, excuse me, do you have time now? May I ask you to make a phone call for me?" Before you do ask for a favor, it’s polite to see if they have time to speak to you.
Dehua: 不好意思,你现在有空吗?(Bùhǎoyìsi, nǐ xiànzài yǒu kòng ma?)
Michael: "Excuse me, do you have time now?" Next, let’s look at some reasons why you may need the time off.
Dehua: 我要去做体检。(Wǒ yào qù zuò tǐjiǎn.)
Michael: "I need to get a medical examination."
Dehua: 我有点不适。(Wǒ yǒudiǎn bùshì.)
Michael: "I am feeling a bit sick."
Dehua: 我儿子病了。(Wǒ érzi bìng le.)
Michael: "My son is sick."
Dehua: 我家里有事。(Wǒ jiā li yǒushì.)
Michael: "I have to handle some family issues." Let’s hear one final example.
Dehua: 我哥哥下个礼拜结婚,我想请假出席他的婚礼。(Wǒ gēge xià gè lǐbài jiéhūn, wǒ xiǎng qǐngjià chūxí tā de hūnlǐ.)
Michael: "My brother is getting married next week; I want to take time off to attend his wedding."

Outro

Michael: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye!
Dehua: 再见!(Zàijiàn!)

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