Learn different phrases useful for when you run into that someone that you have not seen in awhile
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Amber: Hey, everybody! Welcome back to Gengo Chinese. I am Amber. |
| Victor: 大家好，我是 Victor。 (Dàjiā hǎo, wǒ shì Victor.) |
| Amber: And today, we have Lesson 24, slightly romantic, I think. |
| Victor: Yeah. A Brush with Destiny - Two Strangers Reunited. |
| Amber: Mm. So, we know in the last lesson, Mike attempted to get some directions. |
| Victor: Yeah, we’re not sure if it worked out, as Mike starts out a little bit lost this time. |
| Amber: Yeah, in this dialogue, but all's well that ends well, as we will see. |
| Victor: Let’s go over those directions again, because we don’t want anyone else getting too lost. |
| Amber: Yeah. |
| Victor: Right? |
| Amber: Okay. So, how about this, Victor, I will ask you a direction and you tell me how to say it in Chinese. |
| Victor: Okay, sure. |
| Amber: Okay. “Turn left.” |
| Victor: 左转。 (Zuǒ zhuǎn.) |
| Amber: “Turn right.” |
| Victor: 右转。 (Yòu zhuǎn.) |
| Amber: Okay. How about the all important “traffic light”? |
| Victor: 红绿灯 (hónglǜdēng) |
| Amber: Mm, “red green light.” How about “walk straight”? |
| Victor: 直走 (zhí zǒu) |
| Amber: Okay. I think I could handle that without getting lost. |
| Victor: Yeah. |
| Amber: As long as we just go straight, left or right. |
| Victor: Well, you know, sometimes, getting lost can always lead to other adventures. So, let’s see what adventures Mike finds today. |
| Amber: Right. So, in this lesson, you’ll learn how to use your Chinese for an unexpected meeting. |
| Victor: This conversation takes place on a street. |
| Amber: And it’s between Mike and Lili, remember, the girl that Mike met on the plane. Let’s listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Mike: 你今天带扇子了吗？ (Nǐ jīntiān dài shānzi le ma?) |
| Lili: 嗯？迈克？ 你怎么在这儿？ (En? Màikè? Nǐ zěnme zài zhèr?) |
| Mike: 我迷路了。你怎么在这儿？ (Wǒ mílù le! Nǐ zěnme zài zhèr?) |
| Lili: 我在这儿工作。你觉得中国怎么样？ (Wǒ zài zhèr gōngzuò. Nǐ juéde Zhōngguó zěnmeyàng?) |
| Mike: 很棒。 (Hěn bàng.) |
| Lili: 我们找个时间聊一聊，怎么样？ (Wǒmen zhǎo gè shíjiān liáo yì liáo, zěnmeyàng?) |
| Mike: 这个周末你有时间吗？ (Zhè gè zhōumò nǐ yǒu shíjiān ma?) |
| Lili: 星期天怎么样？ (Xīngqītiān zěnmeyàng?) |
| Mike: 太好了。我给你发邮件。星期天见！ (Tài hǎo le. Wǒ gěi nǐ fā yóujiàn. Xīngqītiān jiàn!) |
| Victor: 重复一次, 慢速。 (Chóngfù yīcì, màn sù.) |
| Amber: One more time, a little slower. |
| Mike: 你今天带扇子了吗？ (Nǐ jīntiān dài shānzi le ma?) |
| Lili: 嗯？迈克？ 你怎么在这儿？ (En? Màikè? Nǐ zěnme zài zhèr?) |
| Mike: 我迷路了。你怎么在这儿？ (Wǒ mílù le! Nǐ zěnme zài zhèr?) |
| Lili: 我在这儿工作。你觉得中国怎么样？ (Wǒ zài zhèr gōngzuò. Nǐ juéde Zhōngguó zěnmeyàng?) |
| Mike: 很棒。 (Hěn bàng.) |
| Lili: 我们找个时间聊一聊，怎么样？ (Wǒmen zhǎo gè shíjiān liáo yì liáo, zěnmeyàng?) |
| Mike: 这个周末你有时间吗？ (Zhè gè zhōumò nǐ yǒu shíjiān ma?) |
| Lili: 星期天怎么样？ (Xīngqītiān zěnmeyàng?) |
| Mike: 太好了。我给你发邮件。星期天见！ (Tài hǎo le. Wǒ gěi nǐ fā yóujiàn. Xīngqītiān jiàn!) |
| Victor: 重复一次, 加英文翻译。 (Chóngfù yīcì, jiā yīngwén fānyì.) |
| Amber: One more time, with the English. |
| Mike: 你今天带扇子了吗？ (Nǐ jīntiān dài shānzi le ma?) |
| Amber: Did you bring your fan today? |
| Lili: 嗯？迈克？ 你怎么在这儿？ (En? Màikè? Nǐ zěnme zài zhèr?) |
| Amber: Huh? Mike! What are you doing here? |
