Welcome to the Hills Learning multi-part series on business idioms. Each week we’ll be covering 5 business idioms in alphabetical order and giving you the definition and some example sentences.

If you’re an intermediate English speaker and feel confident about your English skills then you can go ahead and try using these idioms at work, or you can just use this list as a reference.

Practice active listening and listen for these idioms at the office or on the news. Some of the idioms will also appear in newspapers as well.

To Cut Back

Definition:

“To use fewer or less of something, or to cut spending”

Example Sentence:

The company was forced to lay off workers in order to cut back on labor costs.

Meaning: The Company’s labor costs were too high, so it had to lay off workers to save money.

To Deliver the Goods

Definition:

“To fulfill goals and expectations, usually in the context of a job or project.”

Example Sentence:

We took a chance hiring a new contractor for the project but they really delivered the goods.

Meaning: The new contractor did what was expected of them on the new project, they met expectations.

To Double-Check (Something)

Definition:

“To check something again to confirm that it is correct”

Example Sentence:

The bookkeeper double-checked his numbers on quarterly profits before giving them to the accountant.

Meaning: The bookkeeper checked his numbers again (one more time) before giving them to the accountant.

To Draw up a Contract

Definition:

“To make a contract”

Example Sentence:

A large part of the lawyer’s job is spent drawing up contracts.

Meaning: The lawyer spends a lot of time making contracts.

The Face Value (Of Something)

Definition:

“The official or original value of something.”

Example Sentence:

The face value of the coin was very small, but because it was so old, it sold at auction for a large amount of money.

Meaning: The original value of the coin was low but it sold at auction for a lot of money.

I’m on the tail end of a business trip in Portland, my first visit to the state of Oregon.  Being located on the West Coast I had assumed there would be significant Japan connections, and was happy to find that I was right.  One of the first places I went to was the Japanese Gardens, proclaimed to be the “most authentic Japanese garden outside of Japan.”  The 5.5 acre grounds are sprawling, and include natural gardens, sand and stone gardens, and a tea garden.  The timing of our visit was great, as they were having a special Isamu Noguchi exhibition as part of their “Art in the Garden” series (through July 21).  It was neat to see some of Noguchi’s pieces, on loan from his LIC museum, juxtaposed against the backdrop of the Portland skyline.

I also found a Japan connection when I checked out the local Rogue Brewery one night.  One of their many offerings was the Morimoto Black Obi Soba ale, a richer and nuttier version of the brewery’s original Morimoto Soba Ale.  They also feature a Morimoto Imperial Pilsner, which is golden in color, floral in taste, and described as a “hedonistic mouthful.”  All three are part of the 2003 Morimoto Signature Series, a collaboration between Rogue and Chef Masaharu Morimoto.  I only got to drink the Black Obi as there were other types of beer I also wanted to sample, but it was good enough to make me want to go back and try the other Morimoto varieties next time.

As expected, Portland has deep ties to the Japanese American community.  One of the main highways is named after the late Bill Naito, who was a business leader and philanthropist in the city.  In addition,  there is a Japanese American Historical Plaza that commemorates “the hardships suffered by Japanese immigrants and the indignities imposed by the incarceration of persons of Japanese ancestry during World War II.”  The waterfront location was selected as it is where the pre-war Nihon Machi (Japan Town) was located.  I didn’t have a chance to get there during this trip, but plan to make it there on my next one.

1. Flash Card

l  Fun Chinese (Listening practice)  Recommend: Yes ★★★

           (

Fun Chinese provides several different games in every topic for learning Chinese.

Memory game: matching the color in a different box.

Bubble game: eliminating color bubbles according to instructions.

Word bounce: matching colors according to characters.

2. Kids Mandarin

l  KidsMandarin  Recommend: Yes ★★

KidsMandarin gives pinyin, characters and English translation. Students are expected to read out loud the numbers in Mandarin and then write the numbers.  Only when you repeat the word correctly can you move to the next one.

