Cooking a Simple Meal in Chinese: Beginners Dialogue & Food Vocabulary 🍳

In this lesson, you’ll join friends Wang Wei and Li Na as they decide what to eat and cook a simple, delicious meal together. You will learn practical Chinese phrases for expressing hunger, making suggestions, and complimenting someone’s cooking.

💬 Video Transcript

王伟: 李娜，你好！
(Wang Wei: Li Na, hello!)

李娜: 王伟，你好！
(Li Na: Wang Wei, hello!)

王伟: 你怎么样？
(Wang Wei: How are you?)

李娜: 我很好，谢谢。你呢？
(Li Na: I’m very well, thank you. And you?)

王伟: 我也很好。但是，我很饿。
(Wang Wei: I’m also very well. But, I’m very hungry.)

李娜: 我也很饿。我们吃什么？
(Li Na: I’m also very hungry. What shall we eat?)

王伟: 我们做饭，好吗？
(Wang Wei: Shall we cook, okay?)

李娜: 好啊！我们做什么饭？
(Li Na: Okay! What shall we cook?)

王伟: 我们做米饭和鸡蛋，怎么样？
(Wang Wei: How about we make rice and eggs?)

李娜: 太好了！我喜欢吃米饭。我也喜欢吃鸡蛋。
(Li Na: Great! I like to eat rice. I also like to eat eggs.)

王伟: 我也喜欢。那，我们开始吧。
(Wang Wei: I also like it. Then, let’s start.)

李娜: 好。你做什么？
(Li Na: Okay. What are you doing?)

王伟: 我做米饭。你呢？你做什么？
(Wang Wei: I’m making rice. And you? What are you making?)

李娜: 我做鸡蛋。我喜欢做鸡蛋。
(Li Na: I’m making eggs. I like to make eggs.)

王伟: 好的。你看，这是米。
(Wang Wei: Okay. Look, this is rice.)

李娜: 好的。你看，这是鸡蛋。
(Li Na: Okay. Look, these are eggs.)

王伟: 我去洗米。
(Wang Wei: I’ll go wash the rice.)

李娜: 我去拿鸡蛋。
(Li Na: I’ll go get the eggs.)

王伟: 做米饭需要水。
(Wang Wei: Making rice requires water.)

李娜: 做鸡蛋需要油。
(Li Na: Making eggs requires oil.)

王伟: 好的，我做米饭。
(Wang Wei: Okay, I’ll make the rice.)

李娜: 好的，我做鸡蛋。
(Li Na: Okay, I’ll make the eggs.)

王伟: 我的米饭快好了。
(Wang Wei: My rice is almost ready.)

李娜: 我的鸡蛋也快好了。
(Li Na: My eggs are also almost ready.)

王伟: 哇，你的鸡蛋很香！
(Wang Wei: Wow, your eggs smell so good!)

李娜: 你的米饭也很香！
(Li Na: Your rice smells very good too!)

王伟: 我们的饭都好了！我们吃饭吧！
(Wang Wei: Our food is all ready! Let’s eat!)

李娜: 好，我们吃饭！
(Li Na: Okay, let’s eat!)

王伟: 李娜，你做的鸡蛋很好吃。
(Wang Wei: Li Na, the eggs you made are delicious.)

李娜: 谢谢。王伟，你做的米饭也很好吃。
(Li Na: Thank you. Wang Wei, the rice you made is also delicious.)

王伟: 我很高兴我们一起做饭。
(Wang Wei: I’m very happy we cooked together.)

李娜: 我也很高兴。
(Li Na: I’m very happy too.)

王伟: 一起做饭很好。
(Wang Wei: Cooking together is great.)

李娜: 是的，一起吃饭也很好。
(Li Na: Yes, and eating together is also great.)

王伟: 我们是好朋友。
(Wang Wei: We are good friends.)

李娜: 对，我们是好朋友。我们下次再一起做饭，好吗？
(Li Na: Yes, we are good friends. Shall we cook together again next time, okay?)

王伟: 好啊！太好了！
(Wang Wei: Okay! That’s great!)

📝 Essential Vocabulary

Here are some key words and phrases from the video. Listen to the pronunciation and practice saying them out loud.

🔍 Grammar Focus

This dialogue features some very common and useful grammar patterns for beginners.

1. Using 也 (yě) for “Also” or “Too”

The adverb 也 (yě) is used to express “also” or “too.” It is always placed before the verb or adjective it modifies. You’ll see it used many times in the conversation.

• 李娜: 我很好，谢谢。你呢？ (I’m very well, thank you. And you?)

• 王伟: 我也很好。(I’m also very well.)

• 王伟: 我很饿。(I’m very hungry.)

• 李娜: 我也很饿。(I’m also very hungry.)

• 李娜: 我喜欢吃米饭。我也喜欢吃鸡蛋。(I like to eat rice. I also like to eat eggs.)

2. Making Suggestions with 好吗 (hǎo ma) and 怎么样 (zěn me yàng)

In the dialogue, Wang Wei uses two different ways to make a suggestion and ask for agreement.

A. …，好吗 (hǎo ma)? This is like adding “, okay?” to the end of a statement to turn it into a suggestion.

• 我们做饭，好吗？ (Shall we cook, okay?)

B. …，怎么样 (zěn me yàng)? This phrase means “How about…?” or “What do you think?”. It’s a great way to propose a specific idea.

• 我们做米饭和鸡蛋，怎么样？ (How about we make rice and eggs?)

Both are very common and polite ways to make suggestions among friends.

🌍 Cultural Tip

🃏 Flip & Learn

Use these flashcards to test your memory of key phrases from the dialogue.

💡 Key Takeaways

Here are the most important points to remember from this lesson:

• To say you are hungry, you can say 我很饿 (wǒ hěn è).
• The word 也 (yě) means “also” or “too” and always comes before the verb or adjective.
• You can make suggestions by adding 好吗 (hǎo ma)? (okay?) or 怎么样 (zěn me yàng)? (how about it?) to the end of a sentence.
• Basic cooking vocabulary includes 做饭 (zuò fàn), 米饭 (mǐ fàn), and 鸡蛋 (jī dàn).
• Compliment food by saying it’s 好吃 (hǎo chī), which literally means “good to eat.”

🎯 Practice Quiz

Test your understanding of the vocabulary and grammar from this lesson.

✍️ Fill in the Blanks

Let’s test your spelling and memory! Fill in the missing words below. Use correct spelling.