Heading To Taiwan?!

[Fan Qing Yu]

Hello everyone. Long-time lurker first time poster. After taking two years of high school Chinese (which I believe is only about a half of a normal Chinese101) I'm taking a month trip to Taiwan to stay with my roomate's family. I mention that I've taken a little bit of conversational mandarin because the family that I will be with has only one member that speaks a word of English. That person being a child still in grammar school. So I was wondering if anyone has any advice to give me about travelling to such a foreign country. I spent some time in Vietnam last year, and I'm wondering if their thoughts on what is acceptable and what is not are similar. So before I babble on, does anyone have anything to say?

[klortho]

I recommend getting the Lonely Planet phrasebook, and learn some basic phrases. Especially useful would be to try to remember some polite phrases to say in various situations. For example, if someone gives you a compliment, say "哪里, 哪里 (nǎli, nǎli)". Also, this one is very useful, and maybe almost excessively polite: "我给你添了不少麻烦 (wǒ gěi nǐ tiānle bù shǎo máfan)". It means "I'm giving you lots of trouble." I'm sure other people can recommend others.

[Redact207]

do people still use "nali nali" anymore? I thought this was pretty old fashioned. Still, they'll appreciate the sentiment. I agree that phrase books are a good idea, albeit it you learn to robotically say things. Ultimately, it's what you do, not what you say that'll make the most impact. Do as the masses, use your common sense, and enjoy yourself!

[roddy]

nali nali is still used - I wouldn't say it's old fashioned, but as it's used to 'knock back' a compliment it tends to be used it relatively formal situations or when you are meeting new people.

[Quest]

It means "I'm giving you lots of trouble."

I've given you.