bànfa 辦法 method, way bàoqiàn 抱歉 to be sorry bùzhǎng 部長 minister (of a government organization) Chángchéng 長城 the Great Wall dàjiā 大家 everybody, everyone jiē 姐 to receive (mail, messages, guests, phone calls) jiēdào 接到 to receive jù 聚 to assemble jùyijù 聚一聚 to get together kěxī 可惜 unfortunately, what a pity Lǐbīnsī 禮賓司 Protocol Department (PRC) méi bànfa 沒辦法 there’s no way out, it can’t be helped mìshū 秘書 secretary, executive assistant qiǎo 巧 to be timely, to be opportune qǐngtiě (qìngtiē) 請帖 written invitation tì 替 substituting for, in place of tóngshì 同事 fellow worker, colleague tóngxué 同學 classmate yíhàn 遺憾 to regret (that something desirable will not happen) yīnggāi 應該 should, ought to, must zhuǎngào 轉告 to pass on a message, to inform cānjiā 參加 to participate in, to join, to attend dào xǐ 道喜 to congratulate dìèrtiān 第二天 the next day jīngjibù 經濟部 Ministry of Economics jūnshì yǎnxí 軍事演習 military maneuvers láodòng mófàn 勞動模範 model worker nánbù 南部 the southern part (of the island), the south shàngxiào 上校 colonel tīngdechūlái 聼得出來 to be able to recognize what something is from the sound tóngxuéhuì 同學會 alumni association (literally, “fellow-student group”) tōngzhī 同志 (written) announcement, notification xièxie tāde yāoqǐng 謝謝他的邀請 to thank him for his invitation zhèngzhi xuéxí 政治學習 political study session zhǔchí jiéhūn 主持結婚 to preside at a marriage ceremony (i.e., to give the bride away) zǒng jīnglǐ 總經理 general manager (chief executive officer) dàngāo 蛋糕 cake qìsi 起司 cheese