Level 2

Lesson 61

Adam: Hello, and welcome to Lesson 61. I’m your host Adam.
Kirin: 大家好. 我是Kirin. 欢迎来到第六十一课.
Adam: Today’s lesson also marks the beginning of level two of our series, which means a slight bump in the level of difficulty used here. Over the next little while we will try and convert more of the lesson teaching into Chinese bit by bit. As always though, transcripts and translations of everything we say here is available in the Premium section of our website.
We’re going to begin level 2 by expanding on what was taught in level one. Now if we look back to our first ever lesson, that was on the four tones. There’s also a fifth tone which we’ve come across, which is a neutral tone. By now, you’ve hopefully mastered the differences between the tones and are comfortable enough to start discussing them in Chinese, so that’s what we’ll do from here on. So Kirin, how do we say “The five tones” in Chinese?
Kirin: 五种声调.
Adam: So let’s break that down. Five 种. You may remember, 种 from lesson 25 as a measure word meaning “kind” or “type.” So that gives us five kind 声调 which is our first new word of the day and literally means “sound tone.”
Kirin: 声调.
Adam: We’ll come back to this in a moment. Now the five tones we talked about earlier in English are referred to in the same order as first, second, third, fourth and fifth tones in Chinese. So the first tone in Chinese is:
Kirin: 第一声.
Adam: The second tone is
Kirin: 第二声.
Adam: The third tone is
Kirin: 第三声.
Adam: And the fourth tone is
Kirin: 第四声.
Adam: So, hopefully, you get the hang of that. And lastly we have the neutral tone which is:
Kirin: 第五声.
Adam: Now in our course, we’ll refer to the neutral tone as the fifth tone. But in Chinese, they call it the neutral tone which is 轻声.
So when learning Chinese you, of course, will come across new words from time to time and may need to know what tones are used. Now first, I need to make a distinction between “word” and “characters.” In English, of course, words are broken down into letters of the alphabet. The Chinese language doesn’t use letters, of course, it uses Chinese characters. So some words may consist of one or more Chinese characters, each of which uses one of the five tones that we just talked about. So first Kirin, why don’t you tell us how you say “character” in Chinese.
Kirin: 字.
Adam: Again
Kirin: 字.
Adam: So if I wanted to know what tone a particular character used, how would I ask that?
Kirin: 这个字是哪一种声调?
Adam: Which literally means “this character is which kind tone?”
Kirin: 这个字是哪一种声调?
Adam: So I could start by asking:
Kirin: 字 是哪一种声调?
Adam: And how would you answer that?
Kirin: 字 是第四种声调.
Adam: So, hopefully, you see how that works. Let’s go back to 声调 which we learned today. This word can be broken down into two characters 声 and 调. So let me ask you:
Kirin: 声，这个字是哪一种声调?
声 是第一种声调.
Adam: So again, literally, she answered: 声 is first type of tone.
Kirin: 声 是第一种声调.
Adam: Alright, and let me ask:
Kirin: 调，这个字是哪一种声调?
调 是第四种声调.
Adam: Great, so I hope you can get the hang of this.
Now, of course, many times one or more characters are combined to form a word. To keep things clear, we’ll separate them as we did with 声调. So Kirin why don’t you pick a word we’ve learned before and ask us what tones are used there.
Kirin: 好，昨天，昨 是哪一声?
Adam: Great, so a little shorter form of that question. And how would we answer that?
Kirin: 昨 是第二声.
Adam: So you can see the shorter form is used to answer this as well. Let’s try another one.
Kirin: 汉堡的 汉 是第几声?
Adam: So yet another way to ask this same question. 汉堡的 汉 means the 汉 in 汉堡.
Kirin: 汉堡的 汉 是第几声?
Adam: 第几声? You may remember that 几 means “how many?” So the literal form of this question is the 汉 in 汉堡 is “which tone?” as in “which position number?”
Kirin: 汉堡的 汉 是第几声?
Adam: So how would you answer that?
Kirin: 汉 是第四声.
Adam: You can see more of these examples in the podcast review for this lesson. For now though, let’s review the vocabulary taught in today’s lesson.
Kirin: 五种声调.
Adam: The five tones.
Kirin: 第一声.
Adam: The first tone.
Kirin: 第二声.
Adam: The second tone.
Kirin: 第三声.
Adam: The third tone.
Kirin: 第四声.
Adam: The fourth tone.
Kirin: 第五声.
Adam: The fifth tone, or the neutral tone.
Kirin: 轻声.
Adam: Neutral tone.
Kirin: 第几声?
Adam: Which tone?
Kirin: 字.
Adam: Character.
So that’s the new vocabulary for you to study today. We’ll be adding more to this in our next lesson; so please join us for that.
As this is the first lesson of level two, some of the premium features are available for free to try out. So take a look that on our website and then decide whether or premium subscription suits you, then join us again next time for lesson 62.
Kirin: 再见.

Podcast transcript

Kirin: 中文有五种声调. 第一声, 第二声, 第三声, 第四声, 和第五声.
Adam: Please answer the following question in Chinese:
Kirin: 中文有几种声调?
中文有五种声调.
Adam: What is the “second tone” in Chinese?
Kirin: 第二声.
Adam: What is the “fourth tone” in Chinese?
Kirin: 第四声.
Adam: What is the “third tone” in Chinese?
Kirin: 第三声.
Adam: What is the “first tone” in Chinese?
Kirin: 第一声.
Adam: How do you say “character” in Chinese?
Kirin: 字.
Adam: Translate the following into Chinese.
The 因 in 因为.
Kirin: 因为的因.
Adam: Translate and provide the complete form of this question:
What tone does the 为 in 因为 use?
Kirin: 因为的为是哪一种声调?
Adam: Answer this question in Chinese.
Kirin: 因为的为是哪一种声调?
因为的为是第四种声调.
Adam: Answer the following question in Chinese:
工作的工是哪一种声调?
工作的工是第一声.
德国的国是第几声?
德国的国是第二声.

Lesson 62

Adam: Hello, I’m Adam.
Kirin: 大家好. 我是 Kirin. 欢迎来到第六十二课.
Adam: This is level 2 of our series, which builds upon what was taught in level 1. Our last lesson focused on the five tones, which built off the first lesson of Level 1. Today we’ll build upon the second lesson of Level 1 which was Greetings. By now you should all be well familiar with 你好, and 大家好. Today we’ll learn a few new greetings depending on the time of day.
Now we first learned the different times of day back in Lesson 19. So let’s do a quick review of them starting with “morning.”
Kirin: 早上.
Adam: Afternoon.
Kirin: 下午.
Adam: Night.
Kirin: 晚上.
Adam: Great, so if you wanted to say “Good morning” how would you do that?
Kirin: 早上好.
Adam: Easy enough. Literally, “morning good.”
Kirin: 早上好.
Adam: Now in Taiwan you’re likely to hear a different version.
Kirin: 早安.
Adam: So there’s a new character there, 安.
Kirin: 安 是第一声，安.
Adam: So 安 here can mean “quiet or peaceful”; so it’s like wishing someone a peaceful morning.
Kirin: 早安.
Adam: Similarly, to wish someone “Good afternoon,” you could say:
Kirin: 午安.
Adam: Again, that’s used in Taiwan whereas in other parts of China you may hear:
Kirin: 下午好.
Adam: Just like in English, “Goodnight” is used when you’re leaving rather than as an initial greeting. So here, too, we’re back to:
Kirin: 晚上好.
Adam: So that again is used in China while
Kirin: 晚安
Adam: is used in Taiwan. Try and figure out which of these the people around you are using and go with that form. Now getting back to Lesson 2, we learned that 再见 is the most common way to say “goodbye.” Let’s listen to a few other versions.
Kirin: 再会.
Adam: The 再 is the same 再 from 再见 while the 会 we’ve also seen before as in “to be able to do something” so we’re basically saying “We’ll see you again.”
Kirin: 再会.
Adam: If you wanted to specifically say “See you next time” you could say:
Kirin: 下次见.
Adam: We’ve seen both these words before. The 下 here is the same 下 from 下午, while the 次 we’ve seen before in lesson 23 in 第一次, as in “first time.” Originally we had explained the meaning of 下 as “after.” It can also be used to mean “next” so here 下次 means “next time.”
Kirin: 下次见.
Adam: For more formal occasions we can use a longer form:
Kirin: 我们下次再见.
Adam: Which literally means “We’ll see you next time.”
Kirin: 我们下次再见.
Adam: We’ll now switch our focus a little bit to our Premium podcasts since that’s what we’ll be using from hereon to test whether you understand this material. Our goal in Level 2 is to switch more of the in-lesson dialogue into Chinese which means we’ll need to teach you some of the phrases we’ll be using from hereon. So let’s start with the first one:
Kirin: 请用中文翻译下面的题目.
Adam: So that may seem like much, but we’ve seen all these words before. Let’s see how much of it you remember.
Kirin: 用 是什么意思?
Adam: That’s the verb “to use”
Kirin: 翻译 是什么意思?
Adam: That means “translate”
Kirin: 下面的 的是什么意思?
Adam: This one needs to be broken down. We know that 下 can mean next or after. You may also remember the 面 from 前面 and 后面, which we saw back in Lesson 56 meaning “side.” So in this context 下面的 means “the next part.” Let’s see what else you remember.
Kirin: 题目 是什么意思?
Adam: We originally taught 题目 in lesson 36 to mean “subject” or “topic.” It can also be used to mean question or sentence in question. So putting this all together gives us:
Kirin: 请用中文翻译下面的题目.
Adam: Which literally means “Please use Chinese translate the next part sentence.”
Kirin: 请用中文翻译下面的题目.
Adam: Which basically means “Please translate the following into Chinese.”
Kirin: 请用中文翻译下面的题目.
Adam: Similarly, you could also say:
Kirin: 请用中文翻译下面的问题.
Adam: 问题, you may remember, from 没问题 in Lesson 19 meaning “no problem.” So 问题 can mean “problem” or “question.” So here the meaning of the sentence is: “Please translate the following question into Chinese.”
Kirin: 请用中文翻译下面的问题.
Adam: Now that we know the word for “question,” let’s look at the word for “answer.”
Kirin: 回答.
Adam: So there are two characters there.
Kirin: 回 是第二声. 答 也是第二声.
Adam: So knowing what we’ve learned so far, how would you say: “Please use Chinese to answer the following question”?
Kirin: 请用中文回答下面的问题.

Podcast transcript

请用中文回答下面的问题.
Q: 在中国, “Good morning”中文怎么说?
A: 早上好.
Q: 在台湾 “Good morning” 中文怎么说?
A: 早安.
Q: “早”是第几声?
A: 早是第三声.
Q: 在中国, “Good afternoon” 中文怎么说?
A: 下午好.
Q: 在台湾, “Good afternoon” 中文怎么说?
A: 午安.
Q: 在中国, “Good night” 中文怎么说?
A: 晚上好.
Q: 在Taiwan, “Good night” 中文怎么说?
A: 晚安.
Q: 好, 然后 “See you later” 中文怎么说?
A: 再会.
Q: 还有, 我们也可以说 “See you next time” 中文怎么说?
A: 下次见.
好, 谢谢你们. 我们下次再见.

Lesson 63

Adam: Hello everyone, I’m your host, Adam.
Kirin: 大家好. 我是 Kirin. 欢迎来到第六十三课.
Adam: Looking back at Level One, in our third lesson there talked about some basic introductions, so this being the third lesson of Level Two we’ll review and expand upon these a little. We’ll begin by listening to an introduction and then break it down and analyze it for you.
Raphael: 请听下面的自我介绍.
Cindy: 你好，我姓赖，叫 Cindy. 我二十六岁. 我是中国人可是我在英国长大. 我现在是老师. 我在北京大学教书. 我的兴趣是看书还有看电影.
Adam: Interesting. Let’s break it down for you. We should know what the first few lines mean.
Kirin: 你好，我姓赖，叫 Cindy.
Adam: “Hello, my last name is Lai and my first name is Cindy.” Literally this is: “You good, I last name Lai called Cindy.”
Kirin: 你好，我姓赖，叫 Cindy.
Adam: Her next line was:
Kirin: 我二十六岁.
Adam: Hopefully, you can figure that out as: I’m 26 years old.
Kirin: 我二十六岁.
Adam: She then says.
Kirin: 我是中国人可是我在英国长大.
Adam: Again, not much new here if you’re up to date on all our previous lessons. “I’m Chinese but I grew up in England.”
Kirin: 我是中国人可是我在英国长大.
Adam: She then continues.
Kirin: 我现在是老师.
Raphael: 老师 是什么意思?
Adam: That means “teacher.” So she’s literally saying “I right now am teacher” or “I’m a teacher now.”
Kirin: 我现在是老师.
Adam: She then adds.
Kirin: 我在北京大学教书.
Adam: So there are some new words to look at here.
Kirin: 北京大学.
Adam: You may remember
Raphael: 学
Adam: from
Raphael: 学生
Adam: meaning “student.” So
Raphael: 学
Adam: is the verb “to study.”
Raphael: 大学
Adam: literally means “big study” and means “university.” Similarly, you could have
Raphael: 中学
Adam: for “middle school” or
Raphael: 小学
Adam: for “elementary school.” So back to our example here, she’s in Beijing University, and what does she do there?
Kirin: 教书.
Adam: So there are two new characters there.
Raphael: 教 跟 书 都是第一声. 教
Adam: is the verb “to teach”, while
Raphael: 书
Adam: we’ve actually seen before – it means “book.” When you put them together you get the verb “to teach.”
Kirin: 教书.
Adam: Many verbs in Chinese need a noun to go with them to make any sense. If there isn’t one we add one. So in this case we can’t just say “I teach at Beijing University,” you have to specify what it is you teach, so we usually just add a
Kirin: 书
Adam: meaning “teach from books.”
Kirin: 教书.
Adam: We’ve seen some of these types of verbs before. Give us a couple of examples, Kirin.
Kirin: 吃饭.
Adam: Do you remember what that means? It means “to eat a meal.” So you wouldn’t ask “Do you want to eat?” You’d have to ask “Do you want to eat a meal?”
Kirin: 你要吃饭吗?
Adam: Give us another example.
Kirin: 开车.
Adam: Do you remember what that means? It means “to drive a car.” So in English, you might ask someone “can you drive?” but in Chinese, you’d have to ask:
Kirin: 你会开车吗?
Adam: As in, “Can you drive a car?” So back to our example here. The lady has just told us “I teach at Beijing University.”
Kirin: 我在北京大学教书.
Adam: She then continues.
Kirin: 我的兴趣是看书还有看电影.
Adam: So there’s another new word for us.
Raphael: 兴趣. 两个第四声.
Adam: So these two characters put together, give us “interest”, as in, what you find interesting. So she’s saying her interests are:
Kirin: 看书还有看电影.
Raphael: 看 是什么意思?
Adam: That’s the verb “to look at.” So she likes to look at two things. The first, we saw earlier
Kirin: 书
Adam: meaning “book.” So to look at a book means to read it.
Kirin: 看书.
Adam: The other thing she likes to look at is
Kirin: 看电影.
Adam: We saw this in lesson 55. Do you remember what that means? It means “to see a movie.”
Kirin: 看电影.
Adam: So her interests are reading and watching movies.
Kirin: 我的兴趣是看书还有看电影.
Adam: So there you have it. You should be able to give a more detailed introduction now than you could in lesson 3 of level one. Let’s listen to the lady’s introduction again.
Cindy: 你好，我姓赖，叫 Cindy. 我二十六岁. 我是中国人可是我在英国长大. 我现在是老师. 我在北京大学教书. 我的兴趣是看书还有看电影.
Adam: Great; now for an added challenge, listen to the podcast review for this lesson available to all subscribers for free which will give you another similar introduction. See if you can figure it out based on what we’ve taught you thus far. Then join us again next time for lesson 64.
Kirin: 我们下次再见.

Podcast transcript

In the following exercise you will hear a self-introduction and then be asked a series of questions to test your comprehension ability. We will listen to the introduction twice. Please pay close attention to the details.
请听下面的自我介绍. 第一次.
大家好, 我姓陈叫Amy. 我二十一岁. 我是台湾人可是我在美国长大. 我是台湾大学的学生. 我喜欢听音乐 还有跟朋友去吃好吃的东西.
请听下面的自我介绍. 第二次
大家好，我姓陈叫Amy. 我二十一岁. 我是台湾人可是我在美国长大. 我是台湾大学的学生. 我喜欢听音乐 还有跟朋友去吃好吃的东西.
请用中文回答下面的问题.
Q: 这个人叫什么名字?
A: 她叫Amy.
Q: 她是男人还是女人?
A: 她是女人.
Q: 她几岁?
A: 她二十一岁.
Q: 她是哪里人?
A: 她是台湾人.
Q: 她在哪里长大?
A: 她在美国长大.
Q: 她现在做什么工作?
A: 她是学生.
Q: 她是哪个大学的学生?
A: 她是台湾大学的学生.
Q: 她有两个兴趣. 第一个是什么?
A: 她喜欢听音乐.
Q: 她喜欢跟谁出去?
A: 她喜欢跟朋友出去.
Q: 她喜欢跟朋友去做什么?
A: 她喜欢跟朋友去吃好吃的东西.

Lesson 64

Adam: Hello, I’m your host, Adam.
Kirin: 大家好. 我是 Kirin. 欢迎来到第六十四课.
Adam: This level builds upon the lessons learned in Level 1. We’ll begin today’s lesson by listening to a dialogue, then break it down for you.
Raphael: 让我们先听一次今天的对话.
Yann: 你好. 你是哪一国的人?
Cindy: 我是日本人.
Yann: 可是你的中文怎么说得这么好.
Cindy: 哪里，哪里. 我要学的还很多.
Yann: 继续加油.
Cindy: 谢谢，我会的.
Raphael: 让我们再听一次今天的对话. 请跟 Kirin 说.
Kirin: 你好. 你是哪一国的人?
我是日本人.
可是你的中文怎么说得这么好.
哪里，哪里.
我要学的还很多.
继续加油.
谢谢，我会的.
Raphael: 现在我们开始翻译今天的对话.
Adam: The first few lines are review starting with:
Kirin: 你好.
Adam: Hello.
Kirin: 你是哪一国的人?
Adam: “What country are you from?” The literal translation is “You are which one country’s person?”
Kirin: 你是哪一国的人?
Adam: The lady then replies.
Kirin: 我是日本人.
Adam: We saw the same line back in lesson 20. “I am Japanese.”
Kirin: 我是日本人.
Adam: The man then says.
Kirin: 可是你的中文怎么说得这么好.
Adam: Literally that’s “But your Chinese how speak so good.” Don’t confuse 怎么 meaning “how” with 这么 which we saw in Lesson 52 meaning “so very.”
Kirin: 可是你的中文怎么说得这么好.
Adam: “But your Chinese is so good.” The lady then replies.
Kirin: 哪里，哪里.
Adam: So here’s something new. We know that 哪里 means “where?” 哪里，哪里 is a common expression used in situations where you want to deflect praise away from yourself by politely disagreeing with the speaker. So the man complimented her Chinese and she replied with
Kirin: 哪里，哪里.
Adam: As in “Where’s this great Chinese that you speak of?”
Kirin: 哪里，哪里.
Adam: The woman then adds.
Kirin: 我要学的还很多.
Adam: We’ve seen all these words before but in a different order. The literal translation here is “I want study additionally a lot.”
Kirin: 我要学的还很多.
Adam: In other words, “I still have a lot more to study.”
Kirin: 我要学的还很多.
Adam: The man then replies.
Kirin: 继续加油.
Adam: So here we have some new words. The first word has two characters.
Raphael: 继续. 两个第四声.
Adam: And that is the word “to continue.”
Raphael: 继续.
Adam: We then have a very popular phrase.
Raphael: 加油. 第一声跟第二声.
Adam: 加, on its own, means “to add” and 油 means “oil” Together they mean “refuel” as in what you do to your car or in this case “refuel your own energy” or simply “Keep going!”
Raphael: 加油.
Adam: So together.
Kirin: 继续加油.
Adam: Means “Continue to keep at it.”
Kirin: 继续加油.
Adam: The woman then replies.
Kirin: 谢谢，我会的.
Adam: Again, we know these words as “Thanks, I am able to” or in this context, “Thanks, I will.”
Kirin: 谢谢，我会的.
Raphael: 让我们再听一次今天的对话. 请跟 Kirin 说.
Kirin: 你好. 你是哪一国的人?
我是日本人.
可是你的中文怎么说得这么好.
哪里，哪里.
我要学的还很多.
继续加油.
谢谢，我会的.
Adam: And let’s listen to the dialogue again at normal speed.
Yann: 你好. 你是哪一国的人?
Cindy: 我是日本人.
Yann: 可是你的中文怎么说得这么好.
Cindy: 哪里，哪里. 我要学的还很多.
Yann: 继续加油.
Cindy: 谢谢，我会的.

Podcast transcript

请听下面的对话.
Raphael: 你从哪里来?
Kirin: 我从澳洲来. 这是我第二次来中国.
Raphael: 你做什么工作?
Kirin: 我是学生. 我来这里学中文.
Raphael: 祝你好运.
Kirin: 谢谢!
请用中文翻译下面的问题.
Q: Where do you come from? 中文怎么问?
A: 你从哪里来?
Q: I come from America. 中文怎么说?
A: 我从美国来.
Q: I come from Japan. 中文怎么说?
A: 我从日本来.
Q: This is my first time in China. 中文怎么说?
A: 这是我第一次来中国.
Q: This is my third time in China. 中文怎么说?
A: 这是我第三次来中国.
Q: What do you do? 中文怎么问?
A: 你做什么工作?
Q: What’s your job? Literally: “Your job is what?” 中文怎么问?
A: 你的工作是什么?
Q: I am a student. 中文怎么说?
A: 我是学生.
Q: I am a teacher. 中文怎么说?
A: 我是老师.
Q: I came here to study Chinese. 中文怎么说?
A: 我来这里学中文.
Q: I came here to work. 中文怎么说?
A: 我来这里工作.
Q: I wish you good luck. 中文怎么说?
A: 祝你好运.
Q: Continue to keep at it. 中文怎么说?
A: 继续加油.
Raphael: 好，请你们再听一次复习的对话.
Raphael: 你从哪里来?
Kirin: 我从澳洲来. 这是我第二次来中国.
Raphael: 你做什么工作?
Kirin: 我是学生. 我来这里学中文.
Raphael: 祝你好运.
Kirin: 谢谢!

Lesson 65

Adam: I’m your host, Adam.
Kirin: 大家好. 我是 Kirin. 让我们来学习第六十五课.
Adam: We’ll begin today’s lesson by listening to a short dialogue by our native Chinese speakers, then proceed to break it down for you line by line.
Raphael: 让我们先听一次今天的对话.
Raphael: 你为什么喜欢来中国?
Kirin: 我很喜欢中国的文化，还有你们的语言.
Raphael: 你是在哪里学的中文?
Kirin: 我是自己从网路上学的.
Raphael: 哦，你真的很厉害.
Raphael: 让我们再听一次今天的对话. 请跟 Kirin 说.
Kirin: 你为什么喜欢来中国?
我很喜欢中国的文化.
还有你们的语言.
你是在哪里学的中文?
我是自己从网路上学的.
你真的很厉害.
Raphael: 现在我们翻译今天的对话.
Adam: So let’s break this dialogue down for you, starting with the first line.
Kirin: 你为什么喜欢来中国?
Adam: We’ve seen all these words before.
Raphael: 为什么 是什么意思?
Adam: That’s a question asking “why?” So the literal translation of this sentence is “You why like come China?”
Kirin: 你为什么喜欢来中国?
Adam: The woman then replies.
Kirin: 我很喜欢中国的文化，还有你们的语言.
Adam: So this sentence begins “I very like Chinese 文化.” That’s our first new word of the day.
Raphael: 文化. 第二声跟第四声.
Adam: The 文 is the same 文 from 中文, which we know referred to language. Here, 文化 refers to “culture.” So “I like Chinese culture very much.”
Kirin: 我很喜欢中国的文化，还有你们的语言.
Adam: You may remember 还有 from lesson 18 meaning “additionally”. 你们的, you may remember, means “your” in the plural and we then have our second new word of the lesson.
Raphael: 语言. 第三声跟第二声.
Adam: Together, these two characters mean “language.”
Kirin: 语言
Adam: So again, “I like Chinese culture and your language very much.”
Kirin: 我很喜欢中国的文化，还有你们的语言.
Adam: The man then asks.
Kirin: 你是在哪里学的中文?
Adam: We’ve seen all these words before. Let’s look at the literal meaning. “You are located where study Chinese?”
Kirin: 你是在哪里学的中文?
Adam: As in “Where did you study Chinese?”
Kirin: 你是在哪里学的中文?
Adam: The 的 particle there connects the study with the Chinese as in the Chinese that you study.
Kirin: 你是在哪里学的中文?
Adam: To which the woman answers.
Kirin: 我是自己从网路上学的.
Adam: So there we have a few new words.
Raphael: 自己. 第四声跟第三声.
Adam: And that means “self.” So 我自己 means “I myself.”
Kirin: 我是自己从网路上学的.
Adam: 从 you may remember means “from” followed by 网路.
Raphael: 网路. 第三声跟第四声.
Adam: The 网 refers to a “network” while 路 we’ve seen before means “road” or “path.” So together, “network path” refers to “the internet.”
Kirin: 我是自己从网路上学的.
Adam: So “I myself from
Kirin: 网路上.”
Adam: 上 we’ve seen before from 上午 in the context of “before” or “previous”. It can also be used in the context of “on top of” or “on”. So
Kirin: 网路上
Adam: means “on the internet.”
Kirin: 我是自己从网路上学的.
Adam: I studied by myself on the internet.
Kirin: 我是自己从网路上学的.
Adam: To which the man replies.
Kirin: 你真的很厉害.
Adam: “You really very 厉害.”
Raphael: 厉害. 两个第四声.
Adam: This is an interesting word as the dictionary translation reads “terrible, severe, devastating”; however, it’s commonly used when something is very good as well. So here we have “You are really great or impressive.”
Kirin: 你真的很厉害.
Raphael: 让我们再听一次今天的对话. 请跟 Kirin 说.
Kirin: 你为什么喜欢来中国?
我很喜欢中国的文化.
还有你们的语言.
你是在哪里学的中文?
我是自己从网路上学的.
你真的很厉害.
Adam: And let’s listen to the dialogue again at normal speed.
Raphael: 你为什么喜欢来中国?
Kirin: 我很喜欢中国的文化，还有你们的语言.
Raphael: 你是在哪里学的中文?
Kirin: 我是自己从网路上学的.
Raphael: 哦，你真的很厉害.

Podcast transcript

请听下面的对话.
Raphael: 你会说什么语言?
Kirin: 我会说英文，法文和英文.
Raphael: 你真的很厉害! 你为什么会说这么多语言?
Kirin: 因为我爸爸是法国人. 我妈妈是中国人. 我在美国长大.
请用中文翻译下面的问题.
Q: What languages can you speak?
A: 你会说什么语言?
Q: I can speak Chinese, English and French.
A: 我会说中文，英文和法文.
Q: You are really amazing!
A: 你真的很厉害!
Q: So many languages.
A: 这么多语言.
Q: Why is it that you are able to speak so many languages?
A: 你为什么会说这么多语言?
Q: Because my father is Chinese.
A: 因为我爸爸是中国人.
Q: My mother is British.
A: 我妈妈是英国人.
Q: I grew up in France.
A: 我在法国长大.
Q: I studied by myself.
A: 我自己学的.
Q: On the internet.
A: 网路上.
Q: I studied by myself from the internet.
A: 我自己网路上学的.
Raphael: 好，请你们再听一次复习的对话.
Raphael: 你会说什么语言?
Kirin: 我会说英文，法文和英文.
Raphael: 你真的很厉害! 你为什么会说这么多语言?
Kirin: 因为我爸爸是法国人. 我妈妈是中国人. 我在美国长大.

Lesson 66

Adam: Hello everyone. I’m your host, Adam.
Kirin: 你们好. 我是Kirin. 欢迎来到第六十六课.
Adam: In today’s lesson we will revisit numbers and introduce some new measure words for different items. We will begin by listening to a dialogue that takes place in a department store as a customer comes up to the counter to pay for his items.
Raphael: 让我们先听一次今天的对话.
Yann: 你好. 我要买这些东西.
Cindy: 好，这件衣服是伍佰九十块. 这本书是三百六十块. 这罐饮料是两百一十块.
Raphael: 让我们再听一次今天的对话. 请跟 Kirin 说.
Kirin: 你好. 我要买这些东西.
好，这件衣服是伍佰九十块. 这本书是三百六十块. 这罐饮料是两百一十块.
Raphael: 让我们来翻译今天的对话.
Adam: So let’s break down this dialogue starting with the first line.
Kirin: 你好. 我要买这些东西.
Adam: The first part should be easy: “Hello, I want” that’s followed by the verb 买.
Raphael: 买，是什么意思?
Adam: It’s of course the verb “to buy.” So what is it that he wants to buy?
Kirin: 这些东西.
Adam: In the past we’ve used 这个 meaning “This” for a single item. Here we have 这些 which can be translated to “these” for plural items.
Raphael: 些，是第一声.
Adam: So that’s our first new measure word in today’s lesson used for multiple items.
Kirin: 这些东西.
Adam: 东西 we learned back in lesson 34. Do you remember what it means? It means “thing” or “an item.” So here we have “these items.”
Kirin: 这些东西.
Adam: So the first sentence translates to “Hello, I want to buy these items.”
Kirin: 你好. 我要买这些东西.
Adam: The salesperson then replies.
Kirin: 好，这件衣服是五百九十块.
Adam: So let’s begin with the first item there.
Kirin: 这件衣服.
Adam: So here we have our second new measure word. 件.
Raphael: 件，第四声.
Adam: So what is 件 being used to describe here?
Kirin: 衣服.
Adam: Ah yes, do you remember what 衣服 means? We saw it in lesson 36 meaning “clothes.” So that gives us “this item of clothing.” So in Chinese, most objects require a measure word in front of them to describe them. In English we say this “item” of clothing. In Chinese we say:
Kirin: 这件衣服.
Raphael: 所以这件衣服多少钱?
Kirin: 这件衣服五百九十块.
Adam: Did you understand how much it was?
Kirin: 五百九十块.
Adam: 590 dollars. Must be Taiwanese dollars we’re talking about here. What else is he buying?
Kirin: 这本书是三百六十块.
Adam: So there’s our third new measure word.
Raphael: 本，第三声.
Adam: And that’s a measure word for…
Kirin: 书.
Adam: Do you remember what a 书 is? We saw it back in lesson 10 and that means “book.”
Kirin: 这本书.
Raphael: 然后这本书多少钱?
Kirin: 这本书三百六十块.
Adam: So, can you figure out how much that was?
Kirin: 三百六十块.
Adam: 360 dollars.
Raphael: 还有一个东西.
Kirin: 这罐饮料是两百一十块.
Adam: So our fourth new measure word for today is…
Raphael: 罐，第四声.
Adam: And that’s a measure word for 饮料. Do you remember what 饮料 is? We saw it in lesson 53 meaning “drink” or “beverage.”
Kirin: 这罐饮料.
Adam: And how much was that?
Kirin: 两百一十块.
Adam: 210 dollars. So hopefully this gives you a better idea of how measure words work. You basically have to know what measure word applies for what item you’re dealing with. In the Premium notes for this lesson you will see a list of common measure words and what kind of items they are associated with.
Raphael: 让我们再听一次今天的对话. 请跟 Kirin 说.
Kirin: 你好. 我要买这些东西.
好，这件衣服是伍佰九十块. 这本书是三百六十块. 这罐饮料是两百一十块.
Adam: And let’s listen to the dialogue again at normal speed.
Yann: 你好. 我要买这些东西.
Cindy: 好，这件衣服是伍佰九十块. 这本书是三百六十块. 这罐饮料是两百一十块.

Lesson 67

Adam: Hello everyone, my name is Adam.
Kirin: 你们好. 我是 Kirin. 欢迎来到第六十七课.
Adam: Today’s lesson continues where our last one left off. We will listen to a dialogue that we started in our last lesson and then finish it off today and see what we can learn from it.
Raphael: 让我们先听一次今天的对话.
Yann: 你好. 我要买这些东西.
Cindy: 好，这件衣服是伍佰九十块. 这本书是三百六十块. 这罐饮料是两百一十块. 一共是一千一百六十块.
Yann: 我给你一千两百块.
Cindy: 找你四十块.
Raphael: 让我们再听一次今天的对话. 请跟 Kirin 说.
Kirin: 你好. 我要买这些东西.
好，这件衣服是伍佰九十块. 这本书是三百六十块. 这罐饮料是两百一十块. 一共是一千一百六十块.
我给你一千两百块.
找你四十块.
Raphael: 现在我们开始翻译今天的对话.
Adam: Let’s begin by translating the lines we learned in our last lesson.
Kirin: 你好. 我要买这些东西.
Adam: Hello, I want to buy these items.
Kirin: 好，这件衣服是伍佰九十块.
Adam: Ok, this item of clothing is 590 dollars.
Kirin: 这本书是三百六十块.
Adam: This book is 360 dollars.
Kirin: 这罐饮料是两百一十块.
Adam: This beverage is 210 dollars. Let’s now listen to the next line of the conversation from today’s lesson.
Kirin: 一共是一千一百六十块.
Adam: So here’s a new word: 一共.
Raphael: 一共. 第二声跟第四声.
Adam: And that means “altogether”. So it’s commonly used when you’re counting several objects and then have to give a final total at the end. So what is the final total of the sale?
Kirin: 一共是一千一百六十块.
Adam: So can you figure out how much that is?
Kirin: 一千一百六十块.
Adam: One thousand one hundred and sixty dollars.
Kirin: 一千一百六十块.
Adam: The man then says.
Kirin: 我给你一千两百块.
Raphael: 给 是什么意思?
Adam: It’s the verb “to give.” So how much is he giving?
Kirin: 一千两百块.
Adam: “One thousand two hundred dollars.” So when shopping, when you’re ready to pay for your purchase you tell the cashier “I am giving you one thousand two hundred dollars.”
Kirin: 我给你一千两百块.
Adam: Now in this case there is some change required. So what does the cashier say?
Kirin: 找你四十块.
Adam: So we’ve seen this word before 找 in a different context. We taught it in lesson 48 to mean “to look for.” Here, however, it’s the same character but is used to mean “to return to you”; so the cashier gives back the change and says:
Kirin: 找你四十块.
Adam: I’m giving back to you 40 dollars.
Kirin: 找你四十块.
Adam: So you can see the common words that are used when shopping and paying for items as well as get a review of working with some numbers. If you listen to our podcast review for this lesson, you will find another example conversation with different numbers used in a slightly different manner to give you other ways of using what you’ve learned today. For now though,
Raphael: 让我们再听一次今天的对话. 请跟 Kirin 说.
Kirin: 你好. 我要买这些东西.
好，这件衣服是伍佰九十块. 这本书是三百六十块. 这罐饮料是两百一十块. 一共是一千一百六十块.
我给你一千两百块.
找你四十块.
Adam: And let’s listen to the dialogue again at normal speed.
Yann: 你好. 我要买这些东西.
Cindy: 好，这件衣服是伍佰九十块. 这本书是三百六十块. 这罐饮料是两百一十块. 一共是一千一百六十块.
Yann: 我给你一千两百块.
Cindy: 找你四十块.

Podcast transcript

请听下面的对话.
Raphael: 我要买这六个东西.
Kirin: 好，一件裤子是两百五十元. 两本书是七百八十元. 三罐可乐是三百六十元. 一共是一千三百九十元.
Raphael: 我给你两千元
Kirin: 找你六百一十元.
请用中文回答下面的问题.
Q: These five items.
A: 这五个东西.
Q: These items.
A: 这些东西.
Q: One pair of pants. 100 yuán.
A: 一件裤子一百元.
Q: This pair of pants is 320 yuán.
A: 这件裤子三百二十元.
Q: 3 books. 645 yuán.
A: 三本书六百四十五元.
Q: 5 Colas – 550 yuán
A: 五罐可乐五百五十元.
Q: Altogether that’s 1515 yuán.
A: 一共是一千五百一十五元.
Q: Here’s 1600 yuán.
A: 我给你一千六百元.
Q: Here’s eighty five yuán back to you.
A: 找你八十五元.
Q: 这个东西是五十块. 我要买三个. 一共是多少钱?
A: 一共是一百五十块.
Raphael: 好，请你们再听一次复习的对话.
Raphael: 我要买这六个东西.
Kirin: 好，一件裤子是两百五十元. 两本书是七百八十元. 三罐可乐是三百六十元. 一共是一千三百九十元.
Raphael: 我给你两千元
Kirin: 找你六百一十元.

Lesson 68

Hosts: Adam Menon / Kirin Yang
Adam: ChineseLearnOnline.com Lesson 68: Showing respect.
Hello, and welcome to our progressive course teaching Mandarin Chinese, I’m your host, Adam.
Kirin: 大家好. 我是Kirin. 欢迎来到第六十八课.
Adam: Today’s lesson is a little different from our usual style. We are going to focus more about the subject of respect in Chinese culture and how it differs from Western culture. While it’s great that you are taking the time and effort to learn the Chinese language, it’s equally important to learn about culture and customs to make sure you approach people in the right manner without offending anyone.
We’ll being today’s lesson by talking about how you address various people you may meet. We’ve of course taught in the past that the standard greeting for most situations is 你好. This is used with people who are on the same social status as yourself. If you want to greet someone who is either much older than you or has a higher social status, then there is a modified version that we use.
Kirin: 您好.
Adam: So pretty close, except we’re using a new character here.
Raphael: 您, 第二声.
Adam: Now I talked about people having different levels of social status. Some professions for example tend to command a lot of respect. Teachers are one such profession. So when you greet your teacher you’ll need to say something along the lines of:
Kirin: 老师好.
Adam: Do you remember what the literal translation of 老师 is? It means “old master.” The word for old 老 is given to people worthy of respect, which differs from Western culture where people may not like to be called “old.” So the next time someone refers to you as
Kirin: 老外
Adam: which literally means “old outsider” don’t take offense to it.
When greeting someone, you can also bow your head slightly towards them. So many classes in school begin with all the students standing up at the start of class and bowing together while saying:
Kirin: 老师好.
Adam: In the past, we’ve looked at names and titles of different types of people. So let’s take a quick look at how names and titles are used together. In Chinese, unlike in Western culture, the family name comes first. So Mr Wang for example would be:
Kirin: 王先生.
Adam: Mrs Li would be:
Kirin: 李太太.
Adam: Now, one thing to note is that a woman doesn’t necessarily take the family name of her husband. She may instead decide to keep her maiden name so don’t assume that Mr Wang’s wife is Mrs Wang.
Now getting back to Mrs Li, if she was a teacher, she would then be:
Kirin: 李老师.
Adam: Unlike Western culture, unless you’re close friends with someone, people don’t usually refer to each other on a first name basis. If two friends are really close they may have nicknames for each other such as
Kirin: 小李
Adam: meaning Little Li or
Kirin: 老王
Adam: meaning “older Wang.” So, hopefully, you can see how these names and titles work. In general, when you address someone of a higher social rank than you, or you just want to give them respect. Such as a student to a teacher or an employee to an employer, you use a last name and a title. Respect is also shown the other way – when addressing someone in a lower rank the full name last name first is used. Finally, when children are addressing elders outside of their family, there are two words you may hear:
Kirin: 阿姨.
Adam: This is equivalent to “Auntie” in English.
Raphael: 阿姨. 第一声跟第二声.
Adam: For men you may hear:
Kirin: 叔叔.
Adam: meaning “uncle”
Raphael: 叔叔. 第一声跟第五声.
Adam: In our previous lessons, we’ve taught you how to answer questions, such as “Where are you from? What’s your job? Are you married? Do you have any kids?” etc. It’s important to know that this aspect of Chinese culture is very straightforward and people have no hesitation asking such questions to you. So while it may be impolite in Western culture to ask too many personal questions, it’s quite normal and expected in Chinese culture.
Similarly, this intimacy can be extended to daily conversation. For example, you may meet a friend and right away he asks you:
Kirin: 你吃饭了吗?
Adam: Literally, asking “have you eaten?” In general, if you want to leave a good impression, while visiting a Chinese community, learn to be extremely humble. Deflect any praise that may come your way with phrases such as:
Kirin: 哪里哪里?
Adam: When asking questions, be sure to preface them with
Kirin: 对不起. 请问?
Adam: If you need to interrupt someone, use the phrase:
Kirin: 不好意思.
Adam: And, of course, like in any other country, don’t forget to say
Kirin: 谢谢.
Adam: So, hopefully, these culture tips will help you on your way. You can find all these summarized in the vocabulary section of our website ChineseLearnOnline.com. Take the time to go through them, then join us again next time for our next lesson.
Kirin: 再见!

Lesson 69

Adam: Hello, my name is Adam.
Kirin: 大家好. 我是 Kirin. 让我们来学习第六十九课.
Adam: We’ll begin today’s lesson by listening to a short dialogue. This dialogue practices some of what we’ve learned before while introducing some new vocabulary.
Raphael: 让我们先听一次今天的对话.
Yann: 你看! 今天这里有特价.
Cindy: 特价多少?
Yann: 全部都打五折.
Cindy: 哦，真的都很便宜!
Raphael: 让我们再听一次今天的对话. 请跟 Kirin 说.
Kirin: 你看! 今天这里有特价.
特价多少?
全部都打五折.
哦，真的都很便宜!
Raphael: 让我们来翻译今天的对话.
Adam: Let’s break down this dialogue for you starting with the first line.
Kirin: 你看! 今天这里有特价.
Raphael: 看 是什么意思?
Adam: That’s the verb “to look at”; so “你看” literally means “You look” or simply “Look!”
Kirin: 你看! 今天这里有特价.
Adam: So that gives us “Look, today.” What’s he asking the lady to look at today?
Kirin: 今天这里有特价.
Raphael: 这里 是什么意思?
Adam: That means “here.” So 这里有 gives us “here have” 特价.
Raphael: 特价 是两个第四声.
Adam: 特价 comes from the word
Kirin: 特別
Adam: meaning “special” and
Kirin: 价钱
Adam: meaning “price”; so together 特价 means “special price” or “sale.”
Kirin: 今天这里有特价.
Adam: Literally, that’s “Today here have sale.” In other words “There’s a sale here today.”
Kirin: 今天这里有特价.
Adam: The woman then replies.
Kirin: 特价多少?
Adam: So you may figure this out. We’ve seen “多少?” before from “多少钱?” That literally means “How much money?” So 多少 on its own means “how much?”
Kirin: 特价多少?
Adam: Sale how much? In other words, “How much is the sale?” or “What is the sale?”
Kirin: 特价多少?
Adam: The man then replies.
Kirin: 全部都打五折.
Adam: So here’s another new word for us.
Raphael: 全部. 第二声跟第四声.
Adam: And that means “completely,” or in this case “everything.”
Kirin: 全部都打五折.
Adam: Notice we have the character 都 meaning “all” there as well, to emphasize that it covers everything. The next part 打五折 is three characters. The first character 打 is the third tone. We saw it before in:
Kirin: 打电话
Adam: There, it meant “to dial a telephone,” but it also has a meaning of “to hit” or, in this case, “to break up.” That’s followed by 五, which is the number five, and 折, which is the second tone and also refers to “breaking something up.” So together
Kirin: 打五折
Adam: means “to break into 5.” This is what is used to say “50% off.”
Kirin: 全部都打五折.
Adam: Everything is 50% off. Now it’s important to note that in Chinese communities during sales, the percentage of the price you pay is promoted rather than the percentage discount you get off. So if you see a big 7, for example, that doesn’t mean 70% off; it means you pay 70%, so it’s actually 30% off. So the lower the number, the better the sale. Back to our dialogue, the man then says.
Kirin: 哦，真的都很便宜!
Adam: We’ve seen all these words before.
Raphael: 真的 是什么意思?
Adam: That means “really.” 都 we see again meaning “all”, followed by 很便宜.
Raphael: 便宜 是什么意思?
Adam: That means “cheap” or “inexpensive.”
Kirin: 哦，真的都很便宜!
Adam: So, literally, that’s “really all very cheap.” In other words, wow, everything’s really cheap!
Kirin: 哦，真的都很便宜!
Raphael: 让我们再听一次今天的对话. 请跟 Kirin 说.
Kirin: 你看! 今天这里有特价.
特价多少?
全部都打五折.
哦，真的都很便宜!
Adam: And let’s listen to the dialogue again at normal speed.
Yann: 你看! 今天这里有特价.
Cindy: 特价多少?
Yann: 全部都打五折.
Cindy: 哦，真的都很便宜!