3. Survival Mandarin (adults)

l  My Chinese Library  Recommend: Yes ★★★

Five topics：At the airport, At the hotel, Meeting new people, Taking a taxi, and Travel destinations in China. There are 222 sentences total. Every sentence comes with Pinyin, English translation, and an audio track.

 My Chinese Library                Learn Chinese

l  Learn Chinese   Recommend: Yes ★★

Mainly for survival Chinese phrase and sentences. Sentences are in English, click to reveal pinyin and the character.

4. Pinyin

Pinyin chart    Recommend: Yes ★★★★

The app gives a pinyin chart with all the possible combinations in Mandarin. For example, if you click fa, 5 choices will show up: fa,fā, fá, fǎ, fà. You can click to hear the difference in tones.

Pinyin chart           

5. Character Writing

l  Writer       Recommend: Yes ★★★★★

The game is a Chinese Russian block game. Characters are falling from the top. Students need to click on the character and write it in the right stroke order to eliminate the character. When the character appears, the app reads it, and gives an English translation at the top. The best of Writer  is you can create your own character list to practice what you have learnt.

l  Art Chinese       Recommend: Yes ★★★

Art Chinese focuses more on telling the story of each character. It introduces the development of the character alongside the pronunciation, stroke order and word phrases.

6. Dictionary                 

l  Eudic欧路词典      Recommend: Yes ★★★★

When you type in one character in the Eudic dictionary, it will provide a variety of phrases and sentences. And you can also click to see the translation.

7. Read Aloud

l  Little Red Riding Hood      Recommend: Yes ★★★★

It tells the story of little red riding hood. You can choose to read along or the let me read mode. In read along, the story stops at each page and lets students  repeat. In the let me read mode, students are expected to read the whole story alone. The first story is free, and you have to pay for more stories.

     Little Red Riding Hood                     

8. Test

l  HSK Test    Recommend: Yes ★★★

It has three levels: HSK beginner、HSK intermediate、HSK advanced。Every level has 15 multiple choice questions. The questions and choices are all in characters. Students have to answer the questions correctly to move onto the next question. At the end of the app it gives a grade, but unfortunately it doesn’t provide a clear explanation for the grade.

     HSK Test                                    

9. Textbooks

Interactive Chinese   Recommend: Yes ★★★★

Interactive Chinese can be used on the iPhone、iPad and even through the PC. The software has 6 levels and 180 lessons in total. Each unit has three parts：lessons, notes, and exercises. In lessons, there are three videos, with Chinese subtitles. In notes, the app provides new sentences, vocabulary and grammar points.

10. Others

l  China Radio  Recommend: Yes ★★★★★

Students can listen to 14 Chinese programs, such as Chinamerica Hit Radio, Washington Chinese Radio etc. Students are exposed to authentic Mandarin, and could learn news, popular culture.

l  Idioms     Recommend: Yes ★★★★

Specifically for learning idioms, very similar to quote of the day. Each idiom has pinyin and English translation, and a brief story.

In conclusion, the Chinese learning apps that are available now mainly focus on practicing student listening skills. Lacking interaction is the major restriction for all language learning apps, but if you use them wisely during your studies,  you’ll definitely see the benefits. 

Last night I saw a concert at Carnegie Hall given by the Hearts and Eyes Choir ( ゆきわりそう合唱団 or Yukiwariso gasshoudan).  This choir was established in 1990 by founder Hiroyo Ubayama, who was on hand to offer her greetings to the audience.  It is composed of members with physical and mental disabilities, and the origin of its name is because the choir “shares its dreams and expresses its joy with its hearts and eyes.”  They travel the world performing with the motto “we will all be sisters and brothers.”  This was their second time on stage at Carnegie Hall, following their debut performance back in 2000.

