我不吃肉。我没有现金。
I do not eat meat. I do not have cash.
Day 9 of 57 · Week 2 · Human survival
Read a menu
Recognize 米饭, 面条, 饺子, 鸡肉, 牛肉, 猪肉. Build a two-item order without English.
Start with the guided teaching
You want beef noodles, know the price, and need to answer a follow-up about spice.
Build a food word from pieces: 牛肉 = beef; 面 = noodles in this menu. 牛肉面 = beef noodles. This helps with familiar combinations; a dish name cannot reveal every ingredient or cooking method.
Read a menu and order a meal — complete guided explanation
Do the work in five passes
- Listen and pronounce — 25 min · shadow 6 phrases; compare a recording.
- Read and recognize — 25 min · complete the guided teaching, then read today’s words.
- Build and speak — 25 min · build a guided request; then make 10 variations.
- Solve a situation — 25 min · practice both sides, then hide the hints.
- Retrieve and review — 20–80 min · due review, quizzes, and a spoken recap.
Completion records effort; quiz results measure recognition. Neither proves conversational fluency. Use the interactive trainer for review scheduling and saved progress.
Today’s sentence machinery
Not: 不 and 没
Use 不 for general negation, preferences and future intentions. Use 没 for not having or an action that did not happen; 有 is negated as 没有.
Different jobs: general not versus not-have / did-not.
Your language for today
我对花生过敏。
I'm allergic to peanuts.
I + toward + peanuts + allergic
我不吃肉。
I don't eat meat.
I + not + eat + meat
这个里面有肉吗？
Does this have meat in it?
this + inside + has + meat + question
有鸡蛋吗？
Does it have eggs?
has + eggs + question
不要冰。
No ice, please.
not + want + ice
我要热水。
I'd like hot water.
I + want + hot + water
一杯茶。
A cup of tea.
one + cup + tea
一杯咖啡。
A cup of coffee.
one + cup + coffee
Practice the situation
Restaurant
You want a meal, need to check spice, and then pay.
你想吃什么？
What would you like to eat?
A useful response
我要饺子。
Order the dumplings.
要辣的吗？
Would you like the spicy version?
A useful response
不要辣。
Decline the spicy version.
还需要什么？
Do you need anything else?
A useful response
我想要一杯水。
Ask for a glass of water.
吃完了吗？
Have you finished eating?
A useful response
买单，谢谢。
Ask for the bill.
Outside the trainer: spend 10–20 minutes repeating these exchanges with a Mandarin speaker when available. Ask them to change one reply so you must listen. Fixed audio and scenarios cannot reproduce every real conversation.