Laoshi - Teacher in Mandarin Chinese

Countries where Mandarin Chinese is spoken are often strongly influenced by Confucian ideals. Part of the Confucian tradition is a deep respect for teachers. LÇŽoshÄ « is the Mandarin word for â€Å"teacher.† It has two characters: è€ Ã¥ ¸ « and the first character lÇŽo è€  is a prefix which means â€Å"old.† The second character shÄ « Ã¥ ¸ « means â€Å"teacher,† so the literal translation of lÇŽoshÄ « is â€Å"old teacher.† However, è€  in this context just expressed respect and isnt related to actual age at all. Compare with è€ Ã©â€"† for boss. LÇŽoshÄ « is also used as a title. You can address your teacher as â€Å"lÇŽoshÄ «Ã¢â‚¬  or you can use lÇŽoshÄ « in combination with a family name when referring to a teacher. This can feel strange at first to learners of Mandarin Chinese since we dont really do that in English, except possibly for younger children. In Mandarin, you can always call your teacher lÇŽoshÄ «, including at university.   Examples of LÇŽoshÄ « Click the links to hear the audio. LÇŽoshÄ « hÇŽo. NÇ  mà ¡ng ma?è€ Ã¥ ¸ «Ã¥ ¥ ½Ã¤ ½  Ã¥ ¿â„¢Ã¥â€"Ž?è€ Ã¥ ¸Ë†Ã¥ ¥ ½Ã¤ ½  Ã¥ ¿â„¢Ã¥ â€"?Hello teacher. Are you busy?WÇ’ hÄ›n xÇ huan Huà ¡ng lÇŽoshÄ «.我å ¾Ë†Ã¥â€"Å"æ ­ ¡Ã© »Æ'è€ Ã¥ ¸ «Ã¦Ë†â€˜Ã¥ ¾Ë†Ã¥â€"Å"æ ¬ ¢Ã© »â€žÃ¨â‚¬ Ã¥ ¸Ë†I really like Teacher Huang. Note that in the first case, its not necessary to include ä ½   or æ‚ ¨ in the greeting to form the standard ä ½  Ã¥ ¥ ½Ã‚  or æ‚ ¨Ã¥ ¥ ½, you just add Ã¥ ¥ ½ to the title. This is similar to the way you would say hello to a large group: Ã¥ ¤ §Ã¥ ® ¶Ã¥ ¥ ½. The second sentence shows how teachers are usually talked about among students (again, up to and including university). Update:  This article was significantly updated by  Olle Linge.