Xiao Liu is my driver and currently one of my best sources for learning Chinese.   He speaks less English than I do Chinese, which is noteworthy, so our conversations are basic.   But, he is excited to learn new English phrases.   Here’s how our conversations work.   I come out of my apartment early in the morning, while the Tai Chi and swordsmen are practicing, and see Xiao Liu standing by the car with a big smile on his face.   I say “Zha jiang hao” to him and he replies “Good morning”.   Then we set off for the office, which is maybe 10-12 minutes away.   I try my latest phrases on him to see if he understands.   Many times he doesn’t so I have to either try to remember the exact tonal pronunciations or I consult a piece of paper that I always carry with me with the saying written down in PinYin (sort of phonetic English equivalent).

For example, one day he said to me, “Han do ren!”   I understood “ren” which is “person” but I wasn’t sure what the rest meant.   So, I went into work and asked some folks what “Han do ren” meant.   “Oh oh!!   ‘Many people’!!!”   OK, so now, I’ve learned the word for “many”.   So, the next morning when I see a swarm of people on bikes, I tried to get a little fancy by saying, “Han do ren qu gong si” or (roughly) “Many people are going to the office”.   So, Xiao Liu, as he is wont to do, erupts in laughter at my new sentence and tells me “Bery Goood!   Bery Goood!”   So, almost every morning, when we see the bikers, Xiao Liu almost always says that.   Funny.
Hen do ren (actually snapped after a big crowd on bikes just passed by):

Here’s a similar story, one of my managers came down from Redmond.   He doesn’t really speak any Chinese so I was worried when Xiao Liu dropped him off at the hotel, because Brien was supposed to tell him what time to pick him up.   Well, it just so worked out that I had taught Xiao Liu how to say “8 o’clock” which was the exact time that Brien had asked to be picked up.

I went to Wal-Mart after work one day to pick up some new earphones for my iPod.   Xiao Liu drove me there.   I tried to tell him to wait for me, but he wanted to come in.   I understood what he was saying and said, “Yes!”.   I was glad to have the company.   Xiao Liu insisted on carrying my backpack for me.

Xiao Liu and car: