LESSON NOTES Upper Intermediate S1 #1 A Trip to the Chinese Doctor
CONTENTS
2 Simplified Chinese 2 Traditional Chinese 3 Pinyin 3 English 4 Vocabulary 4 Sample Sentences 5 Grammar 7 Cultural Insight
# 1
COPYRIGHT © 2015 INNOVATIVE LANGUAGE LEARNING. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. SIMPLIFIED CHINESE
1. A 大夫，您瞧我没大碍吧？
2. B 现在还不好说。先去照个CT，再做个B超看看。
3. A 有必要这么复杂吗？
4. B 当然。噢，顺便再抽管儿血。
5. A 可我只是手疼呀。
6. B 我知道。可我是作医生的，要对病人负责。
7. A 但是，这， 这得多少钱啊？
8. B 你不是有公费医疗吗？急什么？报完销不还是你的。
TRADITIONAL CHINESE
1. A 大夫，您瞧我沒大礙吧？
2. B 現在還不好說。先去照個CT，再做個B超看看。
3. A 有必要這麼複雜嗎？
4. B 當然。噢，順便再抽管兒血。
5. A 可我只是手疼呀。
6. B 我知道。可我是作醫生的，要對病人負責。
CONT'D OVER
CHINES ECLAS S 101.COM UPPER I NTERMEDIATE S 1 #1 - A TRI P TO THE CHINES E DOCTOR 2 7. A 但是，這， 這得多少錢啊？
8. B 你不是有公費醫療嗎？急甚麼？報完銷不還是你的。
PINYIN
1. A Dàifu, nín qiáo wǒ méi dà ài ba?
2. B Xiànzài hái bù hǎoshuō. xiān qù zhào ge CT, zài zuò ge Bchāo kànkan.
3. A Yǒu bìyào zhème fùzáma?
4. B Dāngrán. o, shùnbiàn zài chōu guǎn ér xiě.
5. A Kě wǒ zhǐ shì shǒu téng yā.
6. B Wǒ zhīdào. kě wǒ shì zuò yīshēng de, yào duì bìngrén fùzé.
7. A Dànshì, zhè, zhè de duō shǎo Qián A1？
8. B Nǐ bù shì yǒu gōngfèiyīliáo ma? jí shénme? bào wán xiāo bùhuán shì nǐ de.
ENGLISH
1. A Doctor, there isn't something seriously wrong about me, is there?
2. B It's still hard to say now. Take a CT scan and then an ultrasound and we'll see.
3. A Does it have to be this complicated?
CONT'D OVER
CHINES ECLAS S 101.COM UPPER I NTERMEDIATE S 1 #1 - A TRI P TO THE CHINES E DOCTOR 3 4. B Of course. And we'll have to take a blood test too.
5. A But I've only got a hurt hand.
6. B I know. But I'm a doctor, I need to be responsible for my patients.
7. A But… then how much will this cost?
8. B Don't you have insurance? What's the fuss? File the expenses and you'll get it all back.
VOCABULARY
Simplified Traditional Pinyin English Class
To take a CT 照CT 照CT zhào CT scan verb phrase
B超 B超 B chāo ultrasound noun
抽血 抽血 chōuxiě to take blood verb phrase
管儿 管兒 guǎn ér a tube measure word
publicly paid
公费医疗 公費醫療 gōngfèiyīliáo medical noun phrase treatment
报销 報銷 bàoxiāo to expense verb
顺便 順便 shùnbiàn in the process adverb
to pay on one's 自费 自費 zìfèi own verb
SAMPLE SENTENCES
CHINES ECLAS S 101.COM UPPER I NTERMEDIATE S 1 #1 - A TRI P TO THE CHINES E DOCTOR 4 照CT可以显示你脑部的血管有没有 怀孕期间要定期去医院做B超检 堵塞。 查。 Zhào CTkěyǐ xiǎnshì nǐ nǎobùde xuèguǎn yǒu Huáiyùn qījiān yào dìngqī qù yīyuàn zuò B chāo méiyǒu dǔsè. jiǎnchá.
A CT scan will show whether you have a When pregnant you should regularly go to blood clot in your brain. the hospital to have ultrasounds.
抽血对他根本不算什么，他都习惯 他虚弱的身体恐怕受不了再抽上这 了。 一大管儿血。 Chōuxiě duì tā gēnběn bùsuàn shénme, tā dōu Tā xūruò de shēntǐ kǒngpà shòubuliǎo zài chōu xíguàn le. shàng zhè yī dà guǎn ér xiě.
He's so used to having blood taken it's He is in such weak physical condition he nothing to him. might not be able to take drawing a big tube of blood.
如果没有公费医疗，他早就出院 这些药费是可以全部报销的。 了。 Zhè xiē yàofèi shì kěyǐ quánbù bàoxiāo de.
Rúguǒ méiyǒu gōngfèiyīliáo, tā zǎojiùchūyuàn le. The cost of this medicine can be fully If it wasn't for public medical treatment, he expensed. would have left the hospital long ago.
我去医院检查，顺便又开了点儿 他没有工作，看病的费用全是自 药。 费。 Wǒ qù yīyuàn jiǎnchá, shùnbiàn yòu kāi le diǎnr Tā méiyǒu gōngzuò, kànbìng de fèiyòng quán shì yào. zìfèi.
I went to the hospital for a checkup and got He doesn't have a job and has to pay for more medicine while there. all his own medical expenses.
GRAMMAR
The Focus of This Lesson is the Difference between 顺便 (shùnbiàn) and 顺手 (shùnshǒu) 顺 便再抽管儿 血。 shùnbiàn zài chōu guǎn ér xiě. "And we'll have to have a blood test too."
CHINES ECLAS S 101.COM UPPER I NTERMEDIATE S 1 #1 - A TRI P TO THE CHINES E DOCTOR 5
Today we focus on the difference between two similar words: 顺便 (shùnbiàn) and its synonym 顺手 (shùnshǒu)。
Both of these words are adverbs, which suggest the idea of doing something in a convenient fashion—usually while in the process of doing something else. You might use them to suggest that someone picks up milk while they're out at the store, or drops by to see a friend when they're passing through town. In our dialogue we see 顺便 in the sentence 顺便去抽 管儿血. We could replace 顺便 with 顺手 in this sentence without altering the meaning. In cases where the action is done specifically with the hand, however, 顺手 is a better choice because it emphasizes the physicality of the action. For Example:
1. 我正好从学校路过，顺手把孩子也接回来了。 Wǒ zhènghǎo cóng xuéxiào lùguò, shùnshǒu bǎ háizi yě jiē huílai le. "I was passing the school, so I brought the kid back from school."
2. 我想出去走走，顺便买点儿牛奶。 Wǒ xiǎng chūqù zǒuzou, shùnbiàn mǎi diǎnr niúnǎi. "I want to go for a walk and get some milk."
3. 你能不能顺便给我也倒点儿水？ Nǐ néngbùnéng shùnbiàn gěi wǒ yě dǎo diǎnr shuǐ? "Can you get me some water while you're there?"
Although 顺手 and 顺便 have the same meaning in the previous sentences, there are other differences between them. 顺手 differs from 顺便 in that it is often used to imply that something has happened smoothly or naturally. If you take an action and it happens 顺手, you suggest that it hasn't taken much effort or has gone off smoothly. We see this usage in the following examples:
1. 他刚干了没多久，看上去已经十分顺手了。 Tā gāng gàn le méi duōjiǔ, kànshangqu yǐjīng shífēn shùnshǒu le. "He didn't start long ago, but is already working really smoothly."
CHINES ECLAS S 101.COM UPPER I NTERMEDIATE S 1 #1 - A TRI P TO THE CHINES E DOCTOR 6 2. 大家都觉得这台新电脑用起来挺顺手的，可我老觉得特别扭。 Dàjiā dōu juéde zhè tái xīn diànnǎo yòngqǐlái tǐng shùnshǒu de, kě wǒ lǎo juéde tèbié niǔ. "Everyone thinks this new computer is very easy to use, but I always find it difficult."
3. 他画到顺手时，一天就能完成好几幅作品。 Tā huà dào shùnshǒu shí, yī tiān jiù néng wánchéng hǎojǐ fú zuòpǐn. "When he's in the mood to draw, he can finish several paintings in a day."
CULTURAL INSIGHT
Chinese Hospital Care
Traditional Chinese Medicine (often referred to as TCM) dates back to the Stone Age where evidence suggests that acupuncture was first used. In the Eastern Han Dynasty (25AD - 220AD) the loose collection of folk knowledge solidified into something approaching a coherent approach to disease treatment and preventing, as semi-mythical Chinese figures including Sun Simao, Hua Tuo, and Zhang Zhongjing developed reputations as masters of TCM. Today you will find three forms of medicine taught in China: 西医, or "Western medicine," 中医, or "TCM," and an integrated version of the two known as 中西结合. Most hospitals in China treat patients using Western medicine, with specific hospitals established which specialize in Chinese medicine. Following the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949 the country embraced western medicine and began massive health campaigns which brought something closer to modern medical care into the country. This was the time of the renowned "barefoot doctors" campaigns in which doctors with minimal education were sent out throughout the countryside to provide health care to masses. Today Chinese healthcare is at a crossroads with great improvements in the quality of health care, but an accompanying increase in price and a partial collapse of the system of social insurance which has historically provided most Chinese citizens with access to medical care. It is common for doctors and hospitals to cover increasing costs by giving patients a surfeit of unneeded tests and prescribing a vast assortment of drugs as treatments when not needed.
CHINES ECLAS S 101.COM UPPER I NTERMEDIATE S 1 #1 - A TRI P TO THE CHINES E DOCTOR 7 LESSON NOTES Upper Intermediate S1 #2 Resorting to Desperate Measures at the Chinese Car Yard
CONTENTS
2 Simplified Chinese 2 Traditional Chinese 3 Pinyin 3 English 4 Vocabulary 5 Sample Sentences 6 Grammar 7 Cultural Insight
# 2
COPYRIGHT © 2012 INNOVATIVE LANGUAGE LEARNING. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. SIMPLIFIED CHINESE
1. A: 我昨天买了一辆车。
2. B: 哟，恭喜。听说从下月起就要摇号购车了。
3. A: 可不是嘛。你没看见这两天车行里的人呢，乌泱乌泱 的。
4. B: 都跟你一样，生怕以后买不上了呗。
5. A: 你不知道，当时还有两个人和我抢。我一狠心，二话不 说，掏出钥匙就在车身上划了一下。
6. B: 你这是跟谁过不去呀？
7. A: 我问，这车还有人要吗？结果他们都不出声儿了。
8. B: 算你狠！
TRADITIONAL CHINESE
1. A: 我昨天買了一輛車。
2. B: 喲，恭喜。聽說從下月起就要搖號購車了。
3. A: 可不是嘛。你沒看見這兩天車行裏的人呢，烏泱烏泱 的。
4. B: 都跟你一樣，生怕以後買不上了唄。
CONT'D OVER
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #2 - RESORTING TO DESPERATE MEASURES AT THE CHINESE CAR YARD 2 5. A: 你不知道，當時還有兩個人和我搶。我一狠心，二話不 說，掏出鑰匙就在車身上劃了一下。
6. B: 你這是跟誰過不去呀？
7. A: 我問，這車還有人要嗎？結果他們都不出聲兒了。
8. B: 算你狠！
PINYIN
1. A: Wǒ zuótiān mǎi le yī liàng chē.
2. B: Yo, gōngxǐ. tīngshuō cóng xiàyuè qǐ jiù yào yáo hào gòu chē le.
3. A: Kěbushì ma. Nǐ méi kànjiàn zhè liǎng tiān chēháng lǐ de rén ne, wū yāng wū yāng de.
4. B: Dōu gēn nǐ yīyàng, shēngpà yǐhòu mǎi bù shàng le bei.
5. A: Nǐ bù zhīdào, dāngshí hái yǒu liǎng ge rén hé wǒ qiǎng. Wǒ yī hěnxīn, èrhuàbùshuō, tāochūyàoshi jiù zài chē shēn shàng huá le yīxià.
6. B: Nǐ zhè shì gēn shéi guòbuqù yā?
7. A: Wǒ wèn, zhè chē hái yǒu rén yào ma? Jiéguǒ tāmen dōu bù chūshēng ér le.
8. B: Suàn nǐ hěn!
ENGLISH CONT'D OVER
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #2 - RESORTING TO DESPERATE MEASURES AT THE CHINESE CAR YARD 3 1. A: I bought a car yesterday.
2. B: Congratulations! I hear that starting next month a lottery system will limit the number of cars sold.
3. A: That's right. Haven't you seen all those people at the dealerships lately? What a crowd!
4. B: They're just like you—worried they won't be able to buy one later.
5. A: There were two other people who were competing for my car. So I thought for a moment then took out my keys and scratched the body of the car.
6. B: What did you do that for?
7. A: I asked, anyone else still want this car? They all went quiet.
8. B: You're tough!
VOCABULARY
Simplified Traditional Pinyin English
摇号 搖號 yáo hào lottery system
车险 車險 chē xiǎn car insurance
一狠心 一狠心 yī hěn xīn to be determined
划 劃 huá to scratch
出声 出聲 chūshēng to make noise
乌泱乌泱 烏泱烏泱 wū yāng wū yāng crowded
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #2 - RESORTING TO DESPERATE MEASURES AT THE CHINESE CAR YARD 4 to be worried (about 生怕 生怕 shēngpà something)
二话不说 二話不說 èrhuàbùshuō without a word
to be unable to get 过不去 過不去 guòbuqù along
SAMPLE SENTENCES
这次买房是摇号购买，就是说要抽 购买新车时必须同时购买车险。 中了才能买。 Gòumǎi xīnchēshí bìxū tóngshí gòumǎi chē xiǎn.
Zhècì mǎifáng shì yáo hào gòumǎi, jiùshìshuō yào chōu zhōng le cáinéng mǎi. When buying a new car, you have to buy
insurance too. This property sale is limited by lottery, which means you can only buy if your number's chosen.
她一狠心，趁着孩子还在睡觉就走 这车刚买了两个月，已经被划了好 了。 几下了。 Tā yī hěn xīn, chènzhe háizi hái zài shuìjiào jiù Zhè chē gāng mǎi le liǎng ge yuè, yǐjīng bèi huá zǒu le. le hǎojǐ xià le 。
She set her mind to it and left while the This car was bought just two months ago child was sleeping. and already has several scratches.
别出声，这种小动物特怕人。 国庆节的时候广场上人乌泱乌泱 Bié chūshēng, zhèzhǒng xiǎo dòngwù tè pàrén. 的。
Guóqìngjié de shíhou guǎngchǎng shàng rén wū Don't make a noise, this type of creature is yāng wū yāng de.
afraid of people. During the national holidays, there were a lot of people in the square.
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #2 - RESORTING TO DESPERATE MEASURES AT THE CHINESE CAR YARD 5 她一晚上都在复习，生怕第二天考 他二话不说，转身就走了。 试不过。 Tā èrhuàbùshuō, zhuǎnshēn jiù zǒu le.
Tā yī wǎnshang dōu zài fùxí, shēngpà dì èr tiān kǎoshìbúguò. He didn't say another word, but turned and
left. She stayed up to review all night, worried she wouldn't pass the exam.
我真不知道他为什么老是跟我过不去。 Wǒ zhēn bù zhīdào tā wèishénme lǎoshi gēn wǒ guòbuqù.
I have no idea why he can't get along with me.
GRAMMAR
The Focus of This Lesson is Chinese Onomatopoeia 乌泱乌泱的 (wū yāng wū yāng de) 你 没看见这两天车行里的人呢，乌泱乌泱 的。 Nǐ méi kànjiàn zhè liǎng tiān chē háng lǐ de rén ne, wū yāng wū yāng de. "Haven't you seen all those people at the dealerships lately? What a crowd!"
In today's dialogue, we came across the phrase 乌泱乌泱的 to describe a big crowd of people. This is an example of onomatopoeia, a word where the meaning is derived from the sound. As with English, the Chinese language is filled with onomatopoeia. Most of these types of words are either four character phrases or doubled-bigrams, as with our example in this dialogue. Look at the following sentences and see if you can identify the onomatopoeia.
1. 外面的雷声轰隆轰隆的。 Wàimian de léishēng hōnglōng hōnglōng de. "It is thundering loudly outside."
2. 小鸟在树上叽叽喳喳的叫个不停。 Xiǎoniǎozài shù shàng jījizhāzhā de jiào ge bùtíng. "The birds in the trees are chirping non-stop."
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #2 - RESORTING TO DESPERATE MEASURES AT THE CHINESE CAR YARD 6 3. 哗啦哗啦的流水声打断了我的回忆。 Huālā huālā de liúshuǐshēng dǎ duàn le wǒ de huíyì. "The sound of running water woke me from my memory."
4. 到处都是噼里啪啦的鞭炮声。 Dàochù dōu shì pīlǐpala de biānpàoshēng, zhēnshì tàirè nào le. "There are fireworks going off everywhere."
5. 屋子里除了闹钟滴滴答答的走着，其他什么声音也没有。 Wūzi lǐ chúle nàozhōng dīdī dádá de zǒuzhe, qítā shénme shēngyīn yě méiyǒu. "There's no sound in the room save for the ticking of the clock."
6. 虽然已经过了半天，他的心还扑通扑通地跳个不停。 Suīrán yǐjīng guò le bàntiān, tā de xīn hái pūtōng pūtōng di tiào ge bùtíng. "Although it's already long past, his heart is still beating hard."
CULTURAL INSIGHT
The Lottery System
As China modernized, the automobile culture took root in most of the country's main cities. But no other city has experienced such massive growth in traffic and pollution as Beijing. In spite of the city's apparent congestion problems, Beijingers continued to purchase cars through 2010 as if they were going out of fashion. In late November 2010, as many as eighteen thousand cars were being sold each week out of capital showrooms. In December 2010, this system came to a head when the government announced plans for a lottery system to restrict the sale of cars. The announcement immediately caused a doubling of sales as consumers rushed to purchase a vehicle while still legally able to do so. And now that the lottery system is in force it is causing problems of its own. One ready problem is the large number of people who enter the lottery with only vague plans to purchase a car. Many winners decide to postpone their purchase meaning that the opportunity to purchase a car is lost for others who might have more need for it. Allegations of corruption have also raised suspicions that the system is not being run in an egalitarian fashion. That said, considering the rampant air pollution in Beijing, the prospect of slowing down the growth of cars is an attractive prospect to many people and especially pedestrians and downtown residents who breathe in the brunt
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #2 - RESORTING TO DESPERATE MEASURES AT THE CHINESE CAR YARD 7 of the exhaust.
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #2 - RESORTING TO DESPERATE MEASURES AT THE CHINESE CAR YARD 8 LESSON NOTES Upper Intermediate S1 #3 Throwing Rotten Tomatoes at a Chinese Movie
CONTENTS
2 Simplified Chinese 2 Traditional Chinese 3 Pinyin 4 English 4 Vocabulary 5 Sample Sentences 6 Grammar 7 Cultural Insight
# 3
COPYRIGHT © 2015 INNOVATIVE LANGUAGE LEARNING. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. SIMPLIFIED CHINESE
1. A 亲爱的，你觉得那个电影怎么样？
2. B 还行吧。你说呢？
3. A 我觉得景色挺美的，像是风景片儿。情节倒是一般。
4. B 就是！情节也太烂了。这导演真没创意。
5. A 好像那故事是老套了点儿。
6. B 还有演员的演技也太差了。那个女一号像是在演小品，太夸张了。
7. A 确实挺假的。
8. B 这种片子简直是浪费我的时间，侮辱我的智商。
9. A 我以后再也不拉你来看电影了。
10. B 啊，亲爱的，别误会。我不是那个意思。
TRADITIONAL CHINESE
1. A 親愛的，你覺得那個電影怎麼樣？
2. B 还行吧。你說呢？
3. A 我覺得景色挺美的，像是風景片兒。情節倒是一般。
4. B 就是！情節也太爛了。這導演真沒創意。
CONT'D OVER
CHINES ECLAS S 101.COM UPPER I NTERMEDIATE S 1 #3 - THROWI NG ROTTEN TOMATOES AT A CHINES E MOVI E 2 5. A 好像那故事是老套了點兒。
6. B 還有演員的演技也太差了。那個女一號像是在演小品，太誇張了。
7. A 確實挺假的。
8. B 這種片子簡直是浪費我的時間，侮辱我的智商。
9. A 我以後再也不拉你來看電影了。
10. B 啊，親愛的，別誤會。我不是那個意思。
PINYIN
1. A Qīn'ài de, nǐ juéde nà ge diànyǐng zěnmeyàng?
2. B Hái xíng ba. Nǐ shuō ne?
3. A Wǒ juéde jǐngsè tǐng měide, xiàng shì fēngjǐngpiānr. Qíngjié dàoshì yībān.
4. B Jiùshì! Qíngjié yě tài làn le. Zhè dǎoyǎn zhēn méi chuàngyì. A Hǎoxiàng nà gùshi shì lǎotào le diǎnr.
5. B Hái yǒu yǎnyuán de yǎnjìyě tài chā le. Nà ge nǚ yī hào xiàng shì zài yǎn xiǎopǐn, tài kuāzhāng le.
6. A Quèshí tǐng jiǎ de.
7. B Zhèzhǒng piànzǐ jiǎnzhí shì làngfèi wǒ de shíjiān, wǔrǔ wǒ de zhìshāng.
8. A Wǒ yǐhòu zài yě bù lā nǐ lái kàn diànyǐng le.
CONT'D OVER
CHINES ECLAS S 101.COM UPPER I NTERMEDIATE S 1 #3 - THROWI NG ROTTEN TOMATOES AT A CHINES E MOVI E 3 9. B ā, qīn'ài de, bié wùhuì. Wǒ bù shì nà ge yìsi.
ENGLISH
1. A: Darling, what did you think of that movie?
2. B: It was okay. How about you?
3. A: I thought the scenery was nice, like a nature film. But the plot was so-so.
4. B: Yeah. The story was ridiculous. The director was totally uncreative.
5. A: The story was completely stereotypical.
6. B: And the acting was awful. The leading actress played like she was in a cabaret show, completely over-exaggerating!
7. A: Yeah, it was pretty fake.
8. B: This kind of movie was a total waste of time and an insult to my intelligence.
9. A: Okay, I won't take you to see a movie with me again.
10. B: Oh, darling, don't misunderstand me. I didn't mean that.
VOCABULARY
Simplified Traditional Pinyin English Class
CHINES ECLAS S 101.COM UPPER I NTERMEDIATE S 1 #3 - THROWI NG ROTTEN TOMATOES AT A CHINES E MOVI E 4 女一号 女一號 nǚ yī hào leading lady noun
演技 演技 yǎnjì acting skill noun
low quality, 烂 爛 làn rotten adjective
创意 創意 chuàngyì creativity noun
智商 智商 zhìshāng intelligence noun
情节 情節 qíngjié plot noun
侮辱 侮辱 wǔrǔ to insult, insult verb/noun
老套 老套 lǎotào stereotype adjective
to 误会 誤會 wùhuì misunderstand verb/noun
SAMPLE SENTENCES
女一号到底是谁到现在还定不下 她凭着在电影中出色的演技夺得了 来。 最佳女演员奖。 Nǚ yī hào dàodǐ shì shéi dào xiànzài hái dìng bù Tā píngzhe zài diànyǐng zhōng chūsè de yǎnjì xià lai. duódé le zuìjiā nǚyǎnyuán jiǎng.
It's still not set who will play the leading She took the best actress prize for her female role. excellent acting in the movie.
女一号的演技太烂了。 他的主意虽然夸张一点儿，但很有 Nǚ yī hào de yǎnjì tài làn le. 创意。
Tā de zhǔyi suīrán kuāzhāng yīdiǎnr, dàn hěn yǒu The leading female's acting is really bad. chuàngyì.
Although his idea is a little exaggerated, it is very creative.
CHINES ECLAS S 101.COM UPPER I NTERMEDIATE S 1 #3 - THROWI NG ROTTEN TOMATOES AT A CHINES E MOVI E 5 大部分人的智商都差不多。 这两天发生的一切就像小说中的故 Dàbùfēn rén de zhìshāng dōu chàbuduō. 事情节。
Zhè liǎng tiān fāshēng de yīqiè jiù xiàng xiǎoshuō Most people have more or less the same zhōng de gùshi qíngjié. intelligence. The events of the last few days were like the plot of a novel.
他这么做太侮辱人了。 你能不能不要这么老套，多一点创 Tā zhème zuò tài wǔrǔ rén le. 意？
Nǐ néngbùnéng bù yào zhème lǎotào, duō What he did is too insulting. yīdiǎnchuàngyì ?
Can't you be more creative and not so stereotypical?
你别生气，这只是一个误会。 Nǐ bié shēngqì, zhè zhǐ shì yī ge wùhuì.
Don't get angry. This is only a misunderstanding.
GRAMMAR
The Focus of This Lesson is the Adverb 倒是 (dàoshì) 情节倒是一般。 Qíngjié dàoshì yībān. "But the plot was so-so."
Our grammar focus today is the adverb 倒是 (dàoshì). This word is tricky to translate into English but you should use it when you want to communicate a sense of something happening unexpectedly. We can see this in the following examples:
1. 你一说，我倒是想起来了。 Nǐ yī shuō, wǒ dàoshì xiǎng qǐlai le. "As soon as you said it, I remembered."
CHINES ECLAS S 101.COM UPPER I NTERMEDIATE S 1 #3 - THROWI NG ROTTEN TOMATOES AT A CHINES E MOVI E 6 2. 看到他也在场，我倒是吃了一惊。 Kàn dào tā yě zàichǎng, wǒ dàoshì chī le yī jīng. "I was shocked when I saw him there too."