Podcast transcript

请听下面的对话.
Kirin: 我现在要出去.
Raphael: 你要去哪里?
Kirin: 我要去买衣服.
Raphael: 现在有特价吗?
Kirin: 有. 全部打八折.
请用中文翻译下面的问题.
Q: I’m very busy right now.
A: 我现在很忙.
Q: Go out.
A: 出去.
Q: I’m going out now.
A: 我现在要出去.
Q: Where are you going?
A: 你要去哪裡?
Q: I’m going there.
A: 我要去那里.
Q: I’m going to buy a drink.
A: 我要去买饮料.
Q: Clothes.
A: 衣服.
Q: Is there a sale on now?
A: 现在有特价吗?
Q: Yes, there is.
A: 有.
Q: No, there isn’t.
A: 没有.
Q: Everything is 30% off.
A: 全部打七折.
Q: 60% off.
A: 四折.
Raphael: 好，请你们再听一次复习的对话.
Kirin: 我现在要出去.
Raphael: 你要去哪里?
Kirin: 我要去买衣服.
Raphael: 现在有特价吗?
Kirin: 有. 全部打八折.

Lesson 70

Adam: Hello, I’m your host, Adam.
Kirin: 大家好. 我是 Kirin. 欢迎来到第七十课.
Adam: We’ll begin today’s lesson by listening to a dialogue that takes place in a department store. A lady is shopping for clothes and then approaches the salesman.
Raphael: 让我们先听一次今天的对话.
Cindy: 先生. 我想买这件衣服. 请问，可以试穿吗?
Yann: 可以. 前面有试衣间.
Cindy: 谢谢.
几分钟后.
Yann: 你穿这件衣服很好看. 你真的应该买.
Cindy: 我也觉得很好看. 好，我要买这件.
Raphael: 让我们再听一次今天的对话. 请跟 Kirin 说.
Kirin: 先生.
我想买这件衣服.
请问，可以试穿吗?
可以.
前面有试衣间.
谢谢.
几分钟后
你穿这件衣服很好看. 你真的应该买.
我也觉得很好看.
好，我要买这件.
Raphael: 让我们来翻译今天的对话.
Adam: So let’s break down this dialogue for you line by line starting with the first line.
Kirin: 先生. 我想买这件衣服.
Raphael: 先生 是什么意思?
Adam: That means “Mister.” The lady is calling the salesman over and doesn’t know his name, so she uses this title.
Kirin: 先生. 我想买这件衣服.
Adam: We’ve seen the rest of the words before. “I am thinking of buying
Kirin: 这件衣服.”
Adam: We saw this term before. Do you want to remember what it means? “This item of clothing.”
Kirin: 这件衣服.
Adam: So together this gives us “Sir, I am thinking of buying this item of clothing.”
Kirin: 先生. 我想买这件衣服.
Adam: She then asks another question.
Kirin: 请问，可以试穿吗?
Adam: So we know that the lady is asking “May I ask, can I
Kirin: 试穿.”
Adam: The last word is made up of two characters.
Raphael: 试穿. 第四声跟第一声.
Adam: The 试 means “to try”, while the 穿 we’ve seen used before with 衣服. Do you remember what it means? It’s the verb “to wear.” So
Kirin: 试穿.
Adam: together literally means “try wear” so she’s asking “May I try this on?”
Kirin: 请问，可以试穿吗?
Adam: The man then replies.
Kirin: 可以.
Adam: As in “Yes, you’re able to.”
Kirin: 可以. 前面有试衣间.
Adam: So some more words we’ve seen before.
Raphael: 前面 是什么意思?
Adam: We saw it in lesson 56. It means “in front of.” So 前面有 literally means “in front of has” or “in front of us there is a
Kirin: 试衣间.
Adam: Now this is make up of three characters. The first character 试 we just saw means “to try.” That’s followed by 衣 which comes from the word 衣服 meaning clothes. So that gives us “try clothes” followed by the character 间 from the word 房间, which we saw in lesson 26. 间 is a measure word for rooms. So
Kirin: 试衣间
Adam: means “changing room” or “fitting room.”
Kirin: 前面有试衣间.
Adam: “There is a fitting room up front.” The woman then says:
Kirin: 谢谢.
Adam: Which we should know by now. “Thanks.”
Kirin: 谢谢.
Adam: We then hear our narrator say:
Kirin: 几分钟后.
Adam: We’ve seen 几 before as a question asking “how many?” It can also be used in a statement to mean “a few.” So here we have a few 分钟. You may remember 分 from lesson 19 regarding time. 分 on its own refers to a unit. The 钟 uses the first tone and refers to a clock. So 分钟 refers to a unit on a clock, in other words, a minute.
Kirin: 几分钟后.
Adam: The last word 后 we’ve seen as well. We saw it back in lesson 24 in the phrase.
Kirin: 五天后.
Adam: Do you remember what that meant? That meant “After five days.” So the 后 here means “after” or “later.” So the narrator is telling us “a few minutes later.”
Kirin: 几分钟后.
Adam: Let’s listen to as the conversation continues a few minutes later.
Kirin: 你穿这件衣服很好看.
Adam: So again, all words we’ve seen before. The literal translation is “You wear this item of clothing very good look.”
Kirin: 你穿这件衣服很好看.
Adam: In other words, “This item of clothing looks very good on you.”
Kirin: 你穿这件衣服很好看.
Adam: The salesman then continues.
Kirin: 你真的应该买.
Adam: That gives us “You really” followed by a couple more words that we’ve seen before.
Raphael: 应该 是什么意思?
Adam: We saw it back in lesson 48 meaning “should.” “You really should want buy.”
Kirin: 你真的应该买.
Adam: In other words, “You should buy it.”
Kirin: 你真的应该买.
Adam: The woman then replies.
Kirin: 我也觉得很好看.
Raphael: 觉得 是什么意思?
Adam: We saw it in lesson 37 meaning “to think or to feel.” So the translation here is “I also feel very good look” or more simply “I also think it looks great.”
Kirin: 我也觉得很好看.
Adam: She then ends off by saying.
Kirin: 好，我要买这件.
Adam: “Ok, I want to buy this one.”
Kirin: 好，我要买这件.
Raphael: 让我们再听一次今天的对话. 请跟 Kirin 说.
Kirin: 先生.
我想买这件衣服.
请问，可以试穿吗?
可以.
前面有试衣间.
谢谢.
几分钟后
你穿这件衣服很好看. 你真的应该买.
我也觉得很好看.
好，我要买这件.
Adam: And let’s listen to the dialogue again at normal speed.
Cindy: 先生. 我想买这件衣服. 请问，可以试穿吗?
Yann: 可以. 前面有试衣间.
Cindy: 谢谢.
几分钟后
Yann: 你穿这件衣服很好看. 你真的应该买.
Cindy: 我也觉得很好看. 好，我要买这件.

Podcast transcript

请听下面的对话.
Raphael: 小姐，哪里可以试穿这些裤子?
Kirin: 在后面的试衣间.
几分钟后.
Kirin: 先生，你觉得怎么样?
Raphael: 我要买这件黑色裤子.
请用中文翻译下面的问题.
Q: Miss.
A: 小姐.
Q: Mister.
A: 先生.
Q: Where?
A: 哪里?
Q: Here.
A: 这里.
Q: To try on.
A: 试穿.
Q: These.
A: 这些.
Q: This set of pants.
A: 这件裤子.
Q: Where can I try on these pants?
A: 哪里可以试穿这些裤子?
Q: At the back.
A: 在后面.
Q: At the front.
A: 在前面.
Q: Fitting room.
A: 试衣间.
Q: At the fitting room in the back.
A: 在后面的试衣间.
Q: A few minutes later.
A: 几分钟后.
Q: What do you think?
A: 你觉得怎么样?
Q: I think it looks great!
A: 我觉得很好看!
Q: I think so too.
A: 我也这么觉得.
Q: Black.
A: 黑色的.
Q: White.
A: 白色的.
Q: Green.
A: 绿色的.
Q: Red.
A: 红色的.
Q: I want to buy these white pants.
A: 我要买这件白色的裤子.
Raphael: 好，请你们再听一次复习的对话.
Raphael: 小姐，哪里可以试穿这些裤子?
Kirin: 在后面的试衣间.
几分钟后.
Kirin: 先生，你觉得怎么样?
Raphael: 我要买这件黑色裤子.

Lesson 71

Adam: Hello everyone, I’m Adam.
Kirin: 大家好. 我是 Kirin. 欢迎来到第七十一课.
Adam: We’ll begin today’s lesson by listening to a short dialogue by our native Chinese speakers, then proceed to break it down for you line by line.
Raphael: 让我们先听一次今天的对话.
Cindy: 照片上的这个人是谁?
Yann: 他是我叔叔.
Cindy: 他长得真帅.
Yann: 对啊. 我也这么认为.
Raphael: 让我们再听一次今天的对话. 请跟 Kirin 说.
Kirin: 照片上的这个人是谁?
他是我叔叔.
他长得真帅.
对啊. 我也这么认为.
Raphael: 让我们来翻译今天的对话.
Adam: Let’s begin with the first line.
Kirin: 照片上的这个人是谁?
Adam: So that sentence begins with our first new word of the lesson.
Raphael: 照片. 两个第四声.
Adam: And that’s the word for “photograph.”
Kirin: 照片.
Adam: That’s followed by 上的. We saw 上 recently in 网路上. Do you remember what that meant? That meant “on the internet” so the 上 has a meaning of “on.” Now while in English we might refer to something “in” a photograph, in Chinese we refer to something “on” a photograph. So what’s in this photograph?
Kirin: 照片上的这个人是谁?
Raphael: 谁 是什么意思?
Adam: It’s the question word asking “who?” So the man is asking “Who is the person in this photograph?”
Kirin: 照片上的这个人是谁?
Adam: To which the woman replies.
Kirin: 他是我叔叔.
Adam: Now we know that 他 could be “he” or “she” but since we’ve learned before that
Kirin: 叔叔
Adam: means “uncle”, we know that 他 here refers to “he.”
Kirin: 他是我叔叔.
Adam: “He is my uncle.” Now a couple of lessons ago when this word was introduced, it was introduced as meaning an informal “uncle” even for someone who wasn’t related to you. However, it also has a more specific meaning of “father’s younger brother” so you have to derive from context whether it’s the formal or informal version being used. Note also that the possessive 的 can sometimes be removed when referring to people or objects that are very close to you.
Kirin: 他是我叔叔.
Adam: The woman then continues.
Kirin: 他长得真帅.
Adam: We saw 长 before in Lesson 47 in the term 长大. Do you remember what that means? That means “to grow up.” Here we have
Kirin: 长得
Adam: which means “to grow into.” So what has he grown to be?
Kirin: 他长得真帅.
Adam: So “he has grown to be really,” followed by a new word for us.
Raphael: 帅. 第四声.
Adam: And that’s a word meaning “handsome.” So putting these together gives us “He has grown to be really handsome.”
Kirin: 他长得真帅.
Adam: Or simply “He looks really handsome.”
Kirin: 他长得真帅.
Adam: To which the lady replies.
Kirin: 对啊. 我也这么认为.
Raphael: 对啊 是什么意思?
Adam: It’s an exclamation stating “Right!”
Kirin: 对啊. 我也这么认为.
Adam: I also 这么. We’ve seen 这么 before described as being “so very.” It can also mean “in this manner.”
Kirin: 我也这么认为.
Adam: Which leads us to our last new word for this lesson.
Raphael: 认为. 第四声和第二声.
Adam: This means “to have the opinion of” or “to believe.”
Kirin: 我也这么认为.
Adam: So this can mean: “I also have the same opinion.”, or simply “I think so too.”
Kirin: 我也这么认为.
Raphael: 让我们再听一次今天的对话. 请跟 Kirin 说.
Kirin: 照片上的这个人是谁?
他是我叔叔.
他长得真帅.
对啊. 我也这么认为.
Adam: And let’s listen to the dialogue again at normal speed.
Cindy: 照片上的这个人是谁?
Yann: 他是我叔叔.
Cindy: 他长得真帅.
Yann: 对啊. 我也这么认为.

Podcast transcript

请听下面的对话.
Kirin: 穿白色衣服的那个人是谁?
Raphael: 他是我的哥哥.
Kirin: 他长得好帅.
Raphael: 他一直都很帅.
请用中文翻译下面的问题.
Q: To wear.
A: 穿.
Q: Clothes.
A: 衣服.
Q: Who?
A: 谁?
Q: Father.
A: 爸爸.
Q: Mother.
A: 妈妈.
Q: Older sister.
A: 姐姐.
Q: Younger sister.
A: 妹妹.
Q: Older brother.
A: 哥哥.
Q: Younger brother.
A: 弟弟.
Q: He is my older brother.
A: 他是我的哥哥.
Q: Handsome.
A: 帅.
Q: Always.
A: 一直.
Q: He is always handsome.
A: 他一直都很帅.
Raphael: 好，请你们再听一次复习的对话.
Kirin: 穿白色衣服的那个人是谁?
Raphael: 他是我的哥哥.
Kirin: 他长得好帅.
Raphael: 他一直都很帅.

Lesson 72

Adam: Hello everyone, I’m your host, Adam.
Kirin: 大家好. 我是 Kirin. 让我们来学习第七十二课.
Adam: Today’s lesson continues where our last one left off. If you remember, a lady was looking at a photograph and asking questions about the people in it. So before we begin today’s lesson, let’s listen to the dialogue again from last time.
Cindy: 照片上的这个人是谁?
Yann: 他是我叔叔.
Cindy: 他长得真帅.
Yann: 对啊. 我也这么认为.
Adam: And let’s now listen to the dialogue forming today’s lesson.
Raphael: 让我们先听一次今天的对话.
Cindy: 他旁边的那个人是谁?
Yann: 那是我的婶婶.
Cindy: 她长得也非常漂亮.
Yann: 对啊.
Raphael: 让我们再听一次今天的对话. 请跟Kirin说.
Kirin: 他旁边的那个人是谁?
那是我的婶婶.
她长得也非常漂亮.
对啊.
Raphael: 让我们来翻译今天的对话.
Adam: In our dialogue last time, the first line was:
Kirin: 照片上的这个人是谁?
Adam: That meant “Who is this person in the photograph.” In today’s dialogue, we begin with:
Kirin: 他旁边的那个人是谁?
Adam: There’s a new word there.
Raphael: 旁边. 第二声跟第一声.
Adam: Now this word has a similar construction to a couple of other words we’ve seen in the past.
Kirin: 前面, 后面.
Adam: Do you remember what those mean? They mean “in front of” and “behind”, respectively.
Kirin: 前面, 后面.
Adam: So here we have
Kirin: 旁边
Adam: meaning “to the side of” or “next to.”
Kirin: 他旁边的那个人是谁?
Adam: So that gives us “Who is the person standing next to him?”
Kirin: 他旁边的那个人是谁?
Adam: To which the man replies.
Kirin: 那是我的婶婶.
Adam: So let’s compare this with the second line from last time’s dialogue.
Kirin: 他是我叔叔.
Adam: So that meant “He is my uncle.” Here we have.
Kirin: 那是我的婶婶.
Adam: So you can see the 他 is being replaced with 那. That’s similar to replacing “He is my” with “That is my.”
Kirin: 那是我的婶婶.
Adam: And here we have another new family member.
Raphael: 婶婶. 第三声跟第五声.
Adam: Now this refers to an “Aunt” but more specifically “the wife of your father’s younger brother.” Yes, I know; this can get quite confusing. We’ve seen how members of your immediate family are separated into older brothers and younger sisters. Well, now you can see what happens when you get into members of your extended family and have to deal with paternal and maternal relationships as well. Rather than going through all the relations in detail here, we have summarized them in the Vocabulary section of our website; so feel free to study them there, if you wish to.
Adam: The woman then continues.
Kirin: 她长得也非常漂亮.
Adam: So again, comparing this with our last conversation, there we had
Kirin: 他长得真帅.
Adam: which meant “He’s grown to be really handsome.” In today’s lesson we’re referring to a woman though who isn’t handsome of course. She is.
Kirin: 她长得也非常漂亮.
Adam: Which translates to “She also grown into very.” We then have 非常 which we’ve seen a couple of times before meaning “extremely” followed by our last new word
Raphael: 漂亮. 两个第四声.
Adam: And that, you may guess, means “beautiful”
Kirin: 她长得也非常漂亮.
Adam: “She has also grown to be extremely beautiful.” To which the man replies:
Kirin: 对啊.
Adam: As in: “He agrees.”
Kirin: 对啊.
Raphael: 让我们再听一次今天的对话. 请跟 Kirin 说.
Kirin: 他旁边的那个人是谁?
那是我的婶婶.
她长得也非常漂亮.
对啊.
Adam: And let’s now listen to both dialogues from last time and today’s lesson.
Cindy: 照片上的这个人是谁?
Yann: 他是我叔叔.
Cindy: 他长得真帅.
Yann: 对啊. 我也这么认为.
Cindy: 他旁边的那个人是谁?
Yann: 那是我的婶婶.
Cindy: 她长得也非常漂亮.
Yann: 对啊.

Podcast transcript

The following dialogue uses a new word.
裙子. 第二声跟第五声.
And that means “skirt.”
裙子.
请听下面的对话.
Raphael: 你知道那个穿红色裙子的女人是谁吗?
Kirin: 她是我阿姨.
Raphael: 她今天穿得好漂亮.
Kirin: 我也这么认为.
请用中文翻译下面的问题.
Q: To know.
A: 知道.
Q: To not know.
A: 不知道.
Q: Skirt.
A: 裙子.
Q: Woman.
A: 女人.
Q: Man.
A: 男人.
Q: Aunt.
A: 阿姨.
Q: Uncle.
A: 叔叔.
Q: She is my Aunt.
A: 她是我阿姨.
Q: Beautiful.
A: 漂亮.
Q: Handsome.
A: 帅.
Q: Today.
A: 今天.
Q: Yesterday.
A: 昨天.
Q: What she’s wearing today is very beautiful.
A: 她今天穿得好漂亮.
Q: “To feel” as in “to believe” or “have the opinion of.”
A: 认为.
Q: I feel this way too.
A: 我也这么认为.
Raphael: 好，请你们再听一次复习的对话.
Raphael: 你知道那个穿红色裙子的女人是谁吗?
Kirin: 她是我阿姨.
Raphael: 她今天穿得好漂亮.
Kirin: 我也这么认为.

Lesson 73

Adam: Hello, my name is Adam.
Kirin: 大家好. 我是 Kirin. 让我们来学习第七十三课.
Adam: Today’s lesson is a little different as it’s going to step back a little and touch on the differences in dialects that you may encounter in spoken Chinese from one region to another.
China, as you may imagine, is a huge country both in area and population with over a billion speakers of Mandarin around the world, either as a first language or a second language, so you may encounter some differences between how different people speak the language. I understand that not all of you live in Chinese speaking communities and some of you may be getting ready for a trip abroad, so we’d like to get you accustomed to hearing different ways of speaking to help you understand the type of Chinese you may encounter in your travels.
Since we are based in Taiwan, our speakers tend to have a Taiwanese accent, which is similar to the type of Chinese spoken in Southern parts of China. In today’s lesson, I thought we’d touch upon the differences between the different dialects. In different parts of China they have different ways of saying certain things, and in Taiwan they have their own words and phrases too, similar to the differences in English you may encounter visiting England, Australia or North America.
Let’s begin with the language itself, Chinese and what they call it in different areas. We’ve taught you before:
Kirin: 中文
Adam: meaning “Chinese.” We’ve also taught you:
Kirin: 普通话
Adam: meaning “the standard language.” Now this term
Kirin: 普通话
Adam: is only used in China. In Taiwan they use a different term.
Kirin: 国语
Adam: So that’s made up of two characters. 国 which we’ve seen before in
Kirin: 中国
Adam: which on its own refers to “country.” We also have 语 which we’ve seen before in
Kirin: 语言
Adam: meaning language. So together
Kirin: 国语
Adam: meaning “country language”, and that’s what people refer to the Chinese language in Taiwan. So again.
Kirin: 普通话
Adam: in China and
Kirin: 国语
Adam: in Taiwan. Now another word we’ve encountered in our lessons, which is sometimes said differently in Taiwan, is the word for “and”, which in most parts of China is
Kirin: 和
Adam: but in Taiwan you may also hear it as:
Kirin: 和
Adam: Interestingly enough, this is the same character just pronounced differently in the two places. Now other differences that you may encounter are differences in tones when some words are pronounced. So I have a few words here that I’ll get our speakers to pronounce for us. So first, let’s start with the word for “week” and how you may hear it in Taiwan.
Kirin: 星期.
Adam: In China you may hear
Kirin: 星期.
Adam: So you can see that in Taiwan that use a first tone and a second tone, while in China that use two first tones. So again
Kirin: 星期
Adam: in Taiwan, and
Kirin: 星期
Adam: in China. Let’s try another one. The phrase “That’s okay” or “It doesn’t matter.”
Kirin: 没关系.
Kirin: 没关系.
Adam: So here we have the opposite difference. In Taiwan that use two first tones, while in China that use a first tone and the fifth tone or neutral tone.
Kirin: 没关系.
Kirin: 没关系.
Adam: Now in Northern China, regions like Beijing, for example, they have their own way of saying certain words. The word “Who” in Northern China is:
Kirin: 谁.
Adam: While in other parts it’s
Kirin: 谁.
Adam: So again
Kirin: 谁.
Adam: and
Kirin: 谁.
Adam: As well to say “there” and “here” you may hear
Kirin: 那儿, 这儿
Adam: in Northern China and
Kirin: 那里, 这里
Adam: In other parts. So again, this isn’t really that big a deal since everyone still understands you no matter which version you choose to use. All it does is identify which region you’re from, so I recommend you pick the words or versions you’re most comfortable with and use them from here on. The Notes section for this lesson on our website summarizes these differences plus adds a few other ones for you to take note of. So thanks for listening to us today, and please join us again next time for Lesson 74.
Kirin: 再见.

Lesson 74

Adam: Hello everyone, I’m Adam.
Kirin: 大家好. 我是 Kirin. 欢迎来到第七十四课.
Adam: Today’s lesson represents the 4th lesson of our Level Two series. It will expand upon what was taught in the 14th lesson of Level One. In a moment, we’ll listen to a dialogue by our native Chinese speakers.
Raphael: 让我们先听一次今天的对话.
Cindy: 你好，我很久没有看到你了.
Yann: 真抱歉. 我最近比较忙.
Raphael: 让我们再听一次今天的对话. 请跟Kirin说.
Kirin: 你好.
我很久没有看到你了.
真抱歉.
我最近比较忙.
Raphael: 让我们来翻译今天的对话.
Adam: Before we begin, let’s revisit the first line of lesson 14 from way back when.
Kirin: 好久不见.
Adam: Do you remember what that means? It means “long time no see.”
Kirin: 好久不见.
Adam: It’s used just like in English when you meet someone you haven’t met in a long time. In today’s dialogue we have.
Kirin: 你好，我很久没有看到你了.
Adam: This has a similar meaning. You may remember that 好久 means “long time.” So the 好 here is another way to say “so” or “very.” The most common way to say “very” is 很, which is what is being used in today’s lesson. 很久. Long time.
Kirin: 你好，我很久没有看到你了.
Adam: 没有, you may remember, is the opposite of 有, and means “not have.” That’s followed by 看到. Now we’ve seen 看 a few times before.
Raphael: 看 是什麼意思?
Adam: That means “to look” or “to see.” Here we have 看到. At the beginning of today’s lesson Kirin said 欢迎来到. That, of course, means “Welcome to.” The 来到 is made up of the verb 来, which means “to come”, and 到, which is the verb “to arrive.” The 到 can be added to verbs to indicate an action that has just been completed. So at the beginning of the lesson, since you have just arrived to the lesson, so to speak, we can say 来到. Similarly, in the dialogue the woman has just seen or met the man so she can use 看到.
Kirin: 你好，我很久没有看到你了.
Adam: So the literal translation here is “Hello, I very long time not have seen you.”
Kirin: 你好，我很久没有看到你了.
Adam: Or simply, “Hello, I haven’t seen you for a long time.” Now notice at the end we heard the 了 particle which signifies a change in situation. So I haven’t seen you in before but now I have.
Kirin: 你好，我很久没有看到你了.
Adam: To which the man replies.
Kirin: 真抱歉. 我最近比较忙.
Adam: So he began with 真抱歉. Do you remember what 抱歉 means? We saw that in lesson 25, to mean “sorry.” Here we have 真抱歉 meaning “really sorry.” So what is he sorry about?
Kirin: 我最近比较忙.
Adam: So there are a few new words there that are worth looking at. Let’s start with 最近.
Raphael: 最近. 两个第四声.
Adam: This word is made up of two characters. 最 meaning “the most”, and 近 which is the opposite of 远, which we saw in lesson 41 meaning “far.” So 近 means “close.” The “most close” here is referring to time, and is the term used to say “recently.”
Kirin: 我最近比较忙.
Adam: And that leads us to another new word.
Raphael: 比较. 第三声和第四声.
Adam: This word means “comparatively.” I’ll show you how it’s used in a moment. That’s followed by a word we saw back in lesson 14. 忙.
Raphael: 忙 是什么意思?
Adam: It means “busy.” So 比较忙 means “comparatively busy”, which is what is used to say “busier.”
Kirin: 我最近比较忙.
Adam: So the literal translation here is I recently busier. In other words, “I have been busier recently.”
Kirin: 我最近比较忙.
Adam: We’ll continue this dialogue in our next lesson. For now though
Raphael: 让我们再听一次今天的对话. 请跟Kirin说.
Kirin: 你好.
我很久没有看到你了.
真抱歉.
我最近比较忙.
Adam: And let’s listen again to the dialogue at a normal speed.
Cindy: 你好，我很久没有看到你了.
Yann: 真抱歉. 我最近比较忙.

Lesson 75

Adam: Hello everyone. I’m your host, Adam.
Kirin: 大家好. 我是 Kirin. 让我们来学习第七十五课.
Adam: Today’s lesson continues a conversation we started in our last lesson. So let’s begin by listening to last time’s dialogue plus the second half forming today’s lesson.
Raphael: 让我们先听一次今天的对话.
Cindy: 你好，我很久没有看到你了.
Yann: 真抱歉. 我最近比较忙.
Cindy: 那么你什么时候会有空? 我们出来聊一聊吧.
Yann: 下个星期一到星期三，我都可以.
Raphael: 让我们再听一次今天的对话. 请跟Kirin说.
Kirin: 你好.
我很久没有看到你.
真抱歉.
我最近比较忙.
那么你什么时候会有空?
我们出来聊一聊吧.
下个星期一到星期三我都可以.
Raphael: 让我们来翻译今天的对话.
Adam: So as a refresher, let’s translate the lines from our last lesson.
Kirin: 你好，我很久没有看到你了.
Adam: Hello, I haven’t seen you for a long time.
Kirin: 真抱歉. 我最近比较忙.
Adam: I’m sorry, I’ve been busier recently. Let’s continue on with the next line from today’s lesson.
Kirin: 那么你什么时候会有空?
Adam: We’ve seen 那么 a few times before meaning “in that case.” What does “什么时候?” mean? It’s a question asking “when?”
Raphael: 空 是什么意思?
Adam: That means “free time.” So this question is asking “In that case, when will you have free time?”
Kirin: 那么你什么时候会有空?
Adam: Notice the user of 会 in this sentence. Compare the following two sentences.
Kirin: 你什么时候有空?
Adam: When do you have time?
Kirin: 你什么时候会有空?
Adam: The extra 会 changes the meaning to “When will you have time?” Back to our dialogue, the woman then continues.
Kirin: 我们出来聊一聊吧.
Adam: We’ve seen 出 from the expression
Raphael: 出去
Adam: meaning “to go out.” That’s followed by the verb 来, which we talked about earlier meaning “to come.” It’s being used in a more general sense here as in to come together. That’s followed by a new character.
Raphael: 聊. 第二声.
Adam: This is the verb “to chat.” Now it’s being used in a different form here.
Kirin: 聊一聊.
Adam: In lesson 57 we looked at how verbs are sometimes repeated to soften the meaning. The example in that lesson was how the verb 看, on its own means “to look” while 看看 means “to take a look.” Another way to use this format is to add the character meaning “one” or “a” in the middle, giving us 看一看. The literal meaning would then be “look one look” or “look a look”, which becomes “take a look.” Getting back to today’s lesson we have:
Kirin: 聊一聊
Adam: which could translate to “chat a chat” or simply “have a chat.”
Kirin: 我们出来聊一聊吧.
Adam: The extra 吧 at the end was also seen in the lesson 57 and indicates a suggestion. So she is suggesting “We can go out and have a chat.”
Kirin: 我们出来聊一聊吧.
Adam: To which the man replies.
Kirin: 下个星期一到星期三，我都可以.
Adam: So this line starts with:
Kirin: 下个星期一.
Adam: Kirin says “goodbye” at the end of many lessons with:
Kirin: 我们下次再见.
Adam: There we have 下次 meaning “next time.” Here we have 下个. The 下 means “next”, while the 个 is a generic measure word for what follows which in this case is
Kirin: 星期一
Adam: Do you remember what 星期一 means? It literally means “week 1”, which translates to “Monday.” So
Kirin: 下个星期一
Adam: means “next Monday.” That’s followed by the verb 到, which we talked about earlier meaning “to arrive.” It is also used in the context of “until.” We saw that before in lesson 41 in the expression.
Kirin: 从这里到那里
Adam: which meant “From here to there.” So back to our example today, we have:
Kirin: 下个星期一到星期三，我都可以.
Adam: which translates to “Next Monday to Wednesday.” That’s followed by a very common expression in Chinese. 都可以. The 都, you may remember, means “all” while 可以 means “possible.” So together 都可以 means “all are possible” or in this case “any of them are fine.”
Kirin: 下个星期一到星期三，我都可以.
Adam: Next Monday to Wednesday – any of them work for me.
Kirin: 下个星期一到星期三，我都可以.
Raphael: 让我们再听一次今天的对话. 请跟Kirin说.
Kirin: 你好.
我很久没有看到你.
真抱歉.
我最近比较忙.
那么你什么时候会有空?
我们出来聊一聊吧.
下个星期一到星期三我都可以.
Adam: And let’s listen again to the dialogue at normal speed.
Cindy: 你好，我很久没有看到你了.
Yann: 真抱歉. 我最近比较忙.
Cindy: 那么你什么时候会有空? 我们出来聊一聊吧.
Yann: 下个星期一到星期三，我都可以.

Podcast transcript

请听下面的对话.
Kirin: 好久不见! 你在忙什么?
Raphael: 我最近工作很忙.
Kirin: 你什么时候有空? 我想和你吃饭.
Raphael: 星期五跟星期六我都可以.
请用中文翻译下面的问题.
Q: Long time no see.
A: 好久不见.
Q: What are you busy doing?
A: 你在忙什么?
Q: Recently.
A: 最近.
Q: Work.
A: 工作.
Q: Very busy.
A: 很忙.
Q: I’ve been very busy with work recently. Literally: “I recently work very busy.”
A: 我最近工作很忙.
Q: Do you have free time?
A: 你有空吗?
Q: And you.
A: 和你.
Q: To have a chat.
A: 聊一聊.
Q: To eat a meal.
A: 吃饭.
Q: I’d like to have a meal with you. Literally: I think and you eat a meal.
A: 我想和你吃饭.
Q: Wednesday and Thursday. Literally: Wednesday with Thursday.
A: 星期三跟星期四.
Q: Wednesday to Friday. Literally: Wednesday arrive Friday.
A: 星期三到星期五.
Q: Either is fine.
A: 都可以.
Q: Either is fine for me. Literally: I all possible.
A: 我都可以.
Raphael: 好，请你们再听一次复习的对话.
Kirin: 好久不见! 你在忙什么?
Raphael: 我最近工作很忙.
Kirin: 你什么时候有空? 我想和你吃饭.
Raphael: 星期五跟星期六我都可以.

Lesson 76

Adam: Hello, I’m Adam.
Kirin: 大家好. 我是Kirin. 欢迎来到第七十六课.
Adam: Today’s lesson begins with a dialogue that continues where our last lesson left off. If you remember, a man and a woman were trying to find time to meet to have a chat. The man had said he was free from Monday to Wednesday. Let’s listen to the rest of this conversation now.
Raphael: 让我们先听一次今天的对话.
Yann: 你哪个时间会比较方便?
Cindy: 星期二比较好.
Yann: 那，我们星期二见.
Cindy: 好，到时候见.
Raphael: 让我们再听一次今天的对话. 请跟Kirin说.
Kirin: 你哪个时间会比较方便?
星期二比较好.
那，我们星期二见.
好，到时候见.
Raphael: 让我们来翻译今天的对话.
Adam: Let’s begin with the first line of this dialogue.
Kirin: 你哪个时间会比较方便?
Adam: So there are a couple of new words here. Let’s look at the first part.
Raphael: 哪个 是什么意思?
Adam: That means “which.”
Raphael: 时间 – 第二声和第一声.
Adam: And that’s another way to say “period of time.” We then have the word 比较, which we saw last time meaning “comparatively” or “more”, followed by our next new word of the lesson.
Raphael: 方便. 第一声跟第四声.
Adam: And that means “convenient.”
Kirin: 你哪个时间会比较方便?
Adam: So that gives us “You which time will more convenient?” In other words, “Which time will be more convenient for you?”
Kirin: 你哪个时间会比较方便?
Adam: The lady then replies.
Kirin: 星期二比较好.
Adam: So, hopefully, you recognize that as “Tuesday more good.”
Kirin: 星期二比较好.
Adam: Or simply “Tuesday is better.”
Kirin: 星期二比较好.
Adam: The man then continues.
Kirin: 那，我们星期二见.
Adam: We saw 那么 in lesson 16 meaning “in that case.” This is a shorter form of that.
Kirin: 那，我们星期二见.
Adam: “In that case, we Tuesday 见.” This is the same 见 from 再见. You may remember, literally means “again meet.” So 星期二见 literally means “Tuesday meet.”
Kirin: 那，我们星期二见.
Adam: In that case, we’ll meet on Tuesday.
Kirin: 那，我们星期二见.
Adam: The woman then ends off by saying.
Kirin: 好，到时候见.
Adam: 时候, you may remember, also means “period of time.” So that gives us a translation of “Ok, arrive time meet.”
Kirin: 好，到时候见.
Adam: As in “Ok, we’ll meet then”
Kirin: 好，到时候见.
Raphael: 让我们再听一次今天的对话. 请跟Kirin说.
Kirin: 你哪个时间会比较方便?
星期二比较好.
那，我们星期二见.
好，到时候见.
Adam: And to put it in context, let’s listen to the entire dialogue that we’ve built up over the last few lessons.
Cindy: 你好，我很久没有看到你了.
Yann: 真抱歉. 我最近比较忙.
Cindy: 那么你什么时候会有空? 我们出来聊一聊吧.
Yann: 下个星期一到星期三，我都可以. 你哪个时间会比较方便?
Cindy: 星期二比较好.
Yann: 那，我们星期二见.
Cindy: 好，到时候见.
Adam: Great; now Premium subscribers can benefit from our Podcast review for this and earlier lessons on our website. So be sure to listen to them, then join us again next time for lesson 77.
Kirin: 我们下次再见.

Podcast transcript

请听下面的对话.
Kirin: 好久不见! 你在忙什么?
Raphael: 我最近工作很忙.
Kirin: 你什么时候有空? 我想和你吃饭.
Raphael: 星期五跟星期六我都可以.
你哪个时间比较方便?
Kirin: 我觉得星期五晚上五点比较好.
Raphael: 好，我再打电话给你.
请用中文翻译下面的问题.
Q: Which time?
A: 哪个时候? or 哪个时间?
Q: More convenient.
A: 比较方便.
Q: Which time is more convenient for you? Use 时候.
A: 你哪个时间比较方便?
Q: “To think” as in “to feel.”
A: 觉得.
Q: Friday.
A: 星期五.
Q: 5 p.m. Literally “evening, 5 p.m.”
A: 晚上五点.
Q: Better.
A: 比较好.
Q: I think Friday evening at 5 will be better.
A: 我觉得星期五晚上比较好.
Q: To make a phone call.
A: 打电话.
Q: Give you.
A: 给你.
Q: Ok, I will give you a phone call later.
A: 好，我再打电话给你.
Raphael: 好，请你们再听一次复习的对话.
Kirin: 好久不见! 你在忙什么?
Raphael: 我最近工作很忙.
Kirin: 你什么时候有空? 我想和你吃饭.
Raphael: 星期五跟星期六我都可以.
你哪个时间比较方便?
Kirin: 我觉得星期五晚上五点比较好.
Raphael: 好，我再打电话给你.

Lesson 77

Adam: Hello, my name is Adam.
Kirin: 大家好. 我是Kirin. 欢迎来到我们第七十七课.
Adam: Let’s begin like we do most lessons with a dialogue. Today’s dialogue takes place in a tea house between a waiter and a customer.
Raphael: 让我们先听一次今天的对话.
Yann: 小姐，请问你要喝什么?
Cindy: 你们有什么样的茶?
Yann: 我们什么茶都有.
Cindy: 你们有奶茶吗?
Yann: 有.
Cindy: 好，那我要一杯奶茶.
Raphael: 让我们再听一次今天的对话. 请跟Kirin说.
Kirin: 小姐，请问你要喝什么?
你们有什么样的茶?
我们什么茶都有.
你们有奶茶吗?
有.
好，那我要一杯奶茶.
Raphael: 让我们来翻译今天的对话.
Adam: Let’s take a closer look at this dialogue, starting with the first line.
Kirin: 小姐，请问你要喝什么?
Raphael: 小姐 是什么意思?
Adam: That means “miss.” This is a common term used to address a young woman whose name you may not know.
Raphael: 喝 是什么意思?
Adam: That’s the verb “to drink.” So the waiter is asking “Miss, may I ask, what do you want to drink?
Kirin: 小姐，请问你要喝什么?
Adam: The lady then replies.
Kirin: 你们有什么样的茶?
Adam: So this uses a new expression. “什么样的.” Previously, in lesson 16 we saw the expression “怎么样”, meaning “how about” or “what about.” Here we have “什么样的”, meaning “what kind of” 茶, which we’ve seen before, meaning “tea.”
Kirin: 你们有什么样的茶?
Adam: What kind of tea do you have?
Kirin: 你们有什么样的茶?
Adam: To which the waiter replies.
Kirin: 我们什么茶都有.
Adam: We’ve seen all these words before but in different contexts. “We what tea all have.”
Kirin: 我们什么茶都有.
Adam: And that’s how we say” We have whatever tea you want.”
Kirin: 我们什么茶都有.
Adam: The conversation then continues with the lady asking.
Kirin: 你们有奶茶吗?
Adam: So there’s our first new word there. 奶 which is the third tone and means “milk.”
Kirin: 你们有奶茶吗?
Adam: Do you have milk tea?
Kirin: 你们有奶茶吗?
Adam: To which the waiter replies…
Kirin: 有.
Adam: … meaning “have”, as in “Yes, we have that.”
Kirin: 有.
Adam: The woman then ends off by saying:
Kirin: 好，那我要一杯奶茶.
Adam: So you may remember 那 from our last lesson meaning “in that case.” So the literal translation here is “Ok, in that case, I want one cup milk tea.”
Kirin: 好，那我要一杯奶茶.
Adam: Now since we’ve talked about milk tea here, let’s look at a few other types of tea.
Kirin: 红茶.
Adam: Red tea or black tea.
Kirin: 绿茶.
Adam: Green tea.
Kirin: 乌龙茶.
Adam: Oolong tea. This is a popular tea in Chinese communities, made from Oolong tea leaves. It falls in range between black tea and green tea. How do you say Oolong again?
Raphael: 乌龙. 第一声跟第二声.
Adam: Great, so a bonus tea lesson for you today.
Raphael: 让我们再听一次今天的对话. 请跟Kirin说.
Kirin: 小姐，请问你要喝什么?
你们有什么样的茶?
我们什么茶都有.
你们有奶茶吗?
有.
好，那我要一杯奶茶.
Adam: And let’s now listen to the dialogue again at normal speed.
Yann: 小姐，请问你要喝什么?
Cindy: 你们有什么样的茶?
Yann: 我们什么茶都有.
Cindy: 你们有奶茶吗?
Yann: 有.
Cindy: 好，那我要一杯奶茶.

