The first class of the year. Zhang laoshi welcomes Xiaoyu; Chen Hao arrives late.
Zhang laoshi
你好，我是张老师。
Nǐ hǎo, wǒ shì Zhāng lǎoshī.
Hello, I am Zhang laoshi.
Xiaoyu
张老师好！我叫林小雨。
Zhāng lǎoshī hǎo ! Wǒ jiào Lín Xiǎoyǔ.
Hello, Zhang laoshi! My name is Lin Xiaoyu.
Zhang laoshi
你是哪里人？
Nǐ shì nǎlǐ rén ?
Where are you from?
Xiaoyu
我是南京人，今年二十岁。
Wǒ shì nánjīng rén, jīnnián èrshí suì.
I am from Nanjing, and I am twenty.
Chen Hao
老师好。对不起，我来晚了。
Lǎoshī hǎo. Duìbuqǐ, wǒ lái wǎn le.
Hello, laoshi. I am sorry, I am late.
Zhang laoshi
没关系，请坐。你叫什么名字？
Méiguānxi, qǐng zuò. Nǐ jiào shénme míngzi ?
Never mind, do sit down. What is your name?
Chen Hao
我叫陈浩，很高兴认识你们。
Wǒ jiào Chén Hào, hěn gāoxìng rènshi nǐmen.
My name is Chen Hao. Very pleased to meet you both.
Xiaoyu
我也很高兴。你也是南京人吗？
Wǒ yě hěn gāoxìng. Nǐ yě shì nánjīng rén ma ?
Pleased to meet you too. Are you from Nanjing as well?
Chen Hao
不是，我是北京人。
Bù shì, wǒ shì běijīng rén.
No, I am from Beijing.
Two ways of asking a name, and they do not carry the same weight. 你叫什么名字 is the full question, the one you put to someone you know nothing about. 你叫什么 is enough between young people. To someone older, or in an official setting, you use 您贵姓, which asks only for the surname.
Lin Xiaoyu is 林 by family and 小雨 by given name: Chinese always writes the family before the person. A title then attaches to the surname alone, 张老师, never to the given name. That is why Chen Hao is 陈浩 to his friends and 小陈 to his neighbours, but 陈先生 in an office.
你是哪里人 means "where are you from" and expects a city or a province, not a country. For a foreigner the question becomes 你是哪国人, and the answer is built the same way: the place, then 人. You say 南京人 exactly as you would say 法国人.
