Giving and following directions in another language can be hard. In this episode, Chinese host and Mandarin teacher, Will Xu, walks you through how to do it in Chinese.

Vocabulary:

过头 Guòtóu Too far, overdone, past the point

路口 Lùkǒu Intersection

掉头 Diàotóu Turn around (car)

然后 Ránhòu Then

过 Guò Past

往 Wǎng Towards

右 Yòu Right

左 Zuǒ Left

拐 Guǎi Turn

拐弯 Guǎiwān Turn the corner

前 Qián Straight

到了 Dàole Arrived, Here we are

Dialogue：

乘客：哦。。过头了。 在前面的路口掉头。

Chéngkè: Ó.. Guòtóule. Zài qiánmiàn de lùkǒu diàotóu.

Passenger: Oh. . we missed it. Turn around at the intersection ahead.

司机： 好。然后呢？

Sījī: Hǎo. Ránhòu ne?

Driver: OK. and then?

乘客： 过了那个银行后，右拐。

Chéngkè:Guòle nàgè yínháng hòu, yòu guǎi.

Passenger: After passing the bank, turn right.

司机：这里往左吗？

Sījī: Zhèlǐ wǎng zuǒ ma?

Driver: Is it to the left here?

乘客：不用拐弯。继续往前 - 快到了。

到了。 就是这里。

Chéngkè: Bùyòng guǎiwān. Jìxù wǎng qián - kuài dàole.

Dàole. Jiùshì zhèlǐ.

No need to turn. Keep going - almost there.

Here we are. This is the place.

Catch My Drift:

A: 是这个超市吗？

B：不是。过头了。

A：那我在前面那个路口掉个头。

B：好。然后往右拐。

A：继续向前吗？

B：对。过了红绿灯往左。

A：是前面那个超市吗？

B：对，就是那儿。

Supplementary words/phrases:

转身 Zhuǎnshēn Turn Around

掉个头 Diào gètóu Turn Around (more informal)

十字路口 Shízìlù kǒu Four - way intersection

饿过头了 È guòtóule Past the point of hunger

睡过头了 Shuì guòtóule Oversleep

用过头了 Yòng guòtóule Overused

听过头了 Tīng guòtóule Heard too many times