Learn Chinese - A Cold And A Red Pen

Here is an amusing story (well sort of) that happened a few days ago.

I currently have a cold, or as you'd say in Chinese: Wǒ gǎnmào le (我感冒了). It's a very heavy cold and as a result, I have a red nose.

Seeing this, my wife said to my daughter "Bàba yǒu hóng bízi" (爸爸有红鼻子) or "Daddy has a red nose". I replied "What, I have a red pen?" (in English).

Of course, I know the difference between bí (鼻) and bǐ (笔), but this caused my daughter great merriment. Not particularly great humour, but it's a nice feeling to be able to make even a bad joke in Chinese.

For a little more value, here are some other illness related phrases, which I've found useful on occasion, when living in China. You'll find most of these in your Chinese phrasebook, but it's worth learning the basics for those occasions when you don't have the phrasebook at hand (or are too sick to read it!):

English	Pinyin	Chinese Characters
Where's the hospital?	yīyuàn zàinǎ	医院在那
I need a doctor	Wǒ děi jiàn dàifu	我得见大夫
I have a cold	Wǒ gǎn mào le	我感冒了
I have been vomiting	Wǒ yīzhí zài tù	我一直在土
I have diarrhoea	Wǒ xièdùzi	我写肚子
I have a headache	Wǒ tóuténg le	我头疼了

I've used all of these at times.

But really, if you're sick, the best thing to do is find someone who can speak Chinese well to translate for you. It's not the best time to be practicing your Chinese!

Any conversation with a doctor or hospital staff is likely to go far beyond what's written here (or for that matter in most phrasebooks).

Key phrases: you hong bizi, yiyuan zaina, wo dei jian daifu, wo ganmao le, wo yizhi zai tu, wo xieduzi, wo touteng le