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| INTRODUCTION |
| David: Welcome to Chineseclass101. I’m David. |
| Echo: 嗨(Hāi)，大家好(Dàjiā hǎo)，我是(Wǒ shì)Echo。 |
| David: And we’re here with intermediate series season one, lesson nine, The Housing Market In China. In this lesson we’re going to learn a bit about the crazy housing market bubble that’s taking place right now in Shanghai and Beijing and a lot of other main cities. |
| Echo: 没错。(Méi cuò.) |
| David: Yeah. We’ve got a conversation between a young family and a real estate agent, and everyone is speaking casual Mandarin as usual. |
| Echo: Yes. |
| David: So, let’s go to our dialogue. |
| Echo: But before we do... |
| David: Remember, our dialogues are getting more difficult, and as they get more difficult, one way that you can master them is by downloading the premium PDF. You can find this on the site or in your RSS feed. And now let’s get to the dialogue. |
| DIALOGUE |
| 甲: 你肯定这是地段最好的?(Jiǎ: Nǐ kěndìng zhè shì dìduàn zuì hǎo de?) |
| 乙: 二环内，离地铁站公车站不到两百米。(Yǐ: Èr huán nèi, lí dìtiě zhàn gōngchē zhàn bù dào liǎng bǎi mǐ.) |
| 甲: 只有七十平会不会太小了？(Jiǎ: Zhǐyǒu qīshí píng huì bù huì tài xiǎole?) |
| 乙: 一家三口绝对够用。(Yǐ: Yījiā sānkǒu juéduì gòu yòng.) |
| 甲: 首付还可以优惠点儿不？(Jiǎ: Shǒufù hái kěyǐ yōuhuì diǎn er bù?) |
| 乙: 人家还抢着一次付清呢。(Yǐ: Rénjiā hái qiǎngzhe yīcì fù qīng ne.) |
| 甲: 但这个二手房如果出了什么问题怎么办？(Jiǎ: Dàn zhège èrshǒu fáng rúguǒ chūle shénme wèntí zěnme bàn?) |
| 乙: 自己办呗。(Yǐ: Zìjǐ bàn bei.) |
| 甲: 什么？你这不是不负责任么？(Jiǎ: Shénme? Nǐ zhè bùshì bù fù zérèn me?) |
| 乙: 你爱买不买，现在买房的人多了！(Yǐ: Nǐ ài mǎi bú mǎi, xiànzài mǎifáng de rén duōle!) |
| David: One more time a bit slower. |
| 甲: 你肯定这是地段最好的?(Jiǎ: Nǐ kěndìng zhè shì dìduàn zuì hǎo de?) |
| 乙: 二环内，离地铁站公车站不到两百米。(Yǐ: Èr huán nèi, lí dìtiě zhàn gōngchē zhàn bù dào liǎng bǎi mǐ.) |
| 甲: 只有七十平会不会太小了？(Jiǎ: Zhǐyǒu qīshí píng huì bù huì tài xiǎole?) |
| 乙: 一家三口绝对够用。(Yǐ: Yījiā sānkǒu juéduì gòu yòng.) |
| 甲: 首付还可以优惠点儿不？(Jiǎ: Shǒufù hái kěyǐ yōuhuì diǎn er bù?) |
| 乙: 人家还抢着一次付清呢。(Yǐ: Rénjiā hái qiǎngzhe yīcì fù qīng ne.) |
| 甲: 但这个二手房如果出了什么问题怎么办？(Jiǎ: Dàn zhège èrshǒu fáng rúguǒ chūle shénme wèntí zěnme bàn?) |
| 乙: 自己办呗。(Yǐ: Zìjǐ bàn bei.) |
| 甲: 什么？你这不是不负责任么？(Jiǎ: Shénme? Nǐ zhè bùshì bù fù zérèn me?) |
| 乙: 你爱买不买，现在买房的人多了！(Yǐ: Nǐ ài mǎi bú mǎi, xiànzài mǎifáng de rén duōle!) |
| David: And now with the English translation |
| 甲: 你肯定这是地段最好的?(Jiǎ: Nǐ kěndìng zhè shì dìduàn zuì hǎo de?) |
| David: You’re sure this is the one with the best location? |
| 乙: 二环内，离地铁站公车站不到两百米。(Yǐ: Èr huán nèi, lí dìtiě zhàn gōngchē zhàn bù dào liǎng bǎi mǐ.) |
| David: It’s inside the secondary road, and less than 200m from the subway and bus stations. |
| 甲: 只有七十平会不会太小了？(Jiǎ: Zhǐyǒu qīshí píng huì bù huì tài xiǎole?) |
| David: But it’s only 70 square meter, isn’t that too small? |
| 乙: 一家三口绝对够用。(Yǐ: Yījiā sānkǒu juéduì gòu yòng.) |
| David: It’s definitely large enough for a family of three. |
| 甲: 首付还可以优惠点儿不？(Jiǎ: Shǒufù hái kěyǐ yōuhuì diǎn er bù?) |
