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Mythic Mandarin

A negotiation

HSK 4 Unit 6: Working life · Lesson 2 of 5 · About 22 minutes

Preview version — Chinese review in progress.

Your mission: By the end of this lesson, you can take part in a simple business negotiation: discuss, make suggestions, ask for a lower price and agree to sign a contract.

Warm-up: do you remember?

Two quick questions from earlier lessons. Recalling before you learn makes the new material stick.

  1. Meaning

    What does 奖金 mean?

    1. to quarrel, to argue
    2. neighbour
    3. bonus
    Show the answer

    Answer: C, bonus.

    奖金 (jiǎngjīn) means bonus.

  2. Characters

    Which word means “to be promoted”?

    1. 信任
    2. 升职
    3. 当作
    Show the answer

    Answer: B, 升职.

    “to be promoted” is 升职 (shēngzhí).

  3. Listening

    From an earlier unit. Listen. What does the word mean?

    Cannot listen? Read it instead

    水平 shuǐpíng

    1. to start a business
    2. date, to go on a date
    3. level, standard
    Show the answer

    Answer: C, level, standard.

    You heard 水平 (shuǐpíng): level, standard.

New words

  • 讨论tǎolùnto discuss
  • 建议jiànyìto suggest, suggestion
  • 合作hézuòto cooperate, cooperation
  • 降低jiàngdīto lower, to reduce
  • 签qiānto sign
  • 合同hétongcontract

Negotiating

讨论 (tǎolùn) is to discuss; 建议 (jiànyì) is to suggest; 合作 (hézuò) is to work together; 降低 (jiàngdī) is to lower; 签合同 is to sign a contract.

  • 我建议我们先讨论价格。

    Wǒ jiànyì wǒmen xiān tǎolùn jiàgé.

    I suggest we discuss the price first.

  • 要是你们能降低价格，我们就签合同。

    Yàoshi nǐmen néng jiàngdī jiàgé, wǒmen jiù qiān hétong.

    If you can lower the price, we'll sign the contract.

  • 希望我们以后多合作。

    Xīwàng wǒmen yǐhòu duō hézuò.

    I hope we can work together more in future.

Characters

Open a character to see how it is written, stroke by stroke, with its meanings and words.

Can you lower the price?

Manager Zhao meets Lin Yue, who represents a supplier.

Listen first

Play the whole conversation and answer the questions before you open the transcript.

Helpful words: 百分之五 bǎifēnzhīwǔ five per cent; 愉快 yúkuài pleasant; 主要 zhǔyào mainly

  1. Listening

    Listen first. How much did Manager Zhao first ask the price to drop?

    1. three per cent
    2. ten per cent
    3. five per cent
    Show the answer

    Answer: C, five per cent.

    再降低百分之五.

  2. Listening

    What do they agree in the end?

    1. a one-year contract at three per cent
    2. a two-year contract at four per cent
    3. no contract
    Show the answer

    Answer: B, a two-year contract at four per cent.

    合同的时间改成两年，你们降低百分之四.

Show the transcript
Pinyin
Translation

  1. 赵经理

    林Lín经理jīnglǐ，我们wǒmen今天jīntiān主要zhǔyào讨论tǎolùn价格jiàgé。

    Ms Lin, today we're mainly discussing the price.

  2. 林月

    好Hǎo。我们Wǒmen的de价格jiàgé已经yǐjīng很hěn低dī了le。

    Fine. Our price is already very low.

  3. 赵经理

    我Wǒ建议jiànyì你们nǐmen再zài降低jiàngdī百分之五bǎifēnzhīwǔ。要是Yàoshi能néng降低jiàngdī，我们wǒmen就jiù签qiān一yì年nián的de合同hétong。

    I suggest you lower it by another five per cent. If you can, we'll sign a one-year contract.

  4. 林月

    百分之五Bǎifēnzhīwǔ太tài多duō了le。百Bǎi分fēn之zhī三sān怎么样zěnmeyàng？

    Five per cent is too much. How about three?

  5. 赵经理

    好Hǎo吧ba。我们Wǒmen把bǎ合同hétong的de时间shíjiān改成gǎichéng两liǎng年nián，你们nǐmen降低jiàngdī百bǎi分fēn之zhī四sì。

    All right. We'll make the contract two years, and you lower it by four per cent.

  6. 林月

    没Méi问题wèntí。希望Xīwàng我们wǒmen合作hézuò愉快yúkuài！

    No problem. I hope we'll work well together!