In most cases we find 倒是 in two-part sentences. Most of the time, 倒是 will appear in the second clause to emphasize that things are counter to what you would expect given the situation in the first part of the sentence. In these cases, it is common for 虽然 (suīrán) to appear in the first clause to provide extra emphasis.
For Example:
1. 到底想怎么样？你倒是说话呀？ Dàodǐ xiǎng zěnmeyàng? nǐ dàoshì shuōhuà yā? "What the heavens do you want? Can you talk?"
2. 他长得虽然不高，力气倒是不小。 Tā zhǎng de suīrán bùgāo, lìqi dàoshì bù xiǎo. "He is not a tall person, but he's got plenty of physical power."
3. 这屋子虽然不大，摆设倒是挺讲究。 Zhè wūzi suīrán bù dà, bǎishè dàoshì tǐng jiǎngjiū. "This room is not big, but the decorations have taste."
That said, in some cases you can also put 倒是 in the first clause. This is often used to establish contrast between an initial positive message and a negative message that follows. In these cases, it's typical to start the second clause with a conjunction that emphasizes the contrast, such as 可 (kě) or 可是 (kěshì).
For Example:
1. 你说的倒是容易，可事情哪有那么好办。 Nǐ shuō de dàoshì róngyì, kě shìqing nǎyǒu nàme hǎobàn. "It's easy to say it, but never that easy to do in reality."
2. 你想的倒是简单，可我上哪去借这么多钱呀。 Nǐ xiǎng de dàoshì jiǎndān, kě wǒ shàng nǎ qù jiè zhème duō Qián Yā. "It's easy to think of it, but where can I go and borrow this much money?"
CHINES ECLAS S 101.COM UPPER I NTERMEDIATE S 1 #3 - THROWI NG ROTTEN TOMATOES AT A CHINES E MOVI E 7 CULTURAL INSIGHT
Chinese Movies
When we think of Chinese movies in the West, the films of Jackie Chan, Bruce Lee, and Jet Li are probably the first that come to our mind. However, in the last two decades, Chinese directors such as Zhang Yimou ("Raising the Red Lantern" and "Hero") and Hong Kong's Wong Kar Wai ("Chungking Express" and "In the Mood for Love") have gained international fame, so hasd Taiwanese director Ang Lee who directed "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon."
While kung fu films are still very popular in China, the huge numbers of cinemas opening in China haves lead to some enormous hits in recent years which haven't acquired quite the same success or profile in the West. Director Feng Xiaogang has had big hits with his funny, romantic dramas "If You Are tThe One" PParts One and Two," starring the popular, bald comedy actor Ge You. However, he broke Chinese box office records with summer 2010's historic disaster film "Aftershock," which tells the story of a family tragically split up after the horrific Tangshan earthquake in 1976. Released to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the People's Republic in 2009, "The Founding of the Republic" is the story of the Chinese revolution featuring actors portraying Mao Ze Dong, Chiang Kai Shek, and Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Zhang Ziyi; as well as pretty much every other famous Chinese actor you can think of. The government sponsored this film which cinemas were obliged to show and many watched out of patriotic feeling, though, in truth, this propaganda- style film goes back to an earlier age of Chinese cinema and is unlikely to be of much interest to anyone outside China.
More likely to travel is the Chinese bad boy director and actor Jiang Wen's "Let the Bullets Fly" starring himself, Ge You (again), and star of John Woo's fantastic action films, Chow Yun Fat. Quickly after its release in cinemas in the winter of 2010, it beat "Aftershock" and became the most successful Chinese film ever.
However, the biggest hit in China's new cinema market to date, by far, was the release of James Cameron's 3D "'Avatar"' which has made 1.38 billion RMB (over 1 RMB for every person in China!). Some critics saw some interesting parallels between the social injustice against the N'avi and some real events in China while others just enjoyed the amazing pictures. In fact, one mountain in the Hunan province has renamed itself Avatar Hallelujah Mountain because it resembles the mountain seen in the film.
CHINES ECLAS S 101.COM UPPER I NTERMEDIATE S 1 #3 - THROWI NG ROTTEN TOMATOES AT A CHINES E MOVI E 8 LESSON NOTES Upper Intermediate S1 #4 All You Need is Love in China
CONTENTS
2 Simplified Chinese 2 Traditional Chinese 3 Pinyin 3 English 4 Vocabulary 5 Sample Sentences 5 Grammar 6 Cultural Insight
# 4
COPYRIGHT © 2012 INNOVATIVE LANGUAGE LEARNING. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. SIMPLIFIED CHINESE
1. A 老婆，咱们早点吃什么呀？
2. B 麦片粥吧。
3. A 可是咱们的锅都是脏的，已经好几天没刷了。
4. B 那就喝牛奶吧。
5. A 可牛奶早就喝光了。
6. B 你昨晚不是要去买的吗？
7. A 是，可我发现咱们一点儿现金都没有了。取钱的话，还得走出咱们小 区。我嫌太远了。
8. B 那就喝白开水吧，再加点儿蜂蜜，味道应该也不错。
9. A 太有创意了。宝贝儿，我爱你。
TRADITIONAL CHINESE
1. A 老婆，咱們早點吃甚麼呀？
2. B 麥片粥吧。
3. A 可是咱們的鍋都是髒的，已經好幾天沒刷了。
4. B 那就喝牛奶吧。
5. A 可牛奶早就喝光了。
CONT'D OVER
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #4 - ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE IN CHINA 2 6. B 你昨晚不是要去買的嗎？
7. A 是，可我發現咱們一點兒現金都沒有了。取錢的話，還得走出咱們小 區。我嫌太遠了。
8. B 那就喝白開水吧，再加點兒蜂蜜，味道應該也不錯。
9. A 太有創意了。寶貝兒，我愛你。
PINYIN
1. A Lǎopo, zánmen zǎo diǎn chī shénme yā?
2. B Màipiàn zhōu ba.
3. A Kěshì zánmen de guō dōu shì zāng de, yǐjīng hǎo jǐ tiān méi shuāle.
4. B Nà jiù hē niúnǎi ba.
5. A Kě niúnǎi zǎojiùhē guāng le.
6. B Nǐ zuówǎn bù shì yào qù mǎi de ma?
7. A Shì, kě wǒ fāxiàn zánmen yīdiǎnr xiànjīn dōu méiyǒu le. Qǔ qián de huà, hái děi zǒu chū zánmen xiǎoqū. Wǒ xián tài yuǎn le.
8. B Nà jiù hē báikāishuǐ ba, zài jiā diǎnr fēngmì, wèidao yīnggāi yě bùcuò.
9. A Tài yǒu chuàngyì le. Bǎobèir, wǒ ài nǐ.
ENGLISH
CONT'D OVER
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #4 - ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE IN CHINA 3 1. A: Honey, what shall we eat for breakfast?
2. B: How about oat porridge?
3. A: But all the pots are dirty. They haven't been washed for days.
4. B: Then how about some milk?
5. A: But we finished the milk ages ago.
6. B: Weren't you gonna go buy some last night?
7. A: Yeah, but I discovered we're out of cash. I'd have to walk out of our compound to get more. It's too far.
8. B: Then let's drink boiled water. We can add some honey. It should taste alright.
9. A: You are so creative. Baby, I love you.
VOCABULARY
Simplified Traditional Pinyin English
麦片粥 麥片粥 màipiànzhōu oat porridge
deep-fried dough 油条 油條 yóutiáo stick
馄饨 餛飩 húntún wonton
刷 刷 shuā to wash
蜂蜜 蜂蜜 fēngmì honey
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #4 - ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE IN CHINA 4 嫌 嫌 xián to dislike
豆汁儿 豆汁兒 dòuzhī ér mung bean juice
SAMPLE SENTENCES
早上喝点儿麦片粥又方便又有营 老北京人喜欢早上吃油条。 养。 Lǎo Běijīng rén xǐhuān zǎoshang chī yóutiáo.
Zǎoshang hē diǎnr màipiànzhōu yòu fāngbiàn yòu yǒu yíngyǎng. Old Beijingers like eating deep-fried
dough sticks in the morning. Eating oat porridge in the morning is both convenient and nutritional.
往馄饨汤里加点儿虾米皮和紫菜就 用这个锅之前要好好刷一下。 更好吃了。 Yòng zhège guō zhīqián yào hǎohāo shuā yīxià.
Wǎng húntún tāng lǐ jiādiǎnr xiāmipí hé zǐcài jiù gèng hǎochī le. Give this pot a good wash before using it.
Adding some dried shrimp and dried seaweeds will make the wonton soup even more tasty.
我喝粥的时候最喜欢加些蜂蜜了。 有时侯早上我嫌麻烦就不吃东西 wǒ hē zhōu de shíhou zuì xǐhuan jiā xiē fēngmì 了。 le. Yǒushí hóu zǎoshang wǒ xián máfan jiù bù chī
dōngxi le. I like adding honey when eating porridge. Sometimes it's too much trouble to eat anything in the morning.
豆汁儿是绿豆发酵以后做成的。 Dòuzhī ér shì lǜ dòu fājiào yǐhòu zuòchéngde.
Mung bean juice is made from fermented mung bean.
GRAMMAR
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #4 - ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE IN CHINA 5 The Focus of This Lesson is the Future Past Tense 你昨晚不是要去买的吗？ "Weren't you going to go buy some yesterday evening?"
When we are talking in the past tense, sometimes we wish to talk about the future. In English this requires complex grammatical contortions, especially when the future we invoke is conditional on events which did not actually happen and we need to use the subjunctive case. Fortunately, the Chinese way of handling this situation is much easier. As a case in point, consider the sheer simplicity of the situation we see in our dialogue. When the wife asks her husband 你昨晚不是要去买的吗 ("Weren't you going to go buy some yesterday evening?"), she is invoking the idea of a conditional future given a vantage point in the past. Her sentence is effectively, "Were you not (yesterday evening) planning to go and buy some (before now)?" The key elements to this construction are the time word 昨晚 which places the event at a certain point in the past, and then the auxiliary verb 要 which communicates that we are referring to a period in the future of that time. While this might seem too obvious to discuss at the Upper Intermediate level, there is a tricky case here we need to stress—you cannot omit to include the time word in this construction. While the time word can be dropped in many other situations where it is contextually clear what time reference is being talked about, it cannot be dropped in this case! Even if both parties are aware that they are discussing events in the past, it is absolutely essential that the time word like 昨晚 is left in the sentence. Otherwise, native speakers will understand you to be referring to the simple future, not the past future.
CULTURAL INSIGHT
Slim Breakfast Choices
Let us be perfectly forthright—China is not know internationally for having excellent breakfast foods. So if you find yourself hankering for something more substantial than porridge or dumplings early in the morning, your choices can be slim. That said, while it can be hard to find Western restaurants that will be open early in the morning, most major Chinese cities will have large Cantonese restaurants that stay open twenty-four hours a day. These restaurants usually cater to those who work late but can be counted on to serve a variety of non-breakfast dishes including fried rices and noodle dishes. And while these might not be considered
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #4 - ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE IN CHINA 6 breakfast foods on the mainland, they can make for a refreshing break from the quotidien.
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #4 - ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE IN CHINA 7 LESSON NOTES Upper Intermediate S1 #5 Follow the Chinese Rules to Open the Chinese Box
CONTENTS
2 Simplified Chinese 2 Traditional Chinese 3 Pinyin 3 English 4 Vocabulary 4 Sample Sentences 5 Grammar 7 Cultural Insight
# 5
COPYRIGHT © 2012 INNOVATIVE LANGUAGE LEARNING. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. SIMPLIFIED CHINESE
1. 您好，您的快递。请签收。
2. 谢谢。让我先检查一下。我买的是易碎品。
3. 不好意思，公司规定，顾客不签收是不能打开箱子的。
4. 可如果东西损坏了怎么办？
5. 您可以回头和公司联系，安排退货。公司会再派人上门取件儿。
6. 好吧，你把箱子给我签一下。
7. 谢谢你的合作。
8. 对不起，我们家收货也有规距，要不让开箱验货，就不把箱子还给你。
TRADITIONAL CHINESE
1. 您好，您的快遞。請簽收。
2. 謝謝。讓我先檢查一下。我買的是易碎品。
3. 不好意思，公司規定，顧客不簽收是不能打開箱子的。
4. 可如果東西損壞了怎麼辦？
5. 您可以回頭和公司聯繫，安排退貨。公司會再派人上門取件兒。
6. 好吧，你把箱子給我簽一下。
CONT'D OVER
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #5 - FOLLOW THE CHINESE RULES TO OPEN THE CHINESE BOX 2 7. 謝謝你的合作。
8. 對不起，我們家收貨也有規距，要不讓開箱驗貨，就不把箱子還給你。
PINYIN
1. Nínhǎo, nín de kuàidì. Qǐng qiān shōu.
2. Xièxiè. Ràng wǒ xiān jiǎncháyīxià. Wǒ mǎi de shì yìsuìpǐn.
3. Bùhǎoyìsi, gōngsī guīdìng, gùkè bù qiān shōu shì bù néng dǎkāi xiāngzi de.
4. Kě rúguǒ dōngxi sǔnhuài le zěnme bàn?
5. Nín kěyǐ huítóu hé gōngsī liánxì, ānpái tuìhuò. Gōngsī huì zài pàirénshàngmén qǔ jiàn ér.
6. Hǎo ba, nǐ bǎ xiāngzi gěi wǒ qiānyīxià.
7. Xièxie nǐ de hézuò.
8. Duìbuqǐ, wǒmen jiā shōu huò yě yǒu guī jù, yàobu ràngkai xiāng yàn huò, jiù bù bǎ xiāngzi huángěi nǐ.
ENGLISH
1. A: How are you? This delivery is for you. Please sign to receive.
2. B: Thanks. Let me check it first. I bought some stuff that is fragile.
CONT'D OVER
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #5 - FOLLOW THE CHINESE RULES TO OPEN THE CHINESE BOX 3 3. A: I am sorry, but it's a company policy, customers can't open the box without signing for it.
4. B: But what if the goods are damaged?
5. A: You can contact our company later to arrange a refund. The company will then send someone to pick up the goods.
6. B: Okay. Give me the box to sign.
7. A: Thank you for your cooperation.
8. B: I'm sorry but there's a rule in our family as well regarding receiving goods. If I'm not allowed to check them, I won't be able to return the box to you.
VOCABULARY
Simplified Traditional Pinyin English
快递 快遞 kuàidì courier
签收 簽收 qiān shōu to sign to receive
易碎 易碎 yìsuì fragile
检查 檢查 jiǎnchá check/to check
损坏 損壞 sǔnhuài damage/to damage
上门 上門 shàngmén to the door
验货 驗貨 yàn huò to check goods
取件 取件 qǔ jiàn to pick up
回头 回頭 huítóu in a while
SAMPLE SENTENCES
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #5 - FOLLOW THE CHINESE RULES TO OPEN THE CHINESE BOX 4 老板叫我打电话叫个快递把这份文 签收快递的时候一定要检查货品是 件寄给客户。 否齐全。 Lǎobǎn jiào wǒ dǎ diànhuà jiào ge kuàidì bǎ zhè Qiān shōu kuàidì de shíhou yīdìng yào jiǎnchá fèn wénjiàn jìgěi kèhù. huòpǐn shìfǒu qíquán.
The boss asked me to call a courier to When you sign for delivery, make sure you send this document to our client. check the goods.
这些都是易碎的东西，最好你亲自 做完作业以后，要认真检查别出 把它们送去。 错。 Zhè xiē dōu shì yìsuì de dōngxi, zuì hǎo nǐ qīnzì Zuò wán zuòyè yǐhòu, yào rènzhēn jiǎnchá bié bǎ tāmen sòng qù. chūcuò.
This stuff is very fragile, so it's best to After you finish your homework, check delivery them yourself. carefully you didn't make any mistakes.
所有有损坏的物品都由快递公司赔 快递公司会送货上门。 偿。 Kuàidì gōngsī huì sònghuòshàngmén.
Suǒyǒu yǒu sǔnhuài de wùpǐn dōu yóu kuàidì gōngsī péicháng. The delivery company will deliver right to
the door. Compensation for all damaged goods will be provided by the delivery company.
如果你当时不验货的话，出了问题 你一打电话，快递公司会上门取 只有你自己负责。 件。 Rúguǒ nǐ dāngshí bù yàn huò dehuà, chū le Nǐ yī dǎ diànhuà, kuàidì gōngsī huì shàngmén qǔ wèntí zhǐyǒu nǐ zìjǐ fùzé. jiàn.
If you don't check the goods right then, As soon as you call, the delivery company you'll be responsible if there are any will come pick up the goods. problems.
你把你要我检查的部分发邮件给我，我回头就给你看。 Nǐ bǎ nǐ yào wǒ jiǎnchá de bùfen fā yóujiàn gěi wǒ, wǒ huítóu jiù gěi nǐ kàn.
Email me the bits you want me to check and I'll look at them later.
GRAMMAR
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #5 - FOLLOW THE CHINESE RULES TO OPEN THE CHINESE BOX 5 The Focus of this Lesson is a Colloquial Shortcut 要不让开箱验货，就不把箱子还给你。 "If I can't open the parcel, then I can't return it to you."
Our grammar focus today is on a simple sentence pattern that you'll hear in colloquial speech but not encounter so much in formal, written Chinese. This is the 要... 就... pattern. This pattern sets up a fairly standard "if... then..." relationship between two clauses. The reason it is colloquial is that it is shorthand for the slightly more formal 要是... 就... pattern which means the same thing.
In our dialogue, we see this colloquial expressed used in a negative sentence pattern. Consider the sentence 要不让开箱验货，就不把箱子还给你 ("If I can't inspect the goods, then I can't return the parcel"). This is a really colloquial and native way to express the idea of negative conditionality. Technically the first 不 in this sentence is not grammatically paired to the 要 before it. In colloquial speech, when you wish to, it is very common to omit the 是, in the same way that English speakers will say "if you don't" rather than "if you do not." Look at how natural this structure is for expressing the following two ideas:
1. 要不上门取件，就不能发快递。 Yào bù shàngmén qǔjiàn, jiù bù néng fā kuàidì. "If you can't pick up the good up at my door, then I can't send it by courier."
2. 你要不马上叫快递，今天就送不了。 Nǐ yào bù mǎshàng jiào kuàidì, jīntiān jiù sòngbuliǎo. "If you don't call a courier right away, then you won't be able to send it today."
Language Tip
Do you realize that the subject of the two clauses in these sentences can be different? Most of the examples in our podcast had the same subject, and often left it unstated exactly who the subject was because it was contextually implied. That said, it is possible to use this pattern with two different subjects. In that case though, you must specify the subject of both the first as well as the second clause in advance of both 要 and 就. An example of this is the sentence 你今天要不送，我就没办法, nǐ jīntiān yào bù sòng , wǒ jiù méi bànfǎ ("If you don't send it
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #5 - FOLLOW THE CHINESE RULES TO OPEN THE CHINESE BOX 6 today, there's nothing I can do").
CULTURAL INSIGHT
The Pros and Cons to Chinese Shipping
Courier service is incredibly cheap in China, enabling documents, money, and even large parcels to be shipped across the city using same day service for less than 10 RMB in most cases. What many people do not know is that one of the reasons that shipping is so inexpensive is that the courier network in Beijing, Shanghai, and many other cities has developed around the subway system. Local companies will typically handle deliveries and collections from companies in their neighborhood, and organize and pass the materials to local couriers who will carry them across the city using the metro, handing them off to another company at the other end, which will then handle delivery.
While incredibly cheap, the downside to this is that shipping goods is not terribly reliable and no-one takes responsibility for broken or damaged goods. The solution in most cases is simply not to send cash or valuables through the delivery network and to purchase fragile items in person at local shops rather than through online sales channels like Taobao.com.
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #5 - FOLLOW THE CHINESE RULES TO OPEN THE CHINESE BOX 7 LESSON NOTES Upper Intermediate S1 #6 A Gruelling Chinese Interview
CONTENTS
2 Simplified Chinese 2 Traditional Chinese 3 Pinyin 3 English 4 Vocabulary 5 Sample Sentences 6 Grammar 7 Cultural Insight
# 6
COPYRIGHT © 2015 INNOVATIVE LANGUAGE LEARNING. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. SIMPLIFIED CHINESE
1. A 谢谢你参加我们公司的面试。
2. B 这是我的荣幸。请问什么时候能给我答复呢？
3. A 是这样，因为应聘这个职位的人实在太多了，我们想给大家一个公平竞 争的机会。
4. B 应该的。
5. A 所以我们决定选出一百名通过第一轮面试的人，参加第二轮试工。
6. B 没问题，请问我什么时候可以来？
7. A 嗯...你可以...下个月，不，下下个月的第二个星期一来。
8. B 啊...
9. A 另外还有，试工期为一个月，没有薪水，午餐自备。
TRADITIONAL CHINESE
1. A 謝謝你參加我們公司的面試。
2. B 這是我的榮幸。請問甚麼时候能給我答復呢？
3. A 是這樣，因為應聘這個職位的人實在太多了，我們想給大家一個公平競 爭的機會。
4. B 應該的。
CONT'D OVER
CHINES ECLAS S 101.COM UPPER I NTERMEDIATE S 1 #6 - A GRUELLI NG CHINES E I NTERVI EW 2 5. A 所以我們決定選出一百名通過第一輪面試的人，參加第二輪試工。
6. B 沒問題，請問我甚麼时候可以來？
7. A 嗯...你可以...下個月，不，下下個月的第二個星期一來。
8. B 啊...
9. A 另外還有，試工期為一個月，沒有薪水，午餐自備。
PINYIN
1. A xièxie nǐ cānjiā wǒmen gōngsī de miànshì.
2. B zhè shì wǒ de róngxìng. qǐngwèn shénme shíhòu néng gěi wǒ dáfù ne?
3. A shì zhèyàng, yīnwèi yìngpìn zhège zhíwèi de rén shízài tàiduō le, wǒmen xiǎng gěi dàjiā yī ge gōngpíngjìngzhēng de jīhuì.
4. B yīnggāi de.
5. A suǒyǐ wǒmen juédìng xuǎn chū yībǎi míng tōngguò dì yī lún miànshì de rén, cānjiā dìèrlún shìgōng.
6. B méiwèntí, qǐngwèn wǒ shénme shíhòu kěyǐ lái?
7. A en ...nǐ kěyǐ ...xià ge yuè, bù, xià xià ge yuè de dì èr ge xīngqīyī lái.
8. B ā ...
9. A lìngwài hái yǒu, shìgōngqī wéi yī ge yuè, méiyǒu xīnshuǐ, wǔcān zì bèi.
ENGLISH CONT'D OVER CHINES ECLAS S 101.COM UPPER I NTERMEDIATE S 1 #6 - A GRUELLI NG CHINES E I NTERVI EW 3 1. A: Thank you for attending our company's interview.
2. B: It's my honor. May I ask when will I get a reply?
3. A: It's this way. Because there are really too many people applying for this job, but we want to give everyone a fair opportunity to compete.
4. B: Of course.
5. A: So we decided to pick out a hundred of those who passed the first round of the interview to do an internship of sorts.
6. B: No problem. When can I come?
7. A: Hmm...you can...come next month, oh no, the month after next month on the second Monday.
8. B: What...
9. A: There is one more thing. The trial runs for a month without pay and you have to pay for your own lunch.
VOCABULARY
Simplified Traditional Pinyin English Class
答复 答復 dáfù reply verb
实在 實在 shízài really adverb
gōngpíngjìngzh 公平竞争 公平競爭 ēng fair competition phrase
试工 試工 shì gōng trial work verb phrase
CHINES ECLAS S 101.COM UPPER I NTERMEDIATE S 1 #6 - A GRUELLI NG CHINES E I NTERVI EW 4 薪水 薪水 xīnshuǐ salary noun
to prepare by 自备 自備 zì bèi oneself verb phrase
应聘 應聘 yìngpìn to apply for jobs verb
(measure word) 轮 輪 lún round, wheel measure word
荣幸 榮幸 róngxìng honor noun
SAMPLE SENTENCES
都过了这么长时间了，他们还没有 这次实在是不好意思，我下次一定 答复。 注意。 Dōu guò le zhèmecháng shíjiān le, tāmen hái Zhècì shízài shì bùhǎoyìsi, wǒ xiàcì yīdìng zhùyì.
méiyǒu dáfù. I'm really sorry about this time and will pay It's been so long and they still haven't attention next time. replied.
这个社会根本不存在什么公平竞 那家公司通知我去试工。 争。 Nà jiā gōngsī tōngzhī wǒ qù shì gōng.
Zhège shèhuì gēnběn bùcúnzài shénme gōngpíngjìngzhēng. The company let me know to go in for trial
work. In this society there is no such thing as fair competition.
他每月的薪水太低，实在租不起这 在这家公司上班连电脑都要自备， 么贵的房子。 更别提午餐了。 Tā měi yuè de xīnshuǐ tài dī, shízài zū bù qǐ Zhè jiā gōngsī shàngbān lián diànnǎo dōu yào zì zhème guì de fángzi. bèi, gèng bié tí wǔcān le.
His monthly salary is so low he really can't In this company you have to bring your afford such an expensive rental. own computer, to say nothing of lunch.
CHINES ECLAS S 101.COM UPPER I NTERMEDIATE S 1 #6 - A GRUELLI NG CHINES E I NTERVI EW 5 你已经应聘了这么多家公司，到底 应聘空姐要经过五轮儿面试。 有没有结果？ Yìngpìn kōngjiě yào jīngguò wǔ lúnér miànshì.