They were joined by local choral groups as well as featured singers, and the pieces chosen were Rhapsody for Orchestra, Four Seasons of Old Home and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 in D Minor.  Happy Doll founder Nozomi Terao was the MC, and during intermission collections were taken up for this organization, a “doll travel agency” which arranges the logistics for children around the world to make dolls for other children in need.  Yukiwariso had previously made dolls with Happy Doll, and their creations were displayed on stage alongside the performers, which made the event even more special.

During my several years in Japan, I can’t recall ever having seeing any mentally or physically challenged people in public.  I don’t personally know any Japanese living in Japan who are disabled, but I have heard that there is a tendency to institutionalize them or keep them at home, preventing the possibility of a normal life.  I was happy to see the members of Yukiwariso singing their hearts out and conveying their emotions, and was greatly moved by the performance.  I’m not sure what sorts of lives they lead back home, but it was encouraging to see that they have the opportunity to engage in activities that develop their talents and allow for interaction as fully functioning members of society.

In the center of Korean Town, New York City, there is a Korean bookstore called 고려 서적 (Koryo Books).  Since the 1970s, this place has provided Koreans with a variety of books and media items such as dramas, movies, music, CDs etc.  Due to the limited capacity, many customers often find that the materials they are looking for are not in stock, thereby, the store offers an option to place an order on site and pick it up in a few days.  Those who are interested in Korean culture will find this small bookstore a good resource for their learning.  Having said that, I would like to introduce a few expressions you all can utilize when shopping in a Korean bookstore.

Let’s begin with a hypothetical situation that you are in the bookstore with a specific item in mind.

1)      When asking if someone has an item (Noun),  N 있어요?  is the sentence to use.  See more examples are below:

• 시계 있어요?  Do you have a watch?
• 책 있어요? Do you have a book?

2)      In the above conversation, the clerk confirms the availability of the item by saying 네, 있어요.  Can you guess how the clerk would respond if the item is not available?

The answer is 아니요, 없어요, which means No, I do not have.

• 네, 있어요 -  Yes, I do have an item in question
• 아니요, 없어요 – No, I do not have an item in question

You are interested in purchasing the Korean dictionary you chose and want to ask about the price:

1)      Did you notice words ‘이거’ and ‘그거’  used to point at the dictionary? Grammatically, ‘이거’ is correct to use when the item is closer to the speaker, which was done by you in the conversation above.  And ‘그거’ is adequate to employ when the item is closer to the listener, which the clerk did.

2)      얼마예요? is most commonly used to inquire about prices.  This can be interchangeable with 얼마입니까? in the same degree of politeness.

3)       ‘원’  is the Korean monetary unit and pronounced as Won.  You can simply put a number value before 원 to form the pricing.  For example,

• 3000 won is 삼천원
• 4000 won is 사천원

Now, you begin to wonder if the bookstore has a DVD for your favorite Korean drama called Full House.  We will assume that the store does not have it and the clerk explains that you can place an order and pick it up in 3 days.  This may sound complicated but the following phrases can be quite useful especially at 고려서적 (Koryo Books).

1) Two sentences – 서점에서 주문하다 & 3일후에 찾아가다 – are combined. Let me break it down for you.

• In the first sentence,서점에서 means at the bookstore.  The particle ‘에서’ is used to indicate the place where the action of the verb takes place.  You can add the name of a place in front of the particle, for instance, 병원에서 at the hospital and 교회에서  at the church.  Further, 주문하고 is the action of placing an order and the basic form of the verb is 주문하다.
• In the second sentence, 3일후 implies in 3 days and 찾아 가다 is the action of picking up the DVD.  Please keep in mind that the action verb 찾아 가다 is modified to a more polite form 찾아 가세요 considering the situation that the clerk is explaining to the customer.
• To link two separate sentences, a connector ‘하고’ is inserted in between two verbs. Let me show more examples.  The formula is Verb 1 하고 Verb 2:
  • 주문하다 (to place an order) + 찾아 가다 (to pick up an item) = 주문하고 찾아가다 (placing an order and picking up an item)
  • 노래하다 (to sing) + 춤추다 (to dance) = 노래하고 춤추다 (singing and dancing)
  • 숙제하다 ( to do homework) + 빨래하다 (to do laundry) = 숙제하고 빨래하다 (doing homework and doing laundry)

Finally, you are determined to buy the Korean dictionary at 2000 won and also pay for the DVD at 2000 won (I made up the price of the DVD)

1)모두 얼마예요? is frequently used to ask a total price of a multiple products you purchase. One more, 모두 얼마입니까?, is an alternative term that delivers the same level of politeness.