Speak: listen, record, compare

Listen to each model, record yourself, then play both and compare: the rhythm, the tones, the vowels. No automatic score: your ear is the judge.

  • 我建议你们再降低百分之五。要是能降低，我们就签一年的合同。

    Wǒ jiànyì nǐmen zài jiàngdī bǎifēnzhīwǔ. Yàoshi néng jiàngdī, wǒmen jiù qiān yì nián de hétong.

    I suggest you lower it by another five per cent. If you can, we'll sign a one-year contract.

  • 好吧。我们把合同的时间改成两年，你们降低百分之四。

    Hǎo ba. Wǒmen bǎ hétong de shíjiān gǎichéng liǎng nián, nǐmen jiàngdī bǎi fēn zhī sì.

    All right. We'll make the contract two years, and you lower it by four per cent.

  • 没问题。希望我们合作愉快！

    Méi wèntí. Xīwàng wǒmen hézuò yúkuài!

    No problem. I hope we'll work well together!

Practice

  1. Meaning

    What does 讨论 mean?

    1. to worry, to be anxious
    2. to discuss
    3. so, like that
    Show the answer

    Answer: B, to discuss.

    讨论 (tǎolùn) means to discuss.

  2. Characters

    Which word means “to suggest, suggestion”?

    1. 建议
    2. 竞争
    3. 升职
    Show the answer

    Answer: A, 建议.

    “to suggest, suggestion” is 建议 (jiànyì).

  3. Pinyin

    How do you read 合作 (to cooperate, cooperation)?

    1. hézuō
    2. hézuò
    3. hězuò
    Show the answer

    Answer: B, hézuò.

    合作 is read hézuò. Check the tone mark on every syllable.

  4. Listening

    Listen. What does the word mean?

    Cannot listen? Read it instead

    降低 jiàngdī

    1. Chinese person
    2. to lower, to reduce
    3. birthday
    Show the answer

    Answer: B, to lower, to reduce.

    You heard 降低 (jiàngdī): to lower, to reduce.

  5. Your turn

    Recall: type the Chinese for “to sign” (characters or pinyin).

    Show the answer

    Answer: 签

    “to sign” is 签 (qiān).

  6. Fill the gap

    Complete: I suggest we discuss it tomorrow.

    我＿＿我们明天讨论。

    1. 合作
    2. 签
    3. 建议
    Show the answer

    Answer: C, 建议.

    我建议…: I suggest ...

  7. Grammar

    Which sentence means Let's change the contract to two years?

    1. 我们把合同改成两年。
    2. 我们改成两年合同。
    3. 我们把改成合同两年。
    Show the answer

    Answer: A, 我们把合同改成两年。.

    我们把合同改成两年。: 把 + object + 改成 + result.

  8. In context

    The price is too high for you. What do you ask?

    1. 能不能降低一点儿价格？
    2. 能不能签一点儿价格？
    3. 能不能合作价格？
    Show the answer

    Answer: A, 能不能降低一点儿价格？.

    能不能降低一点儿价格？: 降低价格: lower the price.

  9. Listening

    Listen. What will they do?

    Cannot listen? Read it instead

    价格合适的话，我们下个星期签合同。 Jiàgé héshì dehuà, wǒmen xiàge xīngqī qiān hétong.

    1. sign today
    2. cancel the contract
    3. sign the contract next week if the price is right
    Show the answer

    Answer: C, sign the contract next week if the price is right.

    下个星期签合同.

Negotiate

Act out a negotiation out loud about something you want to buy or sell.

  1. Say what you want to discuss.
  2. Make a suggestion with 我建议 and a condition with 要是…就.
  3. Reach an agreement and say you hope to work together.

Sentence frames

  • 我建议＿＿。

    Wǒ jiànyì ＿＿.

    I suggest ...

  • 要是你们能＿＿，我们就＿＿。

    Yàoshi nǐmen néng ＿＿, wǒmen jiù ＿＿.

    If you can ..., we'll ...

Record your attempt (three and a half minutes at most) and listen back:

Review and finish

Can you do this? If a line feels shaky, go back to that part before you move on.

  • I can discuss, suggest and agree in a negotiation.
  • I can ask for a lower price and talk about a contract.

Review works best spaced out: answer these exercises again tomorrow, then after a few days. Your progress is saved in this browser.

Completing records that you finished the lesson. Mastery is separate: it grows as reviews bring the exercises back and you answer them correctly.

Next lesson: Writing a formal email