Learn about traditional living communities and an adverb that helps you express that there might be something bad about the situation, but not bad enough to dismiss it
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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 Amber, we’re here, today, with Upper Beginner, Season 1, Lesson 18 – “Partying in Old-school Beijing”. |
| Amber: 没错，在北京的中心，在胡同里。(Méi cuò, zài běijīng de zhōngxīn, zài hútòng lǐ.) |
| David: Right. The center of Beijing in one of the older 胡同 (Hútòng) courtyards. You can still wrack them. |
| Amber: 有。(Yǒu.) |
| David: They’re getting pretty expensive these days. |
| Amber: Wow, 超级贵。(Chāojí guì.) |
| David: Yes, they used to be a lot more common, but there aren’t many of them left. Anyway, our dialogue today takes place in of these older courtyards where people are throwing a party. |
| Amber: 没错。(Méi cuò.) |
| David: So, let’s go on and listen to this. This dialogue is in casual mandarin, as always. So, this lesson is about old Beijing architecture. |
| DIALOGUE |
| A: 这个胡同派对真酷。(Zhège hútòng pàiduì zhēn kù.) |
| B: 是啊，老北京胡同太有特色了。(Shì a, lǎo Běijīng hútòng tài yǒu tèsè le.) |
| A: 我也想租一个四合院。(Wǒ yě xiǎng zū yī ge sìhéyuàn.) |
| B: 嗯......冬天冷，还没有厕所。(En...... dōngtiān lěng, hái méiyǒu cèsuǒ.) |
| A: 你不觉得很浪漫吗？(Nǐ bù juéde hěn làngmàn ma?) |
| B: 呃，我还是喜欢我的楼房。(E, wǒ hái shì xǐhuān wǒ de lóufáng.) |
| A: This Hutong party is really cool. |
| B: Yeah, old Beijing courtyards are really special. |
| A: I also want to rent one. |
| B: Hmm.. It's cold in the winter, and doesn't have a washroom. |
| A: Don't you think it's romantic? |
| B: Hmm.. I still prefer my building. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Amber: 对 (Duì) |
| David: Right. |
| Amber: 有胡同，还有四合院。(Yǒu hútòng, hái yǒu sìhéyuàn.) |
| David: Right. There are a couple of words they’re used to describe this and they have slightly different meanings. |
| Amber: 对。(Duì.) |
| David: But, we’re going to talk about this in a bit. First, we have our vocab section for you. |
| Amber: 胡同。(Hútòng.) |
| VOCAB LIST |
| David: Woh Tong. |
| Amber: 胡 同, 胡同, 派对。(Hútòng, Hútòng, Pàiduì.) |
| David: Party. |
| Amber: 派 对, 派对, 酷。(Pàiduì, Pàiduì, Kù.) |
| David: Cool. |
| Amber: 酷, 酷, 特色。(Kù, Kù, tèsè) |
| David: Characteristics. |
| Amber: 特 色, 特 色, 四合院。(tèsè, tèsè, sìhéyuàn.) |
| David: Traditional courtyard. |
| Amber: 四 合 院, 四合院, 平房。(sìhéyuàn, sìhéyuàn, píngfáng.) |
| David: Single story house. |
| Amber: 平 房, 平房, 冬天。(píngfáng, píngfáng, dōngtiān.) |
| David: Winter. |
| Amber: 冬 天, 冬天, 冷。(dōngtiān, dōngtiān, lěng.) |
| David: Cold. |
| Amber: 冷, 冷, 浪漫。(lěng, lěng, làngmàn.) |
| David: Romantic. |
| Amber: 浪 漫, 浪漫, 楼房。(làngmàn, làngmàn, lóufáng.) |
| David: Building. |
| Amber: 楼 房, 楼房。(lóufáng, lóufáng.) |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| David: Before we get to Beijing architecture, we want to remind you of this word: “romantic”. |
| Amber: 浪漫。(Làngmàn.) |
| David: If you remember, we covered it in a previous lesson. |
| Amber: 唔， 浪漫。(Wú, làngmàn.) |
| David: We learned that Paris is a very romantic city. |
| Amber: 巴黎是一个很浪漫的城市, 有爷爷，还有奶奶。(Bālí shì yīgè hěn làngmàn de chéngshì, yǒu yéyé, hái yǒu nǎinai.) |
| David: Right, and the photograph of life before the war. |
| Amber: 没错。(Méi cuò.) |
| David: Our focus this lesson that would ease more on architecture, and we’ve got three main words describe traditional Chinese housing. |