Podcast transcript

请听下面的对话.
Kirin: 先生，你想要喝什么?
Raphael: 你们有哪一种茶?
Kirin: 我们什么茶都有.
Raphael: 你们有没有绿茶?
Kirin: 有.
Raphael: 好，我要一杯绿茶.
Kirin: 你要小杯还是大杯?
Raphael: 小杯的.
请用中文翻译下面的问题.
Q: Sir.
A: 先生.
Q: Miss.
A: 小姐.
Q: Would like. Literally “think want”.
A: 想要.
Q: The verb “to drink.”
A: 喝.
Q: What.
A: 什么.
Q: Sir, what would you like to drink?
A: 先生，你想要喝什么?
Q: You in plural.
A: 你们.
Q: What kind?
A: 哪一种?
Q: Tea.
A: 茶.
Q: Coffee.
A: 咖啡.
Q: What kind of coffee do you have?
A: 你们有哪一种咖啡?
Q: We have all kinds. Literally: All have.
A: 都有.
Q: All kinds of tea. Literally “What tea all have.”
A: 什么茶都有.
Q: We have all kinds of tea. Literally “We what tea all have.”
A: 我们什么茶都有.
Q: Green tea.
A: 绿茶.
Q: Black tea. Literally, “red tea.”
A: 红茶.
Q: I want two cups of black tea.
A: 我要两杯红茶.
Q: A small cup.
A: 小杯.
Q: A medium cup.
A: 中杯.
Q: A large cup.
A: 大杯.
Q: Do you want a small cup or a medium cup?
A: 你要小杯还是中杯?
Raphael: 好，请你们再听一次复习的对话.
Kirin: 先生，你想要喝什么?
Raphael: 你们有哪一种茶?
Kirin: 我们什么茶都有.
Raphael: 你们有没有绿茶?
Kirin: 有.
Raphael: 好，我要一杯绿茶.
Kirin: 你要小杯还是大杯?
Raphael: 小杯的.

Lesson 78

Adam: Hello, my name is Adam.
Kirin: 大家好. 我是Kirin. 让我们来学习第七十八课.
Adam: In our last lesson, we listened to a conversation between a waiter and a customer. In today’s lesson, we’ll look at a similar conversation and what kind of questions a waiter may ask you when ordering tea or coffee.
Raphael: 让我们先听一次今天的对话.
Yann: 你要加糖吗?
Cindy: 不用，谢谢.
Yann: 那么，你要加奶精吗?
Cindy: 好，请加一点点.
Raphael: 让我们再听一次今天的对话. 请跟Kirin说.
Kirin: 你要加糖吗?
不用，谢谢.
那么，你要加奶精吗?
好，请加一点点.
Raphael: 让我们来翻译今天的对话.
Adam: So the first question the waiter asked was:
Kirin: 你要加糖吗?
Adam: So there are a couple of new words there.
Raphael: 加 – 第一声.
Adam: And that is the verb “to add”
Kirin: 你要加糖吗?
Adam: So “Do you want to add…?”
Raphael: 糖. 第二声.
Adam: And that’s our second word of the day meaning “sugar.” So he’s asking if she wants to add sugar to her tea or coffee.
Kirin: 你要加糖吗?
Adam: The woman then replies.
Kirin: 不用，谢谢.
Adam: We saw the verb 用 in lesson 22 meaning “to use.” The expression 不用 means “there is no use” or, in this context, “there is no need.”
Kirin: 不用，谢谢.
Adam: “There’s no need, thanks.”
Kirin: 不用，谢谢.
Adam: The waiter then asks his next question.
Kirin: 那么，你要加奶精吗?
Raphael: 那么 是什么意思?
Adam: That you may remember means “in that case.” So the waiter is asking if she wants to add something else.
Raphael: 奶精. 第三声和第一声.
Adam: We saw 奶 in our last lesson meaning “milk.” It comes from the word
Kirin: 牛奶
Adam: which literally means “cow milk.” 奶精 is the word used for “cream.” “In that case, do you want to add cream?”
Kirin: 那么，你要加奶精吗?
Adam: To which the lady replies.
Kirin: 好，请加一点点.
Adam: We saw 一点 way back in lesson 4 meaning “a little.” So 一点点 is how you would say “very little.”
Kirin: 好，请加一点点.
Adam: In northern parts of China you may hear them use a different term to say “a little.”
Kirin: 一点儿.
Adam: “Ok, please add a little.”
Kirin: 好，请加一点点.
Adam: Great, now before we leave you today, let’s do a quick review of the new vocabulary we learned in today’s lesson.
Kirin: 加.
Adam: To add.
Kirin: 糖.
Adam: Sugar.
Kirin: 不用.
Adam: No need to.
Kirin: 奶精.
Adam: Cream.
Kirin: 一点点.
Adam: Just a little.
Raphael: 让我们再听一次今天的对话. 请跟Kirin说.
Kirin: 你要加糖吗?
不用，谢谢.
那么，你要加奶精吗?
好，请加一点点.
Adam: And let’s now listen to the dialogue again at normal speed.
Yann: 你要加糖吗?
Cindy: 不用，谢谢.
Yann: 那么，你要加奶精吗?
Cindy: 好，请加一点点.
Adam: Great. If you’d like to expand upon this, listen to our podcast reviews, which give you other conversations that review this and previous lessons, while testing your understanding of the material. You can find them at Chineselearnonline.com.
Kirin: 我们下次再见.

Podcast transcript

请听下面的对话.
Raphael: 你要喝什么?
Kirin: 我要一杯咖啡. 不要加奶精.
Raphael: 你要加糖吗?
Kirin: 不用，谢谢.
请用中文翻译下面的问题.
Q: What do you want to eat?
A: 你要吃什么?
Q: What do you want to drink?
A: 你要喝什么?
Q: I want a cup of green tea.
A: 我要一杯绿茶.
Q: Just a little.
A: 一点点.
Q: Cream.
A: 奶精.
Q: Add a little cream.
A: 加一点点奶精.
Q: Don’t add any sugar.
A: 不要加糖.
Q: No need to.
A: 不用.
Q: Ok, thanks.
A: 好，谢谢.
Q: You’re welcome.
A: 不客气.
Raphael: 好，请你们再听一次复习的对话.
Raphael: 你要喝什么?
Kirin: 我要一杯咖啡. 不要加奶精.
Raphael: 你要加糖吗?
Kirin: 不用，谢谢.

Lesson 79

Adam: Hello, I’m Adam.
Kirin: 大家好. 我是 Kirin. 让我们来学习第七十九课.
Adam: We’ll begin today’s lesson by listening to a short dialogue by native Chinese speakers, which builds upon vocabulary we have learned in the past; specifically lessons 18 and 19.
Raphael: 让我们先听一次今天的对话.
Cindy: 我要介绍一个女生让你认识.
Yann: 真的吗? 她几岁?
Cindy: 二十五左右.
Yann: 那她结婚了吗?
Cindy: 还没.
Raphael: 让我们再听一次今天的对话. 请跟Kirin说.
Kirin: 我要介绍一个女生让你认识.
真的吗? 她几岁?
二十五左右.
那她结婚了吗?
还没.
Raphael: 现在我们开始翻译今天的对话.
Adam: Let’s start with the first line of this dialogue.
Kirin: 我要介绍一个女生让你认识.
Adam: Let’s first look at which words there we know.
Raphael: 介绍 是什么意思?
Adam: It’s the word “to introduce.” So the first part there becomes “I want to introduce a”
Kirin: 女生.
Adam: This word is made up of two characters we’ve seen before. The first character refers to “female.” We saw it before in
Kirin: 女儿
Adam: meaning “daughter” as well as
Kirin: 女朋友
Adam: meaning “girlfriend.” You could also say
Kirin: 女人
Adam: meaning “female person” or “woman.” Back to our word, the second character comes from the word for student.
Raphael: 学生.
Adam: So together
Kirin: 女生
Adam: refers to “a female student” or “a school age girl.” So in this context, it’s used to describe “a young woman.”
Kirin: 我要介绍一个女生让你认识.
Adam: The last part
Kirin: 让你认识
Adam: literally means “let you know.” So the entire sentence translates to “I want introduce a young woman let you know.”
Kirin: 我要介绍一个女生让你认识.
Adam: In other words, “I’d like to introduce a young woman to you.”
Kirin: 我要介绍一个女生让你认识.
Adam: To which the man replies.
Kirin: 真的吗? 她几岁?
Adam: So here we have two simple parts. The first part is “Really?”
Kirin: 真的吗?
Adam: And the second one asks “How old is she?”
Kirin: 她几岁?
Adam: So together that gives us, “Really? How old is she?”
Kirin: 真的吗? 她几岁?
Adam: The woman then replies.
Kirin: 二十五左右.
Adam: So “How old is she? 25 years old.” We saw the expression 左右 in lesson 42. It literally means “left right” but in this context means “more or less.”
Kirin: 左右
Adam: We could also add a
Kirin: 大概
Adam: in front of the sentence giving us “Around 25 years old or so.”
Kirin: 大概二十五岁左右.
Adam: The man then asks
Kirin: 那她结婚了吗?
Adam: So we saw 结婚 in lesson 18 and it’s the verb “to marry.” The 了 particle signifies past tense. So he’s asking “Is she married?”
Kirin: 那她结婚了吗?
Adam: We’ve seen the 那 particle a few times in recent conversations. Hopefully you can see how it is used to further conversations. The woman then replies.
Kirin: 还没.
Adam: And that’s a new expression. It’s short for 还没有. The literal translation is “still don’t have”, which is what is used to say “not yet.”
Kirin: 还没.
Raphael: 让我们再听一次今天的对话. 请跟Kirin说.
Kirin: 我要介绍一个女生让你认识.
真的吗? 她几岁?
二十五左右.
那她结婚了吗?
还没.
Adam: And let’s now listen to the dialogue again at normal speed.
Cindy: 我要介绍一个女生让你认识.
Yann: 真的吗? 她几岁?
Cindy: 二十五左右.
Yann: 那她结婚了吗?
Cindy: 还没.
Adam: Great; for more practice, you can listen to another similar conversation that tests your understanding of this and previous lessons. It’s available to Premium subscribers at Chineselearnonline.com.
Kirin: 我们下次再见.

Podcast transcript

请听下面的对话.
Kirin: 你可以介绍一个男生给我吗? 我想找一个男朋友.
Raphael: 我认识一个男生. 他没有女朋友.
Kirin: 那他几岁?
Raphael: 大概三十岁左右.
请用中文翻译下面的问题.
Q: The verb “to introduce.”
A: 介绍.
Q: Give me.
A: 给我.
Q: Introduce to me: Literally – “Introduce give me.”
A: 介绍给我.
Q: Young man.
A: 男生.
Q: Boyfriend.
A: 男朋友.
Q: Girlfriend.
A: 女朋友.
Q: To know or recognize someone.
A: 认识.
Q: I know a young man.
A: 我认识一个男生.
Q: Two young women.
A: 两个女生.
Q: She has a boyfriend.
A: 她有男朋友.
Q: 40 years old.
A: 四十岁.
Q: Probably or around.
A: 大概.
Q: More or less.
A: 左右.
Q: Around 30 years old or so.
A: 大概三十岁左右.
Raphael: 好，请你们再听一次复习的对话.
Kirin: 你可以介绍一个男生给我吗? 我想找一个男朋友.
Raphael: 我认识一个男生. 他没有女朋友.
Kirin: 那他几岁?
Raphael: 大概三十岁左右.

Lesson 80

Adam: Hello, my name is Adam.
Kirin: 欢迎来到第八十课.
Adam: Today’s lesson builds upon lesson 19 of our series. Let’s begin by listening to a dialogue by our native Chinese speakers.
Raphael: 让我们先听一次今天的对话.
Cindy: 你平常几点吃早饭?
Yann: 大概七点左右. 如果我太晚起床, 我会晚一点儿吃.
Raphael: 让我们再听一次今天的对话. 请跟Kirin说.
Kirin: 你平常几点吃早饭?
大概七点左右.
如果我太晚起床, 我会晚一点儿吃.
Raphael: 让我们来翻译今天的对话.
Adam: Let’s start with the first line of the dialogue.
Kirin: 你平常几点吃早饭?
Adam: So there are a few new words there.
Raphael: 平常. 两个第二声.
Adam: The first character there means “equal”, while the second one means “common”, and together they form the word “usually” or “commonly.”
Kirin: 你平常几点吃早饭?
Adam: You may remember the question “几点?” from lesson 19 asking “What time?” So that gives us “What time do you usually…”
Kirin: 吃早饭.
Adam: So here’s our second new word of the day.
Kirin: 早饭.
Adam: This is made up of two characters we’ve seen before.
Kirin: 早.
Adam: That you may remember means “early.” We saw it before in the word
Kirin: 早上
Adam: meaning “morning.” The second syllable
Kirin: 饭
Adam: we saw before in
Kirin: 吃饭
Adam: meaning “to eat a meal.” The 饭 here can refer to “rice” or a “meal.” So together
Kirin: 早饭
Adam: means “early meal” which in this case means “breakfast.”
Kirin: 你平常几点吃早饭?
Adam: What time do you usually eat breakfast?
Kirin: 你平常几点吃早饭?
Adam: To which the man replies.
Kirin: 大概七点左右.
Adam: We saw 大概 in our last lesson, meaning “around.” Do you remember what 左右 means? It means “more or less.” So what time is this?
Kirin: 大概七点左右.
Adam: Around 7 o’clock, more or less.
Kirin: 大概七点左右.
Adam: He then adds:
Kirin: 如果我太晚起床, 我会晚一点儿吃.
Adam: So more new words for us here.
Raphael: 如果. 第二声和第三声.
Adam: This is an important word meaning “if.”
Kirin: 如果我太晚起床.
Adam: What do you think 太晚 means? 太 you may remember means “too much” of something, while 晚 we’ve seen before in 晚上 and means “late.” So together 太晚 means “too late.” We also have another new word in there.
Raphael: 起床. 第三声和第二声.
Adam: There are two characters there. The first one
Raphael: 起
Adam: means “to rise up”, while the second one
Raphael: 床
Adam: means “bed.” So together “to rise out of bed” means “to wake up.”
Kirin: 如果我太晚起床.
Adam: If I get up too late…
Kirin: 我会晚一点儿吃.
Adam: So let’s break down the rest of this sentence. 我会. The verb 会 has multiple meanings. Previously, we’ve seen it used in the context of “to be able to do something” as in
Kirin: 我会说中文.
Adam: Here it’s being used in a future context as in “I will” do something.
Kirin: 我会晚一点儿吃.
Adam: So what is he going to do?
Kirin: 晚一点儿吃.
Adam: We’ve seen all these words before. The literal translation here is “late a little eat.” So putting this together gives us
Kirin: 如果我太晚起床, 我会晚一点儿吃.
Adam: If I wake up too late, I will eat a little later.
Kirin: 如果我太晚起床, 我会晚一点儿吃.
Adam: Now before we leave you. In this lesson we saw the word for breakfast.
Kirin: 早饭.
Adam: We can use what we’ve learned to create the two other meals of the day. For example, “lunch.”
Kirin: 午饭.
Adam: That, of course, comes from the word
Kirin: 下午
Adam: meaning afternoon. Similarly, we have “dinner”
Kirin: 晚饭
Adam: from the word
Kirin: 晚上
Adam: meaning “evening.”
Raphael: 让我们再听一次今天的对话. 请跟Kirin说.
Kirin: 你平常几点吃早饭?
大概七点左右.
如果我太晚起床, 我会晚一点儿吃.
Adam: And let’s now listen to the conversation again at regular speed.
Cindy: 你平常几点吃早饭?
Yann: 大概七点左右. 如果我太晚起床, 我会晚一点儿吃.

Podcast transcript

Raphael: 请听下面的对话.
Kirin: 你平常几点吃晚饭?
Raphael: 六点左右. 如果我晚上要上班, 我会早一点吃.
Raphael: 请用中文翻译下面的问题.
Q: Usually.
A: 平常.
Q: What time?
A: 几点?
Q: More or less / or so.
A: 左右.
Q: 3 o’ clock or so.
A: 三点左右.
Q: If.
A: 如果.
Q: Start work.
A: 上班.
Q: I’m going to work. Literally: “I want start work.”
A: 我要上班.
Q: I have to work in the morning. Literally “I morning want start work.”
A: 我早上要上班.
Q: A little earlier.
A: 早一点.
Q: A little later.
A: 晚一点.
Q: I will go a little later.
A: 我会晚一点去.
Q: Breakfast.
A: 早饭.
Q: Lunch.
A: 午饭.
Q: Afternoon tea.
A: 下午茶.
Q: Dinner.
A: 晚饭.
Raphael: 好，请你们再听一次复习的对话.
Kirin: 你平常几点吃晚饭?
Raphael: 六点左右. 如果我晚上要上班, 我会早一点吃.

Lesson 81

Adam: Hello, I’m Adam.
Kirin: 大家好. 让我们来学习第八十一课.
Adam: Today’s lesson builds upon Lesson 20. Let’s begin by listening to a dialogue by our native Chinese speakers.
Raphael: 让我们先听一次今天的对话.
Cindy: 你最不喜欢星期几?
Yann: 星期二.
Cindy: 为什么?
Yann: 因为老板说 我每一个星期二都要加班.
Raphael: 让我们再听一次今天的对话. 请跟Kirin说.
Kirin: 你最不喜欢星期几?
星期二.
为什么?
因为老板说 我每一个星期二都要加班.
Raphael: 让我们来翻译今天的对话.
Adam: Let’s begin with the first line of this dialogue.
Kirin: 你最不喜欢星期几?
Adam: So there’s a new word in there.
Raphael: 最. 第四声.
Adam: This is a very important word as it allows you to easily create superlatives out of words. Previously, we saw the word
Raphael: 比较
Adam: which allowed us to create comparatives. So for example:
Raphael: 好
Adam: means “good.”
Raphael: 比较好
Adam: means “better.” Now if we wanted to say “best” we’d say
Raphael: 最好.
Adam: So pretty simple there. Getting back to our dialogue we have:
Kirin: 你最不喜欢星期几?
Raphael: 不喜欢 是什么意思?
Adam: That means “to not like” And the last word of the sentence.
Kirin: 星期几?
Adam: Literally means “week how many?” That’s one way to ask “Which day of the week?”
Kirin: 你最不喜欢星期几?
Adam: Which day of the week do you not like the most?
Kirin: 你最不喜欢星期几?
Adam: To which the man replies.
Kirin: 星期二.
Adam: Hopefully, you know that this means… Tuesday.
Kirin: 星期二.
Adam: The woman then asks.
Kirin: 为什么?
Adam: This is an important question that we learned in lesson 29. It means “Why?”
Kirin: 为什么?
Adam: To which the man replies.
Kirin: 因为老板说 我每一个星期二都要加班.
Adam: So most questions of the form “为什么?” are answered with:
Kirin: 因为
Adam: meaning “because.”
Kirin: 因为老板说 我每一个星期二都要加班.
Raphael: 老板 是什么意思?
Adam: That we learned in lesson 12 means “boss.” So that gives us “Because my boss said.” That’s followed by a new word in there.
Raphael: 每. 第三声.
Adam: Note that this has the same pronunciation as another character we’ve seen before.
Raphael: 美国 的 美.
Adam: As in the 美 in 美国 or America meaning “beautiful.” The 每 in today’s lesson is a different character with the same sound, and has a meaning of “every”
Kirin: 每一个星期二.
Adam: Note that we need a measure word after the 每 giving us
Kirin: 每一个
Adam: which means “every one of.”
Kirin: 因为老板说 我每一个星期二都要加班.
Adam: Because my boss said that every Tuesday I
Kirin: 都要加班.
Adam: We’ve seen these words before in different contexts.
Kirin: 都要.
Adam: 都, you may remember, means “all” while 要 means “want.” However, it has a different meaning here of “have to” or “need to.” This is the 要 from
Kirin: 需要.
Adam: We saw that in lesson 53 meaning “to need.”
Kirin: 因为老板说 我每一个星期二都要加班.
Adam: So that gives us “Because my boss says that every Tuesday I always need to…”
Kirin: 加班.
Adam: So this is made up of two characters we’ve seen before. We saw 加 in lesson 64 in the expression
Raphael: 继续加油
Adam: meaning “Continue to keep at it.” The literal translation of
Raphael: 加油
Adam: is “Add oil” as in to “refuel your engine.” The second character 班 we saw before in lesson 31 in the word
Raphael: 上班
Adam: meaning “to start work.” When you put the two together, you get
Raphael: 加班.
Adam: which gives us “add work” as in “overtime.”
Kirin: 因为老板说 我每一个星期二都要加班.
Adam: Because my boss says that every Tuesday I have to work overtime.
Kirin: 因为老板说 我每一个星期二都要加班.
Raphael: 让我们再听一次今天的对话. 请跟Kirin说.
Kirin: 你最不喜欢星期几?
星期二.
为什么?
因为老板说 我每一个星期二都要加班.
Adam: And let’s now listen to the dialogue again at normal speed.
Cindy: 你最不喜欢星期几?
Yann: 星期二.
Cindy: 为什么?
Yann: 因为老板说 我每一个星期二都要加班.

Podcast transcript

Raphael: 请听下面的对话.
Kirin: 我最喜欢星期三因为很早下课. 那你呢?
Raphael: 星期一到星期五, 我都不喜歡. 因为每天都要上班.
Raphael: 请用中文翻译下面的问题.
Q: Don’t like.
A: 不喜欢.
Q: Like the most.
A: 最喜欢.
Q: Like the least.
A: 最不喜欢.
Q: The best.
A: 最好.
Q: I like Monday the best.
A: 我最喜欢星期一.
Q: I like Wednesday the best.
A: 我最喜欢星期三.
Q: Because.
A: 因为.
Q: Very early.
A: 很早.
Q: Very late.
A: 很晚.
Q: Start class.
A: 上课.
Q: End or finish class.
A: 下课.
Q: Because class ends very early.
A: 因为很早下课.
Q: How about you?
A: 那你呢?
Q: Which day of the week?
A: 星期几?
Q: Why is that?
A: 为什么?
Q: Every one of.
A: 每一个.
Q: Everyday.
A: 每天.
Q: Always have to.
A: 都要.
Q: Start work.
A: 上班.
Q: End work.
A: 下班.
Q: To work overtime.
A: 加班.
Q: Always have to work overtime.
A: 都要加班.
Q: Work very early.
A: 很早上班.
Q: Don’t like any of them.
A: 都不喜欢.
Raphael: 好，请你们再听一次复习的对话.
Kirin: 我最喜欢星期三因为很早下课. 那你呢?
Raphael: 星期一到星期五, 我都不喜歡. 因为每天都要上班.

Lesson 82

Adam: Hello, I’m Adam.
Kirin: 今天我们学习第八十二课.
Adam: Today’s lesson builds upon what we learned in lesson 21 of our series talking about jobs. So let’s begin by listening to a short dialogue by our native Chinese speakers, and then break it down for you line by line.
Raphael: 让我们先听一次今天的对话.
Cindy: 你做什么工作?
Yann: 我在做生意.
Cindy: 你在做什么生意?
Yann: 我在做食品生意.
Raphael: 让我们再重复一遍.
Adam: Before we continue, you’ll notice that Raphael is using a new version of the phrase that is normally said at this point. There are a couple of new words in there.
Kirin: 重复.
Adam: That uses a second tone and a fourth tone and means “repeat.”
Kirin: 重复.
Adam: He then added another term.
Kirin: 一遍.
Adam: That’s the word 一, meaning one and a falling tone 遍, which is another way to say “time” giving us “one time.” So he’s saying “Let’s repeat it one more time.”
Raphael: 让我们再重复一遍.
Kirin: 你做什么工作?
我在做生意.
你在做什么生意?
我在做食品生意.
Raphael: 让我们来翻译今天的对话.
Adam: Great, so let’s begin with the first line.
Kirin: 你做什么工作?
Adam: If we go back to lesson 21, the man asked:
Kirin: 你的工作是什么?
Adam: Which literally meant “Your job is what?” Here we have:
Kirin: 你做什么工作?
Adam: Which literally means “You do what job” as in “What’s your job?”
Kirin: 你做什么工作?
Adam: To which the man replies.
Kirin: 我在做生意.
Adam: So there’s our next new word of the lesson.
Raphael: 生意. 第一声和第四声.
Adam: This word is made up of two characters we’ve seen before. 生, meaning life, and 意 from 意思, meaning “meaning” and, interestingly, when you put them together, a “life with meaning” refers to “business.”
Kirin: 我在做生意.
Adam: As in “I do business” or “I’m a businessperson.”
Kirin: 我在做生意.
Adam: The lady then asks.
Kirin: 你在做什么生意?
Adam: Now if we look at the first part of that sentence you can see the use of 在. We first saw that in lesson 20 meaning “to be located in.” Here it’s being used in a different context. When a verb is preceded with 在 like it is here, the meaning of the verb changes to mean “in the process of doing” that action. So in this example:
Kirin: 你在做什么生意?
Adam: The question can translate to mean “What business are you currently doing?”
Kirin: 你在做什么生意?
Adam: The man then replies.
Kirin: 我在做食品生意.
Adam: So there’s another new word in today’s lesson.
Raphael: 食品. 第二声和第三声.
Adam: The first character refers to “food”, while the second character refers to “product.” So the man is dealing with “food products”, or is in the food industry.
Kirin: 我在做食品生意.
Adam: I am in the business of food.
Kirin: 我在做食品生意.
Raphael: 让我们再重复一遍.
Kirin: 你做什么工作?
我在做生意.
你在做什么生意?
我在做食品生意.
Adam: And let’s listen to the conversation again at normal speed.
Cindy: 你做什么工作?
Yann: 我在做生意.
Cindy: 你在做什么生意?
Yann: 我在做食品生意.

Podcast transcript

Raphael: 请听下面的对话.
Kirin: 你的工作是什么?
Raphael: 我做生意.
Kirin: 你做什么生意?
Raphael: 我做食品生意.
Raphael: 请用中文翻译下面的问题.
Q: Your work, or your job.
A: 你的工作.
Q: Business.
A: 生意.
Q: To be involved in business.
A: 经商.
Q: Food products.
A: 食品.
Q: The verb “to do.”
A: 做.
Q: Teacher.
A: 老師.
Q: Student.
A: 学生.
Q: First time – use 遍.
A: 第一遍.
Q: Twice.
A: 两遍.
Q: Repeat one time.
A: 重复一遍.
Raphael: 好，请你们再听一次复习的对话.
Kirin: 你的工作是什么?
Raphael: 我做生意.
Kirin: 你做什么生意?
Raphael: 我做食品生意.

Lesson 83

Adam: Hello, I’m Adam.
Kirin: 大家好. 我是 Kirin. 欢迎来到第八十三课.
Adam: Today’s lesson builds upon lesson 22, which talked about food. So let’s listen to a dialogue between our native Chinese speakers and then break it down for you.
Raphael: 我们先听一次今天的对话.
Yann: 我现在觉得真饿.
Cindy: 你想吃什么?
Yann: 随便. 什么都好.
Cindy: 炒饭，炒菜都好吗?
Yann: 如果有瓶啤酒就更好了.
Raphael: 让我们重复一遍今天的对话.
Kirin: 我现在觉得真饿.
你想吃什么?
随便. 什么都好.
炒饭，炒菜都好吗?
如果有瓶啤酒就更好了.
Raphael: 让我们来翻译今天的对话.
Adam: So let’s begin with the first line of the dialogue.
Kirin: 我现在觉得真饿.
Adam: So this should be a review from lesson 22 along with other words we’ve learned since then “I right now feel really hungry.”
Kirin: 我现在觉得真饿.
Adam: The woman then replies.
Kirin: 你想吃什么?
Adam: So again we’ve seen this construction before. Literally, that’s “You think eat what?”
Kirin: 你想吃什么?
Adam: The man then replies.
Kirin: 随便. 什么都好.
Adam: So here’s a new word.
Raphael: 随便. 第二声和第四声.
Adam: That’s made up of two words. The first
Raphael: 随
Adam: means “to follow”, while
Raphael: 便
Adam: we saw recently in
Raphael: 方便
Adam: meaning “convenient”. Together
Raphael: 随便.
Adam: literally means “follow convenient”, and means “As you wish” or “Whatever is more convenient.”
Kirin: 随便.
Adam: He then continues
Kirin: 什么都好.
Adam: We’ve seen this construction recently too, literally meaning “what all good”, as in “Whatever you want is good with me.”
Kirin: 什么都好.
Adam: So these two words can be used separately or together meaning “As you wish, anything is fine for me.”
Kirin: 随便. 什么都好.
Adam: The woman then asks
Kirin: 炒饭，炒菜都好吗?
Adam: So there we have a couple of new words.
Raphael: 炒饭. 第三声和第四声.
Adam: Together that means “Fried rice.” We’ve seen the
Raphael: 饭
Adam: before in
Raphael: 吃饭.
Adam: The other dish she mentioned was
Raphael: 炒菜. 第三声和第四声.
Adam: The first character there is also “fried” which we just saw, while the second character we’ve seen in the word for “menu.”
Raphael: 菜单
Adam: On its own, it refers to “vegetables”; so together
Raphael: 炒菜
Adam: means “fried vegetables.”
Kirin: 炒饭，炒菜都好吗?
Adam: Would fried rice and fried vegetables both be okay for you?
Kirin: 炒饭，炒菜都好吗?
Adam: To which the man replies
Kirin: 如果有瓶啤酒就更好了.
Adam: So there are a few new words there to look at. The sentence starts with a word we learned a few lessons ago
Raphael: 如果
Adam: meaning “If.” We then have a new character.
Raphael: 瓶. 第二声.
Adam: That’s a measure word for bottled drinks.
Kirin: 瓶.
Adam: That’s followed by a very popular beverage.
Raphael: 啤酒. 第二声和第三声.
Adam: which means “beer.” Good word to know anywhere you go I suppose. The first character refers to “beer”, while the second character refers to “alcohol.”
Kirin: 啤酒.
Adam: We then have a particle of speech
Raphael: 就. 第四声.
Adam: This particle can have many meanings depending on how it’s used. In this context, it could be translated as meaning “only.” We then have our last new word
Raphael: 更. 第四声.
Adam: This is another word used to turn adjectives into their comparative form. So when combined with the 好, this gives us another way to say “better.”
Kirin: 如果有瓶啤酒就更好了.
Adam: So the literal translation of this sentence is “If have bottle beer only better.”
Kirin: 如果有瓶啤酒就更好了.
Adam: Which translates to “If there was a beer there, that would make it better.”
Kirin: 如果有瓶啤酒就更好了.
Raphael: 让我们重复一遍今天的对话.
Kirin: 我现在觉得真饿.
你想吃什么?
随便. 什么都好.
炒饭，炒菜都好吗?
如果有瓶啤酒就更好了.
Adam: And let’s listen to the conversation again at regular speed.
Yann: 我现在觉得真饿.
Cindy: 你想吃什么?
Yann: 随便. 什么都好.
Cindy: 炒饭，炒菜都好吗?
Yann: 如果有瓶啤酒就更好了.

Podcast transcript

Raphael: 请听下面的对话.
Kirin: 你饿吗?
Raphael: 有点饿.
Kirin: 你想吃什么?
Raphael: 什么都可以.
Kirin: 那么我们要一点米饭和炒菜.
Raphael: 再加瓶啤酒.
Raphael: 请用中文翻译下面的问题.
Q: Are you hungry?
A: 你饿吗?
Q: A little.
A: 一点.
Q: To have a little. Literally: Have little.
A: 有点.
Q: To be a little hungry. Literally: Have little hunger
A: 有点饿.
Q: What do you feel like eating? Literally: You think eat what?
A: 你想吃什么?
Q: Anything is good. Literally: What all okay.
A: 什么都可以.
Q: Whatever you’d like. Literally: follow convenient.
A: 随便.
Q: A little rice.
A: 一点米饭.
Q: To eat a meal. Literally: Eat rice.
A: 吃饭.
Q: Fried vegetables.
A: 炒菜.
Q: A little rice and fried vegetables.
A: 一点米饭和炒菜.
Q: Beer.
A: 啤酒.
Q: One bottle of beer.
A: 一瓶啤酒.
Q: As well, add a beer. Literally: again add bottle beer.
A: 再加瓶啤酒.
Raphael: 好，请你们再听一次复习的对话.
Kirin: 你饿吗?
Raphael: 有点饿.
Kirin: 你想吃什么?
Raphael: 什么都可以.
Kirin: 那么我们要一点米饭和炒菜.
Raphael: 再加瓶啤酒.

Lesson 84

Adam: Hello, I’m your host, Adam.
Kirin: 大家好. 我是 Kirin. 让我们来学习第八十四课.
Adam: Today’s lesson builds upon what was taught in lesson 23 of our course. We’ll begin by listening to a dialogue by our native Chinese speakers, then break it down for you line by line.
Raphael: 让我们先听一次今天的对话.
Cindy: 你经常来中国吗?
Yann: 我经常到中国来做生意.
Cindy: 你喜欢到这儿来吗?
Yann: 非常喜欢.
Raphael: 让我们重复一遍今天的对话.
Kirin: 你经常来中国吗?
我经常到中国来做生意.
你喜欢到这儿来吗?
非常喜欢.
Raphael: 让我们来翻译今天的对话.
Adam: Let’s begin with the first line of this dialogue.
Kirin: 你经常来中国吗?
Adam: So here we have a new word.
Raphael: 经常. 第一声和第二声.
Adam: And this means “often.”
Kirin: 经常.
Adam: Recently, we saw the word
Kirin: 平常
Adam: meaning “usually,” so you can see that they both share the word
Kirin: 常
Adam: which means “common”; so the first character indicates how common it is.
Kirin: 经常.
Adam: So the lady asks
Kirin: 你经常来中国吗?
Adam: As in “Do you often come to China?”
Kirin: 你经常来中国吗?
Adam: To which the man replies
Kirin: 我经常到中国来做生意.
Adam: The first part of the sentence has a literal meaning of “I often arrive China come.” The 来 here can be thought of as meaning “for the purpose of.” So what purpose does he often come to China for?
Raphael: 做生意 是什么意思?
Adam: That we saw recently meaning “to do business.” So he’s saying “I often come to China for business.”
Kirin: 我经常到中国来做生意.
Adam: The woman then asks.
Kirin: 你喜欢到这儿来吗?
Raphael: 喜欢 是什么意思?
Adam: That means “to like.” We then have a word there that we’ve touched on before.
Kirin: 这儿
Adam: This has the same meaning as:
Kirin: 这里
Adam: meaning “here.” In Northern parts of China you’re more likely to hear
Kirin: 这儿
Adam: and
Kirin: 那儿
Adam: in place of
Kirin: 这里
Adam: and
Kirin: 那里
Adam: So she’s literally asking “You like arrive here come?”
Kirin: 你喜欢到这儿来吗?
Adam: Or simply “Do you like coming here?” To which the man replies
Kirin: 非常喜欢.
Raphael: 非常 是什么意思?
Adam: That means “extremely.” You can see again how this follows the same pattern we saw earlier of
Kirin: 经常. 平常.
Adam: So he’s saying he “really likes coming here.”
Kirin: 非常喜欢.
Raphael: 让我们重复一遍今天的对话.
Kirin: 你经常来中国吗?
我经常到中国来做生意.
你喜欢到这儿来吗?
非常喜欢.
Adam: Ok, and let’s listen to the dialogue again at normal speed.
Cindy: 你经常来中国吗?
Yann: 我经常到中国来做生意.
Cindy: 你喜欢到这儿来吗?
Yann: 非常喜欢.

Podcast transcript

Raphael: 请听下面的对话.
Kirin: 你常来中国吗?
Raphael: 是，我常来. 因为我做生意.
Raphael: 请用中文翻译下面的问题.
Q: Usually
A: 平常
Q: Often
A: 经常
Q: Extremely
A: 非常
Q: Do you usually come to China?
A: 你平常来中国吗?
Q: Do you often go to China?
A: 你经常去中国吗?
Q: Yes, I often go.
A: 是，我经常去.
Q: Why do you like to come here? Use 这儿.
A: 你为什么喜欢来这儿?
Q: Because I have work here. Literally: Because I located here have work.
A: 因为我在这儿有工作.
Q: What’s your job?
A: 你的工作是什么?
Q: I’m a teacher.
A: 我是老师.
Raphael: 好，请你们再听一次复习的对话.
Kirin: 你常来中国吗?
Raphael: 是，我常来. 因为我做生意.

Lesson 85

Adam: Hello, I’m Adam.
Kirin: 大家好. 我是 Kirin. 欢迎来到我们第八十五课.
Adam: Today’s lesson continues a conversation that took place between a woman and a businessman in China. Let’s listen to the conversation and then break it down for you.
Raphael: 让我们先听一次今天的对话.
Cindy: 到中国要坐多长时间的飞机?
Yann: 大概十二个小时左右.
Cindy: 你坐十二个小时的飞机累不累?
Yann: 我觉得不太累.
Raphael: 让我们重复一遍今天的对话.
Kirin: 到中国要坐多长时间的飞机?
大概十二个小时左右.
你坐十二个小时的飞机累不累?
我觉得不太累.
Raphael: 让我们来翻译今天的对话.
Adam: Let’s begin with the first line of the dialogue.
Kirin: 到中国要坐多长时间的飞机?
Adam: So we’ve seen most of these words before. Let’s start with the end of the sentence and work our way back to the front.
Raphael: 飞机 是什么意思?
Adam: That means “airplane.” We saw it back in lesson 33. There, you may remember, we learned that
Kirin: 坐飞机.
Adam: means “to take a plane.” Here we have.
Kirin: 坐多长时间的飞机?
Adam: So there’s a new word in there.
Raphael: 长. 第二声.
Adam: And that means “long” as in length of time. So what do you think
Kirin: 多长?
Adam: means? Well we know that
Kirin: 多少?
Adam: means “How much?” So
Kirin: 多长?
Adam: means “How long?”
Kirin: 多长时间的飞机?
Adam: The next word
Kirin: 时间
Adam: we saw recently meaning “time”; so that literally gives us: “How long time of airplane?”
Kirin: 到中国要坐多长时间的飞机?
Adam: The first part of the sentence there is:
Kirin: 到中国.
Adam: Do you remember what the word
Kirin: 到
Adam: means? It means “to arrive.” So putting the entire sentence together gives us a rough definition of “Arrive China needs to take how long of flight?”
Kirin: 到中国要坐多长时间的飞机?
Adam: In other words “How long is the flight to China?”
Kirin: 到中国要坐多长时间的飞机?
Adam: To which the man replies.
Kirin: 大概十二个小时左右.
Adam: There’s a new word in there.
Raphael: 小时. 第三声和第二声.
Adam: If you look at the breakdown of this word, it’s made up of 小, which we know means “small” and
Kirin: 时
Adam: which we’ve seen before in
Kirin: 时间
Adam: and
Kirin: 时候
Adam: and refers to “time.” So literally that means “small time” which together forms the word for “hour”
Kirin: 大概十二个小时左右.
Adam: So how many hours is this flight?
Kirin: 十二个小时.
Adam: And that means… 12 hours. But it’s not exactly 12 hours is it?
Kirin: 大概十二个小时左右.
Adam: “It’s around 12 hours or so.” We know this from the 大概 meaning “approximately” and the 左右 meaning “left or right” or in this case, “more or less.”
Kirin: 大概十二个小时左右.
Adam: The lady then asks
Kirin: 你坐十二个小时的飞机累不累?
Adam: So you should understand the first part of this question. “You take a 12 hour flight.” That’s followed by a new word.
Raphael: 累. 第四声.
Adam: And that’s the verb “to be tired.”
Kirin: 累.
Adam: So at the end of the question she asks:
Kirin: 累不累?
Adam: “Tired not tired,” which you may recall is a way to ask “Aren’t you tired?”
Kirin: 你坐十二个小时的飞机累不累?
Adam: “Aren’t you tired from taking a 12 hour flight?”
Kirin: 你坐十二个小时的飞机累不累?
Adam: To which the man replies.
Kirin: 我觉得不太累.
Adam: Easy enough – literally, “I fell not too tired.” Or “I don’t feel very tired.”
Kirin: 我觉得不太累.
Raphael: 让我们重复一遍今天的对话.
Kirin: 到中国要坐多长时间的飞机?
大概十二个小时左右.
你坐十二个小时的飞机累不累?
我觉得不太累.
Raphael: 让我们再听一次今天的对话.
Cindy: 到中国要坐多长时间的飞机?
Yann: 大概十二个小时左右.
Cindy: 你坐十二个小时的飞机累不累?
Yann: 我觉得不太累.

Podcast transcript

Raphael: 请听下面的对话.
Kirin: 坐飞机到这里需要很长的时间吗?
Raphael: 不太长. 大概五个小时左右.
Kirin: 你累吗?
Raphael: 我不太累.
Raphael: 请用中文翻译下面的问题.
Q: To take a plane.
A: 坐飞机.
Q: A long time.
A: 很长的时间.
Q: The verb “to need”.
A: 需要.
Q: Does it take a long time to come here by plane? Literally: Take plane arrive here need very long time?.
A: 坐飞机到这里需要很长的时间吗?
Q: Not too long.
A: 不太长.
Q: Around 8 hours or so.
A: 大概八个小时左右.
Q: Are you tired?
A: 你累吗?
Q: Aren’t you tired? Literally: You tired not tired.
A: 你累不累?
Q: I am not very tired.
A: 我不太累.
Q: Not too tired.
A: 不太累.
Raphael: 好，请你们再听一次复习的对话.
Kirin: 坐飞机到这里需要很长的时间吗?
Raphael: 不太长. 大概五个小时左右.
Kirin: 你累吗?
Raphael: 我不太累.