| Mike: 我迷路了。你怎么在这儿？ (Wǒ mílù le! Nǐ zěnme zài zhèr?) |
| Amber: I'm lost! What are you doing here? |
| Lili: 我在这儿工作。你觉得中国怎么样？ (Wǒ zài zhèr gōngzuò. Nǐ juéde Zhōngguó zěnmeyàng?) |
| Amber: I work here. What do you think of China? |
| Mike: 很棒。 (Hěn bàng.) |
| Amber: It's awesome. |
| Lili: 我们找个时间聊一聊，怎么样？ (Wǒmen zhǎo gè shíjiān liáo yì liáo, zěnmeyàng?) |
| Amber: We should find a time to chat, what do you think? |
| Mike: 这个周末你有时间吗？ (Zhè gè zhōumò nǐ yǒu shíjiān ma?) |
| Amber: Do you have time this weekend? |
| Lili: 星期天怎么样？ (Xīngqītiān zěnmeyàng?) |
| Amber: How about Sunday? |
| Mike: 太好了。我给你发邮件。星期天见！ (Tài hǎo le. Wǒ gěi nǐ fā yóujiàn. Xīngqītiān jiàn!) |
| Amber: Great. I will send you an email. See you Sunday! |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Amber: So, Victor, do you believe in destiny? |
| Victor: Somewhat, somewhat. |
| Amber: Has it happened to you yet? |
| Victor: No, not exactly like this. No, not like that. |
| Amber: Yeah. I mean, I don’t really believe in destiny, but I mean, come on, to bump into someone on the streets of Shanghai, there’s like 20 million people there! |
| Victor: Yeah. Who knows? It sounds like a plot for Asian drama or something. |
| Amber: Yeah. Maybe it’s like feng shui, not destiny. Okay. Well, let’s look at the vocabulary, so we can see what happened. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Victor: 带 (dài) [natural native speed] |
| Amber: to bring |
| Victor: 带 (dài) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Victor: 带 (dài) [natural native speed] |
| Victor: 嗯 (en) [natural native speed] |
| Amber: uh-huh, huh |
| Victor: 嗯 (en) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Victor: 嗯 (en) [natural native speed] |
| Victor: 怎么 (zěnme) [natural native speed] |
| Amber: how |
| Victor: 怎么 (zěnme) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Victor: 怎么 (zěnme) [natural native speed] |
| Victor: 迷路 (mílù) [natural native speed] |
| Amber: lost |
| Victor: 迷路 (mílù) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Victor: 迷路 (mílù) [natural native speed] |
| Victor: 工作 (gōngzuò) [natural native speed] |
| Amber: work |
| Victor: 工作 (gōngzuò) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Victor: 工作 (gōngzuò) [natural native speed] |
| Victor: 觉得 (juéde) [natural native speed] |
| Amber: to feel, to think |
| Victor: 觉得 (juéde) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Victor: 觉得 (juéde) [natural native speed] |
| Victor: 棒 (bàng) [natural native speed] |
| Amber: awesome |
| Victor: 棒 (bàng) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Victor: 棒 (bàng) [natural native speed] |
| Victor: 找 (zhǎo) [natural native speed] |
| Amber: to find, to look for |
| Victor: 找 (zhǎo) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Victor: 找 (zhǎo) [natural native speed] |
| Victor: 时间 (shíjiān) [natural native speed] |
| Amber: time |
| Victor: 时间 (shíjiān) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Victor: 时间 (shíjiān) [natural native speed] |
| Victor: 聊 (liáo) [natural native speed] |
| Amber: to chat |
| Victor: 聊 (liáo) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Victor: 聊 (liáo) [natural native speed] |
| Victor: 周末 (zhōumò) [natural native speed] |
| Amber: weekend |
