During the lesson yesterday with an advanced level student, there was a character in a compound in the article which he hadn't come across before (or had learned but forgotten): 納 / 纳 nà / "take in / receive / accept", therefore can mean "allow".
I told him the meaning, and tried to give him another compound that uses it which is a commonly occurring word in everyday life. (Where the student is capable of handling extra balls, which this one certainly is -- he's like a sponge, I always throw them extra balls, giving them other permutations of a particular character.)
The Chinese word database on my computer, however, failed to give me the combination I had in mind (納銀台 / 纳银台 / nà yín tái / "take-in silver platform", for "payment desk"), so I gave up after a couple of attempts.
This morning, I had another go, and found what I wanted (but in a different permutation): 納款台 / 纳款台 / nà kuǎn tái / "take-in money platform". Also 收銀台 / 收银台 / shōu yín tái / "receive silver platform".
Ah, either 納款 / 纳款 / nà kuǎn / "take-in money" or 收銀 / 收银 / shōu yín / "receive silver". It was either AB or XY, and I'd done it as AY.
Sent it to the student, adding in English (before quoting the definition that I'd found online) "The brain's arrived on the slow train" and in Chinese (at the end) "哎呀，該退休了 / aiya, gāi tuìxiū le / oh dear, ought to retire now".
The student came back with, "哈哈哈，差不多了 / hahaha, chàbùduō le / hahaha, almost".
I took this to mean that he agreed that it was almost time for me to retire. Oh dear, even the student thinks so.
Just for idle conversation (I always do that to give them extra practice), I texted him with, "你是說退休啊⋯⋯⋯⋯ / nǐ shì shuō tuìxiū ah / you mean retire", with extra dots to indicate how I was feeling.
He came back with, "没有，我是说纳款台和收银台差不多 / méiyǒu, wǒ shì shuō nàkuǎntái hé shōuyíntái chàbùduō / No, I was/am saying that 納款台 and 收銀台 are almost [the same]".
Reprieved. (For now.)
(London, 2026)
I feel proud of myself for having understood part of the Chinese. I also guessed that 納 / 纳 are the traditional / simplified version of the same character. Did I understand right that in the context of money, it can mean both "to pay" and "to get paid"?
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