Lesson 86

Adam: Hello, I’m Adam. With me today are our native Chinese speakers, Raphael and Kirin. Today’s lesson builds upon what was taught in lesson 25, which happens to be a telephone conversation. Let’s listen to it first before breaking it down for you.
Raphael: 让我们先听一次今天的对话.
Cindy: 喂?
Yann: 请问，王先生在吗?
Cindy: 对不起. 他现在不在. 请一小时后再打电话，好吗?
Yann: 那么麻烦你告诉他张老师找他.
Raphael: 让我们再重复一遍今天的对话.
Kirin: 喂?
请问，王先生在吗?
对不起. 他现在不在. 请一小时后再打电话，好吗?
那么麻烦你告诉他张老师找他.
Raphael: 让我们来翻译今天的对话.
Adam: Let’s begin with the first line.
Kirin: 喂?
Adam: This you may remember is the standard response when picking up the phone.
Kirin: 喂?
Adam: The man then asks.
Kirin: 请问，王先生在吗?
Adam: So this should all be review. Literally, that’s “May I ask, Wang Mr located?” Or simply, “May I ask, is Mr Wang there?”
Kirin: 请问，王先生在吗?
Adam: To which the woman replies.
Kirin: 对不起.
Raphael: 对不起 是什么意思?
Adam: You may remember that in Chinese this same expression can be used to say “Excuse me”, or in this case, “I’m sorry.”
Kirin: 对不起.
Adam: That’s followed by.
Kirin: 他现在不在.
Raphael: 现在 是什么意思?
Adam: That means “right now”. So the literal translation here is “He right now not located”.
Kirin: 他现在不在.
Adam: As in, “He is not here now.” The lady then adds.
Kirin: 请一小时后再打电话，好吗?
Adam: These are all words we’ve seen before. Do you remember what 小時 means? We saw it in our last lesson meaning “hour” as in “an hour of time.”
Raphael: 后 是什么意思?
Adam: That we saw in lesson 24 meaning “after.” So the first part literally gives us “Please one hour after”
Kirin: 请一小时后再打电话，好吗?
Adam: The end of the sentence 再打电话，好吗? Literally means “Again dial telephone, ok?” so putting this sentence together gives us “Please call again after an hour, ok?”
Kirin: 请一小时后再打电话，好吗?
Adam: To which the man responds.
Kirin: 那么麻烦你告诉他张老师找他.
Raphael: 麻煩 是什麼意思?
Adam: That we saw in lesson 32 meaning “troublesome” or “bothersome” so
Kirin: 麻烦你
Adam: is a polite expression used before asking someone to do something for you that may trouble them in some way. So what is he asking her to do?
Kirin: 那么麻烦你告诉他张老师找他.
Adam: There’s a new word in there.
Kirin: 告诉.
Adam: And that’s the verb “to tell.” So he’s asking her to tell Mr Wang something
Kirin: 那么麻烦你告诉他张老师找他.
Adam: 张老师 – Teacher Zhang. Unlike English, “teacher” is a title and is used with names, similarly to how you may call someone Doctor Zhang. So Teacher Zhang 找他.
Raphael: 找 是什么意思?
Adam: We’ve seen it in a couple of different contexts before. Here it means “to look for”; so Teacher Zhang is looking for him.
Kirin: 那么麻烦你告诉他张老师找他.
Adam: In that case, if it’s no trouble, please tell him that Teacher Zhang is looking for him.
Kirin: 那么麻烦你告诉他张老师找他.
Raphael: 让我们再重复一遍今天的对话.
Kirin: 喂?
请问，王先生在吗?
对不起. 他现在不在. 请一小时后再打电话，好吗?
那么麻烦你告诉他张老师找他.
Raphael: 让我们再听一次今天的对话.
Cindy: 喂?
Yann: 请问，王先生在吗?
Cindy: 对不起. 他现在不在. 请一小时后再打电话，好吗?
Yann: 那么麻烦你告诉他张老师找他.

Podcast transcript

Raphael: 请听下面的对话.
Kirin: 喂?
Raphael:陈小姐在不在?
Kirin: 她不在. 请五分钟以后再打电话来.
Raphael: 请告诉她朱老师找她.
Raphael: 请用中文翻译下面的问题.
Q: Is Mrs Lai there?
A: 赖太太在不在?
Q: Is Miss Wang there? Use 吗.
A: 王小姐在吗?
Q: I’m sorry, she isn’t here.
A: 对不起，她不在.
Q: Please call back later.
A: 请以后再打电话.
Q: Please call back again after two hours.
A: 请两小时后再打电话来.
Q: Please tell her that her friend Mrs Lin is looking for her.
A: 请告诉她，她的朋友林太太找她.
Q: Please tell her that I’ll call back after an hour.
A: 请告诉她，我一小时后再打电话来.
Q: She’s busy right now.
A: 她现在很忙,
Q: No need to bother her.
A: 不用麻烦她.
Q: Thanks for your help.
A: 谢谢你的帮忙.
Raphael: 好，请你们再听一次复习的对话.
Kirin: 喂?
Raphael:陈小姐在不在?
Kirin: 她不在. 请五分钟以后再打电话来.
Raphael: 请告诉她朱老师找她.

Lesson 87

Adam: Hello, I’m Adam.
Kirin: 欢迎来到第八十七课.
Adam: Today’s lesson builds upon lesson 26 of our series. So you’re welcome to review that lesson before continuing. Let’s begin by listening to a dialogue by our native Chinese speakers, and then break it down for you.
Raphael: 让我们先听一次今天的对话.
Cindy: 我的朋友下个星期要到这个城市来. 你能帮我给他在旅馆订一个房间吗?
Yann: 没问题. 这附近就有一家新旅馆. 我听说很便宜.
Raphael: 让我们再重复一遍今天的对话.
Kirin: 我的朋友下个星期要到这个城市来.
你能帮我给他在旅馆订一个房间吗?
没问题.
这附近就有一家新旅馆.
我听说很便宜.
Raphael: 让我们来翻译今天的对话.
Adam: Let’s begin with the first line.
Kirin: 我的朋友下个星期要到这个城市来.
Raphael: 朋友 是什么意思?
Adam: That means “friend”. That’s followed by
Kirin: 下个星期.
Adam: Do you know what that means? We’ve seen this format before describing “next week.”
Kirin: 我的朋友下个星期要到这个城市来.
Adam: So that gives us “Next week, my friend”
Kirin: 要到这个城市来.
Adam: So there a few verbs in there that hopefully make sense. “Want arrive this” followed by a new word.
Raphael: 城市. 第二声和第四声.
Adam: And that means “city.” So putting everything together gives us a literal translation of “My friend next week wants arrive this city come.”
Kirin: 我的朋友下个星期要到这个城市来.
Adam: That should be easy enough to figure out as “My friend is coming to town next week.”
Kirin: 我的朋友下个星期要到这个城市来.
Adam: Notice how the verb 要 here has a dual meaning, so this sentence could also be translated as meaning “My friend wants to come to town next week.” In any case, the woman then asks
Kirin: 你能帮我给他在旅馆订一个房间吗?
Raphael: 能 是什么意思?
Adam: We saw it in lesson 39, and it’s the verb meaning “to be able” to do something. The next verb there is 帮, which we saw in lesson 34 and is the verb “to help.” That’s followed by a few more words there that we should know. So the literal translation of the first part of the sentence is “you able to help me give me located in”. Hmmn…we’ll need to piece together the rest of this sentence to make any sense of it. The next word there is another new one.
Kirin: 旅馆.
Adam: And that means “hotel.” So what does he want to do in a hotel?
Kirin: 订一个房间.
Adam: There’s another new word there.
Raphael: 订. 第四声.
Adam: And that’s the verb “to book or reserve.” The last part we should know from lesson 26.
Kirin: 房间.
Adam: Meaning “room” as in where you stay in a hotel.
Kirin: 你能帮我给他在旅馆订一个房间吗?
Adam: So looking at it again we have “You able to help me give him in a hotel reserve a room?” This is the format used to ask “Can you help me reserve a hotel room for him?”
Kirin: 你能帮我给他在旅馆订一个房间吗?
Adam: The tricky part of this question is the
Kirin: 给他订一个房间.
Adam: On the surface that literally means “Give him reserve a room”; however, this is the format used to say “Reserve a room for him.”
Kirin: 给他订一个房间.
Adam: The man then replies.
Kirin: 没问题.
Adam: There’s a phrase we first heard in lesson 19. Do you remember what that means? It means “No problem.”
Kirin: 没问题.
Adam: He then continues.
Kirin: 这附近就有一家新旅馆.
Adam: So there’s another new word in there.
Raphael: 附近. 两个第四声.
Adam: And that means “Nearby.”
Kirin: 这附近就有一家新旅馆.
Adam: The 这 in front is short for 这里 meaning “here.” So that gives us “near here.” In the next part of the sentence, we have the 就 particle that we have studied recently. We taught it as meaning “only” or in this case “just.” Here it emphasizes that we are going to find exactly what we are looking for. So “Near here there is just.” We then have another new word. 家 which uses the first tone is a measure word for commercial establishments, which in this case is
Kirin: 旅馆.
Adam: So here we have
Kirin: 一家新旅馆.
Adam: Do you remember what 新 means from the adjective 新的? That we saw in lesson 36 and means “new” so looking at this sentence again.
Kirin: 这附近就有一家新旅馆.
Adam: That gives us “Here nearby just has a new hotel.” In other words, “There’s a new hotel just near here.”
Kirin: 这附近就有一家新旅馆.
Adam: He then adds.
Kirin: 我听说很便宜.
Adam: Again, a couple more verbs we’ve seen before. The verb “to listen” and the verb “to speak.”
Kirin: 听说
Adam: together these two characters form “heard.” We then have the adjective
Kirin: 便宜
Adam: meaning “cheap.” So when you put that together we get
Kirin: 我听说很便宜.
Adam: “I hear speak very cheap.” You can extend that meaning to “I heard it spoken that it’s very cheap” or simply “I heard it’s very cheap.”
Kirin: 我听说很便宜.
Raphael: 让我们再重复一遍今天的对话.
Kirin: 我的朋友下个星期要到这个城市来.
你能帮我给他在旅馆订一个房间吗?
没问题.
这附近就有一家新旅馆.
我听说很便宜.
Raphael: 让我们再听一次今天的对话.
Cindy: 我的朋友下个星期要到这个城市来. 你能帮我给他在旅馆订一个房间吗?
Yann: 没问题. 这附近就有一家新旅馆. 我听说很便宜.

Podcast transcript

Raphael: 请听下面的对话.
Kirin: 下个星期我有朋友到这个城市来.
我想帮他在旅馆订第一个房间.
Raphael: 附近有一家新旅馆. 我听说那一家旅馆很不错也很便宜.
Raphael: 请用中文翻译下面的问题.
Q: Next week.
A: 下个星期.
Q: Next month.
A: 下个月.
Q: Next year.
A: 明年.
Q: My friend.
A: 我的朋友.
Q: Coming to this city. Literally: Arrive this city come.
A: 到这个城市来.
Q: Next week my friend is coming to this city. Literally: Next week my friend arrive this city come.
A: 下个星期我的朋友到这个城市来.
Q: To think.
A: 想.
Q: I want to help him. Literally: I think help him.
A: 我想帮他.
Q: At a hotel.
A: 在旅馆.
Q: Reserve a room.
A: 订一个房间.
Q: I want to help him reserve a hotel room. Literally: I think help him at hotel reserve a room.
A: 我想帮他在旅馆订一个房间.
Q: Nearby.
A: 附近.
Q: A new hotel.
A: 一家新旅馆.
Q: There is only one new hotel near here. Literally: Nearby only have one new hotel.
A: 附近就有一家新旅馆.
Q: That hotel.
A: 那一家旅馆.
Q: This hotel.
A: 这家旅馆.
Q: Not bad. Literally: Very not wrong.
A: 很不错.
Q: Very cheap.
A: 很便宜.
Q: Not bad and also very cheap. Literally: Not bad also very cheap.
A: 很不错也很便宜.
Q: To hear of.
A: 听说.
Q: I heard that hotel is not bad and is also very cheap.
A: 我听说那一家旅馆很不错也很便宜.
Raphael: 好，请你们再听一次复习的对话.
Kirin: 下个星期我有朋友到这个城市来.
我想帮他在旅馆订第一个房间.
Raphael: 附近有一家新旅馆. 我听说那一家旅馆很不错也很便宜.

Lesson 88

Adam: Hello there, I’m Adam.
Kirin: 让我们来学习第八十八课.
Adam: Today’s lesson builds upon lesson 27 of our course and continues a dialogue we started in our last lesson. A woman was telling a man that her friend was coming to town and needed a hotel room. Let’s listen to the rest of the conversation, then break it down for you.
Raphael: 让我们先听一次今天的对话.
Yann: 他这次要待多久?
Cindy: 就几天.
Yann: 告诉他不要忘了带护照和信用卡. 他们不收现金.
Raphael: 让我们再重复一遍今天的对话.
Kirin: 他这次要待多久?
就几天.
告诉他不要忘了带护照和信用卡.
他们不收现金.
Raphael: 让我们来翻译今天的对话.
Adam: Let’s begin with the first line.
Kirin: 他这次要待多久?
Adam: So there’s a new word here.
Raphael: 待. 第一声.
Adam: And that’s the verb “to stay.” So that gives us “he wants to stay” 多久? Do you remember what that means? We saw this question in lesson 20, asking “How long?”
Kirin: 他这次要待多久?
Adam: So he is literally asking “He this time want stay how long?” or “How long will he stay this time?”
Kirin: 他这次要待多久?
Adam: To which the woman replies.
Kirin: 就几天.
Adam: We saw the 就 particle recently in lesson 83 meaning “only.” That’s followed by
Kirin: 几天.
Adam: This is an interesting construction. Normally, “几?” is a question word asking “How many?” So this could be a question asking “how many days?” However, in this case, it’s not a question, it’s an answer. So in this case, 几 changes from meaning “how many” to meaning “some” or “a few.”
Kirin: 就几天.
Adam: So in this context, she’s actually saying “only a few days”
Kirin: 就几天.
Adam: Compare the difference in tones between the 久 in “多久?” and the 就 in “就几天.” Using the wrong tone can give the wrong meaning. Back to our dialogue, the man then offers some advice.
Kirin: 告诉他不要忘了带护照和信用卡.
Adam: We saw the verb 告诉 a couple of lessons ago. Do you remember what it means? It’s the verb “to tell.” So that gives us “tell him”, followed by
Kirin: 不要忘了.
Adam: There’s a new word in there.
Raphael: 忘. 第四声.
Adam: And that’s the verb “to forget.” Now 不要, on its own, means “don’t want” but when combined with another verb like we have here the meaning changes to “don’t” followed by the verb so in this case that gives us “Don’t forget”.
Kirin: 告诉他不要忘了带护照和信用卡.
Adam: We then have another new verb. 带, which uses a fourth tone. And that means “to carry” or “to bring.” So you can see another difference in tones between the 待 we saw earlier meaning “to stay” and the 带 that we have here.
Kirin: 告诉他不要忘了带护照和信用卡.
Adam: “Tell him don’t forget to bring”
Kirin: 护照和信用卡.
Adam: So, hopefully, you remember that from lesson 27 “passport and credit card”
Kirin: 护照和信用卡.
Adam: So together that gives us “Tell him not to forget to bring his passport and credit card.”
Kirin: 告诉他不要忘了带护照和信用卡.
Adam: He then adds.
Kirin: 他们不收现金.
Adam: So there are a couple more new words in there. First the verb “to receive.”
Raphael: 收. 第一声.
Adam: followed by the word for “cash.”
Raphael: 现金. 第四声和第一声.
Adam: So together that gives us “They don’t accept cash.”
Kirin: 他们不收现金.
Raphael: 让我们再重复一遍今天的对话.
Kirin: 他这次要待多久?
就几天.
告诉他不要忘了带护照和信用卡.
他们不收现金.
Adam: And let’s listen to the entire dialogue including our last lesson together.
Cindy: 我的朋友下个星期要到这个城市来. 你能帮我给他在旅馆订一个房间吗?
Yann: 没问题. 这附近就有一家新旅馆. 我听说很便宜. 他这次要待多久?
Cindy: 就几天.
Yann: 告诉他不要忘了带护照和信用卡. 他们不收现金.

Podcast transcript

Raphael: 请听下面的对话.
Kirin: 下个星期我有朋友到这个城市来.
我想帮他在旅馆订一个房间.
Raphael: 附近有一家新旅馆. 我听说那一家旅馆很不错也很便宜.
你的朋友要待几天?
Kirin: 大概三天.
Raphael: 请他不要忘了带护照和信用卡因为他们不收现金.
Raphael: 请用中文翻译下面的问题.
Q: Your friend.
A: 你的朋友.
Q: Stay how many days?
A: 待几天?
Q: How many days is your friend going to stay?
A: 你的朋友要待几天?
Q: Stay a few days.
A: 待几天.
Q: Around two days.
A: 大概两天.
Q: Don’t forget.
A: 不要忘了.
Q: A passport and credit card.
A: 护照和信用卡.
Q: Because they don’t take cash.
A: 因为他们不收现金.
Raphael: 好，请你们再听一次复习的对话.
Kirin: 下个星期我有朋友到这个城市来.
我想帮他在旅馆订第一个房间.
Raphael: 附近有一家新旅馆. 我听说那一家旅馆很不错也很便宜.
你的朋友要待几天?
Kirin: 大概三天.
Raphael: 请他不要忘了带护照和信用卡因为他们不收现金.

Lesson 89

Adam: Hello, I’m your host, Adam.
Kirin: 欢迎来到我们第八十九课.
Adam: We’ll being today’s lesson by listening to a short dialogue by our native Chinese speakers; then break it down for you.
Raphael: 让我们先听一次今天的对话.
Cindy: 今天你看上去很高兴.
Yann: 因为我最喜欢的那个歌星会给大家签名. 希望我能见到他.
Cindy: 你最好早一点儿去. 我想你大概会排很长时间的队.
Yann: 说得对. 我现在就去排队.
Raphael: 让我们再重复一遍今天的对话.
Kirin: 今天你看上去很高兴.
因为我最喜欢的那个歌星会给大家签名. 希望我能见到他.
你最好早一点儿去.
我想你大概会排很长时间的队.
说得对.
我现在就去排队.
Raphael: 让我们来翻译今天的对话.
Adam: Let’s begin with the first line.
Kirin: 今天你看上去很高兴.
Adam: We’ve seen all these words before but in different combinations. There’s a new expression there
Kirin: 看上去.
Adam: The literal meaning is “look up go”, which can extend to “look upwards”, which can further extend to a meaning of “appear to be.”
Kirin: 今天你看上去很高兴.
Adam: “Today, you appear to be very
Kirin: 高兴.
Raphael: 高兴 是什么意思?
Adam: That’s the word “to be happy.” So that gives us “You appear to be very happy today.”
Kirin: 今天你看上去很高兴.
Adam: To which the man replies.
Kirin: 因为我最喜欢的那个歌星会给大家签名.
Adam: Can you figure out the first part? Because I 最喜欢的. That means “I most like” or “my favorite.” That’s followed by a new word.
Raphael: 歌星. 两个第一声.
Adam: The breakdown of those two characters is “song star” as in a “singing superstar” or “famous singer.”
Kirin: 因为我最喜欢的那个歌星会给大家签名.
Adam: The 那个 specifies a particular superstar you have in mind. So that gives us “Because my favorite singer.”
Kirin: 因为我最喜欢的那个歌星会给大家签名.
Adam: The 会 here is being used as a future tense as in “is going to” 给大家 – give everyone. We then have another new word.
Raphael: 签名. 第一声和第二声
Adam: And that means “signature” or “to sign your name.” So the sentence translates to “Because my favorite singer is signing autographs for everyone.”
Kirin: 因为我最喜欢的那个歌星会给大家签名.
Adam: He then adds.
Kirin: 希望我能见到他.
Adam: So there’s another new verb there.
Raphael: 希望. 第一声和第四声.
Adam: And that’s the verb “To wish for” or “to hope.”
Kirin: 希望我能见到他.
Adam: We then have 能 meaning “able to” followed by 见到. Can you figure out what 见到 means? It means the action of meeting. So that gives us “I hope that I am able to meet him.”
Kirin: 希望我能见到他.
Adam: The woman then offers some advice.
Kirin: 你最好早一点儿去.
Adam: We’ve seen all these words before. Literally, that’s “You best early a little go.”
Kirin: 你最好早一点儿去.
Adam: As in “It would be best if you left a little early.”
Kirin: 你最好早一点儿去.
Adam: She then adds.
Kirin: 我想你大概会排很长时间的队.
Adam: Let’s look at what we know there.
Kirin: 我想你大概会.
Adam: I think you probably will.
Kirin: 很长时间.
Adam: A long time. So what does she think he will do for a long time?
Raphael: 排队. 第二声和第四声.
Adam: and that means “To stand in line.” So you can see the two characters there are split up to give us
Kirin: 排很长时间的队
Adam: meaning “To line up for a long time.”
Kirin: 我想你大概会排很长时间的队.
Adam: I think you will probably line up for a long time.
Kirin: 我想你大概会排很长时间的队.
Adam: To which the man replies.
Kirin: 说得对.
Adam: This is an expression used to say “What you say is correct.”
Kirin: 说得对.
Adam: As in, “you’re right”
Kirin: 说得对.
Adam: He then adds.
Kirin: 我现在就去排队.
Adam: You’ve seen the 就 particle used quite commonly in recent lessons. It was previously described as meaning “only.” Here it’s being used to state that this is the only option. As in “I’ll go stand in line right now.”
Kirin: 我现在就去排队.
Raphael: 让我们再重复一遍今天的对话.
Kirin: 今天你看上去很高兴.
因为我最喜欢的那个歌星会给大家签名. 希望我能见到他.
你最好早一点儿去.
我想你大概会排很长时间的队.
说得对.
我现在就去排队.
Raphael: 让我们再听一次今天的对话.
Cindy: 今天你看上去很高兴.
Yann: 因为我最喜欢的那个歌星会给大家签名. 希望我能见到他.
Cindy: 你最好早一点儿去. 我想你大概会排很长时间的队.
Yann: 说得对. 我现在就去排队.

Podcast transcript

Raphael: 请听下面的对话.
Kirin: 今天你怎么这么高兴?
Raphael: 因为我最喜欢的那个歌星今天来.
我希望他能给我签名.
Kirin: 最好去早一点儿.
我想有很多人在排队.
Raphael: 对. 我现在就走.
Raphael: 请用中文翻译下面的问题.
Q: You are so happy today.
A: 你今天这么高興.
Q: How come you’re so happy today? Literally: you today how this happy?
A: 你今天怎么这么高興?
Q: Appear to be.
A: 看上去.
Q: You appear to be very happy today.
A: 今天你看上去很高兴.
Q: My favorite singer. Literally: My favorite that singer.
A: 我最喜欢那个歌星.
Q: My favorite singer is coming today. Literally: my favorite that singer today come.
A: 我最喜欢的那个歌星今天来.
Q: I hope
A: 我希望
Q: Signature or Autograph
A: 签名
Q: I hope he is able to give me his autograph.
A: 我希望他能给我签名.
Q: Best would be to go a little earlier. Literally: Best go early a little.
A: 最好去早一点儿.
Q: Many people
A: 很多人
Q: Many people are lining up.
A: 很多人在排队.
Q: I think a lot of people are lining up.
A: 我想有很多人在排队.
Q: Right.
A: 对.
Q: What you say is correct.
A: 你说的对.
Q: The verb to leave or to go.
A: 走
Q: I’m going now.
A: 我现在就走.
Raphael: 好，请你们再听一次复习的对话.
Kirin: 今天你怎么这么高兴?
Raphael: 因为我最喜欢的那个歌星今天来.
我希望他能给我签名.
Kirin: 最好去早一点儿.
我想有很多人在排队.
Raphael: 对. 我现在就走.

Lesson 90

Adam: Hello, I’m Adam.
Kirin: 欢迎来到第九十课.
Adam: Today’s lesson builds upon what was taught in lesson 30 of our series. Back then we translated some phrases that were being used in each lesson into Chinese. We’re now ready to do that again with some more phrases that you tend to hear in each lesson.
Let’s begin with the name of our course. How would you say that in Chinese?
Kirin: 上网学中文.
Adam: Do you remember how to say “internet” in Chinese? We learned that in lesson 65.
Kirin: 网路.
Adam: Now that means “the internet.” To say “get online” we would say
Kirin: 上网.
Adam: We’ve defined 上 in the past to mean “before.” It can also mean “up”, or in this context, “on” so that gives us a literal definition of “On internet”
Kirin: 上网.
Adam: Or “get online.” So back to the title of our course.
Kirin: 上网学中文
Adam: which literally means “get Online study Chinese.” So from now on, we’re going to do it in Chinese. So today’s lesson could be introduced as.
Kirin: 上网学中文第九十课.
Adam: So after the intros we usually have the dialogue two times – at regular speed and then a slowed-down version, with pauses allowing you to repeat after the speaker. We then translate the dialogue for you line by line. Let’s look at the word for “line” or “sentence.”
Kirin: 句子. 第四声和第五声.
Adam: So if we wanted to say “the first line is” we would say:
Kirin: 第一句是…
Adam: Simple enough. So expect to hear that used in future lessons. Now usually each lesson introduces a few new vocabulary words which are made up of different Chinese characters. Do you remember how to say “character” in Chinese? We learned that in lesson 61
Kirin: 字.
Adam: Now sometimes we want to refer to “words” which are made up of multiple characters. So how do you say “word” in Chinese?
Kirin: 单词. 第一声和第二声.
Adam: Now many times, words are made up characters we’ve seen before. Let’s look at how we would say this in Chinese. First the word for “before.”
Kirin: 以前. 第三声和第二声.
Adam: This is the opposite of “after” or “later”, which we’ve seen before as
Kirin: 以后.
Adam: Now this is a good time to talk about tenses in Chinese. Unlike English, you don’t have to worry about different tenses of verbs. Instead, you can change tenses by adding additional particles or time words to the sentence. The most popular particle for past tense is 了 which indicates a change in situation. We’ll now look at another past tense particle.
Kirin: 过. 第四声.
Adam: This is used to form a present perfect tense. The best way to show its usage is through the use of a simple example. If you wanted to say “I see” you would say
Kirin: 我看.
Adam: If you wanted to say “I saw”, you would say
Kirin: 我看了.
Adam: If you wanted to say “I have seen” you would say
Kirin: 我看过了.
Adam: So back to what I wanted to say which was “We’ve studied this character before.”
Kirin: 这个字我们以前学过了.
Adam: Similarly if I wanted to say “We’ve studied these characters before” we’d say
Kirin: 这些字我们以前都学过了.
Adam: Notice the use of the plural measure word there as well as the addition of 都 giving us “These characters we before all studied.”
Kirin: 这些字我们以前都学过了.
Adam: Great, so let’s move on to another question I sometimes ask in lessons. “Do you remember what this means?” So first, the verb “to remember.”
Kirin: 记得. 第四声和第五声.
Adam: So to ask my question I’d ask
Kirin: 你记得是什么意思吗?
Adam: “Do you remember what this means?” At the end of many lessons I talk about getting more practice since that’s the only way to learn a language. Let’s look at the word for practice.
Kirin: 练习. 第四声和第二声.
Adam: So to say “more practice” you’d say
Kirin: 更多的练习.
Adam: You may remember 更 from lesson 83 means “more of something”; so
Kirin: 更多.
Adam: Means “even more.” So based on what you know, see if you can translate the following piece of advice.
Kirin: 如果你想要更多的练习，你可以上网到…
So that meant “If you would like more practice, you can go to” The character 到 translated as meaning “to”. In this lesson’s podcast review we will summarize the different words and concepts used in today’s lesson, while introducing some new examples. It’s important to understand them since we will be utilizing them in future lessons.
Before we go, rather than using the regular goodbye phrase we normally use, we’ll use the phrase of encouragement we learned in lesson 64
Kirin: 你们继续加油!

Podcast transcript

Raphael: 请用中文翻译下面的问题.
Q: Learn Chinese Online.
A: 上网学中文.
Q: To get on online.
A: 上网.
Q: Evening.
A: 晚上.
Q: To use the internet.
A: 上网.
Q: Line or sentence
A: 句子.
Q: The second line of today’s dialogue.
A: 今天对话的第二句.
Q: Before.
A: 以前.
Q: After.
A: 以后.
Q: I have met you.
A: 我见过你了.
Q: Have you ever eaten this before?
A: 你以前吃过这个东西吗?
Q: Have you been to America?
A: 你去过美国吗?
Q: Do you remember me?
A: 你记得我吗?
Q: You need more practice.
A: 你需要更多的练习.
Q: You should keep at it.
A: 你继续加油.

Lesson 91

Kirin: 上网学中文第九十一课.
Adam: Hello, I’m your host, Adam, along with our native Chinese speakers. Let’s get started with today’s lesson which builds upon lesson 31 of our series.
Raphael: 让我们先听一次今天的对话.
Cindy: 今天我太晚去上班.
Yann: 为什么? 出了什么事了?
Cindy: 今天的交通特别差.
Yann: 是的. 城市里的交通一直是个问题. 也许下次你坐地铁去会比较好.
Cindy: 或许我可以早一点走.
Raphael: 让我们再重复一遍今天的对话.
Kirin: 今天我太晚去上班.
为什么? 出了什么事了?
今天的交通特别差.
是的. 城市里的交通一直是个问题. 也许下次你坐地铁去会比较好.
或许我可以早一点走.
Raphael: 让我们来翻译今天的对话.
Adam: Now Raphael is going to help with some of the explanations here using some of the phrases we learned in our last lesson. If you have trouble understanding what he says, you can consult the complete word for word transcripts available to Premium subscribers on our website.
Raphael: 第一句是…
Kirin: 今天我太晚去上班.
Raphael: 这些字我们都学过了. 上班 是什么意思 ?
Adam: We saw that in lesson 31, meaning “To start work.”
Raphael: 晚上 的 晚 是什么意思?
Adam: That, you may remember, means “late.” So the literal translation here is “Today I too late go start work.”
Kirin: 今天我太晚去上班.
Adam: As in “I went to work too late today.” The man then asks.
Kirin: 为什么? 出了什么事了?
Adam: So the first part we should know is asking “Why?” That’s followed by a new expression.
Kirin: 出了什么事了?
Adam: The 出 is another particle that has a varied meaning based on context. Here it has a meaning of “occur.” There’s another new character in there.
Raphael: 事. 第四声.
Adam: And that means “matter.” So together we have a literal definition of “Occur what matter?”
Kirin: 出了什么事了?
Adam: Or simply “What happened?”
Kirin: 出了什么事了?
Adam: Sometimes you may also hear this reduced to:
Kirin: 什么事?
Adam: As in “What’s happening?” The woman then explains.
Kirin: 今天的交通特别差.
Adam: So there’s another new word there for us.
Raphael: 交通. 两个第一声.
Adam: And that’s another word to mean “traffic.” Way back in lesson 32 we learned a couple of other terms.
Kirin: 堵车. 塞车.
Adam: And here we have another one.
Kirin: 交通.
Adam: So what about the traffic?
Kirin: 今天的交通特别差.
Adam: So there are a couple of other words to look at there.
Raphael: 特別. 第四声和第二声.
Adam: And that means “special.”
Raphael: 你记得 特价 是什么意思吗?
Adam: That you may remember from lesson 69 means “special price” or “sale price.”
Raphael: 我们还有一个新的字. 差. 第四声.
Adam: And that means “poor”, “not good,” or in this case, “bad.” Giving us “Today’s traffic was especially bad.”
Kirin: 今天的交通特别差.
Adam: To which the man replies.
Kirin: 是的.
Adam: Since there is no specific word for “Yes” or “no” in Chinese, there are many expressions used to express agreement or disagreement, and this is one of them. This one is the verb “to be” and can be used in place of “Yes.”
Kirin: 是的.
Adam: He then continues.
Kirin: 城市里的交通一直是个问题.
Raphael: 这些字我们以前都学过了. 你记得 城市 是什么意思吗?
Adam: We saw it a couple of lessons ago. It means “City.” The 里 character attached to it means “inside” giving us “The traffic inside the city.”
Raphael: 一直 是什么意思?
Adam: That, you may remember, means “always” or “continuously.” And at the end we have 问题, meaning “problem.” The
Kirin: 是个问题
Adam: is short for 是一个问题 and means “is a problem.” So together that gives us “The traffic in the city is always a problem.”
Kirin: 城市里的交通一直是个问题.
Adam: He then adds.
Kirin: 也许下次你坐地铁去会比较好.
Adam: So here we have a couple more new words for you.
Raphael: 也许. 两个第三声.
Adam: And that means “maybe” or “perhaps.” So that gives us “Maybe next time you.”
Kirin: 坐地铁去.
Adam: So the new word here is
Raphael: 地铁. 第四声和第三声.
Adam: And that means “subway” or “metro.” You can see the construction used here to express “to take the subway.”
Kirin: 坐地铁去.
Adam: She then continues the line by saying
Kirin: 会比较好
Adam: which literally means “will be better.”
Kirin: 也许下次你坐地铁去会比较好.
Adam: Perhaps next time, taking the subway would be better.
Kirin: 也许下次你坐地铁去会比较好.
Adam: The woman then ends off by saying.
Kirin: 或许我可以早一点走.
Adam: So our last new word here is
Raphael: 或许. 第四声和第三声.
Adam: And that’s another way to say “Or.” We’ve seen the last character of the sentence
Kirin: 走
Adam: in
Kirin: 走路
Adam: which means “to go on foot.” So 走, on its own, is also used to mean “to leave.”
Kirin: 或许我可以早一点走.
Adam: Or I can leave a little earlier.
Kirin: 或许我可以早一点走.
Raphael: 让我们再重复一遍今天的对话.
Kirin: 今天我太晚去上班.
为什么?
出了什么事了?
今天的交通特别差.
是的.
城市里的交通一直是个问题.
也许下次你坐地铁去会比较好.
或许我可以早一点走.
Raphael: 让我们再听一次今天的对话.
Cindy: 今天我太晚去上班.
Yann: 为什么? 出了什么事了?
Cindy: 今天的交通特别差.
Yann: 是的. 城市里的交通一直是个问题. 也许下次你坐地铁去会比较好.
Cindy: 或许我可以早一点走.

Podcast transcript

Raphael: 请听下面的对话.
Kirin: 你今天怎么晚来上班?
Raphael: 今天的交通很忙.
Kirin: 下次坐地铁会好一些. 你就不会经常晚来上班了.
Raphael: 请用中文翻译下面的问题.
Q: To start work.
A: 上班.
Q: Started work late. Literally, “Late come start work”
A: 晚来上班.
Q: Why were you late today? Literally “You today how late come start work.”
A: 你今天怎么晚来上班?
Q: Today’s traffic is very busy.
A: 今天的交通很忙.
Q: Next time.
A: 下次.
Q: To take the subway.
A: 坐地铁.
Q: To go by subway.
A: 坐地铁去.
Q: Will be a little better. Literally “Will good a few.”
A: 会好一些.
Q: Next time it will be better if you take the subway. Literally, “Next time take train will be better”
A: 下次坐地铁会好一些.
Q: Then you wouldn’t come to work late often.
A: 你就不会经常晚来上班了.
Q: Why?
A: 为什么?
Q: What is happening?
A: 什么事?
Q: What happened?
A: 出了什么事了?
Q: Today’s traffic is especially bad.
A: 今天的交通特别差.
Q: Yes.
A: 是的.
Q: Maybe.
A: 也许.
Q: Maybe next time I’ll go by subway.
A: 也许我下次坐地铁去.
Q: Or.
A: 或许.
Q: Or I will leave earlier.
A: 或许我会早一点走.
Raphael: 好，请你们再听一次复习的对话.
Kirin: 你今天怎么晚来上班?
Raphael: 今天的交通很忙.
Kirin: 下次坐地铁会好一些. 你就不会经常晚来上班了.

Lesson 92

Kirin: 上网学中文第九十二课.
Adam: I’m your host, Adam, along with our native Chinese speakers. Let’s get started!
Raphael: 让我们先听一次今天的对话.
Yann: 这个周末你要干什么?
Cindy: 我要去看我妈妈.
Yann: 她住在哪里?
Cindy: 离这里不太远的一个小镇.
Raphael: 让我们再重复一遍今天的对话.
Kirin: 这个周末你要干什么?
我要去看我妈妈.
她住在哪里?
离这里不太远的一个小镇.
Raphael: 让我们来翻译今天的对话. 第一句是…
Kirin: 这个周末你要干什么?
Raphael: 这里有两个新的单词. 第一个是 周末. 第一声和第四声.
Adam: And that means “Weekend.” We then have a new verb there.
Raphael: 干. 第四声.
Adam: And that’s another way to say “to do.” So together that gives us “What are you going to do this weekend?”
Kirin: 这个周末你要干什么?
Adam: Notice the difference that 要 makes in this sentence.
Kirin: 你要干什么?
Adam: That literally means “What are you going to do?” Using what we’ve learned in the past, if we asked
Kirin: 你在做什么?
Adam: That has a different meaning. Having the extra 在 in there makes the question “What are you doing now?” If you said
Kirin: 你做什么?
Adam: That would simply mean “what do you do?” Getting back to our dialogue, the woman then replies.
Kirin: 我要去看我妈妈.
Raphael: 这些单词我们都学过了. 你知道是什么意思吗?
Adam: It means “I want go see my mother” or “I’m going to see my mother.”
Kirin: 我要去看我妈妈.
Adam: The man then asks.
Kirin: 她住在哪里?
Adam: So this is an important question you may hear.
Raphael: 住 是什么意思? 我们在第一课学过了.
Adam: It’s the verb “to live.” So that gives us “Where does she live?”
Kirin: 她住在哪里?
Adam: To which the woman replies.
Kirin: 离这里不太远的一个小镇.
Adam: So there are a couple of new words in there. In the past we’ve seen
Kirin: 从这里
Adam: meaning “From here.” Here we have another way to say this using a new character.
Raphael: 离. 第二声.
Adam: Which comes from the word “to leave” or “go away from.” So
Kirin: 离这里
Adam: means “going away from here”
Kirin: 离这里不太远的一个小镇.
Raphael: 远 是什么意思?
Adam: That means “far” so 不太远 means “not too far.” The end of the sentence has another new character for us.
Raphael: 镇. 第四声.
Adam: And that means “town.” So
Kirin: 小镇
Adam: means “small town.” Note that this is different from
Kirin: 城市
Adam: which learned recently means “City.” So here we have
Kirin: 离这里不太远的一个小镇.
Adam: A small town not too far from here.
Kirin: 离这里不太远的一个小镇.
Raphael: 让我们再重复一遍今天的对话.
Kirin: 这个周末你要干什么?
我要去看我妈妈.
她住在哪里?
离这里不太远的一个小镇.
Raphael: 让我们再听一次今天的对话.
Yann: 这个周末你要干什么?
Cindy: 我要去看我妈妈.
Yann: 她住在哪里?
Cindy: 离这里不太远的一个小镇.

Podcast transcript

Raphael: 请听下面的对话.
Kirin: 这个周末你要干什么?
Raphael: 没什么事要干. 你有事吗?
Kirin: 我要去看我弟弟. 你要和我一起去吗?
Raphael: 他住在哪里?
Kirin: 他住在凤台.
Raphael: 凤台在哪里?
Kirin: 它是北京附近的一个镇.
Raphael: 好啊.
Raphael: 请用中文翻译下面的问题.
Q: Weekend
A: 周末
Q: This weekend
A: 这个周末
Q: Next weekend
A: 下个周末
Q: What are you doing? Use 干.
A: 你干什么?
Q: Nothing. Literally: Not what matter
A: 没什么事.
Q: There is nothing to do. Literally: Nothing want do.
A: 没什么事要干.
Q: Do you have anything to do? Literally: You have matter?
A: 你有事吗?
Q: I am going to go see my younger brother. Literally: I want go see I younger brother.
A: 我要去看我弟弟.
Q: Do you want to go with me? Literally: You want and me together go?
A: 你要和我一起去吗?
Q: Do you want to go with me? Literally: You want with me together go?
A: 你要跟我一起去吗?
Q: Where does he live?
A: 他住在哪里?
Q: He lives in Feng Tai.
A: 他住在凤台.
Q: Where is Feng Tai?
A: 凤台在哪里?
Q: It’s a town near Beijing. Literally: It is Beijing nearby’s a town.
A: 它是北京附近的一个镇.
Q: Ok
A: 好啊
Raphael: 好，请你们再听一次复习的对话.
Kirin: 这个周末你要干什么?
Raphael: 没什么事要干. 你有事吗?
Kirin: 我要去看我弟弟. 你要和我一起去吗?
Raphael: 他住在哪里?
Kirin: 他住在凤台.
Raphael: 凤台在哪里?
Kirin: 它是北京附近的一个镇.
Raphael: 好啊.

Lesson 93

Kirin: 上网学中文第九十三课.
Adam: Hello, I’m Adam. Today’s lesson builds upon lesson 33 of our series.
Raphael: 让我们先听一次今天的对话.
Cindy: 你在做什么?
Yann: 下个月我有两周的假期. 我正在计划要到哪里去.
Cindy: 有很多的地方可以去. 你真幸运. 你要跟谁去?
Yann: 我当然和我太太一起去. 但是她最怕坐飞机. 所以我们只好去近一点的地方.
Raphael: 让我们再重复一遍今天的对话.
Kirin:你在做什么?
下个月我有两周的假期. 我正在计划要到哪里去.
有很多的地方可以去. 你真幸运. 你要跟谁去?
我当然和我太太一起去. 但是她最怕坐飞机. 所以我们只好去近一点的地方.
Raphael: 让我们来翻译今天的对话. 第一句是…
Kirin: 你在做什么?
Raphael: 这个句子我们学过了. 你记得是什么意思吗?
Adam: It means “What are you doing?”
Kirin: 你在做什么?
Adam: The man then replies.
Kirin: 下个月我有两周的假期.
Raphael: 下个月 是什么意思?
Adam: That means “Next month.” So that gives us “Next month I have two”
Kirin: 周的假期.
Raphael: 这个周是 周末 的周. 周末 是什么意思?
Adam: That we saw in our last lesson means “weekend.” The literal definition is the same as in English. The first character is another way to say “week”, while the second character refers to “the end” or “final part.” So here
Kirin: 两周.
Adam: Means “two weeks.”
Kirin: 下个月我有两周的假期.
Adam: And that leads us to our first new word of the lesson.
Raphael: 假期. 第四声和第一声.
Adam: That means “vacation.” If you remember, in lesson 33 we learned
Kirin: 渡假
Adam: which meant “to go on holiday.” So the 假 is the same character meaning “vacation”, while the 期 refers to “period of time”; so together
Kirin: 假期
Adam: means “vacation.”
Kirin: 下个月我有两周的假期.
Adam: “Next month, I have two weeks vacation.” He then continues.
Kirin: 我正在计划要到哪里去.
Adam: So there are a couple of new terms in there.
Raphael: 正在. 两个第四声.
Adam: This is usually added before verbs when you are in the process of doing that action. So in this case it can mean “currently doing.”
Kirin: 我正在计划要到哪里去.
Adam: We then have our next new word of the day.
Raphael: 计划. 两个第四声.
Adam: And that is the verb “to plan.”
Kirin: 我正在计划要到哪里去.
Adam: The last part
Kirin: 要到哪里去.
Adam: Literally, means “want arrive where go”, which literally means “where to go.”
Kirin: 我正在计划要到哪里去.
Adam: “I’m in the middle of planning where to go.” The woman then says.
Kirin: 有很多地方可以去.
Raphael: 很多 是什么意思? 我们在第三十四课学过了.
Adam: That means “many.” We then have another new word.
Raphael: 地方. 第四声和第一声.
Adam: And that means “place.” So together that gives us “There are many places you can go.”
Kirin: 有很多地方可以去.
Adam: She then adds.
Kirin: 你真幸运.
Raphael: 这个句子我们学过了. 你记得是什么意思吗?
Adam: We saw that in lesson 33 and it’s an expression saying “You’re really lucky.”
Kirin: 你真幸运.
Adam: She then asks.
Kirin: 你要跟谁去?
Adam: That literally asks “You want with who go?” or “Who are you going with?”
Kirin: 你要跟谁去?
Adam: To which the man replies.
Kirin: 我当然和我太太一起去.
Raphael: 当然 是什么意思?
Adam: That means “Of course.”
Raphael: 太太 是什么意思?
Adam: That means “Wife”; so together we have “I will of course go with my wife.”
Kirin: 我当然和我太太一起去.
Adam: He then says.
Kirin: 但是她最怕坐飞机.
Raphael: 这个句子有一个新的字. 怕. 第四声.
Adam: That’s the verb “to be afraid of.” The literal translation of this sentence is: “But she most afraid take plane” or simply “But she’s scared of flying.”
Kirin: 但是她最怕坐飞机.
Adam: He then ends off with.
Kirin: 所以我们只好去近一点的地方.
Raphael: 所以 是什么意思?
Adam: That means “So.” There’s another term in there
Kirin: 只好
Adam: which literally means “only good” which means “have to” or “be forced to.”
Kirin: 去近一点的地方.
Adam: And that literally means “go near a little place.”
Kirin: 所以我们只好去近一点的地方.
Adam: So we have to go somewhere a little closer.
Raphael: 让我们再重复一遍今天的对话.
Kirin: 你在做什么?
下个月我有两周的假期. 我正在计划要到哪里去.
有很多的地方可以去. 你真幸运. 你要跟谁去?
我当然和我太太一起去. 但是她最怕坐飞机. 所以我们只好去近一点的地方.
Adam: And let’s listen to the dialogue again at regular speed.
Cindy: 你在做什么?
Yann: 下个月我有两周的假期. 我正在计划要到哪里去.
Cindy: 有很多的地方可以去. 你真幸运. 你要跟谁去?
Yann: 我当然和我太太一起去. 但是她最怕坐飞机. 所以我们只好去近一点的地方.

