Self introduction is unavoidable unless you are anti-social, private or have the fear of meeting people. As we meet new people every day, we will somehow need to introduce ourselves whether we like it or not. We can be meeting people in school, at work or during formal and informal gatherings. As such, making a good first impression is very crucial, especially for business. It is a make or break kind of situation. If your first impression is bad, the business relationship will not even happen. Thus, we need to make an effort in self introduction to make the first impression last.
Formal and informal introduction
Self introduction to friends and business introduction are two completely different things. This is especially so when you are doing introducing yourself in Mandarin Chinese. For business, you need to use formal Chinese as oppose to colloquial Chinese when you are introducing yourself. For example, during a formal introduction setting, you cannot use 你 but should use 您. You also need to know the order of introduction in a formal setting. Who should make the introduction first? Senior or Junior? Higher ranking person or lower ranking person? Men or women? Should you shake hands or should you bow? We will dealt with all of these issues at the later part of this post.
Introducing yourself to a new friend (informal) in Mandarin Chinese
In an informal setting, you can use colloquial Chinese which we use in our daily conversation with friends and family.
Breaking the ice
When introducing yourself in an informal setting, the most commonly used sentence is 我叫…. (Wǒ jiào….My name is….), or you can also say 我是 … (Wǒ shì ….I am …) or 我的名字叫… ( Wǒ de míngzì jiào … My name is …).
Short introduction of yourself
你好，我叫彼得。很高兴认识你！
Nǐ hǎo, wǒ jiào bǐ dé. Hěn gāo xìng rèn shì nǐ!
Hello, my name is Peter. Nice to meet you!
Long introduction of yourself
If you want to provide more information about yourself to your new friends, you can include some information about your family, your hobbies, your occupation, where you are from etc.
Telling people where you are from
我是美国人。
Wǒ shì měi guó rén
I am American
Telling people about your family
我家有四口人，爸爸，妈妈，一个妹妹和我。
Wǒ jiā yǒu sì kǒu rén, bàba, māmā, yī gè mèimei hé wǒ.
There are four people in my family. My father, mother, one younger sister and I.
Telling people about your occupation
我是北京大学的留学生。
Wǒ shì běijīng dà xué de liú xué shēng.
I am a foreign student at Beijing University.
Telling people about your hobbies
我有很多爱好。我最大的爱好是踢足球。
Wǒ yǒu hěn duō ài hào. wǒ zuì dà de ài hào shì tī zú qiú.
I have many hobbies. My greatest passion is to play football.
Self introduction in an informal setting
你好。我是大卫(偉)。我今年二十二岁(歲)。我是英国(國)人。我家有五口人，爸爸，妈妈(媽媽)，两个(個)哥哥和我。我是留学(學)生。我有很多爱(愛)好，我最喜欢(歡)的是旅游。很高兴(興)认识(認識)你们(們)。
Nǐ hǎo. Wǒ shì dà wěi. Wǒ jīn nián èr shí’èr suì. Wǒ shì yīng guó rén. Wǒ jiā yǒu wǔ kǒu rén, bàba, māmā, liǎng gè gēgē hé wǒ. Wǒ shì liú xué shēng. Wǒ yǒu hěn duō ài hào, wǒ zuì xǐ huān de shì lǚ yóu. Hěn gāo xìng rèn shì nǐ men.
Hello. My name is David. I am 22 years old this year. I am British. There are 5 people in my family. My father, mother, 2 older brothers and I. I am a foreign exchange student. I have many hobbies, and my favourite is travel. Very happy to meet all of you.s
Introduction in a formal setting
Introducing yourself or introducing others in a formal setting will require you to use formal form of Chinese words and or Chinese phrases. You will need to be more conscious of the way you speak and act, unlike in an informal setting.
Short introduction of yourself
您好。我是ABC公司的陈凯(凱)，很荣(榮)幸见到您。这(這)是我的名片。
Nín hǎo. Wǒ shì ABC gōng sī de chén kǎi, hěn róng xìng jiàn dào nín. Zhè shì wǒ de míng piàn.
Hello. I am Chen Kai from ABC company. It is my pleasure to meet you. This is my name card.
How to introduce yourself in a formal setting
When doing an introduction in a formal setting, you can start by saying the company name followed by your full name and vice versa. Normally, you will need to mention the department you are working in and your title. Take for example,
您好，我叫陈凯(凱)，是ABC贸(貿)易公司电脑(電腦)部的业务经(業務經)理.
Nín hǎo, wǒ jiào chén kǎi, shì ABC mào yì gōng sī de yè wù jīng lǐ.
Hello, my name is Chen Kai. I am the business manager of the computer department of ABC Trading Company.
Order or sequence in formal setting
In China, the host will first introduce themselves to the guest. During introduction, the sequence and order is according to what we have shown below:
- To introduce the younger or lower rank person to the higher rank or senior person.
- To introduce the men to the ladies if they are of the same age. If there is a senior in the midst, you will need to introduce the ladies to the senior first to show respect to the senior person.
- If you choose to shake hands, the lower rank / younger person will have to wait for the higher rank / senior person to reach out first before you can reach out to shake the hand. And, men should wait for the ladies to reach out their hands first before they can shake the hand. If the senior chose to bow rather than shake hands, you should do the same.
- Always use both hands when passing your name card to the other party. Using only one hand is considered to be rude in the Chinese culture.
Whether you are introducing yourself in Mandarin Chinese formally or informally, so long as you are polite and in your best behaviour, you should be fine. Just remember to smile and reduce unnecessary talk, you will definitely leave a good impression. Practice using the above sentence structure and you will have no problem introducing yourself to new friends or business acquaintances.
Visit our youtube channel for a video teaching you how to introduce yourself in Chinese.
