I’m learning Chinese, and would love to have some people to chat with. I’m not good, for sure, but I really enjoy it a lot!
你好叫我BartsBigBugBag！我是美国人，我是社会主义者。我明年希望去中国陆游。我是学生的汉语。你说汉语吗？你怎么样？你现在做什么？你明白我的汉语吗？谢谢你！
I’m learning Chinese, and would love to have some people to chat with. I’m not good, for sure, but I really enjoy it a lot!
你好叫我BartsBigBugBag！我是美国人，我是社会主义者。我明年希望去中国陆游。我是学生的汉语。你说汉语吗？你怎么样？你现在做什么？你明白我的汉语吗？谢谢你！
For the introduction, you could use:
怎么样，我是「BartsBigBugBag」！
It is more colloquial
Thank you. Is it common to ask someone how they are before you introduce yourself? Here it would be seen as either small talk, or as if you didn’t care to know the answer to the question in the first place, since you immediately spoke after asking.
I was worried about using 我是because i didn’t know if there was a specific nuance around screen names Vs actual names, so I figured “call me BartsBigBugBag” covered that base effectively lol.
For greeting, you could also say (in person): 吃饭了吗? / 吃了吗?
if you know them a bit better
That’s a great one I hadn’t learned yet. Instead they had me asking what time people eat, which seemed a bit formal and specific. This sort of more casual conversation is exactly what I need to not sound like a robot or Google translate.
It is a remnant from the Northern Song Dynasty, as a form of etiquette and being polite, to not to disturb them while eating.
“凡往见人，入门必问主人食否 […] 度无所妨，乃命展剌。有妨则少俟。”
“Whoever you visit, you should ask them if they have eaten or not […] if they are about to eat, don’t enter the house until after they finish the meal. Otherwise, you would be intruding.”
From the book “Lü Convention” 《吕氏乡约》
Wow that’s such a neat piece of history, thank you for sharing!