| David: Can we get a break on the down payment? |
| 乙: 人家还抢着一次付清呢。(Yǐ: Rénjiā hái qiǎngzhe yīcì fù qīng ne.) |
| David: Other people are fighting to buy this with a single payment. |
| 甲: 但这个二手房如果出了什么问题怎么办？(Jiǎ: Dàn zhège èrshǒu fáng rúguǒ chūle shénme wèntí zěnme bàn?) |
| David: But what do we do if this has any problems? It’s a second-hand house. |
| 乙: 自己办呗。(Yǐ: Zìjǐ bàn bei.) |
| David: Fix it yourself. |
| 甲: 什么？你这不是不负责任么？(Jiǎ: Shénme? Nǐ zhè bùshì bù fù zérèn me?) |
| David: What? You won’t be the one responsible? |
| 乙: 你爱买不买，现在买房的人多了！(Yǐ: Nǐ ài mǎi bú mǎi, xiànzài mǎifáng de rén duōle!) |
| David: Buy it if you want, or don’t. Right now there’s a lot of people buying houses. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Echo: 对，虽然房价很高但是还是有很多人买。(Duì, suīrán fángjià hěn gāo dànshì háishì yǒu hěnduō rén mǎi.) |
| David: Yeah. Well, I’m hoping that the bubble bursts, and I’m hoping it bursts sooner than later, Echo, you? |
| Echo: 当然了，我是没钱的人。(Dāngránle, wǒ shì méi qián de rén.) |
| David: We’re the no money no house fraction. Anyway, we’ve got a lot of vocab here which is useful if you’re buying a house, if you’re renting a house, or if you’re just talking about the housing market bubble, because that’s what’s on everyone's lips these days. |
| Echo: 没错。(Méi cuò.) |
| David: So, let’s get to the vocab section now. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Echo: 肯定(Kěndìng) [natural native speed] |
| David: certainly |
| Echo: 肯定(Kěndìng) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Echo: 肯定(Kěndìng) [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Echo: 地段(Dìduàn) [natural native speed] |
| David: location |
| Echo: 地段(Dìduàn) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Echo: 地段(Dìduàn) [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Echo: 平(Píng) [natural native speed] |
| David: square (meters) |
| Echo: 平(Píng) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Echo: 平(Píng) [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Echo: 一家三口(Yījiā sānkǒu) [natural native speed] |
| David: a family of three |
| Echo: 一家三口(Yījiā sānkǒu) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Echo: 一家三口(Yījiā sānkǒu) [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Echo: 够用(Gòu yòng) [natural native speed] |
| David: enough |
| Echo: 够用(Gòu yòng) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Echo: 够用(Gòu yòng) [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Echo: 优惠(Yōuhuì) [natural native speed] |
| David: preference; discount |
| Echo: 优惠(Yōuhuì) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Echo: 优惠(Yōuhuì) [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Echo: 付清(Fù qīng) [natural native speed] |
| David: to pay off |
| Echo: 付清(Fù qīng) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Echo: 付清(Fù qīng) [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Echo: 二手房(Èrshǒu fáng) [natural native speed] |