Podcast transcript

Raphael: 请听下面的对话.
Kirin: 你在干什么?
Raphael: 下个月我有三个星期的假期. 能帮我计划到哪里去渡假吗?
Kirin: 可以去的地方太多了. 你想去近一点的地方还是远一点的地方?
Raphael: 近一点的地方比较好. 如果也便宜就更好了.
Raphael: 请用中文翻译下面的问题.
Q: What are you doing right now?
A: 你在干什么?
Q: Vacation
A: 假期
Q: To take a holiday
A: 渡假
Q: Next month I have three weeks of vacation. Use 星期.
A: 下个月我有三个星期的假期.
Q: Can you help me? Use 能.
A: 你能帮我吗?
Q: To plan
A: 计划
Q: Where to go?
A: 到哪里去?
Q: Can you help me plan where to go on vacation?
A: 能帮我计划到哪里去渡假吗?
Q: Too many
A: 太多
Q: Place
A: 地方
Q: There are too many places to go. Literally: Can go’s places too many.
A: 可以去的地方太多了.
Q: The exclusive “or”
A: 还是
Q: A little closer
A: 近一点的
Q: A little further
A: 远一点的
Q: Do you want to go somewhere close or far? Use 想.
A: 你想去近一点的地方还是远一点的?
Q: Better
A: 更好
Q: Cheaper
A: 比较便宜
Q: A closer place would be better.
A: 近一点的地方比较好.
Q: If it was also cheaper, that would be even better.
A: 如果也便宜就更好了.
Raphael: 好，请你们再听一次复习的对话.
Kirin: 你在干什么?
Raphael: 下个月我有三个星期的假期. 能帮我计划到哪里去渡假吗?
Kirin: 可以去的地方太多了. 你想去近一点的地方还是远一点的地方?
Raphael: 近一点的地方比较好. 如果也便宜就更好了.

Lesson 94

Kirin: 上网学中文第九十四课.
Adam: Hello, I’m your host, Adam. Today’s lesson builds upon what was taught in lesson 34 of our course which was two people conversing in a restaurant.
Raphael: 让我们先听一次今天的对话.
Cindy: 这个菜单上有很多好吃的菜.
Yann: 想吃什么就点什么. 我请客.
Cindy: 这不公平. 上次你已经请过了. 这次该我请了.
Yann: 好吧. 下次一定让我请客.
Cindy: 好. 一言为定.
Raphael: 让我们再重复一遍今天的对话.
Kirin: 这个菜单上有很多好吃的菜.
想吃什么就点什么. 我请客.
这不公平. 上次你已经请过了. 这次该我请了.
好吧. 下次一定让我请客.
好. 一言为定.
Raphael: 让我们来翻译今天的对话. 第一句是…
Kirin: 这个菜单上有很多好吃的菜.
Raphael: 这些单词我们学过了. 菜单 是什么意思?
Adam: That means “menu.” Here we have
Kirin: 菜单上
Adam: which means “On the menu.”
Kirin: 这个菜单上有很多好吃的菜.
Adam: The last part there
Kirin: 好吃的菜.
Adam: Literally means “good eat dish” which is how you say that a dish is delicious.
Kirin: 这个菜单上有很多好吃的菜.
Adam: This menu has many delicious dishes.
Kirin: 这个菜单上有很多好吃的菜.
Adam: The man then replies.
Kirin: 想吃什么就点什么.
Adam: Here we have words that we’ve seen before. There are three verbs in there. “To want,” “to eat” and “to order.” The 就 particle in this case functions as a “then”; so that gives us a literal translation of “Want eat what then order what”
Kirin: 想吃什么就点什么.
Adam: which ends up meaning “Whatever you want to eat, go ahead and order it” or simply “Order whatever you want.”
Kirin: 想吃什么就点什么.
Adam: Order whatever you want to eat.
Kirin: 想吃什么就点什么.
Adam: For more examples of this construction, take a look at the Podcast review that accompanies this lesson. The man then continues.
Kirin: 我请客.
Adam: Here we have two characters 请客 that we’ve seen before in different contexts. Previously, we defined 请, as meaning “please.” Here it’s meaning “invite.” The 客 we’ve seen before in 不客气 meaning “you’re welcome” or more literally “don’t be polite.” The 客, on its own, refers to “guest”, so the literal meaning here is “I invite guest”, which is the expression to say “it’s my treat.”
Kirin: 我请客.
Adam: The woman then replies.
Kirin: 这不公平.
Adam: So here we have a new term.
Kirin: 公平.
Raphael: 第一声和第二声.
Adam: And that means “fair.” But here she said
Kirin: 这不公平.
Adam: As in “this is not fair.”
Kirin: 这不公平.
Adam: The woman then explains why.
Kirin: 上次你已经请过了.
Raphael: 上次 是什么意思?
Adam: That means “last time.” We then have another new word.
Kirin: 已经.
Raphael: 第三声和第一声.
Adam: And that means “already.” Can you figure out the rest?
Kirin: 上次你已经请过了.
Adam: “Last time you already treated me.” Notice the present perfect tense particle 过 that we learned recently being used here.
Kirin: 上次你已经请过了.
Adam: She then continues.
Kirin: 这次该我请了.
Raphael: 该是 应该 的该. 应该 是什么意思?
Adam: 应该, you may remember, means “should” or “ought to.” Here the short form is being used giving us “This time should I treat.” The extra 了 particle at the end is used to signify a change in situation. So she wants to change the situation so that she is treating him this time.
Kirin: 这次该我请了.
Adam: So that gives us “This time I should treat.” The man then replies.
Kirin: 好吧.
Adam: This means “okay.” The extra neutral particle 吧 is added to give a suggestive tone similar to how we might say “Ok then.”
Kirin: 好吧.
Adam: The man then adds.
Kirin: 下次一定让我请客.
Raphael: 这里我们还有一个新的单词.
Kirin: 一定.
Raphael: 第一声和第四声.
Adam: And that means “Surely” or “definitely.”
Kirin: 下次一定让我请客.
Adam: Literally that’s “Next time definitely let me treat.”
Kirin: 下次一定让我请客.
Adam: To which the woman replies.
Kirin: 好. 一言为定.
Adam: This last sentence is an expression along the lines of “It’s a deal” or “That’s settled then.” The literal translation is something along the lines of “one word becomes decided.” We’ve actually seen some of these characters from other words in the past.
Kirin: 一言为定. 一号的一. 语言的言. 因为的为. 一定的定.
Adam: Again, if that doesn’t make sense to you, check the Complete word for word transcript for this lesson.
Raphael: 让我们再重复一遍今天的对话.
Kirin: 这个菜单上有很多好吃的菜.
想吃什么就点什么. 我请客.
这不公平. 上次你已经请过了. 这次该我请了.
好吧. 下次一定让我请客.
好. 一言为定.
Adam: And let’s listen to the dialogue once again at regular speed.
Cindy: 这个菜单上有很多好吃的菜.
Yann: 想吃什么就点什么. 我请客.
Cindy: 这不公平. 上次你已经请过了. 这次该我请了.
Yann: 好吧. 下次一定让我请客.
Cindy: 好. 一言为定.

Podcast transcript

请听下面的对话.
Kirin: 这个菜单上有很多好菜.
Raphael: 请随便点. 我请客.
Kirin: 不公平. 上次你已经请过我了.
这次该我了.
Raphael: 好吧. 下次我再请.
Kirin: 好. 一言为定.
Raphael: 请用中文翻译下面的问题.
Q: Menu
A: 菜单
Q: Please give me that menu
A: 请给我那个菜單.
Q: There are many good dishes in this menu. For “dish” use 菜.
A: 这个菜单上有很多好菜.
Q: There are many delicious things to eat here.
A: 这里有很多好吃的.
Q: Tasty
A: 好吃
Q: Please order whatever you want. Literally: Please follow convenient order.
A: 请随便点.
Q: My treat.
A: 我请客
Q: Order whatever you want to eat. Literally: Want eat what then order what.
A: 想吃什么就点什么.
Q: Do whatever you want to do.
A: 想做什么就做什么.
Q: Go wherever you want to go.
A: 想去哪里就去哪里.
Q: Not fair.
A: 不公平.
Q: Already.
A: 已经.
Q: You already treated me last time. Literally: last time you already treated me.
A: 上次你已经请过我了.
Q: This time should be me.
A: 这次该我了.
Q: Ok then.
A: 好吧.
Q: Definitely
A: 一定
Q: Next time I’ll treat. Literally: Next time I again treat.
A: 下次我再请.
Q: It’s a deal.
A: 一言为定.
Raphael: 好，请你们再听一次复习的对话.
Kirin: 这个菜单上有很多好菜.
Raphael: 请随便点. 我请客.
Kirin: 不公平. 上次你已经请过我了.
这次该我了.
Raphael: 好吧. 下次我再请.
Kirin: 好. 一言为定.

Lesson 95

Kirin: 上网学中文第九十五课.
Adam: Hello, I’m Adam. We will start by listening to a conversation that takes place between two people in a restaurant.
Raphael: 让我们先听一次今天的对话.
Cindy: 我很饿了. 这个面条看上去很好吃.
Yann: 是很好吃. 再来一点炒面怎么样?
Cindy: 那就再来一点汤和小菜吧.
Yann: 太多了. 来一点汤就行了.
Raphael: 让我们再重复一遍今天的对话.
Kirin: 我很饿了. 这个面条看上去很好吃.
是很好吃. 再来一点炒面怎么样?
那就再来一点汤和小菜吧.
太多了. 来一点汤就行了.
Raphael: 让我们来翻译今天的对话. 第一句是…
Kirin: 我很饿了.
Adam: Now back in lesson 22 we learned the phrase
Kirin: 我肚子饿.
Adam: Do you remember what that means? That, literally, meant, “My stomach is hungry.” Here we have.
Kirin: 我很饿了.
Adam: which more directly means “I am hungry.” Note again the change in situation particle 了 being used to indicate that she wasn’t hungry before but now she is.
Kirin: 我很饿了.
Adam: The woman then continues.
Kirin: 这个面条看上去很好吃.
Adam: So here we have our first new word of the day.
Raphael: 面條. 第四声和第二声.
Adam: There are two characters there – the first being for noodles, while the second is a measure word for long, thin objects. So when you refer to noodles by themselves you use these two characters together giving us
Kirin: 面条.
Adam: So what about these noodles?
Kirin: 这个面条看上去很好吃.
Raphael: 你记得 看上去 是什么意思吗?
Adam: We saw this term recently being used to mean “appear to be.”
Raphael: 很好吃 是什么意思?
Adam: And that we also saw recently meaning “delicious.” So that gives us “These noodles appear to be delicious.”
Kirin: 这个面条看上去很好吃.
Adam: The man then replies.
Kirin: 是很好吃.
Adam: So he agrees that they are tasty.
Kirin: 是很好吃.
Adam: He then continues with.
Kirin: 再来一点炒面怎么样?
Adam: So here we have a new term made up of characters we’ve seen before.
Kirin: 再来一点.
Adam: The literal translation here is “Again come a little.” And that’s what is used to say “a little more.”
Kirin: 再来一点炒面怎么样?
Adam: That’s followed by our next food dish of the lesson.
Kirin: 炒面.
Adam: Now back in lesson 83 we saw the dish 炒菜. Do you remember what that meant? It meant “fried vegetables.” So what do you suppose 炒面 means? It means “Fried noodles.” And, of course, you’ll see that often when ordering Chinese food in most places around the world. He then adds a question at the end.
Raphael: 怎么样 是什么意思?
Adam: That’s a question asking “How about?” So he’s asking “how about a little more fried noodles?”
Kirin: 再来一点炒面怎么样?
Adam: The woman then replies.
Kirin: 那就再来一点汤和小菜吧.
Adam: So there’s another food item mentioned in there.
Raphael: 汤. 第一声.
Adam: And that means “soup.” At the end of the sentence we have 小菜 which translates into “a little dish.” Or in this case, “a side dish.”
Kirin: 那就再来一点汤和小菜吧.
Adam: Notice as well, the particles being used in the beginning of the sentence. We have the 那 meaning “in that case” and the 就 meaning “then.” We also have the “吧” at the end, that we saw in lesson 57 indicating a suggestion. So that gives us a complete translation of “in that case, a little more soup and side dish.”
Kirin: 那就再来一点汤和小菜吧.
Adam: To which the man replies.
Kirin: 太多了.
Raphael: 你觉得 太多了 是什么?
Adam: That means “Too much!”
Kirin: 太多了.
Adam: He then adds.
Kirin: 来一点汤就行了.
Adam: So there’s one new character in there.
Kirin: 行.
Raphael: 第二声.
Adam: And that’s another way to say “alright” or “okay.” The 就 particle here is back to meaning “only” so that gives us a literal translation of “A little more soup only alright.”
Kirin: 来一点汤就行了.
Adam: In other words, “A little more soup is enough.”
Kirin: 来一点汤就行了.
Adam: Now just as a side note here, the 行 character we talked about is most commonly heard when someone wants to say something is not okay to do in which case you may hear:
Kirin: 不行.
Raphael: 让我们再重复一遍今天的对话.
Kirin: 我很饿了. 这个面条看上去很好吃.
是很好吃. 再来一点炒面怎么样?
那就再来一点汤和小菜吧.
太多了. 来一点汤就行了.
Adam: And let’s listen to the conversation again at regular speed.
Cindy: 我很饿了. 这个面条看上去很好吃.
Yann: 是很好吃. 再来一点炒面怎么样?
Cindy: 那就再来一点汤和小菜吧.
Yann: 太多了. 来一点汤就行了.

Podcast transcript

Raphael: 请听下面的对话.
Kirin: 我肚子饿. 我要喝汤.
Raphael: 这里的面很好吃.
Kirin: 可是我听说他们的汤很特别.
Raphael: 如果再来一点炒面就更好了.
Kirin: 那你就点吧.
Raphael: 请用中文翻译下面的问题.
Q: I’m hungry. Use stomach.
A: 我肚子饿.
Q: I’m very hungry.
A: 我很饿了.
Q: I want to drink some soup.
A: 我要喝汤.
Q: Fried rice.
A: 炒饭.
Q: This fried rice looks delicious.
A: 这个炒饭看上去很好吃.
Q: I heard that.
A: 我听说.
Q: Very special.
A: 很特别.
Q: I heard that their noodles were very special.
A: 我听说他们的面条很特别.
Q: A little more fried noodles.
A: 再来一点炒面.
Q: If there were more fried noodles that would be better.
A: 如果再来一点炒面就更好了.
Q: Too much.
A: 太多了.
Q: You can’t do that.
A: 不行.
Q: In that case you should then order.
A: 那你就点吧.
Raphael: 好，请你们再听一次复习的对话.
Kirin: 我肚子饿. 我要喝汤.
Raphael: 这里的面很好吃.
Kirin: 可是我听说他们的汤很特别.
Raphael: 如果再来一点炒面就更好了.
Kirin: 那你就点吧.

Lesson 96

Kirin: 上网学中文第九十六课.
Adam: Hello, and welcome to our progressive course teaching Mandarin Chinese. I’m your host, Adam. Today’s lesson builds upon lessons 36 and 37 of our series; so you’re encouraged to review those lessons before listening to today’s lesson.
Raphael: 让我们先听一次今天的对话.
Yann: 我以前没见过你这件衬衣. 是新的吗?
Cindy: 我上个周末才买的.
Yann: 很好看! 你是为了生日宴会买新衣服吗?
Cindy: 不是. 我就是喜欢.
Raphael: 让我们再重复一遍今天的对话.
Kirin: 我以前没见过你这件衬衣. 是新的吗?
我上个周末才买的.
很好看! 你是为了生日宴会买新衣服吗?
不是. 我就是喜欢.
Raphael: 让我们来翻译今天的对话. 第一句是…
Kirin: 我以前没见过你这件衬衣.
Raphael: 你记得 以前 是什么意思吗?
Adam: That we saw in lesson 90 meaning “before.”
Raphael: 你觉得 没见过 是什么意思.
Adam: That you may be able to figure out as “haven’t met.” The verb 见, however, also extends to mean “see” so that gives us “I haven’t seen before.”
Kirin: 我以前没见过你这件衬衣.
Adam: So the last part begins with 这件. This is a different 件 which you may remember from lesson 66 as a measure word for clothing. So this means he is describing an item of clothing. So what item is this?
Raphael: 我们今天的第一个新的单词是 衬衣. 第四声和第一声.
Adam: and that means “shirt.” So he’s saying “I’ve never seen this shirt before.”
Kirin: 我以前没见过你这件衬衣.
Adam: He then asks.
Kirin: 是新的吗?
Adam: Easy enough “Is new?” As in “Is it new?”
Kirin: 是新的吗?
Adam: To which the woman replies.
Kirin: 我上个周末才买的.
Adam: So we’ve seen the first few words before. “I last weekend.”
Raphael: 然后我们今天的第二个新的单词是 才. 第二声.
Adam: That’s a new particle, which in this case can be thought of as meaning “just.” That’s followed by the verb “to buy.”
Kirin: 才买的.
Adam: So that gives us “I just bought it last weekend.”
Kirin: 我上个周末才买的.
Adam: The man then replies.
Kirin: 很好看!
Raphael: 很好看 是什么意思?
Adam: That you may remember means “Looks great.”
Kirin: 很好看!
Adam: He then asks.
Kirin: 你是为了生日宴会买新衣服吗?
Raphael: 我们下一个新的单词是 为了. 第四声合第五声.
Adam: That’s the 为 from 因为 meaning “because” or “for.” So the first part translates to “You are for the purpose of” followed by:
Kirin: 生日宴会.
Adam: The first word, you should remember, means “birthday”, while the second word is.
Raphael: 宴会. 两个第四声.
Adam: And that refers to a “banquet” or “formal party.” So together that gives us “a formal birthday party.”
Kirin: 你是为了生日宴会买新衣服吗?
Adam: The literal meaning here is “You are for the purpose of birthday party buy new clothes?” or “Did you buy new clothes for a birthday party?”
Kirin: 你是为了生日宴会买新衣服吗?
Adam: To which she responds.
Kirin: 不是.
Adam: Easy enough. “No.”
Kirin: 不是.
Adam: So why did she buy it then?
Kirin: 我就是喜欢.
Adam: You may have noticed the particle 就 turn up in a lot of recent lessons. That’s because it does get used all over the place in regular speech. Here it’s back to meaning a variant of “only”, giving us a meaning of “I only is 喜欢.
Raphael: 喜欢 是什么意思?
Adam: That you may remember is the verb “to like.” So that gives us “I only is like.”
Kirin: 我就是喜欢.
Adam: which is a way to say “I just like it.”
Kirin: 我就是喜欢.
Adam: Now getting back to the expression
Kirin: 就是
Adam: This is an expression that is often mixed in with day to day speech. Just like in English you may hear people use “you know”, mixed in with their regular speech, you may hear 就是 commonly intermixed in day to day dialogue.
Raphael: 让我们再重复一遍今天的对话.
Kirin: 我以前没见过你这件衬衣. 是新的吗?
我上个周末才买的.
很好看! 你是为了生日宴会买新衣服吗?
不是. 我就是喜欢.
Adam: And let’s listen to the dialogue again at normal speed.
Yann: 我以前没见过你这件衬衣. 是新的吗?
Cindy: 我上个周末才买的.
Yann: 很好看! 你是为了生日宴会买新衣服吗?
Cindy: 不是. 我就是喜欢.

Podcast transcript

Raphael: 请听下面的对话.
Raphael: 你的这件新衬衣我是第一次见到.
Kirin: 对. 我上个星期才买的.
Raphael: 我觉得很漂亮. 为什么买新衣服?
Kirin: 我是为了这个周末的生日宴会买的.
Raphael: 请用中文翻译下面的问题.
Q: Shirt
A: 衬衣.
Q: Did you buy it new?
A: 你新买的吗?
Q: I just bought it last week.
A: 我上个星期才买的.
Q: Looks great.
A: 很好看.
Q: I think it looks beautiful.
A: 我觉得很漂亮.
Q: Why did you buy new clothes? Literally: Why buy new clothes?
A: 为什么买新衣服?
Q: Birthday party
A: 生日宴会.
Q: For a birthday party.
A: 为了生日宴会.
Q: I bought it for a birthday party this weekend. Literally: I am for this weekend’s birthday party buy’s.
A: 我是为了这个周末的生日宴会买的.
Raphael: 好，请你们再听一次复习的对话.
Raphael: 你的这件新衬衣我是第一次见到.
Kirin: 对. 我上个星期才买的.
Raphael: 我觉得很漂亮. 为什么买新衣服?
Kirin: 我是为了这个周末的生日宴会买的.

Lesson 97

Kirin: 上网学中文第九十七课.
Adam: Hello, and welcome to our progressive course teaching Mandarin Chinese. I’m your host, Adam. Today’s lesson builds upon lessons 36 and 37 of our series.
Raphael: 让我们先听一次今天的对话.
Yann: 你可以帮我买一条领带吗?
Cindy: 当然可以. 你喜欢什么颜色?
Yann: 有很多颜色可以选择. 我还真不知道哪种颜色比较好.
Cindy: 那么这条蓝色的怎么样? 跟你的外套颜色一样.
Yann: 好吧. 我就买这条.
Raphael: 让我们再重复一遍今天的对话.
Kirin: 你可以帮我买一条领带吗?
当然可以. 你喜欢什么颜色?
有很多颜色可以选择. 我还真不知道哪种颜色比较好.
那么这条蓝色的怎么样? 跟你的外套颜色一样.
好吧. 我就买这条.
Raphael: 让我们来翻译今天的对话. 第一句是…
Kirin: 你可以帮我买一条领带吗?
Adam: So this question features an interesting construction that differs slightly from its English counterpart.
Kirin: 帮我买.
Adam: The literal translation is “help me buy”, which is how it’s used in this conversation. However, it can also mean “buy for me”; so be careful with that. So what does the man need help buying?
Kirin: 一条领带.
Adam: We saw the measure word 条 a couple of lessons ago as part of the word for “noodles.”
Kirin: 面条.
Adam: Do you remember what it describes? It describes long, thin objects like noodles or in this case a tie.
Raphael: 我们今天的第一个新单词是 领带. 第三声和第四声.
Adam: So as you can see, depending on the item being described, not all clothes are described using 件, here 条 is used.
Kirin: 你可以帮我买一条领带吗?
Adam: Can you help me buy a tie?
Kirin: 你可以帮我买一条领带吗?
Adam: To which the woman replies.
Kirin: 当然可以.
Adam: Of course I can.
Kirin: 当然可以.
Adam: The woman then continues.
Kirin: 你喜欢什么颜色?
Raphael: 这些单词我们都学过了. 这个句子是什么意思?
Adam: Literally, that’s “You like what color?” or simply “What color do you like?”
Kirin: 你喜欢什么颜色?
Adam: The man then continues.
Kirin: 有很多颜色可以选择.
Adam: There are many colors can
Raphael: 选择. 第三声和第二声.
Adam: And that’s the verb “to choose.” So that gives us “There are many colors to choose from.”
Kirin: 有很多颜色可以选择.
Adam: The man then continues.
Kirin: 我还真不知道哪种颜色比较好.
Raphael: 这些单词我们也都学过了. 让我们看看你还记得不记得.
Adam: The 还真 literally means “still really.” That’s followed by
Raphael: 不知道 是什么意思?
Adam: That means “don’t know.”
Raphael: 哪种 是什么意思?
Adam: That means “which kind?”
Raphael: 比较好 的意思是什么?
Adam: And that means “better.” So together that gives us
Kirin: 我还真不知道哪种颜色比较好.
Adam: I still really don’t know which type of color is better.
Kirin: 我还真不知道哪种颜色比较好.
Adam: The woman then asks.
Kirin: 那么这条蓝色的怎么样?
Raphael: 你觉得这个句子的意思是什么?
Adam: That is asking “In that case, what do you think of this blue one?”
Kirin: 那么这条蓝色的怎么样?
Adam: She then adds.
Kirin: 跟你的外套颜色一样.
Raphael: 外套 是什么意思?
Adam: That means “jacket.” So the literal translation here is “with your jacket color”, followed by our next new word.
Raphael: 一样. 第二声和第四声.
Adam: And that means “same.” So when you want to say that two items are the same, you say “item B with item A same.” In this case, we have “with your jacket color same.”
Kirin: 跟你的外套颜色一样.
Adam: In other words, “It’s the same color as your jacket.”
Kirin: 跟你的外套颜色一样.
Adam: The man then ends the conversation with
Kirin: 好吧. 我就买这条.
Adam: Ok, I’ll then buy this one.
Kirin: 好吧. 我就买这条.
Raphael: 让我们再重复一遍今天的对话.
Kirin: 你可以帮我买一条领带吗?
当然可以. 你喜欢什么颜色?
有很多颜色可以选择. 我还真不知道哪种颜色比较好.
那么这条蓝色的怎么样? 跟你的外套颜色一样.
好吧. 我就买这条.
Adam: And let’s listen to the conversation again at regular speed.
Yann: 你可以帮我买一条领带吗?
Cindy: 当然可以. 你喜欢什么颜色?
Yann: 有很多颜色可以选择. 我还真不知道哪种颜色比较好.
Cindy: 那么这条蓝色的怎么样? 跟你的外套颜色一样.
Yann: 好吧. 我就买这条.

Podcast transcript

Raphael: 请听下面的对话.
Raphael: 帮我买条领带好吗?
Kirin: 没问题. 你要什么颜色?
Raphael: 我很喜欢绿色. 和我的衬衣颜色一样.
Kirin: 有两种绿色的领带. 你喜欢哪一种?
Raphael: 都可以. 随便选一个.
Raphael: 请用中文翻译下面的问题.
Q: Tie
A: 领带
Q: Shirt
A: 衬衣.
Q: Color
A: 颜色.
Q: I like red very much.
A: 我很喜欢红色.
Q: It’s the same color as my jacket.
A: 跟我的外套颜色一样.
Q: It’s not the same.
A: 不一样.
Q: Either one is fine.
A: 都可以.
Q: Choose whichever one you want.
A: 随便选一个.
Raphael: 好，请你们再听一次复习的对话.
Raphael: 帮我买领带好吗?
Kirin: 没问题. 你要什么颜色?
Raphael: 我很喜欢绿色. 和我的衬衣颜色一样.
Kirin: 有两种颜色的领带. 你喜欢哪一种?
Raphael: 都可以. 随便选一个.

Lesson 98

Kirin: 上网学中文第九十八课.
Adam: Hello, and welcome to our progressive course teaching Mandarin Chinese. I’m your host, Adam. Today’s lesson builds upon lesson 38 of our series, so it’s highly recommended that you review that lesson before going on to today’s lesson.
Raphael: 让我们先听一次今天的对话.
Cindy: 我想买一份报纸. 但是我没带零钱. 你有吗?
Yann: 让我看看. 我只剩下一点儿. 我觉得不够.
Cindy: 不重要. 我可以下次再买.
Raphael: 让我们再重复一遍今天的对话.
Kirin: 我想买一份报纸. 但是我没带零钱. 你有吗?
让我看看. 我只剩下一点儿. 我觉得不够.
不重要. 我可以下次再买.
Raphael: 让我们来翻译今天的对话. 第一句是…
Kirin: 我想买一份报纸.
Adam: So the first part should be easy. “I want to buy a.” That’s followed by.
Raphael: 我们第一个新的单词是 份. 第四声.
Adam: And that’s a measure word for “copies.” Copies of what you ask? Well that takes us to our next new word which is
Rahpael: 报纸. 第四声和第三声.
Adam: And that means “newspaper.” The two characters there refer to “inform” and “paper”, respectively, and together with the measure word we get “A copy of a newspaper.”
Kirin: 一份报纸.
Adam: So the entire sentence is “I want to buy a newspaper.”
Kirin: 我想买一份报纸.
Adam: The woman then continues.
Kirin: 但是我没带零钱.
Raphael: 但是 是什么意思?
Adam: That you may remember means “But.”
Raphael: 带 是什么意思?
Adam: And that is the verb “to bring.” So she’s saying “But I didn’t bring”
Kirin: 零钱.
Raphael: 这些字我们以前都学过了.
Adam: The two characters there are the character for “zero” and the character for “money.” The meaning here is more towards the remnant of money as in what’s left of your money, which is the term for “change” as in the coins you may have in your pocket.
Kirin: 但是我没带零钱.
Adam: But I didn’t bring any change.
Kirin: 但是我没带零钱.
Adam: She then asks.
Kirin: 你有吗?
Adam: Easy enough, I hope. “Do you have any?”
Kirin: 你有吗?
Adam: The man then replies.
Kirin: 让我看看.
Raphael: 这些单词我们也都学过了.
Adam: The literal meaning here is “Let me look look.” You may remember from lesson 57 that together 看看 means “to take a look.” So that gives us “Let me take a look.”
Kirin: 让我看看.
Adam: The man then continues.
Kirin: 我只剩下一点儿.
Raphael: 你记得 剩下 的意思是什么吗?
Adam: That means “to have left over.” So that gives us “I only have left over a little”, or simply “I only have a little left over.”
Kirin: 我只剩下一点儿.
Adam: You may have noticed that Raphael uses of the Northern Chinese dialect when saying this phrase.
Kirin: 我只剩下一点儿.
Adam: He then continues.
Kirin: 我觉得不够.
Adam: So that gives us “I feel not” followed by our next new word of the lesson.
Raphael: 够. 第四声.
Adam: And that means “enough.”
Kirin: 我觉得不够.
Adam: I feel it’s not enough.
Kirin: 我觉得不够.
Adam: The woman then replies.
Kirin: 不重要.
Adam: So here we have our last new word of the lesson.
Raphael: 重要. 两个第四声.
Adam: And that means “important.” So she’s saying “Not important.”
Kirin: 不重要.
Adam: She then ends off with.
Kirin: 我可以下次再买.
Adam: Literally, that’s “I can next time again buy” or “I can buy it again next time.”
Kirin: 我可以下次再买.
Raphael: 让我们再重复一遍今天的对话.
Kirin: 我想买一份报纸. 但是我没带零钱. 你有吗?
让我看看. 我只剩下一点儿. 我觉得不够.
不重要. 我可以下次再买.
Adam: And let’s listen to the dialogue again at normal speed.
Cindy: 我想买一份报纸. 但是我没带零钱. 你有吗?
Yann: 让我看看. 我只剩下一点儿. 我觉得不够.
Cindy: 不重要. 我可以下次再买.

Podcast transcript

请听下面的对话.
Kirin: 我还没买今天的报纸. 你能不能借我一点钱?
Raphael: 我剩下的零钱不够.
Kirin: 如果没有零钱就不买了. 这不重要.
Raphael: 请用中文翻译下面的问题.
Q: Not yet
A: 还没
Q: Newspaper
A: 报纸.
Q: Today’s newspaper.
A: 今天的报纸.
Q: I haven’t yet bought today’s newspaper.
A: 我还没买今天的报纸.
Q: Can you? Use 能. Literally can not can.
A: 能不能?
Q: Lend me.
A: 借我.
Q: A little change.
A: 一点零钱.
Q: Can you lend me a little change?
A: 你能不能借我一点零钱?
Q: Left over change.
A: 剩下的零钱
Q: Not enough
A: 不够.
Q: I don’t have enough change left over.
A: 我剩下的零钱不够.
Q: If.
A: 如果.
Q: I don’t have any change.
A: 我没有零钱.
Q: If there’s no change then don’t buy.
A: 如果没有零钱就不买了.
Q: Important.
A: 重要.
Q: This isn’t important.
A: 这不重要.
Raphael: 好，请你们再听一次复习的对话.
Kirin: 我还没买今天的报纸. 你能不能借我一点钱?
Raphael: 我剩下的零钱不够.
Kirin: 如果没有零钱就不买了. 这不重要.

Lesson 99

Kirin: 上网学中文第九十九课.
Adam: Hello, I’m Adam, and you’re listening to our progressive course teaching Mandarin Chinese. Today’s lesson builds upon what was taught in lesson 39 of our series.
Raphael: 让我们先听一次今天的对话.
Cindy: 我有一个麻烦.
Yann: 怎么了?
Cindy: 我才想起来. 我的钥匙忘在朋友家了.
Yann: 那怎么办?
Cindy: 没关系. 我可以在邻居家等我丈夫回来.
Raphael: 让我们再重复一遍今天的对话.
Kirin: 我有一个麻烦.
怎么了?
我才想起来. 我的钥匙忘在朋友家了.
那怎么办?
没关系. 我可以在邻居家等我丈夫回来.
Raphael: 让我们来翻译今天的对话. 第一句是…
Kirin: 我有一个麻烦.
Raphael: 麻烦 是什么意思?
Adam: That means “trouble or bother.” Previously, we saw it used as a verb, whereas here it’s being used as a noun.
Kirin: 我有一个麻烦.
Adam: So this can be used to say “I have a small problem.”
Kirin: 我有一个麻烦.
Adam: The man then asks.
Kirin: 怎么了?
Adam: This is another way to ask “What happened?” or “What is happening?”
Kirin: 怎么了?
Adam: The woman then replies.
Kirin: 我才想起来.
Raphael: 才 是什么意思?
Adam: We saw that recently meaning “just.” That’s followed by
Kirin: 想起来.
Adam: The 想起 is two third tones. 想 on its own means “to think.” Here, 想起 is a variant of 想 and means “to recall.” The 来 at the end on its own means “come” and combines with the 起 to indicate that the action has just begun. So
Kirin: 我才想起来.
Adam: In this case means “I just thought of” or “I just remembered.”
Kirin: 我才想起来.
Adam: So what did she just think of?
Kirin: 我的钥匙忘在朋友家了.
Adam: So that brings us to our next new word of the lesson.
Raphael: 钥匙. 第四声和第五声.
Adam: And that means “key.”
Kirin: 我的钥匙忘在朋友家了.
Raphael: 你记得 忘 是什么意思吗?
Adam: That is the verb “to forget”; so together that gives us “My key forgot in friend house.” Note how some words are omitted. So instead of saying 我朋友的家 she is just saying 朋友家.
Kirin: 我的钥匙忘在朋友家了.
Adam: The man then asks.
Kirin: 那怎么办?
Adam: Hopefully, you remember this expression. “In that case, what to do?”
Kirin: 那怎么办?
Adam: The woman then replies.
Kirin: 没关系.
Adam: Here’s another common expression. “That’s okay.”
Kirin: 没关系.
Adam: So why is that OK?
Kirin: 我可以在邻居家等我丈夫回来.
Adam: So there are a few new words in there.
Raphael: 邻居. 第二声和第一声.
Adam: And that means “neighbor.” We then have a new verb.
Raphael: 等. 第三声.
Adam: meaning “to wait” and lastly a new family member.
Raphael: 丈夫. 第四声和第五声.
Adam: which is how we refer to “husband.” Now that’s the term used in Northern parts of China. In Southern parts you may hear a different term for “husband.”
Raphael: 老公.
Adam: So let’s see if we can piece together the lady’s sentence.
Kirin: 我可以在邻居家等我丈夫回来.
Raphael: 你记得 回来 是什么意思吗?
Adam: That means “To come back.” So together there’s a literal definition of “I can in neighbor house wait I husband come back” or simply “I can wait at my neighbor’s house for my husband to come back.”
Kirin: 我可以在邻居家等我丈夫回来.
Raphael: 让我们再重复一遍今天的对话.
Kirin: 我有一个麻烦.
怎么了?
我才想起来. 我的钥匙忘在朋友家了.
那怎么办?
没关系. 我可以在邻居家等我丈夫回来.
Raphael: 让我们再听一次今天的对话.
Cindy: 我有一个麻烦.
Yann: 怎么了?
Cindy: 我才想起来. 我的钥匙忘在朋友家了.
Yann: 那怎么办?
Cindy: 没关系. 我可以在邻居家等我丈夫回来.

Podcast transcript

Raphael: 请听下面的对话.
Raphael: 出了什么事?
Kirin: 我忘了带我的钥匙.
Raphael: 钥匙在哪里?
Kirin: 忘在朋友家了.
Raphael: 那怎么办? 你可以在我家等妳丈夫回来.
Kirin: 谢谢你了.
Raphael: 请用中文翻译下面的问题.
Q: What happened?
A: 出了什么事?
Q: Another way to say “What happened?”
A: 怎么了?
Q: Trouble.
A: 麻烦.
Q: I have a small problem. Literally: “I have a trouble.”
A: 我有一个麻烦.
Q: I just remembered.
A: 我才想起来.
Q: Forgot to bring.
A: 忘了带.
Q: I forgot to bring.
A: 我忘了带.
Q: My keys.
A: 我的钥匙.
Q: I forgot to bring my keys.
A: 我忘了带我的钥匙.
Q: Where are the keys?
A: 钥匙在哪里?
Q: Friend.
A: 朋友.
Q: Friend’s house. Literally: “friend house”
A: 朋友家.
Q: Forgot at friend’s house.
A: 忘在朋友家了.
Q: So what to do then?
A: 那怎么办?
Q: Husband.
A: 丈夫.
Q: Come back.
A: 回来.
Q: Wait for your husband to come back.
A: 等妳丈夫回来.
Q: At my house.
A: 在我家.
Q: You can wait at my house for your husband to come back.
A: 你可以在我家等妳丈夫回来.
Raphael: 好，请你们再听一次复习的对话.
Raphael: 出了什么事?
Kirin: 我了带我的钥匙.
Raphael: 钥匙在哪里?
Kirin: 忘在朋友家了.
Raphael: 那怎么办? 你可以在我家等妳丈夫回来.
Kirin: 谢谢你了.

Lesson 100

Kirin: 上网学中文第一百课.
Adam: Hello, and welcome to the 100th lesson of our progressive course teaching Mandarin Chinese. I’m your host Adam. Congratulations on making it this far! Today’s lesson builds upon what was taught in lesson 40 of our series and involves two people sitting in a restaurant.
Raphael: 让我们先听一次今天的对话.
Cindy: 你想吃什么?
Yann: 请等一下. 我想先去洗手间. 请问，你知道洗手间在哪儿吗?
Cindy: 向前走. 右边的第二个门就是.
Yann: 谢谢. 等我回来再点菜.
Cindy: 没问题. 我们有的是时间.
Raphael: 让我们再重复一遍今天的对话.
Kirin: 你想吃什么?
请等一下. 我想先去洗手间. 请问，你知道洗手间在哪儿吗?
向前走. 右边的第二个门就是.
谢谢. 等我回来再点菜.
没问题. 我们有的是时间.
Raphael: 让我们来翻译今天的对话. 第一句是…
Kirin: 你想吃什么?
Raphael: 这个句子是什么意思?
Adam: Hopefully, you can figure out the meaning there of “What do you want to eat?”
Kirin: 你想吃什么?
Adam: The man then replies.
Kirin: 请等一下.
Adam: We saw the verb 等 in our last lesson.
Raphael: 等 是什么意思?
Adam: That’s the verb “To wait.” Here, the man says.
Kirin: 请等一下.
Adam: We saw 一下 way back in lesson 17. Do you remember what it means? It means “a short time” or “a moment.” So this is a useful expression meaning “Please wait a moment.”
Kirin: 请等一下.
Adam: So why does the man want the woman to wait?
Kirin: 我想先去洗手间.
Adam: So the literal meaning here is “I want first go” followed by our first new word of the lesson.
Raphael: 洗手间. 两个第三声. 一个第一声.
Adam: And that’s another way to say “Washroom” or “Restroom.” The literal meaning of the three characters is
Kirin: 洗
Adam: meaning “to wash.”
Kirin: 手
Adam: Meaning “hand” and
Kirin: 间
Adam: which we’ve seen before in 房间 meaning “room.” So putting the three characters together gives us “Wash hand room” or “Washroom.”
Kirin: 洗手间.
Adam: Previously, we learned
Kirin: 厕所
Adam: meaning “toilet”; so here you have another word to add to your ever expanding vocabulary. So back to our dialogue the man said.
Kirin: 请等一下. 我想先去洗手间.
Adam: meaning “Please wait a moment, I want to first go to the washroom.”
Kirin: 请等一下. 我想先去洗手间.
Adam: He then asks.
Kirin: 请问，你知道洗手间在哪儿吗?
Raphael: 这些单词我们都学过了. 这个句子是什么意思?
Adam: “May I ask, do you know where the washroom is?”
Kirin: 请问，你知道洗手间在哪儿吗?
Adam: To which the woman replies.
Kirin: 向前走.
Adam: The first character there is a fourth tone and means “towards”; that’s followed by 前, which we’ve seen before from 前面 meaning “front” or “ahead”, followed by 走, which we know means “to go.” So together this gives us “Towards front go” or simply “Go up front.”
Kirin: 向前走.
Adam: In lesson 40 we taught you
Kirin: 先直走.
Adam: meaning “First go straight”, whereas the term taught here is used for closer distances. The woman then continues.
Kirin: 右边的第二个门就是.
Adam: So again, if you are keeping up with your direction words, you should recognize the first part “On the right, second”. That’s followed by our next new word of the lesson.
Raphael: 门. 第二声.
Adam: And that means “door.”
Kirin: 右边的第二个门就是.
Adam: The last part we also learned recently. 就是 can mean “precisely”, but it’s used a lot more commonly in the Chinese language. So in English this translates to “It’s the second door on your right.”
Kirin: 右边的第二个门就是.
Adam: The man then replies.
Kirin: 谢谢. 等我回来再点菜.
Adam: Let’s look at the first part. “Thanks” followed by
Kirin: 等我回来.
Adam: Again, we should recognize this from our last lesson “Wait I come back.” In other words, “Wait for me to return.”
Kirin: 等我回来再点菜.
Adam: The last part 再点菜 literally means “again order dish”; so the entire sentence is “Wait for me to come back then we can order.”
Kirin: 等我回来再点菜.
Adam: The woman then replies.
Kirin: 没问题. 我们有的是时间.
Adam: “No problem”, followed by another useful expression. The 有的是 means “to have plenty of.”
Raphael: 你记得 时间 是什么意思吗?
Adam: That means “time.” So together that gives us “We have plenty of time.”
Kirin: 没问题. 我们有的是时间.
Raphael: 让我们再重复一遍今天的对话.
Kirin: 你想吃什么?
请等一下. 我想先去洗手间. 请问，你知道洗手间在哪儿吗?
向前走. 右边的第二个门就是.
谢谢. 等我回来再点菜.
没问题. 我们有的是时间.
Raphael: 让我们再听一次今天的对话.
Cindy: 你想吃什么?
Yann: 请等一下. 我想先去洗手间. 请问，你知道洗手间在哪儿吗?
Cindy: 向前走. 右边的第二个门就是.
Yann: 谢谢. 等我回来再点菜.
Cindy: 没问题. 我们有的是时间.