Did you pay the bill already? Then you may say 감사합니다, meaning Thank You, and exit the bookstore.

Thank you for reading this article about how to shop in a store. We hope that you continue to learn the Korean language either through other resources on our website, taking a class for learning Korean, or just continuing to study yourself.  Stay tuned for further articles on Korean!

Last night I had the chance to see the play Iva: The Myth of Tokyo Rose at Asia Society.  Prior to seeing the performance I had heard of Tokyo Rose, but was not aware of what the story behind this name was.  It was actually created by Allied forces in the South Pacific during WWII to describe English speaking female broadcasters of Japanese propaganda, which was intended to disrupt the morale of the Allied force listeners.

The play’s protagonist is Iva Toguri D’Aquino, a Japanese-American who later married a Filipino.  She had the misfortune of going to Japan to take care of a sick relative in 1941, and being stuck there once war broke out.  When the Japanese government asked her to renounce her American citizenship and she refused, she was forced to work at Radio Tokyo as an announcer.  The program was The Zero Hour, which consisted of propaganda-tinged skits and slanted news reports, as well as popular American music.

Iva was made into a scapegoat when she was wrongly identified as the original Tokyo Rose.  Post-war she was detained in Japan’s Sugamo Prison for a year and investigated by the U.S. military, but eventually released due to lack of evidence.  When she attempted to return home, her case was reopened by the FBI amidst much media pressure.  After her 1949 trial she was found guilty of treason, and sentenced to 10 years in prison (of which she served over six years).  In 1974, journalists found that key witnesses claimed they were forced to lie during testimony, and that Iva’s broadcasts had been innocuous.  She was pardoned by President Ford in 1977.

The production of this play was part of Asia’s Society’s commemoration of Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month, which began in 1977 as a 10 day period and was later extended.  You can find a variety of events associated with this celebration, including a festival being held by the Coalition of Asian/Pacific Americans in Chinatown tomorrow afternoon.

Handmade bookmark distributed in Taylor’s memory

Last month I had the opportunity to interpret for Mr. Hakubun Shimomura, the current Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT or 文部科学省) during his time in Washington, DC.  His schedule included a variety of official visits and meetings, including to a charter school and with various U.S. government agencies, but to me the most personally significant part of working with him was when he addressed the local JETAA chapter (In addition to MEXT, JET is carried out by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC or 総務省), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA or 外務省) and the Council of Local Authorities for International Relations (CLAIR or 自治体国際化協会).

Minister Shimomura provided opening remarks at a reception before the screening of a documentary called Live Your Dream, which tells the story of JET Taylor Anderson who lost her life in the tsunami two years ago.  Also featured in this film is the other JET who passed away during this natural disaster, Montgomery (Monty) Dickson.  Family members of both victims were present, and prior to the screening Taylor’s father Andy Anderson and Monty’s sister Shelly Fredrickson were on hand to share their memories of their loved ones.

Andy told how after a screening in Tokyo, a woman who had been touched by the movie presented him with1000 handmade bookmarks and asked that he distribute them in his daughter’s memory.  Shelly gave an emotional tribute to her younger brother, telling of his early passion for Japanese and how he completely devoted himself to study of the language.  She had flown out for the screening all the way from Alaska, saying that she never passed up a chance to speak about Monty and keep his spirit alive.  There was not a dry eye in the house during the film, and on our way out audience members received the beautiful bookmarks in Taylor’s memory.

