# Chinese/Bengali: Hello, Welcome, Greeting



## VenusEnvy

Hello to everyone!  I am teaching an ESL class and two of my students are from China and Bangladesh. I would like to begin the class by welcoming them in their own languages. 

I would like to know how to say _Hello_ and _Welcome to class_ in Chinese and Bengali. I would like to know how to write them and how to pronounce them.

I'm sure there are different dialects of Chinese and Bengali, but I do not know what parts of the country my students are from. On their papers, it only said "China" and "Bangladesh", nothing more.

Also, how do people greet each other in China and Bangladesh? With a hug? A kiss? A handshake?

Thank you all so much!


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## cirrus

With Bengali/ Sylheti the useful all purpose Assalaam Aleikum will do the trick.


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## VenusEnvy

cirrus said:


> With Bengali/ Sylheti the useful all purpose Assalaam Aleikum will do the trick.



Thanks a bunch, cirrus! I had no idea you knew Bengali!

How is it written? Just like that? That is, do they use a different set of symbols/letters?


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## cirrus

I don't, it's just that it is spoken by 15% of the people around me. Bengali is written in a script which looks very pretty. I am not that certain that Sylheti is written that much. What we find here is that many people who speak Sylheti don't actually read it, so I can't advise you any more.

Assalaam Aleikum is a straight loan from Arabic but used well beyond the Arab world, pretty much anyone who is muslim would use it.

Have a look at this link for info on the script. Some street names in the next borough are written in it, they have done this both to bolster local pride and market it to tourists.


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## Thomas F. O'Gara

Chinese can be surprisingly brief and matter of fact in the matter of greetings.  The commonest greeting is probably "_____" xiansheng hao ma? (pronounced "syenshung how mah" - the only really important tone is on "hao", which starts low and goes up).  It means simply "is Mr.______ good?"  "Miss" is _xiaojie _(pronounced see-yow jay", more or less).  Another common greeting around midday is "chi fan le ma?" (chir fahn luh ma - pronounce fan with a sharp falling tone) - it means "Have you eaten yet?"  Note that it is not an invitation to lunch.

Chinese used to be more elaborate in the matters of greeting and introduction, but these have tended to disappear, especially since 1949.


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## linguist786

Well, I suppose I might as well put my first few Chinese lessons into good use by posting on this thread. I would like comments on my pronunciation  (will add in a sec)

你好吗?
Ni hao ma?
How are you?

(response: "Wo hen hao")

欢迎!
huānyíng!
Welcome!

As for the *Bengali*:

Hello = "nomoshkaar" (pronounced just like that)
How are you? = "kemon achho?" (you must pronounced the "chh" aspirated - Just like in "chocolate")
Welcome = "shagatom" (pronounced like that - with the _a's_ like in "apple")


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## Whodunit

In Begali, it is worth noting that you must know whether the person is Muslim or Hindu. Hindu people use _nomoshkar_ (नमस्कार), and Muslims prefer _assalamu alaykum_ (sorry, I don't want to make a false attempt at writing it in Bengali script).


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## Easychan

When two Chinese people meet each other the first time, we would shake hands and greet each other. we would say "你好"( Hi/ Hello) or " 你好吗"(how are you)."你"sounds like "need' in English ."好" sounds like /hau/ in English."吗"sounds like /ma:/. of course.chinese has four tones .but I don't know how to type.


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## panjabigator

Pronounce the /namoskaar/ like /nomoshkaar/.  That is how it sounds (to me) in Bengali.


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## Khrushchev

Easychan said:


> When two Chinese people meet each other the first time, we would shake hands and greet each other. we would say "你好"( Hi/ Hello) or " 你好吗"(how are you)."你"sounds like "need' in English ."好" sounds like /hau/ in English."吗"sounds like /ma:/. of course.chinese has four tones .but I don't know how to type.


 
Exactly "好" should prounce as /haau/ (or hǎu)
"吗"  should be /ma/ with a very soft/light/quick sound.


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## jeswestwood

hi,i'm chinese.In China,when people meet each other the first time,we never give a kiss,just shake hands.And say 你好(ni hao=how are you?).
Maybe ur chinese student will give a kiss,beacuse he o she think it's a manner of greeting in ur country,he o she  has to learn it.That's the comon idea of chinese who learn english o other  western language.My english is not very good,i hope u can understand what i mean.Thanks


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## linguist786

Whodunit said:


> In Begali, it is worth noting that you must know whether the person is Muslim or Hindu. Hindu people use _nomoshkar_ (नमस्कार), and Muslims prefer _assalamu alaykum_ (sorry, I don't want to make a false attempt at writing it in Bengali script).





panjabigator said:


> Pronounce the /namoskaar/ like /nomoshkaar/. That is how it sounds (to me) in Bengali.


 
Nomoshkaar = নমস্কার
Assalamu alaykum = অস্সলামু অলযকুম


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