Podcast transcript

Raphael: 请听下面的对话.
Kirin: 你想喝什么?
Raphael: 对不起. 我想先去厕所.
请等我一下. 厕所在哪里?
Kirin: 直走. 左边的第一个门就是厕所的门了.
Raphael: 好吧. 等我回来再点饮料.
Kirin: 没问题. 我们还有时间.
Raphael: 请用中文翻译下面的问题.
Q: To eat.
A: 吃.
Q: To drink.
A: 喝.
Q: I first want to go to the washroom.
A: 我想先去洗手间.
Q: I’m gong to wash clothes today. Literally: I today go wash clothes.
A: 我今天去洗衣服.
Q: Wash hands before eating. Literally: Dish before want wash hands.
A: 饭前要洗手.
Q: Please wait a moment.
A: 请等一下.
Q: Please wait a small moment.
A: 请稍等一下.
Q: Where is the restroom?
A: 洗手间在哪里?
Q: Toilet.
A: 厕所.
Q: Go straight.
A: 直走.
Q: Go up ahead.
A: 向前走.
Q: The third door on your right.
A: 右边的第三个门.
Q: The second door on your left.
A: 左边的第二个门.
Q: Wait for me to come back.
A: 等我回来.
Q: We have lots of time.
A: 我们有的是时間.
Q: We still have time.
A: 我们还有时间.
Raphael: 好，请你们再听一次复习的对话.
Kirin: 你想喝什么?
Raphael: 对不起. 我想先去厕所.
请等我一下. 厕所在哪里?
Kirin: 直走. 左边的第一个门就是厕所的门了.
Raphael: 好吧. 等我回来再点饮料.
Kirin: 没问题. 我们还有时间.

Lesson 101

Kirin: 上网学中文第一百〇一课.
Adam: Hello, and welcome to our progressive course teaching Mandarin Chinese. I’m your host Adam. Today’s conversation features a woman on the street; who is lost so she approaches a man walking by.
Raphael: 让我们先听一次今天的对话.
Cindy: 对不起，先生. 我听说这里附近有一个很好的公园.
Yann: 是的. 请问你是来旅游的吗?
Cindy: 是的. 我是第一次来这个地方. 请问从这里到那个公园怎么走?
Yann: 其实很简单. 就在医院的后面.
Raphael: 让我们再重复一遍今天的对话.
Kirin: 对不起，先生. 我听说这里附近有一个很好的公园.
是的. 请问你是来旅游的吗?
是的. 我是第一次来这个地方. 请问从这里到那个公园怎么走?
其实很简单. 就在医院的后面.
Raphael: 让我们来翻译今天的对话. 第一句是…
Kirin: 对不起，先生.
Adam: So this is what the lady uses to get the man’s attention. “Excuse me, sir.”
Kirin: 对不起，先生.
Adam: She then continues.
Kirin: 我听说这里附近有一个很好的公园.
Adam: So the first part of the sentence are all words we’ve seen before.
Raphael: 听说 是什么意思?
Adam: That means “To hear of.”
Raphael: 你记得 附近 是什么意思吗?
Adam: That means “nearby.” So that gives us “I heard that near here there is a very good.” That’s followed by our first new word of the lesson.
Raphael: 公园. 第一声和第二声.
Adam: And that means “Park.”
Kirin: 我听说这里附近有一个很好的公园.
Adam: I heard that there’s a very good park near here.
Kirin: 我听说这里附近有一个很好的公园.
Adam: The man then replies with.
Kirin: 是的.
Adam: Hopefully, you remember that from a few lessons ago that this is a way to answer “Yes.”
Kirin: 是的.
Adam: He then asks her a question.
Kirin: 请问你是来旅游的吗?
Adam: There’s a new word in there.
Raphael: 旅游. 第三声和第二声.
Adam: And that refers to travel as a tourist.
Kirin: 请问你是来旅游的吗?
Adam: So this is asking “May I ask, are you here as a tourist?”
Kirin: 请问你是来旅游的吗?
Adam: To which the woman replies.
Kirin: 是的.
Adam: Yes, she is. She then adds.
Kirin: 我是第一次来这个地方.
Raphael: 你记得 地方 是什么意思吗?
Adam: That means “place.” So that gives us “I am first time come this place.” Or simply “This is my first time here.”
Kirin: 我是第一次来这个地方.
Adam: She then asks.
Kirin: 请问从这里到那个公园怎么走?
Adam: You can probably figure out the meaning from the literal definition. “May I ask, from here to that park how go?”
Kirin: 请问从这里到那个公园怎么走?
Adam: Or simply, “May I ask – how do you get to that park from here?”
Kirin: 请问从这里到那个公园怎么走?
Adam: The man then responds with.
Kirin: 其实很简单.
Adam: So this sentence starts off with a new term.
Raphael: 其实. 两个第二声.
Adam: This is a common term to mean “Actually” or “In fact.”
Kirin: 其实很简单.
Adam: And at the end of the sentence there’s another new word.
Raphael: 简单. 第三声和第一声.
Adam: And that means “simple” or “easy.”
Kirin: 其实很简单.
Adam: It’s actually quite simple. He then says.
Kirin: 就在医院的后面.
Adam: So in recent lessons we’ve seen 就是, and in our last lesson we also 就在, which we have here as well. The 就 particle adds some precision to the statement; so we’re saying it “will be located.” We then have our last new word of this lesson.
Raphael: 医院. 第一声和第四声.
Adam: And that means “hospital.” So where is the park again?
Kirin: 就在医院的后面.
Raphael: 后面 是什么意思?
Adam: That means “behind.” So the park is behind the hospital.
Kirin: 就在医院的后面.
Raphael: 让我们再重复一遍今天的对话.
Kirin: 对不起，先生. 我听说这里附近有一个很好的公园.
是的. 请问你是来旅游的吗?
是的. 我是第一次来这个地方. 请问从这里到那个公园怎么走?
其实很简单. 就在医院的后面.
Adam: And let’s listen to it again at normal speed.
Cindy: 对不起，先生. 我听说这里附近有一个很好的公园.
Yann: 是的. 请问你是来旅游的吗?
Cindy: 是的. 我是第一次来这个地方. 请问从这里到那个公园怎么走?
Yann: 其实很简单. 就在医院的后面.

Podcast transcript

Raphael: 请听下面的对话.
Raphael: 对不起小姐. 我迷路了. 你能帮我吗?
Kirin: 当然可以. 你想去哪里?
Raphael: 我听说在这儿附近有一个很有名的公园.
Kirin: 是的. 它在医院的旁边.
Raphael: 请用中文翻译下面的问题.
Q: Mister or Sir.
A: 先生.
Q: Miss or Young lady.
A: 小姐.
Q: I am lost.
A: 我迷路了.
Q: Can you help me?
A: 你能帮我吗?
Q: Of course I can.
A: 当然可以.
Q: Where do you want to go?
A: 你想去哪里?
Q: Are you a tourist here?
A: 你是来旅游的吗?
Q: Is this your first time here?
A: 这是你第一次来这里吗?
Q: No, this is my third time.
A: 不是. 这是我第三次.
Q: May I ask, how do you get to this park?
A: 请问去这个公园怎么走?
Q: It’s actually quite simple.
A: 其实很简单.
Q: Famous park.
A: 很有名的公园.
Q: Near here.
A: 这里附近.
Q: Next to.
A: 旁边.
Q: In front of.
A: 前面.
Q: Behind.
A: 后面.
Q: It’s right behind the hospital.
A: 它就在医院的后面.
Raphael: 好，请你们再听一次复习的对话.
Raphael: 对不起小姐. 我迷路了. 你能帮我吗?
Kirin: 当然可以. 你想去哪里?
Raphael: 我听说在这儿附近有一个很有名的公园.
Kirin: 是的. 它在医院的旁边.

Lesson 102

Kirin: 上网学中文第一百〇二课.
Adam: Hello, I’m Adam, and you’re listening to our structured course teaching Mandarin Chinese. Today’s lesson builds upon the vocabulary taught in lessons 41 and 42 and continues a conversation we introduced in our last lesson. If you remember, a lady was getting help from a gentleman on how to find a nearby park.
Let’s first review the dialogue from our last lesson.
Cindy: 对不起，先生. 我听说这里附近有一个很好的公园.
Yann: 是的. 请问你是来旅游的吗?
Cindy: 是的. 我是第一次来这个地方. 请问从这里到那个公园怎么走?
Yann: 其实很简单. 就在医院的后面.
Raphael: 让我们先听一次今天的对话.
Cindy: 离这儿远吗? 走路去能到吗?
Yann: 公园离这儿大概有三公里左右. 最好坐车去.
Cindy: 不用了. 天气这么好. 我想要边走边看这里的景色.
Raphael: 让我们再重复一遍今天的对话.
Kirin: 离这儿远吗? 走路去能到吗?
公园离这儿大概有三公里左右. 最好坐车去.
不用了. 天气这么好. 我想要边走边看这里的景色.
Raphael: 让我们来翻译今天的对话. 第一句是…
Kirin: 离这儿远吗?
Raphael: 远 是什么意思?
Adam: That you may remember means “far.” The 离 character which we saw sometime back is a way to say “from.” So she’s asking “Is it far from here?”
Kirin: 离这儿远吗?
Adam: She then asks another question.
Kirin: 走路去能到吗?
Raphael: 你记得 走路去 是什么意思吗?
Adam: That means “to go on foot.” So she’s literally asking “On foot go can arrive?” Or simply – “Can I get there on foot?”
Kirin: 走路去能到吗?
Adam: The man then replies.
Kirin: 公园离这儿大概有三公里左右.
Adam: So we should be able to figure out the first part of this sentence. “Park from here around has three.” We then have our first new word of this lesson.
Raphael: 公里. 第一声和第三声.
Adam: And that means “kilometer.” So you should be able to figure out this sentence as “The park is around 3 kilometers or so from here.”
Kirin: 公园离这儿大概有三公里左右.
Adam: The man then adds some advice.
Kirin: 最好坐车去.
Raphael: 最好 是什么意思?
Adam: That means “best.” The next part is
Kirin: 坐车去.
Adam: We’ve seen the 车 character before used in different forms of transportation. On its own it just refers to “a vehicle” or “a car.” So here he’s saying “take a car.”
Kirin: 最好坐车去.
Adam: “It would be best if you took a car there.”
Kirin: 最好坐车去.
Adam: The woman then replies with.
Kirin: 不用了.
Adam: Previously, we learned 用 as the verb “to use.” So here, while the literal translation means “there’s no use,” this expression is commonly used where we might say “there’s no need” in English.
Kirin: 不用了.
Adam: So she’s saying “There’s no need to take a car.” So why is that?
Kirin: 天气这么好.
Raphael: 你记得 天气 是什么意思吗?
Adam: That means “weather.” So here she’s saying “The weather is so good.”
Kirin: 天气这么好.
Adam: She then continues:
Kirin: 我想要边走边看这里的景色.
Adam: So there are a couple of words there that need translation for this sentence to make any sense. We’ve seen 边 before in 左边 and 右边 meaning “left side” and “right side”, respectively. So 边 on its own means “side.” The last word of the sentence is a new one.
Raphael: 景色. 第三声和第四声.
Adam: And that refers to “the view” or “scenery.” So knowing that, can you figure out the meaning of this sentence?
Kirin: 我想要边走边看这里的景色.
Adam: The literal meaning is “I would like side go side look here’s scenery.” And that’s how she says “I would like to take a look at the scenery here while walking.”
Kirin: 我想要边走边看这里的景色.
Adam: So on one side she’s walking while on the other side she’s looking at the scenery.
Raphael: 让我们再重复一遍今天的对话.
Kirin: 离这儿远吗? 走路去能到吗?
公园离这儿大概有三公里左右. 最好坐车去.
不用了. 天气这么好. 我想要边走边看这里的景色.
Adam: And let’s listen to the dialogue again at normal speed.
Cindy: 离这儿远吗? 走路去能到吗?
Yann: 公园离这儿大概有三公里左右. 最好坐车去.
Cindy: 不用了. 天气这么好. 我想要边走边看这里的景色.

Podcast transcript

Raphael: 请听下面的对话.
Raphael: 我可以走路去吗?
Kirin: 我想太远了. 你应该坐车去.
Raphael: 大概有多远?
Kirin: 大概两公里左右.
Raphael: 那不太远. 我可以走路去.
Kirin: 你可以边走边看路边的景色.
Raphael: 谢谢.
Raphael: 请用中文翻译下面的问题.
Q: To go on foot.
A: 走路去.
Q: Too far.
A: 太远了.
Q: To go by car.
A: 坐车去.
Q: To go by plane.
A: 坐飞机去.
Q: To go by train.
A: 坐火车去.
Q: To go by bus.
A: 坐公车去.
Q: Best would be to go by bus.
A: 最好坐公车去.
Q: The weather is so nice.
A: 天气这么好.
Q: How far?
A: 多远?
Q: Five kilometers or so.
A: 五公里左右.
Q: There’s no need.
A: 不用了.
Q: While walking you can see. Literally: Side walk side look.
A: 边走边看.
Q: The scenery on the side of the road.
A: 路边的景色.
Q: You can see the scenery on the side of the road while walking.
A: 你可以边走边看路边的景色.
Raphael: 好，请你们再听一次复习的对话.
Raphael: 我可以走路去吗?
Kirin: 我想太远了. 你应该坐车去.
Raphael: 大概有多远?
Kirin: 大概两公里左右.
Raphael: 那不太远. 我可以走路去.
Kirin: 你可以边走边看路边的景色.
Raphael: 谢谢.

Lesson 103

Kirin: 上网学中文第一百〇三课.
Adam: Hello, I’m Adam, along with one of our native Chinese speakers Kirin. Welcome to our structured course teaching Mandarin Chinese. About 13 lessons ago we taught you some new teaching phrases that we’ve been using in our lessons. The idea here is to slowly increase the amount of Chinese being used in each lesson. So today we’ll do a review of some of the sentences we taught you recently, while teaching you a few more.
Usually we start each lesson with a dialogue which is played twice. The first time is at normal speed. So let’s begin today’s lesson by learning how to say “normal rate of speech.”
Kirin: 正常语速.
Adam: So there are two new words there.
Kirin: 正常. 第四声和第二声.
Adam: That refers to “normal.” Previously, we taught you 平常 and 经常 meaning “usually” and “often”, respectively. The 正 refers to “main” or “correct” while the 常 refers to” the rate of frequency.”
Kirin: 正常.
Adam: The second word is also made up of two characters.
Kirin: 语速. 第三声和第四声.
Adam: We’ve seen the 语 before in 语言 meaning “language.” The second character is a new one meaning “speed.”
Kirin: 语速.
Adam: So together
Kirin: 正常语速
Adam: refers to “the normal rate of speech.” So if I wanted to say “let’s first listen to today’s dialogue at normal speed”, we’d say:
Kirin: 让我们先听一次今天正常语速的对话.
Adam: The second time we listen to the dialogue, it’s a slower version. So for that, we first need to learn the word for “slow”, which is 慢: fourth tone. So “a slower rate of speech” would be:
Kirin: 慢语速的.
Adam: So how would we say: “Let’s listen again to today’s dialogue at a slower speed?”
Kirin: 让我们再听一次今天慢语速的对话.
Adam: Now the reason we play it back slower is to allow you to repeat after the speaker. Now, previously we taught you that if I want you to repeat after me, I could say 请跟我说. Literally that means “Please with me speak.” The character 跟 meaning “with” also means “follow.” However, to make it more precise – that we want you to follow after the speaker and not speak together with the speaker – we can modify this to
Kirin: 跟着
Adam: which means “to follow after.”
Kirin: 跟着.
Adam: How do you say “to repeat one time?”
That you may remember is 重复一遍. So let’s try and put this all together to say “Please repeat once after the speaker.” In this case, we’ll refer to the speaker as the teacher.
Kirin: 请跟着老师重复一遍.
Adam: We are now ready for the translation and explanation portion of the lesson. At this point, we begin with each line, and break it down and translate it for you. How do you say “The first line is”?
Kirin: 第一句是.
Adam: Note the dialogues feature a man and a woman. How do we refer to “this man”?
Kirin: 这个男人.
Adam: And this woman?
Kirin: 这个女人.
Adam: How would you say “ask”?
Kirin: 问. 这个单词我们已经学过了. 是 问题 的 问.
Adam: So to say “The man asks” we’d say:
Kirin: 这个男人问.
Adam: Do you remember how to say “reply”?
Kirin: 回答.
Adam: So after the man asks a question, we can say “And then the woman replies.”
Kirin: 然后这个女人回答.
Adam: Now sometimes one of the speakers may have more to say; which in Chinese becomes “Continues to say.”
Kirin: 继续说.
Adam: So hopefully you’re getting the hang of all this. Let’s do a quick recap of some of the phrases we’ll be using from here on.
“Let’s first listen to today’s dialogue at normal speed.”
Kirin: 让我们先听一次今天正常语速的对话.
Adam: Let’s listen again to today’s dialogue at a normal speed.
Kirin: 让我们再听一次今天正常语速的对话.
Adam: Let’s listen again to today’s dialogue at a slower speed.
Kirin: 让我们再听一次今天慢语速的对话.
Adam: Please repeat after the teacher.
Kirin: 请跟着老师重复一遍.
Adam: The first line is.
Kirin: 第一句是.
Adam: He then adds.
Kirin: 他继续说.
Adam: The woman then replies.
Kirin: 然后这个女人回答.
Adam: We have already studied these words before.
Kirin: 这些单字我们已经都学过了.
Adam: Do you remember what it means?
Kirin: 你记得是什么意思吗?
Adam: What does this sentence mean?
Kirin: 这个句子是什么意思?
Adam: What do you think this sentence means?
Kirin: 你觉得这个句子是什么意思?
Adam: The lady asks.
Kirin: 这个女人问.
Adam: The man then replies.
Kirin: 然后这个男人回答.

Lesson 104

Kirin: 上网学中文第一百〇四课.
Adam: Hello, I’m Adam, and you’re listening to our progressive course teaching Mandarin Chinese. Today’s lesson progresses you further by utilizing some of the teaching phrases we learned in our last lesson. So I hope you’re keeping up. With me today are our native Chinese speakers Raphael and Kirin who will help us out with today’s lesson.
Raphael: 让我们先听一次今天正常语速的对话.
Cindy: 你今天有什么计划吗?
Yann: 是的. 我想要带孩子们去动物园.
Cindy: 你们最近没去那儿吗?
Yann: 去过一次了. 但是他们非常喜欢看动物, 所以我们还要去.
Raphael: 让我们再听一次今天慢语速的对话. 请跟着老师重复一遍.
Kirin: 你今天有什么计划吗?
是的. 我想要带孩子们去动物园.
你们最近没去那儿吗?
去过一次了. 但是他们非常喜欢看动物, 所以我们还要去.
Raphael: 让我们来翻译今天的对话. 第一句是…
Kirin: 你今天有什么计划吗?
Raphael: 你记得 计划 是什么意思吗?
Adam: We saw that in lesson 93. It means “to plan.” Many verbs in Chinese also function as nouns, however. So the literal translation here is “You today have what plans?”
Kirin: 你今天有什么计划吗?
Adam: as in “Do you have any plans today?”
Kirin: 你今天有什么计划吗?
Raphael: 然后这个男人回答.
Kirin: 是的.
Raphael: 是的 是什么意思?
Adam: That we’ve seen a few times in recent lessons, and is a common way to say “Yes.”
Kirin: 是的.
Raphael: 然后他继续说.
Kirin: 我想要带孩子们去动物园.
Raphael: 带 是什么意思?
Adam: That’s the verb “to bring.” So that gives us “I want to bring”, followed by our first new word of the lesson.
Raphael: 孩子. 第二声和第五声.
Adam: That means “child.” By adding the plural suffix 们 at the end that specifies that we are talking about children here and not just one child, in the same way that 我 becomes 我们 and 你 becomes 你们 to indicate plural form. So where does he want to bring the children?
Kirin: 我想要带孩子们去动物园.
Adam: So there’s a new place to add to our vocabulary. It’s made up of two parts.
Raphael: 动物. 两个第四声. 还有 公园 的园.
Adam: The first part means “animal”, while the second part on its own refers to “garden.” We previously saw it used in the word for “park.” So can you guess what place “an animal garden” is? It’s of course, a “zoo.”
Kirin: 我想要带孩子们去动物园.
Adam: So he’s saying “I would like to take the children to the zoo.”
Raphael: 然后这个女人问.
Kirin: 你们最近没去那儿吗?
Raphael: 你记得 最近 是什么意思吗?
Adam: That means “recently.” So this question literally translates into “You recently didn’t go there?”
Kirin: 你们最近没去那儿吗?
Adam: As in “Didn’t you go there recently?”
Kirin: 你们最近没去那儿吗?
Raphael: 然后这个男人回答.
Kirin: 去过一次了.
Adam: So here we have the 过 – present perfect particle that we taught you sometime back. So he’s saying “Have gone one time.”
Kirin: 去过一次了.
Adam: As in “Yes, we have been there once before.”
Raphael: 然后他继续说.
Kirin: 但是他们非常喜欢看动物, 所以我们还要去.
Raphael: 非常喜欢 就是 很喜欢 的意思. 那 所以 是什么意思?
Adam: That means “so.” So that gives us “But they really like to see animals so we.” That’s followed by another term.
Kirin: 还要去.
Adam: The 还 can be added to many verbs to mean “to additionally perform” the action. The 要 also can vary in meaning. Depending on context, it can mean “to want,” “will do” or “have to.” So in this case, the sentence translates into “But they really like to see the animals, so we will go again.”
Kirin: 但是他们非常喜欢看动物, 所以我们还要去.
Raphael: 让我们再听一次今天慢语速的对话. 请跟着老师重复一遍.
Kirin: 你今天有什么计划吗?
是的. 我想要带孩子们去动物园.
你们最近没去那儿吗?
去过一次了. 但是他们非常喜欢看动物, 所以我们还要去.
Raphael: 让我们再听一次今天正常语速的对话.
Cindy: 你今天有什么计划吗?
Yann: 是的. 我想要带孩子们去动物园.
Cindy: 你们最近没去那儿吗?
Yann: 去过一次了. 但是他们非常喜欢看动物, 所以我们还要去.

Podcast transcript

Raphael: 请听下面的对话.
Kirin: 这个周末你有什么计划吗?
Raphael: 我没有. 有什么事吗?
Kirin: 你可以带孩子们去动物园?
Raphael: 当然可以. 我也喜欢看动物.
请用中文翻译下面的问题.
Q: Plans.
A: 计划.
Q: This weekend.
A: 周末.
Q: Do you have any plans?
A: 你有什么计划吗?
Q: I don’t have any.
A: 我没有.
Q: Is there anything happening?
A: 有什么事吗?
Q: Children.
A: 孩子们.
Q: Take the children and go.
A: 带孩子们去.
Q: Zoo.
A: 动物园.
Q: I am taking the children to the zoo.
A: 我要带孩子们去动物园.
Q: Of course I can.
A: 当然可以.
Q: Do you like to see animals?
A: 你喜欢看动物吗?
Q: Yes I do.
A: 喜欢.
Q: I like to see animals.
A: 我喜欢看动物.
Raphael: 好，请你们再听一次复习的对话.
Kirin: 这个周末你有什么计划吗?
Raphael: 我没有. 有什么事吗?
Kirin: 你可以带孩子们去动物园?
Raphael: 当然可以. 我也喜欢看动物.

Lesson 105

Kirin: 上网学中文第一百〇五课.
Adam: Hello, and welcome to our progressive course teaching Mandarin Chinese. I’m your host Adam. Today’s lesson builds upon what was taught in our last lesson by continuing a conversation we started then.
Let’s first review the dialogue from our last lesson.
Cindy: 你今天有什么计划吗?
Yann: 是的. 我想要带孩子们去动物园.
Cindy: 你们最近没去那儿吗?
Yann: 去过一次了. 但是他们非常喜欢看动物, 所以我们还要去.
Raphael: 让我们先听一次今天正常语速的对话.
Cindy: 你回来得太晚了.
Yann: 是的. 我们在动物园待了一天. 孩子们玩得很高兴. 他们都不想回来了.
Cindy: 他们最喜欢什么动物?
Yann: 他们喜欢可爱的猴子，可怕的狮子，还有大象.
Raphael: 让我们再听一次今天慢语速的对话. 请跟着老师重复一遍.
Kirin: 你回来得太晚了.
是的. 我们在动物园待了一天. 孩子们玩得很高兴. 他们都不想回来了.
他们最喜欢什么动物?
他们喜欢可爱的猴子，可怕的狮子，还有大象.
Raphael: 让我们来翻译今天的对话. 第一句是…
Kirin: 你回来得太晚了.
Raphael: 这些单词我们已经都学过了. 你觉得是什么意思?
Adam: So there are a couple of terms here that we need to be familiar with. What does the following mean?
Kirin: 回来.
Adam: That means “to come back.” How about this one?
Kirin: 太晚了.
Adam: That’s an expression meaning “too late.” So that gives us a literal translation of “You come back too late.”
Kirin: 你回来得太晚了.
Adam: which, of course, means “You’re back quite late.”
Kirin: 你回来得太晚了.
Raphael: 然后这个男人回答.
Kirin: 是的.
Adam: Easy enough. “Yes.”
Kirin: 是的.
Raphael: 然后他继续说.
Kirin: 我们在动物园待了一天.
Adam: So here we have a place from our last lesson. “We at zoo.” That’s followed by the verb 待. Don’t confuse that with 带 from our last lesson, meaning “to bring.” Here, the 待 is the first tone version, meaning “to stay.” We saw both these versions previously in lesson 88. So the ending here is “stayed one day.”
Kirin: 我们在动物园待了一天.
Adam: which is how we would say “We stayed all day at the zoo.”
Kirin: 我们在动物园待了一天.
Raphael: 然后他继续说.
Kirin: 孩子们玩得很高兴.
Adam: So here we have a new verb for you.
Raphael: 玩. 第二声.
Adam: and is the verb “to play” or “to have fun.” So this gives us “The children played very”
Raphael: 高兴 是什么意思?
Adam: We saw that way back when in the phrase
Kirin: 很高兴认识你.
Raphael: 这个句子是什么意思?
Adam: That’s the phrase “Happy to meet you.” So that gives us a literal translation of “Children played very happy.”
Kirin: 孩子们玩得很高兴.
Adam: which is how you would say “The children had a great time.”
Kirin: 孩子们玩得很高兴.
Raphael: 然后他继续说.
Kirin: 他们都不想回来了.
Raphael: 你觉得这个句子是什么意思?
Adam: Hopefully, you figured it out. The literal meaning is “They all not want come back”, which means “None of them wanted to come back.”
Kirin: 他们都不想回来了.
Raphael: 然后这个女人问.
Kirin: 他们最喜欢什么动物?
Adam: So here again is another sentence that you should be able to figure out if you’ve been keeping up. “They most like what animal?”
Kirin: 他们最喜欢什么动物?
Adam: as in “What was their favorite animal?”
Kirin: 他们最喜欢什么动物?
Raphael: 然后这个男人回答.
Kirin: 他们喜欢可爱的猴子，可怕的狮子，还有大象.
Adam: As you may guess, we have some new animals to teach you here. Let’s look at the first couple of words. They like.
Raphael: 你记得 可爱 是什么意思吗?
Adam: That means “cute.” Followed by our first new animal
Raphael: 猴子. 第二声和第五声.
Adam: and that’s the word for “monkey.” We then have another adjective.
Raphael: 可怕. 第三声和第四声.
Adam: This is an extension of the character 怕, which we saw back in lesson 93. It means “scary.” So what animal is scary here?
Raphael: 狮子. 第一声和第五声.
Adam: and that’s the word for “lion.” We then have our last animal of the lesson.
Raphael: 大象. 两个第四声.
Adam: The 大 character of course means “big”; so together this is the word for “elephant.”
Kirin: 他们喜欢可爱的猴子，可怕的狮子，还有大象.
Adam: “They liked the cute monkeys, the scary lions as well as the elephants.”
Kirin: 他们喜欢可爱的猴子，可怕的狮子，还有大象.
Raphael: 让我们再听一次今天慢语速的对话. 请跟着老师重复一遍.
Kirin: 你回来得太晚了.
是的. 我们在动物园待了一天. 孩子们玩得很高兴. 他们都不想回来了.
他们最喜欢什么动物?
他们喜欢可爱的猴子，可怕的狮子，还有大象.
Raphael: 让我们再听一次今天正常语速的对话.
Cindy: 你回来得太晚了.
Yann: 是的. 我们在动物园待了一天. 孩子们玩得很高兴. 他们都不想回来了.
Cindy: 他们最喜欢什么动物?
Yann: 他们喜欢可爱的猴子，可怕的狮子，还有大象.

Podcast transcript

Raphael: 请听下面的对话.
Raphael: 你为什么回来得这么晚?
Kirin: 孩子们不想回来，因为他们玩得很高兴.
Raphael: 他们最喜欢哪种动物?
Kirin: 他们什么都喜欢.
有可爱的猴子, 可怕的狮子还有大象.
Raphael: 请用中文翻译下面的问題.
Q: Too late.
A: 太晚.
Q: To come back.
A: 回来.
Q: You have come back too late.
A: 你回来得太晚了.
Q: Stayed all day. Literally: Stayed one day.
A: 待了一天.
Q: We were at the zoo all day. Literally: We at zoo stayed one day.
A: 我们在动物园待了一天.
Q: The children had a great time. Literally: Children played very happy.
A: 孩子们玩得很高兴.
Q: They didn’t want to come back.
A: 他们不想回来.
Q: Which type of animal?
A: 哪种动物?
Q: Which types of animals did they like?
A: 他们喜欢哪种动物?
Q: They liked all of them. Literally: They what all like.
A: 他们什么都喜欢.
Q: Cute monkeys.
A: 可爱的猴子.
Q: Scary lions.
A: 可怕的狮子.
Q: Elephants.
A: 大象.
Raphael: 好，请你们再听一次复习的对话.
Raphael: 你为什么回来得这么晚?
Kirin: 孩子们不想回来，因为他们玩得很高兴.
Raphael: 他们最喜欢哪种动物?
Kirin: 他们什么都喜欢.
有可爱的猴子, 可怕的狮子还有大象.

Lesson 106

Kirin: 上网学中文第一百〇六课.
Adam: Hello, and welcome to our progressive course teaching Mandarin Chinese. My name is Adam, along with our native Mandarin speakers. Today’s lesson builds upon what was taught in lesson 46 of our series.
Raphael: 让我们先听一次今天正常语速的对话.
Cindy: 你可以帮我找到这个地址的地方吗?
Yann: 你走错路了. 这里不是和平路. 是太平路.
Cindy: 我看错了吗? 那么我怎么能找到和平路?
Yann: 和平路在城市的另外一边.
Raphael: 让我们再听一次今天慢语速的对话. 请跟着老师重复一遍.
Kirin: 你可以帮我找到这个地址的地方吗?
你走错路了. 这里不是和平路. 是太平路.
我看错了吗? 那么我怎么能找到和平路?
和平路在城市的另外一边.
Raphael: 让我们来翻译今天的对话. 第一句是…
Kirin: 你可以帮我找到这个地址的地方吗?
Adam: So there are a couple of verbs there that we need to know about first. What does 帮 mean? That’s the verb “to help.” So that gives us “Can you help me?” We then have the verb 找, which is the verb “to look for.” You may remember that adding 到 to the end of a verb completes the action. So the person is asking “Can you help me finish looking” or “Can you help me find this.” We then have our first new word of the lesson.
Raphael: 地址. 第四声和第三声.
Adam: And that means “address.”
Kirin: 你可以帮我找到这个地址的地方吗?
Adam: “Can you help me find this address’ place”. In other words, “Can you help me find where this address is located?”
Kirin: 你可以帮我找到这个地址的地方吗?
Raphael: 然后这个男人回答.
Kirin: 你走错路了.
Raphael: 错 是什么意思?
Adam: That means “wrong.” Do you remember what 路 means? That means “road.” So together this gives us “You took the wrong road.”
Kirin: 你走错路了.
Adam: So if you remember 走路 literally means “to go on the road” as in “to go on foot.” Here we have 走错路 meaning “to go on the wrong road.”
Kirin: 你走错路了.
Raphael: 然后他继续说.
Kirin: 这里不是和平路. 是太平路.
Adam: So there are two names of roads being used there. “Heping Road” and “Taiping Road.”
Kirin: 这里不是和平路. 是太平路.
Raphael: 所以你觉得这个句子是什么意思?
Adam: He’s saying “This isn’t Heping Road. It’s Taiping Road.”
Kirin: 这里不是和平路. 是太平路.
Raphael: 然后这个女人说.
Kirin: 我看错了吗?
Adam: So if you look at the literal meaning here, it’s “I look wrong?” As in “Did I make a mistake?”
Kirin: 我看错了吗?
Adam: Notice how the 了 particle is added to many of these statements to indicate a change in situation. As in the speaker is making a statement that has just been discovered, thereby changing the situation.
Kirin: 我看错了吗?
Raphael: 然后她继续问.
Kirin: 那么我怎么能找到和平路?
Raphael: 这些单词我们已经都学过了. 你觉得是什么意思?
Adam: Let’s look at the literal translation. “In that case, I how can find Heping Road?”
Kirin: 那么我怎么能找到和平路?
Adam: In that case, how do I find Heping Road?
Kirin: 那么我怎么能找到和平路?
Raphael: 然后这个男人回答.
Kirin: 和平路在城市的另外一边.
Raphael: 你记得 城市 是什么意思吗?
Adam: That means “city.” So that gives us “Heping Road is on the city’s.” We then have a new direction term for you. There are two parts to it.
Raphael: 另外. 两个第四声.
Adam: The 另 means “another”, while the 外 character we’ve seen before meaning “outside.”
Raphael: 一边 是什么意思?
Adam: That means “one side.” So together this gives us “another outside one side.”
Raphael: 所以你觉得 另外一边 是什么意思?
Adam: It means “the other side.”
Kirin: 和平路在城市的另外一边.
Adam: Heping Road is on the other side of the city.
Kirin: 和平路在城市的另外一边.
Raphael: 让我们再听一次今天慢语速的对话. 请跟着老师重复一遍.
Kirin: 你可以帮我找到这个地址的地方吗?
你走错路了. 这里不是和平路. 是太平路.
我看错了吗? 那么我怎么能找到和平路?
和平路在城市的另外一边.
Raphael: 让我们再听一次今天正常语速的对话.
Cindy: 你可以帮我找到这个地址的地方吗?
Yann: 你走错路了. 这里不是和平路. 是太平路.
Cindy: 我看错了吗? 那么我怎么能找到和平路?
Yann: 和平路在城市的另外一边.

Podcast transcript

Raphael: 请听下面的对话.
Kirin: 对不起, 我迷路了. 我找不到这个地址.
Raphael: 你走错路了. 你要找的是太平路不是和平路.
Kirin: 喔, 我看错了. 你能告诉我太平路在哪儿吗?
Raphael: 离这儿有一点远. 在城市的另外一边.
Raphael: 请用中文翻译下面的问题.
Q: I am lost.
A: 我迷路了.
Q: Can’t find.
A: 找不到.
Q: Address.
A: 地址.
Q: I can’t find this address.
A: 我找不到这个地址.
Q: Wrong.
A: 错.
Q: You’re on the wrong road.
A: 你走错路了.
Q: You have to look for Taiping Road.
A: 你要找太平路.
Q: I saw it wrong.
A: 我看错了.
Q: Can you tell me?
A: 你能告诉我吗?
Q: Where is Taiping Road?
A: 太平路在哪儿?
Q: A little bit far.
A: 有一点儿远.
Q: From here, it’s a little far.
A: 离这儿有一点远.
Q: City.
A: 城市.
Q: The other side.
A: 另外一边.
Q: It’s on the other side of the city.
A: 在城市的另外一边.
Raphael: 好，请你们再听一次复习的对话.
Kirin: 对不起, 我迷路了. 我找不到这个地址.
Raphael: 你走错路了. 你要找的是太平路不是和平路.
Kirin: 喔, 我看错了. 你能告诉我太平路在哪儿吗?
Raphael: 离这儿有一点远. 在城市的另外一边.

Lesson 107

Kirin: 上网学中文第一百〇七课.
Adam: Hello, I’m Adam and welcome to our progressive course teaching Mandarin Chinese. With me today are our native Chinese speakers Raphael and Kirin.
Raphael: 让我们先听一次今天正常语速的对话.
Cindy: 你还记得我儿子吗? 这是他的近照.
Yann: 真的吗? 我真不敢相信这就是他. 和上次我看到他相比, 他长大了不少. 他现在很高. 而且好像也瘦了很多.
Cindy: 是的. 他小时候比现在胖多了.
Raphael: 让我们再听一次今天慢语速的对话. 请跟着老师重复一遍.
Kirin: 你还记得我儿子吗? 这是他的近照.
真的吗? 我真不敢相信这就是他. 和上次我看到他相比, 他长大了不少. 他现在很高. 而且好像也瘦了很多.
是的. 他小时候比现在胖多了.
Raphael: 让我们来翻译今天的对话. 第一句是…
Kirin: 你还记得我儿子吗?
Raphael: 这些单词我们已经都学过了. 你觉得是什么意思?
儿子 是什么意思?
Adam: That means “son.” You may remember that the 还 character means “still” or “additionally” so that gives us a literal translation of “You still remember I son?”
Kirin: 你还记得我儿子吗?
Adam: As in “Do you still remember my son?”
Kirin: 你还记得我儿子吗?
Adam: Notice how she’s saying 我儿子 and not 我的儿子 since the 的 particle is often left out when describing something very close to the speaker so usually family members are referred to in this way.
Raphael: 然后她继续说.
Kirin: 这是他的近照.
Adam: So we have a new word here.
Raphael: 近照. 两个第四声.
Adam: This word is made up of two characters we’ve seen before. The 近 comes from 最近 which means “recently.” And the 照 comes from 照片 which means “photograph.” So together that gives us “recent photograph.”
Kirin: 这是他的近照.
Adam: This is a recent photograph of him.
Kirin: 这是他的近照.
Raphael: 然后这个男人问.
Kirin: 真的吗?
Adam: Easy enough. “Really?”
Kirin: 真的吗?
Raphael: 然后他继续说.
Kirin: 我真不敢相信这就是他.
Adam: So we have a couple more new words here for you.
Raphael: 敢. 第三声.
Adam: This character means “to dare.” That’s then followed by another new word.
Raphael: 相信. 第一声和第四声.
Adam: The 就 particle in the sentence adds precision – think of it as meaning “none other” here. So that gives us a literal translation of “I really don’t dare to believe that this is none other than him.” Or simply “I can’t believe that’s really him”.
Kirin: 我真不敢相信这就是他.
Adam: So you can see how the 敢 adds more emphasis to the not believing.
Raphael: 然后他继续说.
Kirin: 和上次我看到他相比.
Adam: So we actually know most of these words from before. The first character 和 we’ve learned before as meaning “and.” It is also used in the context of “with.” Similarly we’ve also taught you 跟 which also has both meanings of “and” as well as “with.” So here we have “With last time I met he.” That’s followed by a new term 相比 which is a first tone and a third tone and that means “to compare to.”
Kirin: 和上次我看到他相比.
Raphael: 然后他继续说.
Kirin: 他长大了不少.
Adam: “He has really grown up.” So the meaning here is “He has really grown up since the last time I saw him.”
Kirin: 和上次我看到他相比. 他长大了不少.
Adam: We’ll be giving you more practice later with the 比 compared to character.
Kirin: 和上次我看到他相比. 他长大了不少.
Raphael: 然后他继续说.
Kirin: 他现在很高.
Raphael: 现在 是什么意思?
Adam: That means “right now.” There is another new character at the end.
Raphael: 高. 第一声.
Adam: And that means “tall.” So that gives us “He is very tall now.”
Kirin: 他现在很高.
Raphael: 然后他继续说.
Kirin: 而且好像也瘦了很多.
Adam: So there are a few new words in there starting with.
Raphael: 而且. 第二声和第三声.
Adam: That means “Also.” We then have 好像. The 像 is a fourth tone and together this term means “seems to be” or “appears to be.” The last new character of this sentence is
Raphael: 瘦. 第四声.
Adam: And that means “thin.”
Kirin: 而且好像也瘦了很多.
Raphael: 很多 是什么意思?
Adam: That means “many” or in this case “a lot.” So the literal translation of this sentence is “As well appears to be also thin a lot.” In other words, “As well, he also seems to be much thinner.”
Kirin: 而且好像也瘦了很多.
Raphael: 然后这个女人回答.
Kirin: 是的. 他小时候比现在胖多了.
Adam: So there’s another new term here made up of characters we already know. 小时候. That literally means “small time” but here refers to “when he was small.” We then have our comparison term again.
Raphael: 比. 第三声.
Adam: Followed by another new character towards the end.
Raphael: 胖. 第四声.
Adam: This means “fat.”
Kirin: 是的. 他小时候比现在胖多了.
Adam: So this sentence is saying “He was fatter as a child than he is now.” The 比 construction requires some explanation. It’s A compared to B followed by what you’re comparing. So in this case it’s “When he was a child compared to now fatter.”
Kirin: 他小时候比现在胖多了.
Adam: For more examples of this construction, listen to the podcast review available to premium subscribers on our website.
Raphael: 让我们再听一次今天慢语速的对话. 请跟着老师重复一遍.
Kirin: 你还记得我儿子吗? 这是他的近照.
真的吗? 我真不敢相信这就是他. 和上次我看到他相比, 他长大了不少. 他现在很高. 而且好像也瘦了很多.
是的. 他小时候比现在胖多了.
Raphael: 让我们再听一次今天慢语速的对话.
Cindy: 你还记得我儿子吗? 这是他的近照.
Yann: 真的吗? 我真不敢相信这就是他. 和上次我看到他相比, 他长大了不少. 他现在很高. 而且好像也瘦了很多.
Cindy: 是的. 他小时候比现在胖多了.
Adam: So lots of new material there. Take your time with it and understand it. If you’re a premium subscriber, take advantage of the sentence breakdowns and other tools available to help you understand this material. You’ll need it for upcoming lessons which will build upon these concepts.
Raphael: 你们继续加油!

Podcast transcript

Raphael: 请听下面的对话.
Kirin: 照片上的这个人是誰?
Raphael: 这是我儿子的近照.
Kirin: 真的吗? 他现在比我上次见到他瘦了不少. 而且也高了.
Raphael: 是的. 他长高了. 也瘦了.
Raphael: 请用中文翻译下面的问题.
Q: Photograph.
A: 照片.
Q: Who is in this photograph?
A: 照片上的这个人是谁?
Q: Daughter.
A: 女儿.
Q: Son.
A: 儿子.
Q: Recent photograph.
A: 近照.
Q: This is my son’s recent photograph.
A: 这是我儿子的近照.
Q: Do you still remember him?
A: 你还记得他吗?
Q: To believe.
A: 相信.
Q: To not dare believe.
A: 不敢相信.
Q: I can’t believe that that’s him. Literally:Don’t dare believe this is him.
A: 我不敢相信这是他.
Q: He has really grown up.
A: 他真的长大了.
Q: I am taller than you.
A: 我比你高.
Q: You are thinner than me.
A: 你比我瘦.
Q: Also taller.
A: 而且也高了.
Q: He seems to be much thinner.
A: 他好像瘦了很多.
Q: Appear to be.
A: 看上去.
Q: When I was younger, I was thinner than I am now. Literally: I small time compared now thin.
A: 我小时候比现在瘦.
Q: Before.
A: 以前.
Q: I am thinner now than I was before.
A: 我现在比以前瘦了.
Q: He has become taller.
A: 他长高了.
Q: And also thinner.
A: 也瘦了.
Raphael: 好，请你们再听一次复习的对话.
Kirin: 照片上的这个人是誰?
Raphael: 这是我儿子的近照.
Kirin: 真的吗? 他现在比我上次见到他瘦了不少. 而且也高了.
Raphael: 是的. 他长高了. 也瘦了.

Lesson 108

Kirin: 上网学中文第一百〇八课.
Adam: Hello, and welcome to our progressive series teaching Mandarin Chinese. I’m your host Adam along with Raphael and Kirin who are our native Mandarin Chinese speakers. The dialogue used in today’s lesson is a continuation from our last lesson. If you remember, a woman was showing her son’s picture to a man. She then commented how he was much taller and thinner now. This lesson also reviews some of the vocabulary learned back in lesson 48.
Raphael: 让我们先听一次今天正常语速的对话.
Yann: 是的. 我看出来了. 他是怎么减肥的?
Cindy: 他只吃健康食品. 并且做很多的运动.
Yann: 那么我也应该那样做. 再找一个好一点的健身房.
Cindy: 好主意. 身体健康很重要. 祝你好运!
Raphael: 让我们再听一次今天慢语速的对话. 请跟着老师重复一遍.
Kirin: 是的. 我看出来了. 他是怎么减肥的?
他只吃健康食品. 并且做很多的运动.
那么我也应该那样做. 再找一个好一点的健身房.
好主意. 身体健康很重要. 祝你好运!
Raphael: 让我们来翻译今天的对话. 第一句是…
Kirin: 是的. 我看出来了.
Raphael: 这些单词我们已经都学过了. 你觉得是什么意思?
Adam: The literal meaning here is “I see out come.” As in “What I see has now come out.” This is an expression used to say “I see that.”
Kirin: 我看出来了.
Raphael: 然后他继续问.
Kirin: 他是怎么减肥的?
Adam: So here we have “He is how.” That’s followed by our first new term.
Raphael: 减肥. 第三声和第二声.
Adam: That’s made up of two characters. The first means “to decrease” while the second refers to “fat” and together this is the term “to lose weight.”
Kirin: 他是怎么减肥的?
Adam: How did he lose weight?
Kirin: 他是怎么减肥的?
Raphael: 然后这个女人回答.
Kirin: 他只吃健康食品.
Adam: So the first part is “He only eats.” We then have our next new word.
Raphael: 健康. 第四声和第一声.
Adam: which means “healthy.” So that gives us “He only eats healthy”, followed by 食品.
Raphael: 你记得是什么意思吗?
Adam: We saw that in lesson 82 and that means “food products.”
Kirin: 他只吃健康食品.
Adam: He only eats healthy food.
Kirin: 他只吃健康食品.
Raphael: 然后她继续说.
Kirin: 并且做很多的运动.
Adam: So let’s look at the first term there.
Raphael: 并且. 第四声和第三声.
Adam: That’s another way to say “Furthermore.” Previously we saw
Raphael: 而且.
Adam: So just like in English you can say “as well, furthermore, additionally”, in Chinese you also have different terms to say these. The middle part of the sentence is 做很多的 which means “do a lot of” followed by our next new word.
Raphael: 运动. 两个第四声.
Adam: which means “exercise” or “sports.” So that gives us “As well, do a lot of exercise.”
Kirin: 并且做很多的运动.
Raphael: 然后这个男人回答.
Kirin: 那么我也应该那样做.
Raphael: 这些单词我们已经都学过了. 应该 是什么意思?
Adam: That means “should.” The next part is
Kirin: 那样做.
Adam: We know that 那 means “that” while the 样 we’ve seen before in 怎么样? meaning “what kind.” So that gives us “that kind do” or “do it that way.”
Kirin: 那么我也应该那样做.
Adam: Then I should also do it that way.
Kirin: 那么我也应该那样做.
Raphael: 然后他继续说.
Kirin: 再找一个好一点的健身房.
Adam: So the first part is “Again look for a.” That’s followed by 好一点的.
Raphael: 你觉得 好一点的 是什么意思?
Adam: That means “a little good”, followed by our next new word of the lesson.
Raphael: 健身房. 健. 健康 的 健. 第四声. 身. 第一声. 房. 第二声.
Adam: The three characters there mean “healthy body room.”
Raphael: 你觉得是什么意思?
Adam: That means “gym.”
Kirin: 再找一个好一点的健身房.
Adam: And also look for a good gym.
Kirin: 再找一个好一点的健身房.
Raphael: 然后这个女人回答.
Kirin: 好主意.
Adam: So there’s another new word here.
Raphael: 主意. 第三声和第四声.
Adam: And that means “idea.”
Kirin: 好主意.
Adam: So this is a good expression to know. Good idea!
Kirin: 好主意.
Raphael: 然后她继续说.
Kirin: 身体健康很重要.
Adam: So let’s look at the first word there.
Raphael: 身体. 身. 健身房 的身. 还有 体. 第三声.
Adam: That means “body.” So “a healthy body is very.”
Kirin: 你记得 重要 是什么意思吗?
Adam: That means “important.” So the lady is giving some advice here.
Kirin: 身体健康很重要.
Adam: A healthy body is very important.
Kirin: 身体健康很重要.
Adam: And the last line of the dialogue is.
Kirin: 祝你好运!
Raphael: 你记得这个句子是什么意思吗?
Adam: It means “I wish you good luck.”
Kirin: 祝你好运!
Raphael: 让我们再听一次今天慢语速的对话. 请跟着老师重复一遍.
Kirin: 是的. 我看出来了. 他是怎么减肥的?
他只吃健康食品. 并且做很多的运动.
那么我也应该那样做. 再找一个好一点的健身房.
好主意. 身体健康很重要. 祝你好运!
Adam: Let’s now listen to the entire dialogue from our last lesson and today’s lesson together.
Cindy: 你还记得我儿子吗? 这是他的近照.
Yann: 真的吗? 我真不敢相信这就是他. 和上次我看到他相比, 他长大了不少. 他现在很高. 而且好像也瘦了很多.
Cindy: 是的. 他小时候比现在胖多了.
Yann: 是的. 我看出来了. 他是怎么减肥的?
Cindy: 他只吃健康食品. 并且做很多的运动.
Yann: 那么我也应该那样做. 再找一个好一点的健身房.
Cindy: 好主意. 身体健康很重要. 祝你好运!
Adam: So this is a little tougher lesson than we’ve given in the past with lots of new vocabulary. Again, use the sentence breakdowns, podcast reviews and the other tools available to premium subscribers on our website to help you break it down as we move towards level 3 of our course.
Kirin: 你们继续加油!

Podcast transcript

Raphael: 请听下面的对话.
Raphael: 我觉得你丈夫最近瘦了很多. 他是怎么减肥的?
Kirin: 他最近做了很多运动. 并且, 也只吃健康食品.
Raphael: 我应该像他那样做才行. 我要在我家附近找一个好一点的健身房.
Kirin: 好主意. 我觉得身体健康很重要. 祝你好运!
Raphael: 请用中文翻译下面的问题.
Q: I see.
A: 我看出来了.
Q: To lose weight.
A: 减肥.
Q: How did he lose weight?
A: 他是怎么减肥的?
Q: Healthy food.
A: 健康食品.
Q: Exercise.
A: 运动.
Q: He only eats.
A: 他只吃.
Q: Furthermore.
A: 并且.
Q: I should also do that.
A: 我也应该那样做.
Q: I need to do like him.
A: 我需要像他那样做.
Q: Near my house.
A: 我家附近.
Q: Gym.
A: 健身房.
Q: A good gym.
A: 好一点的健身房.
Q: Good idea.
A: 好主意.
Q: Very important.
A: 很重要.
Q: A healthy body.
A: 身体健康.
Q: A healthy body is very important.
A: 身体健康很重要.
Q: Wish you good luck.
A: 祝你好运.
Raphael: 好，请你们再听一次复习的对话.
Raphael: 我觉得你丈夫最近瘦了很多. 他是怎么减肥的?
Kirin: 他最近做了很多运动. 并且, 也只吃健康食品.
Raphael: 我应该像他那样做才行. 我要在我家附近找一个好一点的健身房.
Kirin: 好主意. 我觉得身体健康很重要. 祝你好运!

Lesson 109

Kirin: 上网学中文第一百〇九课.
Adam: Hello, I’m Adam, and you’re listening to our progressive course teaching Mandarin Chinese. With me today are Raphael and Kirin, who will be helping us out.
Raphael: 让我们先听一次今天正常语速的对话.
Cindy: 你听说我姐姐刚生了小孩吗?
Yann: 恭喜你! 你当阿姨了!
Cindy: 谢谢你. 他是昨天晚上七点五十五分出生的.
Yann: 他多重啊?
Cindy: 他三千公克重.
Yann: 听起来像个健康的小孩. 他的父母亲一定很兴奋!
Raphael: 让我们再听一次今天慢语速的对话. 请跟着老师重复一遍.
Kirin: 你听说我姐姐刚生了小孩吗?
恭喜你! 你当阿姨了!
谢谢你. 他是昨天晚上七点五十五分出生的.
他多重啊?
他三千公克重.
听起来像个健康的小孩. 他的父母亲一定很兴奋!
Raphael: 让我们来翻译今天的对话. 第一句是…
Kirin: 你听说我姐姐刚生了小孩吗?
Raphael: 听说 是什么意思?
Adam: That means “to have heard of.” So she’s asking “Did you hear…”
Kirin: 姐姐 是什么意思?
Adam: That means “older sister.” That’s followed by a couple of new words.
Raphael: 刚. 第一声.
Adam: This is another way to say “just.”
Raphael: 我们另外还学过一个字. 生. 第一声.
Adam: And that on its own means “to be born.”
Kirin: 你听说我姐姐刚生了小孩吗?
Raphael: 你记得 小孩 是什么意思吗?
Adam: That means “child.” So together we have “You heard my older sister just born child?”
Kirin: 你听说我姐姐刚生了小孩吗?
Adam: which means “Did you hear, my older sister just had a child?”
Kirin: 你听说我姐姐刚生了小孩吗?
Raphael: 然后这个男人回答
Kirin: 恭喜你!
Adam: So here’s a new word you may hear if you make it big.
Raphael: 恭喜. 第一声和第三声.
Adam: And this means “Congratulations.”
Kirin: 恭喜你!
Adam: So by adding the 你 at the end she’s saying “Congratulations to you.”
Kirin: 恭喜你!
Raphael: 然后他继续说
Kirin: 你当阿姨了!
Raphael: 这里我们还有一个新的字. 当. 第一声.
Adam: And that in this context means “to become.”
Raphael: 你记得 阿姨 是什么意思吗?
Adam: That means “aunt.”
Kirin: 你当阿姨了!
Adam: So that gives us “You have become an aunt.”
Kirin: 你当阿姨了!
Raphael: 然后这个女人回答
Kirin: 谢谢你. 他是昨天晚上七点五十五分出生的.
Kirin: 这些单词我们已经都学过了. 我觉得你应该要知道是什么意思.
Kirin: 谢谢你. 他是昨天晚上七点五十五分出生的.
Adam: Let’s look at the literal translation. “Thank you. She is yesterday evening 7 o’clock fifty five minutes born.”
Kirin: 谢谢你. 他是昨天晚上七点五十五分出生的.
Adam: Notice how times are described here, right after the subject. Word order is very important in Chinese. For more examples, listen to the podcast review available to premium subscribers that follows this lesson.
Raphael: 然后这个男人问.
Kirin: 他多重啊?
Raphael: 这里我们还有一个新的字. 重. 第四声.
Adam: That means “heavy.”
Raphael: 所以你觉得这个问题是什么意思?
Kirin: 他多重啊?
Adam: That’s asking “How heavy is he?”
Kirin: 他多重啊?
Adam: The “he” here, of course, is referring to the baby which could also be a “she or an “it”, depending on how you want to refer to it.
Kirin: 他多重啊?
Raphael: 然后这个女人回答
Kirin: 他三千公克重.
Raphael: 这里我们还有一个新的字. 公克 第一声和第四声.
Adam: You may remember that sometime back we introduced you to the measurement.
Kirin: 公里
Adam: That meant “kilometer” which measured distance. Here we have
Kirin: 公克
Adam: which measures weight and happens to be the measure for “gram.”
Kirin: 他三千公克重.
Raphael: 三千 是多少?
Adam: That means “3000.” So the baby here measures 3000 grams or 3 kilograms.
Kirin: 他三千公克重.
Adam: Notice that 重 is added to the end to clarify that we’re talking about the baby’s weight.
Raphael: 然后这个男人回答
Kirin: 听起来像个健康的小孩.
Adam: So this sentence reviews a construction we saw back in lesson 99. There we had the expression.
Kirin: 我才想起来.
Raphael: 你记得这个句子是什么意思吗?
Adam: That meant “I just thought of.” The 起来 can be added to many verbs to indicate the beginning or continuing of an action. So back to our sentence here.
Kirin: 听起来.
Adam: can mean “I hear.” That’s followed by the verb 像, which we saw a couple of lessons ago which means “seems to be.” That’s followed by another word we’ve seen recently.
Raphael: 健康 是什么意思?
Adam: And that means “healthy.”
Kirin: 听起来像个健康的小孩.
Adam: So together we have a meaning of “From what I hear, that seems to be a healthy kid.”
Kirin: 听起来像个健康的小孩.
Raphael: 然后他继续说
Kirin: 他的父母亲一定很兴奋!
Raphael: 你记得 父母 是什么意思吗?
Adam: That means “parents.” Now here we have an extra character added to it.
Raphael: 亲. 第一声.
Adam: This adds a bit of intimacy or respect to the parents. So you can use either term.
Raphael: 父母 父母亲.
Adam: So let’s look at the rest of the sentence.
Kirin: 他的父母亲一定很兴奋!
Raphael: 一定 是什么意思?
Adam: That means “definitely.”
Raphael: 在后面我们还有一个新的单词. 兴奋. 第一声跟第四声.
Adam: And that means “excited.”
Kirin: 他的父母亲一定很兴奋!
Adam: So that should be easy to figure out from the literal meaning.
Kirin: 他的父母亲一定很兴奋!
Raphael: 让我们再重复一次今天慢语速的对话. 请跟着老师重复一遍.
Kirin: 你听说我姐姐刚生了小孩吗?
恭喜你! 你当阿姨了!
谢谢你. 他是昨天晚上七点五十五分出生的.
他多重啊?
他三千公克重.
听起来像个健康的小孩. 他的父母亲一定很兴奋!
Raphael: 让我们再听一次今天正常语速的对话.
Cindy: 你听说我姐姐刚生了小孩吗?
Yann: 恭喜你! 你当阿姨了!
Cindy: 谢谢你. 他是昨天晚上七点五十五分出生的.
Yann: 他多重啊?
Cindy: 他三千公克重.
Yann: 听起来像个健康的小孩. 他的父母亲一定很兴奋!
Adam: So hopefully that made sense to you. As you may have noticed, our conversations have become a little more complicated in recent lessons; so it is important to keep up. We have tried to provide many tools on our website for Premium subscribers to allow you to do just that, so be sure to check them out, then join us again next time for our next lesson.
Raphael: 你们继续加油!

Podcast transcript

Raphael: 请听下面的对话.
Raphael: 恭喜你！我听说你的姐姐刚生了一小孩.
Kirin: 没错. 我当阿姨了.
Raphael: 那太好了. 他几点出生的?
Kirin: 昨天晚上九点出生的. 他三千公克重. 听起来很健康. 我很兴奋就要见到他了.
Raphael: 请用中文翻译下面的句子.
Q: Congratulations to you.
A: 恭喜你.
Q: Older brother.
A: 哥哥.
Q: Older sister.
A: 姐姐.
Q: Younger brother.
A: 弟弟.
Q: Younger sister.
A: 妹妹.
Q: A baby or a child.
A: 一个小孩.
Q: Just had a baby.
A: 刚生了一个小孩.
Q: I hear that you just had a baby.
A: 我听说你刚生了一个小孩.
Q: You’re right. Literally: Not wrong.
A: 没错.
Q: That’s great. Literally: That too good.
A: 那太好了.
Q: Aunt.
A: 阿姨.
Q: Uncle.
A: 叔叔.
Q: I have now become an uncle.
A: 我当叔叔了.
Q: What time was she born?
A: 她几点出生的?
Q: She was born yesterday at 3:45 a.m. Note that “evening” is used as a time till you wake up in the morning.
A: 她昨天晚上三点四十五分出生的.
Q: What’s her weight?
A: 她多重?
Q: Her weight is 2700 grams.
A: 她两千七百公克重.
Q: Healthy.
A: 健康.
Q: Sounds healthy.
A: 听起来很健康.
Q: To be excited.
A: 兴奋.
Q: I’m excited to meet you. Literally: I very excited see arrive you.
A: 我很兴奋看到你.
Raphael: 好，请你们再听一次复习的对话.
Raphael: 恭喜你！我听说你的姐姐刚生了一小孩.
Kirin: 没错. 我当阿姨了.
Raphael: 那太好了. 他几点出生的?
Kirin: 昨天晚上九点出生的. 他三千公克重. 听起来很健康. 我很兴奋就要见到他了.

Lesson 110

Kirin: 上网学中文第一百一十课.
Adam: Hello, I’m Adam, and welcome to our progressive course teaching Mandarin Chinese. With me today are Raphael and Kirin, who will be helping us out.
Raphael: 让我们先听一次今天正常语速的对话.
Cindy: 你自己住吗?
Yann: 不. 我跟我家人一起住.
Cindy: 你不想自己一个人住吗?
Yann: 不太想. 因为一般人在结婚前都跟家人一起住. 这是中国的文化.
Raphael: 让我们再听一次今天慢语速的对话. 请跟着老师重复一遍.
Kirin: 你自己住吗?
不. 我跟我家人一起住.
你不想自己一个人住吗?
不太想. 因为一般人在结婚前都跟家人一起住. 这是中国的文化.
Raphael: 让我们来翻译今天的对话. 第一句是…
Kirin: 你自己住吗?
Adam: So right off the bat we have our first new word of the lesson.
Raphael: 自己. 第四声跟第三声.
Adam: And that means “self.” So together
Kirin: 你自己
Adam: means “You yourself.” Similarly you could say:
Kirin: 我自己.
Adam: to say “I myself.” Getting back to our sentence here
Kirin: 你自己住吗?
Raphael: 你知道这里的 住 是什么意思吗?
Adam: It’s the verb “to live” which we’ve seen before. So that gives us “Do you live by yourself?”
Kirin: 你自己住吗?
Raphael: 然后这个男人回答
Kirin: 不.
Raphael: 然后他继续说.
Kirin: 我跟我家人一起住.
Raphael: 这些单词我们已经都学过了. 你知道是什么意思吗?
家人 是什么意思?
Adam: That literally means “house people” or “family.” This sentence uses another construction worth knowing. “I with my family together live.” The “with” and “together” characters are often used together in this way.
Kirin: 我跟我家人一起住.
Raphael: 然后这个女人回答.
Kirin: 你不想自己一个人住吗?
Raphael: 想 是什么意思?
Adam: That means “to think or to want.” So she’s asking “Don’t you want to live by yourself?”
Kirin: 你不想自己一个人住吗?
Adam: The 一个人 emphasizes the living alone as a single person part.
Raphael: 然后这个男人回答.
Kirin: 不太想.
Raphael: 你记得 不太 是什么意思吗?
Adam: “Not too” or “not very.”
Kirin: 不太想.
Adam: So together, this means “I don’t really want to.”
Raphael: 然后他继续说.
Kirin: 因为一般人在结婚前都跟家人一起住. 这是中国的文化.
Adam: So this looks like a long, complicated sentence, but we have actually studied most of these words before.
Raphael: 今天的下一个新的单字是 一般. 第四声跟第一声.
Adam: You’ll notice that the first character there is the character for “one” while the second character on its own refers to “manner” or “way.” Together 一般 is used to mean “generally.” The 都 character after it means “all” is and is often combined with 一般 to mean “all people in general.” We then have
Raphael: 结婚前.
你记得 “结婚” 是什么意思吗?
Adam: That means “marriage.” The 前 character after it comes from the word 以前, which means “before.” So together
Raphael: 结婚前.
Adam: means “before marriage.”
Raphael: 那中国文化 是什么意思?
Adam: That’s made up of two words we’ve studied separately – it means “Chinese culture.”
Kirin: 因为一般人在结婚前都跟家人一起住. 这是中国的文化.
Raphael: 所以你现在应该要知道这个句子的意思.
Adam: “Because generally before marriage, people live with their family. This is Chinese culture.”
Kirin: 因为一般人在结婚前都跟家人一起住. 这是中国的文化.
Raphael: 让我们再听一次今天慢语速的对话. 请跟着老师重复一遍.
Kirin: 你自己住吗?
不. 我跟我家人一起住.
你不想自己一个人住吗?
不太想. 因为一般人在结婚前都跟家人一起住. 这是中国的文化.
Raphael: 让我们再听一次今天正常语速的对话.
Cindy: 你自己住吗?
Yann: 不. 我跟我家人一起住.
Cindy: 你不想自己一个人住吗?
Yann: 不太想. 因为一般人在结婚前都跟家人一起住. 这是中国的文化.
Adam: Great, so hopefully that made sense to you. As always you can test if it does by listening to the podcast review for this lesson available to premium subscribers, which happens to be our longest one so far, as it uses a little longer and more involved conversation that builds on this one.
Raphael: 你们继续加油!

Podcast transcript

Raphael: 请听下面的对话.
Kirin: 你现在跟谁住?
Raphael: 我以前都跟我家人住. 但是现在我自己住.
Kirin: 你觉得哪一个比较好?
Raphael: 都可以. 在中国，大部分的人结婚前都跟家人一起住. 但是我新家离工作的地方很近.
Raphael: 请用中文翻译下面的问题.
Q: Who do you live with?
A: 你跟谁住?
Q: In the past.
A: 以前.
Q: In the past I always.
A: 我以前都.
Q: Live with my parents.
A: 跟我家人一起住.
Q: But now I live by myself.
A: 但是我现在自己住.
Q: The verb “to do.”
A: 做.
Q: Did he do that himself?
A: 他自己做的吗?
Q: No, he didn’t.
A: 不是.
Q: I don’t want to live by myself.
A: 我不想自己住.
Q: To think or feel.
A: 觉得.
Q: Which one?
A: 哪一个?
Q: Better.
A: 比较好.
Q: Which do you think is better?
A: 你觉得哪一个比较好?
Q: Either one is fine.
A: 都可以.
Q: In Chinese culture.
A: 在中国文化.
Q: Many people.
A: 很多人.
Q: Before marriage.
A: 结婚前.
Q: People in general.
A: 一般.
Q: People generally stay together with their parents.
A: 一般都跟家人一起住.
Q: My new house.
A: 我新家.
Q: Work.
A: 工作.
Q: Place.
A: 地方.
Q: From my workplace.
A: 离工作的地方.
Q: Very close.
A: 很近.
Q: But my new house is very close to my work place. Literally: But my new house from work place very close.
A: 但是我新家离工作的地方很近.
Raphael: 好，请你们再听一次复习的对话.
Kirin: 你现在跟谁住?
Raphael: 我以前都跟我家人住. 但是现在我自己住.
Kirin: 你觉得那一个比较好?
Raphael: 都可以. 在中国，大部分的人结婚前都跟家人一起住. 但是我新家离工作的地方很近.

Lesson 111

Kirin: 上网学中文第一百一十一课.
Adam: Hello, I’m Adam, and you’re listening to our progressive course teaching Mandarin Chinese. With me today are Raphael and Kirin, who will be helping us out.
Raphael: 让我们先听一次今天正常语速的对话.
Cindy: 我希望明天的天气会很好. 因为我想要带小孩去公园玩.
Yann: 我听说会下雨. 所以记得要带雨伞.
Cindy: 如果下雨, 我们会待在家里. 我不想让小孩生病.
Raphael: 让我们再听一次今天慢语速的对话. 请跟着老师重复说一遍.
Kirin: 我希望明天的天气会很好. 因为我想要带小孩去公园玩.
我听说会下雨. 所以记得要带雨伞.
如果下雨, 我们会待在家里. 我不想让小孩生病.
Raphael: 让我们来翻译今天的对话. 第一句是…
Kirin: 我希望明天的天气会很好.
Raphael: 这些单字我们已经都学过了.
希望 是什么意思?
Adam: That’s the verb “to hope for.”
Raphael: 你记得 天气 是什么意思吗?
Adam: That’s the word for “weather.”
Raphael: 所以你觉得这个句子是什么意思?
Kirin: 我希望明天的天气会很好.
Adam: “I hope tomorrow’s weather will be good.”
Kirin: 我希望明天的天气会很好.
Adam: Note how the 会 character is used to indicate future tense.
Raphael: 然后她继续说.
Kirin: 因为我想要带小孩去公园玩.
Raphael: 这些单字我们也都学过了. 带 是什么意思?
Adam: That’s the verb “to take.”
Raphael: 小孩 是什么意思?
Adam: That means “child.” In this context, it can be a single child or multiple children.
Raphael: 公园 是什么意思?
Adam: That means “park.”
Raphael: 那 玩 是什么意思?
Adam：That we saw a few lessons ago means “fun”.
Raphael: 所以你觉得这个句子是什么意思呢?
Adam: That gives us “Because I would like take children go park fun.” Which translates into “Because I would like to take the children out to the park for some fun.”
Kirin: 因为我想要带小孩去公园玩.
Raphael: 然后这个男人回答.
Kirin: 我听说会下雨.
Adam: So here we have a term that we’ve seen in recent lessons. “I heard that there will be.”
Raphael: 这里我们有今天的第一个新的单字. 下雨. 第四声跟第三声.
Adam: There are two characters there. The second character refers to “rain”, while the first one 下 we’ve seen before in many contexts. Here it can be thought of as meaning “down”, as in “falling” so together this can refer to “falling rain.”
Kirin: 我听说会下雨.
Adam: I heard that it’s going to rain.
Raphael: 然后他继续说.
Kirin: 所以记得要带雨伞.
Raphael: 记得 是什么意思?
Adam: We’ve been hearing this verb in our most recent lessons. It means “to remember.” That’s followed by the 要 character which I’m sure you’ve noticed has many meanings. Let’s take a moment to look at some of these meanings. Before, we’ve seen it mean “to want” such as in.
Raphael: 我要买这个.
Adam: We’ve also seen it mean “to be doing something” such as in the question
Raphael: 你要去哪里?
Adam: In today’s example, it has the meaning of “have to.”
Kirin: 所以记得要带雨伞.
Adam: So the man is saying “So remember you have to bring.”
Raphael: 然后我们今天的第二个新的单字是, 雨伞. 是下雨的雨，还有 伞. 第三声.
Adam: And that’s the word for “umbrella.” “So remember to bring an umbrella.”
Kirin: 所以记得要带雨伞.
Raphael: 然后这个女人回答.
Kirin: 如果下雨, 我们会待在家里.
Raphael: 这些单字我们也都学过了. 如果 是什么意思?
Adam: That means “if.” So that gives us “if it rains, we will”
Raphael: 你觉得 待在家里 是什么意思
Adam: That means “stay at home.” Again, don’t confuse
Raphael: 带.
Adam: “To take or bring” with
Raphael: 待
Adam: “To stay.” So back to our sentence, we have “If it rains we’ll stay at home.”
Kirin: 如果下雨, 我们会待在家里.
Raphael: 然后她继续说.
Kirin: 我不想让小孩生病.
Raphael: 让 是什么意思?
Adam: That means “to let.” So the first part of this sentence is “I don’t want to let the kids”
Raphael: 然后我们有另外一个新的单字. 生病. 第一声跟第四声.
Adam: We saw the 生 character in our last lesson, meaning “to be born.” Here it has a more general meaning of “life.” Followed by 病 which means “illness.” Together, these two characters produce the term “to be sick.”
Kirin: 我不想让小孩生病.
Adam: I don’t want to let the children become sick.
Kirin: 我不想让小孩生病.
Raphael: 让我们再听一次今天慢语速的对话. 请跟着老师重复说一遍.
Kirin: 我希望明天的天气会很好. 因为我想要带小孩去公园玩.
我听说会下雨. 所以记得要带雨伞.
如果下雨, 我们会待在家里. 我不想让小孩生病.
Raphael: 让我们再听一次今天正常语速的对话.
Cindy: 我希望明天的天气会很好. 因为我想要带小孩去公园玩.
Yann: 我听说会下雨. 所以记得要带雨伞.
Cindy: 如果下雨, 我们会待在家里. 我不想让小孩生病.
Adam: Great, so hope that made sense to you. If not, you can use the “Complete” word for word transcripts available to Premium subscribers which translates all the Chinese used within the lesson to make sure you’re keeping up. Then join us again next time for our next lesson.
Raphael: 你们继续加油!

Podcast transcript

Raphael: 请听下面的对话.
Kirin: 你知道明天的天气会怎么样吗?
Raphael: 我觉得会下雨. 如果你要出去,记得要带雨伞.
Kirin: 我想要带孩子们去公园, 但是我想我们现在会待在家里. 我不想要让他们生病.
Raphael: 请用中文翻译下面的问题.
Q: Do you know?
A: 你知道吗?
Q: Tomorrow’s weather.
A: 明天的天气.
Q: How is tomorrow’s weather?
A: 明天的天气怎么样?
Q: Do you know what tomorrow’s weather will be like?
A: 你知道明天的天气会怎么样吗?
Q: To hope.
A: 希望.
Q: I hope tomorrow’s weather will be good.
A: 我希望明天的天气会很好.
Q: Rain.
A: 下雨.
Q: I think it will rain.
A: 我觉得会下雨.
Q: I heard it will rain.
A: 我听说会下雨.
Q: If.
A: 如果.
Q: To go out.
A: 出去.
Q: If you’re going to go out.
A: 如果你要出去.
Q: Umbrella.
A: 雨伞.
Q: Remember to bring an umbrella. Literally: Remember have to bring umbrella.
A: 记得要带雨伞.
Q: If you’re going out, remember to bring an umbrella.
A: 如果你要出去, 记得要带雨伞.
Q: Child or children.
A: 小孩.
Q: Children.
A: 孩子们.
Q: Park.
A: 公园.
Q: Take children to the park.
A: 带孩子们去公园.
Q: I would like to take the children to the park.
A: 我想要带孩子们去公园.
Q: But I think.
A: 但是我想.
Q: Right now.
A: 现在.
Q: Stay at home.
A: 待在家里.
Q: We will stay at home.
A: 我们会待在家里.
Q: Right now we will stay at home.
A: 我们现在会待在家里.
Q: If it rains we will stay at home.
A: 如果下雨我们会待在家里.
Q: Sick.
A: 生病.
Q: I don’t want to let them be sick.
A: 我不想让他们生病.
Raphael: 好，请你们再听一次复习的对话.
Kirin: 你知道明天的天气会怎么样吗?
Raphael: 我觉得会下雨. 如果你要出去,记得要带雨伞.
Kirin: 我想要带孩子们去公园, 但是我想我们现在会待在家里. 我不想要让他们生病.

Lesson 112

Kirin: 上网学中文第一百一十二课.
Adam: Hello, I’m Adam, and this is our progressive course teaching Mandarin Chinese. With me today are Raphael and Kirin, who will be helping us out.
Raphael: 让我们先听一次今天正常语速的对话.
Cindy: 这里好热. 你可以把冷气打开吗?
Yann: 其实冷气坏掉了, 所以我们只能用电风扇.
Cindy: 现在好热. 你居然没有冷气!
Yann: 之前觉得不舒服. 现在比较能适应了.
Raphael: 让我们再听一次今天慢语速的对话. 请跟着老师重复说一遍.
Kirin: 这里好热. 你可以把冷气打开吗?
其实冷气坏掉了, 所以我们只能用电风扇.
现在好热. 你居然没有冷气!
之前觉得不舒服. 现在比较能适应了.
Raphael: 让我们来翻译今天的对话. 第一句是…
Kirin: 这里好热.
Raphael: 你记得 热 是什么意思吗?
Adam: That means “hot.” Here the 好 character is being used in the same manner that we’d normally use 很. So 好热 here means “very hot.”
Kirin: 这里好热.
Adam: “It’s very hot here.”
Kirin: 这里好热.
Raphael: 然后她继续问.
Kirin: 你可以把冷气打开吗?
Raphael: 这个句子有三个新的单字. 第一个是 把. 第三声.
Adam: That means “to grasp” or “take hold of.”
Raphael: 然后第二个新的单字是 冷气. 这两个字我们以前学过了. 你记得 冷 是什么意思吗?
Adam: That’s the opposite of 热 and means “cold.”
Raphael: 然后 气 是 天气 的 气.
Adam: So the literal meaning of these two characters is “cold weather” and that’s what is used to say “air conditioner.”
Kirin: 冷气.
Adam: Now this is a term that is only used in Taiwan. In mainland China, they use a different term for “air conditioner.”
Kirin: 空气调节.
Adam: The first part there uses two characters that we’ve also seen before. 空 on its own you may remember means “free time.” However it combines with a lot of other characters to form new terms. Here it’s combining with the 气 from 天气 to form “air” or “atmosphere.” The second word also has two characters
Raphael: 调节. 两个第二声.
Adam: which combine to form a meaning of “adjust” or “regulate.” So together
Kirin: 空气调节
Adam: has a meaning similar to its English counterpart “air regulate.” In other words, “air conditioner.”
Kirin: 空气调节.
Adam: Now that’s quite long, so to make it simpler, this is often reduced to:
Kirin: 空调
Adam: So back to our dialogue here we have
Kirin: 你可以把冷气打开吗?
Adam: From what we know so far, that’s “Can you reach up to the air conditioner and.”
Raphael: 然后我们下一个新的单字是
打开. 第三声跟第一声.
Adam: And that means “to open” something. In Chinese “open” is also often used to mean “turn on.” This term commonly combines with the 把 character in this way to mean “to physically reach out and turn on” an object.
Kirin: 把冷气打开.
Adam: So the lady is asking “Can you turn on the air conditioner for me?”
Kirin: 你可以把冷气打开吗?
Raphael: 然后这个男人回答.
Kirin: 其实冷气坏掉了.
Raphael: 你记得 其实 是什么意思吗? 我们不久前学过了.
Adam: That means “Actually.” So he’s saying “Actually, the air conditioner is”
Raphael: 我们下一个新的单字是
坏掉. 两个都是第四声.
Adam: There are two characters there. The first one on its own means “bad”, while the second one means “to fall.” When you put the two together you get the term “to become bad” which is how we say something has “broken.”
Kirin: 其实冷气坏掉了.
Adam: “Actually, the air conditioner is broken.” The 了 particle here indicates a change in situation as in “the air conditioner is now broken” whereas at some point before it wasn’t.
Raphael: 然后他继续说.
Kirin: 所以我们只能用电风扇.
Adam: The 只能 here literally means “only can” which means we have no choice but to.
Raphael: 用 是什么意思?
Adam: That’s the verb “to use.” So that gives us “So we have no choice but to use.”
Raphael: 然后我们有另外一个新的单字. 电风扇. 是电话的 电. 还有风扇. 第一声跟第四声. 你记得这个 电 是什么意思?
Adam: That means “electric” and you’ll find it in front of a lot of electric appliances such as television, telephone, etc. Here it’s referring to an electric fan.
Raphael: 电风扇.
Adam: So the sentence here translates to “So we have no choice but to use a fan.”
Kirin: 所以我们只能用电风扇.
Raphael: 然后这个女人回答.
Kirin: 现在好热.
Adam: So she’s repeating what she stated earlier “It’s very hot now.”
Kirin: 现在好热.
Raphael: 然后她继续说.
Kirin: 你居然没有冷气!
Raphael: 这里我们还有一个新的单字. 居然. 第一声跟第二声.
Adam: So here’s another good word to know. It means “unexpectedly.”
Kirin: 你居然没有冷气!
Adam: While you wouldn’t say “You unexpectedly have no air conditioner” in English, you can loosely translate it to “Wow, you really don’t have an air conditioner.” The speaker is obviously disappointed at this unexpected turn of events.
Kirin: 你居然没有冷气!
Raphael: 然后这个男人回答.
Kirin: 之前觉得不舒服.
Adam: The first word there is a modification of a word we studied before. Previously, we taught you.
Raphael: 以前
Adam: which meant “Before” or “in the past.” Here he’s using
Raphael: 之前
Adam: which also means “in the past” but a more recent past.
Kirin: 之前觉得不舒服.
Adam: So “in the recent past I felt”
Raphael: 不舒服. 这里我们还有一个新的单字. 舒服. 第一声跟第二声.
Adam: And this means “comfortable.” However, in this case he’s saying “In the past he felt uncomfortable.”
Kirin: 之前觉得不舒服.
Adam: Notice the absence of any pronouns here, since they are derived from context.
Raphael: 然后他继续说.
Kirin: 现在比较能适应了.
Adam: So you might be able to figure out the first part of that sentence. “Right now more able.”
Raphael: 适应. 两个第四声.
Adam: And that you may guess means “suitable.”
Kirin: 现在比较能适应了.
Adam: Right now is more suitable or comfortable.
Kirin: 现在比较能适应了.
Raphael: 让我们再听一次今天的对话. 请跟着老师重复说一遍.
Kirin: 这里好热. 你可以把冷气打开吗?
其实冷气坏掉了, 所以我们只能用电风扇.
现在好热. 你居然没有冷气!
之前觉得不舒服. 现在比较能适应了.
Raphael: 让我们再听一次今天正常语速的对话.
Cindy: 这里好热. 你可以把冷气打开吗?
Yann: 其实冷气坏掉了, 所以我们只能用电风扇.
Cindy: 现在好热. 你居然没有冷气!
Yann: 之前觉得不舒服. 现在比较能适应了.

Podcast transcript

Raphael: 请听下面的对话.
Kirin: 为什么里面这么热?
Raphael: 我的冷气坏掉了.
Kirin: 那么把电风扇打开吧.
Raphael: 那个也坏掉了.
Kirin: 那现在怎么办? 真的很不舒服!
Raphael: 没办法.
Raphael: 请用中文翻译下面的问题.
Q: It’s very hot here.
A: 这里好热.
Q: Why is it so hot here?
A: 为什么这里这么热?
Q: Inside.
A: 里面.
Q: Why is it so hot inside?
A: 为什么里面这么热?
Q: Air conditioner (in Taiwan).
A: 冷气.
Q: Air conditioner (in mainland China).
A: 空气调节.
Q: Broken.
A: 坏掉了.
Q: Electric fan.
A: 电风扇.
Q: Actually.
A: 其实.
Q: Actually, my fan is broken.
A: 其实我的电风扇坏掉了.
Q: My telephone is broken too.
A: 我的电话也坏掉了.
Q: Everything is broken.
A: 全部都坏掉了.
Q: Can you turn on the television?
A: 你可以把电视打开吗?
Q: You really don’t have a television. Use 居然
A: 你居然没有电视.
Q: So what to do now?
A: 那怎么办?
Q: There is nothing we can do.
A: 没办法.
Q: Comfortable.
A: 舒服.
Q: Uncomfortable.
A: 不舒服.
Q: It wasn’t comfortable before.
A: 之前不舒服.
Q: Suitable.
A: 适应.
Q: Right now is more comfortable (use 适应).
A: 现在比较适应.
Raphael: 好，请你们再听一次复习的对话.
Kirin: 为什么里面这么热?
Raphael: 我的冷气坏掉了.
Kirin: 那么把电风扇打开吧.
Raphael: 那个也坏掉了.
Kirin: 那现在怎么办? 真的很不舒服!
Raphael: 没办法.