Nǐ yǐjīng yìngpìn le zhème duō jiā gōngsī, dàodǐ yǒu méiyǒu jiéguǒ? To apply for the stewardess job you have
to go through five interviews. You've applied for so many jobs, and all without any result?
能来参加这次节目，我太荣幸了。 Néng lái cānjiā zhècì jiémù, wǒ tài róngxìng le.
I am so honored to be able to attend the program.
GRAMMAR
The Ways of Wèi and Wéi 试工期为一个月，没有薪水，午餐自备。 "The trial period is one month. There's no salary and you have to provide your own lunch."
In this lesson we review the two pronunciations of the character 为 (wèi/wéi).
The official and most common pronunciation is fourth tone. As seen in the question 为什么 (wèishénme), when pronounced this way, the character has the meaning of "for the sake of." It is this same meaning we see when the character is used as a coverb or preposition, as in set phrases such as 为人民服务, wèi rénmín fúwù ("for the people, to serve"). The confusion here is caused by the tendency of many (most?) Chinese speakers to say this character in the second tone when saying it outside of extremely common set phrases like 为什么, 为了, and 为人民服务. Because of this, for simplicity's sake, it is often convenient simply to pronounce 为 in the second tone whenever it appears in an unknown context.
That said, in this lesson we see a second usage of the character where the pronunciation is actually supposed to be second tone. In this usage, 为 is a verb and translates roughly as "to be." In our dialogue we heard 试工期为一个月 (shìgōngqī wéi yī ge yuè), telling us that the trial work period is one month long. This usage of 为 is relatively formal, but it is not uncommon and tends to appear especially before lengths of time or numbers. Another
CHINES ECLAS S 101.COM UPPER I NTERMEDIATE S 1 #6 - A GRUELLI NG CHINES E I NTERVI EW 6 example might be an employer telling an employee that 薪水为六千, xīnshuǐ wéi liùqiān ("the salary is six thousand").
Although this difference is clean in theory, it isn't surprising that people get confused given the tendency for Chinese speakers themselves to confuse the pronunciation depending on whether they are saying 为 alone or as part of a common set phrase. Generally speaking, as long as you are aware of the technical difference between these two usages and make an informed decision about which pronunciation to use, you should be fine.
CULTURAL INSIGHT
Trial Periods
Trial work periods are common in China, although nothing like the harrowing experience suggested in our dialogue. It is typical for jobs to pay new employers a significantly lower salary for the first month of their employees, although less reputable companies will often try to expand this period to the legal maximum of three months. During this time, employees can generally be let go by the company for any reason without exposing themselves to legal consequences or the necessity of offering severance pay to the affected employee. This practice is not common when hiring ex-patriot staff however.
CHINES ECLAS S 101.COM UPPER I NTERMEDIATE S 1 #6 - A GRUELLI NG CHINES E I NTERVI EW 7 LESSON NOTES Upper Intermediate S1 #7 The Hundredth Time's the Charm in China
CONTENTS
2 Simplified Chinese 2 Traditional Chinese 3 Pinyin 3 English 4 Vocabulary 5 Sample Sentences 6 Grammar 7 Cultural Insight
# 7
COPYRIGHT © 2012 INNOVATIVE LANGUAGE LEARNING. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. SIMPLIFIED CHINESE
1. A: 你看见我买的彩票了吗？
2. B: 没看见。
3. A: 我明明就放在窗台儿上了。一张黄色的，涂满黑圈儿的 纸？
4. B: 没注意。可能是在收拾屋子的时候，当废纸给扔了。
5. A: 什么？废纸？万一要中了，头等奖可是500万！
6. B: 你还敢提。这么多年，你赔了多少钱？连个末等奖也没 中过呀。
7. A: 没准儿就是这次了。我有预感。
8. B: 这话我都听腻了。你去垃圾桶里找找吧。
TRADITIONAL CHINESE
1. A: 你看見我買的彩票了嗎？
2. B: 沒看見。
3. A: 我明明就放在窗臺兒上了。一張黃色的，塗滿黑圈兒的 紙？
4. B: 沒注意。可能是在收拾屋子的時候，當廢紙給扔了。
5. A: 甚麼？廢紙？萬一要中了，頭等獎可是500萬！
CONT'D OVER
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #7 - THE HUNDREDTH TIME'S THE CHARM IN CHINA 2 6. B: 你還敢提。這麼多年，你賠了多少錢？連個末等獎也沒 中過呀。
7. A: 沒準兒就是這次了。我有預感。
8. B: 這話我都聽膩了。你去垃圾桶裏找找吧。
PINYIN
1. A: Nǐ kànjiàn wǒ mǎi de cǎipiào le ma?
2. B: Méi kànjiàn.
3. A: Wǒ míngmíng jiù fàngzài chuāngtáiér shàng le. Yī zhāng huángsè de, túmǎn hēiquānr de zhǐ?
4. B: Mi zhùyì. Kěnéng shì zài shōushi wūzi de shíhou, dāng fèizhǐ gěi rēngle.
5. A: Shénme? Fèizhǐ? Wànyī yào zhòng le, tóuděngjiǎng kěshì wǔbǎiwàn!
6. B: Nǐ hái gǎn tí. Zhème duō nián, nǐ péi le duō shǎo qián? Lián ge mòděngjiǎng yě méi zhòngguò yā.
7. A: Méizhǔnr jiùshì zhècì le. Wǒ yǒu yùgǎn.
8. B: Zhè huà wǒ dōu tīngnìle. Nǐ qù lājītǒng lǐ zhǎozhao ba.
ENGLISH
CONT'D OVER
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #7 - THE HUNDREDTH TIME'S THE CHARM IN CHINA 3 1. A: Did you see my lottery ticket?
2. B: No.
3. A: I clearly left it by the window. A piece of yellow paper covered with black circles?
4. B: I didn't notice it. It could have been there when I was tidying up the room, I threw it out as a piece of rubbish.
5. A: What? A piece of rubbish? What if I won? The first prize is five million!
6. B: You dare to mention it. How much money have you lost over the years? You've never even won the smallest prize.
7. A: This could be the time. I have a feeling.
8. B: I've heard too much of this. Why don't you go and look for it in the trash can.
VOCABULARY
Simplified Traditional Pinyin English
没准儿 沒準兒 méi zhǔn ér possibly
彩票 彩票 cǎipiào lottery ticket
赔 賠 péi to have lost money
大奖 大獎 dàjiǎng big prize
头等奖 頭等獎 tóu děng jiǎng first prize
预感 預感 yùgǎn foresight
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #7 - THE HUNDREDTH TIME'S THE CHARM IN CHINA 4 废纸 廢紙 fèizhǐ rubbish paper
to draw the winning 开奖 開獎 kāi jiǎng numbers
to be sick of 腻 膩 nì something
涂满 塗滿 tú mǎn to be covered with
SAMPLE SENTENCES
他预感挺灵的，没准儿这次你真能 他买了十年的彩票，却从来都没中 中个大奖。 过奖。 Tā yùgǎn tǐng líng de, méi zhǔn ér zhècì nǐ zhēn Tā mǎi le shí nián de cǎipiào, què cónglái dōu néng zhòng ge dàjiǎng. méi zhòngguo jiǎng.
He's got a really good sense of things, so He's been buying lottery tickets for 10 maybe this time you'll really win the big years, but has never won. prize.
这次他真赔了不少钱。 据说这次比赛的大奖是一辆豪华跑 Zhècì tā zhēn péi le bùshǎo qián. 车。
Jùshuō zhècì bǐsài de dàjiǎng shì yī liàng This time he really lost a lot of money. háohuápǎochē.
It's said the prize for this competition is a luxury sports car.
没想到我中了个头等奖，差点儿把 你的预感真灵！ 它当废纸扔了。 Nǐ de yùgǎn zhēn líng!
Méi xiǎngdào wǒ zhòng le ge tóu děng jiǎng, chàdiǎnr bǎ tā dāng fèizhǐ rēngle. Your sense of prescience is amazing!
I never thought I could win first prize, and almost threw out the ticket as rubbish.
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #7 - THE HUNDREDTH TIME'S THE CHARM IN CHINA 5 没有中奖的彩票就是废纸一张。 每次开奖之前是我最紧张的时候。 Méiyǒu zhòngjiǎng de cǎipiào jiùshì fèizhǐ Měicì kāi jiǎng zhīqián shì wǒ zuì jǐnzhāng de yīzhāng. shíhou.
A lottery ticket without the right number is I'm the most nervous just before the just a piece of rubbish. announcement of the winning ticket.
这句话我都听腻了。 小姑娘在纸上涂满了各种颜色的星 Zhè jù huà wǒ dū tīng nìle. 星。
Xiǎo gūniang zài zhǐshàng túmǎn le gèzhǒng I'm tired of hearing the sentence so much. yánsè de xīngxing.
The little girl drew colorful stars all over the paper.
GRAMMAR
The Focus of This Lesson is Something Even Native Speakers Need 你赔了多少钱？连个末等奖也没中过呀。 "How much money have you lost? You've never even won the last-place prize."
Our grammar focus in this lesson is on the sentence pattern 连... 也/都. This is a common pattern used to indicate that something is more than expected. We see it surface in two main variants, depending on the subject of the sentence. In the first case, 连 introduces the subject explicitly,
For Example:
1. 连小孩子孩子都会理解这一点。 "Even a small child would understand this point."
2. 连我父母也去了。 "Even my father and mother both went."
In the second case, 连 is used to introduce the object and the subject of the sentence is
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #7 - THE HUNDREDTH TIME'S THE CHARM IN CHINA 6 positioned immediately before 连. For an example of this, consider the following two examples:
1. 我叫他过来，可是他连头都没抬。 "I called him over, but he didn't even raise his head."
2. 你连一快钱也没有赢过，怎么还想继续赌博？ "You haven't even won a single kuai, how can you want to keep gambling?"
Bonus Tip
There is a final variant of this pattern in which 连... 也/都... is used to emphasize that an action has not happened. In this case, rather than follow 连 with a subject, we follow it instead with a verb in the affirmative form. An example of this might be turning the sentence 他连信 都没看 into the sentence 他连看都没看. This is a particularly advanced colloquial usage which emphasizes an action and omits an object completely. The key is to put the negative form of the same verb (preceded by either 不 or 没) immediately after the 也/都 and then restating the original verb.
CULTURAL INSIGHT
Did you know that every time you eat out in China you can take part in a lottery? Your chances of winning are fairly minescule, but if you ask for an official 发票 (receipt) at most restaurants they are obliged to provide them. And on most of the government-issued tickets are scratch-off prize areas where diners can win various amounts of money. Most of the time there are no rewards on any of the tickets, and this seems increasingly to be the case. But it is still possible to win token amounts of five or ten RMB. So the next time you eat out, why not ask for a receipt and try your luck? Maybe you'll get rich.
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #7 - THE HUNDREDTH TIME'S THE CHARM IN CHINA 7 LESSON NOTES Upper Intermediate S1 #8 Is the Honeymoon Over in China?
CONTENTS
2 Simplified Chinese 2 Traditional Chinese 3 Pinyin 3 English 4 Vocabulary 5 Sample Sentences 5 Grammar 6 Cultural Insight
# 8
COPYRIGHT © 2012 INNOVATIVE LANGUAGE LEARNING. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. SIMPLIFIED CHINESE
1. A: 今年春节过得怎么样？
2. B: 别提了。除了吃，就是睡。偶尔再上上网，无聊透顶。
3. A: 就没出去逛逛？
4. B: 我老公就顾着打麻将，哪有工夫陪我？
5. A: 我男朋友带我去欧洲旅行了，可有意思了。
6. B: 是吗？
7. A: 我们每天喝喝咖啡，吹吹海风，下下馆子。我觉得幸福 死了。
8. B: 等着吧。我老公结婚之前也挺浪漫。结完婚就爱答不理 了。
TRADITIONAL CHINESE
1. A: 今年春節過得怎麼樣？
2. B: 別提了。除了吃，就是睡。偶爾再上上網，無聊透頂。
3. A: 就沒出去逛逛？
4. B: 我老公就顧著打麻將，哪有工夫陪我？
5. A: 我男朋友帶我去歐洲旅行了，可有意思了。
CONT'D OVER
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #8 - IS THE HONEYMOON OVER IN CHINA? 2 6. B: 是嗎？
7. A: 我們每天喝喝咖啡，吹吹海風，下下館子。我覺得幸福 死了。
8. B: 等著吧。我老公結婚之前也挺浪漫。結完婚就愛答不理 了。
PINYIN
1. A: Jīnnián Chūnjié guòde zěnmeyàng?
2. B: Bié tí le. Chúle chī, jiùshì shuì, ǒuěr zài shàngshangwǎng, wúliáo tòu dǐng.
3. A: Jiù méi chūqù guàngguang?
4. B: Wǒ lǎogōng jiù gùzhe dǎ májiàng, nǎyǒu gōngfu péi wǒ?
5. A: Wǒ nánpéngyou dài wǒ qù ōuzhōu lǚxíng le, kě yǒu yìsi le.
6. B: Shì ma?
7. A: Wǒmen měitiān hēhē kāfēi, chuīchuī hǎifēng, xiàxià guǎnzǐ. Wǒ juéde xìngfú sǐ le.
8. B: Děngzhe ba. Wǒ lǎogōng jiéhūn zhīqián yě tǐng làngmàn. Jié wán hūn jiù àidábùlǐ le.
ENGLISH
CONT'D OVER
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #8 - IS THE HONEYMOON OVER IN CHINA? 3 1. A: How was Spring Festival this year?
2. B: Not worth mentioning. If I wasn't eating, I was sleeping. And sometimes I'd go online. It was so boring.
3. A: Didn't you get out to do anything?
4. B: My husband only wanted to play Mahjong. Where has he got time for me?
5. A: My boyfriend took me to Europe. It was so much fun.
6. B: Yeah?
7. A: Everyday we would drink coffee, enjoy the sea breeze, and go to restaurants. I felt so happy.
8. B: Wait and see. Before I got married, my husband was pretty romantic too. Then after marriage he lost interest in me.
VOCABULARY
Simplified Traditional Pinyin English
不幸 不幸 bùxìng unlucky
无聊透顶 無聊透頂 wúliáo tòudǐng extremely boring
to be solely engaged 净顾着 凈顧著 jìng gù zhe in something
逛逛 逛逛 guàngguang to wander around
工夫 工夫 gōngfu time
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #8 - IS THE HONEYMOON OVER IN CHINA? 4 to go to the 下馆子 下館子 xià guǎn zǐ restaurant
to have no interest in 爱答不理 愛答不理 ài dá bù lǐ someone
SAMPLE SENTENCES
她是个不幸的女人，丈夫很早就离 婚后的生活对她来说是无聊透顶。 开了她。 Hūnhòude shēnghuó duì tā láishuō shì wúliáo Tā shì ge bùxìng de nǚrén, zhàngfu hěn zǎo jiù tòu dǐng.
líkāi le tā. After getting married her life was extremely She is very unlucky that her husband left boring. her long ago.
我来的时候，你净顾着玩儿牌了。 我平常不大出门，只是偶尔去逛逛 Wǒ lái de shíhou, nǐ jìng gù zhe wánr pái le. 街。
Wǒ píngcháng bù dà chūmén, zhǐ shì ǒuěr qù When I came in, you were busy playing guàngguang jiē.
cards. Normally I don't go out much but occasionally I go window shopping.
他连这点儿工夫都没有吗？ 这小两口虽然挣得不多，却天天下 Tlián zhè diǎnr gōngfu dōu méiyǒu ma? 馆子。
Zhè xiǎo liǎng kǒu suīrán zhēng de bùduō, què He didn't even have a bit of time for this? tiāntiān xià guǎn zi.
Although the young couple doesn't make much money, they eat out every day.
他经常对我爱答不理的，我都习惯了。 Tā jīngcháng duì wǒ ài dá bù lǐ de, wǒ dōu xíguàn le.
He often ignores me. I'm already used to it.
GRAMMAR
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #8 - IS THE HONEYMOON OVER IN CHINA? 5 The Focus of this Lesson is the Grammar Pattern 除了...就是.... 除了吃，就是睡。 "If I wasn't eating, I was sleeping."
Our grammar point today covers the sentence pattern 除了... 就是 (chúle ...jiùshì), which is used to suggest that if one thing is not happening, then the other thing is happening. The two events referred to here are placed after 除了 and then 就是. In our dialogue, we encounter this when the second speaker says 除了吃，就是睡 chúle chī , jiùshì shuì ("If I wasn't eating, I was sleeping"). We can also see this pattern used as below:
1. 他除了打麻将，就是看电视。 Tā chúle dǎ májiāng , jiùshì kàn diànshì. "If he is not playing mahjong, he is watching TV."
2. 我觉得最幸福的除了下馆子，就是喝咖啡。 Wǒ juéde zuì xìngfú de chúle xià guǎnzǐ , jiùshì hē kāfēi. "I think what makes me happiest is either going out to eat or drinking coffee."
Although the literal meaning does not change, one interesting thing about this pattern is that it can also be used to suggest that someone is very busy. In some cases, you will hear people use it to imply that they are so busy doing both A and B that they don't have time for a third activity.
CULTURAL INSIGHT
Marriage in China
The minimum age to marry in China is 22 years old for men and 20 years old for women. The average ages at which both sexes marry is now 29.2 and 27.1 respectively, with residents of Shanghai, Guangzhou and Beijing marrying later than elsewhere. Sociologists believe this phenomenon is being caused by several factors, but largely by economic forces which place greater demands on what younger men and women need to live independently of their parents.
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #8 - IS THE HONEYMOON OVER IN CHINA? 6 LESSON NOTES Upper Intermediate S1 #9 The Chinese Gold Rush
CONTENTS
2 Simplified Chinese 2 Traditional Chinese 3 Pinyin 3 English 4 Vocabulary 4 Sample Sentences 5 Grammar 6 Cultural Insight
# 9
COPYRIGHT © 2012 INNOVATIVE LANGUAGE LEARNING. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. SIMPLIFIED CHINESE
1. 这么多人在买黄金，也太夸张了吧。
2. 这还叫多？周末再来瞅瞅。
3. 怎么跟买大白菜似的。
4. 这两年黄金升值太快，而且还越炒越高。谁都怕错过发财机会。
5. 那我也没见过这场面呀，跟白给不要钱似的。
6. 谁让咱老百姓的生活水平提高了呢，咱不缺钱！
7. 这么说你也送我点儿什么吧。
8. 呃，这...可是还有一小部分像我这样没有富裕起来的群众呢。
TRADITIONAL CHINESE
1. 這麼多人在買黃金，也太誇張了吧。
2. 這還叫多？周末再來瞅瞅。
3. 怎麼跟買大白菜似的。
4. 這兩年黃金升值太快，而且還越炒越高。誰都怕錯過發財機會。
5. 那我也沒見過這場面呀，跟白給不要錢似的。
6. 誰讓咱老百姓的生活水平提高了呢，咱不缺錢！
CONT'D OVER
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #9 - THE CHINESE GOLD RUSH 2 7. 這麼說你也送我點兒甚麼吧。
8. 呃，這...可是還有一小部分像我這樣沒有富裕起來的群眾呢。
PINYIN
1. Zhème duō rén zài mǎi huángjīn, yě tài kuāzhāng le ba.
2. Zhè hái jiào duō? Zhōumò zàilái chǒuchǒu.
3. Zěnme gēn mǎi dàbáicài shìde.
4. Zhèliǎngnián huángjīn shēngzhí tài kuài, érqiě hái yuè chǎo yuè gao. Shéi dōu pà cuòguò fācái jīhuì.
5. Nà wǒ yě méi jiànguo zhè chǎngmiàn yā, gēn báigěi bù yào qián Shìde.
6. Shéi ràng zán lǎobǎixìng de shēnghuó shuǐpíng tígāo le ne, zán bù quē qián!
7. Zhème shuō nǐ yě sòng wǒ diǎnr shénme ba.
8. E, zhè ...kěshì hái yǒu yìxiǎobùfen xiàng wǒ zhèyàng méiyǒu fùyù qǐlai de qúnzhòng ne.
ENGLISH
1. A: So many people are buying gold. This is way too much.
2. B: This is too much? Come back to have a look on the weekend.
CONT'D OVER
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #9 - THE CHINESE GOLD RUSH 3 3. A: It looks like people buying cabbage.
4. B: These last few years the value of gold has gone up quickly and it's getting higher all the time. No-one wants to miss this opportunity to make a fortune.
5. A: Yet I haven't seen anything like this. It looks like they are being given out for free.
6. B: Thanks to the fact the standard of living of the ordinary people has increased, we're not short of money.
7. A: If that's the case then why don't you buy me something?
8. B: Well... there are still a couple of people like me who haven't gotten rich yet.
VOCABULARY
Simplified Traditional Pinyin English
老百姓 老百姓 lǎobǎixìng ordinary people
黄金 黃金 huángjīn gold
场面 場面 chǎngmiàn situation
瞅瞅 瞅瞅 chǒu chǒu to look at
白给 白給 bái gěi to give for free
升值 升值 shēngzhí to increase in value
生活水平 生活水平 shēnghuó shuǐpíng living standard
富裕 富裕 fùyù to get rich
发财 發財 fācái to make a fortune
SAMPLE SENTENCES CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #9 - THE CHINESE GOLD RUSH 4 我只是个普通老百姓，没见过这种 最近大家都在抢着买黄金。 场面。 Zuìjìn dàjiā dōu zài qiǎngzhe mǎi huángjīn.
Wǒ zhǐ shì ge pǔtōng lǎobǎixìng, méi jiànguo zhèzhǒng chǎngmiàn. Recently everyone has rushed to buy gold.
I am only an ordinary person, and have never seen anything like this.
这种场面平常是不多见的。 这么贵的金项链儿，让我瞅瞅。 Zhèzhǒng chǎngmiàn píngcháng shì bù duō jiàn Zhème guì de jīn xiàngliànér, ràng wǒ chǒuchǒu. de. That's such an expensive gold necklace... This kind of situation is not often seen. let me take a look.
质量这么差的东西白给我也不要。 这些天黄金升值太快了，连白银都 Zhìliàng zhème chà de dōngxi bái gěi wǒ yě bù 跟着涨了。 yào. Zhè xiē tiān huángjīn shēngzhí tài kuài le, lián
báiyín dōu gēnzhe zhǎng le. I wouldn't want something this bad even if it was free. The value of gold has gone up so quickly lately that even the price of silver is rising.
看来生活水平是提高了，白给的东 老百姓的生活越来越富裕了。 西都不要了。 Lǎobǎixìng de shēnghuó yuèláiyuè fùyù le.
Kànlái shēnghuó shuǐpíng shì tígāo le, bái gěi de dōngxi dōu bùyào le. The lives of the ordinary people are geting
wealthier and wealthier. It looks like the standard of living has indeed increased if people no longer want free stuff.
你是不是发财了？买这么贵的首饰? Nǐ shìbùshì fācái le? Mǎi zhème guì de shǒushì?
Have you made a fortune, buying such expensive jewlery?
GRAMMAR
The Focus of This Lesson is an Advanced Way to Offer Explanations
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #9 - THE CHINESE GOLD RUSH 5 谁让咱老百姓的生活水平提高了呢。 "It's because of the life standard of ordinary people is getting higher and higher."
Our grammar focus in this lesson is on the strange word 谁让 (shéi ràng). This is tricky because its meaning is not very close to what one might imagine. When you use it you aren't asking who has allowed something to happen so much as trying to explain a phenomenon. Consider these two examples.
For Example:
1. 谁让我就喜欢钻石呢，多贵我也愿意买。 Shéi ràng wǒ jiù xǐhuān zuànshí ne, Duō guì wǒ yě yuànyì mǎi. "I like diamonds so much that I'll buy them no matter how expensive they are."
2. 谁让黄金升值这么快，珠宝的价格也贵了一倍。 Shéi ràng huángjīn shēngzhí zhème kuài , Zhūbǎo de jiàgé yě guì le yī bèi . "It's because the price of gold is soaring that the price of jewelry has doubled."
In both of these cases, 谁让 introduces an explanation. It is because the speaker likes diamonds that he or she is insensitive to their price. It is because the price of gold is increasing that the price of jewelry is also going up.
But there is more than just an implied causal relationship in these sentences. In many cases, people will use this word to assign blame or suggest that the situation is inevitable. In the sentence 谁让你去年不投资黄金，现在晚了吧 implies that it is the listener's fault for not investing in gold. Conversely, the usage in our dialogue carries a sense of inevitability. Given the growth in the Chinese economy it is inevitable that Chinese people now have a higher standard of living and are purchasing more precious metals.
CULTURAL INSIGHT
Chinese Reform and Opening-up Policy
When the Chinese government adopted its Reform and Opening-up Policy in 1978, the
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #9 - THE CHINESE GOLD RUSH 6 decision implicitly acknowledged the tremendous damage caused to Chinese society by the Cultural Revolution and the Great Leap Forward.
Deng Xiaoping, the leader of the Chinese Communist Party at the time, argued that capitalism should be allowed even if it let some Chinese people get rich before others; once the nation was richer, public policy could then move to address any remaining poverty. This shift prompted a rapid expansion of the capitalist economy but led directly to the problems encountered in the late 1990s when many industries were dominated by politically-controlled interests such as the PLA.
After thirty years, these problems have not gone away. While a large number of Chinese people have become incredibly rich, and while China is now the world's largest market for luxury goods, the distribution of wealth is increasingly extreme and political connections continue to pervade industrial capitalism. It remains to be seen whether China will be able to provide meaningful support to its poor and reduce its growing income inequality.
