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| INTRODUCTION |
| David: Welcome back to chineseclass101.com the fastest, easiest and most fun way to learn Chinese. I am David and I am joined in the studio by... |
| Echo: Hi! 大家好，我是(Dàjiā hǎo, wǒ shì)Echo. |
| David: Yes we are here with Echo and we are also here with absolute beginner season 2 Lesson 17. |
| Echo: Bright Lights, Big City. |
| David: Right. This is a lesson about Shanghai. |
| Echo: Yeah. |
| David: Yes and make sure you say that, say Shanghai, not Shanghai. |
| Echo: Right. |
| David: It’s going to make you sound native. So we’ve got a lesson here that takes place in Shanghai and we are going to talk about adverbs of degree. |
| Echo: And the conversation is between two tourists. |
| David: Who are walking through Pudong which is the new district. |
| Echo: Yes. |
| David: And it’s got all of those top buildings. So our speakers are speaking casually and we are going to get you to the dialogue in a sec. |
| Echo: Right. |
| David: Before we do, we want to remind you, we’ve got flash cards in the Premium learning center. When you are done this lesson, one way to make sure you remember the vocab is to go in there and test yourself on them. |
| Echo: 没错。(Méi cuò.) |
| David: It’s only going to take you a minute and it’s really going to help this stuff stick. With that though, let’s get to the dialogue. |
| DIALOGUE |
| A: 上海真大！(Shànghǎi zhēn dà!) |
| B: 楼也很高。(Lóu yě hěn gāo.) |
| A: 对，真高啊！(Duì, zhēn gāo a!) |
| B: 小心！车！(Xiǎoxīn! Chē!) |
| Echo: One more time, a bit slower. |
| A: 上海真大！(Shànghǎi zhēn dà!) |
| B: 楼也很高。(Lóu yě hěn gāo.) |
| A: 对，真高啊！(Duì, zhēn gāo a!) |
| B: 小心！车！(Xiǎoxīn! Chē!) |
| Echo: And now, with the English translation. |
| A: 上海真大！(Shànghǎi zhēn dà!) |
| A: Shanghai is really big. |
| B: 楼也很高。(Lóu yě hěn gāo.) |
| B: The buildings are really tall. |
| A: 对，真高啊！(Duì, zhēn gāo a!) |
| A: Right, really tall. |
| B: 小心！车！(Xiǎoxīn! Chē!) |
| B: Careful, car. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Echo: So Shanghai is really like this, it’s really an incredible city. Yeah it’s got shopping malls, it’s got skyscrapers. |
| Echo: Right. |
| David: And it’s got these really, really big roads and you have…. |
| Echo: And convenient stores. |
| David: Yeah, yeah convenient stores. And you have to be careful because all of these things are deadly. |
| Echo: Right. |
| David: So especially with Shanghai drivers but we didn’t tell you that. |
| Echo: Yeah the roads are pretty narrow I think. |
| David: Yeah, yeah. |
| Echo: Right now like Beijing. |
| David: So you have to be careful and in today’s lesson, our vocab is all about architecture that you have to be careful of. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Echo: And now the vocab section. |
| Echo: 商场。(Shāngchǎng.)[natural native speed] |
| David: Mall. |
| Echo: 商场。(Shāngchǎng.)[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Echo: 商场。(Shāngchǎng.)[natural native speed] |
| Echo: 超市。(Chāoshì.)[natural native speed] |
| David: Grocery store. |
| Echo: 超市。(Chāoshì.)[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Echo: 超市。(Chāoshì.)[natural native speed] |
| Echo: 楼。(Lóu.)[natural native speed] |
| David: Building. |
| Echo: 楼。(Lóu.)[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Echo: 楼。(Lóu.)[natural native speed] |
| Echo: 马路。(Mǎlù.)[natural native speed] |
| David: Street. |
| Echo: 马路。(Mǎlù.)[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Echo: 马路。(Mǎlù.)[natural native speed] |
| Echo: 很。(Hěn.)[natural native speed] |
| David: Very. |
| Echo: 很。(Hěn.)[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Echo: 很。(Hěn.)[natural native speed] |
| Echo: 真。(Zhēn.)[natural native speed] |
| David: Really. |
| Echo: 真。(Zhēn.)[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Echo: 真。(Zhēn.)[natural native speed] |
| Echo: 车。(Chē.)[natural native speed] |
| David: Car. |
| Echo: 车。(Chē.)[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Echo: 车。(Chē.)[natural native speed] |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| David: Right. We are going to look at some of these words and phrases in more depth. Before we do, pet peeve #1. If you are in China, you’ve got to get the name of Shanghai right. Echo, can you say for us again? |
| Echo: 上海。(Shànghǎi.) |
| David: You are going to run into careless people who say Shanghai. They are wrong. It’s |
