lonely planet Mandarin phrasebook
Occupation & Studies terms

Occupation & Studies

Have you ever wondered on how to interact with an Chinese person with questions like: "What do you do for a living?" or "What are you studying at the moment?" Well, here are a list of ways that might help you. Do expect curious Chinese people to ask "How much do you earn?" (Ni zheng duoshao qian? 你挣多小钱？)　as it's one of the top ten questions asked.

What's your occupation?- 你做什么工作？ (Ni zuo shenme gongzuo?)

I'm a/an....-　我当。。。。 (Wo dang.....)

• accountant-　会计 (kuaiji)
• chef- 厨师 (chuchi)
• engineer-　工程师 (gongchengshi)
• journalist-　记者 (jizhe)
• teacher-　老师 (laoshi)
  

I...-　我。。。。 (Wo......)

• do business-　做生意 (zuo shengyi)
• do casual work-　打工 (dagong)
  

I work in....-　我做 (Wo zuo.....)

• administration-　秘书 (mishu)
• health-　卫生 (weishang)
• sales & marketing-　推广 (tuiguang)
  

I'm....-　我。。。。。。了 (Wo........le)

• retired-　退休 (tuixiu)
• self-employed-　下海 (xiahai)
• unemployed-　下岗 (xiagang)
  

I'm studying...-　我学。。。。。 (Wo xue......)

• humanities-　文科 (wenke)
• (Mandarin) Chinese-　中文 (zhongwen)
• science-　理科 (li ke)
  

What are you studying?-　你学习什么？ (Ni xuexi shenme?)

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Note from fake_innocent:
For more occupation terms, please kindly PM me regarding your request. Thanks!

I've always had troubles with the occupations. No one ever understand what I'm talking about. Thanks! <3