Learn how to ask for a day off
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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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