Learn how to address your taxi driver properly and give him the right directions
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| David: Welcome to ChineseClass101. I’m David. |
| Echo: Hi! Da jia hao! 我是(Wǒ shì) Echo. |
| David: We’ve got Echo here, smiling as usual, and we have Lesson 49 in our first Beginner series. |
| Echo: 对。第四十九课。(Duì. Dì sìshíjiǔ kè) |
| David: That means this is the second last in Season 1. We are almost there. |
| Echo: Right. |
| David: You guys are almost ChineseClass101 graduates, ready for the elementary series. |
| Echo: Congratulations! |
| David: Right. But we’re going to have to buckle down and finish these last two lessons. This one takes place also in a cab. |
| Echo: Right. |
| David: It is a review lesson. We’re going to review all of the things we’ve done for the last three or four lessons about directions. |
| Echo: Yes. |
| David: Believe it or not, and I think if you’ve been in China, you’ll believe it, the cab driver is lost. |
| Echo: Well, if you got a 天津(Tiānjīn) cab driver in Beijing, yeah. |
| David: Yeah, we’ve had that happened. So we’ve got a dialogue where the driver is going to be lost and the passenger is going to have to tell him where to go. |
| Echo: Right. |
| David: So we’re going to take you there in a sec. Before we do, as always, we want to remind you, transcript, transcripts, transcripts. If you are just listening to the audio, you are not going to make as much progress as quickly. Get the transcripts, print them out, check them the day after. |
| Echo: Right. |
| David: Then later in the week and you’re going to find this stuff really sticks. |
| Echo: 对。(Duì.) |
| David: Okay. So Echo, what are we going to do now? |
| Echo: Let’s listen to the dialogue now. |
| 甲: 师傅，你走错了。(JIǍ: Shīfu, nǐ zǒucuò le.) |
| 乙: 什么？(YǏ: Shénme?) |
| 甲: 刚才我们应该左转。(JIǍ: Gāngcái wǒmen yīnggāi zuǒ zhuǎn.) |
| 乙: 哪儿？(YǏ: Nǎr?) |
| 甲: 那儿！我们得掉头。(JIǍ: Nàr! Wǒmen děi diàotóu.) |
| 乙: 对不起，我刚才没看见。(YǏ: Duìbùqǐ, wǒ gāngcái méi kànjiàn.) |
| David: One more time, a bit slower. |
| 甲: 师傅，你走错了。(JIǍ: Shīfu, nǐ zǒucuò le.) |
| 乙: 什么？(YǏ: Shénme?) |
| 甲: 刚才我们应该左转。(JIǍ: Gāngcái wǒmen yīnggāi zuǒ zhuǎn.) |
| 乙: 哪儿？(YǏ: Nǎr?) |
| 甲: 那儿！我们得掉头。(JIǍ: Nàr! Wǒmen děi diàotóu.) |
| 乙: 对不起，我刚才没看见。(YǏ: Duìbùqǐ, wǒ gāngcái méi kànjiàn.) |
| 甲: 师傅，你走错了。(JIǍ: Shīfu, nǐ zǒucuò le.) |
| David: Driver, You went the wrong way. |
| 乙: 什么？(YǏ: Shénme?) |
| David: What? |
| 甲: 刚才我们应该左转。(JIǍ: Gāngcái wǒmen yīnggāi zuǒ zhuǎn.) |
| David: Just now, we should have turned left. |
| 乙: 哪儿？(YǏ: Nǎr?) |
| David: Where? |
| 甲: 那儿！我们得掉头。(JIǍ: Nàr! Wǒmen děi diàotóu.) |
| David: There. We need to turn around. |
| 乙: 对不起，我刚才没看见。(YǏ: Duìbùqǐ, wǒ gāngcái méi kànjiàn.) |
| David: I'm sorry. I didn't see it just now. |
| David: A lot of words in this lesson that we’ve seen before. |
| Echo: Right, like左转(Zuǒ zhuǎn) |
| David: Yeah, turn left and turn right. We also have the new word for “turn around”. |
| Echo: 掉头(Diàotóu) |
| David: So we’re going to get you to the vocab section now where we’ve got some new stuff and some old stuff. |
| Echo: Right. |
| David: Let’s go. |
| Echo: Now, the vocab section. |
| Echo: 師傅(shīfu) [natural native speed]. |
| David: Driver. |
| Echo: 師傅(shīfu) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 師傅(shīfu) [natural native speed]. |
| Echo: 走錯了(zǒucuò le) [natural native speed]. |
| David: To have gone the wrong way. |
| Echo: 走錯了(zǒucuò le) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 走錯了(zǒucuò le) [natural native speed]. |
| Echo: 左轉(zuǒzhuǎn) [natural native speed]. |
| David: Turn left. |
| Echo: 左轉(zuǒzhuǎn) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 左轉(zuǒzhuǎn) [natural native speed]. |
| Echo: 右轉(yòuzhuǎn) [natural native speed]. |
| David: Turn right. |
| Echo: 右轉(yòuzhuǎn) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 右轉(yòuzhuǎn) [natural native speed]. |
| Echo: 掉頭(diàotóu) [natural native speed]. |
| David: To turn around. |
| Echo: 掉頭(diàotóu) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 掉頭(diàotóu) [natural native speed]. |
| Echo: 迷路(mílù) [natural native speed]. |
| David: To get lost. |
| Echo: 迷路(mílù) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 迷路(mílù) [natural native speed]. |
| Echo: 看見(kànjiàn) [natural native speed]. |
| David: To see. |
| Echo: 看見(kànjiàn) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 看見(kànjiàn) [natural native speed]. |
| Echo: 指路(zhǐlù) [natural native speed]. |
| David: To give directions. |
| Echo: 指路(zhǐlù) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 指路(zhǐlù) [natural native speed]. |
| Echo: 過了(guòle) [natural native speed]. |
| David: To have passed. |
| Echo: 過了(guòle) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 過了(guòle) [natural native speed]. |
| David: Okay. So we’ve seen this vocab before. If you’re anything like me, you’ve seen the words “left” and “right” before many, many times and you’re still getting it wrong. |
| Echo: Well, if you get it wrong many, many times, you will get it right. So you always need to use this word, 掉头(diàotóu). |
| David: Turn around. |
| Echo: Right, 师傅(Shīfu)，掉头(diàotóu). |
| David: Yeah. There are a couple of interesting words you want to comment on. The first is the word we use for driver. |
| Echo: 师傅。(Shīfu.) |
| David: You will remember this from some of our other lessons where we said it means “mister”. Here, it’s just a respectful form of address for someone. |
| Echo: Right. |
| David: Usually, someone who’s doing you a service. So we’ve got that word there, driver. |
| Echo: 师傅。(Shīfu.) |
| David: We had a couple of other new words. We had the word for “to turn around”. |
| Echo: 掉头。(diàotóu.) |
| David: Which is new for you, guys. Also the word “to pass” or “to have passed something.” |
| Echo: 过了。(guòle.) |
| David: Yup. There, we’re using 过 as a stand-along verb. |
| Echo: Right. |
| David: Okay. So we’ve got a practice session for you now. So instead of giving you lots of new words, we’re going to practice putting them in context and we’re going to play a game. I’m going to be sitting in the cab and I’m going to be giving Echo directions. |
| Echo: 指路。(zhǐlù.) |
| David: Right. So I’m going to say the English and then Echo is going to translate them with the Chinese in a bit. See if you can think of what to say first. So I’m going to get in the car and I go, “Hey, driver…” |
| Echo: 师傅。(Shīfu.) |
