Learn how to say "On one hand"
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| INTRODUCTION |
| David: Hi everyone, I’m David. |
| Nicole: 大家好(Dàjiā hǎo)，我是蓝子。(Wǒ shì lán zi.) |
| David: And welcome to ChineseClass101.com. |
| Nicole: The fastest and easiest way to learn Chinese. |
| David: And pick updating tips in the process. |
| Nicole: Wow. |
| David: Yes, we’ve got a lesson today which is all about love. |
| Nicole: Yes, that’s a pretty romantic dialogue. |
| David: Yeah, or maybe something close to love, so we’ve got a romantic dialogue that takes place at home. |
| Nicole: So, because this conversation is between the father and the daughter, it would be speaking casual Mandarin as always. |
| David: Right. So, we’ve a dialogue in casual Mandarin. Before we take you to the dialogue though we did want to mention if you don’t already have an account. |
| Nicole: Stop by Chineseclass101.com. |
| David: And get one. |
| Nicole: To sign up in less than 10 seconds. |
| David: Right, our record as we said is 4.5 seconds, and once you have the account you can get a lot of free stuff on the site. |
| Nicole: Right. |
| David: It’s whole worth it. With that though, let’s get to the dialogue. |
| DIALOGUE |
| 女儿: 爸爸，你觉得我男朋友怎么样啊？(Nǚ'ér: Bàba, nǐ juédé wǒ nán péngyǒu zěnme yàng a?) |
| 爸爸: 这个问题很复杂...(Bàba: Zhège wèntí hěn fùzá...) |
| 女儿: 有多复杂？(Nǚ'ér: Yǒu duō fùzá?) |
| 爸爸: 一方面，他很有礼貌，很有风度，也很有钱。起码比你爸我有钱多了。(Bàba: Yī fāngmiàn, tā hěn yǒu lǐmào, hěn yǒu fēngdù, yě hěn yǒu qián. Qǐmǎ bǐ nǐ bà wǒ yǒu qián duōle.) |
| 女儿: 另一方面呢？(Nǚ'ér: Lìng yī fāngmiàn ne?) |
| 爸爸: 另一方面，他...也比你爸我老多了...(Bàba: Lìng yī fāngmiàn, tā... Yě bǐ nǐ bà wǒ lǎo duōle...) |
| 女儿: 所以...？(Nǚ'ér: Suǒyǐ...?) |
| 爸爸: 所以赶紧结婚吧！(Bàba: Suǒyǐ gǎnjǐn jiéhūn ba!) |
| David: One more time, a bit more slowly。 |
| 女儿: 爸爸，你觉得我男朋友怎么样啊？(Nǚ'ér: Bàba, nǐ juédé wǒ nán péngyǒu zěnme yàng a?) |
| 爸爸: 这个问题很复杂...(Bàba: Zhège wèntí hěn fùzá...) |
| 女儿: 有多复杂？(Nǚ'ér: Yǒu duō fùzá?) |
| 爸爸: 一方面，他很有礼貌，很有风度，也很有钱。起码比你爸我有钱多了。(Bàba: Yī fāngmiàn, tā hěn yǒu lǐmào, hěn yǒu fēngdù, yě hěn yǒu qián. Qǐmǎ bǐ nǐ bà wǒ yǒu qián duōle.) |
| 女儿: 另一方面呢？(Nǚ'ér: Lìng yī fāngmiàn ne?) |
| 爸爸: 另一方面，他...也比你爸我老多了...(Bàba: Lìng yī fāngmiàn, tā... Yě bǐ nǐ bà wǒ lǎo duōle...) |
| 女儿: 所以...？(Nǚ'ér: Suǒyǐ...?) |
| 爸爸: 所以赶紧结婚吧！(Bàba: Suǒyǐ gǎnjǐn jiéhūn ba!) |
| David: One more time with English. |
| Nicole: 这个问题很复杂...(Zhège wèntí hěn fùzá...) |
| David: This question is quite complex. |
| 女儿: 爸爸，你觉得我男朋友怎么样啊？(Nǚ'ér: Bàba, nǐ juédé wǒ nán péngyǒu zěnme yàng a?) |
| David: Daddy, what do you think of my boyfriend. |
| 爸爸: 这个问题很复杂...(Bàba: Zhège wèntí hěn fùzá...) |
| David: That question is quite complex. |
| 女儿: 有多复杂？(Nǚ'ér: Yǒu duō fùzá?) |
| David: How complex? |
| 爸爸: 一方面，他很有礼貌，很有风度，也很有钱。(Bàba: Yī fāngmiàn, tā hěn yǒu lǐmào, hěn yǒu fēngdù, yě hěn yǒu qián.) |
| David: Well, on the one side he’s very polite and cultured and rich. |
| 爸爸: 起码比你爸我有钱多了。(Bàba: Qǐmǎ bǐ nǐ bà wǒ yǒu qián duōle.) |
| David: In fact that he’s much richer than your father, me. |
| 女儿: 另一方面呢？(Nǚ'ér: Lìng yī fāngmiàn ne?) |
| David: And on the other hand? |