| Amber: 没错, 有胡同，四合院, 还有平房。(Méi cuò, yǒu hútòng, sìhéyuàn, hái yǒu píngfáng.) |
| David: These are easy to get confused, so we’re going to clear up any confusion today. |
| Amber: 没错。(Méi cuò.) |
| David: Let’s take a look at the first word. |
| Amber: 胡同。(Hútòng.) |
| David: We translated this as “Woh Tong” because there’s no way to translate this into English. It means a couple of things. First, it means a kind of house. |
| Amber: 没错, 这个胡同里，住了两个人。(Méi cuò, zhège hútòng lǐ, zhùle liǎng gèrén.) |
| David: Right. Usually, relatively small rooms, they’re made of cement. They can be more traditional houses, too. |
| Amber: 没错。(Méi cuò.) |
| David: Right. Normally, in Beijing, these days, they’re cement or they’re brick, or they’re brick on the inside and cement on the outside. |
| Amber: 对，但是以前都是砖的。(Duì, dànshì yǐqián dōu shì zhuān de.) |
| David: Right. And, so, they are older houses, a lot of them don’t have pluming, and this is the tricky thing. 胡同 (Hútòng) can mean an individual house. But, it can also mean a neighborhood that has a lot of these houses in them. |
| Amber: 没错, 有很多人住在这个胡同。(Méi cuò, yǒu hěnduō rén zhù zài zhège hútòng.) |
| David: There are a lot of people who live in these 胡同.(Hútòng.) |
| Amber: 所以不是一个房子。(Suǒyǐ bùshì yīgè fángzi.) |
| David: Right. And, if you’re looking around Beijing, you’ll see a lot of street names in neighborhoods that are [*]胡同.(Hútòng.) |
| Amber: 唔，对(Wú, duì) |
| David: Or, [*]胡同. ([*] Hútòng.) |
| Amber: 各种胡同。(Gè zhǒng hútòng.) |
| David: Right. And, usually, their neighborhoods whether used to be a lot of these kinds of houses. So, the 胡同 (Hútòng) is a traditional kind of architecture. But, it’s very, very different from the: |
| Amber: 四合院。(Sìhéyuàn.) |
| David: “Traditional courtyard” |
| Amber: 四合院。(Sìhéyuàn.) |
| David: “Traditional Chinese courtyard” |
| Amber: 没错, 四合院, 因为胡同是普通人住的。(Méi cuò, sìhéyuàn, yīnwèi hútòng shì pǔtōng rén zhù de.) |
| David: Right. |
| Amber: 在过去四合院是有钱人住的。(Zài guòqù sìhéyuàn shì yǒu qián rén zhù de.) |
| David: Right. A 四合院 (Sìhéyuàn) is a very rich kind of 胡同.(Hútòng.) |
| Amber: 对，很大。(Duì, hěn dà.) |
| David: It’s a compound. So, it’s got an elder wall and is got a number of individual buildings inside. |
| Amber: 没错。(Méi cuò.) |
| David: Right. Usually, four one and each side. Four. How common is this? |
| Amber: 差不多，但也有更复杂一些的。(Chàbùduō, dàn yěyǒu gèng fùzá yīxiē de.) |
| David: Yes. They’ve got really, really elaborate 四合院 (Sìhéyuàn), as well. |
| Amber: 没错。(Méi cuò.) |
| David: And, this is the sort of thing you’re thinking of if you see traditional Chinese movies… |
| Amber: 唔，没错。(Wú, méi cuò.) |
| David: With traditional Chinese houses of rich people. |
| Amber: 对，一般他们都住在四合院里。(Duì, yībān tāmen dōu zhù zài sìhéyuàn lǐ.) |
| David: Yes. And, the yard here is referring to the courtyard… |
| Amber: 对。(Duì.) |
| David: That’s in the middle of a complex. |
| Amber: 没错, 它有一个院，然后是房子。(Méi cuò, tā yǒu yīgè yuàn, ránhòu shì fángzi.) |
| David: Right. |
| Amber: 如果复杂一点是后面还有院, 还有房子。(Rúguǒ fùzá yīdiǎn shì hòumiàn hái yǒu yuàn, hái yǒu fángzi.) |
| David: Ok. So, there’re chained courtyards with houses in them. |
| Amber: 对，很深。(Duì, hěn shēn.) |
| David: Yes. It’s very deep. But, there are different kinds. I mean, there are more common ones. As you’re walking around Beijing, things to look for include the knockers on the door… |
| Amber: 对。(Duì.) |