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #9 - THE CHINESE GOLD RUSH 7 LESSON NOTES Upper Intermediate S1 #10 It's the Same Old Chinese Spring Gala
CONTENTS
2 Simplified Chinese 2 Traditional Chinese 3 Pinyin 3 English 4 Vocabulary 4 Sample Sentences 5 Grammar 6 Cultural Insight
# 10
COPYRIGHT © 2012 INNOVATIVE LANGUAGE LEARNING. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. SIMPLIFIED CHINESE
1. A 春晚看了吗？
2. B 没看，这年头谁还看春晚，多没劲呀。
3. A 太对了！就是我爸我妈非要看，还非逼着我陪看。
4. B 那个赵本山的小品真是一年不如一年了。
5. A 没错！还有那几个老歌唱家，年年春晚就那几首歌。都成保留曲目了。
6. B 我看也就是去年网上走红的那个网络歌手还凑活。
7. A 对对对。还有那个...... 嗯？你不是没看春晚吗？
8. B 我...我也是被逼的呀。
TRADITIONAL CHINESE
1. A 春晚看了嗎？
2. B 沒看，這年頭誰還看春晚，多沒勁呀。
3. A 太對了！就是我爸我媽非要看，還非逼著我陪看。
4. B 那個趙本山的小品真是一年不如一年了。
5. A 沒錯！還有那幾個老歌唱家，年年春晚就那幾首歌。都成保留曲目了。
6. B 我看也就是去年網上走紅的那個網絡歌手還湊活。
CONT'D OVER
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #10 - IT'S THE SAME OLD CHINESE SPRING GALA 2 7. A 對對對。還有那個...... 嗯？你不是沒看春晚嗎？
8. B 我...我也是被逼的呀。
PINYIN
1. A Chūnwǎn kànle ma?
2. B Méikàn, zhè niántóu shéi hái kàn chūnwǎn, duō méijìn ya.
3. A Tài duì le! Jiùshì wǒbà wǒmā fēiyàokàn, hái fēi bīzhe wǒ péi kàn.
4. B Nàge Zhāo Běnshān de xiǎopǐn zhēnshì yīnián bùrú yīnián le.
5. A Méicuò! Háiyǒu nàjǐge lǎogēchàngjiā, niánnián chūnwǎn jiù nà jǐshǒugē. Dōu chéng bǎoliú qǔmù le.
6. B Wǒ kàn yě jiùshì qùnián wǎngshàng zǒuhóng de nàge wǎngluò gēshǒu hái còuhuo.
7. A Duì duì duì. Hái yǒu nàge ...... en? Nǐ bùshì méikàn chūnwǎn ma?
8. B Wǒ ...Wǒ yě shì bèibīde ya.
ENGLISH
1. A: Did you watch the Spring Gala show?
2. B: No. Who still watches it these days, it's so boring!
CONT'D OVER
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #10 - IT'S THE SAME OLD CHINESE SPRING GALA 3 3. A: Absolutely! I only watched it because my mom and dad insisted and forced me to keep them company.
4. B: The sketches by Zhao Benshan are becoming more and more boring each year.
5. A: You're right! Also those old singers who can only sing the same songs they've sung every year. They've become anthems by now.
6. B: In my opinion the only good bits were those singers who became popular online last year.
7. A: Yes. And that one... wait? Didn't you say you didn't watch the show?
8. B: I...I was also forced.
VOCABULARY
Simplified Traditional Pinyin English
the annual Spring 春晚 春晚 chūnwǎn Gala show
逼 逼 bī to force
凑活 湊活 còuhuo OKay
没劲 沒勁 méijìn boring
非要 非要 fēiyào to insist
陪着 陪著 péizhe to accompany
保留曲目 保留曲目 bǎoliú qūmù standard song
SAMPLE SENTENCES
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #10 - IT'S THE SAME OLD CHINESE SPRING GALA 4 中国的春晚已经有二十多年的历史 我都快撑死了，他还逼着我把最后 了。 几个饺子吃了。 Zhōngguó de chūnwǎn yǐjīng yǒu èrshí duōnián Wǒ dōu kuài chēngsǐle, tā hái bīzhe wǒ bǎ de lìshǐ le. zuìhòu jǐge jiǎozi chī le.
China's Spring Gala has existed for more I was really full, but he still forced me to than two decades. finish the last few dumplings.
找了半天都找不着更合适的，只能 你这人真没劲，说好了去又不去 凑活用这个旧的了。 了。 Zhǎo le bàntiān dōu zhǎobùzháo gèng héshì de, Nǐ zhè rén zhēn méijìn, shuōhǎo le qù yòu zhǐ néng còuhuo yòng zhège jiù de le. bùqùle.
After I couldn't find a more suitable one, I You are so boring, changing your mind just got using the old one. after agreeing to go.
他非要在春节的时候去旅行，人又 你要不陪着我去，我也不去了。 多又贵。 Nǐ yào bu péizhe wǒ qù, wǒ yě bùqù le.
Tā fēiyào zài Chūn Jié de shíhou qù lǚxíng, rén yòuduō yòuguì. If you won't accompany me, I won't go.
He insisted on traveling during the Spring Festival while it was crowded and expensive.
他一去KTV，就唱他那几首保留曲目。 Tā yī qù KTV, jiù chàng tā nà jǐshǒu bǎoliú qūmù.
Everytime he goes to KTV he sings the same songs.
GRAMMAR
The Focus of this Lesson is a Grammar Point You Must Remember 就是我爸我妈非要看，还非逼着我陪看。 "My father and mother insisted on seeing it, and they insisted on me seeing it too."
Our grammar focus today is on an advanced usage of the word 非, fēi ("must"). In earlier
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #10 - IT'S THE SAME OLD CHINESE SPRING GALA 5 lessons we told you that this character means 不是, bù shì ("not"), as found in words like 非 法, fēifǎ ("illegal") or 非常, fēicháng ("uncommon"). There is another sense for this word in which it means "really," or "indeed." In our dialogue, we see this when our first speaker says 就是我爸我妈非要看，还非逼着我陪看, jiùshì wǒ bà wǒ mā fēiyào kàn, hái fēi bīzhe wǒ péikàn ("My father and mother insisted on seeing it, they also insisted on me seeing it"). For other examples, consider the following.
For Example:
1. 大家不让他来，他非要来。 Dàjiā bù ràng tā lái , tā fēi yào lái. "Nobody wanted him to come, but he insisted on coming."
2. 不是我自己想看电视，是我父母非让我看。 Bù shì wǒ zìjǐ xiǎng kàn diànshì , shì wǒ fùmǔ fēi ràng wǒ kàn. "It's not me who wanted to watch television, it was my father and mother who insisted on it."
3. 有些人非要在过年的时候旅游。 Yǒuxiē rén fēi yào zài guònián de shíhou lǚyóu. "There are some people who insist on traveling during the Chinese New Year."
It is somewhat strange that Chinese has this single character which mean two completely different things in different contexts. How best to tell them apart? The easiest rule of thumb is to note that when 非 is used in this more advanced sense, we primarily run into it in verb compounds 非要 and 非让.
CULTURAL INSIGHT
Outdated but Still Televised
Every provincial television station will show a variety show on the Chinese New Year, but when Chinese people talk about the Spring Gala they're referring to the one held by CCTV (中央电视点). This variety show has aired for more than two decades with only slight changes in format. Because of this, many people consider it more and more dated and
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #10 - IT'S THE SAME OLD CHINESE SPRING GALA 6 boring. The show remains well-watched for many reasons though; older generations watch it because they think it has become a tradition just like eating dumplings. At the same time, young people watch it in order to complain about it online with friends on Chinese social networks like Renren.com or Sina Weibo.
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #10 - IT'S THE SAME OLD CHINESE SPRING GALA 7 LESSON NOTES Upper Intermediate S1 #11 The Downside of Faking an Injury in China
CONTENTS
2 Simplified Chinese 2 Traditional Chinese 3 Pinyin 3 English 4 Vocabulary 5 Sample Sentences 5 Grammar 6 Cultural Insight
# 11
COPYRIGHT © 2012 INNOVATIVE LANGUAGE LEARNING. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. SIMPLIFIED CHINESE
1. A 外面下雪了。
2. B 真的？太好了，咱们明天去滑雪吧。
3. A 好呀，再叫上小张他们一块儿去。
4. B 好主意。咱们先出去铲雪吧，我看他们都在大门口呢。
5. A 啊，这样啊...别提了，我昨天刚把腰闪了，正疼着呢。
6. B 严重吗？
7. A 好像不轻，医生说要尽量少活动。
8. B 那太可惜了，我看明天你也别去滑雪了，在家好好休息吧。
9. A 我...
TRADITIONAL CHINESE
1. A 外面下雪了。
2. B 真的？太好了，咱們明天去滑雪吧。
3. A 好呀，再叫上小張他們一塊兒去。
4. B 好主意。咱們先出去鏟雪吧，我看他們都在大門口呢。
5. A 啊，這樣啊...別提了，我昨天剛把腰閃了，正疼著呢。
CONT'D OVER
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #11 - THE DOWNSIDE OF FAKING AN INJURY IN CHINA 2 6. B 嚴重嗎？
7. A 好像不輕，醫生說要盡量少活動。
8. B 那太可惜了，我看明天你也別去滑雪了，在家好好休息吧。
9. A 我...
PINYIN
1. A Wàimian xiàxuě le.
2. B Zhēnde? Tài hǎole, zánmen míngtiān qù huáxuě ba.
3. A Hǎo ya, zài jiào shàng xiǎo Zhāng tāmen yīkuàiér qù.
4. B Hǎo zhǔyi. Zánmen xiān chūqù chǎn xuě ba, wǒ kàn tāmen dōu zài dà ménkǒu ne.
5. A ā, zhèyàng ā ...bié tí le, wǒ zuótiān gāng bǎ yāo shǎnle, zhèng téngzhe ne.
6. B Yánzhòng ma?
7. A Hǎoxiàng bù qīng, yīshēng shuō yào jǐnliàng shǎo huó dòng.
8. B Nā tài kěxī le, wǒ kàn míngtiān nǐ yě bié qù huáxuě le, zài jiā hǎohāo xiūxi ba.
9. A Wǒ ...
ENGLISH
CONT'D OVER
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #11 - THE DOWNSIDE OF FAKING AN INJURY IN CHINA 3 1. A: It's snowing outside.
2. B: Really? Great! Let's go skiing tomorrow.
3. A: Sure. Ask Xiao Zhang and others to go with us too.
4. B: Good idea. Let's go out to shovel some snow. I see they're all at the gate.
5. A: Well… then forget about it. I twisted my back yesterday and it hurts.
6. B: Is it serious?
7. A: Seems so. The doctor said not to move too much.
8. B: That's a shame. I think you'd better not to go skiing tomorrow. Rest at home.
9. A: I....
VOCABULARY
Simplified Traditional Pinyin English
滑雪 滑雪 huáxuě to go skiing
铲雪 鏟雪 chǎn xuě to shovel snow
别提了 別提了 bié tí le don't mention it
to have hurt one's 把腰闪了 把腰閃了 bǎ yāo shǎn le back
尽量 盡量 jǐnliàng to try one's best
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #11 - THE DOWNSIDE OF FAKING AN INJURY IN CHINA 4 可惜 可惜 kěxī it's a pity
堆雪人 堆雪人 duī xuěrén to make a snowman
to have a snowball 打雪仗 打雪仗 dǎxuězhàng fight
SAMPLE SENTENCES
滑雪是我最喜欢的运动了。 下完雪后，大家都出来铲雪了。 Huáxuě shì wǒ zuì xǐhuān de yùndòng le. Xià wán xuě hòu, dàjiā dōu chūlái chǎn xuě le.
Skiing is my favorite sport. After it snowed, everyone came out to shovel the snow.
别提了，我刚玩儿了五分钟，它就 他刚滑了半小时，就把腰闪了。 坏了。 Tā gāng huá le bànxiǎoshí, jiù bǎ yāo shǎn le.
Bié tí le, wǒ gāng wánr le wǔ fēnzhōng, tā jiù huài le. He hurt his back after only half an hour of
skiing. Don't mention it. It broke after I played with it for just five minutes.
你尽量早点儿来，别让大家都等 可惜你把腰闪了，不然你就能跟我 你。 们一块儿去了。 Nǐ jǐnliàng zǎo diǎnr lái, bié ràng dàjiā dōu děng Kěxī nǐ bǎ yāo shǎn le, bùrán nǐ jiù néng gēn nǐ. wǒmen yīkuàier qù le.
Do your best to come early and don't make It's a pity that you've hurt your back, everyone wait for you. otherwise you could have gone with us.
我记得小时候一下完雪，我们就跑 可惜你不在，不然你就能和我们一 出去堆雪人。 起打雪仗了。 Wǒ jìde xiǎo shíhou yī xià wán xuě, wǒmen jiù Kěxī nǐ bù zài, bùrán nǐ jiù néng hé wǒmen yīqǐ pǎo chūqù duī xuěrén. dǎxuězhàng le.
I remember that we'd run outside to build a It's a pity you're not here or you could have snowman whenever it snowed when we joined us for a snowball fight. were young.
GRAMMAR
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #11 - THE DOWNSIDE OF FAKING AN INJURY IN CHINA 5 The Focus of this Lesson is Exaggerrating Emotions and Feelings 我昨天刚把腰闪了，正疼着呢。 Yesterday I just hurt my waist, and now it really hurts.
Our grammar focus today is on the pattern 着呢 (zhene). This pattern consists of two characters that are used elsewhere with separate meanings, but which gain a new and different meaning when put together and placed after an adjective. We see this in the dialogue for this lesson, when our second speaker says 我昨天刚把腰闪了，正疼着呢 wǒ zuótiān gāng bǎ yāo shǎnle, zhèng téngzhene ("yesterday I just hurt my waist, and now it really hurts").
What exactly is happening? Adding 着呢 after our adjective acts to exaggerate the force of the adjective. In our dialogue the speaker uses this to stress that his waist is really hurting. He is exaggerating for effect, as with the following other examples:
1. 我这几天忙着呢，没时间去滑雪。 Wǒ zhè jǐ tiān mángzhene, méi shíjiān qù huáxuě. I've just been so busy these days, I don't have time to go to ski.
2. 他累着呢，别找他去打雪仗了。 Tā lèizhene, bié zhǎo tā qù dǎxuězhàng le. He's really tired, don't try to get him involved into the snow fight.
One small tip: if you notice this pattern being used after a verb, it does not have the same meaning. In that case, 着 is likely being used to put the action into the continuous tense, and then 呢 is being added to soften the tone of the sentence.
CULTURAL INSIGHT
Skiing has becoming increasingly popular in China over the last twenty years. As recently as 1996 there was practically zero interest in the sport in China, and there were just 10 ski resorts throughout the whole country. Yet according to the statistics from the Chinese Skiing Association, there are now more than 130 ski resorts across the country, and more than 50 resorts alone in Heilongjiang Province.
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #11 - THE DOWNSIDE OF FAKING AN INJURY IN CHINA 6 LESSON NOTES Upper Intermediate S1 #12 Mom Knows Best in China
CONTENTS
2 Simplified Chinese 2 Traditional Chinese 3 Pinyin 3 English 4 Vocabulary 5 Sample Sentences 6 Grammar 7 Cultural Insight
# 12
COPYRIGHT © 2012 INNOVATIVE LANGUAGE LEARNING. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. SIMPLIFIED CHINESE
1. A 你最近看过一篇叫“虎妈战歌”的文章吗？
2. B 是不是那个亚裔妈妈讲她怎么教育她女儿的事？
3. A 没错。她是不是疯了？居然从不让她女儿看电视。
4. B 好像还逼着她女儿练琴，一练就是三个小时。
5. A 不过她还挺骄傲的，认为中国妈妈比西方妈妈更会教育孩子。
6. B 据说她可是耶鲁大学的法学教授。
7. A 可网上反对她观点的人一大堆呢。
8. B 是呀。真不知道她是怎么想的。
9. A 你不懂，这叫炒作。我看她比西方妈妈更懂怎么赚钱。
TRADITIONAL CHINESE
1. A 你最近看過一篇叫“虎媽戰歌”的文章嗎？
2. B 是不是那個亞裔媽媽講她怎麼教育她女兒的事？
3. A 沒錯。她是不是瘋了？居然從不讓她女兒看電視。
4. B 好像還逼著她女兒練琴，一練就是三個小時。
5. A 不過她還挺驕傲的，認為中國媽媽比西方媽媽更會教育孩子。
CONT'D OVER
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #12 - MOM KNOWS BEST IN CHINA 2 6. B 據說她可是耶魯大學的法學教授。
7. A 可網上反對她觀點的人一大堆呢。
8. B 是呀。真不知道她是怎麼想的。
9. A 你不懂，這叫炒作。我看她比西方媽媽更懂怎麼賺錢。
PINYIN
1. A Nǐ zuìjìn kàn guo yī piān jiào "hǔ mā zhàn gē" de wénzhāng ma?
2. B Shìbùshì nà ge yàyì māma jiǎng tā zěnme jiàoyù tā nǚér de shì? A Méicuò. Tā shìbùshì fēng le? Jūrán cóngbù ràng tā nǚér kàn diànshì.
3. B Hǎoxiàng hái bīzhe tā nǚér liàn qín, yī liàn jiùshì sān ge xiǎoshí.
4. A Búguò tā hái tǐng jiāoào de, rènwéi zhōngguó māma bǐ xīfāng māma gèng huì jiàoyù háizi.
5. B Jùshuō tā kěshì yēlǔdàxué de fǎxué jiàoshòu.
6. A Kě wǎngshàng fǎnduì tā guāndiǎn de rén yīdàduī ne.
7. B Shì ya. Zhēn bù zhīdào tā shì zěnme xiǎng de.
8. A Nǐ bù dǒng, zhè jiào chǎozuò. Wǒ kàn tā bǐ xīfāng māma gèng dǒng zěnme zhuànqián.
ENGLISH
CONT'D OVER
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #12 - MOM KNOWS BEST IN CHINA 3 1. A: Have you recently read an article named "the Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother"?
2. B: Is it the story of that Asian American mom who talks about how she brought up her daughters?
3. A: Exactly. Isn't she crazy? How could she never allow her daughters to watch TV?
4. B: It seems she'd also force her daughters to practice playing instruments for three hours at a stretch.
5. A: But she is pretty proud of it. She thinks Chinese mothers are better than Western mothers at educating children.
6. B: It is said that she is the law professor at Yale University.
7. A: But there are a lot of people online who disagree with her.
8. B: Yes. I really don't know what she is thinking.
9. A: You don't know? This is called publicity. In my opinion, she knows better than Western mothers how to make money.
VOCABULARY
Simplified Traditional Pinyin English
亚裔 亞裔 yàyì Asian ancestry
教育 教育 jiàoyù education/to educate
unexpectedly, 居然 居然 jūrán surprisingly
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #12 - MOM KNOWS BEST IN CHINA 4 to practice an 练琴 練琴 liàn qín instrument
骄傲 驕傲 jiāoào pround/be proud of
to publicize 炒作 炒作 chǎozuò negatively
观点 觀點 guāndiǎn point of view
严厉 嚴厲 yánlì stern
据说 據說 jùshuō it is said...
SAMPLE SENTENCES
很大一部分亚裔美国人都具有中国 中国人十分重视儿童教育。 血统。 Zhōngguórén shífēn zhòngshì értóng jiàoyù.
Hěn dàyī bùfen yàyì měiguórén dōu jùyǒu zhōngguó xuètǒng. Chinese people put great emphasis on
children's education. There is a big proportion of Asian Americans with Chinese background.
出了这么大的事，你居然什么都不 他逼着儿子在星期天还要练琴。 问。 Tā bìzhe érzi zài xīngqītiān hái yào liàn qín.
Chū le zhème dà de shì, nǐ jūrán shénme dōu bùwèn. He forced his son to keep practicing the
instrument even on Sundays. There has been such a big accident, and you don't care to ask.
儿子能考上北大真是全家的骄傲。 你居然相信这种无聊的新闻炒作？ érzi néng kǎoshàng běidà zhēnshì quánjiā de Nǐ jūrán xiāngxìn zhèzhǒng wúliáo de xīnwén jiāoào. chǎozuò?
It is a point of pride for the whole family How could you ever believe this kind of that the son got into Beijing University. tabloid news publication?
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #12 - MOM KNOWS BEST IN CHINA 5 也说说你对这件事的观点吧。 家长对孩子的教育过分严厉也不 Yě shuōshuo nǐ duì zhè jiàn shì de guāndiǎn ba. 好。
Jiāzhǎng duì háizi de jiàoyù guòfèn yánlì yě bù Why not say your own point of view on this hǎo. matter? It is also not very good to be too strict to your child as parents.
据说他是来自英国的亚裔作家。 Jùshuō tā shì láizì yīngguó de yàyì zuòjiā.
It is said that he is an Asian writer with a British background.
GRAMMAR
The Focus of this Lesson is the Top Three Uses of 呢 可网上反对她观点的人一大堆呢。 "But there are a lot of people online who disagree."
Our grammar focus in this lesson is on the modal particle 呢 (ne). This particle tends to confuse a lot of people because it has different meanings in different contexts. So in this lesson, we wanted to take a step back and review the top three ways that Chinese speakers use 呢.
The most common reason you'll see 呢 added to a sentence is when the speaker wishes to soften their tone. This is the case in our dialogue when the first speaker says 可网上反对她 的人一大堆呢 kě wǎngshàng fǎnduì tā de rén yīdàduī ne ("But there are a lot of people online who disagree"). This is a subtle usage, but the speaker is adding 呢 in order not to be associated too closely with the statement being made. For another example, consider:
1. 大家都说，亚裔妈妈对孩子有点儿严厉呢。 Dàjiā dōushuō , yàyì māma duì háizi yǒudiǎnr yánlì ne。 "Everyone says Asian mothers are strict to their children."
The second most common use of 呢 is when we are balancing choices and asking questions.
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #12 - MOM KNOWS BEST IN CHINA 6 This is not frequently used in written Chinese, but it is extremely common in the spoken language. You will hear it frequently in questions such as:
1. 你是要中国老师，还是要美国老师呢？ Nǐ shì yào Zhōngguó lǎoshī , háishì yào Měiguó lǎoshī ne? "Do you want a Chinese teacher, or an American teacher?"
2. 你是要一个呢，还是两个呢？ Nǐ shì yào yīge ne , háishì liǎngge ne? "Do you want one, or two?"
The third most common usage occurs when we see a noun or pronoun followed by 呢. In this case we are turning the noun or pronoun into a "how about" or "what about" question. This is also a very colloquial usage, as in the following examples:
1. 你妈妈呢？ Nǐ māma ne? "How about your mother?"
2. 他们呢？ Tāmen ne? "What about them?"
CULTURAL INSIGHT
Parenting Styles in China
The Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother is the name of a book written by Amy Chua about her experiences raising her two children in the United States. Published in 2011, the book became highly controversial after an excerpt in the Wall Street journal suggested that Chua was arguing for the superiority of a very strict and perhaps emotionally cruel approach to child-rearing. The book itself is much more subtle and self-deprecating, but the term Tiger Mother has nonetheless entered the popular lexicon as a term for overprotective and often overcontrolling parents of Asian ethnicity.
The truth is of course more complex. Generally speaking, Chinese parents do tend to be
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #12 - MOM KNOWS BEST IN CHINA 7 highly attentive to their children's education. One reason for this is the tendency in Confucian thought for people to associate scholarly knowledge (and particularly knowledge derived from reading books) as the most valuable and noble thing for a child to aspire towards. This belief continues to play a significant role in the attitudes of Chinese parents towards their offspring, and even results in some parents discouraging their children from engaging in social activities such as casual play with friends. China's huge population also makes it very difficult for children to get positions in good schools and find decent jobs after they graduate, heightening parental insecurity about their children's futures and pushing them to focus more heavily on academic excellence.
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #12 - MOM KNOWS BEST IN CHINA 8 LESSON NOTES Upper Intermediate S1 #13 An Almost Perfect Housemaid in China
CONTENTS
2 Simplified Chinese 2 Traditional Chinese 3 Pinyin 3 English 4 Vocabulary 4 Sample Sentences 5 Grammar 6 Cultural Insight
# 13
COPYRIGHT © 2012 INNOVATIVE LANGUAGE LEARNING. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. SIMPLIFIED CHINESE
1. A 那个女的是谁？
2. B 我家新雇的保姆。
3. A 长得真漂亮，跟章子怡似的。
4. B 不但人长得标致，干起家务来更是没得挑。
5. A 她能不能也来我家打扫打扫卫生？
6. B 她哪儿都好，可就有一样儿。
7. A 怎么了？
8. B 她睡觉时呼噜打得山响，吵得我们全家都睡不着。
TRADITIONAL CHINESE
1. A 那個女的是誰？
2. B 我家新雇的保姆。
3. A 長得真漂亮，跟章子怡似的。
4. B 不但人長得標致，幹起家務來更是沒得挑。
5. A 她能不能也來我家打掃打掃衛生？
6. B 她哪兒都好，可就有一樣兒。
CONT'D OVER
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #13 - AN ALMOST PERFECT HOUSEMAID IN CHINA 2 7. A 怎麼了？
8. B 她睡覺時呼嚕打得山響，吵得我們全家都睡不著。
PINYIN
1. A Nà ge nǚ de shì shéi?
2. B Wǒ jiā xīn gù de bǎomǔ.
3. A Zhǎng de zhēn piàoliang, gēn Zhāng Zǐyí shìde.
4. B Bùdàn rén zhǎng de biāozhì, gàn qǐ jiāwù lái gèng shì méidetiāo.
5. A Tā néngbùnéng yě lái wǒ jiā dǎsǎo dǎsǎo wèishēng?
6. B Tā nǎrdōuhǎo, kě jiù yǒu yīyàngr.
7. A Zěnme le?
8. B Tā shuìjiào shí hūlu dǎ de shān xiǎng, chǎo de wǒmen quánjiā dōu shuìbuzháo.
ENGLISH
1. A: Who is that woman there?
2. B: The new house maid we just hired.
3. A: She is really pretty, and looks like Zhang Ziyi.
CONT'D OVER
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #13 - AN ALMOST PERFECT HOUSEMAID IN CHINA 3 4. B: She is not only pretty, but even the way she does housework is impeccable.