| Echo: 上海。(Shànghǎi.) |
| David: Shan – get that right and you are going to impress Chinese people. |
| Echo: Right. |
| David: Okay now with that though, our vocab is all about stuff you are going to find really in any big city. Our first word is |
| Echo: 商场。(Shāngchǎng.) |
| David: Mall. |
| Echo: 商场。(Shāngchǎng.) |
| David: This really means any kind of shopping concourse. |
| Echo: 商场。(Shāngchǎng.) |
| David: Right. In Shanghai, a lot of the malls are really big. |
| Echo: 这个商场很大。(Zhège shāngchǎng hěn dà.) |
| David: This mall is very big and you will frequently run into ones that are 7, 8, 9 storey’s tall. Quick tip. You are going to find restaurants at the top. |
| Echo: Right. |
| David: In Beijing and other cities, you are going to find places to eat right on the street. In Shanghai, they go to the top of the malls. |
| Echo: Right, good view! |
| David: It’s weird you know. Anyway, our next word is a grocery store. |
| Echo: 超市。(Chāoshì.) |
| David: Grocery store. |
| Echo: 超市。(Chāoshì.) |
| David: You will often find grocery stores inside malls. |
| Echo: 超市。超市在商场里。(Chāoshì. Chāoshì zài shāngchǎng lǐ.) |
| David: In this lesson, we also taught you the word for building. |
| Echo: 楼。(Lóu.) |
| David: Building. |
| Echo: 这儿有很多大楼。(Zhè'er yǒu hěnduō dàlóu.) |
| David: There are lots of tall buildings here. |
| Echo: 这儿有很多大楼。(Zhè'er yǒu hěnduō dàlóu.) |
| David: There are lots of tall buildings here. Another word that’s really interesting actually is the word for street. |
| Echo: 马路。(Mǎlù.) |
| David: Street. |
| Echo: 马路。(Mǎlù.) |
| David: Because this is literally a horse. |
| Echo: 马。(Mǎ.) |
| David: Road. |
| Echo: 路。(Lù.) |
| David: Horse road. |
| Echo: 马路。(Mǎlù.) |
| David: Or street. |
| Echo: And actually this is a very colloquial way to say it. |
| David: Yeah. |
| Echo: Sometimes you can just say 路。(Lù.) |
| David: And I will give Shanghai this. It’s got some really lovely roads. |
| Echo: Yeah. |
| David: If you are in town, drop by the French Concession. |
| Echo: I know what you mean. |
| David: It’s a really lovely part of town. In Shanghai, it’s walkable. Anyway, that’s our vocab section. In our grammar section, we are going to talk about two adverbs of degree. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Echo: As we mentioned, in our grammar section, we are going to talk about two adverbs of degree. |
| Echo: They are 很。(Hěn.) |
| David: Very. |
| Echo: And 真。(Zhēn.) |
| David: Really. Let’s hear those again. |
| Echo: 很。(Hěn.) |
| David: And |
| Echo: 真。(Zhēn.) |
| David: In Chinese, an adverb of degree is something we put in front of a verb or an adjective. |
| Echo: Right. |
| David: So you could say very big. |
| Echo: 很大。(Hěn dà.) |
| David: Really tall. |
| Echo: 真高。(Zhēn gāo.) |
| David: Now the difference between |
| Echo: 真。(Zhēn.) |
| David: And |
| Echo: 很。(Hěn.) |
| David: Is that |
| Echo: 真。(Zhēn.) |
| David: Is stronger. |
| Echo: Right. It’s like more emotional. |
| David: Yeah it’s like truthfully, forcefully I am telling you this. So we’ve got a couple of examples that are going to illustrate this. |
| Echo: Yeah. |
| David: The first is. |
| Echo: 她很漂亮。(Tā hěn piàoliang.) |
| David: She is very pretty. |
| Echo: 她很漂亮。(Tā hěn piàoliang.) |
| David: And this is opposed to |
| Echo: 她真漂亮。(Tā zhēn piàoliang.) |
| David: She is really pretty. |
| Echo: 她真漂亮。(Tā zhēn piàoliang.) |
| David: Right. The first is it’s just sort of polite and the second is how beautiful she – it’s sort of you know, you are surprised. |
| Echo: Yeah. |
| David: Wow she is more beautiful than I thought she would be. |
| Echo: 这个人很讨厌。(Zhège rén hěn tǎoyàn.) |
| David: Another example might be if someone is annoying. |
| Echo: So you can say 这个人很讨厌。(Zhège rén hěn tǎoyàn.) |
| David: This person is very 讨厌。(Tǎoyàn.) |
| Echo: 这个人很讨厌。(Zhège rén hěn tǎoyàn.) |
| David: And that’s not too extreme. If they are really bothering you though, you should say |
| Echo: 这个人真讨厌。(Zhège rén zhēn tǎoyàn.) |
| David: This person is really annoying. |
| Echo: 这个人真讨厌。(Zhège rén zhēn tǎoyàn.) |
| David: If you are shopping, you might also want to say. |
| Echo: 这件衣服很不错。(Zhè jiàn yīfú hěn bùcuò.) |
| David: This piece of clothing is pretty good. |
| Echo: 这件衣服很不错。(Zhè jiàn yīfú hěn bùcuò.) |
| David: Of course, if it really fits and you love it, you should upgrade. |
