Learn how to use the preposition 往, meaning "towards," to give directions
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| INTRODUCTION |
| DAVID: Welcome to ChineseClass101.com. I’m David. |
| Amber: 大家好，我是安伯。(Dàjiā hǎo, wǒ shì ān bó.) |
| DAVID: And we’re here today with Upper Beginner, Season 1, Lesson 1 - Chinese traffic chaos. |
| Amber: 中国交通乱像。(Zhōngguó jiāotōng luàn xiàng.) |
| DAVID: Right. So we have a lesson all about the chaos there’s out there on the roads. |
| Amber: 对。(Duì.) |
| DAVID: Amber, where does this lesson take place? |
| Amber: 唔，发生在出租车里。(Wú, fāshēng zài chūzū chē lǐ.) |
| DAVID: Right. So it’s in a cab and our dialogue is between a passenger and a taxi driver. |
| Amber: 對。(Duì.) |
| DAVID: And they are speaking causal Chinese as always. |
| Amber: 没错，我们一起来听对话吧！(Méi cuò, wǒmen yī qǐlái tīng duìhuà ba!) |
| DIALOGUE |
| A: 往前走3个路口。(Wǎng qián zǒu sān gè lùkǒu.) |
| B: 左转还是右转？(Zuǒzhuǎn háishì yòuzhuǎn?) |
| A: 右转。(Yòuzhuǎn.) |
| B: 到红绿灯吗？(Dào hónglǜdēng ma?) |
| A: 不不，到天桥。(Bù bù, dào tiānqiáo.) |
| A: Go straight for three intersections. |
| B: Turn left or turn right? |
| A: Turn right. |
| B: (walk) To the traffic light? |
| A: No, to the overpass. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| DAVID: So, this lesson is about chaos in traffic in china. |
| Amber: 没错, 混乱的中国交通。(Méi cuò, hǔnluàn de zhōngguó jiāotōng.) |
| DAVID: Yes. Well, more precisely, it’s about how to avoid it by telling the cabbie where you want to go. |
| Amber: 没错, 打车的时候可以用。(Méi cuò, dǎchē de shíhòu kěyǐ yòng.) |
| DAVID: Yeah. Or you could use it when you’re just walking around. |
| Amber: 当然，走路也可以用。(Dāngrán, zǒulù yě kěyǐ yòng.) |
| DAVID: Right. It’s giving instructions, giving directions or getting them. |
| Amber: 对。(Duì.) |
| DAVID: Anyway, let’s get on to our vocab for today. |
| Amber: Uhmm, 不太难。(Bù tài nán.) |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Amber:往前。(wǎngqián.) |
| DAVID: Forward. |
| Amber: 往 前, 往前, 往后。(wǎngqián, wǎngqián, wǎnghòu.) |
| DAVID: Backward. |
| Amber: 往 后, 往后, 左转。(wǎnghòu, wǎnghòu, zuǒzhuǎn.) |
| DAVID: To turn left. |
| Amber: 左 转, 左转, 右转。(zuǒzhuǎn, zuǒzhuǎn, yòuzhuǎn.) |
| DAVID: To turn right. |
| Amber: 右 转, 右转, 目的地。(yòuzhuǎn, yòuzhuǎn, mùdìdì.) |
| DAVID: Destination. |
| Amber: 目 的 地, 目的地, 路口。(mùdìdì, mùdìdì, lùkǒu.) |
| DAVID: Intersection. |
| Amber: 路 口, 路口, 红绿灯。(lùkǒu, lùkǒu, hónglǜdēng.) |
| DAVID: Traffic light. |
| Amber: 红 绿 灯, 红绿灯, 天桥。(hónglǜdēng, hónglǜdēng, tiānqiáo.) |
| DAVID: Overpass. |
| Amber: 天 桥, 天桥。(tiānqiáo, tiānqiáo.) |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| DAVID: Let’s have a closer look at some of these words. First let’s talk about directions. Like… |