5. A: Can she also come to clean our house?
6. B: She is nice in every aspect except one.
7. A: What is it?
8. B: When she sleeps, she snores so loudly that no one in my family can get to sleep.
VOCABULARY
Simplified Traditional Pinyin English
保姆 保姆 bǎomǔ house maid
呼噜 呼嚕 hū lū to snore
雇 雇 gù to hire
没得挑 沒得挑 méi dé tiāo impeccable
保洁 保潔 bǎojié to do cleaning
打得山响 打得山響 dǎ dé shān xiǎng to snore loudly
标致 標致 biāozhì pretty
SAMPLE SENTENCES
我家新来的保姆特别能干。 我一喝酒晚上睡觉就打呼噜。 Wǒ jiā xīnláide bǎomǔ tèbié nénggàn. Wǒ yī hē jiǔ wǎnshang shuìjiào jiù dǎhūlū.
My family's new housemaid is very Whenever I drink, I will snore when I go to capable. sleep.
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #13 - AN ALMOST PERFECT HOUSEMAID IN CHINA 4 妻子刚刚生了个小宝宝，他们雇了 他热情的服务真是没得挑。 个保姆帮忙做家务。 Tā rèqíng de fúwù zhēnshì méi dé tiāo.
Qīzi gānggāng shēng le ge xiǎobǎobǎo, tāmen gù le ge bǎomǔ bāngmáng zuò jiāwù. His enthusiastic service is really
impeccable. The wife just gave birth to a little baby. They hired a house maid to help with housework.
他妈妈从前是做保洁工作的，很辛 昨天晚上我老公呼噜打得山响，我 苦。 一晚上也没睡。 Tāmā mā cóngqián shì zuò bǎojié gōngzuò de, Zuótiān wǎnshang wǒ lǎogōng hū lū dǎ děi shān hěn xīnkǔ. xiǎng, wǒ yī wǎnshang yě méi shuì.
His mother used to be a cleaner, and had Last night my husband snored so loudly a hard life. that I couldn't sleep all night.
看这孩子标致的五官，就知道她长大以后一定是个大美人。 Kàn zhè háizi biāozhìde wǔguān, jiù zhīdào tā zhǎngdà yǐhòu yīdìng shì ge dàměirén.
Looking at this child's facial features, you know that she would grow up to be a really beauty.
GRAMMAR
The Focus of this Lesson is Discussing When Someone Seems Like Someone Else.... 长得真漂亮，跟章子怡似的。 "She seems really pretty, just like Zhang Ziyi."
Our grammar point in this lesson is on the structure 跟...似的 (gēn...... shìde). We use this structure to compare one person to someone else. The structure is to follow our subject with 跟, then add the thing or person you think the subject resembles, and then close your sentence with 似的. In our dialogue, we run into this when the first speaker compares the housemaid to famous Chinese film actress Zhang Ziyi. For other examples, look at the following sentences:
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #13 - AN ALMOST PERFECT HOUSEMAID IN CHINA 5 1. 你的房间真干净，跟有保姆打扫过似的。 Nǐ de fángjiān zhēn gānjìng, gēn yǒu bǎomǔ dǎsǎo guò shìde. "Your room is really clean, as if it's been cleaned by a house maid."
2. 地板跟镜子似的。 Dìbǎn gēn jìngzi shìde. "The ground is really clean, it's polished like a mirror."
3. 她长得真标志，跟个电影明星似的。 Tā zhǎng de zhēn biāozhì , gēn ge diànyǐng míngxīng shìde. "She is really pretty, like a movie star."
Note that the character 似 is a polyphonetic character and can be read in different contexts as both shì and sì. You should remember that the proper pronunciation is shì: uneducated Chinese speakers will occasionally get the pronunciation wrong, so you are likely to hear it used both ways in the wild.
CULTURAL INSIGHT
The Busy Life of a Chinese Housemaid
The word "housemaid" (保姆) is still used throughout China, but as the service industry develops many cleaners will call themselves "housekeepers" (家政) these days. And there is increasingly specialization in the larger Chinese cities as well. One of the highest paid groups of helpers are "nursemaids" (月嫂) who focus on taking care of pregnant women and their newly-delivered babies.
In contrast to common housemaids, nursemaids can reach a salary of 5,000 RMB per month in many cities, and even more than 10,000 monthly in major cities like Shanghai and Beijing. This is because the job requires one to be a nurse, a maid, a cook and a early-stage infant teacher at the same time.
If you are looking to hire a housemaid, the best way is still to get a recommendation from a friend: those in the industry will often network and serve several households at the same time.
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #13 - AN ALMOST PERFECT HOUSEMAID IN CHINA 6 If you need someone specialized or full-time, you can find advertisements targeting Chinese households online at ganji.com (赶集网) and 58.com (58同城网). There are hundreds of housekeeping companies registered on those sites who offer domestic support services.
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #13 - AN ALMOST PERFECT HOUSEMAID IN CHINA 7 LESSON NOTES Upper Intermediate S1 #14 A Nerve-racking Interview in China
CONTENTS
2 Simplified Chinese 2 Traditional Chinese 3 Pinyin 4 English 4 Vocabulary 5 Sample Sentences 6 Grammar 7 Cultural Insight
# 14
COPYRIGHT © 2012 INNOVATIVE LANGUAGE LEARNING. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. SIMPLIFIED CHINESE
1. A: 面试怎么样？过了吗？
2. B: 难说。可能有点儿悬。
3. A: 为什么？
4. B: 考官问了我一个问题，为什么要去他们国家。
5. A: 那你怎么说的。
6. B: 因为空气好，人又少，物价又便宜。
7. A: 这不挺好吗？都是大实话呀。
8. B: 考官立马又问，就是说你们国家空气不好，人又多，物 价又贵。对吗？
9. A: 他反应还真快。
10. B: 我一听就傻了。
TRADITIONAL CHINESE
1. A: 面試怎麼樣？過了嗎？
2. B: 難說。可能有點兒懸。
3. A: 為甚麼？
4. B: 考官問了我一個問題，為甚麼要去他們國家。
CONT'D OVER
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #14 - A NERVE-RACKING INTERVIEW IN CHINA 2 5. A: 那你怎麼說的。
6. B: 因為空氣好，人又少，物價又便宜。
7. A: 這不挺好嗎？都是大實話呀。
8. B: 考官立馬又問，就是說你們國家空氣不好，人又多，物 價又貴。對嗎？
9. A: 他反應還真快。
10. B: 我一聽就傻了。
PINYIN
1. A: Miànshì zěnmeyàng? Guò le ma?
2. B: Nánshuō. Kěnéng yǒu diǎnr xuán.
3. A: Wèishénme?
4. B: Kǎoguān wènle wǒ yīge wèntí, wèishénme yào qù tāmen guójiā.
5. A: Nà nǐ zěnme shuō de.
6. B: Yīnwèi kōngqì hǎo, rén yòu shǎo, wùjià yòu piányi.
7. A: Zhè bù tǐng hǎo ma? Dōu shì dà shíhuà yā.
8. B: Kǎoguān lìmǎ yòu wèn, jiùshìshuō nǐmen guójiā kōngqì bù hǎo, rén yòu duō, wùjià yòu guì. duì ma?
CONT'D OVER
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #14 - A NERVE-RACKING INTERVIEW IN CHINA 3 9. A: Tā fǎnyìng hái zhēn kuài.
10. B: Wǒ yī tīng jiù shǎ le.
ENGLISH
1. A: How was the interview? Did you pass?
2. B: Hard to say. Maybe not.
3. A: Why?
4. B: The interview officer asked me why I wanted to go to their country.
5. A: And how did you answer?
6. B: Because of the clean air, small population and low prices.
7. A: Wasn't that good? It's the honest truth.
8. B: The officer immediately asked if I meant to say the air here is not clean, if there are too many people and if prices are too expensive.
9. A: He reacted really quickly.
10. B: And as soon as I heard that I was lost for words.
VOCABULARY
Simplified Traditional Pinyin English
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #14 - A NERVE-RACKING INTERVIEW IN CHINA 4 拒签 拒簽 jùqiān to refuse a visa
悬 懸 xuán risky
实话 實話 shíhuà honest word
绿卡 綠卡 lǜ kǎ Green card
立马 立馬 lìmǎ immediately
考官 考官 kǎoguān immigration officer
物价 物價 wùjià price
反应 反應 fǎnyìng to react
移民 移民 yímín immigration
SAMPLE SENTENCES
他已经被拒签了三次，而且是同一 刚才多悬呀！下次过马路千万要当 个考官。 心。 Tā yǐjīng bèi jùqiān le sān cì, érqiě shì tóng yī ge Gāngcái duō xuán ya! Xiàcì guò mǎlù qiānwàn kǎoguān. yào dāngxīn.
He has been refused a visa three times by How dangerous! Next time when crossing the same immigration officer. a road you should really be careful.
从小家长就教育我们要说实话。 拿到绿卡的那一刻，他激动的哭 Cóngxiǎo jiāzhǎng jiù jiàoyù wǒmen yào shuō 了。 shíhuà. Nádào lǜkǎ de nà yī kè, tā jīdòng de kū le.
Since we were little, our parents have The moment he got his green card, he been teaching us to speak the truth. burst into tears.
你立马给我走人。 那个考官看起来太严厉了。 Nǐ lìmǎ gěi wǒ zǒu rén. Nà ge kǎoguān kànqǐlái tài yánlì le.
Get out of here immediately. That immigration officer looks too strict.
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #14 - A NERVE-RACKING INTERVIEW IN CHINA 5 物价上涨一直就是每个人都关心的 我还没反应过来，他就已经坐下 问题。 了。 Wùjià shàngzhǎng yīzhí jiùshì měi ge rén dōu Wǒ hái méi fǎnyìng guòlai, tā jiù yǐjīng zuòxia le. guānxīn de wèntí. I still hadn't reacted and he'd already sat Inflation has always been a topic of down. concern for everyone.
移民去美国是我从上大学以来的一个梦想。 Yímín qù měiguó shì wǒ cóng shàng dàxué yǐlái de yī ge mèngxiǎng.
Immigrating to the United States has been my dream since university.
GRAMMAR
The Focus of this Lesson is on How to Make Lists with Multiple Points 空气又好，人又少，物价又便宜。 "The air is clean, there aren't many people and things are cheap."
Our grammar point in this lesson is about the structure 又 ... 又... (yòu ... yòu ...). This is a very common way Chinese people formulate lists of actions or qualities. To use it, simply put the subject at the start of your sentence and then follow it with the character 又 and then the first of the qualities or actions you wish to emphasize. Follow this with another 又 and then the second quality or action respectively. In our dialogue, we see this pattern when our second speaker says 空气又好，人又少，物价又便宜 kōngqì yòu hǎo , rén yòu shǎo , wùjià yòu piányi ("the air is clean, there aren't many people, and prices are not expensive"). Note that as in the above sentence, it is possible to change the subject for each subclause. If an additional subject is not provided, the subject of the first clause is assumed. Note also that we are required to be consistent in either omitting the subject for all but the first phrase, or providing a specific and separate one in all cases, as we can see in our dialogue. For more examples, consider the following sentences:
1. 签证官又严肃又认真。 Qiānzhèngguān yòu yánsù yòu rènzhēn. "The immigration official was both strict and earnest."
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #14 - A NERVE-RACKING INTERVIEW IN CHINA 6 2. 拿到绿卡的那一刻，他又喊又叫，又蹦又跳。 Nádào lǜkǎ de nà yī kè , tā yòu hǎn yòu jiào , yòu bèng yòu tiào. "He cried and screamed, and shook and jumped the moment he got his green card."
3. 移民通过的时候，他又是哭，又是笑。 Yímín tōngguò de shíhou , tā yòu shì kū , yòu shì xiào. "He cried and smiled when his immigration application passed."
And let us remind you in closing: the things we stress in this structure can be either verbs or adjectives. However, we cannot mix-and-match parts of speech within the same sentence. This means that every word that follows 又 has to be used as the same part of speech, implying that a phrase like 又跳又高兴 is wrong.
CULTURAL INSIGHT
Chinese Studying Abroad
Studying abroad is extremely popular in China these days, and there are a huge number of Chinese students apply for study abroad each year. As one of the top options for Chinese students interested in studying abroad, the United States issued 157,558 student visas to Chinese students in 2011. In the many online communities for Chinese students planning to study abroad, there are discussions of how to go through a visa interview and even line-by- line records of other student's experiences. Students call these kind of articles 面经 or "interview bibles."
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #14 - A NERVE-RACKING INTERVIEW IN CHINA 7 LESSON NOTES Upper Intermediate S1 #15 There's No Such Thing as a Free Lunch in China
CONTENTS
2 Simplified Chinese 2 Traditional Chinese 3 Pinyin 3 English 4 Vocabulary 5 Sample Sentences 5 Grammar 6 Cultural Insight
# 15
COPYRIGHT © 2012 INNOVATIVE LANGUAGE LEARNING. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. SIMPLIFIED CHINESE
1. A: 您是来开会的吗？
2. B: 是呀。
3. A: 您知道这次会议的主题是？
4. B: 好像是关于二十一世纪互联网发展的。
5. A: 哦，那这个会中午管饭吗？
6. B: 这个，不太清楚。
7. A: 那您知道这个会几点结束吗？
8. B: 好像下午吧，您也是来开会的吗？
9. A: 是呀，我们那没人来，我是抓阄抓来的。多倒霉！
TRADITIONAL CHINESE
1. A: 您是來開會的嗎？
2. B: 是呀。
3. A: 您知道這次會議的主題是？
4. B: 好像是關於二十一世紀互聯網發展的。
5. A: 哦，那這個會中午管飯嗎？
CONT'D OVER
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #15 - THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS A FREE LUNCH IN CHINA 2 6. B: 這個，不太清楚。
7. A: 那您知道這個會幾點結束嗎？
8. B: 好像下午吧，您也是來開會的嗎？
9. A: 是呀，我們那沒人來，我是抓鬮抓來的。多倒霉！
PINYIN
1. A: Nín shì lái kāihuì de ma?
2. B: Shì ya.
3. A: Nín zhīdào zhè cì huìyì de zhǔtí shì?
4. B: Hǎoxiàng shì guānyú èrshíyī shìjì hùliánwǎng fāzhǎn de.
5. A: ò, nā zhègehuì zhōngwǔ guǎn fàn ma?
6. B: Zhège, bùtài qīngchu.
7. A: Nā nín zhīdào zhège huì jǐdiǎnjiéshù ma?
8. B: Hǎoxiàng xiàwǔ ba, nín yě shì lái kāihuì de ma?
9. A: Shì ya, wǒmen nā méi rén lái, wǒ shì zhuā jiū zhuā lái de. Duō dǎoméi!
ENGLISH
CONT'D OVER
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #15 - THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS A FREE LUNCH IN CHINA 3 1. A: Are you here for the meeting?
2. B: Yes.
3. A: Do you know the theme of this meeting is....?
4. B: I think it's about the Development of the Internet in the 21st century.
5. A: Do they provide lunch?
6. B: Oh, I'm not too sure about that.
7. A: Then do you know when the meeting will finish?
8. B: I think in the afternoon. Are you here for the meeting as well?
9. A: Yes. No-one wanted to come so I'm here because I drew the straw. How unlucky!
VOCABULARY
Simplified Traditional Pinyin English
主题 主題 zhǔtí theme
展览 展覽 zhǎnlǎn exhibition
抓阄 抓鬮 zhuā jiū to draw straws
特殊 特殊 tèshū special
管饭 管飯 guǎn fàn to provide meals
to represent/ 代表 代表 dàibiǎo representative
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #15 - THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS A FREE LUNCH IN CHINA 4 缺席 缺席 quēxí to be absent
SAMPLE SENTENCES
这次会议的主题是关于二十一世纪 这次展览的主题很特殊，是关于残 互联网的发展。 疾人生活的。 Zhè cì huìyì de zhǔtí shì guānyú èrshíyī shìjì Zhècì zhǎnlǎn de zhǔtí hěn tèshū, shì guānyú hùliánwǎng de fāzhǎn. cánjírén shēnghuó de.
The theme of this conference is the The theme of this exhibition is very development of the internet in the 21st special, being about the lives of disabled century. people.
会议通过抓阄的办法选出了代表。 这次情况有点儿特殊，希望你理 Huìyì tōngguò zhuā jiū de bànfǎ xuǎnchū le 解。 dàibiǎo. Zhècì qíngkuàng yǒu diǎnr tèshū, xīwàng nǐ lǐjiě.
The meeting chose its representatives by The situation this time is a bit special. I picking straws. hope you understand.
只要你来了就管饭，吃多少都行。 我是代表我们公司来参加这次会议 Zhǐyào nǐ lái le jiù guǎn fàn, chī duōshao dōu 的。 xíng. Wǒ shì dàibiǎo wǒmen gōngsī lái cānjiā zhè cì
huìyì de. As long as you show up, you will be fed and can eat as much as you like. I am attending this meeting to represent my company.
这个会议太无聊，好多代表都缺席了。 Zhège huìyì tài wúliáo, hǎo duō dàibiǎo dōu quēxíle.
This meeting is really boring. A lot of representatives weren't attending.
GRAMMAR
The Focus of this Lesson is Several Uses of the Character 于 (yú) 好像是关于二十一世纪互联网发展的。
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #15 - THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS A FREE LUNCH IN CHINA 5 "I think it's about Internet Development in the 21st century."
Our grammar point in this lesson is about the tricky character 于 (yú). Although it is occasionally used alone, this character is most often combined with others to form words like 关于 guānyú ("to be related to"), 对于 duìyú ("regarding"), 由于 yóuyú ("resulting from") or 基于 jīyú ("to be based on"). The first two of these are the most common, and frequently recede noun-phrases. In our dialogue, we see this when our speaker comments that this conference 好像是关于二十一世纪互联网发展的 hǎoxiàng shì guānyú er4shíyī shìjì hùliánwǎng fāzhǎn de ("seems to be about the development of the Internet in the 21st century"). 关于 is interchangeable with 对于 in this and most other situations. Consider the following examples:
1. 关于会议的主题，我们还不确定。 Guānyú huìyì de zhǔtí, wǒmen hái bù quèdìng. "Regarding the theme of the conference, we are still not certain."
2. 对于代表缺席会议的事，主办方很生气。 Duìyú dàibiǎo quēxí huìyì de shì , zhǔbànfāng hěn shēngqì. "Regarding the absences of the representatives, organizers are really angry."
3. 对于记者提出的问题，代表们没有明确回答。 Duìyú jìzhě tíchū de wèntí, dàibiǎomen méiyǒu míngquè huídá. "The representatives didn't clearly answer the questions from the journalists. "
The third most common word involving 于 is the word 由于. This means something along the lines of "resulting from" or "because," but is only used in more formal mandarin. While you are not likely to hear people actually say this in regular speech, you will see the work quite frequently in formal newspapers and official government reports. An example of this character in usage is the sentence 由于这个会议的主题太无聊了，代表们都缺席了 yóuyú zhège huìyì de zhǔtí tài wúliáo le , dàibiǎomen dōu quēxí le ("because the topic of the meeting was too boring, the representatives all skipped out.").
CULTURAL INSIGHT
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #15 - THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS A FREE LUNCH IN CHINA 6 A Fashionable Conference
There is no bigger conference in China than the Lianghui (两会), the popular abbreviation for the National People's Congress (全国人民代表大会) and the National Committee of the Political Consultative Conference (全国政协委员会). In addition to being massive in scope, both of these conferences are also renowned for being boring, in part because they involve a nominal rather than real exercise of power. Perhaps this is why Chinese reporting on these events can tend towards the absurd. In 2012, the top discussions of the meetings on Renren.com involved a public review and critique of the fashion sense of various officials. It seems that while quite a number wear top brands like Dior and LV, the chairman of Hengda Group (恒大集团) Xv Jiayin (许家印) made a splash by wearing a Hermès belt.
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #15 - THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS A FREE LUNCH IN CHINA 7 LESSON NOTES Upper Intermediate S1 #16 Making Sacrifices for Technology in China
CONTENTS
2 Simplified Chinese 2 Traditional Chinese 3 Pinyin 3 English 4 Vocabulary 4 Sample Sentences 5 Grammar 6 Cultural Insight # 16
COPYRIGHT © 2016 INNOVATIVE LANGUAGE LEARNING. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. SIMPLIFIED CHINESE
1. A 请问你们这是在排队买什么呢？
2. B IPhone 5，明天就是全球发行的日子了。
3. A 什么？ IPhone5 都要上市了。
4. B 是呀，据说IPhone5是全透明的，而且还有防水功能。
5. A 那也用不着今天就来排队吧？
6. B 当然要，这我都不知道能不能买上呢。
7. A 那要排一晚上吧？
8. B 小意思，上次我排队买Iphone4的时候是冬天，我排了一宿差点儿没冻 死。
TRADITIONAL CHINESE
1. A 請問你們這是在排隊買甚麼呢？
2. B IPhone 5，明天就是全球發行的日子了。
3. A 甚麼？ IPhone5都要上市了。
4. B 是呀，據說IPhone5是全透明的，而且還有防水功能。
5. A 那也用不著今天就來排隊吧？
6. B 當然要，這我都不知道能不能買上呢。
CONT'D OVER
CHINES ECLAS S 101.COM UPPER I NTERMEDIATE S 1 #16 - MAKING S ACRI FI CES FOR TECHNOLOGY I N CHINA 2 7. A 那要排一晚上吧？
8. B 小意思，上次我排隊買Iphone4的時候是冬天，我排了一宿差點兒沒凍 死。
PINYIN
1. A Qǐngwèn nǐmen zhè shì zài páiduì mǎi shénme ne?
2. B IPhone wǔ, míngtiān jiùshì quánqiú fāxíng de rìzi le.
3. A Shénme? IPhonewǔ dōu yào shàngshì le.
4. B Shì ya, jùshuō IPhonewǔ shì quán tòumíng de, érqiě hái yǒu fángshuǐgōngnéng.
5. A Nā yě yòngbuzháo jīntiān jiù lái páiduì ba?
6. B Dāngrán yào, zhè wǒ dōu bù zhīdào néngbùnéng mǎi shàng ne.
7. A Nā yào pái yī wǎnshang ba?
8. B Xiǎoyìsi, shàng cì wǒ páiduì mǎi Iphone sì de shíhou shì dōngtiān, wǒ pái le yī xiǔ chàdiǎnr méi dòngsǐ.
ENGLISH
1. A Excuse me, but what are you lined up for?
2. B The iPhone 5. Tomorrow is the global release date.
CONT'D OVER
CHINES ECLAS S 101.COM UPPER I NTERMEDIATE S 1 #16 - MAKING S ACRI FI CES FOR TECHNOLOGY I N CHINA 3 3. A What? The iPhone 5 is already out?
4. B Yeah. It's said that the iPhone 5 is fully transparent and the phone is waterproof too.
5. A But what's the use of lining up today?
6. B Of course there's a use. Although, I'm not sure I'll be able to buy it.
7. A So are you gonna line up all evening?
8. B This will be a piece of cake. When I lined up for the iPhone 4 last time, it was winter and I nearly froze to death.
VOCABULARY
Simplified Traditional Pinyin English Class
to release 全球发行 全球發行 quánqiú fāxíng worldwide noun phrase
全透明 全透明 quán tòumíng fully transparent adjective phrase
防水 防水 fángshuǐ waterproof verb
功能 功能 gōngnéng function noun
排队 排隊 páiduì to line up verb
小意思 小意思 xiǎoyìsi piece of cake noun phrase
一宿 一宿 yī xiǔ a whole night noun
to come out on 上市 上市 shàngshì the market verb
SAMPLE SENTENCES
CHINES ECLAS S 101.COM UPPER I NTERMEDIATE S 1 #16 - MAKING S ACRI FI CES FOR TECHNOLOGY I N CHINA 4 明天就是全球发行的日子了，真让 这种全透明的包装采用的是一种全 人期待。 新的设计材料。 Míngtiān jiùshì quánqiú fāxíng de rìzi le, zhēn Zhèzhǒng quán tòumíng de bāozhuāng cǎiyòng ràng rén qīdài. de shì yī zhǒng quánxīn de shèjì cáiliào.
Tomorrow is the global release day. I can't This fully transparent packaging came wait for it. from a whole new designing material.
这块手表有没有防水功能？ 有什么功能这说明书上都写得清清 Zhè kuài shǒubiǎo yǒuméiyǒu 楚楚。 fángshuǐgōngnéng ? Yǒu shénme gōngnéng zhè shuōmíngshū shàng dōu xiě de qīngqīngchǔchǔ. Is this watch waterproof? All of the functions are written down clearly in the manual.
天慢慢黑下来了, 而车站里排队的人 这个小意思，我一个人就行。 越来越多了。 Zhège xiǎoyìsi, wǒ yī ge rén jiù xíng.
Tiān mànmàn hēi xiàlai le, ér chēzhàn lǐ páiduì de rén yuèláiyuè duō le. This is a piece of cake, I can do it by myself. As it got darker and darker, more and more people joined in the queue at the bus station.