There are 35 finals in Mandarin: 6 simple vowels, 13 compound vowels and 16 nasal vowels.

1. Single vowels: o, e, ü
Simple finals are composed by a single vowel. There are three particular single vowels that have been proven rather difficult for English speakers to pronounce. To start with, single vowel “o” in mandarin is a back, middle, lip-rounded vowel. To pronounce it correctly, first round you lip and let the sound come from the back of the throat, which sounds like “bore” in English.
Single vowel “e” is a back, middle, unrounded vowel, coming from the back of the throat, which is similar to “yay” in English. The only difference between “o” and “e” is the shape of the lips. When you rounded you lip, you get a “o” sound, otherwise you get a “e” sound.
The most difficult vowel in Mandarin is “ü”, the front, high, rounded vowel. To get a “ü” sound, one can start with a simple “i” sound (similar to “bee” in English), then slowly, rounded your lips while maintaining the “i” sound. Therefore, you can get a perfect “ü” sound.

2. Compound sounds: iao, iou, uai, uei, üan.
Unlike English, Chinese has only 13 set compound finals altogether. Instead of a simple combination, each individual vowel in the compound vowels is pronounced with different emphasis. For example, the three head vowels “i” “u” and “ü” are pounced short and then quickly slide to the main vowel, usually the middle vowel in the syllable. The main vowels “a” “u” “e” are pounced slow and loud, and then slowly change shape of the mouth to pounce the final vowel. If there are only two compound vowels, emphasis is often on the latter one.

3. Nasal finals: an, en, in, ong, ang, eng, ing, ong
In Mandarin, sounds ending in “n” (an alveolar nasal) are known as front nasals, while sounds ending in “ng” (a velar nasal) are known as back nasals. A majority of native English speakers find Mandarin nasal finals hard to pronounce. For example, when pronouncing the front nasal, “an”, you first pronounce the vowel “a”, then gradually lift the tips of the tongue to touch your upper gum and let the air go through nose. Back nasals, as the name suggested, tongue positions are more backwards. For instance, after finish pronouncing the vowel “a”, lift the back of the tongue to touch the soft palate and let the air go through nose. In reality, front nasals outnumber back nasals substantially; people only need to memorize back nasals.

Vowels take precedence in syllables, only when people are able to pounce each vowel correctly, can they get a right pronunciation of the whole word.

Please stay tuned for more articles about Mandarin vowels and tones from Hills Learning.

Dear Friends,

So much has happened since my last update, both for me personally and in the world.  My heart goes out to everyone who was affected by the bombing at the Boston Marathon.  It’s hard to be outside of the U.S. at times like this, and I thank all of you who sent me news articles and personal associations of this devastating event.

The last time I wrote, it was just before the Jewish holiday of Passover.  Due to my work schedule, I decided not to go to a seder this year, but made the holiday special for myself here in Nanyang.  Since I received two kilograms of matzah, I felt the only way to add flavor to it was with a smear of butter.  This would not be news almost anywhere else, but it is in China, where butter is not used in the local cuisine.  In fact, my local supermarket carries only one brand of it.  In any case, I thoroughly enjoyed the butter, and it definitely made the matzah go down more easily.  But the real challenge was to make it through the whole holiday without eating noodles, which are forbidden during Passover.  It wasn’t easy, but I survived!

Shortly after Passover, I returned to Shanghai, this time for a gathering of Jews living in Asia.  As it turns out, there are a lot of us, mostly from the U.S., England, France, Israel, and India.  I enjoyed the study sessions, Middle Eastern food, entertainment, and the many wonderful people I met.  On Holocaust Remembrance Day, a Chinese professor of Jewish history gave us a tour of the area of Shanghai where many Jews lived during World War II.  The Chinese admitted them freely, saving thousands of lives, and providing a place of refuge until they could move on to resume life as usual.

