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Mythic Mandarin

With customers at the centre: 以…为…

HSK 5 Unit 3: Written Chinese · Lesson 4 of 5 · About 26 minutes

Preview version — Chinese review in progress.

Your mission: By the end of this lesson, you can describe a focus, standard or main part with 以…为…, and read a company's mission statement.

Warm-up: do you remember?

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

  1. Meaning

    What does 之 mean?

    1. (written form of 的)
    2. fact
    3. to give, to grant (formal)
    Show the answer

    Answer: A, (written form of 的).

    之 (zhī) means (written form of 的).

  2. Characters

    Which word means “please do not (written)”?

    1. 印象
    2. 请勿
    3. 事实
    Show the answer

    Answer: B, 请勿.

    “please do not (written)” is 请勿 (qǐngwù).

  3. Listening

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

    Cannot listen? Read it instead

    姑娘 gūniang

    1. girl, young woman
    2. to persevere (idiom)
    3. to judge by appearances
    Show the answer

    Answer: A, girl, young woman.

    You heard 姑娘 (gūniang): girl, young woman.

New words

  • 以yǐwith, by (written)
  • 为wéias, to be (written)
  • 中心zhōngxīncentre
  • 标准biāozhǔnstandard
  • 主zhǔmain
  • 宗旨zōngzhǐaim, purpose (of an organisation)

以 A 为 B

以 (yǐ) A 为 (wéi) B means to take A as B: 以客户为中心, to put the customer at the centre. It is common in mission statements, rules and descriptions.

  • 我们公司以客户为中心。

    Wǒmen gōngsī yǐ kèhù wéi zhōngxīn.

    Our company puts the customer at the centre.

  • 这个城市以美食为特色。

    Zhège chéngshì yǐ měishí wéi tèsè.

    This city is known for its food. (takes food as its feature)

  • 这里的学生以留学生为主。

    Zhèlǐ de xuésheng yǐ liúxuéshēng wéi zhǔ.

    The students here are mostly international students.

Note that 为 here is read wéi, not wèi.

Characters

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

Our mission

Manager Zhao introduces the company to new staff, including Gao Fei.

Listen first

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

Helpful words: 客户 kèhù customer; 美食 měishí fine food; 特色 tèsè special feature; 留学生 liúxuéshēng international student; 判断 pànduàn to judge; 低于 dīyú lower than; 分 fēn point; 亚洲 Yàzhōu Asia

  1. Listening

    Listen first. What is the company's aim?

    1. to grow as fast as possible
    2. to be the cheapest company
    3. to put the customer at the centre
    Show the answer

    Answer: C, to put the customer at the centre.

    以客户为中心.

  2. Listening

    Who are the customers mainly?

    1. young people, mostly students
    2. older people, mostly retired
    3. companies, mostly small ones
    Show the answer

    Answer: A, young people, mostly students.

    以年轻人为主.

Show the transcript
Pinyin
Translation

  1. 赵经理

    欢迎Huānyíng大家dàjiā！我们Wǒmen公司gōngsī的de宗旨zōngzhǐ是shì以yǐ客户kèhù为wéi中心zhōngxīn。

    Welcome, everyone! Our company's aim is to put the customer at the centre.

  2. 高飞

    我们Wǒmen的de客户kèhù主要zhǔyào是shì哪些nǎxiē人rén？

    Who are our customers mainly?

  3. 赵经理

    以Yǐ年轻人niánqīngrén为wéi主zhǔ，大部分dàbùfen是shì大学生dàxuéshēng。

    Mainly young people, most of them university students.

  4. 高飞

    公司Gōngsī怎么zěnme判断pànduàn服务fúwù好hǎo不bu好hǎo？

    How does the company judge whether service is good?

  5. 赵经理

    以Yǐ客户kèhù的de评价píngjià为wéi标准biāozhǔn。评价Píngjià低于dīyú四sì分fēn，就jiù要yào找zhǎo原因yuányīn。

    We take customer reviews as the standard. If a rating is below four, we look for the reason.

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.

  • 欢迎大家！我们公司的宗旨是以客户为中心。

    Huānyíng dàjiā! Wǒmen gōngsī de zōngzhǐ shì yǐ kèhù wéi zhōngxīn.

    Welcome, everyone! Our company's aim is to put the customer at the centre.

  • 以年轻人为主，大部分是大学生。

    Yǐ niánqīngrén wéi zhǔ, dàbùfen shì dàxuéshēng.

    Mainly young people, most of them university students.

  • 以客户的评价为标准。评价低于四分，就要找原因。

    Yǐ kèhù de píngjià wéi biāozhǔn. Píngjià dīyú sì fēn, jiù yào zhǎo yuányīn.

    We take customer reviews as the standard. If a rating is below four, we look for the reason.

Practice

  1. Meaning

    What does 以 mean?

    1. simple
    2. with, by (written)
    3. to do
    Show the answer

    Answer: B, with, by (written).

    以 (yǐ) means with, by (written).

  2. Characters

    Which word means “as, to be (written)”?

    1. 之
    2. 主
    3. 为
    Show the answer

    Answer: C, 为.

    “as, to be (written)” is 为 (wéi).

  3. Word order

    Put the words in order: Who are our customers mainly?

    • 主要
    • 客户
    • 的
    • 是
    • 哪些
    • 人
    • 我们
    Show the answer

    我们的客户主要是哪些人 Wǒmen de kèhù zhǔyào shì nǎxiē rén?

    Who are our customers mainly?

    我们的客户主要是哪些人？ The sentence comes from this lesson's text.

  4. Listening

    Listen. What does the word mean?

    Cannot listen? Read it instead

    标准 biāozhǔn

    1. (for vehicles)
    2. standard
    3. internet, network
    Show the answer

    Answer: B, standard.

    You heard 标准 (biāozhǔn): standard.

  5. Your turn

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

    Show the answer

    Answer: 主

    “main” is 主 (zhǔ).

  6. Grammar

    Which sentence means The students are mainly from Asia?

    1. 学生为亚洲以主。
    2. 学生以亚洲人为主。
    3. 学生以主为亚洲人。
    Show the answer

    Answer: B, 学生以亚洲人为主。.

    学生以亚洲人为主。: 以 A 为主: mainly A.

  7. Fill the gap

    Complete: We take quality as the standard.

    我们以质量为＿＿。

    1. 中心
    2. 标准
    3. 宗旨
    Show the answer

    Answer: B, 标准.

    以…为标准: take … as the standard.

  8. In context

    A restaurant is famous for its fish. How is it described?

    1. 这家饭店以鱼为特色。
    2. 这家饭店为鱼以特色。
    3. 这家饭店以特色为鱼。
    Show the answer

    Answer: A, 这家饭店以鱼为特色。.

    这家饭店以鱼为特色。: 以…为特色: known for ….

  9. Your turn

    Type the Chinese for customer-centred (take the customer as the centre)

    Show the answer

    Answer: 以客户为中心

    以客户为中心: customer-centred.

Your organisation

Describe an organisation you know (your company, school or a club) out loud with 以…为….

  1. Its aim or centre.
  2. Who it mainly serves, with 以…为主.
  3. What it takes as its standard.

Sentence frames

  • 我们＿＿以＿＿为中心。

    Wǒmen ＿＿ yǐ ＿＿ wéi zhōngxīn.

    Our ... puts ... at the centre.

  • ＿＿以＿＿为主。

    ＿＿ yǐ ＿＿ wéi zhǔ.

    ... is mainly ...

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 use 以…为… for a focus, a standard or the main part.
  • I know 为 is read wéi in this pattern.

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: A short report: 所…的