| Amber: 往前。(wǎngqián.) |
| DAVID: Forward. |
| Amber: 往前。(wǎngqián.) |
| DAVID: Forward. |
| Amber: 这个词的反义词是往后。(Zhège cí de fǎnyìcí shì wǎng hòu.) |
| DAVID: Backwards. |
| Amber: 往后。(wǎnghòu.) |
| DAVID: Literally, “towards the rear”. |
| Amber: Right. |
| DAVID: So we have “towards to front”. |
| Amber: 往前。 (wǎngqián.) |
| DAVID: And “towards the rear”. |
| Amber: 往后, 你可以往前走，或者往后走。(wǎnghòu, Nǐ kěyǐ wǎng qián zǒu, Huòzhě wǎng hòu zǒu.) |
| DAVID: Right. You can “walk forward”. |
| Amber: 往前走。(Wǎng qián zǒu.) |
| DAVID: Or “walk backwards”. |
| Amber: 往后走。(Wǎng hòu zǒu.) |
| DAVID: In addition to “forwards’ and “backwards”, we also have… |
| Amber: 左转。(Zuǒ zhuǎn.) |
| DAVID: To turn left. |
| Amber:左转。(Zuǒ zhuǎn.) |
| DAVID: And… |
| Amber: 右转。(yòuzhuǎn.) |
| DAVID: To turn right. |
| Amber: 右转。(yòuzhuǎn.) |
| DAVID: Right. |
| Amber: 左转 , 右转。(zuǒzhuǎn, yòuzhuǎn.) |
| DAVID: That's “turn left”, “turn right”. And if you are in a cab, you can give directions this way. |
| Amber: 师傅，路口 左转。(Shīfù, Lùkǒu zuǒ zhuǎn.) |
| DAVID: That’s telling the driver to turn left at the intersection. |
| Amber: 对, 你也可以说 师傅路口右转。(Duì, nǐ yě kěyǐ shuō shīfù lùkǒu yòu zhuǎn.) |
| DAVID: If you wanted to turn right. So here are four directions. |
| Amber: 往前, 往后, 左转, 右转。(wǎngqián, wǎnghòu, zuǒzhuǎn, yòuzhuǎn.) |
| DAVID: Now, this isn’t just left and right. This is when you’re giving directions to someone and you’re saying you need to move in a certain direction. |
| Amber: 对。(Duì.) |
| DAVID: Ok, in addition to directions, we also need to talk about destinations. |
| Amber: 你的目的地。(Nǐ de mùdì de.) |
| DAVID: Right. That’s the word for “destination”. |
| Amber: 目的地。(mùdìdì.) |
| DAVID: And we have a few words you can use to point out your destination. |
| Amber: 第一个 路口。(Dì yī gè lùkǒu.) |
| DAVID: Intersection. |
| Amber: 路口。(Lùkǒu.) |
| DAVID: As in “Driver, turn right at the intersection”. |
| DAVID: 师傅, 路口右转。(Shīfù, Lùkǒu yòu zhuǎn.) |
| DAVID: Right. We also have “red light”. |
| Amber: 红绿灯。 (hónglǜdēng.) |
| DAVID: It’s literally “red-green light”. |
| Amber: 对，红绿灯 。(Duì, hónglǜdēng.) |
| DAVID: Right. And that’s pretty much the same as an intersection. The next one is different though, it’s an “overhead bridge”. |
| Amber: 天桥。(tiānqiáo.) |
| DAVID: “A bridge” or “an overpass”. |
| Amber: 天桥。(tiānqiáo.) |
| DAVID: And these are pedestrian bridges that cross major roads in China. |
| Amber: 啊！对，没错。(A! Duì, méicuò.) |
| DAVID: So you can say to the driver, “Driver, stop off at the overpass.” |
| Amber: 师傅，天桥停车。(Shīfù, Tiānqiáo tíngchē.) |