| 爸爸: 另一方面，他...也比你爸我老多了...(Bàba: Lìng yī fāngmiàn, tā... Yě bǐ nǐ bà wǒ lǎo duōle...) |
| David: On the other hand, he’s also a lot older than your father. |
| 女儿: 所以...？(Nǚ'ér: Suǒyǐ...?) |
| David: So? |
| 爸爸: 所以赶紧结婚吧！(Bàba: Suǒyǐ gǎnjǐn jiéhūn ba!) |
| David: So, get married quickly. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| David: So, I’ve got to say, Nicole, it’s nice to see dad come out in support of the guy. |
| Nicole: Yeah. Yeah, it’s very rare. |
| David: Usually they’re complaining, or they’re insisting on a house, or insisting on the car. |
| Nicole: No fathers, no fathers like the son in law. |
| David: He just brought the wallet. That our dialogue, we’ve got a great vocab section, and it’s all about love, so let’s go to the vocab section. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| And now the vocab section. |
| Nicole: 觉得(Juédé) [natural native speed] |
| David: to feel |
| Nicole: 觉得(Juédé) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nicole: 觉得(Juédé) [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Nicole: 复杂(Fùzá) [natural native speed] |
| David: complex |
| Nicole: 复杂(Fùzá) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nicole: 复杂(Fùzá) [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Nicole: 方面(Fāngmiàn) [natural native speed] |
| David: side |
| Nicole: 方面(Fāngmiàn) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nicole: 方面(Fāngmiàn) [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Nicole: 礼貌(Lǐmào) [natural native speed] |
| David: polite |
| Nicole: 礼貌(Lǐmào) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nicole: 礼貌(Lǐmào) [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Nicole: 风度(Fēngdù) [natural native speed] |
| David: cultured, a graceful bearing |
| Nicole: 风度(Fēngdù) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nicole: 风度(Fēngdù) [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Nicole: 有钱(Yǒu qián) [natural native speed] |
| David: to be rich |
| Nicole: 有钱(Yǒu qián) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nicole: 有钱(Yǒu qián) [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Nicole: 孝顺(Xiàoshùn) [natural native speed] |
| David: filial |
| Nicole: 孝顺(Xiàoshùn) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nicole: 孝顺(Xiàoshùn) [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Nicole: 结婚(Jiéhūn) [natural native speed] |
| David: to marry |
| Nicole: 结婚(Jiéhūn) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nicole: 结婚(Jiéhūn) [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCABULARY AND PHRASES |
| David: Let’s have a closer look at the usage for some of these words. |
| Nicole: Okay. |
| David: Our first word is: |
| Nicole: 觉得(Juédé) |
| David: Which means to feel. |
| Nicole: 觉得(Juédé) |
| David: Right. Now this is pretty close to other words we know like: |
| Nicole: 知道(Zhīdào) |
| David: To know. And: |
| Nicole: 认为(Rènwéi) |
| David: That’s also to know or to think. So Nicole, what’s the difference between these three? |
| Nicole: 觉得(Juédé) to feel, it’s more about the feelings. |
| David: Yeah, that’s more of emotions. Yeah. |