| Victor: 周末 (zhōumò) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Victor: 周末 (zhōumò) [natural native speed] |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Amber: Okay, let's take a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Victor: Yeah. We see a couple of words we learned way back when… and good to review. |
| Amber: Yeah. Remember when Mike brought a gift for Manager Wang from America. |
| Victor: And the word for “to bring” was 带 (dài), 4th tone, 带 (dài). |
| Amber: Yeah, and that’s used again in this dialogue. Now, there’s another word we also hope you didn’t forget, because it’s something that you will want in a hot China summer. |
| Victor: Yeah, 扇子 (shànzi); 扇 (shàn), 4th tone; 子 (zi) is the neutral tone. |
| Amber: Yeah. |
| Victor: 扇子 (shànzi) |
| Amber: And what is this? Well, remember back to the weather report on the plane? And Mike and Lili were well prepared. They said they had brought fans. |
| Victor: Right. |
| Amber: 带扇子 (Dài shànzi). |
| Victor: Obviously, Lili is startled by this opening remark, and let’s out our next vocab word. |
| Amber: Yeah. It’s kind of like a way to express surprise. It’s the Chinese version of “huh” in English. |
| Victor: Yeah. |
| Amber: Kind of multi-purpose. It can mean really anything you want it to, in Chinese. |
| Victor: Yeah. |
| Amber: Depending on your tone of voice. |
| Victor: Short and sweet, its 嗯 (en). |
| Amber: Yeah. And sometimes, people say it 4th tone too, like 嗯 (eǹ). |
| Victor: Yeah. |
| Amber: Some people say 嗯 (en). It kinda depends on what the situation is. |
| Victor: Right. |
| Amber: What tone of voice you’re expressing. But here, you can tell just by how it sounds in the dialogue that it’s the “huh” like a form of surprise or something. |
| Victor: Right. Either way, you’re going to hear it a lot. |
| Amber: Okay. Now, this is cool. We’re all going to learn how to talk about our feelings now, Victor. |
| Victor: Okay, okay. Yes, with the word 觉得 (juéde). 觉 (Jué) is 2nd tone, 得 (de) is the neutral tone. |
| Amber: Yeah and it means “to feel” or “to think” when you’re expressing how you feel about something. |
| Victor: Right. In the dialogue, Mike expressed how he felt about China. He thought China was 很棒 (hěn bàng). |
| Amber: Yeah and remember, we learned that before. 很棒 (Hěn bàng) means “awesome” or “totally great.” |
| Victor: Yeah. 很 (Hěn) being “very” more or less and 棒 (bàng) being “awesome” or “great.” |
| Amber: Okay, so I agree. I think China is pretty 棒 (bàng). |
| Victor: 我觉得中国很棒。 (Wǒ juédé Zhōngguó hěn bàng.) |
| Amber: Right. So Victor is expressing how he feels now. He 觉得 (juédé), “he feels” that China is really great. |
| Victor: Right. |
| Amber: So we all agree. |
| Victor: Now, back to the dialogue, I think things are also going pretty 棒 (bàng) for Mike, yeah. |
| Amber: Pretty awesome, because apparently, he seems to be getting the girl. |
| Victor: By twist of fate. |
| Amber: Yes. |
| Victor: And how do we know, well, the girl must think he’s pretty 棒 (bàng) as well as she suggests that they 找个时间聊一聊 (zhǎo gè shíjiān liáo yì liáo). |
| Amber: Mm, now, let’s look at the sentence, starting with the 聊一聊 (liáo yì liáo). |
| Victor: She’s a pretty bold girl. |
| Amber: I know! So this is a little verb pattern we learned before, reduplication of verbs. |
| Victor: Well, Mike’s colleagues wanted him to 尝尝 (cháng cháng) the food. |
| Amber: Right. Remember, that was “to have a taste.” So, remember that the verb in Chinese will sometimes be reduplicated to soften the tone. And here, we hear this 一 (yì) in the middle, which is optional. It can be omitted. So sometimes, people will say 尝一尝 (cháng yì cháng) or just 尝尝 (cháng cháng) or 聊一聊 (liáo yì liáo) or 聊聊 (liáo liáo). |
| Victor: Or 聊聊 (liáo liáo). So 聊 (liáo) is the verb for “to chat” which is the 2nd tone. |
| Amber: Yeah, and 聊一聊 (liáo yì liáo) is kind of like “have a little chat.” |
| Victor: Yeah. And now, the sentence has another vocab to learn, which is the word for “to find” 找 (zhǎo), 3rd tone. |
| Amber: So, Victor, I think you’re really right. It is looking really good for Mike because Lili wants to “find” 找 (zhǎo) a time. And remember, we learned the word for “time” way back when, 时间 (shíjiān), 2nd tone, 1st tone. And she wanted to find some time to do what? To chat. |
| Victor: Yeah. Lili, this is definitely a modern Chinese girl. |
| Amber: Yes, which is lucky for Mike. |
| Victor: Taking things into her own hands. |
| Amber: Which does happen, sometimes. So what does Mike say? |
| Victor: So Mike then asked if she has time on the weekend. 这个周末你有时间吗？ (Zhè gè zhōumò nǐ yǒu shíjiān ma?) |
| Amber: Right. Now, the word for weekend is... |
| Victor: 周末 (Zhōumò), 1st tone and 4th tone. |
| Amber: Right. So, if you want to say “this weekend,” you say…? |
| Victor: 这个周末 (zhège zhōumò) |
| Amber: Right. So, for example, Victor, what are you doing 这个周末 (zhège zhōumò)? |
| Victor: We’ll have a party on Saturday. |
| Amber: Oh, that’s exciting. Okay, well, before we get to the parties, we’ll do some grammar first. So now, let’s head to the grammar section. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Amber: Okay. Well, we’ve heard the word 怎么样 (zěnmeyàng) pop up in all different places in our lesson, so today, we’ll touch on another use of this word. |
| Victor: 怎么样 (Zěnmeyàng), 怎 (zěn) is a 3rd tone, 么 (me) is the neutral tone, and 样 (yàng) is the 4th tone. And it usually means “how about” or “what about it.” |
| Amber: Yeah. So, today’s 怎么样 (zěnmeyàng) phrase is one you can use to make a suggestion or to elicit an opinion. |
| Victor: So Lili suggests that they can meet up possibly on Sunday. |
| Amber: And in this kind of case, it’s very natural to use 怎么样 (zěnmeyàng), because you’re kind of just throwing something out there. |
| Victor: Right. So we heard 星期天怎么样 (xīngqītiān zěnmeyàng)? |
| Amber: 星期天 (Xīngqítiān) being the word for “Sunday.” So basically, it’s just “Sunday, how about it?” How does that sound? |
| Victor: Yeah. That’s right. |
| Amber: So basically, anything you’re suggesting comes just before the 怎么样 (zěnmeyàng). |
| Victor: Yeah. For example, maybe I need a woman's opinion when I buy clothes. |
| Amber: Yes. |
| Victor: So I will ask you, Amber, the brown ones 怎么样 (zěnmeyàng)? In Chinese that would be 咖啡色的怎么样 (Kāfēisè de zěnmeyàng)? |
| Amber: Right. “So the brown one, how is it?” |
| Victor: Right. Or maybe you are setting a time, I could say (a time) 怎么样 (zěnmeyàng), to see what you think. |
| Amber: Okay. So like, say it was like 三点钟怎么样 (sān diǎn zhōng zěnmeyàng)? |
| Victor: Yes, and it means, “What about 3 o’clock?” |
| Amber: Okay, good. So it’s a good way to get someone’s input on something. |
| Victor: Another little grammar point we can review is something we’ve seen pop up before. |
| Amber: Yeah, once in Lesson 5, which is also the episode about the “fan,” the 扇子 (shànzi). That was when we heard the weather report and they said, 太热了 (tài rè le) “too hot.” |
| Victor: Yeah. And just to remind everyone, this is a sentence pattern to add emphasis. We hear the pattern today in the expression 太好了 (tài hǎole). |
| Amber: Right. So 太 (tài), 4th tone is the word for “too” as in too many; 好 (hǎo) is the word for good, 3rd tone; and 了 (le) is a particle with neutral tone. So, when you have 太 (tài) + an adjective + 了 (le), it just adds emphasis. |
| Victor: Right. So, this is not just good, “it’s great” for Mike! |
| Amber: That’s right. It’s so great that he promises to send Lili an email to confirm. |
| Victor: He really wants this to happen too. |
| Amber: Yes. |
| Victor: So he says 我给你发邮件 (wǒ gěi nǐ fā yóujiàn). |
| Amber: Now, it’s something good to learn. |
| Victor: Mm. |
| Amber: And it’s a similar sentence pattern that we learned in Lesson 13. That was when Mike also brought the gift for his boss, and he told him this using the same kind of sentence pattern. What did he say then again, Victor? |
| Victor: He said, 给你带了礼物 (gěi nǐ dàile lǐwù). |
| Amber: Right. And remember, sometimes 给 (gěi) is a verb, 3rd tone, meaning “to give.” |
| Victor: But sometimes, it behaves like a preposition. |
| Amber: Right. So the 给 (gěi) here doesn’t really mean “to give.” |
| Victor: Right. 我给你发邮件。(Wǒ gěi nǐ fā yóujiàn.) Well, first of all, just as a review, 邮件 (yóujiàn) is “email.” We learned this when Mike and Lili exchanged cards in the airport. And 发 (fā) means “to send.” |
| Amber: Right. So now, we’re reminded of all these vocab words, we can clearly make out that this sentence is about sending an email, which how you say it in Chinese is… |
| Victor: 发邮件 (fā yóujiàn) |
| Amber: Right. 发 (Fā) being 1st tone “to send”; 邮件 (yóujiàn) being “email.” |
| Victor: Yes, and basically, what the 给你 (gěi nǐ) here adds is a “for you” or “to you.” |
| Amber: Yeah. 给你发邮件 (gěi nǐ fā yóujiàn) is like “I’ll send an email to you.” |
| Victor: Yes, that’s right. So if you just said, 我发邮件 (wǒ fā yóujiàn), that would mean “I’ll send an email.” |
| Amber: Right, but if you add that 给你 (gěi nǐ), it becomes... |
| Victor: 我给你发邮件。 (Wǒ gěi nǐ fā yóujiàn.) That becomes, “I’ll send an email to you.” |
| Amber Right. So, when it’s a preposition, the 给 (gěi) indicates who is getting the benefit of an action performed by another. |
Outro |
| Victor: So I guess that’s it for today. |
| Amber: Yeah! And I guess we’ll catch up with the developing story on Sunday, when they meet. |
| Victor: We’ll see how it goes. |
| Amber: Yes, as Lili says, 星期天见! (Xīngqītiān jiàn!) |
| Victor: Yeah. |
| Amber: “See you Sunday.” |
| Victor: We’ll see you next time. |
| Amber: And we’ll see you next time. Have another listen to the dialogue and we’ll see you next time. 再见! (Zàijiàn!) |
| Victor: 再见! (Zàijiàn!) |
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