| David: That will tell you how rich they are. |
| Amber: 或者地位很高。(Huòzhě dìwèi hěn gāo.) |
| David: Yes, the status of the family that lives in it. You can also take a look at the stone posts by the side of the door. |
| Amber: 对，对，对。(Duì, duì, duì.) |
| David: Right. You’ll see lions, you’ll see turtles… |
| Amber: 还有麒麟。(Hái yǒu qílín.) |
| David: Yes, unicorns… |
| Amber: 对。(Duì.) |
| David: Mythical beast. You can also judge how elaborated is on the inside by the size of the door. |
| Amber: 唔，没错。(Wú, méi cuò.) |
| David: Is it just set into a wall or does the door itself take up a lot of space? |
| Amber: Ah, 它也是占很大的空间。(Tā yěshì zhàn hěn dà de kōngjiān.) |
| David: Yes, if it takes up a lot of space, they aren’t showing her off. |
| Amber: 没错。(Méi cuò.) |
| David: We don’t need, we can afford to have a big gate. |
| Amber: 有的时候不是光 (Yǒu de shíhòu bùshì guāng) showing off, 它确实是需要有一定的规则。(Tā quèshí shì xūyào yǒu yīdìng de guīzé.) |
| David: Yes, there are traditional rules in Beijing… |
| Amber: 没错。(Méi cuò.) |
| David: And, other parts of Northern China that tell you what kind of family would live in this kind of 四合院.(Sìhéyuàn.) |
| Amber: 没错, 没错。(Méi cuò, méi cuò.) |
| David: So, there is a culture behind it which is interesting. But, the key thing here, is that this is different than a 胡同. (Hútòng.) |
| Amber: 对，不是一样的。(Duì, bùshì yīyàng de.) |
| David: Yes. |
| Amber: 胡同是普通人住在一起。(Hútòng shì pǔtōng rén zhù zài yīqǐ.) |
| David: Yes. It’s the common people whereas 四合院 (Sìhéyuàn) is rich people. |
| Amber: 对，四合院是有钱人住。(Duì, sìhéyuàn shì yǒu qián rén zhù.) |
| David: Ok. Moving on, we’ve got one more word here. |
| Amber: 平房。(Píngfáng.) |
| David: “Flat building” |
| Amber: 平房。(Píngfáng.) |
| David: And, most 胡同 (Hútòng), the houses, can also be called? |
| Amber: 平房。(Píngfáng.) |
| David: The 平 (Píng) here means “flat”. |
| Amber: 对。(Duì.) |
| David: So, it literally means “one story”, but it’s also implying that it’s not rich. |
| Amber: 没错。(Méi cuò.) |
| David: So, you could say: “In this 胡同 (Hútòng), there are a lot of 平房.(Píngfáng.)” |
| Amber: 在这个胡同里有好多平房。(Zài zhège hútòng li yǒu hǎoduō píngfáng.) |
| David: “In this 胡同 (Hútòng), there are a lot of平房.(Píngfáng.)” |
| Amber: 在这个胡同里有很多平房。(Zài zhège hútòng li yǒu hěnduō píngfáng.) |
| David: And, the opposite of the 平房 (Píngfáng) is? |
| Amber: 楼房, 就是我们现在住的, 就是楼房。(Lóufáng, jiùshì wǒmen xiànzài zhù de, jiùshì lóufáng.) |
| David: Yes, it’s apartment buildings, they can be big, they can be small. |
| Amber: 对，对。(Duì, duì.) |
| David: As long as it’s more than “one story”. |
| Amber: 没错, 只要 …. 现在有六层的。(Méi cuò, zhǐyào…. Xiànzài yǒu liù céng de.) |
| David: Yes. There are six story ones… |
| Amber: 十几层。(Shí jǐ céng.) |
| David: And then, there are the ones with elevators and… |
| Amber: 对，没错。(Duì, méi cuò.) |
| David: Ok. So, four words to describe different kinds of houses in Beijing. |
| Amber: 胡同, 四合院, 平房和楼房。(Hútòng, sìhéyuàn, píngfáng hé lóufáng.) |
| David: And, with that, let’s get to our grammar point. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| M2: It’s grammar time. |
| David: In previous lessons, we taught you that Chinese adverbs come in front of verbs, and adjectives. |
| Amber: 没错。(Méi cuò.) |
| David: In today’s lesson, we want to review this, with reference to a single adverb. |
| Amber: 还。(Hái.) |
| David: “Also” or “still”. |
| Amber: 还。(Hái.) |
| David: In the dialogue, we saw this in the following line: |