| Nicole: How you feel them, yeah. |
| David: Whereas... |
| Nicole: 知道(Zhīdào)，是你知道这个事实。(Shì nǐ zhīdào zhège shìshí.) You know the fact. |
| David: Do you know the fact, and then finally we’ve got: |
| Nicole: 认为(Rènwéi) |
| David: Which is tricky. |
| Nicole: That’s about your opinion about something. 我认为这个是对的。(Wǒ rènwéi zhège shì duì de.) |
| David: And then there’s the opposite if you were wrong, which is: |
| Nicole: 我以为(Wǒ yǐwéi) |
| David: Yes, I mistakenly thought. So, four tricky words that's a bit different, remember, for emotion: |
| Nicole: 觉得(Juédé) |
| David: As in the sentence: |
| Nicole: 我觉得我很漂亮。(Wǒ juédé wǒ hěn piàoliang.) |
| David: I feel I’m very beautiful. |
| Nicole: Being modest, you know. Although it’s a fact. |
| David: Okay, next we have: |
| Nicole: 我知道我很漂亮。(Wǒ zhīdào wǒ hěn piàoliang.) |
| David: I know I’m very beautiful. |
| Nicole: Very confident. |
| David: Okay. And then we have these other two. |
| Nicole: 我认为你狠帅。(Wǒ rènwéi nǐ hěn shuài.) |
| David: I believe you’re handsome. And I hope I don’t get the next one. |
| Nicole: 我以为你不帅。(Wǒ yǐwéi nǐ bù shuài.) |
| David: Oh, I didn’t think you were good looking. So, those four verbs are really close together. It’s easy to get them mixed up. So, what’s the next word we’re going to look at? |
| Nicole: 复杂(Fùzá) |
| David: Complex |
| Nicole: 复杂(Fùzá) |
| David: So Nicole, have you ever had this sit-down talk with your father about things that are complex. |
| Nicole: Not yet. |
| David: Not yet. He’s-- |
| Nicole: Always casual conversation, happy conversation between me and my father. |
| David: He leaves that to your mother. So, love is very complex. And we’ve got a word that we should point out which is the opposite of complex. |
| Nicole: 简单(Jiǎndān) |
| David: That means simple. |
| Nicole: Very simple. |
| David: Right, as in Jay Chou’s love songs, simple love. |
| Nicole: 简单爱。(Jiǎndān ài.) |
| David: Like that one, Nicole? |
| Nicole: Yup. |
| David: Yes, I do too. |
| Nicole: Oh. |
| David: Okay, our next word is: |
| Nicole: 风度(Fēngdù) |
| David: Right. This is a tricky one, if you’re like me you may easily get this confused with another word. |
| Nicole: 风格(Fēnggé) |
| David: Yeah, I was corrected on this before the podcast. Nicole, what’s the first one? |
| Nicole: 风度(Fēngdù) |
| David: And it means graceful bearing. |
| Nicole: Exactly. |
| David: Or cultured. It’s a noun. Right, so you can say someone has: |
| Nicole: 风度(Fēngdù) |
| David: Yeah, they’ve got a graceful bearing or-- |
| Nicole: 有风度(Yǒu fēngdù) |
| David: And this is supposed the word for style. |
| Nicole: 风格(Fēnggé) |
| David: Which we can use with anyone. Right, we can say, oh, he’s really stylish. |
| Nicole: 他很有风格(Tā hěn yǒu fēnggé) |
| David: Right. |
| Nicole: And you might also hear people say 风度翩翩(Fēngdù piānpiān) as well, that’s an adjective. |
| David: Yeah. It’s an adjective and what exactly does that mean? |
| Nicole: It means you’ve a lot of 风度(Fēngdù) |
| David: I need your help flying 风度(Fēngdù) |
| Nicole: Yup, does that make sense? |
| David: Let’s hear that again. |
| Nicole: 风度翩翩 (Fēngdù piānpiān) |