| Echo: 这件衣服真不错。(Zhè jiàn yīfú zhēn bùcuò.) |
| David: The clothing is truly 不错。(Bùcuò.) |
| Echo: 这件衣服真不错。(Zhè jiàn yīfú zhēn bùcuò.) |
| David: So to review. We’ve got two adverbs of degree. |
| Echo: 很。(Hěn.) |
| David: And |
| Echo: 真。(Zhēn.) |
| David: 很(Hěn) is pretty common. |
| Echo: Right. |
| David: It doesn’t stand out. If you really mean it, change that into |
| Echo: 真。(Zhēn.) |
| David: And you are going to make more of an impression. |
| Echo: Right. |
Outro |
| Echo: As always, that about does it for today. So make sure to stop by chineseclass101.com and pick up our lesson notes. |
| Echo: Right. It has the conversation transcribed. |
| David: Vocabulary, sample sentences, a grammar explanation. |
| Echo: And a cultural insights section. |
| David: Right where we give you the dirt on China, on Shanghai and other cities. |
| Echo: Right. |
| David: So make sure to drop by and pick that up and if you have any questions, you can write us at |
| Echo: Contact us at chineseclass101.com |
| David: And we look forward to hearing from you. From Beijing, I am David. |
| Echo: 我是(Wǒ shì)Echo。 |
| David: Thanks a lot for listening and we will see you on the site. |
| Echo: Bye bye. |
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Comments
HideIf you've been to Shanghai, what was your first impression?
Hello Katie,
Thanks for taking the time to write to us. 👍
Please note that you can add the words from the Vocabulary section of the lessons to your Word Bank. Then, you can create a new flashcard deck and add the words from the Word Bank to your deck.
Please don't hesitate to ask us if further questions arise. We are here to help you.
Sincerely,
Ali
Team ChineseClass101.com
I like the flashcard packets you offer, except a lot of the words in it I haven't learned. How do I create flashcard sessions with vocabulary from the lessons? Thanks much.
Hello Byron,
Thank you for your comment. The HSK exam is not part of the course.
You may visit the official website for HSK exams to find out more details: chinesetest.cn
Let us know if you have any questions.
Ngai
Team ChineseClass101.com
Do I have to linearly take the HSK exams?
你好 robert groulx！
不用谢。(Bú yòng xiè.) = No need for thanks. You're welcome. 😇
谢谢 (Xièxie) for studying with us, it's great to have you here!
Let us know if you have any questions.
Kind regards,
雷文特 (Levente)
Team ChineseClass101.com
thank you for lesson trancript
favorite phrase is 这件衣服真不错。
robert
Hi Enrico,
Thank you for your comments.
Please, let us know if you found out how to fix the issue.
Remember that we are here for you!
Regards,
Laura
Team ChineseClass101.com
Hi Han and the Cc101 team. thanks for the help.
i still studying how to write/type Chinese with my computer (iMac), and finding out why my computer skips printing some special Chinese characters when i print out the pdf lessons on paper. i will ask around. thanks
enrico
Hi Enrico,
Thanks for the message! We use "件(jiàn)" for "piece(s)" of clothing.
Hope you find this helpful!
Han
Team ChineseClass101.com
that part of the lesson audio is at 8:56
I did not quite get the word that Echo said about the quantifier for a piece of clothing. what is the quantifier for clothing?
What is the quantified word for clothing as in a piece of clothing?
Hi Christine,
Yes, I can understand your Chinese perfectly :)
You can say 有帮助 or 有用 (useful, you3yong4), and the latter is more common.
Thanks for pointing out the typos. I'll go and fix them now.
Echo
Team ChineseClass101.com
谢谢 Echo and David. 这个 课 真 好! 我 爱 看高 楼. What I meant to say: This lesson is really good! I love to look at tall buildings.
If I wanted to say the "helpful" (as in helpful lesson) would i use 有帮助 - yǒu bāng zhù?
However I noticed a few typos on the transcript. In the vocab section, the Pinyin is missing for 很. Then in the grammar, I think the English meaning for sentences 1 and 2 are switched.
Sentence 1: 她很漂亮。
tā hěn piàoliang.
"She's really pretty."
I believe this should say "She's very pretty"
Sentence 2: 她真漂亮。
tā zhēn piàoliang.
"She's very pretty."
I believe this should say: "She's really pretty."
Hi Will,
Right, there are a lot international cooperation happening in Shanghai.
Echo
Team ChineseClass101.com
I haven't been to Shanghai, but my father's company is trying to negotiate a business deal with a Shanghai consulting firm... :grin: