English-Chinese phrasebook for tourists

A Chinese phrasebook with pronunciation will undoubtedly be a valuable companion during your travels, and the more comprehensive it is, the better. It's a good practice to carry it with you wherever you go, as it can greatly facilitate navigating this vast and diverse country. When choosing an English-Chinese phrasebook, it's advisable to opt for one that includes characters, even though it may seem daunting. Chinese uses an extensive hieroglyphic alphabet, consisting of 40,000 to 70,000 characters. Many of these characters form words that look similar but have different meanings depending on pronunciation.

Nevertheless, a Chinese phrasebook will help you haggle in the market, Chinese people might appreciate your poor knowledge and take advantage of it, so use the phrasebook with confidence. We have collected a small number of useful phrases in Chinese for you so that you have a base for mutual understanding at hand.

Even if you learn the words and phrases, there is no guarantee that you have memorized them correctly. And what you pronounce will almost certainly be untranslatable for the Chinese themselves. In the best case, they might guess what you mean, in the worst case, they might misunderstand you completely.

Without setting global goals, one can master a basic set of phrases for elementary communication and then adjust the pronunciation once in China.

We advise you to print out this guide and point to the necessary word when needed. In any situation and whatever happens, learn to pronounce the word "budun," which means "I don't understand." It will help avoid many conflicts, as the Chinese humorously treat those who "do not understand" and are ready to help.