昨晚我一宿没睡，今天还不觉的 昨天才上市的手机，今天就没货 困。 了。 Zuówǎn wǒ yī xiǔ méi shuì, jīntiān huán bùjué de zuótiān cái shàngshì de shǒujī, jīntiān jiù méi huò kūn. le.
I didn't sleep the whole night last night. I This phone only came out on the market am still not sleepy today. yesterday, but it is already out of stock today.
GRAMMAR
The Focus of this Lesson is Talking about Things that are Too Close for Comfort! 我排了一宿差点儿没冻死。 "I nearly froze to death overnight."
CHINES ECLAS S 101.COM UPPER I NTERMEDIATE S 1 #16 - MAKING S ACRI FI CES FOR TECHNOLOGY I N CHINA 5 Our grammar point in this lesson centers on the proper usage of the structure 差点没儿 (chàdiǎnr). By adding verbs or verb phrases after this phrase, we can create sentences which suggest that something almost happened, or that something came too close for comfort. This is usually used in a negative context, as with the sentence in our dialogue: 我排了一宿差点 儿没冻死 wǒ páile yī xiǔ chàdiǎnr méi dòngsǐ ("I nearly frozen to death overnight"). For more examples, consider the following two sentences:
1. 飞机票很紧张，我差点儿没走成。 Fēijīpiào hěn j ǐnzhāng , Wǒ chàdiǎnr méi zǒu chéng。 "The flight tickets were very limited, I almost wasn't able to leave."
2. iPhone太抢手了，我差点儿没买着。 iPhone tài qiǎngshǒu le , wǒ chàdiǎnr méi mǎizháo。 "The iPhone is too popular, I almost didn't get one."
差点儿 is a colloquial way to say that something almost happened. If you wish, you can swap this with the more formal word 几乎 jīhū ("almost"). This word can be used interchangeably with 差点儿 in most cases. For example, 飞机票很紧张，我几乎没走 成 fēijīpiào hěn jǐnzhāng , wǒ jīhū méi zǒu chéng ("The flight tickets were very limited, I almost wasn't able to leave") means exactly the same thing as our example above, although it is not the sort of thing you will hear most speakers say in common speech.
CULTURAL INSIGHT
The iPhone in China
Since the release of the first generation iPhone, Apple has done a great deal of business in China. In Beijing, the flagship Apple store is the one in Sanlitun Village. There is usually a long queue that appears in front of the store each morning and the business is crowded every day right up until closing time. This has continued even as Apple has opened other stores in the city (most notably at Xidan) and despite the prevalence of authorized Apple resellers in most computer markets. One of the reasons Apple products are so popular in China is that they are associated with a kind of lifestyle of freedom and choice. Apple fans are often called Guofen (果粉) while many people will refer jokingly to the iPhone as the (爱疯), which is suggestive of fanatical love.
CHINES ECLAS S 101.COM UPPER I NTERMEDIATE S 1 #16 - MAKING S ACRI FI CES FOR TECHNOLOGY I N CHINA 6 LESSON NOTES Upper Intermediate S1 #17 The Difference Between Theory and Practice in China
CONTENTS
2 Simplified Chinese 2 Traditional Chinese 3 Pinyin 3 English 4 Vocabulary 4 Sample Sentences 5 Grammar 6 Cultural Insight # 17
COPYRIGHT © 2017 INNOVATIVE LANGUAGE LEARNING. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. SIMPLIFIED CHINESE
1. A 师傅，您是不是新手呀。
2. B 您怎么知道？ 我上礼拜刚拿的本儿。
3. A 看出来的。您这还系着安全带，还一个劲儿的给行人让道。
4. B 可这交规上是这么说的呀。
5. A 交规是用来应付考试的。真正在马路上开起来就不能用驾校里那一套 了。
6. B 哦，有道理。您是做什么工作的？
7. A 我嘛，车场教练。
TRADITIONAL CHINESE
1. A 師傅，您是不是新手呀。
2. B 您怎麼知道？ 我上禮拜剛拿的本兒。
3. A 看出來的。您這還系著安全帶，還一個勁兒的給行人讓道。
4. B 可這交規上是這麼說的呀。
5. A 交規是用來應付考試的。真正在馬路上開起來就不能用駕校裏那一套 了。
6. B 哦，有道理。您是做甚麼工作的？
CONT'D OVER
CHINES ECLAS S 101.COM UPPER I NTERMEDIATE S 1 #17 - THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THEORY AND PRACTI CE I N CHINA 2 7. A 我嘛，車場教練。
PINYIN
1. A Shīfu, nín shì bù shì xīnshǒu ya.
2. B Nín zěnme zhīdào? Wǒ shàng lǐbài gāng ná de běner.
3. A Kānchūlái de. Nín zhè hái xìzhe ānquándài, hái yīgèjìner de gěi xíngrén ràngdào.
4. B Kě zhè jiāoguīshàng shì zhème shuō de ya.
5. A Jiāoguī shì yònglái yìngfu kǎoshì de. Zhēnzhèng zài mǎlù shàng kāi qǐlai jiù bù néng yòng jiàxiào lǐ nàyītào le.
6. B ò, yǒu dàolǐ. Nín shì zuò shénme gōngzuò de?
7. A Wǒ ma, chēchǎng jiàoliàn.
ENGLISH
1. A: Sir, are you a new driver?
2. B: How do you know? I just got my license last week.
3. A: I could tell since you've got your seat belt fastened and keep giving way to pedestrians.
4. B: But this is what the traffic rules say.
CONT'D OVER
CHINES ECLAS S 101.COM UPPER I NTERMEDIATE S 1 #17 - THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THEORY AND PRACTI CE I N CHINA 3 5. A: The traffic rules are for exams. When it comes to driving on real roads, you can't rely on what you learned at driving school.
6. B: Oh, that sounds reasonable. What work do you do?
7. A: Me? Driving school coach.
VOCABULARY
Simplified Traditional Pinyin English Class
新手 新手 xīnshǒu newcomer noun
系 系 jì to tie verb
安全带 安全帶 ānquándài seat belt noun
让道 讓道 ràng dào to give way verb phrase
交规 交規 jiāoguī traffic rules noun
chēchǎng 车场教练 車場教練 jiàoliàn driving coach noun
一个劲儿 一個勁兒 yīgèjìner continuously adverb
驾校 駕校 jiàxiào driving school noun
那一套 那一套 nà yī tào that kind of stuff noun
SAMPLE SENTENCES
开车的时候千万别跟在新手后面。 你的鞋带儿开了，系一下。 Kāichē de shíhou qiānwàn bié gēn zài xīnshǒu Nǐ de xiédàiér kāi le, jì yīxià. hòumian. Your shoelace is loose, tie it up. Whatever happens, don't follow new drivers when on the road.
CHINES ECLAS S 101.COM UPPER I NTERMEDIATE S 1 #17 - THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THEORY AND PRACTI CE I N CHINA 4 开车之前一定要确认系好安全带。 虽然交规上说开车时要给行人让 Kāichē zhīqián yīdìng yào quèrèn jì hǎo 道，可在马路上几乎没有人这么 ānquándài. 做。 Suīrán jiāoguīshàng shuō kāichē shí yào gěi Before driving, make sure to fasten your xíngrén ràng dào, kě zài mǎlù shàng jīhū méiyǒu seat belt. rén zhème zuò.
According to traffic rules cars need to give way to pedestrians, but almost no one does that.
考试分为交规和路考，都过了才能 他当车场教练已经快十年了。 拿到驾照。 Tā dāng chēchǎng jiàoliàn yǐjīng kuài shí nián le.
Kǎoshì fēnwéi jiāoguī hé lùkǎo, dōu guò le cáinéng nádào jiàzhào. He has been a driving school coach for nearly ten years now. The exam has sections on traffic rules and a road test, and you won't get your license until you pass both.
他一个劲儿的给我倒酒，我也没办 你明天先找个驾校报个名，要先学 法。 学交规。 Tā yīgèjìner de gěi wǒ dǎo jiǔ, wǒ yě méi bànfǎ. Nǐ míngtiān xiān zhǎo ge jiàxiào bào ge míng, yào xiān xué xue jiāoguī. He kept pouring alcohol for me, there was nothing I could do. First register at a driving school tomorrow, because you need to study traffic laws first.
别听他那一套，没有一句真话。 Bié tīng tā nā yī tào, méiyǒu yī jù zhēnhuà.
Don't listen to what he has to say. None of it is true.
GRAMMAR
The Focus of this Lesson is A Review of the Pattern 是 ... 的 可这交规上是这么说的呀。"可这交规上是这么说的呀。 "But this is what the traffic rules say."
Our grammar point in this lesson is about the pattern 是 ... 的 (shì ... de). This pattern is
CHINES ECLAS S 101.COM UPPER I NTERMEDIATE S 1 #17 - THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THEORY AND PRACTI CE I N CHINA 5 formed by putting 是 after your subject (which is positioned at the start of the sentence), putting a descriptive clause in the middle, and then closing your sentence with the nominalizing particle 的.
We see this pattern twice in our dialogue. The first time occurs in the sentence 可这交规上 是这么说的呀 – kě zhè jiāoguīshàng shì zhème shuō de ya ("but this is what the traffic rules say"). The second examples occurs in the sentence 您是做什么工作的 – nín shì zuò shénme gōngzuò de ("what work do you do")? In both cases, the 是 ... 的 construction does not necessarily change the meaning of the sentence, save for providing extra emphasis. Consider the following examples:
1. 新手是最害怕上路的了。 Xīnshǒu shì zuì hàipà shànglù de le。 "New drivers are the ones most afraid of getting on the road."
2. 车厂教练是最不遵守交通规则的。 Chē chǎng jiàoliàn shì zuì bùzūnshǒu jiāotōngguīzé de 。 "Driving instructors are the ones who pay the least attention to driving rules."
3. 在中国，安全带是虚设的。 Zài Zhōngguó , ānquándài shì xūshè de。 "In China, seat belts are optional."
Note that while this pattern can be used in more formal writing, it is most common in colloquial speech.
CULTURAL INSIGHT
Getting a Drivers' License in China
In order to get a driving license in China, people are required to pass a written traffic exam. There are classes for this exam which take two days to pass, with students packing themselves into enormous classrooms which hold more than 300 people. The exam itself is then a computer-based test that contains 100 questions randomly selected from a corpus of 750 questions. Although most students cram quite intensely for the exam itself, the material seems to be forgotten fairly quickly after licenses are issued, at least judging from conduct on the road.
CHINES ECLAS S 101.COM UPPER I NTERMEDIATE S 1 #17 - THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THEORY AND PRACTI CE I N CHINA 6 LESSON NOTES Upper Intermediate S1 #18 A Tough Chinese Choice
CONTENTS
2 Simplified Chinese 2 Traditional Chinese 3 Pinyin 4 English 4 Vocabulary 5 Sample Sentences 6 Grammar 6 Cultural Insight
# 18
COPYRIGHT © 2012 INNOVATIVE LANGUAGE LEARNING. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. SIMPLIFIED CHINESE
1. A 怎么啦？愁眉苦脸的。
2. B 哎，还不是我妈和我媳妇。
3. A 又吵架了？
4. B 天天吵，我都快受不了了。
5. A 究竟是为什么呀？
6. B 一些鸡毛蒜皮的小事。就是互相看着不顺眼呗。
7. A 干脆别跟你妈住一块儿了，搬出去得了。
8. B 可谁给我们做饭呀？
9. A 那就跟你媳妇离，省的她老和你妈吵。
10. B 那谁给我生儿子呀？
TRADITIONAL CHINESE
1. A 怎麼啦？愁眉苦臉的。
2. B 哎，還不是我媽和我媳婦。
3. A 又吵架了？
4. B 天天吵，我都快受不了了。
CONT'D OVER
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #18 - A TOUGH CHINESE CHOICE 2 5. A 究竟是為甚麼呀？
6. B 一些雞毛蒜皮的小事。就是互相看著不順眼唄。
7. A 乾脆別跟你媽住一塊兒了，搬出去得了。
8. B 可誰給我們做飯呀？
9. A 那就跟你媳婦離，省的她老和你媽吵。
10. B 那誰給我生兒子呀？
PINYIN
1. A Zěnme la? Chóuméikǔliǎn de.
2. B āi, hái bù shì wǒmā hé wǒ xífu.
3. A Yòu chǎo jià le ?
4. B Tiāntiān chǎo, wǒ dōu kuài shòu buliǎo le.
5. A Jiūjìng shì wèishénme ya?
6. B Yīxiē jīmáosuànpí de xiǎoshì. Jiùshì hùxiāng kànzhe bùshùnyǎn bei.
7. A Gāncuì bié gēn nǐmā zhù yīkuàier le, bānchūqù dé le.
8. B Kě shéi gěi wǒmen zuòfàn yāa
CONT'D OVER
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #18 - A TOUGH CHINESE CHOICE 3 9. A Nà jiù gēn nǐ xífu lí, shěng de tā lǎo hé nǐmā chǎo.
10. B Nà Shéigěi wǒ shēng érzi ya?
ENGLISH
1. A: What's wrong? You look so sad.
2. B: Well, it's my mother and wife again.
3. A: They are fighting again?
4. B: They fight everyday! I can't take it anymore.
5. A: So why are they fighting anyway?
6. B: Just some worthless stuff. It's just that they can't get along.
7. A: Why don't you stop sharing a house with your mother and move out.
8. B: But who will cook for us?
9. A: Then divorce your wife and save this quarreling with your mother.
10. B: Then who will give me a son?
VOCABULARY
Simplified Traditional Pinyin English
愁眉苦脸 愁眉苦臉 chóuméikǔliǎn sad and distressed
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #18 - A TOUGH CHINESE CHOICE 4 吵架 吵架 chǎojià to quarrel
不顺眼 不順眼 bùshùnyǎn not to one's taste
互相 互相 hùxiāng each other
干脆 乾脆 gāncuì to let it be clear-cut
省的 省的 shěng de to save the trouble
孝顺 孝順 xiàoshùn be filial
鸡毛蒜皮 雞毛蒜皮 jīmáo suànpí trivial matters
SAMPLE SENTENCES
你整天这么愁眉苦脸的也不是办法 他们两口子感情很好，从不吵架。 呀。 Tāmen liǎngkǒuzi gǎnqíng hěn hǎo, cóngbù Nǐ zhěngtiān zhème chóuméikǔliǎn de yě bù shì chǎojià.
bànfǎ ya. They have such deep feelings they never Putting on a sad face everyday is not a fight. good way of dealing with it.
我怎么做他都看我不顺眼。 他教我学中文，我教他学日语，我 Wǒ zěnme zuò tā dōu kàn wǒ bùshùnyǎn. 们俩互相帮助。
Tā jiāo wǒ xué zhōngwén, wǒ jiāo tā xué rìyǔ, No matter what I do, he just doesn't like me. wǒmen liǎ hùxiāng bāngzhù.
We help each other: he teaches me Chinese and I teach him Japanese.
干脆把它掰下来，换个新的得了。 我马上就走，省的你看我不顺眼。 Gāncuì bǎ tā bāixiàlai, huàn ge xīn de dé le. Wǒ mǎshàng jiù zǒu, shěng de nǐ kàn wǒ
bùshùnyǎn. Just break it off and exchange it for a new one. I am leaving soon so you won't have to deal with me.
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #18 - A TOUGH CHINESE CHOICE 5 邻居们都夸他是个孝顺的孩子。 不要为了一些鸡毛蒜皮的小事吵 Lín jū men dōu kuā tā shì ge xiàoshùn de háizi. 架，太不值得。
Bùyào wèile yīxiē jī máo suàn pí de xiǎoshì The neighbors all praised that he is filial to chǎojià, tài bùzhíde. his parents. Don't quarrel over trivial things; it's not worth it.
GRAMMAR
The Focus of this Lesson is How to Imply that Something is Obvious 就是互相看着不顺眼呗。 "It's obvious that they just can't get along."
Our grammar point in this lesson is about the modal particle 呗 (bei), which suggests that something should be obvious or easy to understand without being negative or insulting. We see this in our dialogue, when one of our speakers says 就是互相看着不顺眼呗 jiùshì hùxiāng kànzhe bù shùnyǎn bei ("it's obvious that they just can't get along"). The 呗 lightens the tone of this statement, as with the following examples:
1. 你怎么每天都愁眉苦脸的？因为没人喜欢我呗。 Nǐ zěnme měitiān dōu chóuméikǔliǎn de? Yīnwèi méi rén xǐhuān wǒ bei 。 "Why are you sad everyday? It's so obvious that nobody likes me."
2. 他们怎么每天都在一起吃午饭？因为他们相爱呗。 Tāmen zěnme měitiān dōu zài yīqǐ chī wǔfàn? Yīnwèi tāmen xiāngài bei 。 "Why are they eating lunch together everyday? It's obvious that they are in love."
Note that while this is a suggestion of sorts, it isn't insulting or disrespectful to the listener. This is because 呗 is functionally and phonetically similar to 吧 (ba). The major difference is in this slight change in tone, which implies that there should be little disagreement on this point between most reasonable people.
CULTURAL INSIGHT
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #18 - A TOUGH CHINESE CHOICE 6 Monsters-in-Law
The relationship in Chinese families between mothers and daughter-in-laws is often extremely tense. This is actually a problem common across Asia, where many cultures have traditions wherein mothers tend to control even their adult childrens' lives, as with the old Chinese adage that one should "keep worrying about the son for 99 years if you live to 100" (养儿一百岁，常忧九十九).
This cultural tendency is reflected in a great deal of popular Chinese culture, such as the popular television shows Mother-in-Law vs. Daughter-in-Law for 70 Rounds (婆媳过招70 回) and the Glorious Age of Daughter-in-Laws (媳妇的美好时代).
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #18 - A TOUGH CHINESE CHOICE 7 LESSON NOTES Upper Intermediate S1 #19 A Chinese Mother with Big Dreams
CONTENTS
2 Simplified Chinese 2 Traditional Chinese 3 Pinyin 3 English 4 Vocabulary 5 Sample Sentences 6 Grammar 7 Cultural Insight
# 19
COPYRIGHT © 2012 INNOVATIVE LANGUAGE LEARNING. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. SIMPLIFIED CHINESE
1. A 听说你儿子奥数比赛获奖了？
2. B 不值一提，才得了个二等奖。
3. A 多不容易呀。要是我儿子，我非乐死不可。
4. B 不行，我批评他了，下次一定要拿个一等奖。
5. A 你对他要求也太高了吧。
6. B 不高，现在的社会竞争多激烈呀。不是名牌儿大学毕业的都找不着工 作。
7. A 可他现在才上小学五年级呀。
8. B 可他将来是要上牛津哈佛的，现在不严格点儿怎么行。我们隔壁夫妇的 女儿才四岁，已经开始学弹钢琴了。
TRADITIONAL CHINESE
1. A 聽說你兒子奧數比賽獲獎了？
2. B 不值一提，才得了個二等獎。
3. A 多不容易呀。要是我兒子，我非樂死不可。
4. B 不行，我批評他了，下次一定要拿個一等獎。
5. A 你對他要求也太高了吧。
CONT'D OVER
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #19 - A CHINESE MOTHER WITH BIG DREAMS 2 6. B 不高，現在的社會競爭多激烈呀。不是名牌兒大學畢業的都找不著工 作。
7. A 可他現在才上小學五年級呀。
8. B 可他將來是要上牛津哈佛的，現在不嚴格點兒怎麼行。我們隔壁夫婦的 女兒才四嵗，已經開始學彈鋼琴了。
PINYIN
1. A Tīngshuō nǐ érzi àoshù bǐsài huòjiǎngle ?
2. B Bùzhí yī tí, cái dé le ge èrděngjiǎng.
3. A Duō bù róngyì ya. Yàoshi wǒ érzi, wǒ fēi lè sǐ bù kě.
4. B Bùxíng, wǒ pīpíng tā le, xiàcì yīdìng yào ná ge yīděngjiǎng.
5. A Nǐ duì tā yāoqiú yě tàigāo le ba.
6. B Bùgāo, xiànzài de shèhuì jìngzhēng duō jīliè ya. Bù shì míngpáiér dàxué bìyè de dōu zhǎobùzháo gōngzuò.
7. A Kě tā xiànzài cái shàng xiǎoxué wǔ niánjí ya.
8. B Kě tā jiānglái shì yào shàng niújīn hāfó de, xiànzài bù yángé diǎnr zěnme xíng. Wǒmen gébì fūfù de nǚér cái sì suì, yǐjīng kāishǐ xué tángāngqín le.
ENGLISH
CONT'D OVER
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #19 - A CHINESE MOTHER WITH BIG DREAMS 3 1. A: I heard your son just won a prize in the Olympic Math competition.
2. B: Not worth mentioning. It was only a second prize.
3. A: What an effort. If it were my son, I'd be thrilled for sure.
4. B: It wasn't good enough and I told him. Next time he must win first prize.
5. A: Your expectations are too high.
6. B: No. Competition in this society is fierce. Those who don't graduate from top ranking universities can't find jobs.
7. A: But he's only a fifth-grader now.
8. B: But if he's going to go to universities like Oxford and Harvard, I'll have to be even stricter. Our neighbor's daughter is only four years old and she's already started to learn to play the piano.
VOCABULARY
Simplified Traditional Pinyin English
竞争 競爭 jìngzhēng to compete
奥数 奧數 ào shǔ math Olympiad
university entrance 高考 高考 gāokǎo exam
名牌儿 名牌兒 míngpái ér famous brand
二等奖 二等獎 èrděngjiǎng second prize
批评 批評 pīpíng to criticize
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #19 - A CHINESE MOTHER WITH BIG DREAMS 4 激烈 激烈 jīliè fierce
严格 嚴格 yángé strict
SAMPLE SENTENCES
每年的高考都是全国统一考试，因 大部分中国的孩子都在上学的同 此竞争很激烈。 时，参加奥数补习班。 Měinián de gāokǎo dōu shì quánguó tǒngyī Dàbùfēn zhōngguó de háizi dōu zài shàngxué de kǎoshì，yīncǐ jìngzhēng hěn jīliè. tóngshí, cānjiā àoshù bǔxíbān.
Every year the university entry exam is a Most Chinese children participate in cram nation wide standard exam, so the schools for the math Olympiads while competition is fierce. attending school.
这次高考他考得十分不理想，想上 这年头名牌儿大学的毕业生到处都 的大学可能没戏了。 是，可谁知是真是假。 Zhècì gāokǎo tā kǎode shífēn bùlǐxiǎng, xiǎng Zhè niántóu míngpái ér dàxué de bìyèshēng shàng de dàxué kěnéng méixì le. dàochù dōu shì, kě shéi zhī shì zhēn shì jiǎ.
His results on the university entrance These days there are graduates from exam don't look good, and maybe he won't famous universities everywhere -- who be able to get into the university he wants. knows if they're for real.
获二等奖的同学只比获一等奖的同 不虚心接受别人批评的人就不能取 学少了两分。 得进步。 Huò èrděngjiǎng de tóngxué zhǐ bǐ huò bù xūxīn jiēshòu biérén pīpíng de rén jiù bù néng yīděngjiǎng de tóngxué shǎo le liǎngfēn. qǔdé jìnbù.
The student who got second prize only People who don't accept other people's had two points less than the one who got criticism can't make progress. first prize.
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #19 - A CHINESE MOTHER WITH BIG DREAMS 5 尽管今年的高考竞争很激烈，他还 他对自己要求十分严格，每天总是 是顺利的考上了北大。 早早起来读英文。 Jǐnguǎn jīnnián de gāokǎo jìngzhēng hěn jīliè, tā Tā duì zìjǐ yāoqiú shífēn yángé, měi tiān zǒngshì hái shì shùnlì de kǎoshàng le běidà. zǎozāo qǐlai dú yīngwén.
Although the competition in the university He is very strict with himself and gets up entrance exam was tough, he still got into early to study English every day. Beijing University without much trouble.
GRAMMAR
The Focus of this Lesson is an Advanced Double Negative Pattern 要是我儿子，我非乐死不可。 "If it were my son, I'd be thrilled for sure."
Our grammar point in this lesson involves the grammar pattern 非 ... 不可 (fēi ... bùkě). We use this by putting either an adjective or a verb in the middle between 非 and 不可. This emphasizes that something must happen. The 非 here literally means "not," while the 不可 also means that something is impossible. The meaning of this double negative thus emphasizes that something cannot not happen.
In our dialogue, we hear this pattern when our speaker says that 要是我儿子，我非乐死 不可 yàoshi wǒ érzi , wǒ fēi lèsǐ bùkě ("if it were my son, I'd be thrilled for sure"). By putting the verb phrase 乐死 ("to be extremely happy") in the middle of this pattern, the speaker is saying that it would not be possible for her not to be thrilled. For more examples, consider the following sentences:
1. 我儿子奥数比赛没得奖，我非批评他不可。 Wǒ érzi àoshùbǐsài méi déjiǎng , wǒ fēi pīpíng tā bùkě。 "I have to criticize my son because he didn't win a prize in the Math Olympiad."
2. 中国竞争太激烈了，家长们非严格要求孩子不可。 Zhōngguó jìngzhēng tài jīliè le , jiāzhǎngmen fēi yángé yāoqiú háizi bùkě 。 "Competition in China is really intense, and parents have to be really strict with their children."
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #19 - A CHINESE MOTHER WITH BIG DREAMS 6 On an even more advanced note, you might be interested to hear that the character 非 can also mean "indeed" when used in isolation as a standalone adverb. This makes it quite a confusing character, since it can mean completely opposite things in the context of a sentence depending on whether it is paired with a closing 不可 or not.