| David: “…I’d like to go to Tiananmen Square.” |
| Echo: 我想去天安门。(Wǒ xiǎng qù tiān'ānmén.) |
| David: Right. I’ve actually had this experience. The guy starts driving and after a while, you notice he’s moving really uncertainly and kind of in circles. So you ask the guy and you say, “Are you lost?” |
| Echo: 你迷路了吗？(Nǐ mílùle ma?) |
| David: Then he goes, “No, no, no, no, no.” |
| Echo: 不不不(Bù bù bù)，没有没有没有。(Méiyǒu méiyǒu méiyǒu.) |
| David: “No, no, no,” he says. “I’m not lost”, and he keeps driving. You’re pretty sure he doesn’t know where he’s going so you say again, “Are you lost?” |
| Echo: 你迷路了吗？(Nǐ mílùle ma?) |
| David: Finally, he has to admit, “I’m lost.” |
| Echo: 我迷路了。(Wǒ mílùle.) |
| David: So you say, “I’ll tell you how to get there.” |
| Echo: 我来指路。(Wǒ lái zhǐ lù.) |
| David: So that’s literally, “I come to point the way.” |
| Echo: 我来指路。(Wǒ lái zhǐ lù.) |
| David: So you tell him, “Turn left.” |
| Echo: 左转。(Zuǒ zhuǎn.) |
| David: Turn right. |
| Echo: 右转。(yòuzhuǎn.) |
| David: Turn left. |
| Echo: 左转。(zuǒzhuǎn.) |
| David: Turn right. |
| Echo: 右转。(yòuzhuǎn.) |
| David: Go straight. |
| Echo: 直走。(Zhí zǒu.) |
| David: Right. That’s the word for “go straight ahead.” So finally you get there and the driver doesn’t notice it. So you say and you say, “We’ve passed it.” |
| Echo: 过了。(guòle.) |
| David: Yeah, literally passed it. It’s passed. |
| Echo: 过了。(guòle.) |
| David: Stop the car. |
| Echo: 停车。(Tíngchē.) |
| David: Stop the car. Stop the car. |
| Echo: 停车(Tíngchē)，停车。(Tíngchē) |
| David: So finally your driver pulls the taxi to a stop, 200 meters passed your destination. So you want to tell him. You want to say, “Look, turn around.” |
| Echo: 掉头。(diàotóu.) |
| David: Finally, “Stop the car. We’re there.” |
| Echo: 停车。到了。(Tíngchē. Dàole) |
| David: Right. Really simple Chinese we’re using here, but we’re giving pretty complex directions. |
| Echo: 对啊。(Duì a) |
| David: So practice this stuff, keep it mind, and you can give anyone directions anywhere in China. |
| Echo: 没错儿。(Méi cuò ér.) |
| David: Okay? That’s our vocab section. Let’s head on to grammar. |
| Male: It’s grammar time. |
| David: Echo, what’s our grammar point for today? |
| Echo: It resultative word compliments. |
| David: Right, which is a very scary word. But the actual thing, the kind of verb we’re talking about, is actually pretty easy. We’re going to talk a bit about this. We’ve got some examples for you in the dialogue right into this line. |
| Echo: 我刚才没看见。(Wǒ gāngcái méi kànjiàn..) |
| David: So the verb there is… |
| Echo: 看见。(kànjiàn.) |
| David: Right, which is the main verb… |
| Echo: 看。(Kàn.) |
| David: …plus the verb compliment… |
| Echo 见。(Jiàn) |
| David: Right. A reasonable person I think, at this point, is going to say, “Now what’s the difference between….” |
| Echo: 看(Kàn) and 看见.(Kànjiàn.) |
| David: Right. Echo, what’s the difference? |
| Echo: 看见(Kànjiàn) means “to see or to have seen” which 看(Kàn) means “to look at.” |
| David: Right. The second verb there, 见, is a resultative verb compliment. |
| Echo: Right. |
| David: As the name suggests, it’s pointing out the result of the action. So you look but you also see. We’ve got some examples for you. Let’s start with…. |
