Countries wher Mandarin Chinese is spoken are often strongly influenced by Confucian ideals. Part of the Confucian tradition is a deep respect for teachers.

Lǎoshī is the Mandarin word for “teacher.” It has two characters: 老師 and the first character lǎo 老 is a prefix which means “old.” The second character shī 師 means “teacher,” so the literal translation of lǎoshī is “old teacher.”

Lǎoshī is used as a title. You can address your teacher as “lǎoshī” or you can use lǎoshī in combination with a family name when referring to a teacher.

Examples of Lǎoshī
 
    Lǎoshī hǎo. Nǐ máng ma?
    老師好｡你忙嗎?
    老师好｡你忙吗?
    Hello teacher. Are you busy?

    Wǒ hěn xǐhuan Huáng lǎoshī.
    我很喜歡黃老師｡
    我很喜欢黄老师｡
    I really like Teacher Huang.