| David: Right, can we hear that one more time? |
| Nicole: 风度翩翩 (Fēngdù piānpiān) |
| David: Our next word is the equivalent of: |
| Nicole: 风度(Fēngdù) |
| David: Only it’s for women. |
| Nicole: 优雅(Yōuyǎ) |
| David: First tone, third tone. |
| Nicole: 优雅(Yōuyǎ) |
| David: Right. As in a sentence. |
| Nicole: 她的行为很优雅。(Tā de xíngwéi hěn yōuyǎ.) |
| David: Her behavior is very elegant. |
| Nicole: Right. |
| David: Right. So for men use: |
| Nicole: 风度(Fēngdù) |
| David: Or... |
| Nicole: 风度翩翩(Fēngdù piānpiān) |
| David: And for women use: |
| Nicole: 优雅(Yōuyǎ) |
| David: Really, really 优雅(Yōuyǎ) |
| Nicole: 非常优雅。(Fēicháng yōuyǎ.) |
| David: Yeah. So, for women, it’s an adjective and for men, it’s a noun. That is tricky. Our last word is this one... |
| Nicole: 孝顺(Xiàoshùn) |
| David: And this is tricky but you hear this all the time. Especially from parents in law, right. |
| Nicole: 很孝顺(Hěn xiàoshùn) |
| David: Yes, Now the word itself means filial. |
| Nicole: 孝顺(Xiàoshùn) |
| David: As in to be filial towards your parents. |
| Nicole: 对父母很孝顺。(Duì fùmǔ hěn xiàoshùn.) |
| David: Right, and this is a big deal in China. |
| Nicole: Big deal, huge deal. |
| David: It’s a huge deal, this is keep the parents happy at all cost-deal, right? |
| Nicole: Right. If you give examples of how you 孝顺你的父母(Xiàoshùn nǐ de fùmǔ), then father-in-law will be really, really happy. |
| David: Right, so, what’re some examples? |
| Nicole: 给钱(Gěi qián) |
| David: Giving money. |
| Nicole: 打电话回家(Dǎ diànhuà huí jiā)，常回家看看。(Cháng huí jiā kàn kàn.) |
| David: And also doing things like burning money for deceased relatives, that’s sort of-- |
| Nicole: Yes, burning money. Yes. |
| David: Yeah, I was surprised by that. So, that’s the vocab section, let’s move to the grammar section where we’ve got a great grammar point for you. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| David: Today, our grammar section is all about a sentence pattern you’re going to use all the time. |
| Nicole: 很常用(Hěn chángyòng) |
| David: On the one hand it’s easy to use. On the other hand, it’s very convenient. |
| Nicole: Yeah that makes perfect sense. |
| David: Yeah, so our sentence pattern is: |
| Nicole: 一方面(Yī fāngmiàn) |
| David: On the one hand. |
| Nicole: 另一方面(Lìng yī fāngmiàn) |
| David: On the other hand. Now, technically, if you translated it literally |
| Nicole: 一方面(Yī fāngmiàn) |
| David: Means one side, or on the one side. And then... |
| Nicole: 另一方面(Lìng yī fāngmiàn) |
| David: Means another or opposite the one side. In the dialogue, we heard a sentence like this: |
| Nicole: 一方面(Yī fāngmiàn)，他很有钱(Tā hěn yǒu qián) |
| David: On the one hand, he has a lot of money. |
| Nicole: 另一方面(Lìng yī fāngmiàn)，他也很老(Tā yě hěn lǎo) |
| David: On the other hand, he’s also quite old. Let’s hear that again. |
| Nicole: 一方面(Yī fāngmiàn)，他很有钱(Tā hěn yǒu qián)，另一方面(Lìng yī fāngmiàn)，他也很老(Tā yě hěn lǎo) |
| David: Right, so this is the-- |
| Nicole: 一方面… 另一方面…(Yī fāngmiàn… lìng yī fāngmiàn…) |
| David: Pattern. We want to use it when we’re pointing out different aspects of something. |
