French vs. Chinese

One of the massive differences between French and Chinese is easily outlined in how you ask for food at a restaurant.

French: Je voudrais [insert food here], s'il vous plait.
Chinese: Wǒ yào [insert food here].

In the French version, "voudrais," a more polite form of the verb "vouloir" (to want) is used. After the name of the food, you say "s'il vous plait," which means "please," and in fact it's an even more polite form of "please" ("s'il te plait" is more informal).

In the Chinese version, you literally only have to say "I want."

Here are the two statements, this time translated into English (I'm not really sure what to call them, because you're asking but you're sort of asking indirectly by saying what you would like rather than asking if you can have that particular food).

French: I would like [insert food here], please.
Chinese: I want [insert food here].

Chinese is so blunt sometimes. In the Du Du Xiong books, one of the pigs is called Xiǎozhū féiféi which literally means "little pig fat fat."

And that is why I like learning Chinese.