| DAVID: Right or “My destination is that bridge”. |
| Amber: 我的目的地是 哪个天桥。(Wǒ de mùdì de shì nǎge tiānqiáo.) |
| DAVID: Right. So that’s our vocab section for directions. |
| Amber: 往前, 往后, 左转, 右转。(wǎngqián, wǎnghòu, zuǒzhuǎn, yòuzhuǎn.) |
| DAVID: And three destinations. |
| Amber: 路口, 红绿灯 , 天桥。(lùkǒu, hónglǜdēng, tiānqiáo.) |
| DAVID: Ok, and with that, let’s get to our grammar section. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| M2: It’s grammar time! |
| DAVID: Our grammar point today is talking about this preposition. |
| Amber: 往。(Wǎng.) |
| DAVID: Towards. |
| Amber: 往。(Wǎng.) |
| DAVID: Towards. |
| Amber:在中文中，置词在动词之前。(Zài zhōngwén zhōng, Zhì cí zài dòngcí zhīqián.) |
| DAVID: Right. Prepositions come before verbs. So we say, “towards the left to go”. |
| Amber: 往左走。(Wǎng zuǒ zǒu.) |
| DAVID: Towards. |
| Amber: 往。(Wǎng.) |
| DAVID: The left. |
| Amber: 左。(Zuǒ.) |
| DAVID: To go. |
| Amber: 走, 往左走。你也可以说 往他那走。(Zǒu, wǎng zuǒ zǒu. Nǐ yě kěyǐ shuō wǎng tā nà zǒu.) |
| DAVID: Which will be “towards him to go”. |
| Amber: 往他那走。(Wǎng tā nà zǒu.) |
| DAVID: Right. You can use this to give directions in a cab. For instance… |
| Amber: 往天桥走。(Wǎng tiānqiáo zǒu.) |
| DAVID: “Go towards the overpass.” Or… |
| Amber: 往路口走。(Wǎng lùkǒu zǒu.) |
| DAVID: “Go towards the intersection.” |
| Amber: 对。(Duì.) |
| DAVID: Right. So once again, the preposition… |
| Amber: 往。(Wǎng.) |
| DAVID: Really means “towards”. |
| Amber: 对。(Duì.) |
| Amber: And we put there in front of the direction we move. |
| Amber: 唔，在我们要去的方向之前。(Wú, zài wǒmen yào qù de fāngxiàng zhīqián.) |
| DAVID: And also before the verb. |
| Amber: 还有在动词之前。(Hái yǒu zài dòngcí zhīqián.) |
| DAVID: Right. So this is the big difference between... |
| Amber: 往左 (Wǎng zuǒ) and 左。(Zuǒ.) |
| DAVID: When we have 往 (Wǎng) we also have a verb that comes later. |
| Amber: 我们说往前走，或者 往后走，往后跑，往后去。(Wǒmen shuō wǎng qián zǒu, Huòzhě wǎng hòu zǒu, Wǎng hòu pǎo, wǎng hòu qù.) |
| DAVID: Right. This always comes in front of a verb. And if you don’t have the verb, don’t say… |
| Amber: 往。(Wǎng.) |
| DAVID: Right. Just put the direction. |
| Amber: 没错。(Méi cuò.) |
| DAVID: So that’s our grammar point for today. Remember, when you use… |
| Amber: 往。(Wǎng.) |
| DAVID: Follow it with a verb, just like in our dialogue. |
| Amber: 往前走3个路口。(Wǎng qián zǒu sān gè lùkǒu.) |
Outro |
| DAVID: Right. For now, though, that’s all the time we have. |
| Amber: 对。(Duì.) |
| DAVID: From Beijing, I’m David. |
| Amber: 我是安伯。(Wǒ shì ān bó.) |
| DAVID: Thanks for listening, and we’ll see you on the site. |
| Amber: 下次见吧！(Xià cì jiàn ba!) |
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