CULTURAL INSIGHT
The Life of a Chinese Student
Chinese people say that grief and anger create poets. If this is true, then the enormous strain that Chinese academics places on young students must be creating a renaissance in the arts.
In 2011, a poem written by a fifth-grade student in Nanjing spread online like wildfire. The poem was named, "Mom, I Have Too Much Pressure" and was about a conflict between the young poet and her mother about her participation in the Math Olympiad. The girl's hope was expressed in the form of poetry, asking for a break from her endless homework. This is the same dream millions of her fellow pupils have in today's China.
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #19 - A CHINESE MOTHER WITH BIG DREAMS 7 LESSON NOTES Upper Intermediate S1 #20 Suffering for the Sake of Chinese Fashion
CONTENTS
2 Simplified Chinese 2 Traditional Chinese 3 Pinyin 3 English 4 Vocabulary 5 Sample Sentences 6 Grammar 7 Cultural Insight
# 20
COPYRIGHT © 2012 INNOVATIVE LANGUAGE LEARNING. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. SIMPLIFIED CHINESE
1. A 你怎么了？怎么直打哆嗦。
2. B 没事儿，有点儿冷。
3. A 那你怎么不多穿点儿？
4. B 我们老板说，我们是搞时尚的，要注意形象。
5. A 那也得看情况呀。今天最高气温才两度。
6. B 上回我们有一同事，因为穿了秋裤来上班，差点儿让老板给辞了。
7. A 为什么？
8. B 老板说那东西土得掉渣，穿上一点儿女人味儿都没有了。
9. A 可我前两天在菜市场碰到你们老板，她裹着一大羽绒服，整个一大妈形 象。
TRADITIONAL CHINESE
1. A 你怎麼了？怎麼直打哆嗦。
2. B 沒事兒，有點兒冷。
3. A 那你怎麼不多穿點兒？
4. B 我們老闆說，我們是搞時尚的，要注意形象。
5. A 那也得看情況呀。今天最高氣溫才兩度。
CONT'D OVER
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #20 - SUFFERING FOR THE SAKE OF CHINESE FASHION 2 6. B 上回我們有一同事，因為穿了秋褲來上班，差點兒讓老闆給辭了。
7. A 為甚麼？
8. B 老闆說那東西土得掉渣，穿上一點兒女人味兒都沒有了。
9. A 可我前兩天在菜市場碰到你們老闆，她裹著一大羽絨服，整個一大媽形 象。
PINYIN
1. A Nǐ zěnme le? Zěnme zhí dǎ duōsuo.
2. B Méishìer, yǒu diǎnr lěng.
3. A Nà nǐ zěnme bù duō chuān diǎnr?
4. B Wǒmen lǎobǎn shuō, wǒmen shì gǎo shíshàngde, yào zhùyì xíngxiàng.
5. A Nà yě děi kàn qíngkuàng ya. Jīntiān zuì gāo qìwēn cái liǎng dù.
6. B Shànghuíwǒmen yǒu yī tóngshì, yīnwèi chuān le qiūkù lái shàngbān, chàdiǎnr ràng lǎobǎn gěi cí le.
7. A Wèishénme?
8. B Lǎobǎn shuō nà dōngxi tǔ de diào zhā, chuān shàng yīdiǎnr nǚrénwèir dōu méiyǒu le.
9. A Kě wǒ qiánliǎngtiān zài càishìchǎng pèngdào nǐmen lǎobǎn, tā guǒ zhe yī dà yǔróngfú, zhěnggè yī dàmā xíngxiàng.
ENGLISH CONT'D OVER
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #20 - SUFFERING FOR THE SAKE OF CHINESE FASHION 3 1. A: What's wrong with you? Why are you trembling?
2. B: It's okay. I feel a little cold.
3. A: So why don't you wear more clothing?
4. B: My boss says that because we are in the fashion industry, we need to be fashion conscious.
5. A: But that should depend on the situation. The maximum temperature today is only two degrees.
6. B: Last time a colleague of mine nearly got sacked because she wore a pair of long-johns to work.
7. A: Why?
8. B: The boss said that stuff is so unfashionable. It makes you look unfeminine.
9. A: But I just saw your boss at the market a couple of days ago. She had this huge down jacket wrapped around her that made her look just like an old lady.
VOCABULARY
Simplified Traditional Pinyin English
打哆嗦 打哆嗦 dǎ duōsuo to shiver
女人味儿 女人味兒 nǚrén wèir feminine
差点儿 差點兒 chàdiǎnr nearly
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #20 - SUFFERING FOR THE SAKE OF CHINESE FASHION 4 羽绒服 羽絨服 yǔ róng fú down jacket
有损 有損 yǒu sǔn to be damaged
土得掉渣 土得掉渣 tǔ de diào zhā really unfashionable
秋裤 秋褲 qiūkù long-johns
形象 形象 xíngxiàng image
搞 搞 gǎo to do
裹着 裹著 guǒ zhe to wrap around
SAMPLE SENTENCES
她就穿着一件衬衫，站在那直打哆 她穿成这副样子，真是一点儿女人 嗦。 味儿都没有。 Tā jiù chuānzhe yī jiàn chènshān, zhàn zài nā zhí Tā chuān chéng zhè fù yàngzi, zhēnshì yīdiǎnr dǎ duōsuo. nǚrénwèir dōu méiyǒu.
She just stands there wearing a shirt, The way she dresses makes her look so shivering. unfeminine.
多亏了这件土得掉渣的羽绒服，我 羽绒服虽然有损形象，但穿上它就 昨天差点儿冻死。 真的不冷了。 Duōkuī le zhè jiàn tǔ děi diào zhā de yǔ róng fú, Yǔ róng fú suīrán yǒu sǔn xíngxiàng, dàn chuān wǒ zuótiān chàdiǎnr dòngsǐ. shàng tā jiù zhēnde bù lěng le.
If it wan't for this unfashionable down Although the down jacket might not look jacket, I would have frozen to death good on you, it really keeps you warm. yesterday.
我不信他能做出这样有损中国人形 他那身打扮简直是土得掉渣。 象的事来。 Tā nà shēn dǎbàn jiǎnzhí shì tǔ de diào zhā.
Wǒ bù xìn tā néng zuòchū zhèyàng yǒu sǔn zhōngguórén xíngxiàng de shì lái. His outfit is really unfashionable.
I can't believe he could have done things like this to damage Chinese people's image.
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #20 - SUFFERING FOR THE SAKE OF CHINESE FASHION 5 天凉了，是该穿秋裤的时候了。 作为公众人物，他很注意他的形 Tiān liáng le, shì gāi chuān qiūkù de shíhou le. 象。
Zuòwéi gōngzhòng rénwù, tā hěn zhùyì tā de It is getting cold, time to put on the long- xíngxiàng. johns. As a public figure, he pays a lot of attention to his image.
像他们这种搞文艺的总是穿得很时 他发烧发得裹着被子还打哆嗦。 髦。 Tā fāshāo fā děi guǒ zhe bèizi hái dǎ duōsuo.
Xiàng tāmen zhèzhǒng gǎo wényì de zǒngshì chuān děi hěn shímáo. He has got such a temperature that he
can't stop shivering even with the quilt Artists like them are always wearing trendy wrapped around him. clothes.
GRAMMAR
The Focus of this Lesson is Body Actions with 打 怎么直打哆嗦？ "Why are you always shivering?"
In previous lessons, we have taught quite a few simple phrases using the verb 打 (dǎ) such as 打电话, dǎ diànhuà ("to make a phone call") or 打招呼, dǎzhāohu ("to say hello"). In our grammar section for this lesson, we want to take a break from grammar patterns to discuss some more advanced verb phrases that use 打, all of which have to do with body actions. In our dialogue, we hear the speaker ask 怎么直打哆嗦, zěnme zhí dǎ duōsuo ("Why you are always shivering?"). Here, we can see the verb phrase 打哆嗦, dǎ duōsuo ("to shiver"). A slightly less common verb phrase that shares this meaning is 打冷战 (dǎ lěngzhàn). Another cold-related verb phrase with 打 is the verb describing what happens when you get a cold, 打喷嚏, dǎ pēnti ("to sneeze"). Other body-action verbs we discussed in this lesson include 打呼噜, dǎ hūlu ("to snore") and 打嗝儿, dǎgér ("to hiccup," "to burp"). For Example:
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #20 - SUFFERING FOR THE SAKE OF CHINESE FASHION 6 1. 她就穿着一件衬衫，站在那儿直打哆嗦。 Tā jiù chuānzhe yī jiàn chènshān, zhàn zài nàr zhí dǎ duōsuo. "She just stands there wearing a shirt, shivering."
2. 他打了半个小时哆嗦，最终打喷嚏了。 Tā dǎ le bàn ge xiǎoshí duōsuo, zuìzhōng dǎ pēnti le. "He shivered for half an hour, and then sneezed."
3. 她昨天没睡好，因为她老公一直在打呼噜 Tā zuótiān méi shuì hǎo , yīnwèi tā lǎogōng yīzhí zài dǎ hūlu. "She didn't sleep well last night, her husband kept snoring."
4. 他太紧张了，一直在打嗝儿 Tā tài jǐnzhāng le , yīzhí zài dǎgér. "He is too nervous, so he is always hiccuping."
CULTURAL INSIGHT
Freezing for Fashion
China has an expression which says that if you want to keep a fine figure, you have to put up with being cold (要风度不要温度). As a result of this, there are always people who wear too little in China, even during the coldest part of winter. Traditional Chinese medicine looks very coldly on this, as Chinese doctors believe that excessive cold damages qixue (气血), which literately means, "breath and blood," and is considered the root of health in traditional Chinese medicine. As a result of these conflicting cultural pressures, men and women (but usually women) who are trying to lose weight often embrace quite strange ways to keep warm. Some of the more common include wearing "bamboo charcoal trousers" (竹炭裤), applying "hand-warming cream" (暖手霜) and using "thermal plaster" (暖宝宝) on the skin.
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #20 - SUFFERING FOR THE SAKE OF CHINESE FASHION 7 LESSON NOTES Upper Intermediate S1 #21 Voicing Some Strong Chinese Opinions
CONTENTS
2 Simplified Chinese 2 Traditional Chinese 3 Pinyin 4 English 5 Vocabulary 5 Sample Sentences 6 Grammar 7 Cultural Insight
# 21
COPYRIGHT © 2012 INNOVATIVE LANGUAGE LEARNING. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. SIMPLIFIED CHINESE
1. A 听说那个新来的同事是河南人。
2. B 是吧，不太清楚。
3. A 我最不喜欢河南人了。又不讲卫生，人又土。
4. A 那东北人呢？
5. B 也好不到哪去，说话办事都太糙。
6. A 上海人心细呀。
7. B 也太细了。尤其是上海女人，太会算计了。还谁都瞧不起。
8. A 那广东人呢？
9. B 别提了。说话嗓门大得像是在吵架，没修养！
10. A 那依你觉得哪儿的人最好？
11. B 我看也就我们北京人最地道。
TRADITIONAL CHINESE
1. A 聽說那個新來的同事是河南人。
2. B 是吧，不太清楚。
3. A 我最不喜歡河南人了。又不講衛生，人又土。
CONT'D OVER
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #21 - VOICING SOME STRONG CHINESE OPINIONS 2 4. B 那東北人呢？
5. A 也好不到哪去，說話辦事都太糙。
6. B 上海人心細呀。
7. A 也太細了。尤其是上海女人，太會算計了。還誰都瞧不起。
8. B 那廣東人呢？
9. A 別提了。說話嗓門大得像是在吵架，沒修養！
10. B 那依你覺得哪兒的人最好？
11. A 我看也就我們北京人最地道。
PINYIN
1. A Tīngshuō nà ge xīnláide tóngshì shì Hénánrén.
2. B Shì ba, bùtài qīngchu.
3. A Wǒ zuì bù xǐhuān Hénánrén le. Yòu bù jiǎngwèishēng, rén yòu tǔ.
4. B Nà dōngběirénne?
5. A Yě hǎo bù dào nǎ qù, shuōhuà bànshì dōu tài cāo.
6. B Shànghǎirén xīn xì ya.
7. A Yě tài xì le. Yóuqí shì shànghǎi nǚrén, tài huì suàn jì le. Hái shéi dōu qiáobuqǐ.
CONT'D OVER
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #21 - VOICING SOME STRONG CHINESE OPINIONS 3 8. B Nā guǎngdōngrén ne?
9. A Bié tí le. Shuōhuà sǎngmén dà děi xiàng shì zài chǎojià, méi xiūyǎng!
10. B Nā yī nǐ juéde nǎr de rén zuìhǎo?
11. A Wǒ kàn yě jiù wǒmen běijīngrén zuì dìdào.
ENGLISH
1. A: I hear that new colleague is from Henan.
2. B: Maybe, I'm not sure.
3. A: People from Henan are my least favorite people. They are neither hygienic nor fashionable.
4. B: What about people from Dongbei?
5. A: They are not much better off. The way they talk and behave is too rough.
6. B: People from Shanghai pay attention to details.
7. A: They are too detailed. Especially Shanghai women, they are too calculating. And they look down on everyone.
8. B: What about people from Guangdong?
CONT'D OVER
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #21 - VOICING SOME STRONG CHINESE OPINIONS 4 9. A: Don't mention them. When they talk, it's just like they are having a fight. They are so uncultured.
10. B: So in your opinion who are the best people?
11. A: I think our Beijing people are the best.
VOCABULARY
Simplified Traditional Pinyin English
大方 大方 dàfāng generous
糙 糙 cāo rough
瞧不起 瞧不起 qiáobuqǐ to look down on
地道 地道 dìdào authentic
心细 心細 xīn xì detail oriented
算计 算計 suànjì to calculate, to plot
嗓门 嗓門 sǎngmén speaking volume
修养 修養 xiūyǎng to be cultured
SAMPLE SENTENCES
朋友们都听说他很大方。 这张纸太糙，有没有好一点儿的？ Péngyǒumen dōu tīng shuō tā hěn dàfāng. Zhè zhāng zhǐ tài cāo, yǒu méiyǒu hǎo yīdiǎnr
de? His friends have all heard he's very generous. This piece of paper is too rough. Do you have something a little better?
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #21 - VOICING SOME STRONG CHINESE OPINIONS 5 他看我不顺眼，我还瞧不起他呢。 这儿的绿茶真地道。 Tā kàn wǒ bùshùnyǎn, wǒ hái qiáobuqǐ tā ne. Zhè'er de lǜchá zhēn dìdào.
He doesn't like the way I am and I look The green tea here is really authentic. down on him too.
由于她的心细避免了不必要的损 这个人太爱算计，你要当心点儿。 失。 Zhè ge rén tài ài suànjì, nǐ yào dāngxīn diǎnr.
Yóuyú tā de xīn xì bìmiǎn le bù bì yào de sǔnshī. This person is calculating, you should be Her attention to detail avoided an careful. unnecesary loss.
你这么大的嗓门会把邻居吵醒的。 随地吐痰是一种十分没有修养的表 Nǐ zhème dà de sǎngmén huì bǎ línjū chǎo xǐng 现。 de. Suídì tǔtán shì yī zhǒng shífēn méiyǒu xiūyǎng
de biǎoxiàn. If you talk so loudly, you'll wake the neighbors. Spitting on the street is very uncultured behaviour.
GRAMMAR
The Focus of this Lesson is An Especially Emphatic Grammar Point 尤其是上海女人，太会算计了。 "Especially Shanghainese women, they're too calculating!"
Our grammar point in this lesson is about the word 尤其 (yóuqí). In our dialogue, we hear this used when our second speaker says 尤其是上海女人 yóuqí shì Shànghǎi nǚrén ("especially Shanghainese women"). Just like the word "especially" in English, this provides extra emphasis while picking a specific example to illustrate the point. For more clarity, look at the usage in the following sample sentences:
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #21 - VOICING SOME STRONG CHINESE OPINIONS 6 1. 中国菜很好吃，尤其是广东菜。
Zhōngguó cài hěn hǎochī , yóuqí shì Guǎngdōng cài.
"Chinese food taste really good, especially Cantonese food."
2. 东北菜分量尤其大。
Dōngběi cài fènliàng yóuqí dà. "The portions in the northeast are especially big."
3. 上海女人尤其心细。
Shànghǎi nǚrén yóuqí xīnxì. "Shanghainese women are especially detail oriented."
What makes 尤其 particularly useful is the sheer flexibility of the word! As we can see in our examples above, 尤其 is most commonly used with either nouns or adjectives. The word can also be used with verbs however (most commonly paired with 是) and is sometimes placed at the beginning of sentences to add extra emphasis on the entire statement, as with the sentence 尤其是广东菜 yóuqí shì Guǎngdōng cài ("especially in the case of Guangdong food").
CULTURAL INSIGHT
Prejudice in China
Most non-Chinese citizens are aware of the overarching division between northern and southern China, both linguistically and in terms of lifestyle and culture. Chinese people have a much finer-grained view of their fellow countrymen, and often strong prejudices about people from outside their own city or region. Negative and prejudicial attitudes are particularly strong in first-tier cities like Beijing and Shanghai, where permanent residents often look down on people they perceive as outsiders or feel threatened by them. And while we don't think these stereotypes hold much water, the prejudices described in this dialogue are relatively common throughout China.
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #21 - VOICING SOME STRONG CHINESE OPINIONS 7 LESSON NOTES Upper Intermediate S1 #22 Deciding on the Perfect Wedding Gift in China
CONTENTS
2 Simplified Chinese 2 Traditional Chinese 3 Pinyin 3 English 4 Vocabulary 5 Sample Sentences 6 Grammar 7 Cultural Insight
# 22
COPYRIGHT © 2012 INNOVATIVE LANGUAGE LEARNING. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. SIMPLIFIED CHINESE
1. A 你去参加小张的婚礼吗？
2. B 还没想好到底去不去。
3. A 不是收到请柬了吗？
4. B 没错。可我最近手头有点儿紧。总不能空着手去参加人家婚礼吧？
5. A 随便包个红包不就得了。
6. B 凭我和小张的关系，钱少了拿不出手，钱多了我又有点儿舍不得。
7. A 可你就是不去，也得送份礼意思意思呀。
8. B 也是。去了还能白吃一顿。
9. A 再说了，将来等你结婚的时候，他不是还得还礼？
TRADITIONAL CHINESE
1. A 你去參加小張的婚禮嗎？
2. B 還沒想好到底去不去。
3. A 不是收到請柬了嗎？
4. B 沒錯。可我最近手頭有點兒緊。總不能空著手去參加人家婚禮吧？
5. A 隨便包個紅包不就得了。
CONT'D OVER
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #22 - DECIDING ON THE PERFECT WEDDING GIFT IN CHINA 2 6. B 憑我和小張的關係，錢少了拿不出手，錢多了我又有點兒捨不得。
7. A 可你就是不去，也得送份禮意思意思呀。
8. B 也是。去了還能白吃一頓。
9. A 再說了，將來等你結婚的時候，他不是還得還禮？
PINYIN
1. A Nǐ qù cānjiā xiǎo zhāng de hūnlǐ ma?
2. B Hái méi xiǎng hǎo dàodǐ qù bu qù.
3. A Bù shì shōudào qǐngjiǎn le ma?
4. B Méicuò. Kě wǒ zuìjìn shǒu tóu yǒu diǎnr jǐn. Zǒngbùnéng kōngzheshǒu qù cānjiā rénjiā hūnlǐ ba?
5. A Suíbiàn bāo ge hóngbāo bù jiù dé le.
6. B Píng wǒ hé xiǎo zhāng de guānxi, qián shǎo le ná bùchūshǒu, qián duō le wǒ yòu yǒudiǎn ér shěbùdé.
7. A Kě nǐ jiùshì bù qù, yě děi sòng fèn lǐ yìsi yìsi ya.
8. B Yě shì. Qù le hái néng báichī yī dùn.
9. A Zàishuōle, jiānglái děng nǐ jiéhūn de shíhou, tā bù shì hái děi huán lǐ?
ENGLISH
CONT'D OVER
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #22 - DECIDING ON THE PERFECT WEDDING GIFT IN CHINA 3 1. A: Are you going to attend Xiao Zhang's wedding?
2. B: I'm still not sure whether I should go.
3. A: Haven't you already received an invitation?
4. B: Sure, but I've been a bit short of cash, and I can't go and attend someone's wedding empty-handed.
5. A: Just give him a red bag. It should be fine.
6. B: Given my relationship with Xiao Zhang, giving too little would be embarrassing, and I can't afford to give too much.
7. A: But even if you don't go, don't you still have to send some sort of wedding gift?
8. B: You are right. At least I can enjoy a free meal if I go.
9. A: And when you get married in the future, doesn't he have to return the favor?
VOCABULARY
Simplified Traditional Pinyin English
too embarrassing to 拿不出手 拿不出手 nábùchū shǒu show
婚礼 婚禮 hūnlǐ wedding ceremony
凭 憑 píng depending on
白吃 白吃 báichī to eat for free
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #22 - DECIDING ON THE PERFECT WEDDING GIFT IN CHINA 4 还礼 還禮 huán lǐ to return a favor
手头儿 手頭兒 shǒu tóuer at hand
包红包 包紅包 bāo hóngbāo to wrap a red bag
to show one's 意思意思 意思意思 yìsi yìsi appreciation
SAMPLE SENTENCES
包个这么小的红包实在有点儿拿不 他们的婚礼设在一个五星级酒店， 出手。 并且请了上百人参加。 Bāo ge zhèmexiǎo de hóngbāo shízài yǒudiǎnér Tāmen de hūnlǐ shèzài yīge wǔxīngjí jiǔdiàn, nábùchūshǒu. bìngqiě qǐng le shàngbǎi rén cānjiā.
It's really a bit embarrassing to wrap such Their wedding was held in a five-star hotel a small red bag. with over a hundred guests in attendance.
凭这张名片，他就不敢拦我。 天下没有白吃的午餐。 Píng zhè zhāng míngpiàn, tā jiù bù gǎn lán wǒ. Tiānxià méiyǒu báichī de wǔcān.
With this business card, he won't dare stop There is no such thing as a free lunch. me.
这送礼和还礼的道理大家都明白。 看样子你最近是手头儿宽裕了，天 Zhè sònglǐ hé huán lǐ de dàolǐ dàjiā dōu míngbai. 天在外面吃饭。
Kàn yàngzi nǐ zuìjìn shì shǒu tóuer kuān yù le, Everyone understands the logic about tiāntiān zài wàimiàn chīfàn.
buying gifts and returning favors. Looks like you've got quite a bit of spare money these days, dining out everyday.
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #22 - DECIDING ON THE PERFECT WEDDING GIFT IN CHINA 5 去参加婚礼，哪有不包个红包的？ 好朋友过生日，手头儿再紧也要意 Qù cānjiā hūnlǐ, nǎyǒu bù bāo ge hóngbāo de? 思意思。
Hǎopéngyou guò shēngrì, shǒu tóuer zài jǐn yě Don't you prepare a red bag before going yào yìsi yìsi. to weddings? When a good friend has a birthday, you have to get something even if you're short for cash.
GRAMMAR
The Focus of This Lesson is a Colloquial Way to Make a Concession 可你就是不去，也得送份礼意思意思啊。 "But even if you don't go, you still need to send a wedding gift."
Our grammar point in this lesson is focused on the pattern 可 ... 就是 ... (kě ... jiùshì ...). By putting our subject between 可, kě ("but") and 就是, jiùshì ("even if"), and then explaining a situation afterwards, we can make sentences which indicate that one is making a concession or has no control over what is actually happening. The typical emotion here is one that admits that despite the situation, some things still need to be done. We hear this in our dialogue when the first speaker says 可你就是不去，也得送份礼意思意思啊, kě nǐ jiùshì bù qù, yě děi sòng fèn lǐ yìsi yìsi ā ("But even if you don't go, surely you still have to send some sort of wedding gift").
We can see a similar reluctance and powerlessness communicated in the following examples:
1. 可我就是手头再紧，红包也不能不给。 Kě wǒ jiùshì shǒu tóu zài jǐn , hóngbāo yě bù néng bù gěi. "But even if I'm more strapped for cash, I still can't not give a red envelope."
2. 可礼物就是再拿不出手，也比什么都不送强。 Kě lǐwù jiùshì zài nábùchū shǒu , yě bǐ shénme dōu bù sòng qiáng. "But even giving a really embarrassing gift is better than giving nothing at all."
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #22 - DECIDING ON THE PERFECT WEDDING GIFT IN CHINA 6 3. 婚礼收红包是传统，可我们就是不想收也没办法。 Hūnlǐ shōu hóngbāo shì chuántǒng , kě wǒmen jiùshì bù xiǎng shōu yě méi bànfǎ. "It's a tradition to get red envelopes at weddings, and even if we don't want them there's nothing we can do about it."
The character 可 starting the pattern can be a obvious sign for you to recognize the pattern. And the use of 可, which is a abbreviation of 可是, also makes the whole pattern more colloquial.
CULTURAL INSIGHT
Chinese Wedding Gifts
Rather than wedding presents, Chinese wedding-goers will gift newlyweds with envelopes of red cash. These have typically been used to pay for the furnishing of the couple's new home, and the amount that is appropriate to give depends on your degree of relationship with the couple. As of 2012, a minimum gift of about 500 RMB is acceptable, while anything over 1000 RMB is considered extravagant. If you aren't sure of how much you should be giving, your best bet is to ask other friends who know the couple. Giving too much can cause a loss of face exactly as can giving too little!
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #22 - DECIDING ON THE PERFECT WEDDING GIFT IN CHINA 7 LESSON NOTES Upper Intermediate S1 #23 Did You Know Speaking Chinese Could Win You a Luxury Car?
