# Talk with Your Chinese Grandparents: Mandarin for Heritage Speakers For heritage speakers who understand more than they say: the Mandarin for real conversations with grandparents and older relatives, with audio Source: https://www.saymei.app/resources/downloads/talk-with-your-chinese-grandparents ## At a glance - Level: Heritage beginner - Format: Workbook · PDF · 28 pages · US Letter (prints on A4) - Price: Free · free with a saymei account · updated Nov 4, 2026 ## Download Free with a SayMei account, on the workbook's page: https://www.saymei.app/resources/downloads/talk-with-your-chinese-grandparents. SayMei emails a copy too. ## A line from the workbook 奶奶，我想多跟您说说话。 (Nǎinai, wǒ xiǎng duō gēn nín shuōshuo huà.) — Grandma, I want to talk with you more. ## By the end you can - Greet each grandparent by the right title and ask how they are. Use 外婆 and 外公 for your mother's parents, greet the oldest first with 您, then ask after their health and their day. Hear 还行 as a modest answer and ask one more small question. 您身体好吗？ (Nín shēntǐ hǎo ma?): How is your health? - Praise the food, say no to more kindly and toast at family dinners. Praise one dish by name, answer 多吃点儿 without hurting feelings, raise a glass with 祝您身体健康！ and meet questions about marriage with a smiling 还早呢. 我吃饱了，谢谢奶奶！ (Wǒ chībǎo le, xièxie nǎinai!): I'm full. Thank you, Grandma! - Tell them about your life with one happy detail. Answer questions about school, work and friends with 有点儿 and 但是, so they hear that you eat well, sleep enough and have friends. 有点儿忙，但是我很喜欢我的工作。 (Yǒudiǎnr máng, dànshì wǒ hěn xǐhuan wǒ de gōngzuò.): A bit busy, but I really like my job. - Ask about their childhood and keep the story going. Ask where they lived and what they did when they were young, follow up with 后来呢？ and ask them to say it again so you can write it down. 您能再说一遍吗？我想记下来。 (Nín néng zài shuō yí biàn ma? Wǒ xiǎng jì xiàlai.): Could you say that again? I want to write it down. - Help at a doctor visit. Ask what hurts with 哪儿不舒服, say a body part with 疼, and pass on the doctor's advice: how many times a day and when to take the medicine. 医生说，这个药一天吃两次。 (Yīshēng shuō, zhège yào yì tiān chī liǎng cì.): The doctor says to take this medicine twice a day. - Keep a phone or video call going and show you care. Check they can hear you with 听得见吗, compare the time where you each are, and close with small caring advice and when you'll call again. 我下个星期再给您打电话。 (Wǒ xià ge xīngqī zài gěi nín dǎ diànhuà.): I'll call you again next week. - Ask a grandparent to teach you a family recipe. Ask them to teach you a dish, follow each step with 先 and 再, ask how much with 多少, and take 差不多就行 as a real answer. 您能教我做这个吗？ (Nín néng jiāo wǒ zuò zhège ma?): Could you teach me to make this? ## What's inside - Chapter 1: Learn: Call Them Properly · Practice: Choose the Right Title - Chapter 2: Learn: Ask How They Are · Practice: Ask After Their Health and Day - Chapter 3: Learn: Eat Together · Practice: Answer 多吃点儿 - Chapter 4: Learn: Tell Them About Your Life · Practice: Talk About School, Work, Friends - Chapter 5: Learn: Ask About Their Past · Practice: Ask for Their Stories - Chapter 6: Learn: Doctor Visits and Health · Practice: Help at a Doctor Visit - Chapter 7: Learn: Family Gatherings and Holidays · Practice: Join the Talk at a Gathering - Chapter 8: Learn: Phone and Video Calls · Practice: Keep a Call Going - Chapter 9: Learn: Showing You Care · Practice: Say Caring Things - Chapter 10: Learn: Ask for the Family Recipes · Practice: Ask How to Cook a Family Dish - Review: A Sunday Visit to Grandma ## How to use this book One chapter at a sitting: the Learn page with its audio, then the Practice page. Say every line out loud, even the ones you understand, then use it at home the same week. - Chapters 1–3: Greetings, health and food. Play the chapter's audio and say each line in the pause after it. Use the title your own family uses, then praise one dish by name at your next meal. - Chapters 4–6: Your life, their stories, the doctor. Answer with one happy detail about your week, ask one question about their childhood, and practise what hurts and how often to take medicine. - Chapters 7–10: Gatherings, calls, care and recipes. Learn a toast, keep a call going, say one caring line and ask for the first two steps of a family dish. - Each week: Try it at home. Every Practice page ends with a Say it task. Do it at your next call or visit and tick a box each time. - Last sitting: Review and check. Act out the Sunday visit on page 23 with a partner or the audio, then check every exercise against the answer key and audio script on pages 24 to 28. - Any day: Keep speaking. Scan the code on any Learn page to keep speaking with Mei Lin, SayMei's AI tutor. Her lessons are her own, separate from this book. ## Who it's for Heritage speakers who grew up hearing Mandarin at home and understand more than they say: grandchildren who answer in English, call grandparents abroad or want to talk with older relatives at family dinners. Before you start: You only need the everyday family Mandarin you already understand. Every line has characters, pinyin and English, and the free audio reads each one with a pause for you to say it back. ## I understand my grandparents but freeze when I speak. Is this book for me? Yes. It is written for that gap. Each chapter takes one real exchange you have probably heard many times and gets you saying it: a Learn page with the lines and audio, then a Practice page where you change them to fit your family. If you get stuck on a word, page 2 gives you 那个……怎么说？ to ask for it. ## My family says 姥姥 and 姥爷, not 外婆 and 外公. Does that matter? No. Families differ, and the book tells you to use the words your family uses. Chapter 1 explains the titles for each side of the family, and every family title is in Chinese Family Terms: What to Call Every Relative. ## Is there audio? Yes, free on the book's audio page, chapter by chapter, with a pause after every Chinese line so you can say it back. The code on page 2 opens it, and the audio script for each listening exercise is printed with the answer key at the back. ## Is this workbook free? Yes. The whole 28-page PDF is free, and you can look through its pages here before you download. There's no card and nothing to pay. ## Do I need a SayMei account? Yes, to download the PDF, and the account is free: sign up with Google, Apple or your email address. With it we email you a copy of the workbook, keep every workbook you download on your account on all your devices, save your place in the free online practice, and you can practise speaking with Mei Lin, SayMei's AI tutor. ## How do I print it? The PDF is US Letter size. On A4 paper, choose "Fit to page" (or "Scale to fit") in the print dialog so nothing is cut off. Print the whole workbook or only the pages you need; colour looks best, and black and white works too. ## Can I print copies for my class? Yes. Print as many copies as you like for your own class or family. To share it, send this page: everyone can download their own copy. Version 2026-11, updated Nov 4, 2026.