| David: second-hand house |
| Echo: 二手房(Èrshǒu fáng) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Echo: 二手房(Èrshǒu fáng) [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Echo: 责任(Zérèn) [natural native speed] |
| David: responsibility |
| Echo: 责任(Zérèn) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Echo: 责任(Zérèn) [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCABULARY AND PHRASES |
| David: Okay, let’s have a closer look at some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first word we want to focus on is what, Echo? |
| Echo: 地段(Dìduàn) |
| David: And this is location. |
| Echo: 地段(Dìduàn) |
| David: Right. So both of those are fourth tone. And it’s location, location, location. |
| Echo: 地段(Dìduàn) |
| David: Right. As we know 地 means ground, and 段(Duàn) means a strip or a section of something. |
| Echo: 比如说，你新买的房子在最好的地段吗？(Bǐrú shuō, nǐ xīn mǎi de fángzi zài zuì hǎo dì dìduàn ma?) |
| David: Is your newest house in a good location? |
| Echo: The best. |
| David: In the best location, right. And what’s the best location in Beijing? |
| Echo: 不好说(Bù hǎoshuō)，二环内吧我觉得。(Èr huán nèi ba wǒ juédé.) |
| David: Probably north side of the city. |
| Echo: 肯定是(Kěndìng shì)north side。 |
| David: And if people say it’s on the same axis as the Forbidden City. |
| Echo: 我觉得最好应该是二环内吧。(Wǒ juédé zuì hǎo yīnggāi shì èr huán nèi ba.) |
| David: 二环内(二环内) is very expensive these days, so that’s a great location. Our next word for you is a bit of a phrase. |
| Echo: 一家三口(Yījiā sānkǒu) |
| David: Which means a household of three. |
| Echo: 一家三口(Yījiā sānkǒu) |
| David: So, this is one of these phrases with numbers. We’ve got one 一家(Yījiā) one family. And 三...(Sān...) |
| Echo: 口(Kǒu) |
| David: Three mouths. |
| Echo: 三个人(Sān gèrén) |
| David: Yeah. |
| Echo: 一家三口需要一套面积不小于70平的房子。(Yījiā sānkǒu xūyào yī tào miànjī bù xiǎoyú 70 píng de fángzi.) |
| David: Right. So, a family of three needs a house with no less than 70m2. |
| Echo: 没错。(Méi cuò.) |
| David: Echo, what do you think is the lower limit? |
| Echo: 我觉得按照北京现在的实际情况来说，六十。(Wǒ juédé ànzhào běijīng xiànzài de shíjì qíngkuàng lái shuō, liùshí.) |
| David: Okay, so no smaller than 60. |
| Echo: 对，但这个我们大家的想法，但是有很多家庭还是没有达到六十的。(Duì, dàn zhège wǒmen dàjiā de xiǎngfǎ, dànshì yǒu hěnduō jiātíng háishì méiyǒu dádào liùshí de.) |
| David: Yeah. So right now families of three are the most common in China. |
| Echo: 对，因为我们是独生子女，有计划生育政策。(Duì, yīnwèi wǒmen shì dúshēngzǐ nǚ, yǒu jìhuà shēngyù zhèngcè.) |
| David: Yeah, the one child policy. However, that being said we can change this phrase because sometimes you would run into a family of four. |
| Echo: 一家四口(Yījiā sì kǒu) |
| David: Or a family of five. |
| Echo: 一家五口(Yījiā wǔ kǒu) |
| David: Or a family of 200 crowded in the same apartment. |
| Echo: 太多了。(Tài duōle.) |
| David: Question for you, can you count your pet? |
| Echo: 就是现在越来越多的人是这样做的。(Jiùshì xiànzài yuè lái yuè duō de rén shì zhèyàng zuò de.) |