| Amber: 冬天冷，还没有厕所。(Dōngtiān lěng, hái méiyǒu cèsuǒ.) |
| David: “The winter is cold and there’s also no toilet.” |
| Amber: 冬天冷，还没有厕所。(Dōngtiān lěng, hái méiyǒu cèsuǒ.) |
| David: “He’s saying that in the 胡同 (Hútòng) is cold in the winter and also there’s no toilet.” |
| Amber: 对，没错。(Duì, méi cuò.) |
| David: Let’s take a look at another example. |
| Amber: 你还可以说 他还想住胡同。(Nǐ hái kěyǐ shuō tā hái xiǎng zhù hútòng.) |
| David: “He still wants to live in a 胡同.(Hútòng.)” |
| Amber: 对，他还想住胡同。(Duì, tā hái xiǎng zhù hútòng.) |
| David: Right. “Or, maybe, the courtyard is expensive. He still wants to buy it.” |
| Amber: 四合院很贵，他还想买。(Sìhéyuàn hěn guì, tā hái xiǎng mǎi.) |
| David: “The courtyard is expensive. He still wants to buy it.” |
| Amber: 四合院很贵，他还想买, 他一定很喜欢。(Sìhéyuàn hěn guì, tā hái xiǎng mǎi, tā yīdìng hěn xǐhuān.) |
| David: Yes, or, he’s got a lot of money. |
| Amber: Oh, 对，也可以。(Duì, yě kěyǐ.) |
| David: But, some… A couple of things to note about this. First is that this is different than the other word we learned that meant “also”. |
| Amber: 唔，”也”。(Wú,” yě”.) |
| David: We use that adverb to say things like: “He’s going. I’m going, too.” |
| Amber: 对，他去，我也去。(Duì, tā qù, wǒ yě qù.) |
| David: “She’s hungry. I’m hungry, too.” |
| Amber: 她饿了，我也饿了。(Tā èle, wǒ yě èle.) |
| David: Right. With 还 (Hái) you’re usually saying that there’s something bad about this, but still… |
| Amber: 没错。(Méi cuò.) |
| David: The courtyard is expensive, but I still want to rent it. |
| Amber: 对，这个四合院很贵，我还想租。(Duì, zhège sìhéyuàn hěn guì, wǒ hái xiǎng zū.) |
| David: Or, this has Chinese characteristics. I still don’t want to buy it. |
| Amber: 这个有中国特色，我还不想买。(Zhège yǒu zhòng guó tèsè, wǒ hái bùxiǎng mǎi.) |
| David: Right. That’s someone who likes things that are Chinese. It is Chinese, but, I still don’t want to buy it. |
| Amber: 对，其实这个人是喜欢中国特色。(Duì, qíshí zhège rén shì xǐhuān zhōngguó tèsè.) |
| David: Yes. |
| Amber: 但是还不想买。(Dànshì hái bùxiǎng mǎi.) |
| David: Right. And, it’s this “but” sense that separates 还 (Hái) from 也. (Yě.) |
| Amber: 对。(Duì.) |
| David: Ok. And, otherwise, you put both of them in front of adv. Otherwise, both of them are adverbs and they both come in front of verbs. |
| Amber: 没错。(Méi cuò.) |
| David: Ok. Let’s have one more example. |
| Amber: 你还可以说 我还想去哪个派对。(Nǐ hái kěyǐ shuō wǒ hái xiǎng qù nǎge pàiduì.) |
| David: “I still want to go to that party.” |
| Amber: 我还想去哪个派对。(Wǒ hái xiǎng qù nǎge pàiduì.) |
| David: Right. |
| Amber: 太酷了！(Tài kùle!) |
| David: Either it’s too cool, but maybe you might say: “My girlfriend doesn’t want to go. I still want to go.” |
| Amber: 唔，我女朋友不想去，我还想去。(Wú, wǒ nǚ péngyǒu bùxiǎng qù, wǒ hái xiǎng qù.) |
| David: “My boyfriend doesn’t want to go, I still want to go.” |
| Amber: 我男朋友不想去，我还想去。(Wǒ nán péngyǒu bùxiǎng qù, wǒ hái xiǎng qù.) |
Outro |
| David: Ok. So, an easy point today mostly reviewed. That’s it. We hope you found it interesting. For now, though that is all the time we have, if you have any questions, we hope you visit us at: |
| Amber: Chineseclass101.com |
| David: And, leave a note on the site. We welcome e-mail at contactus@chineseclass101.com,too. |
| Amber: 对。(Duì.) |
| David: So, we hope to hear from you and we will see you online. |
| Amber: 希望下次还能看见你。(Xīwàng xià cì hái néng kànjiàn nǐ.) |
| David: Bye Bye. |
| Amber: 网上见。(Wǎngshàng jiàn.) |
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