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How to Draw Attention
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芳芳 -

When asking for information, i've been taught to say "请问", but i don't really know if it is
used a lot or more a laowai thing...



Quote:

En français, on peut dire aussi: "Choque!" [spelling?]

"Hey!" works just fine in Chinese too. I hear it often but am not sure if there's a character that
corresponds to it. In some circumstances, like "Choque," Mandarin can use also: "小心!"

Well, never heard that before, french being my motherthongue. I tried to find something with a
closed pronunciation but it didn't come. Did you heard that in Canada maybe? Which was the context?



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HashiriKata -

"How to Draw Attention" in itself is too wide in meaning and can therefore suggest very different
things in Chinese (小心! 师傅!不好意思!请问! etc.) . It should therefore be something
more specific like "drawing attention for what purpose" that we may get more precise Chinese
expressions for it.










dan ni er -

请问， 麻烦您问一下

is fine to get someone's attention to ask them a question










Long Zhiren -



Quote:

Well, never heard that [choque!] before, french being my motherthongue. I tried to find something
with a closed pronunciation but it didn't come. Did you heard that in Canada maybe? Which was the
context?

Somewhere in France, probably Paris. Somebody's walking along and about to run into someone else.
The someone else says "Choque!"










芳芳 -

Thanks Da ni er.

For Long Zhiren:


Quote:

Somewhere in France, probably Paris. Somebody's walking along and about to run into someone else.
The someone else says "Choque!"

Ah, then maybe this person was anticipating on the shock between the two persons, and then said
aloud what would happen if they continue... But it is not something that is said to draw attention
before an accident, this is more specific to this guy at that time (and quite curious).

For efficiently drawing attention to prevent an accident i recommend a good "attention".










melas -

"bu hao yi si" (不好意思), as "Excuse me", can often be heard in southern china, and i guess
it's possibly the influence of Taiwan and Hong Kong culture.

Customer:　誒，不好意思！（hey, excuse me)
Waiter: 不好意思，要你久候 (sorry to take you wait so long)










Fun123 -



Quote:

RicoRico
i would try "lao jia". i think this is what you'd say to get attention in those situations. I'm
pretty sure this isn't very rude too

"劳驾" is polite, but if used in southern China, it may be considered somewhat strange. So is
"您" in southern China. On the other hand, 不好意思 works just well in "粤" culture. I think
using 不好意思 in Hongkong, Guangdong and Guangxi will have no problem.



Quote:

Yuchi
喂 (wèi) and 诶 (èi) comes to mind, use it as you would "hey!".

If being used to a friend, that's fine. However, when applying to a stranger, it will be
considered rude. As a Chinese, I will definitely not answer those stranger who call me 喂. But
since you are foreigner, people may not be mad at you.










RobAnt -



Quote:

what draws my attention is Tataa you use, it's typical British English, right? i first heard of it
in my English class, and it reminds me of my teacher...

tatar or tataa or taraa (depends on where you come from) is adultified baby talk, meaning
"goodbye" - but yes, British English or rather English English!!!
There doesn't seem to be any generally agreed spelling, though.

There is a discussion on this forum. http://wordwizard.com/ch_forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=5638










RobAnt -

The very first two words Pimsleur teaches you is "对不起, 请问," .(Duìbuqĭ, qĭngwèn)
Which, according to them, means "excuse me, please may I ask".

That would work in most situations, wouldn't it?










heifeng -

Vendors:
Usually my Chinese friends just yell out " 嘿"~! to get their attention then ask their question.
Strangers on the street:
Maybe start off with 阿姨 or whatever title is appropriate then just ask what you need to ask
and thank them at the end.












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