Job interview: Motivation for applying

💬 Put any action right after 喜欢 to say what you like doing, with no extra word for "to" or "-ing": 我喜欢看书 "I like reading".

💬 过 after a verb means "have ever done", so it's for asking about experience: 你去过上海吗？ "Have you been to Shanghai?" 以前 "before" just reinforces it.

💬 To answer a yes/no question, repeat the verb with 过 instead of saying "yes". There's no single word for yes here, and 教过 alone is a complete reply.

💬 The place where something happens goes before the action, not after: 在北京教 "teach in Beijing", 在家工作 "work at home".

💬 How long you did something comes after the verb and 了: 学了三年 "studied for three years", 住了一个月 "lived for a month".

💬 For "two" before a counted thing, use 两 (liǎng), not 二 (èr). 年 needs no counting word in between, unlike 两个月 "two months".

💬 With groups and institutions, 的 is usually dropped: 我们学校, 我们公司 "our company", rather than 我们的学校.

💬 那 (nà) at the start of a question means "so" or "then", linking it to what was just said. It doesn't mean "that" here.

💬 No 是 is needed before an adjective, and 很 here mostly just completes the sentence rather than meaning "very". Swap in another adjective: 你们学校很大 "Your school is big".

🇨🇳 Opening with praise for the employer's reputation is a safe, expected first reason in a Chinese interview. Follow it with something about yourself so it doesn't sound like flattery alone.

💬 有名 is literally "have name", meaning famous. 有 + noun makes similar adjectives: 有用 "useful", 有意思 "interesting".

💬 还有 means "also there is", and adding 吗 at the end turns any statement into a yes/no question. For example, 还有问题吗？ "Any other questions?"

🇨🇳 Saying you want to live in the city is a perfectly acceptable motivation in China. Interviewers hiring foreigners often like hearing you plan to stay a while.

💬 好 placed right after a verb means "do it well, to completion": 做好 "do well", 准备好 "get ready".

💬 Time words like 今天 go before the verb, not at the end of the sentence. 过来 "come over" means movement toward the speaker.

🇨🇳 This is the interviewer's signal that the interview is over. Stand up and thank them in return.

💬 给 plus a person goes before the action to mean "to/for someone", so this is literally "to you make a call". The same pattern gives 给他发邮件 "send him an email".

💬 给 + person + action means doing it for or to someone: 给你打电话 "call you", 给他发邮件 "email him".

💬 打 usually means "hit", but here it's simply the verb for making a call. The person you're calling goes before it with 给.

💬 您 (nín) is the respectful form of 你 "you".

🇨🇳 Use 您 with an interviewer, a boss or an older person. It shows respect without sounding stiff.

🇨🇳 慢走 literally means "walk slowly" and is said only by the host to someone leaving. Don't say it back; reply with 再见 or 谢谢.