Lesson 113

Kirin: 上网学中文第一百一十三课.
Adam: Hello, and welcome to our progressive course teaching Mandarin Chinese. I’m your host Adam, along with Raphael and Kirin who will be helping us out today. Today’s lesson reviews lesson 53 of our series, so I highly recommend you listen and / or review that lesson first, before continuing on with today’s class. Today’s lesson features a conversation that takes place as a man enters a restaurant and is greeted by the hostess.
Raphael: 让我们先听一次今天正常语速的对话.
Cindy: 欢迎光临. 请问几位?
Yann: 两位.
Cindy: 你需要到吸烟区吗?
Yann: 不需要.
Cindy: 那么请在这里稍等我一下. 我请人帮你带位.
这边请.
Raphael: 让我们再听一次今天慢语速的对话. 请跟着老师重复说一遍.
Kirin: 欢迎光临. 请问几位?
两位.
你需要到吸烟区吗?
不需要.
那么请在这里稍等我一下. 我请人帮你带位.
这边请.
Raphael: 让我们来翻译今天的对话. 第一句是…
Kirin: 欢迎光临.
Raphael: 这个句子是什么意思?
Adam: That you may remember means “welcome” and is what you often here when visiting stores in Chinese communities.
Kirin: 欢迎光临.
Raphael: 然后她继续问.
Kirin: 请问几位?
Adam: So here the lady is asking a question “how many”
Raphael: 位. 位 是什么意思?
Adam: That’s a measure word for people. So she’s asking how many people are in the man’s party.
Kirin: 请问几位?
Raphael: 然后这个男人回答. 两位.
Adam: So hopefully you can figure this out. “Two people.”
Raphael: 两位. 然后这个女人问.
Kirin: 你需要到吸烟区吗?
Adam: So here she’s asking a question. The first part is literally “Do you need arrive”. That’s followed by a new term.
Raphael: 我们今天的第一个新的单字是 吸烟. 两个都是第一声.
Adam: This is the word used for “smoking.”
Raphael: 吸烟
Adam: We then have another new character after that.
Raphael: 区. 第一声.
Adam: This means “area.” So together
Raphael: 吸烟区.
Adam: refers to “smoking area.”
Kirin: 你需要到吸烟区吗?
Adam: “Do you need a smoking area?”
Raphael: 然后这个男人回答. 不需要.
Adam: Easy enough. No, I don’t.
Raphael: 不需要. 然后这个女人回答.
Kirin: 那么请在这里稍等我一下.
Adam: The first character there is similar to a character we’ve studied before.
Raphael: 小.
Adam: That means “small.” Here however, we have:
Raphael: 稍. 第一声.
Adam: which has a similar meaning and means “a little.” It is commonly used in such situations with
Raphael: 等一下. 你记得 等一下 是什么意思吗?
Adam: That means “Wait a moment.”
Raphael: 所以你觉得 稍等一下 是什么意思?
Adam: That means “Wait a small moment.” We wouldn’t normally say that in English, but in Chinese, this format is commonly used to say “Give me a moment.”
Kirin: 那么请在这里稍等我一下.
Raphael: 然后她继续说.
Kirin: 我请人帮你带位.
Adam: The first part literally means “I invite person help you take”. The last character 位 is the same character used earlier to mean people, but here it has a different meaning of “seat.” So she’s actually saying “I’ll ask someone to take you to your seat.”
Kirin: 我请人帮你带位.
Adam: As has been shown in the past, saying “I’ll help you do something” in Chinese has the same meaning as “I’ll do for you.” So make note of that.
Kirin: 我请人帮你带位.
Raphael: 然后她继续说.
Kirin: 这边请.
Adam: Here too we have seen all these characters before, but now you get to see how else they can be used. The literal meaning is “Over here please.” As in “Please sit here.”
Kirin: 这边请.
Raphael: 让我们再听一次今天慢语速的对话. 请跟着老师重复说一遍.
Kirin: 欢迎光临. 请问几位?
两位.
你需要到吸烟区吗?
不需要.
那么请在这里稍等我一下. 我请人帮你带位.
这边请.
Raphael: 让我们再听一次今天正常语速的对话.
Cindy: 欢迎光临. 请问几位?
Yann: 两位.
Cindy: 你需要到吸烟区吗?
Yann: 不需要.
Cindy: 那么请在这里稍等我一下. 我请人帮你带位.
这边请.

Podcast transcript

Raphael: 请听下面的对话.
Kirin: 欢迎光临. 请问两位吗?
Raphael: 对. 请问你们这里有吸烟区吗?
Kirin: 不好意思. 这里没有.
Raphael: 好, 没关系.
Kirin: 请等我一下. 我帮你带位. 两位请.
Raphael: 请用中文翻译下面的问题.
Q: Welcome.
A: 欢迎光临.
Q: May I ask, how many people (in your party)?
A: 请问几位?
Q: May I ask, are there 5 people (in your party)?
A: 请问, 五位吗
Q: Three people.
A: 三位.
Q: Smoking.
A: 吸烟.
Q: Smoking area.
A: 吸烟区.
Q: Do you have a smoking area?
A: 你们有吸烟区吗?
Q: Sorry, we don’t.
A: 不好意思，我们没有.
Q: I don’t need a smoking area.
A: 我不需要吸烟区.
Q: Please wait a moment.
A: 请等一下.
Q: Wait a small moment.
A: 稍等一下.
Q: I’ll find you a seat.
A: 我帮你带位.
Q: Here please.
A: 这边请.
Raphael: 好，请你们再听一次复习的对话.
Kirin: 欢迎光临. 请问两位吗?
Raphael: 对. 请问你们这里有吸烟区吗?
Kirin: 不好意思. 这里没有.
Raphael: 好, 没关系.
Kirin: 请等我一下. 我帮你带位. 两位请.

Lesson 114

Kirin: 上网学中文第一百一十四课.
Adam: Hello, I’m Adam, and welcome to our progressive course teaching Mandarin Chinese. With me today are Kirin and Raphael, who will be helping us out. Today’s conversation continues where we left off in our last lesson between a waiter and a customer in a restaurant. The host has just led the customer to his seat. Now before we begin, let me ask Raphael how do you say “waiter”?
Raphael: 服务员. 第二声跟第四声跟第二声.
Adam: Great, and how do you say “customer” or “guest”?
Raphael: 客人. 是 不客气 的 客. 还有 家人 的 人.
Adam: That literally means “guest person.” So we’ll be using these two words when explaining today’s dialogue.
Raphael: 让我们先听一次今天正常语速的对话.
Cindy: 这是菜单和开水. 你们先看一下, 喝杯水. 等一下我再回来帮你们点餐.
Yann: 好. 谢谢你.
几分钟后.
Cindy: 请问, 可以帮你们点餐了吗?
Yann: 我们要两份饺子还有两碗酸辣汤.
Cindy: 这样就好了吗?
Yann: 对.
Raphael: 让我们再听一次今天慢语速的对话. 请跟着老师重复说一遍.
Kirin: 这是菜单和开水. 你们先看一下, 喝杯水. 等一下我再回来帮你们点餐.
好. 谢谢你.
几分钟后.
请问, 可以帮你们点餐了吗?
我们要两份饺子还有两碗酸辣汤.
这样就好了吗?
对.
Raphael: 让我们来翻译今天的对话. 第一句是…
Kirin: 这是菜单和开水.
Raphael: 你记得 菜单 是什么意思吗?
Adam: That means “menu.” So that gives us “This is menu as well as”
Raphael: 我们今天的第一个新的单字是 开水. 第一声跟第三声.
Adam: There are two characters there. The second is easier to explain – it means “water.”
Raphael: 水.
Adam: We saw the first character a couple of lessons ago in the form of
Raphael: 打开.
Adam: That meant “to open” or “turn on.” Here the 开 is the same character but has a different meaning when attached to water. In many parts of Asia you don’t want to be drinking just any water, so in restaurants they offer you boiled water, which is safe to drink and is called.
Raphael: 开水.
Kirin: 这是菜单和开水.
Adam: “Here’s the menu and some boiled water.”
Kirin: 这是菜单和开水.
Raphael: 然后她继续说.
Kirin: 你们先看一下, 喝杯水.
Raphael: 这些单字我们都学过了. 先 是什么意思?
Adam: That means “first.”
Raphael: 看一下 是什么意思?
Adam: That means “take a moment to look at”
Raphael: 所以你觉得这个句子什么意思?
Kirin: 你们先看一下.
Adam: “You can first take a look.” Here, she is referring to the menu.
Raphael: 然后她继续说.
Kirin: 喝杯水.
Raphael: 你觉得 喝杯水 是什么意思?
Adam: That literally means “drink cup water”
Raphael: 然后她继续说.
Kirin: 等一下我再回来帮你们点餐.
Raphael: 你觉得 等一下再回来 是什么意思?
Adam: That literally means “Wait a moment I again come back.” As you can see from these conversations, pronouns are commonly left out since they are derived from context. So she’s saying “I’ll be right back.” Followed by
Kirin: 帮你们点餐.
Adam: The literal meaning there is “help you order dish.” However, as has been mentioned before, “help” is used differently in Chinese than it is in English. So the meaning here actually becomes “I’ll order a dish for you”, as in the waiter will take the order from the customer.
Kirin: 等一下我再回来帮你们点餐.
Adam: I’ll be back in a moment to take your food order.
Kirin: 等一下我再回来帮你们点餐.
Raphael: 然后这个客人回答.
Kirin: 好. 谢谢你.
Adam: Ok. Thank you.
Kirin: 好. 谢谢你.
Adam: We then hear a narrator say:
Kirin: 几分钟后.
Raphael: 你记得这个句子是什么意思吗?
Adam: It means “A few minutes later.”
Kirin: 几分钟后.
Raphael: 然后这个服务员问.
Kirin: 请问, 可以帮你们点餐了吗?
Raphael: 这些单字我们都学过了. 你知道这个句子问的是什么意思吗?
Adam: That’s literally asking: “May I ask, can I take your order now?”
Kirin: 请问, 可以帮你们点餐了吗?
Adam: In other words, “May I take your order?”
Kirin: 请问, 可以帮你们点餐了吗?
Raphael: 然后这个客人回答.
Kirin: 我要两份饺子跟两碗酸辣汤.
Raphael: 所以他们点两种菜. 第一个是饺子. 第三声跟第五声.
Adam: And that means “dumplings.” In this case, the guest wants two orders of dumplings.
Kirin: 我要两份饺子.
Adam: Note the measure word being used here. 份 which we saw used in the past for newspapers. It’s also used here to indicate “portions” as in “two orders of dumplings.
Kirin: 两份饺子.
Raphael: 然后他另外一种菜点的是什么呢?
Kirin: 两碗酸辣汤.
Raphael: 你记得 汤 是什么意思吗?
Adam: That means “soup.” So what kind of soup do you think this is?
Raphael: 酸辣汤. 酸 是第一声. 辣 是第四声.
Adam: The first character means “sour.” While the second character means “spicy.” So together that’s literally “sour and spicy soup,” which is better known in English as “hot and sour soup.”
Kirin: 酸辣湯.
Adam: Now how many soups does the guest want?
Kirin: 两碗酸辣汤.
Adam: So here we have another new measure word, which in this case is for bowls.
Raphael: 碗. 第三声.
Kirin: 我要两份饺子跟两碗酸辣汤.
Adam: “We would like two orders of dumplings along with two bowls of hot and sour soup.”
Kirin: 我要两份饺子跟两碗酸辣汤.
Raphael: 然后这个服务员问.
Kirin: 这样就好了吗?
Raphael: 这些单字我们也都学过了. 你觉得是什么意思呢
Adam: She’s literally saying “this kind only ok?” which is how she asks “Is that everything?”
Kirin: 这样就好了吗?
Raphael: 然后这个客人回答.
Kirin: 对.
Adam: Correct.
Kirin: 对.
Raphael: 让我们再听一次今天慢语速的对话. 请跟着老师重复说一遍.
Kirin: 这是菜单和开水. 你们先看一下, 喝杯水. 等一下我再回来帮你们点餐.
好. 谢谢你.
几分钟后.
请问, 可以帮你们点餐了吗?
我们要两份饺子还有两碗酸辣汤.
这样就好了吗?
对.
Raphael: 让我们再听一次今天正常语速的对话.
Cindy: 这是菜单和开水. 你们先看一下, 喝杯水. 等一下我再回来帮你们点餐.
Yann: 好. 谢谢你.
几分钟后.
Cindy: 请问, 可以帮你们点餐了吗?
Yann: 我们要两份饺子还有两碗酸辣汤.
Cindy: 这样就好了吗?
Yann: 对.

Podcast transcript

Raphael: 请听下面的对话.
Raphael: 可以再多给我们一份菜单吗?
Kirin: 没问题.
Raphael: 还有可以再多给我们两杯水吗?
Kirin: 好, 请稍等一下.
Narrator: 几分钟后.
Kirin: 可以帮你们点餐了吗?
Raphael: 我们想要吃一份炒饭跟两碗酸辣汤.
这样就好了.
Kirin: 好.
Raphael: 请用中文翻译下面的问题.
Q: Menu.
A: 菜单.
Q: Two menus.
A: 两份菜单.
Q: One more menu.
A: 多一份菜单.
Q: Give me one more menu. Literally: Again more give me one part menu.
A: 再给我多一份菜单.
Q: No problem.
A: 没问题.
Q: Water.
A: 水.
Q: A cup of water.
A: 一杯水.
Q: Two cups of boiled water.
A: 两杯开水.
Q: First take a look. Literally: You first look a moment.
A: 你先看一下.
Q: Wait for me to come back. Literally: Wait a moment come back.
A: 等一下回来.
Q: I will take your order. Literally: I help you order dish.
A: 我帮你点餐.
Q: Please wait a small moment.
A: 请稍等一下.
Q: A few minutes later..
A: 几分钟后.
Q: Dumplings.
A: 饺子.
Q: Two orders of dumplings.
A: 两份饺子.
Q: A bowl.
A: 一碗.
Q: Soup.
A: 汤.
Q: Sour.
A: 酸.
Q: Spicy.
A: 辣.
Q: Hot and sour soup: Literally: Sour spicy soup.
A: 酸辣汤.
Q: Two bowls of hot and sour soup.
A: 两碗酸辣汤.
Q: A serving of fried rice.
A: 一份炒饭.
Q: That’s everything. Literally: This kind only good.
A: 这样就好了.
Raphael: 好，请你们再听一次复习的对话.
Raphael: 可以再多给我们一份菜单吗?
Kirin: 没问题.
Raphael: 还有可以再多给我们两杯水吗?
Kirin: 好, 请等一下.
Narrator: 几分钟后.
Kirin: 可以帮你们点餐了吗?
Raphael: 我们想要吃一份炒饭跟两碗酸辣汤.
这样就好了.
Kirin: 好.

Lesson 115

Kirin: 上网学中文第一百一十五课.
Adam: Hello, I’m Adam, and you’re listening to our progressive course teaching Mandarin Chinese. Joining me today are Raphael and Kirin who will be helping us out.
Raphael: 让我们先听一次今天正常语速的对话.
Cindy: 这里好无聊. 都没有什么事可以做了吗?
Yann: 为什么你不听音乐?
Cindy: 我现在不想听音乐. 那我们出去走走吧.
Yann: 你想要去哪里?
Cindy: 逛街好不好?
Yann: 当然好, 走吧.
Raphael: 让我们再听一次今天慢语速的对话. 请跟着老师重复说一遍.
Kirin: 这里好无聊. 都没有什么事可以做了吗?
为什么你不听音乐?
我现在不想听音乐. 那我们出去走走吧.
你想要去哪里?
逛街好不好?
当然好, 走吧.
Raphael: 让我们来翻译今天的对话. 第一句是…
Kirin: 这里好无聊.
Raphael: 在这个句子的后面我们有今天的第一个新的单字. 无聊. 两个第二声.
Adam: And that means “boring.”
Kirin: 这里好无聊.
Adam: Notice again how the 好 here is being used to mean “very.” This is an especially common usage in Taiwan. So that gives us “It’s very boring here.”
Kirin: 这里好无聊.
Raphael: 然后她继续说.
Kirin: 都没有什么事可以做了吗?
Raphael: 这些单字我们已经都学过了. 你知道是什么意思吗?
Adam: Let’s break it down into bits.
Kirin: 都没有.
Adam: “This literally means “all not have” which translates into “There is nothing at all.”
Kirin: 什么事可以做?
Adam: “What is there for us to do?” So by asking.
Kirin: 都没有什么事可以做了吗?
Adam: She is asking “Isn’t there anything for us to do?”
Kirin: 都没有什么事可以做了吗?
Raphael: 然后这个男人回答.
Kirin: 为什么你不听音乐?
Raphael: 你记得 听音乐 是什么意思吗?
Adam: That means “to listen to music.”
Raphael: 所以这个问题的意思是什么?
Kirin: 为什么你不听音乐?
Adam: He’s asking “Why don’t you listen to some music?”
Kirin: 为什么你不听音乐?
Raphael: 然后这个女人回答.
Kirin: 我现在不想听音乐.
Raphael: 这个句子很简单. 你觉得是什么意思?
Adam: “I don’t want to listen to music now.”
Kirin: 我现在不想听音乐.
Raphael: 然后她继续说.
Kirin: 那我们出去走走吧.
Raphael: 这些单字我们也都学过了.
Adam: The literal meaning here is “In that case, we go out walk walk.” Note that “那” is short for “那么.” There are a couple of other points worth noting here. 走on its own means “to leave” or “to walk.” Do you remember what happens when we repeat an instance of a verb like this? The meaning changes to “take a walk.” We then have the 吧 particle added at the end, which is usually indicative of a suggestion.
Kirin: 那我们出去走走吧.
Adam: “In that case, Let’s go out for a walk.”
Kirin: 那我们出去走走吧.
Raphael: 然后这个男人回答.
Kirin: 你想要去哪里?
Raphael: 这个问题也是很简单.
Adam: “Where would you like to go?”
Kirin: 你想要去哪里?
Raphael: 然后这个女人回答.
Kirin: 逛街好不好?
Raphael: 这里我们有今天的下一个单字. 逛街. 第四声跟第一声.
Adam: And that means “to go window shopping.”
Kirin: 逛街好不好?
Adam: “Let’s go window shopping, ok?” We haven’t used this form of a question in sometime; so make note of that as well.
Kirin: 逛街好不好?
Raphael: 然后这个男人回答.
Kirin: 当然好, 走吧.
Raphael: 当然 什么意思?
Adam: That means “of course”, so he’s saying “Of course that’s okay.” However, he seems to be a little sarcastic about it.
Kirin: 当然好, 走吧.
Adam: The last part 走吧 uses the suggestion particle “吧” to suggest that they get going.
Raphael: 让我们再听一次今天慢语速的对话. 请跟着老师重复说一遍.
Kirin: 这里好无聊. 都没有什么事可以做了吗?
为什么你不听音乐?
我现在不想听音乐. 那我们出去走走吧.
你想要去哪里?
逛街好不好?
当然好, 走吧.
Raphael: 让我们再听一次今天正常语速的对话.
Cindy: 这里好无聊. 都没有什么事可以做了吗?
Yann: 为什么你不听音乐?
Cindy: 我现在不想听音乐. 那我们出去走走吧.
Yann: 你想要去哪里?
Cindy: 逛街好不好?
Yann: 当然好, 走吧.

Podcast transcript

Raphael: 请听下面的对话.
Raphael: 你不觉得现在很无聊吗?
Kirin: 那我们听音乐，好不好?
Raphael: 我不要. 我想看电视.
Kirin: 你不要一直看电视! 我们出去买衣服吧.
Raphael: 好吧. 出去逛街也不错.
Raphael: 请用中文翻译下面的问题.
Q: Boring.
A: 无聊.
Q: It’s very boring here.
A: 这里很无聊.
Q: You are very boring.
A: 你很无聊.
Q: There just isn’t anything. Literally: Only not have.
A: 就没有.
Q: What’s happening? Literally: What matter?
A: 什么事?
Q: There’s nothing to do. Literally: Only not have what matter can do.
A: 就没有什么事可以做.
Q: Listen to music.
A: 听音乐.
Q: Watch TV.
A: 看电视.
Q: Read a book.
A: 看书.
Q: Why don’t you watch TV?
A: 你为什么不看电视?
Q: Why do you always like to listen to music?
A: 你为什么一直喜欢听音乐?
Q: I don’t want to read a book now.
A: 我现在不想看书.
Q: Let’s go out somewhere. Literally: We out go walk walk.
A: 我们出去走走吧.
Q: Let’s go window shopping ok?
A: 我们去逛街好不好?
Q: I don’t want to window shop.
A: 我不想逛街.
Q: I want to buy new clothes.
A: 我想买新的衣服.
Q: Watch a movie.
A: 看电影.
Q: Watching a movie wouldn’t be bad either. Literally: Watch movie also not wrong.
A: 看电影也不错.
Raphael: 好，请你们再听一次复习的对话.
Raphael: 你不觉得现在很无聊吗?
Kirin: 那我们听音乐，好不好?
Raphael: 我不要. 我想看电视.
Kirin: 你不要一直看电视! 我们出去买衣服吧.
Raphael: 好吧. 出去逛街也不错.

Lesson 116

Kirin: 上网学中文第一百一十六课.
Adam: Hello, and welcome to our progressive course teaching Mandarin Chinese. I’m your host, Adam along with our native Mandarin speakers Raphael and Kirin coming to you from Taiwan.
Raphael: 让我们先听一次今天正常语速的对话.
Yann: 小姐，不好意思. 请问一下, 这附近的邮局在哪里?
Cindy: 先直走. 再过一个红绿灯. 邮局就在银行的隔壁.
Yann: 哪一家银行的隔壁?
Cindy: 我不确定. 可是他就在一家银行跟便利商店的中间.
Raphael: 让我们再听一次今天慢语速的对话. 请跟着老师重复说一遍.
Kirin: 小姐，不好意思.
请问一下, 这附近的邮局在哪里?
先直走.
再过一个红绿灯.
邮局就在银行的隔壁.
哪一家银行的隔壁?
我不确定.
可是他就在一家银行跟便利商店的中间.
Raphael: 让我们来翻译今天的对话. 第一句是…
Kirin: 小姐，不好意思.
Raphael: 这个句子是什么意思?
Adam: That’s saying “Excuse me, miss.”
Kirin: 小姐，不好意思.
Raphael: 然后他继续说.
Kirin: 请问一下, 这附近的邮局在哪里?
Adam: So the first part there is a modification of the term usually used when asking questions like this. In the past, we’ve heard.
Raphael: 请问.
Adam: Here we have.
Raphael: 请问一下.
Adam: So this is more like asking “Can I take just a moment of your time to ask you this question?”
Kirin: 请问一下, 这附近的邮局在哪里?
Raphael: 这个人在找一个地方. 你知道是什么样的地方吗?
这个地方叫邮局. 两个第二声.
Adam: And that means “post office.”
Kirin: 请问一下, 这附近的邮局在哪里?
Adam: May I ask, where is the post office around here?
Raphael: 然后这个女人回答.
Kirin: 先直走.
Raphael: 直走是什么意思?
Adam: That means “go straight.”
Kirin: 先直走.
Raphael: 然后她继续说.
Kirin: 再过一个红绿灯.
Raphael: 第一个字，我们之前学过了. 过.
Adam: Previously, we taught you how it can be used to form a present perfect tense, such as in.
Raphael: 这个字我们之前学过了.
Adam: The meaning also extends from passing or crossing time, to just passing or crossing in general. So here the woman literally says “Again pass a” or in this case “then pass a”
Kirin: 再过一个红绿灯.
Raphael: 红绿是两个颜色的意思.
Adam: And they are in fact the colors – red and green.
Raphael: 然后这里我们有今天的第二个新的单字.
灯. 第一声.
Adam: And that means “light.” So can you guess what a “red green light” is referring to? It’s, of course, a “traffic light.”
Kirin: 再过一个红绿灯.
Adam: Then go past the traffic light.
Raphael: 然后她继续说.
Kirin: 邮局就在银行的隔壁.
Raphael: 这里我们有另外一个新的地方.
银行. 两个都是第二声.
Adam: And that means “bank.”
Kirin: 邮局就在银行的隔壁.
Raphael: 在这个句子的后面，我们还有一个新的单字.
隔壁. 第二声跟第四声.
Adam: And this means “beside” as in “next door to.”
Kirin: 邮局就在银行的隔壁.
Adam: The post office is right next to the bank.”
Raphael: 然后这个男人问.
Kirin: 哪一家银行的隔壁?
Adam: Here you may notice that she’s using the measure word for commercial establishments that we taught you back in lesson 56.
Raphael: 你觉得这个问题是什么意思?
Adam: So she’s asking “Next to which bank?”
Kirin: 哪一家银行的隔壁?
Raphael: 然后这个女人回答.
Kirin: 我不确定.
Raphael: 这里我们还有一个新的单字. 确定. 两个第四声.
Adam: Back in lesson 94, we taught you the word 一定.
Raphael: 你记得 一定 是什么意思吗?
Adam: That means “definitely.” Here we have something similar.
Raphael: 确定.
Adam: which means “to be certain.” So by saying
Kirin: 我不确定.
Adam: He’s saying “I’m not certain” or “I’m not sure.”
Kirin: 我不确定.
Raphael: 然后她继续说.
Kirin: 可是他就在一家银行跟便利商店的中间.
Raphael: 这里我们还有一个新的地方.
便利商店. 便利是两个第四声. 商店是第一声跟第四声.
Adam: We’ve actually seen the first character of the first word before.
Raphael: 是 方便 的 便. 你记得 方便 是什么意思吗?
Adam: That means “convenient.” So here the 便利 refers to “convenient”, while the 商店 refers to a “store.” So when you put the two together you get “convenience store.”
Raphael: 便利商店.
Kirin: 可是他就在一家银行跟便利商店的中间.
Adam: So let’s look at what we do know from this sentence. “But it’s just at a bank with a convenience store”
Raphael: 然后在这个句子的后面我们有另外一个新的单字.
中间. 是 中学 的 中 还有 房间 的 间.
中学是什么意思?
Adam: That you – may remember – means “middle school.” So the 中 character means “middle.” We then have 间 from 房间 which means “room” or “space.” So together, “middle space” is the term used for “in the middle” or “between.”
Kirin: 可是他就在一家银行跟便利商店的中间.
Adam: But it’s right between a bank and a convenience store.
Kirin: 可是他就在一家银行跟便利商店的中间.
Raphael: 让我们再听一次今天的对话. 请跟着老师重复说一遍.
Kirin: 小姐，不好意思.
请问一下, 这附近的邮局在哪里?
先直走.
再过一个红绿灯.
邮局就在银行的隔壁.
哪一家银行的隔壁?
我不确定.
可是他就在一家银行跟便利商店的中间.
Raphael: 让我们在听一次今天正常语速的对话.
Yann: 小姐，不好意思. 请问一下, 这附近的邮局在哪里?
Cindy: 先直走. 再过一个红绿灯. 邮局就在银行的隔壁.
Yann: 哪一家银行的隔壁?
Cindy: 我不确定. 可是他就在一家银行跟便利商店的中间.
Adam: Great, so I hope you can see where this is leading. We only have a few more lessons left in level 2 of our series. Our philosophy here is for you to understand every word that is used in every lesson. So please use the Complete word for word transcripts available on our website to premium subscribers if required, to translate any Chinese that you don’t understand. Then join us again for our next lesson.
Raphael: 我们下次再见.

Podcast transcript

Raphael: 请听下面的对话.
Luise: 先生，请问一下, 这附近哪里有便利商店?
Raphael: 这附近有很多. 你要哪一家?
Luise: 我朋友跟我说 在邮局跟银行的中间有一家. 你知道是哪一家吗?
Raphael: 噢，过红绿灯你就会看到邮局. 便利商店就在它的隔壁.
请用中文翻译下面的问题.
Q: Sir or Mister.
A: 先生.
Q: Miss.
A: 小姐 .
Q: May I take a moment to ask you.
A: 请问一下 .
Q: Post office.
A: 邮局 .
Q: Bank.
A: 银行 .
Q: Convenience store.
A: 便利商店 .
Q: Where is the bank around here?
A: 这附近的银行在哪里?
Q: Go straight.
A: 直走.
Q: Then turn left.
A: 然後左转.
Q: Go through a traffic light.
A: 过一个红绿灯.
Q: It will be on your right.
A: 它会在你的右边.
Q: My friend told me. Literally: My friend with me say.
A: 我朋友跟我说.
Q: Between the bank and the post office.
A: 在银行跟邮局的中间.
Q: Behind the hospital.
A: 在医院的後面.
Q: Next to the convenience store.
A: 在便利商店的隔壁.
Q: I’m not sure.
A: 我不确定.
[Pinyin] [Traditional ]

Lesson 117

Kirin: 上网学中文第一百一十七课.
Adam: Hello, I’m Adam, and you’re listening to our structured course teaching Mandarin Chinese. With me today are our native Mandarin speakers, Raphael and Kirin, who will be helping us out.
Raphael: 让我们先听一次今天正常语速的对话.
Yann: 你好，你可以给我介绍附近有哪些好玩的地方吗?
Cindy: 你比较想看哪一些地方? 我们这附近有博物馆，书局还有公园.
Yann: 那我能在什么地方买到便宜的东西?
Cindy: 哦，这样你应该去我们当地的夜市看看.
Raphael: 让我们再听一次今天慢语速的对话. 请跟着老师重复说一遍.
Kirin: 你好，你可以给我介绍附近有哪些好玩的地方吗?
你比较想看哪一些地方?
我们这附近有博物馆.
书局.
还有公园.
那我能在什么地方买到便宜的东西?
哦，这样你应该去我们当地的夜市看看.
Raphael: 让我们来翻译今天的对话. 第一句是…
Kirin: 你好，你可以给我介绍附近有哪些好玩的地方吗?
Raphael: 介绍 是什么意思?
Adam: That’s the verb “to introduce.”
Raphael: 所以你觉得给我介绍是什么意思?
Adam: That means “introduce to me.”
Raphael: 附近有哪些地方 是什么意思?
Adam: That’s literally asking “Nearby has which place?”
Kirin: 你好，你可以给我介绍附近有哪些好玩的地方吗?
Raphael: 在这个问题的中间，今天我们的第一个新的单字. 玩. 第二声.
Adam: And that when combined with 好 gives us “to have fun.” Similarly if we wanted to say “not fun” we’d say.
Raphael: 不好玩.
Kirin: 你好，你可以帮我介绍这附近有哪些地方好玩的吗?
Adam: “Hello, can you introduce to me some fun places nearby?”
Raphael: 然后这个女人回答.
Kirin: 你比较想看哪一些地方?
Raphael: 你觉得这个问题是什么意思?
Adam: That’s literally asking “You more want look what kind places?”
Kirin: 你比较想看哪一些地方?
Adam: As in “what kind of places do you prefer to look for?”
Kirin: 你比较想看哪一些地方?
Raphael: 然后她继续说.
Kirin: 我们这附近有博物馆，书局还有公园.
Raphael: 这里我们有两个新的地方. 第一个是博物馆. 第二声，第四声跟第三声.
Adam: and that means “museum.”
Raphael: 博物馆.
第二个地方是书局. 第一声跟第二声.
Adam: and that means “bookstore.”
Raphael: 书局.
Kirin: 我们这附近有博物馆，书局还有公园.
Raphael: 然后这个男人回答.
Kirin: 那我能在什么地方买到便宜的东西?
Raphael: 这些单字我们都学过了. 你知道这个问题的意思吗?
Kirin: 那我能在什么地方买到便宜的东西?
Adam: The literal meaning here is “That I can at what place buy more cheap things?”
Kirin: 那我能在什么地方买到便宜的东西?
Adam: As in, “Then what places can I buy cheaper things at?”
Raphael: 然后这个女人回答.
Kirin: 哦，这样你应该去我们当地的夜市看看.
Raphael: 这个句子有两个新的单字. 第一个是当地. 第一声跟第四声.
Adam: and that means “local”.
Raphael: 然后第二个新的单字是另外一个地方. 夜市. 两个第四声.
Adam: And this is a very popular place in many parts of Asia, especially here in Taiwan. There are two characters there – the first comes from the word for “night” while the second one we’ve seen before in
Raphael: 城市
Adam: and on its own means “city” or “market” so together
Raphael: 夜市.
Adam: means “night market.”
Kirin: 哦，这样你应该去我们当地的夜市看看.
Adam: “Ah, in this case you should go to our local night markets and have a look.”
Kirin: 哦，这样你应该去我们当地的夜市看看.
Raphael: 让我们再听一次今天慢语速的对话. 请跟着老师重复说一遍.
Kirin: 你好，你可以给我介绍附近有哪些好玩的地方吗?
你比较想看哪一些地方?
我们这里有博物馆.
书局.
还有公园.
那我能在什么地方买到便宜的东西?
哦，这样你应该去我们当地的夜市看看.
Raphael: 让我们再听一次今天正常语速的对话.
Yann: 你好，你可以给我介绍附近有哪些好玩的地方吗?
Cindy: 你比较想看哪一些地方? 我们这附近有博物馆，书局还有公园.
Yann: 那我能在什么地方买到便宜的东西?
Cindy: 哦，这样你应该去我们当地的夜市看看.
Adam: Great. As always, please consult the complete word for word transcripts, available to Premium subscribers, if you have trouble with any of the extra Chinese being used within the lesson, as you will find it all nicely translated for you there. Then join us again next time for our next lesson.
Raphael: 你们继续加油!

Podcast transcript

Raphael: 请听下面的对话.
Kirin: 这附近有好玩的地方吗?
Raphael: 你想到哪里去?
Kirin: 这附近有什麽?
Raphael: 博物馆，书局，公园，夜市. 你想得到的都有.
Kirin: 哦，那我想要去夜市. 听说那里有比较多便宜的东西可以买.
Raphael: 请用中文翻译下面的问题.
Q: Introduce to me.
A: 帮我介绍.
Q: Fun places.
A: 好玩的地方.
Q: Is this a fun place?
A: 这个地方好玩吗?
Q: Which place is fun?
A: 哪个地方好玩?
Q: Which places are fun?
A: 哪些地方好玩?
Q: Is there a fun place around here? Literally: This nearby has fun place?
A: 这附近有好玩的地方吗?
Q: To prefer. Literally: More like
A: 比较喜欢.
Q: What kind of place?
A: 哪一种的地方?
Q: What kind of place do you prefer?
A: 你比较喜欢哪一种的地方?
Q: Museum.
A: 博物馆.
Q: Bookstore.
A: 书局.
Q: Park.
A: 公园.
Q: Night market.
A: 夜市.
Q: Whatever you want is here. Literally: You think arrive all have.
A: 你想得到的都有.
Q: A place with cheap things.
A: 便宜东西的地方.
Raphael: 好，请你们再听一次复习的对话.
Kirin: 这附近有好玩的地方吗?
Raphael: 你想到哪里去?
Kirin: 这附近有什麽?
Raphael: 博物馆，书局，公园，夜市. 你想得到的都有.
Kirin: 哦，那我想要去夜市. 听说那里有比较多便宜的东西可以买.

Lesson 118

Kirin: 上网学中文第一百一十八课.
Adam: Hello, and welcome to our progressive course teaching Mandarin Chinese. I’m your host, Adam. As we did in level 1, we will reserve the last three lessons of the course for review. So the next few lessons will each feature a couple of dialogues, which only use vocabulary that has been previously taught. We will listen to each dialogue first at normal speed followed by a slowed down version.
Raphael: 让我们先听一次今天第一个正常语速的对话.
Cindy: 早安.
Yann: 啊, 好久不见.
Cindy: 你最近都在做什么?
Yann: 我最近都在忙学中文.
Cindy: 在哪里学的? 在大学吗?
Yann: 不, 我自己从网路上学的.
Cindy: 在网路上可以学中文吗?
Yann: 当然可以啊. 这样比大学方便也便宜.
Cindy: 真的吗? 那我要告诉我的外国朋友. 因为他们也想学中文.
Yann: 那你可以告诉他们上网到chineselearnonline-com这个地方.
Raphael: 让我们再听一次今天第一个慢语速的对话. 请跟着老师重复说一遍.
Kirin: 早安.
啊, 好久不见.
你最近都在做什么?
我最近都在忙学中文.
在哪里学的? 在大学吗?
不, 我自己从网路上学的.
在网路上可以学中文吗?
当然可以啊. 这样比大学方便也便宜.
真的吗? 那我要告诉我的外国朋友. 因为他们也想学中文.
那你可以告诉他们上网到chineselearnonline-com这个地方.
Raphael: 让我们听一次今天第二个正常语速的对话.
Cindy: 哇! 这里的衣服都好漂亮啊. 我真不知道该买哪一件才好.
Yann: 你身上还有多少钱?
Cindy: 喔, 真糟糕. 我只剩下一千块左右.
Yann: 所以你今天想要买什么?
Cindy: 哇, 这件白色外套好可爱喔. 它刚好一千块! 而且还有打八折.
Yann: 所以剩下的钱刚好可以买这条蓝色的领带.
Cindy: 那是我的钱. 如果你要买, 用你自己的钱吧.
Yann: 喔, 现在我才知道你是这种人.
Cindy: 平常都是男生买东西给女生. 所以应该是你要买给我才对.
Yann: 没办法. 谁叫你是我的女儿!
Cindy: 哼.
Raphael: 让我们再听一次今天第二个慢语速的对话. 请跟着老师重复说一遍.
Kirin: 哇! 这里的衣服都好漂亮啊. 我真不知道该买哪一件才好.
你身上还有多少钱?
喔, 真糟糕. 我只剩下一千块左右.
所以你今天想要买什么?
哇, 这件白色外套好可爱喔. 它刚好一千块! 而且还有打八折.
所以剩下的钱刚好可以买这条蓝色的领带.
那是我的钱. 如果你要买, 用你自己的钱吧.
喔, 现在我才知道你是这种人.
平常都是男生买东西给女生. 所以应该是你要买给我才对.
没办法. 谁叫你是我的女儿!
哼.

Lesson 119

Kirin: 上网学中文第一百一十九课.
Adam: Hello, and welcome to our progressive course teaching Mandarin Chinese. This is the second of our three-part series reviewing level 2 of our course. Like in our last lesson, we will listen to a couple of dialogues both at normal and slowed-down speeds that will review the vocabulary taught so far in the course.
Raphael: 让我们先听一次今天第一个正常语速的对话.
Cindy: 你想要看我的照片吗?
Yann: 好啊. 哇, 你有好多照片. 这些人是谁啊?
Cindy: 这边这个男生是我的爸爸.
Yann: 哇, 你爸爸很帅.
Cindy: 那当然. 在他旁边那个漂亮的女人是我的妈妈.
Yann: 真的吗? 你看起来不像她. 那在照片下面的这些人是谁?
Cindy: 那些是我的朋友. 我们最近去度假的时候拍的.
Yann: 为什么你在照片里面看起来不开心?
Cindy: 喔, 那时候我肚子饿. 所以才看起来不开心.
Raphael: 让我们再听一次今天慢语速的对话. 请跟着老师重复说一遍.
Kirin: 你想要看我的照片吗?
好啊. 哇, 你有好多照片. 这些人是谁啊?
这边这个男生是我的爸爸.
哇, 你爸爸很帅.
那当然. 在他旁边那个漂亮的女人是我的妈妈.
真的吗? 你看起来不像她. 那在照片下面的这些人是谁?
那些是我的朋友. 我们最近去度假的时候拍的.
为什么你在照片里面看起来不开心?
喔, 那时候我肚子饿. 所以才看起来不开心.
Raphael: 让我们听一次今天第二个正常语速的对话.
Cindy: 你最近做了什么有趣的事吗?
Yann: 你没听说吗? 我现在有一个新的工作.
Cindy: 喔, 真的吗? 什么工作?
Yann: 在银行上班.
Cindy: 做得怎么样?
Yann: 还不错. 可是经常要加班.
Cindy: 平常几点上班?
Yann: 每天从早上七点到下午五点.
Cindy: 哇, 那么久. 所以你不喜欢这份工作吗?
Yann: 不会啊. 老板人很好. 他经常请我们吃午餐.
Cindy: 真好. 那你的工作离你家很远吗?
Yann: 不太远. 可是早上平常都会塞车, 所以我都要很早起床.
Raphael: 让我们再听一次今天第二个慢语速的对话. 请跟着老师重复说一遍.
Kirin: 你最近做了什么有趣的事吗?
你没听说吗? 我现在有一个新的工作.
喔, 真的吗? 什么工作?
在银行上班.
做得怎么样?
还不错. 可是经常要加班.
平常几点上班?
每天从早上七点到下午五点.
哇, 那么久. 所以你不喜欢这份工作吗?
不会啊. 老板人很好. 他经常请我们吃午餐.
真好. 那你工作的地方离你家很远吗?
不太远. 可是早上平常都会塞车, 所以我都要很早起床.

Lesson 120

Kirin: 上网学中文第一百二十课.
Adam: Hello, and welcome to our progressive course teaching Mandarin Chinese. This is the last of our three-part series reviewing level 2 of our course. Like in our last lesson, we will listen to a couple of dialogues both at normal and slowed-down speeds that will review the vocabulary taught so far in the course.
Raphael: 让我们先听一次今天第一个正常语速的对话.
Cindy: 你看上去不太开心. 怎么了?
Yann: 这周末我应该去一个生日宴会, 可是我不想去.
Cindy: 为什么? 生日宴会都很好玩啊.
Yann: 那你跟我一起去吧.
Cindy: 才不要. 我不知道是谁的生日. 你自己去.
Yann: 是我阿姨的五十岁生日. 我觉得宴会一定会很无聊. 想到这个我就觉得不好玩.
Cindy: 那就不要去啊.
Yann: 我的叔叔阿姨们都会到. 所以我不去不行.
Cindy: 那怎么办?
Yann: 没办法. 我只希望下个周末会比较有趣.
Cindy: 一定会的.
Raphael: 让我们再听一次今天第一个慢语速的对话. 请跟着老师重复说一遍.
Kirin: 你看上去不太开心. 怎么了?
这周末我应该去一个生日宴会, 可是我不想去.
为什么? 生日宴会都很好玩啊.
那你跟我一起去吧.
才不要. 我不知道是谁的生日. 你自己去.
是我阿姨的五十岁生日. 我觉得宴会一定会很无聊. 想到这个我就觉得不好玩.
那就不要去啊.
我的叔叔阿姨们都会到. 所以我不去不行.
那怎么办?
没办法. 我只希望下个周末会比较有趣.
一定会的.
Raphael: 让我们听一次今天第二个正常语速的对话.
Yann: 我澳洲的朋友下个星期就要来台湾了. 我很兴奋啊!
Cindy: 听起来真不错. 你有计划带他到哪里去走走吗?
Yann: 我还没确定. 你可以给我介绍一些有趣的地方让我带他去玩吗?
Cindy: 他的兴趣是什么?
Yann: 他喜欢中国菜还有中国的文化. 或许我可以带他去一些餐厅还有博物馆.
Cindy: 不要忘了还有夜市. 他一定会喜欢在夜市逛街 跟吃台湾菜的.
Yann: 我也会带他到公园走走. 他一定会喜欢那边的景色.
Cindy: 而且他一定也会喜欢那边漂亮的女生的.
Yann: 哈哈. 他一定会的. 可是他的太太就不一定了.
Raphael: 让我们再听一次今天第二个慢语速的对话. 请跟着老师重复说一遍.
Kirin: 我澳洲的朋友下个星期就要来台湾了. 我很兴奋啊!
听起来真不错. 你有计划带他到哪里去走走吗?
我还没确定. 你可以给我介绍一些有趣的地方让我带他去玩吗?
他的兴趣是什么?
他喜欢中国菜还有中国的文化. 或许我可以带他去一些餐厅还有博物馆.
不要忘了还有夜市. 他一定会喜欢在夜市逛街 跟吃台湾菜的.
我也会带他到公园走走. 他一定会喜欢那边的景色.
而且他一定也会喜欢那边漂亮的女生的.
哈哈. 他一定会的. 可是他的太太就不一定了.