profession | inMountains Mandarin Course

nihao Hello. Today we are going to learn how to ask about occupation and profession, which is 职业 /zhiYe. Please repeat after me and try to remember the words, listen a few times as this conversation is long. My name is Julian Luo, I am recording this lesson in a village called The Great Slope, which is very close to mountains, that’s why I call my mandarin course inMountains mandarin course.

The conversation below is between two persons who do not know each other. This is Lesson 21. Now listen to me carefully.

nin[you] 您【 neen 】
【Shi[are] 是】【 Shir 】
Zuo[do] 做 shenme[what] 什么【 Dswar shenmuh 】
【de? 的】 [d?]

[Shi…de is a structure applied to emphasize the content in between these two words. It is often used when we talk about profession/job.]

What is the difference between the word [nin] and [ni], which both means [you]? The difference is [nin] is a more respectful word. You only call somebody [nin] when he or she is older than you. When a young man/girl call a senior person, typically we say [nin].

— wo 我【 war 】
Shi[I am] 是【 Shir 】
Ge 个【 Gher 】Ge is a unit word for person, it is short for yiGe/one, and the word (yi) is omitted.
laoshi[teacher]. 老师【 laoshir 】
———-
lao actually means old. shi is a traditional way of calling a teacher. While laoshi is a modern word for teacher. This is probably because when this word was invented about over a thousand years ago, the teachers tend to be old men.
———-
nin[you] 您【 neen 】
ne[a question particle]? 呢【 ner 】