Learn how to make a wish and what you should eat when it is your birthday
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| INTRODUCTION |
| David: So we’ve got a dialogue that takes place on someone’s birthday. |
| Sylvia: Or maybe not. |
| David: Yes. Whose birthday? We are not sure. |
| Sylvia: Right. |
| David: But we are going to listen to the dialogue and find out |
| DIALOGUE |
| A: 祝你生日快乐！(Zhù nǐ shēngrì kuàilè !) |
| B: 今天不是我的生日。(Jīntiān bùshì wǒde shēngrì.) |
| A: 那，怎么有蛋糕？(Nà, zěnme yǒu dàngāo?) |
| B: 啊，这个？这是披萨。(Ā, zhège? Zhè shì pīsà.) |
| David: One more time a bit slower. |
| A: 祝你生日快乐！(Zhù nǐ shēngrì kuàilè !) |
| B: 今天不是我的生日。(Jīntiān bùshì wǒde shēngrì.) |
| A: 那，怎么有蛋糕？(Nà, zěnme yǒu dàngāo?) |
| B: 啊，这个？这是披萨。(Ā, zhège? Zhè shì pīsà.) |
| David: And now with the English translation. |
| Sylvia: 祝你生日快乐！(Zhù nǐ shēngrì kuàilè !) |
| David: Wishing you a happy birthday! |
| Sylvia: 今天不是我的生日。(Jīntiān bùshì wǒde shēngrì.) |
| David: Today is not my birthday. |
| Sylvia: 那，怎么有蛋糕？(Nà, zěnme yǒu dàngāo?) |
| David: Then, why is there a cake? |
| Sylvia: 啊，这个？这是披萨。(Ā, zhège? Zhè shì pīsà.) |
| David: Ar? This? This is pizza. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| David: And I have to say I believe this because I have seen some awful pizzas in China. |
| Sylvia: They are like Birthday cake. |
| David: Well the worst was a fruit pizza. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Sylvia: 祝(zhù) [natural native speed] |
| David: to wish, to bless |
| Sylvia: 祝(zhù) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sylvia: 祝(zhù) [natural native speed] |
| Sylvia: 生日(shēngrì) [natural native speed] |
| David: birthday |
| Sylvia: 生日(shēngrì) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sylvia: 生日(shēngrì) [natural native speed] |
| Sylvia: 今天(jīntiān) [natural native speed] |
| David: today |
| Sylvia: 今天(jīntiān) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sylvia: 今天(jīntiān) [natural native speed] |
| Sylvia: 快乐(kuàilè) [natural native speed] |
| David: happy |
| Sylvia: 快乐(kuàilè) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sylvia: 快乐(kuàilè) [natural native speed] |
| Sylvia: 蛋糕(dàn gāo) [natural native speed] |
| David: cake |
| Sylvia: 蛋糕(dàn gāo) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sylvia: 蛋糕(dàn gāo) [natural native speed] |
| Sylvia: 蜡烛(làzhú) [natural native speed] |
| David: candle |
| Sylvia: 蜡烛(làzhú) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sylvia: 蜡烛(làzhú) [natural native speed] |
| Sylvia: 披萨(pī sà) [natural native speed] |
| David: pizza |
| Sylvia: 披萨(pī sà) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sylvia: 披萨(pī sà) [natural native speed] |
| Sylvia: 怎么(zěnme) [natural native speed] |
| David: how |
| Sylvia: 怎么(zěnme) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sylvia: 怎么(zěnme) [natural native speed] |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| David: Let’s take a closer look at some of these words and phrases. The most important word here is birthday 生日(shēngrì), birthday 生日(shēngrì). |
| Sylvia: Another word very important in the sentence is 快乐.(kuàilè.) |
| David: Happiness 快乐.(kuàilè.) So you could say I am very happy 我很快乐(Wǒ hěn kuàilè). I am extremely happy 我非常快乐.(Wǒ fēicháng kuàilè.) |
| Sylvia: Or 我太快乐了.(Wǒ tài kuàilèle.) |
| David: Because it’s my birthday, haha. |
| Sylvia: Right. |
| David: So that’s an adjective and we can use it anywhere we can use another adjective. In addition to happy birthday, we will also hear Merry Christmas 圣诞快乐(Shèngdàn kuàilè) Merry Christmas 圣诞快乐.(Shèngdàn kuàilè.) You will also hear this for Happy New Year 新年快乐(Xīnnián kuàilè) or if you are Chinese, Happy Chinese New Year 春节快乐.(Chūnjié kuàilè.) So the key word here is 快乐(Kuàilè) and we use this with holidays and celebrations. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| David: Our grammar point today is talking about how to wish people well. |
| Sylvia: And here is the verb 祝.(Zhù.) |
| David: Right. Our sentence pattern is 祝(Zhù) plus someone’s name or the pronoun you and then the rest of the greeting. In the dialogue, we hear this in this line. 祝你生日快乐！(Zhù nǐ shēngrì kuàilè!)Wishing you happy birthday, 祝你生日快乐！(Zhù nǐ shēngrì kuàilè !) and that’s actually the song – the birthday song in Chinese. Sylvia? Can you sing it for us? |
| Sylvia: 祝你生日快乐！(Zhù nǐ shēngrì kuàilè!)It’s an international song, I know. |
| David: Yeah the melody is exactly the same as the happy birthday song. |
| Sylvia: Right. |
| David: They just changed the words to 祝你生日快乐(Zhù nǐ shēngrì kuàilè). Right okay. We are not going to embarrass you any more Sylvia. The key message here actually though is those first two characters 祝你(zhù nǐ) wishing you, 祝你(zhù nǐ). for instance wishing you happy New Year 祝你新年快乐！(Zhù nǐ Xīnnián kuàilè!) Wishing you a happy new year 祝你新年快乐！(Zhù nǐ Xīnnián kuàilè!) Wishing you a Merry Christmas 祝你圣诞快乐！(Zhù nǐ Shèngdàn kuàilè!) Wishing you a Merry Christmas 祝你圣诞快乐！(Zhù nǐ Shèngdàn kuàilè!) And often if you mean someone well, you can just say wishing you good health 祝你身体健康！(Zhù nǐ shēntǐ jiànkāng!) Wishing you a body that’s healthy 祝你身体健康！(Zhù nǐ shēntǐ jiànkāng!) Also wishing you happiness 祝你幸福！(zhù nǐ xìngfú!) which is a great way to finish a letter wishing you happiness 祝你幸福！(Zhù nǐ xìngfú!). So a really simple sentence pattern you are going to use again and again. |
| Sylvia: Yes. |
| David: The verb to wish 祝(zhù) plus you 你(nǐ) and then the rest of your message. Wishing you a happy birthday 祝你生日快乐！(Zhù nǐ shēngrì kuàilè !) |
Outro |
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