Note: The spoken Chinese Mandarin language has 4 spoken tones. We have attempted to re-create those below where after each syllable we tell you (1), (2), (3), or (4) as they correspond to each of the 4 tones. We encourage you to complement your Xianzai.com Emergency Chinese newsletter with a good offline study program.

NEW WORDS

1) Shirt: chen(4) yi(1)
2) Tie: ling(3) dai(4)
3) Pants: ku(4) zi(3)
4) Days: tian(1)
5) Dry-clean: gan(1) xi(3)
6) Starch: jiang(1)

LESSON

• Can you dry clean my shirts?
  ni(3) neng(2) gan(1) xi(3) wo(3) de chen(4) yi(1) ma?
  
• How much to clean one pair of pants?
  xi(3) yi(4) tiao(2) ku(4) zi(3) duo(1) shao(3) qian(2)?
  
• When can I collect my dry-cleaning?
  wo(3) shen(2) me shi(2) hou(4) lai(2) qu(2) gan(1) xi(3) yi(1) fu(2)?
  
• Please don't use starch.
  qing(3) bie(2) yong(4) jiang(1) .
  
• Can I pick the shirts up in 3 days?
  san(1) tian(1) zhi(1) nei(4) wo(3) ke(2) yi(3) lai(2) qu(3) chen(4) yi(1) ma?

* Tip: Dry-cleaners are as common in major Chinese cities as in any other countries. Prices are slowly coming down but are still a little high compared with other countries. In some hotels, starch will be added to shirt collars and cuffs automatically, so if you don't like starched shirts, remember to let the cleaner know.