Learn how to ask, "Do you speak English?"
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| Introduction |
| Eric: Welcome to 3-Minute Chinese Season 1, Lesson 7 - Do You Speak English? In this lesson, you’ll learn how to ask and answer the question “Do you speak English?” in Chinese. |
| Body |
| Eric: Here's the formal way to ask "Do you speak English?" in Chinese. |
| Cho: [Normal] 你会说英语吗？(nǐ huì shuō yīngyǔ ma?) |
| Eric: First is a pronoun meaning "you" |
| Cho: [Normal] 你 [Slow] 你 (nǐ) |
| Eric: Next is the word meaning "can" |
| Cho: [Normal] 会 [Slow] 会(huì) |
| Eric: Then comes the verb meaning "to speak" |
| Cho: [Normal] 说 [Slow] 说(shuō) |
| Eric: Followed by the noun meaning "English" |
| Cho: [Normal] 英语 [Slow] 英语(yīngyǔ) |
| Eric: And last is the question marker. |
| Cho: [Normal] 吗 [Slow] 吗(ma) |
| Eric: Listen again to the formal question meaning "Do you speak English?" |
| Cho: [Slow] 你会说英语吗？ [Normal] 你会说英语吗？ |
| Eric: Now, imagine you're speaking to a stranger. Here's the informal way to ask, "Do you speak English?" |
| Cho: [Normal] 你会英语吗？(nǐ huì yīngyǔ ma?) |
| Eric: First is a pronoun meaning "you" |
| Cho: [Normal] 你 [Slow] 你 (nǐ) |
| Eric: Next is the word meaning "can" |
| Cho: [Normal] 会 [Slow] 会(huì) |
| Eric: Followed by the word meaning "English" |
| Cho: [Normal] 英语 [Slow] 英语(yīngyǔ) |
| Eric: Last is the question marker. |
| Cho: [Normal] 吗 [Slow] 吗(ma) |
| Eric: Listen again to the informal question meaning "Do you speak English?" |
| Cho: [Slow] 你会英语吗？ [Normal] 你会英语吗？ |
| Eric: Here's a response meaning "Yes, I speak English." |
| Cho: [Normal] 是的，我会说英语。(shì de, wǒ huì shuō yīngyǔ.) |
| Eric: First is an expression for "yes" |
| Cho: [Normal] 是的 [Slow] 是的(shì de) |
| Eric: Next is the pronoun meaning "I" |
| Cho: [Normal] 我 [Slow] 我(wǒ) |
| Eric: Then comes the word meaning "can" |
| Cho: [Normal] 会 [Slow] 会(huì) |
| Eric: Followed by the verb meaning "to speak" |
| Cho: [Normal] 说 [Slow] 说(shuō) |
| Eric: And last is the noun meaning "English" |
| Cho: [Normal] 英语 [Slow] 英语(yīngyǔ) |
| Eric: Listen again to the response meaning "Yes, I speak English." |
| Cho: [Slow] 是的，我会说英语。 [Normal] 是的，我会说英语。 |
| Eric: Here's a response meaning, "No, I don't speak English." |
| Cho: [Normal] 不，我不会说英语。(bù, wǒ bùhuì shuō yīngyǔ.) |
| Eric: First is a word meaning "no" |
| Cho: [Normal] 不 [Slow] 不(bù) |
| Eric: Next is the pronoun meaning "I" |
| Cho: [Normal] 我 [Slow] 我(wǒ) |
| Eric: Then comes the word meaning "cannot" |
| Cho: [Normal] 不会 [Slow] 不会(bùhuì) |
| Eric: Followed by the verb meaning "to speak" |
| Cho: [Normal] 说 [Slow] 说(shuō) |
| Eric: Last is the word meaning "English" |
| Cho: [Normal] 英语 [Slow] 英语(yīngyǔ) |
| Eric: Listen again to the response meaning "No, I don't speak English." |
| Cho: [Slow] 不，我不会说英语。 [Normal] 不，我不会说英语。 |
| Cultural Insight |
| Eric: Now it's time for a quick cultural insight. |
| Cho: This question is useful not only for English, but for any language you may speak. More and more Chinese people are studying foreign languages nowadays, so you may just get lucky! Just substitute Yīngyǔ with… |
| Yìdàlìyǔ for Italian. |
| Éyǔ for Russian. |
| Xībānyáyǔ for Spanish. |
| Déyǔ for German. |
| or any other language you may speak. |
Outro |
|---|
| Eric: And that’s all for this lesson. Don’t forget to check out the lesson notes, and we’ll see you in the next lesson! |
| Cho: 再见。 |
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