| David: Okay. So our next word is actually-- so our next word is how you say second-hand house? |
| Echo: 二手房(Èrshǒu fáng) |
| David: And we can take this, and we can also say second-hand car. |
| Echo: 二手车(Èrshǒu chē) |
| David: What else? |
| Echo: 二手书(Èrshǒu shū) |
| David: Second-hand book. Really? |
| Echo: 旧书(Jiùshū) |
| David: Okay. Cell phone? |
| Echo: 二手手机可以(Èrshǒu shǒujī kěyǐ)，或者是二手家具(Huòzhě shì èrshǒu jiājù)，都是很常见。(Dōu shì hěn chángjiàn.) |
| David: We’ve got one more word we want to call your attention to, and that’s when he says to pay off completely. |
| Echo: 付清(Fù qīng) |
| David: Right. |
| Echo: 意思就是(Yìsi jiùshì), 「付」就是(`Fù'jiùshì)to pay, 「清」就是全部。的(`Qīng'jiùshì quánbù. De) |
| David: It’s completely clear, right. |
| Echo: 所以很明显，付清。(Suǒyǐ hěn míngxiǎn, fù qīng.) |
| David: Yeah. So, is a word or a combination of words, but it’s a tricky one. |
| Echo: 对，比如说，你可以付清贷款。(Duì, bǐrú shuō, nǐ kěyǐ fù qīng dàikuǎn.) |
| David: Yeah, to pay off a loan. To pay off a mortgage. |
| Echo: 或者付清什么什么，什么存款。(Huòzhě fù qīng shénme shénme, shénme cúnkuǎn.) |
| David: Okay. So, that’s our vocab. We’ve got a grammar section which I love, is about asking question in a new and interesting way. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| David: Our grammar point today is about a new way to ask questions. |
| Echo: 我们都学过用「吗」来问问题，对吧？(Wǒmen dōu xuéguò yòng `ma'lái wèn wèntí, duì ba?) |
| David: Yeah, as well as verbal duplication. This is all-- yes. |
| Echo: 比如说，David你买房子了吗？(Bǐrú shuō,David nǐ mǎi fángzile ma?) |
| David: No I haven’t. But, yeah, I mean all the questions we’ve learned, we’ve learned early on like absolute beginner or elementary stuff. But here we are in intermediate level with a new way to ask questions. Echo, can you give us the line in dialogue that does this? |
| Echo: 首付还可以优惠点儿不？(Shǒufù hái kěyǐ yōuhuì diǎn er bù?) |
| David: Right. Can you give us a break on the down payment? |
| Echo: 首付还可以优惠点儿不？(Shǒufù hái kěyǐ yōuhuì diǎn er bù?) |
| David: And the keyword is that last word in the sentence. |
| Echo: 不(Bù) |
| David: Right. We’re basically taking out 吗(Ma) and we’re replacing it with... |
| Echo: 不(Bù) |
| David: Right. One more time. |
| Echo: 首付还可以优惠点儿不？(Shǒufù hái kěyǐ yōuhuì diǎn er bù?) |
| David: So, this is a really colloquial way of talking. We basically we can take any 吗(Ma) sentence and replace them out with 不(Bù). |
| Echo: 对，比如说， 你可以一起付清不？(Duì, bǐrú shuō, nǐ kěyǐ yīqǐ fù qīng bù?) |
| David: Yeah. Can you pay it all off at once? |
| Echo: 这个地段是最贵的不？(Zhège dìduàn shì zuì guì de bù?) |
| David: Is this the most expensive location? |
| Echo: 你们想买二手房不？(Nǐmen xiǎng mǎi èrshǒu fáng bù?) |
| David: Do you want to buy a second-hand house? And there’s a bit of difference between this and a 吗(Ma) question. |
| Echo: 对。(Duì.) |