| Echo: 看见。我看见他了。(Kànjiàn. Wǒ kànjiàn tāle) |
| David: I saw him. |
| Echo: : 他没看见我。(Tā méi kànjiàn wǒ.) |
| David: He didn’t see me. |
| Echo: 你看见了吗？(Nǐ kànjiànle ma?) |
| David: “Did you see it?” Next. |
| Echo: 走错了。(Zǒu cuòle.) |
| David: Yeah. The verb there is… |
| Echo: 走。(Zǒu.) |
| David: …which is “to go” and then we have the resultative verb compliment. |
| Echo: Right, 错.(Cuò.) |
| David: Yeah. You go and you end up being mistaken. The result of your going is the 错了.(Cuòle.) |
| Echo: Right. |
| David: Some example sentences. |
| Echo: 你走错了。(Nǐ zǒu cuòle.) |
| David: You went the wrong way. |
| Echo: 我们没走错。(Wǒmen méi zǒu cuò.) |
| David: We didn’t go the wrong way. |
| Echo: 我走错了吗？(Wǒ zǒu cuòle ma?) |
| David: “Did I go the wrong way?” We’ve got two more examples for you. The next is… |
| Echo: 做完。(Zuò wán.) |
| David: Now the verb there is.. |
| Echo: 做。(Zuò.) |
| David: Which you remember means “to do.” You also know.. |
| Echo: 完。(Wán.) |
| David: Which means “to finish.” |
| Echo: Right. |
| David: So this literally means “to do something and finish it.” |
| Echo: 对。(Duì.)So we have sentences like 我做完了.(Wǒ zuò wánliǎo.) |
| David: I finished it. |
| Echo: 他没做完。(Tā méi zuò wán.) |
| David: He hasn’t finished. |
| Echo: 你做完了吗？(Nǐ zuò wánliǎo ma?) |
| David: “Are you done?” Our last example is one of the most useful phrases for new students to Chinese. |
| Echo: Right. |
| David: We’ve actually already covered it in other lessons, but we didn’t emphasize grammatically what was going on. |
| Echo: Right. |
| David: What is it? |
| Echo: It’s 听懂.(Tīng dǒng.) |
| David: Which means “to listen”, and the resultative verb compliment is…. |
| Echo: “To understand.” |
| David: Right. |
| Echo: 懂。(Dǒng.) |
| David: So I hear and the result is “I understand.” |
| Echo: Right. |
| David: As in… |
| Echo: 我听懂了。(Wǒ tīng dǒngle.) |
| David: “I understood what you said” or “I understood.” |
| Echo: 我没听懂。(Wǒ méi tīng dǒng.) |
| David: I didn’t understand. |
| Echo: 他听懂了吗？(Tā tīng dǒngle ma?) |
| David: “Did he understand?” Before we leave, there’s one thing we should point out, which is, in our earlier lessons, we used a more expanded form of this to listen and understand and that was… |
| Echo: 听得懂，听不懂。(Tīng dé dǒng, tīng bù dǒng.) |
| David: Right. Those are two. The first one… |
| Echo: 听得懂(Tīng dé dǒng) |
| David: ..we stick that 得 in the middle, and that means “I listen and I’m able to understand.” The second, with the 不. (Bù.) |
| Echo: 听不懂。(Tīng bù dǒng.) |
| David: It means “to be unable to understand.” That’s our lesson for today. We’ve reviewed a lot of vocab for getting around the city. |
| Echo: 对。(Duì.) |
| David: Like turning left. |
| Echo: 左转。(Zuǒ zhuǎn.) |
| David: Turning right. |
| Echo: 右转。(Yòu zhuǎn.) |
| David: Turning around. |
| Echo: That’s not review. |
| David: Okay, that was new. We snuck a couple of new times in there because you guys are smart. Well, that’s our podcast for today. From Beijing, I’m David. |
| Echo: 我是(Wǒ shì) Echo. |
| David: Thanks a lot for listening and we’ll see you next week. |
| Echo: 下周见。(Xià zhōu jiàn.) |
| David: Bye-bye. |
| Echo: Bye-bye. |
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