Learn how to ask about an English Info Guide
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| Hey guys, of course there are many breathtaking sites in China and some of them are beautiful just in their own right. The Great Wall is beautiful even if you don’t understand the significance, if you don’t know the history, the Great Wall is amazing. Many sites are important mostly for their history and so understanding their history will heighten your enjoyment which leads us to today’s phrase. Getting printed information about the sites. The phrase for today is, do you have an English copy? In Chinese it is, 有英语版吗(Yǒu yīngyǔ bǎn ma?) Little bit slower, 有英语版吗(Yǒu yīngyǔ bǎn ma?) The tones for this are 有(yǒu), third tone, the falling rising tone, 有(yǒu). 英(yīng), first tone, the flat tone, 英(yīng). 语(yǔ), it’s third tone but it becomes second tone because the next one is third tone, the falling rising tone, 版(bǎn). So 语(yǔ) becomes second tone, the rising tone 语(yú) and then 版(bǎn) is third tone, the falling rising tone, 版(bǎn) and then last we have 吗(ma) which has no tone. So 有英语版吗(Yǒu yīngyú bǎn ma?) So let’s look at the components, 有(yǒu) means to have, third tone, 有(yǒu). 英语(yīngyǔ) means English, 英语(yīngyǔ), first tone, third tone, English, 英语(yīngyǔ). 版(bǎn) means something like printed material, it’s third tone, 版(bǎn), it’s used in the word 出版(chū bǎn) which means to publish. So 版(bǎn) printed material, 版(bǎn) and 吗(ma) as we’ve said is a word that makes a statement a question. It’s like a question mark, 吗(ma), no tone. So you go to a famous site, let’s take 故宫(gù gōng) which is the Forbidden City. It’s the Old Imperial Palace, 故宫(gù gōng), fourth tone, first tone, 故宫(gù gōng). I’ve been to 故宫(gù gōng) twice. First time I was in China and I went and you know, it’s nice, it’s pretty. There is lots of really nice red houses but there really isn’t that much there and everything looks kind of the same. That is if you don’t understand the history 故宫(gù gōng) was the Imperial palace for centuries and lots of controversies happened in 故宫(gù gōng). If you read up about the Forbidden City before you go, the Forbidden City comes alive for you. All these stories that you have read about, you know now where they took place. This is the set of your favorite dramas but if you don’t know these things, if you don’t know these stories, it’s just some palace. It is just a big open area with some red houses. You have to know the history. The second time I went to 故宫(gù gōng), it was so much more interesting for me. So sometimes it may not even be enough to ask for the English pamphlet. It maybe even better to go and read a book about China before you go to China so that you have some context for the things that you are seeing but for those of you who are going there with nothing, the small amount of English literature you can get there can be a great help and can make things a lot more fun. Now for those of you who speak other languages or studying other languages and want to get the printed material in a third language, check out the PDF on our website and we will have a list of languages, the way they are written and the way to pronounce them. At major sites, they will have at least English, Japanese, Korean and Chinese. They might also have Spanish, French, German or Italian but on smaller sites, you will be lucky if you get a readable English version. |
| All right, to close our today’s lesson, we’d like you to practice what we’ve just learned. I will provide you with the English equivalent of a phrase and you are responsible for shouting it out loud. You will have a few seconds before I give you the answer. So 加油(Jiā yóu!) Do you have an English copy, 有英语版吗(Yǒu yīngyú bǎn ma?) |
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