CONTENTS
2 Simplified Chinese 2 Traditional Chinese 3 Pinyin 4 English 5 Vocabulary 5 Sample Sentences 6 Grammar 7 Cultural Insight
# 23
COPYRIGHT © 2012 INNOVATIVE LANGUAGE LEARNING. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. SIMPLIFIED CHINESE
1. A 主席先生您好，听说那几辆80万英镑的劳斯莱斯已经卖出去了？
2. B 是的，一上午就卖出了两辆，车展一结束就直接提货。
3. A 能不能透露一下买家身份?
4. B 我只能告诉你是中国人。
5. A 当然。据说这次的劳斯莱斯都是空运过来的？
6. B 是的，空运几辆三吨重的车根本不算什么。
7. A 三吨重？
8. B 没错。对中国的超级富豪来说，车是他们的身份象征，当然是越大越 好。
9. A 哦。那您认为此次车展成功的秘诀是？
10. B 会说中文！
TRADITIONAL CHINESE
1. A 主席先生您好，聽說那幾輛80萬英鎊的勞斯萊斯已經賣出去了？
2. B 是的，一上午就賣出了兩輛，車展一結束就直接提貨。
3. A 能不能透露一下買家身份?
4. B 我只能告訴你是中國人。
CONT'D OVER
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #23 - DID YOU KNOW SPEAKING CHINESE COULD WIN YOU A LUXURY CAR? 2 5. A 當然。據說這次的勞斯萊斯都是空運過來的？
6. B 是的，空運幾輛三噸重的車根本不算甚麼。
7. A 三噸重？
8. B 沒錯。對中國的超級富豪來說，車是他們的身份象徵，當然是越大越 好。
9. A 哦。那您認為此次車展成功的秘訣是？
10. B 會說中文！
PINYIN
1. A Zhǔxí xiānsheng nínhǎo, tīngshuō nà jǐliàng bāshíwàn yīngbàng de láosīláisī yǐjīng màichūqù le ?
2. B Shì de, yīshàngwǔ jiù màichū le liǎng liàng, chēzhǎn yījiéshù jiù zhíjiē tíhuò.
3. A Néngbùnéng tòulù yīxià mǎijiā shēnfèn?
4. B Wǒ zhǐ néng gàosu nǐ shì zhōngguórén.
5. A Dāngrán. Jùshuō zhècì de láosīláisī dōu shì kōngyùn guòlai de?
6. B Shì de, kōngyùn jǐ liàng sān dūn zhòng de chē gēnběn bùsuàn shénme.
7. A Sān dūn zhòng?
CONT'D OVER
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #23 - DID YOU KNOW SPEAKING CHINESE COULD WIN YOU A LUXURY CAR? 3 8. B Méicuò. Duì zhōngguó de chāojí fùháo láishuō, chē shì tāmen de shēnfèn xiàngzhēng, dāngrán shì yuè dà yuèhǎo.
9. A ò. Nā nín rènwéi cǐcì chēzhǎn chénggōng de mìjué shì?
10. B Huì shuō zhōngwén!
ENGLISH
1. A: Mr. Chairman, it's said you've already sold 800,000 pounds worth of Rolls-Royce cars?
2. B: Yes. Two cars sold this morning alone. And they'll be picked up straight after the exhibition.
3. A: Can you reveal any information about the buyers' identities?
4. B: I can only tell you that they're Chinese.
5. A: Of course. And it's said these Rolls-Royces were sent over by air?
6. B: Sure. It's nothing to airship a few cars weighing three tons.
7. A: Three tons?
8. B: That's right. For super-rich Chinese billionaires, cars are symbols of their identities. So of course, the bigger the better.
9. A: Right. So in your opinion, what's the secret to success in this car exhibition?
CONT'D OVER
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #23 - DID YOU KNOW SPEAKING CHINESE COULD WIN YOU A LUXURY CAR? 4 10. B: Being able to speak Chinese!
VOCABULARY
Simplified Traditional Pinyin English
提货 提貨 tíhuò to pick up goods
据说 據說 jùshuō It is said
空运 空運 kōngyùn to transport by air
富豪 富豪 fùháo billionaire
秘诀 秘訣 mìjué secret (of success)
象征 象徵 xiàngzhēng symbol
透露 透露 tòulù to reveal
身份 身份 shēnfèn identity
SAMPLE SENTENCES
请你在提货前一定跟厂家电话联 据说人气这个词是从日语传来的。 系。 Jùshuō rénqì zhège cí shì cóng rìyǔ chuánlái de.
Qǐng nǐ zài tí huò qián yīdìng gēn chǎngjiā diànhuà liánxì. It's said that the word meaning popular
comes from Japanese. Before you pick up your goods please make sure to give the factory a call.
为了这次婚礼，他们特地从泰国空 这是一个专为富豪们提供各种服务 运来几箱鲜花。 的会员俱乐部。 wéi le zhè cì hūnlǐ, tāmen tèdì cóng tàiguó Zhè shì yī ge zhuān wèi fùháo men tígōng kōngyùn lái jǐ xiāng xiānhuā. gèzhǒng fúwù de huìyuán jùlèbù。
They specially shipped over several boxes This is a members only club that provides of fresh flowers by air for their wedding. all kinds of services for billionaires.
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #23 - DID YOU KNOW SPEAKING CHINESE COULD WIN YOU A LUXURY CAR? 5 成功的秘诀就是努力的工作。 龙在中国的传统文化中非常具有象 Chénggōng de mìjué jiùshì nǔlì de gōngzuò. 征意义。
Lóng zài zhōngguó de chuántǒng wénhuà zhōng The secret of success is to work really fēicháng jùyǒu xiàngzhēng yìyì. hard. In traditional Chinese culture, the dragon is a very symbolic figure.
虽然产品还没正式上市，卖家透露 开宝马和奔驰成了一种身份的象 说已经收到了足够的订单。 征。 Suīrán chǎnpǐn hái méi zhèngshì shàngshì, màijiā Kāi bǎomǎ hé bēnchí chéng le yī zhǒng shēnfèn tòulù shuō yǐjīng shōudào le zúgòu de dìngdān. de xiàngzhēng.
Although the product is not yet on the Driving a BMW or Mercedes Benz has market, the seller revealed that they've become an identity's symbol. received enough orders.
GRAMMAR
The Focus of this Lesson is Emphasizing Time Duration 一上午就卖出了两辆。 "In the entire morning, they sold two cars."
In previous lessons, we discussed statements of time and duration. Our focus today is learning to emphasize them. This is done by using the character 一 (yī). For instance, say 一 上午 yíshàngwǔ to mean "the entire morning", 一下午 yíxiàwǔ for "the entire afternoon", 一 晚上 yìwǎnshang to refer to "the entire evening" and 一整天 yìzhěngtiān to mean "the entire day". We see this in our dialogue when the second speaker says 一上午就卖出了两辆 yí shàngwǔ jiù màichū le liǎng liàng ("in the entire morning, we sold two cars.") Look at these sentences for more examples:
1. 这个富豪一上午就是喝茶聊天儿。 Zhège fùháo yíshàngwǔ jiùshì hēchá liáotiānr。 This billionaire just drinks tea and chats all morning.
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #23 - DID YOU KNOW SPEAKING CHINESE COULD WIN YOU A LUXURY CAR? 6 2. 他太紧张了，一晚上都睡不着。 Tā tài jǐnzhāng le , yìwǎnshang dōu shuì bu zháo。 He couldn't sleep for the entire evening, because he was too nervous.
3. 上海车展太热闹了，一整天全是人。 Shànghǎi chēzhǎn tài rènào le , yìzhěngtiān quán shì rén。 The Shanghai automobile exhibition is so busy that it's filled with people for the entire day.
On a closing note, be sure to pay attention to the pronunciation of 一 when used with different characters. The phenomenon is called 变调 biàndiào (tone modification) in Chinese. There are 3 principles to this tone modification which surface here: (1) read the character in the first tone when it appears independently or at the end of a word, (2) read it in the fourth tone when it comes in compounds in front of characters which are not read in the 4th tone, and (3) read it in the second tone when it is followed by a fourth tone character.
CULTURAL INSIGHT
Chinese Vehicle Ownership
China has the largest automobile market in the world, and has been developing an automobile culture similar to that which predominates in the west. Slightly offsetting this tendency towards cars and more cars is the extreme population density of the country and the development of much more extensive mass transit systems in most major cities. Nonetheless, car ownership has grown to such an extent that it is a major problem in cities like Beijing. In response, the city has adopted a "lottery" systems for determining which families will have the right to purchase a car in any particular year. As a result, unless you are planning to be resident in China for quite a long time, you will doubtless find it easier (and cheaper!) to simply take cabs everywhere.
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #23 - DID YOU KNOW SPEAKING CHINESE COULD WIN YOU A LUXURY CAR? 7 LESSON NOTES Upper Intermediate S1 #24 Must Love Dogs in China
CONTENTS
2 Simplified Chinese 2 Traditional Chinese 3 Pinyin 3 English 4 Vocabulary 4 Sample Sentences 5 Grammar 6 Cultural Insight
# 24
COPYRIGHT © 2015 INNOVATIVE LANGUAGE LEARNING. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. SIMPLIFIED CHINESE
1. A 你平时有什么爱好？
2. B 我喜欢打高尔夫，看些英文原版的电影，大部分时间还是去世界各地旅 行。
3. A 那你会不会因为工作的关系经常出差呢？
4. B 不会，这些跑腿儿的事儿一般都是手下去做的。
5. A 那你一直是一个人生活的吗？
6. B 噢不，家里有个管家和两个保姆照顾我。
7. A 那为什么不找个女朋友呢？
8. B 哦，因为我认识的那些女人都不愿意每天和我的五只爱犬一起用餐。
TRADITIONAL CHINESE
1. A 你平時有甚麼愛好？
2. B 我喜歡打高爾夫，看些英文原版的電影，大部分時間還是去世界各地旅 行。
3. A 那你會不會因為工作的關係經常出差呢？
4. B 不會，這些跑腿兒的事兒一般都是手下去做的。
5. A 那你一直是一個人生活的嗎？
CONT'D OVER
CHINES ECLAS S 101.COM UPPER I NTERMEDIATE S 1 #24 - MUST LOVE DOGS I N CHINA 2 6. B 噢不，家裡有個管家和兩個保姆照顧我。
7. A 那為甚麼不找個女朋友呢？
8. B 哦，因為我認識的那些女人都不願意每天和我的五隻愛犬一起用餐。
PINYIN
1. A Nǐ píngshí yǒu shénme àihào?
2. B Wǒ xǐhuān dǎ gāoěrfū, kàn xiē yīngwén yuánbǎn de diànyǐng, dàbùfēn shíjiān hái shì qù shìjiè gèdì lǚxíng.
3. A Nà nǐ huìbuhuì yīnwèi gōngzuò de guānxi jīngcháng chūchāi ne?
4. B Bùhuì, zhè xiē pǎotuir de shìr yībān dōu shì shǒuxià qù zuò de.
5. A Nà nǐ yīzhí shì yīgerén shēnghuó de ma?
6. B o bù, jiālǐ yǒu ge guǎnjiā hé liǎngge bǎomǔ zhàogu wǒ.
7. A Nà wèishénme bù zhǎo ge nǚpéngyou ne?
8. B ò, yīnwèi wǒ rènshi de nàxiē nǚrén dōu bùyuànyì měitiān hé wǒde wǔzhǐ àiquǎn yīqǐ yòngcān.
ENGLISH
1. A: Do you have any hobbies?
CONT'D OVER
CHINES ECLAS S 101.COM UPPER I NTERMEDIATE S 1 #24 - MUST LOVE DOGS I N CHINA 3 2. B: I like to play golf, watch English movies and spend most of my time traveling around the world.
3. A: So do you need to travel much for business then?
4. B: No, these kinds of errands are usually done by my staff.
5. A: So have you always lived alone?
6. B: Oh no, I have a housekeeper and two housemaids to look after me.
7. A: Why don't you find a girlfriend then?
8. B: Oh, because none of the women I know want to eat together with me and my dogs.
VOCABULARY
Simplified Traditional Pinyin English Class
原版 原版 yuánbǎn original edition noun
用餐 用餐 yòngcān to have a meal verb
跑腿儿 跑腿兒 pǎotuir to run errands verb
管家 管家 guǎnjiā housekeeper noun
爱犬 愛犬 àiquǎn pet dog noun
to go on a 出差 出差 chūchāi business trip noun
手下 手下 shǒuxià staff noun
to go on a blind 相亲 相親 xiāngqīn date verb
SAMPLE SENTENCES
CHINES ECLAS S 101.COM UPPER I NTERMEDIATE S 1 #24 - MUST LOVE DOGS I N CHINA 4 盗版盘虽然比原版盘便宜多了，但 他告诉管家用餐的时间推迟了。 质量也差了不少。 Tā gàosu guǎnjiā yòng cān de shíjiān tuīchíle.
Dàobǎn pán suīrán bǐ yuánbǎn pán piányi duō le, dàn zhìliàng yě chā le bùshǎo. He told the housekeeper the meal time
had been delayed. Although the pirated discs are much cheaper than the original ones, the quality is a lot worse too.
能不能给我跑个腿儿？ 他让他的管家带着他的爱犬去公园 Néngbùnéng gěi wǒ pǎo ge tuǐ ér? 散步。
Tā ràng tā de guǎnjiā dài zhè tā de ài quǎn qù Can you run an errand for me? gōngyuán sànbù.
He asked his housekeeper to take his dog for a walk in the park.
我的爱犬这两天不太舒服，我要在 这个工作有30%的时间是在出差. 家照顾照顾它。 zhège gōngzuò yǒu bǎifēn zhī sānshí de shíjiān Wǒ de àiquǎn zhè liǎng tiān bútài shūfu, wǒ yào shì zài chūchāi . zàijiā zhàogù zhàogù tā. For this job, thirty percent of the time is My dog hasn't been feeling well recently spent on business trips. and I need to stay at home to care for it.
我前两天在上海出差的时候遇到了 他的公司很小，手下也就几个人。 大学时的老同学。 Tā de gōngsī hěn xiǎo, shǒuxià yě jiù jǐ gè rén.
Wǒ qiánliǎngtiān zài Shànghǎi chūchāi de shíhou yùdào le dàxué shí de lǎo tóngxué. His company is very small and only has a
few staff. I saw an old classmate from university a few days ago when I was in Shanghai on business.
相亲的时候，他一眼就看上了她。 Xiāngqīn de shíhou, tā yīyǎn jiù kànshàngle tā.
He fell in love with her instantly on their blind date.
GRAMMAR
CHINES ECLAS S 101.COM UPPER I NTERMEDIATE S 1 #24 - MUST LOVE DOGS I N CHINA 5 The Focus of this Lesson is on 差 那你会不会因为工作的关系经常出差呢？ "So do you need to travel much for business then?"
Our grammar focus today is not on a word so much as a particularly tricky character which has several meanings: 差.
The most formal meanings of this character is to refer to an official position or job post. This is the sense in which we see it in the word 出差 chūchāi ("to go on a business trip"). The origin of this phrase comes from Imperial China, where 差役 chāyì was the name of a position in the Chinese bureaucracy. This job involved sending people out to do things for the government, and consequently the character has adopted a related meaning as both a noun and a verb. As a noun, it refers to business as with 出差 or 差事 chāshi ("job"). As a verb, we see it in phrases which suggest that one is dispatching someone or something, as with 差遣 chāiqiǎn ("to send") or 差人去做 chāirén qù zuò ("to send someone to do something").
While chāi is the most formal pronunciation, this character has two other more common ones: chā and chà. The more common of these two is in the forth tone, where the character has the meaning of "more or less" as with 差不多 chàbuduō ("more or less the same"). When pronounced in the first tone, chā refers to the sense of "a difference", as with 差别 chābié and 差距 chājù. The similarity of these meanings and concepts often confuse students.
Making things even more complex, there is a final definition of the character 差 chà in the forth tone, where it can be used as an adjective meaning "poor quality" as with the phrase zhìliàng tài chàle ("The quality is too poor"). Do your best not to get confused, but be aware that even Chinese speakers will casually pronounce this character in the incorrect tone on occasion.
CULTURAL INSIGHT
Tall, Wealthy and Handsome
In Mainland China, a certain kind of man is the most popular in the blind dating 'market.' They are called 高富帅 in Chinese, which literarily means "tall, wealthy and handsome." A lot of them were born in rich families, and are addressed as 富二代, "affluent second generation"
CHINES ECLAS S 101.COM UPPER I NTERMEDIATE S 1 #24 - MUST LOVE DOGS I N CHINA 6 a term which technically refers to the children of the political elite but has increasingly come to mean children of the generally wealthy. These individuals often study abroad and have reputations within Chinese culture as being playboys.
CHINES ECLAS S 101.COM UPPER I NTERMEDIATE S 1 #24 - MUST LOVE DOGS I N CHINA 7 LESSON NOTES Upper Intermediate S1 #25 Sticking to a Diet is Tough in China
CONTENTS
2 Simplified Chinese 2 Traditional Chinese 3 Pinyin 3 English 4 Vocabulary 5 Sample Sentences 5 Grammar 6 Cultural Insight
# 25
COPYRIGHT © 2012 INNOVATIVE LANGUAGE LEARNING. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. SIMPLIFIED CHINESE
1. 我宣布从现在开始实施我的健身减肥计划。
2. 我都听你说了不下十遍了。
3. 这次我绝对是认真的。我所有的裤子都穿不下了，太受打击了。
4. 不光是锻炼，你还要注意饮食，少吃垃圾食品。
5. 知道了，别啰嗦了，咱们去吃点儿东西吧。
6. 好，你想吃点儿什么？
7. 肯德基怎么样？我听说他们新推出了一款果酱鱼汉堡。
8. 你不是刚说过要减肥吗？
9. 我说的是从明天开始，我保证。
TRADITIONAL CHINESE
1. 我宣布從現在開始實施我的健身減肥計劃。
2. 我都聽你說了不下十遍了。
3. 這次我絕對是認真的。我所有的褲子都穿不下了，太受打擊了。
4. 不光是鍛煉，你還要注意飲食，少吃垃圾食品。
5. 知道了，別啰嗦了，咱們去吃點兒東西吧。
CONT'D OVER
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #25 - STICKING TO A DIET IS TOUGH IN CHINA 2 6. 好，你想吃點兒甚麼？
7. 肯德基怎麼樣？我聽說他們新推出了一款果醬魚漢堡。
8. 你不是剛說過要減肥嗎？
9. 我說的是從明天開始，我保證。
PINYIN
1. Wǒ xuānbù cóng xiànzài kāishǐ shíshī wǒde jiànshēn jiǎnféi jìhuà.
2. Wǒ dōu tīng nǐ shuō le bùxià shíbiàn le.
3. Zhècì wǒ juéduì shì rènzhēn de. Wǒ suǒyǒu de kùzi dōu chuānbuxià le, tài shòu dǎjī le.
4. Bùguāng shì duànliàn, nǐ hái yào zhùyì yǐnshí, shǎochī lājī shípǐn.
5. Zhīdao le, bié luōsuo le, zánmen qù chīdiǎnr dōngxi ba.
6. Hǎo, nǐ xiǎng chī diǎnr shénme?
7. Kěndéjī zěnmeyàng? Wǒ tīngshuō tāmen xīntuīchū le yīkuǎn guǒjiàngyú hànbǎo.
8. Nǐ bù shì gāng shuō guò yào jiǎnféi ma?
9. Wǒ shuō de shì cóng míngtiān kāishǐ, wǒ bǎozhèng.
ENGLISH
CONT'D OVER
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #25 - STICKING TO A DIET IS TOUGH IN CHINA 3 1. A: I'm announcing the start of my plan to get fit and lose weight now!
2. B: I've heard you say this more than ten times.
3. A: This time I'm really serious. None of my trousers fit me any more. It is such a blow.
4. B: Don't just do exercise. You also need to pay attention to what you eat. Try to avoid junk food.
5. A: I know. Stop going on about it. Let's go and get something to eat.
6. B: Ok, what would you like to eat?
7. A: How about KFC? I hear they just started to advertise a new fish burger.
8. B: Didn't you just say you are going to lose some weight?
9. A: I said starting from tomorrow. I promise.
VOCABULARY
Simplified Traditional Pinyin English
保证 保證 bǎozhèng to promise
宣布 宣布 xuānbù to announce
打击 打擊 dǎjī blow
啰嗦 啰嗦 luōsuo to talk too much
实施 實施 shíshī to carry out
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #25 - STICKING TO A DIET IS TOUGH IN CHINA 4 健身 健身 jiànshēn to get fit
饮食 飲食 yǐnshí diet
垃圾食品 垃圾食品 lājī shípǐn junk food
SAMPLE SENTENCES
他保证每天坚持锻炼半小时。 他在全家人面前宣布他决定要结婚 Tā bǎozhèng měi tiān jiānchí duànliàn 了。 bànxiǎoshí. Tā zài quánjiā rén miànqián xuānbù tā juédìng
yào jiéhūn le. He promised to exercise for half an hour everyday. He announced his decision to marry in front of his entire family.
爸爸的突然去世对他的打击太大 他这个人什么都好，就是太啰嗦。 了。 Tā zhè ge rén shénme dōuhǎo, jiùshì tài luōsuo.
Bàba de tūrán qùshì duì tā de dǎjī tàidà le. Everything about him is good, except he His father's sudden death was a big blow talks too much. to him.
为了实施这个计划，他准备了好长 你只要每天花上半小时，做做简单 时间。 的健身运动就行。 Wéile shíshī zhège jìhuà, tā zhǔnbèi le hǎo Nǐ zhǐyào měi tiān huāshàng bànxiǎoshí, zuòzuo cháng shíjiān. jiǎndān de jiànshēn yùndòng jiù xíng.
He prepared a long time in order to carry You only need half an hour a day to do out this plan. some simple exercises.
健康的饮食对身体有一定的好处。 像麦当劳和肯德基这样的快餐都叫 Jiànkāng de yǐnshí duì shēntǐ yǒu yīdìng de 垃圾食品。 hǎochù. Xiàng màidāngláo hé kěndéjī zhèyàng de
kuàicān dōu jiào lājī shípǐn. A healthy diet is definitely beneficial to a healthy body. Fast food from places like McDonald's and KFC are all considered junk food.
GRAMMAR
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #25 - STICKING TO A DIET IS TOUGH IN CHINA 5 The Focus of this Lesson is an Advanced Point of Comparison 我都听你说了不下十遍了。 "I've heard you say this more than ten times."
Our grammar focus for this lesson is on the word 不下 (bù xià) which is placed in front of a qualifier. For instance, we can say 不下二十个 bù xià èrshí ge to mean "no fewer than twenty" or 不下一万个 bù xià yīwàn ge to mean "no fewer than 10,000." While this word literally means "no fewer than" it is used colloquially to imply "more than." In our dialogue, we hear this when the second speaker says 我都听你说了不下十遍了 wǒ dōu tīng nǐ shuōle bù xià shí biàn le ("I've heard you say this more than ten times"). Note the similar usage in the following two sample sentences:
1. 你的减肥计划已经宣布了不下两年了。 Nǐ de jiǎnféi jìhuà yǐjīng xuānbù le bù xià liǎng nián le. "You annouced your weight lost plan more than two years ago."
2. 我已经保证过不下5次了，你怎么就不相信呢。 Wǒ yǐjīng bǎo zhèng guò bù xià wǔ cì le , nǐ zěnme jiù bù xiāngxìn ne. "I've promised no fewer than five times, how could you not believe it."
Be aware that although we can reverse this phrase, the antonym is not 不上 but rather 不多 于 bù duōyú ("no more than"), as in the phrase 不多于十个人 bù duōyú shí gèrén ("no more than ten people").
CULTURAL INSIGHT
Eating Right, Chinese-Style
Many Chinese people believe that different foods contain different kinds of natural energies, which means that many Chinese speakers are very particular about what foods they eat when trying to lose weight. In traditional culture, the right foods are vegetables, fruits and grains. Chinese people also believe that other foods are useful for maintaining a slim figure—options cited here are tofu, white gourd, sweet potato, apple and oats. Confusingly, many speakers also believe that simply eating these foods independently is not enough, and that one must
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #25 - STICKING TO A DIET IS TOUGH IN CHINA 6 consume them in the right combination. So perhaps it is easier to just count calories.
CHINESECLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #25 - STICKING TO A DIET IS TOUGH IN CHINA 7 Intro 13 An Almost Perfect Housemaid in China 1 A Trip to the Chinese Doctor 14 A Nerve-racking Interview in China 2 Resorting to Desperate Measures at the 15 There's No Such Thing as a Free Lunch in China Chinese Car Yard 16 Making Sacrifices for Technology in China 3 Throwing Rotten Tomatoes at a Chinese 17 The Difference Between Theory and Practice in Movie China 4 All You Need is Love in China 18 A Tough Chinese Choice 5 Follow the Chinese Rules to Open the 19 A Chinese Mother with Big Dreams Chinese Box 20 Suffering for the Sake of Chinese Fashion 6 A Gruelling Chinese Interview 21 Voicing Some Strong Chinese Opinions 7 The Hundredth Time's the Charm in China 22 Deciding on the Perfect Wedding Gift in China 8 Is the Honeymoon Over in China? 23 Did You Know Speaking Chinese Could Win You 9 The Chinese Gold Rush a Luxury Car? 10 It's the Same Old Chinese Spring Gala 24 Must Love Dogs in China 11 The Downside of Faking an Injury in China 25 Sticking to a Diet is Tough in China 12 Mom Knows Best in China
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