| David: Right. 吗(Ma) it’s kind of emotionally neutral. Now the answer might be yes and might be no you don’t care. With this, you’re sort of hoping the answer is yes. You know, will you give me a break on that down payment? |
| Echo: 没错。(Méi cuò.) |
| David: And we see this happen also in the past tense. |
| Echo: 你家买房子了没？(Nǐ jiā mǎi fángzile méi?) |
| David: Right. In the past tense, we go from 不(Bù) to 没(Méi), just like with affirmative sentences. |
| Echo: 他的贷款还清了没？(Tā de dàikuǎn huán qīngle méi?) |
| David: Has he paid off his mortgage? |
| Echo: 但是这个地方我们看到最后有一个「了」。(Dànshì zhège dìfāng wǒmen kàn dào zuìhòu yǒu yīgè `le'.) |
| David: Right. Listen to those again and listen to those last two characters. |
| Echo: 你家买房子了没？(Nǐ jiā mǎi fángzile méi?) |
| David: Right. |
| Echo: 他的贷款还清了没？(Tā de dàikuǎn huán qīngle méi?) |
| David: Right. So we’ve got both the closing 了(Le) as well as that final 没(Méi). |
| Echo: 这是因为它是过去式(Zhè shì yīnwèi tā shì guòqù shì)，所以有「了」作为标志。(Suǒyǐ yǒu `le'zuòwéi biāozhì.) |
| David: Right, yeah. And there’s one other thing to pay attention to, we can make this even more colloquial by dropping that 了(Le). |
| Echo: 对，比如说:你家买房子没？(Duì, bǐrú shuō: Nǐ jiā mǎi fángzi méi?) |
| David: Right. |
| Echo: 他的贷款还清没？(Tā de dàikuǎn huán qīng méi?) |
| David: Right. And this is really colloquial. |
| Echo: 对，这非常非常(Duì, zhè fēicháng fēicháng) colloquial. |
| David: This is super colloquial. So, what I mean all of this is colloquial, this is really colloquial with asking a question. You’re not going to run into it in written Chinese but you’re going to hear this. But if you drop that 了(Le), it’s making it super, super colloquial. |
| Echo: 对，但我们一般还是用「了」，因为更清楚。(Duì, dàn wǒmen yībān háishì yòng `le', yīnwèi gèng qīngchǔ.) |
| David: Right. But again the reason we’re going to use this is because we want to express hope that the answer is yes, he’s paid off his mortgage already. Yes, this is the best place in town. So a new way to ask questions, an intermediate way to ask questions. |
| Echo: 对。(Duì.) |
| David: Emphasis is on the emotion in the tone. And that’s our lesson for today. |
Outro |
| David: As always we want to remind you, we’ve got these PDFs on the site. Echo，what’s one of the really useful ways to study with them? |
| Echo: 你可以在学完我们今天的课以后马上复习。(Nǐ kěyǐ zàixué wán wǒmen jīntiān de kè yǐhòu mǎshàng fùxí.) |
| David: Yeah. Right. Or print them out. Put them aside and review them the next day. |
| Echo: 也可以。(Yě kěyǐ.) |
| David: Because reviewing after 24 hours really helps the stuff stick. With that though that’s our lesson we hope you enjoyed it. As always if you have any questions you can get us at contactus@chineseclass101.com. |
| Echo: 或者在网站上给我们留言(Huòzhě zài wǎngzhàn shàng gěi wǒmen liúyán) |
| David: Right. We would love to hear from you. From Beijing I’m David. |
| Echo: 我是(Wǒ shì)Echo. |
| David: Thanks a lot for listening, and we will see you on the site. |
| Echo: 我们网上见吧，拜拜！(Wǒmen wǎngshàng jiàn ba, bàibài!) |
| David: Bye. |
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