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How to ask for directions in Chinese (and understand the answer)Free in the app

You're lost, your phone is at 4%, and the map app thinks you're in a river. Time to ask a human.

What you'll say

Tap play to hear it. Everything on this page runs in your browser — nothing is uploaded.

Heads-up: the voice you hear here is your browser’s built-in Mandarin — the app sounds considerably better. On iPhone it uses Apple’s enhanced and premium system voices, plays at real conversational speed, and has a slow mode for practising.

This device has no Chinese voice installed, so audio can’t play here. The app doesn’t have that problem — it uses the Mandarin voices built into iOS.

请问,地铁站在哪里?
Qǐngwèn, dìtiězhàn zài nǎlǐ?
Excuse me, where is the metro station?
请问 (qǐngwèn) before any question instantly makes you polite.
我找不到这个地方。
Wǒ zhǎo bú dào zhège dìfang.
I can't find this place. (show your phone)
Showing the address in characters works better than pronouncing it.
离这里远吗?
Lí zhèlǐ yuǎn ma?
Is it far from here?
可以带我去吗?
Kěyǐ dài wǒ qù ma?
Can you take me there?
People often just walk you there. It's a thing. Say 谢谢 a lot.

What they'll say back

This is the part nobody teaches. Real Mandarin comes back fast and blunt, so hear it at natural speed first.

Press play before you read. In the app, anything you miss comes back slower and then again later, until you catch it at full speed.

They say
一直走,然后左拐。
Yìzhí zǒu, ránhòu zuǒ guǎi.
Go straight, then turn left.
You can answer
好的,谢谢!
Hǎo de, xièxie!
OK, thanks!
They say
不远,走五分钟就到了。
Bù yuǎn, zǒu wǔ fēnzhōng jiù dào le.
Not far — five minutes' walk and you're there.
You can answer
太好了,谢谢你!
Tài hǎo le, xièxie nǐ!
Great, thank you!

Other situations in Getting around

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Thirty real situations. Six free forever. Nothing leaves your phone.

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