Functional Chinese: signs, menus & forms
The Chinese of screens, paper and counters: signs, forms, tickets and medicine boxes.
8 subtopics · ~478 words
Functional Chinese is wall-and-paper Chinese: 出口, 小心, 请勿, a menu with no photos, a 发票, a cough-syrup leaflet. This category is not a reading course; it is the words on metro screens, ATMs and forms. Read it after survival: without 多少钱 and 在哪儿 a sign will not save you. Practice by photographing a real ticket and finding the rows in Chinese Trainer. Do not memorize whole HSK 6 contracts before you can read 卫生间.
Public signs
Exits, forbidden, caution, toilets and the Chinese on streets and in the metro.
45 words →
Reading a menu
Cold/hot, spice, portions, 不要香菜 and ordering without guessing the dish.
48 words →
Forms & applications
Name, sex, address, signature and the Chinese of any box they put in front of you.
104 words →
Tickets, receipts & fapiao
Official invoice, tickets, boarding pass and asking for the paper you will need later.
29 words →
Packaging & labels
Expiry, ingredients, directions and allergens in a Chinese supermarket.
58 words →
Contracts you will actually sign
Rent, probation, courses: plain-Chinese clauses, not commercial law class.
34 words →
ATM, metro & kiosk screens
Confirm, cancel, balance, language and not hitting the wrong button.
53 words →
Medicine boxes & dosage
Times a day, after meals and the Chinese on a pharmacy box.
107 words →