Learn how to say, "How do you read this?"
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| Chinese characters are very complex. This is one of the things you will be struck with when you get to China. Chinese can be very beautiful and very interesting to see how all the characters work together but when you are just looking at them, when you are just starting, they are totally dumbfounding. So let’s work on the tools right now so that you can get an inroad into Chinese characters. The first phrase we are going to work on today is, how do you read this. If you do not understand Chinese characters, the phonetics of Chinese characters are not obvious from looking at them. So in order to know how they are pronounced, you have to ask somebody. There really is no other way assuming you don’t have a dictionary that can talk to you. So the question we are going to talk about today is, how do you read this, 这个怎么读(Zhège zěnme dú?) One more time, 这个怎么读(Zhège zěnme dú?) All right, this phrase starts off with our old friend 这个(zhège) which means this and then 怎么(zěnme) which means how and 读(dú) which means read. This often refers actually to reading out loud. So you use it here to ask how to pronounce these words. So you say 这个怎么读(Zhège zěnme dú?), it means how do I read this, how do I pronounce these characters, all right. Let’s go over the tones, 这个(zhège) is fourth tone, falling tone and then no tone, 这个(zhège), and then 怎么(zěnme) is third tone and then no tone, the falling, rising tone and then no tone, 怎么(zěnme) and then 读(dú) is second tone, the rising tone. 这个怎么读(Zhège zěnme dú?) One more time, 这个怎么读(Zhège zěnme dú?) All right now, you might point to some Chinese characters maybe the characters on the bus stop and say, hey, 这个怎么读(Zhège zěnme dú?) and remember we can always switch out 这个(zhège) for 那个(nàge) which means that. So you point up to something way up high and say 那个怎么读(Nàge zěnme dú?) and they can tell you, oh that’s 北京站(Běijīng zhàn) and you say, oh good but I have no idea what that means. So the next question you’d ask is, what does that mean, 什么意思(Shénme yìsi?) One more time, 什么意思(Shénme yìsi?) Literally that means what meaning, 什么(shénme) means what and 意思(yìsi) means meaning. So 什么意思(Shénme yìsi?) The tones are, 什么(shénme), second tone rising tone and then no tone, 什么(shénme) and then 意思(yìsi) is fourth tone, falling tone and then first tone, the flat tone, 意思(yìsi). So let’s do it slowly, 什么意思(Shénme yìsi?) |
| All right, to close our today’s lesson, we’d like you to practice what we’ve just learned. I will provide you with the English equivalent of a phrase and you are responsible for shouting it out loud. You will have a few seconds before I give you the answer. So 加油(Jiā yóu!) How do you read this, 这个怎么读(Zhège zěnme dú?) What does it mean, 什么意思(Shénme yìsi?) |
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