# Why “Ask” Is Wrong in Mandarin | Mandarin & English Podcast | Mailbag Episode

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/mandarin-monkey-podcast-476044/why-ask-is-wrong-in-mandarin-mandarin-english-podcast-mailbag-episode
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/mandarin-monkey-podcast-476044/why-ask-is-wrong-in-mandarin-mandarin-english-podcast-mailbag-episode.md
Podcast: [Mandarin Monkey Podcast](https://stenobird.com/podcast/mandarin-monkey-podcast-476044)
Published: 2026-01-30T13:17:17+00:00
Episode link: https://shows.acast.com/mandarin-monkey-podcast/episodes/why-ask-is-wrong-in-mandarin-mandarin-english-podcast-mailba
Audio file: https://sphinx.acast.com/p/open/s/671683b6c054f53907d2cb8f/e/697caf5a65c54ec919944984/media.mp3
Processing state: not_requested
JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/mandarin-monkey-podcast-476044/episodes/why-ask-is-wrong-in-mandarin-mandarin-english-podcast-mailbag-episode
Duration seconds: 2959

## Resource

This is a mailbag episode of the Mandarin Monkey Podcast. We answer listener questions about a deceptively common Mandarin mistake: why you can’t use “ask” the way you do in English. Ula explains why 問 is for asking questions, but doesn’t work when you’re asking someone to do you a favour, and why 請 is often the natural choice, even though it doesn’t translate cleanly into English. We also respond to listener emails about: learning Mandarin without a clear end goal why grammar turns people off languages patience, time, and long-term progress how hangouts and lessons help people stick with it Ula speaks Mandarin pretty much throughout. Tom speaks English pretty much throughout. 🎧 Lessons, hangouts, and more: mandarinmonkey.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

## Actions

- request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/mandarin-monkey-podcast-476044/episodes/why-ask-is-wrong-in-mandarin-mandarin-english-podcast-mailbag-episode/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode.
- read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/mandarin-monkey-podcast-476044/why-ask-is-wrong-in-mandarin-mandarin-english-podcast-mailbag-episode.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource.

A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed.

## Transcript

Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.