| Nicole: 对。譬如说:一方面中国很大，另一方面中国人口很多。(Duì. Pìrú shuō: Yī fāngmiàn zhōngguó hěn dà, lìng yī fāngmiàn zhōngguó rénkǒu hěnduō.) |
| David: On the one hand, China is very large. On the other hand, the Chinese population is also very large. |
| Nicole: 对。还有别的例子，譬如说:我不能出差，因为我一方面身体不好，另一方面要照顾孩子。(Duì. Hái yǒu bié de lìzi, pìrú shuō: Wǒ bùnéng chūchāi, yīnwèi wǒ yī fāngmiàn shēntǐ bù hǎo, lìng yī fāngmiàn yào zhàogù háizi.) |
| David: I can’t travel on business, because on one hand, my health isn’t good, on the other hand, I need to take care of the children. Let’s hear that last example again. |
| Nicole: 我不能出差(Wǒ bùnéng chūchāi)，因为我一方面身体不好(Yīnwèi wǒ yī fāngmiàn shēntǐ bù hǎo)，另一方面要照顾孩子。(Lìng yī fāngmiàn yào zhàogù háizi.) |
| David: Right. So our basic pattern consists of: |
| Nicole: 一方面…(Yī fāngmiàn…) |
| David: Followed by our first point, and then... |
| Nicole: 另一方面…(Lìng yī fāngmiàn…) |
| David: followed by our second point. |
| Nicole: Yeah. |
| David: Let’s listen to some more examples. |
| Nicole: 好。一方面我不想去(Hǎo. Yī fāngmiàn wǒ bùxiǎng qù)，另一方面我也没有时间。(Lìng yī fāngmiàn wǒ yě méiyǒu shíjiān.) |
| David: On the one hand I don’t want to go, on the other hand, I don’t have the time. So, this is a bit different in English. |
| Nicole: 对，非常不一样。(Duì, fēicháng bù yīyàng.) |
| David: Let’s hear that sentence one more time. |
| Nicole: 好的。一方面我不想去(Hǎo de. Yī fāngmiàn wǒ bùxiǎng qù)，另一方面我也没有时间。(Lìng yī fāngmiàn wǒ yě méiyǒu shíjiān.) |
| David: Right, so both of these are arguments for not going. |
| Nicole: And another example, 这个问题一方面不好解决(Zhège wèntí yī fāngmiàn bù hǎo jiějué)，另一方面解决了也没什么用。(Lìng yī fāngmiàn jiějuéle yě méishénme yòng.) |
| David: That’s a really good sentence. Let’s listen to that one more time. |
| Nicole: 这个问题一方面不好解决(Zhège wèntí yī fāngmiàn bù hǎo jiějué)，另一方面解决了也没什么用。(Lìng yī fāngmiàn jiějuéle yě méishénme yòng.) |
| David: Right, so we fronted the subject which is this problem. Yeah, so this is a really useful construction. Get out there, start practicing it, and using this properly is going to impress people, especially if you use it in support of the same point. |
| Nicole: Yes. |
| David: People will not be expecting that from a foreigner. So that’s our grammar point for today. Before we go we want to remind you, if you are a premium member, don’t forget to subscribe your premium feed. |
Outro |
| Nicole: Yes, one of our most powerful features to date. |
| David: Right, what this does is that it give you the power of getting all of the files, the transcripts. One click of the button in iTunes, and then everything is taken care of for life. And if you’re not a premium member. |
| Nicole: And if you’re not a premium member? |
| David: If you’re not a premium member, we have a sample feed online, so you can check it out. Just come to Chineseclass101.com and you will see how easy it is to use. |
| Nicole: Yes. |
| David: Okay? From Beijing I’m David. |
| Nicole: 我是蓝子。(Wǒ shì lán zi.) |
| David: Thanks a lot for listening, and we’ll see you in the future. |
| Nicole: 下次见。(Xià cì jiàn.) |
| David: Bye. |
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