Key words of the day
Would you do me a favor? 能帮我个忙吗? Can you help me with this form? 能帮我填一下这张表吗? Sure当然可以。Thanks a million, 非常感谢。 All in today’s Chinese Studio.

Cam:  Now Yajie, in many cases, whether at the chao shi, bank, restaurant, or whatever, we need to ask for help.
Yajie:   Right.  You can say能帮我个忙吗?
Cam:  neng2 bang1 wo3 ge4 mang2 ma?
YJ: neng2 means would you?
Cam: neng2.
YJ: bang1 wo3 means to help me,
Cam: bang1 wo3,
YJ: ge4 is short for yi2ge4, which means one,
Cam: ge4.
YJ: bang1 mang2, help.
Cam: bang1 mang2. 
YJ: neng2 bang1 wo3 ge4 mang2 ma?
Cam: neng2 bang1 wo3 ge4 mang2 ma? Would you do me a favor?

Conversation1:
A：能帮我个忙吗?
B：当然可以。 怎么了？
A：能替我寄封信吗？
B： 好的，没问题。
A:　谢谢。
B: 不客气。　

Cam: Yajie, let’s say I’m in a bank, and I need to fill out some forms, but I don’t know the Chinese. How can I ask someone else to help me with the form?
YJ: You can say 能帮我填一下这张表吗?
Cam: neng2 bang1 wo3 tian2 yi2xia4 zhe4 zhang1 biao3 ma?
YJ: bang1 means help, 
Cam:.bang1
YJ: neng2 bang1 wo3, can you help me,
Cam: neng2 bang1 wo3,
YJ: tian2 yi2xia4, to fill in,
Cam: tian2 yi2xia4,
YJ: zhe4 zhang1 biao3, this form,
Cam:  zhe4 zhang1 biao3
YJ: zhang1 is the measure word,
Cam:zhang1.
YJ: biao3 is short for biao3ge2, here it means form,
Cam: biao3,
YJ:, zhe4 zhang1 biao3, this form,
Cam: zhe4 zhang1 biao3, this form,
YJ: neng2 bang1 wo3 tian2 yi2xia4 zhe4 zhang1 biao3 ma?
Cam: neng2 bang1 wo3 tian2 yi2xia4 zhe4 zhang1 biao3 ma? Can you help me with this form?

Conversation2:
A：对不起， 能帮我填一下这张表吗?
B：当然可以。
A：非常感谢！
B：不客气。

Cam: And if I ask somebody to do me a favor, what will their response be?
Yajie: Most friendly people will say 当然可以, which means Sure.
Cam: dang1 ran2 ke2 yi3.
YJ:  dang1 ran2 means of course,
Cam: dang1 ran2.
YJ: ke2 yi3 imply that I can help,
Cam: ke2 yi3
YJ:  dang1 ran2 ke2 yi3.
Cam:  dang1 ran2 ke2 yi3. of course I can.  Then finally what should I say to someone who helped me?
YJ:  you can say非常感谢Thanks a million.
Cam:  fei1 chang2 gan3 xie4.
YJ:  fei1 chang2 means very much,
Cam:  fei1 chang2
YJ:  gan3 xie4. thanks
Cam:  gan3 xie4.
YJ:  fei1 chang2 gan3 xie4.
Cam:  fei1 chang2 gan3 xie4. Thanks a million.

Conversation3:
A：能帮我个忙吗?
B：当然可以了，怎么了？
A：能帮我去楼下取个快件吗？
B： 没问题。

Key words Reminder
Would you do me a favor? 能帮我个忙吗? Can you help me with this form? 能帮我填一下这张表吗? Sure当然可以。 Thanks a million, 非常感谢。 All in today’s Chinese Studio.

Cam:  This has been very… ahem… helpful, Yajie.
YJ:  Time for our question of the day. How do you say “Would you do me a favor” in Chinese?
Cam:  Send your answer to Chinese@crifm.com.  And you might win a prize from us.  See you next week!
YJ:  Ming tian jian!

(Written by Cam & Yajie)