Spring semester has been filled with holidays, such as Tomb Sweeping Day, Labor Day (May 1^st) and Dragon Boat Festival.  To add to this, my university also held three days of competitions known as the sports meetings.  Students from the various academic departments competed against each other in running, jumping, and relay races, while the rest of the students cheered them on from the sidelines.  I’m attaching a photo of the opening ceremonies.

Another sign of spring is the appearance of fresh pineapple, beautifully cut and mounted on a stick, ready for eating.  It’s fun to watch the vendors with their special knives carefully remove all of the inedible parts; the result is nothing less than a work of art.  A photo is attached.

And last but not least, I marked my birthday on April 19^th.  No celebration would be complete without cake, but ordering one was a real test of my Mandarin skills.  I had to specify what I wanted and when I wanted it; after all, getting a birthday cake a day late is not acceptable!  Fortunately, I was able to communicate adequately enough, and was rewarded with a beautiful cake, right on time.  The cake even came with a supply of paper plates, a knife for cutting it, forks, and candles.  But the biggest news of all was that of the eight foreign teachers I work with, one has the same birthday as mine.  Photos of the celebration are attached.

As always, I send you my best wishes for a spring time of sweetness and joy.

From Nanyang, China,

Loraine

Do you want to learn how to pronounce all the phrases in this article? Please follow the attached link Flashcards and Pronunciation which has all the phrases in flashcards!

Let’s begin with a simple situation that you and your friend are in a restaurant.  Most of the places provide menus to customers once they are seated, but for the purpose of practicing Korean in this article, let’s assume that you need to call the waitstaff to ask for a menu.

1)       Saying ‘여기요’ aloud is the most effective way to gain a server’s attention and it is equivalent with ‘Excuse me’ or ‘here’ in English.

2)       Every time you add ‘좀’ in a sentence, the expression becomes more polite and softer. When making requests in Korean the term means ‘please.’

After screening through the menu, you pick out two dishes, for instance, soybean stew and porkbelly barbecue.  Your server comes to your table and asks what you would like to order.

English (Server): What would you like to have?

Korean (Server): 무엇을(뭘) 드시겠습니까?

Your response is:

English (You): I would like to order a soybean stew and two portions of pork belly barbeque.

Korean (You): 된장찌게 일인분하고 삼겹살 이인분 주세요.

The above are common phrases you get to exchange with staff in a Korean restaurant when ordering food.  When a person who takes your order says 무엇을 드시겠습니까? or 뭘 드시겠습니까? both sentences mean what would you like to order/have? in the same level of formality and politeness.

There are 3 points I would like to emphasize:

1)       Did you catch words ‘일인분, 이인분’ in the second sentence?  These indicate specifically the  number of portions of food that are being ordered and are counting units, such as ‘인분’ comes after a number (i.e. 일, 이, 삼,사,오,육,칠,팔,구,십 etc).  Let’s practice!

• One(a) helping of bbq –  일인분 바베큐
• Two helpings of bbq –  이인분 바베큐

2)       When listing two nouns in one sentence, ‘and’ is a commonly used connector and in Korean you simply follow the formula    N   하고  N   .  Here are few examples:

• apple and banana – 사과 하고 바나나
• water and beer – 물 하고 맥주

3)       Lastly, ‘N 주세요’ is a very useful phrase to know when you want to request N.  See in below:

• N: water  - 물 주세요
• N: apple –  사과 주세요

How are we doing so far? I hope you and your friend are enjoying flavorful Korean food.  Now, we are going to end the meal by asking for the check.

You may need to try to grab a server’s attention by using ‘여기요’ again.  Assuming that you have his/her attention, I would recommend you to utilize ‘N 주세요.’  Check or bill in Korean is 계산서, and saying 계산서 주세요 is a polite and formal way.

You can also ask this phrase in the form of a question:,

계산서 주시겠어요?

Thank you for reading this article about how to order food in Korean. We hope that you continue to learn the Korean language either through other resources on our website, taking a class for learning Korean, or just continuing your self study. Stay tuned for further articles on Korean!

Flashcards and Pronunciation of this Article: