Learn about some places to tour while in China and an adverb to help you emphasize those places
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Victor: 大家好，我是 Victor。 (Dàjiā hǎo, wǒ shì Victor.) |
| Amber: And I’m Amber. Welcome back to Gengo Chinese. This is Lesson 29… |
| Victor: Tour de Shanghai—All the Sights and Sounds. |
| Amber: Mm. Okay, so everybody knows what The Bund, the museums, but today, you’re going to hear about some other good places to see when you’re visiting Shanghai. |
| Victor: Have you been to all these places, Amber? |
| Amber: Yes, siree! |
| Victor: Yeah! Well, before the tour starts, let’s just review what we learned in our last lesson, Lesson 28. |
| Amber: Yeah. Well, we learned about the two kinds of tours, which gave us some good vocabulary as well. |
| Victor: Yeah. We have a 城市旅游 (chéngshì lǚyóu)... |
| Amber: Which was the “city tour.” |
| Victor: And a 文化旅游 (wénhuà lǚyóu)... |
| Amber: Which was the “cultural tour.” We also learned how to ask “which is better.” |
| Victor: 那个好。 (Nàgè hǎo.) |
| Amber: Mm, so hearing about it again makes me want to get on with the tour, Victor. So let’s look at today’s dialogue and see what we get to see. |
| Victor: Yeah and another treat is we’re going to hear about a couple of very famous names in Chinese history, so listen carefully. |
| Amber: Mm, so in this lesson, you’ll take a tour around Shanghai and learn about some cultural sites. |
| Victor: This conversation takes place on a tour bus. |
| Amber: And the conversation is between Mike and Lili. Let’s have a listen. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Tour Guide: 我们的左边是宋庆龄故居。 (Wǒmen de zuǒbiān shì Sòng Qìnglíng gùjū.) |
| Lili: 她是孙中山的妻子。 (Tā shì Sūn Zhōngshān de qīzǐ.) |
| Mike: 孙中山是谁？ (Sūn Zhōngshān shì shéi?) |
| Lili: 我一会儿再告诉你。 (Wǒ yíhuìr zài gàosù nǐ.) |
| Tour Guide: 我们的右边是新天地。 (Wǒmen de yòubiān shì Xīntiāndì.) |
| Mike: 哇，真漂亮。 (Wā, zhēn piàoliàng.) |
| Lili: 一会儿我们可以去那儿走一走。 (Yíhuìr wǒmen kěyǐ qù nàr zǒu yì zǒu.) |
| Tour Guide: 前面就是人民广场了。 (Qiánmian jiùshì Rénmín Guǎngchǎng le.) |
| Mike: 哦，那是个公园。 (O, nà shì gè gōngyuán.) |
| Lili: 那儿有人跳舞。 (Nàr yǒurén tiàowǔ.) |
| Mike: 哇！ (Wa!) |
| Victor: 重复一次, 慢速。 (Chóngfù yīcì, màn sù.) |
| Amber: One more time, a little slower. |
| Tour Guide: 我们的左边是宋庆龄故居。 (Wǒmen de zuǒbiān shì Sòng Qìnglíng gùjū.) |
| Lili: 她是孙中山的妻子。 (Tā shì Sūn Zhōngshān de qīzǐ.) |
| Mike: 孙中山是谁？ (Sūn Zhōngshān shì shéi?) |
| Lili: 我一会儿再告诉你。 (Wǒ yíhuìr zài gàosù nǐ.) |
| Tour Guide: 我们的右边是新天地。 (Wǒmen de yòubiān shì Xīntiāndì.) |
| Mike: 哇，真漂亮。 (Wā, zhēn piàoliàng.) |
| Lili: 一会儿我们可以去那儿走一走。 (Yíhuìr wǒmen kěyǐ qù nàr zǒu yì zǒu.) |
| Tour Guide: 前面就是人民广场了。 (Qiánmian jiùshì Rénmín Guǎngchǎng le.) |
| Mike: 哦，那是个公园。 (O, nà shì gè gōngyuán.) |
| Lili: 那儿有人跳舞。 (Nàr yǒurén tiàowǔ.) |
| Mike: 哇！ (Wa!) |
| Victor: 重复一次, 加英文翻译。 (Chóngfù yīcì, jiā yīngwén fānyì.) |
| Amber: One more time, with the English. |
| Tour Guide: 我们的左边是宋庆龄故居。 (Wǒmen de zuǒbiān shì Sòng Qìnglíng gùjū.) |
| Amber: On the left is the former residence of Song Qingling. |
| Lili: 她是孙中山的妻子。 (Tā shì Sūn Zhōngshān de qīzǐ.) |
| Amber: She was Sun Yatsen's wife. |
| Mike: 孙中山是谁？ (Sūn Zhōngshān shì shéi?) |
| Amber: Who is Sun Yatsen? |
| Lili: 我一会儿再告诉你。 (Wǒ yíhuìr zài gàosù nǐ.) |
| Amber: I'll tell you later on. |
| Tour Guide: 我们的右边是新天地。 (Wǒmen de yòubiān shì Xīntiāndì.) |
| Amber: On our right is Xintiandi. |
| Mike: 哇，真漂亮。 (Wā, zhēn piàoliàng.) |
| Amber: Wow, it's beautiful. |
| Lili: 一会儿我们可以去那儿走一走。 (Yíhuìr wǒmen kěyǐ qù nàr zǒu yì zǒu.) |
| Amber: Later we can go walk around in there. |
| Tour Guide: 前面就是人民广场了。 (Qiánmian jiùshì Rénmín Guǎngchǎng le.) |
| Amber: Ahead of us is People Square. |
| Mike: 哦，那是个公园。 (O, nà shì gè gōngyuán.) |
| Amber: Oh, it's a park. |
| Lili: 那儿有人跳舞。 (Nàr yǒurén tiàowǔ.) |
| Amber: There are people dancing there. |
| Mike: 哇！ (Wa!) |
| Amber: Wow! |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Amber: Okay. I feel like I’m back in Shanghai. I can almost hear the bicycle bells! |
| Victor: All the good times. |
| Amber: The good times. And you know, Shanghai is such an interesting city because having been partially built by the Europeans, certain areas feel kind of like Europe, but with a Chinese flavor. |
| Victor: Right. |
| Amber: It’s very unique. |
| Victor: It’s definitely unique among Chinese cities. |
| Amber: Yeah. And we also heard about a few significant people in Chinese history, in Shanghai’s history actually, in a couple of historical places. So let’s look at what they are. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Victor: 宋庆龄 (Sòng Qìnglíng) [natural native speed] |
| Amber: Soong Ching-ling |
| Victor: 宋庆龄 (Sòng Qìnglíng) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Victor: 宋庆龄 (Sòng Qìnglíng) [natural native speed] |
| Victor: 孙中山 (Sūn Zhōngshān) [natural native speed] |
| Amber: Sun Yat-Sen |
| Victor: 孙中山 (Sūn Zhōngshān) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Victor: 孙中山 (Sūn Zhōngshān) [natural native speed] |
| Victor: 妻子 (qīzi) [natural native speed] |
| Amber: wife |
| Victor: 妻子 (qīzi) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Victor: 妻子 (qīzi) [natural native speed] |
| Victor: 谁 (shéi) [natural native speed] |
| Amber: who |
| Victor: 谁 (shéi) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Victor: 谁 (shéi) [natural native speed] |
| Victor: 一会儿 (yíhuìr) [natural native speed] |
| Amber: a while |
| Victor: 一会儿 (yíhuìr) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Victor: 一会儿 (yíhuìr) [natural native speed] |
| Victor: 再 (zài) [natural native speed] |
| Amber: again |
| Victor: 再 (zài) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Victor: 再 (zài) [natural native speed] |
| Victor: 告诉 (gàosù) [natural native speed] |
| Amber: to tell |
| Victor: 告诉 (gàosù) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Victor: 告诉 (gàosù) [natural native speed] |
| Victor: 右边 (yòubiān) [natural native speed] |
| Amber: on the right |
| Victor: 右边 (yòubiān) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Victor: 右边 (yòubiān) [natural native speed] |
| Victor: 新天地 (Xīntiāndì) [natural native speed] |
| Amber: Xintiandi |
| Victor: 新天地 (Xīntiāndì) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Victor: 新天地 (Xīntiāndì) [natural native speed] |
| Victor: 就是 (jiùshì) [natural native speed] |
| Amber: to be (emphasized) |
| Victor: 就是 (jiùshì) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Victor: 就是 (jiùshì) [natural native speed] |
| Victor: 人民广场 (Rénmín Guǎngchǎng) [natural native speed] |
| Amber: People Square |
| Victor: 人民广场 (Rénmín Guǎngchǎng) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Victor: 人民广场 (Rénmín Guǎngchǎng) [natural native speed] |
| Victor: 跳舞 (tiàowǔ) [natural native speed] |
| Amber: to dance |
| Victor: 跳舞 (tiàowǔ) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Victor: 跳舞 (tiàowǔ) [natural native speed] |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Amber: Okay. Let's have a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases in this lesson. |
| Victor: Yeah. Well ladies first, so let’s start with 宋庆龄 (Sòng Qìnglíng). |
| Amber: Yes, and what a lady she was. |
| Victor: Yes. |
| Amber: Well she was one of the famous ‘Song’ sisters who were all daughters of a rich Shanghai businessman. |
| Victor: Yeah, and as we heard in the dialogue, she is somebody’s 妻子 (qīzi). |
| Amber: 妻子 (Qīzi) being “wife.” |
| Victor: 妻 (Qī) is 1st tone, 子 (zi) is the neutral tone. |
| Amber: Yes. And to be fair, Victor, we should probably also give the word for “husband,” male equality. |
| Victor: Yeah, definitely. 丈夫 (Zhàngfu) - 丈 (zhàng) is 4th tone, 夫 (fu) here is a neutral tone. |
| Amber: Now, all these Song sisters, we mentioned, married quite prominent figures in Chinese politics. |
| Victor: And 宋庆龄 (Sòng Qìnglíng) was no exception, as she married perhaps the most famous of all… and not to mention a man 26 years her senior, 孙中山 (Sūn Zhōngshān). |
| Amber: Right, who is sometimes better known in the west as Sun Yat-Sen. |
| Victor: And Sun Yat-Sen was a Chinese revolutionary and political leader. |
| Amber: Yeah. He is the one politician that is revered by both mainland China and Taiwan as a very important figure. Even, some people say, the father of modern China. So what does this all have to do with our tour of Shanghai. Well, we happened to have passed by 宋庆龄 (Sòng Qìnglíng)’s 故居 (gùjū). |
| Victor: 故 (Gù), 4th tone; 居 (jū), 1st tone; 故居 (gùjū). |
| Amber: And you know, Victor, that is the very 故居 (gùjū) I used to ride my bike past every morning on the way to work. It was like 5 minutes from my former residence. Maybe they’ve enshrined it now as well where I used to live. |
| Victor: Maybe. Okay, so next of course, Mike didn’t have us to tell him what all this was about and he asked Lili. Now, Lili doesn’t want to miss a thing, so she says what? |
| Amber: Basically, she’s kind of like “Not now, I’m listening!” It’s like “I’ll tell you later!” |
| Victor: Yeah, she says 我一会儿再告诉你 (wǒ yíhuìr zài gàosù nǐ). |
| Amber: So we’ll focus on a couple words in this sentence that are new. The entire thing basically means, if literally translated, “I in a while then tell you.” |
| Victor: So first, we have this phrase 一会儿 (yíhuìr). It’s made up of three characters: 一(yí), 会 (huì), 儿 (r). The 儿 (r) at the end of course is just the colloquial accent and has no meaning. The 一(yí) is the character for “one” and 会 (huì) is the other character. |
| Amber: And when you put them all together, it basically means “in a while” or “later.” |
| Victor: Now, this 一会儿 (yíhuìr) can be used on its own or you can put a verb in front of it, to show that the action will be for “a while.” |
| Amber: Yeah. For example, a very common one is to say, 等一会儿 (děng yíhuìr). |
| Victor: Yes, 等一会儿 (děng yíhuìr) means “wait a while.” 等 (Děng) is the verb for “to wait.” |
| Amber: It’s 3rd tone.Now, we also hear the word 再 (zài) pop up again, which we’ve learned before has quite a few uses. Here, it tells us that in a while, she will then tell him. That’s what the 再 (zài) here means, kind of like “then.” |
| Victor: And speaking of “to tell,” we have the verb for “to tell,” 告诉 (gàosù). 告 (Gào) is 4th tone, 诉 (sù) is neutral tone. |
| Amber: And we’ll talk a little bit more about that 再 (zài) in the grammar section in a moment, but let’s look at some of the other fun stuff like the tourist destinations first. |
| Victor: Yes. Well one place that I think is really cool is 新天地 (Xīntiāndì) - 新 (xīn) is 1st tone, 天 (tiān) is 1st tone, and 地 (dì) is 4th tone. |
| Amber: Basically, it means like “new heaven earth.” Is that right, Victor? |
| Victor: Yeah. New world, definitely. |
| Amber: Oh. |
| Victor: Like 天地 (tiāndì) kind of means “world” because, yeah, there’s a heaven in earth, but when you combine it, it’s like the word “the world.” |
| Amber: Well, it’s interesting because 新天地 (Xīntiāndì) is an area in the old French concession, where there used to be many of the old “shikumen” style houses, the famous old houses of Shanghai. |
| Victor: Now, it’s sort of a pedestrian courtyard. |
| Amber: Yeah. I mean it’s slightly touristy and a bit overpriced, but it is kind of nice to get a feel for what the architecture of these old styles of houses are. |
| Victor: Now, another thing we hear about is the 人民广场 (Rénmín Guǎngchǎng). |
| Amber: Yeah, which is sometimes referred to in English as “People Square.” I think that most big Chinese cities seem to have a “square” of some description. |
| Victor: And this one is a square, but also a “park,” a 公园 (gōngyuán). |
| Amber: Yeah, with people dancing. |
| Victor: Yeah. Mike noticed that too, 那儿有人跳舞 (nà'er yǒurén tiàowǔ). |
| Amber: “There are people dancing there.” The verb for “to dance” being… |
| Victor: 跳舞 (Tiàowǔ) - 跳 (tiào) is 4th tone, 舞 (wǔ) is 3rd tone. |
| Amber: Yeah. That’s one thing I love about Chinese parks, you often see older people dancing and ballroom dancing even. Okay, well all that fun and games. Now, to get a bit serious, we’ll have a bit of grammar time. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Amber: Okay. Let’s start out with a really easy one, because we’ve seen it before. But just as a review, it’s when we see a verb reduplicated. |
| Victor: Yes. In this case, it was 走一走 (zǒu yì zǒu). |
| Amber: Yep. So remember, it just softens the tone to repeat it and 走 (zǒu) is the word “to walk.” We’ve learned that before as well. |
| Victor: Now, let’s revisit the 人民广场 (Rénmín Guǎngchǎng). |
| Amber: Yeah. The tour guide pointed out that the 人民广场 (Rénmín Guǎngchǎng) was in front of them, the “People Square” and she used a little word that shows up often in Chinese grammar. |
| Victor: The sentence was 前面就是人民广场了 (qiánmiàn jiùshì rénmín guǎngchǎng le). |
| Amber: Yep. And the word of note here is 就是 (jiùshì). |
| Victor: Yes, made up of the word 就 (jiù), and the verb 是 (shì). 就 (Jiù) is 4th tone and 是 (shì) is 4th tone. |
| Amber: But here, they pronounce it usually in neutral tone, 就是 (jiushi). So, 就 (jiù) is an adverb here, and basically, it’s used to confirm and stress the verb that is following. So in this case, it’s “to be” or 是 (shì). |
| Victor: So basically, you can use it to emphasize, and in this case, it’s the fact of what this park is in front of them. |
| Amber: Yeah. So maybe, it’s kind of like how we would say in English, if we were a tour guide, “And now in front of us, what we have here is People Square.” Just kind of emphasizing what exactly this is. |
| Victor: Right. Chinese is just shorter. |
| Amber: Yes, they like the brevity. Okay. Another grammar issue we have is...in this sentence as well and it has to do with the 了 (le) particle again. |
| Victor: Yes. We’ve heard about the 了 (le) a bit before in the past tense lesson. |
| Amber: Yes, and there are a few different 了 (le)s as we had mentioned before. |
| Victor: This is the 了 (le) that indicates a change in situation or status. Listen again to the same sentence and listen for the 了 (le). Its at the end. 前面就是人民广场了。 (Qiánmiàn jiùshì Rénmín Guǎngchǎng le.) |
| Amber: Yeah. So, we learned that this sentence means that “up ahead is the People Square,” basically. |
| Victor: And the context tells us for sure that this is not past tense 了 (le). |
| Amber: Yeah, and context is really the key to understanding which 了 (le) is which. So this 了 (le) we see here, it signifies a change in status and maybe that’s a little bit hard to grasp by first glance, but this is why you have to have a glimpse into the Chinese mind. Right, Victor? |
| Victor: Yeah. |
| Amber: So what’s the change? |
| Victor: Well, here is the change. The tour group was just at the 新天地 (Xīntiāndì), and now, they’re near the 人民广场 (Rénmín Guǎngchǎng). |
| Amber: Mm, so that’s the change in situation, not that complicated. Okay, now, here’s another little point, one word. |
| Victor: Yes, it is the word 再 (zài). It was in a sentence, 我一会儿再告诉你 (wǒ yíhuìr zài gàosù nǐ). |
| Amber: Yeah. It was when Lili was promising to tell Mike something a little later. |
| Victor: This character was in our Lesson 2, in another context, when Mike asked Lili to repeat something, he said, 请你再说一遍 (qǐng nǐ zàishuō yībiàn). We also learned this in our basic bootcamp lessons. |
| Amber: Yeah. So that 再 (zài) that we learned in Lesson 2 meant to repeat or do something again. This time, it’s similar, but a little different. |
| Victor: This one indicates putting off something into the future like Lili did. |
| Amber: Yeah, so remember, she used 再 (zài), when she said, “in a while she’ll tell mike.” So, let’s break it down and see where the 再 (zài) goes and what it does for the sentence. |
| Victor: 我一会儿再告诉你。 (Wǒ yíhuìr zài gàosù nǐ.) |
| Amber: So of course, we have the 我 (wǒ) which is “I” first. Then we learned that 一会儿 (yíhuìr) means “in a while” or “later.” |
| Victor: Then comes the 再 (zài). |
| Amber: So up to now, we have “I in a while..” then the 再 (zài) here is an adverb, indicating that you’re putting something off to deal with at some time later. That’s what it does here. |
| Victor: Yeah. So, the 再 (zài) is used when you’re delaying something to a later time. |
| Amber: Yeah. But Victor, you can also just say 我一会儿告诉你 (wǒ yíhuìr gàosù nǐ), right? Is there any difference if you add the 再 (zài) or you don’t? |
| Victor: It just indicates a longer delay, like “in a while I will do it, or get around to it.” |
| Amber: Okay, so like, if someone’s wife is nagging them to take out the garbage, they use 再 (zài) more. |
| Victor: Well, no, in that case, you better not use 再 (zài). It’d be better, just, you know, do it, right? |
| Amber: Someone has trained you, Victor. Okay, then after the 再 (zài), we hear what she will do after. That’s what this come, that’s what comes next. |
| Victor: 告诉你 (gàosù nǐ) |
| Amber: And remember, we just learned the verb “to tell” 告诉 (gàosù) and then the word “you,” so “I’ll tell you a little later on” is basically what it’s saying. |
Outro |
| Amber: Okay, so everyone, go back and listen to the dialogue now that you’ve got all of those insights and practice, practice, practice! We will see you in the next Gengo lesson. |
| Victor: Yeah, see you next time! |
| Amber: And 再见 (zàijiàn)! |
| Victor: 再见! (Zàijiàn!) |
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