Learn how to communicate indifference between two choices when you aren't exactly thrilled about either one
Now Playing: Lesson Audio
Get a breakdown of the dialogue and translations instantly with the Premium line-by-line Audio. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Get this lesson’s key vocab, their translations and pronunciations. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Unlock Lesson Notes and Transcripts for every single lesson. Sign Up for a Free Lifetime Account and Get 7 Days of Premium Access.
| INTRODUCTION |
| David: Hi, everyone, welcome to Chineseclass101.com, the fastest, easiest, and most fun way to learn Chinese. I’m David. |
| Echo: 嗨(Hāi)，大家好(Dàjiā hǎo)，我是(Wǒ shì)Echo。 |
| David: And we’re here with intermediate series season one lesson eight, Investing In The Chinese Stock Market. So, our lesson today will teach you what it feels like to a Chinese investor. |
| Echo: And the conversation takes place at the office. |
| David: Right, it’s between co-workers one of them is looking for a place to park a little money and hopefully make some cash. |
| Echo: Yeah, and the speakers are co-workers and friends, so they’re speaking casual Mandarin. |
| David: Right. We’ve got a dialogue for you, before we get to that, we want to remind you, if you have any questions, if you have any concerns, if you have any comments, Echo, what should you do? |
| Echo: 别忘了给我们在网站上留言。(Bié wàngle gěi wǒmen zài wǎngzhàn shàng liúyán.) |
| David: Right, and we’ve got an email address for you too, it’s contactus@chineseclass101.com, so you can write us directly there too. |
| Echo: 对，我都希望收到你们的信和留言。(Duì, wǒ dū xīwàng shōu dào nǐmen de xìnhé liúyán.) |
| David: Right. With that though, let’s get right to the dialogue. |
| DIALOGUE |
| 甲: 今年经济不景气，我该怎么投资啊？(Jiǎ: Jīnnián jīngjì bú jǐngqì, wǒ gāi zěnme tóuzī a?) |
| 乙: 你可以投资股票啊。(Yǐ: Nǐ kěyǐ tóuzī gǔpiào a.) |
| 甲: 股市现在大跌吧。(Jiǎ: Gǔshì xiànzài dà diē ba.) |
| 乙: 那投资国家债券吧。(Yǐ: Nà tóuzī guójiā zhàiquàn ba.) |
| 甲: 可是利息抵不过通货膨胀呀。(Jiǎ: Kěshì lìxí dǐ bùguò tōnghuò péngzhàng ya.) |
| 乙: 随便吧。股票也好，债券也罢，反正都是要亏钱的。(Yǐ: Suíbiàn ba. Gǔpiào yě hǎo, zhàiquàn yěbà, fǎnzhèng dōu shì yào kuī qián de.) |
| David: One more time a bit more slowly. |
| 甲: 今年经济不景气，我该怎么投资啊？(Jiǎ: Jīnnián jīngjì bú jǐngqì, wǒ gāi zěnme tóuzī a?) |
| 乙: 你可以投资股票啊。(Yǐ: Nǐ kěyǐ tóuzī gǔpiào a.) |
| 甲: 股市现在大跌吧。(Jiǎ: Gǔshì xiànzài dà diē ba.) |
| 乙: 那投资国家债券吧。(Yǐ: Nà tóuzī guójiā zhàiquàn ba.) |
| 甲: 可是利息抵不过通货膨胀呀。(Jiǎ: Kěshì lìxí dǐ bùguò tōnghuò péngzhàng ya.) |
| 乙: 随便吧。股票也好，债券也罢，反正都是要亏钱的。(Yǐ: Suíbiàn ba. Gǔpiào yě hǎo, zhàiquàn yěbà, fǎnzhèng dōu shì yào kuī qián de.) |
| David: And now with the English translation. |
| 甲: 今年经济不景气，我该怎么投资啊？(Jiǎ: Jīnnián jīngjì bú jǐngqì, wǒ gāi zěnme tóuzī a?) |
| David: The economy isn’t doing so well this year. How should I invest? |
| 乙: 你可以投资股票啊。(Yǐ: Nǐ kěyǐ tóuzī gǔpiào a.) |
| David: You can invest in stocks. |
| 甲: 股市现在大跌吧。(Jiǎ: Gǔshì xiànzài dà diē ba.) |
| David: It’s a bear market now, stocks are all falling. |
| 乙: 那投资国家债券吧。(Yǐ: Nà tóuzī guójiā zhàiquàn ba.) |
| David: Then buy national bonds. |
| 甲: 可是利息抵不过通货膨胀呀。(Jiǎ: Kěshì lìxí dǐ bùguò tōnghuò péngzhàng ya.) |
| David: But the interest rate is less than inflation. |
| 乙: 随便吧。股票也好，债券也罢，反正都是要亏钱的。(Yǐ: Suíbiàn ba. Gǔpiào yě hǎo, zhàiquàn yěbà, fǎnzhèng dōu shì yào kuī qián de.) |
| David: Do whatever then, stocks are okay, and bonds are okay too. You’re going to lose money anyway. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| David: So Echo, are you invested in the stock market? |
| Echo: 我呀？我没钱。(Wǒ ya? Wǒ méi qián.) |
| David: What about buying a house instead? |
| Echo: 别开玩笑了(Bié kāiwánxiàole)，你知道现在中国的房价有多高吗？(Nǐ zhīdào xiànzài zhōngguó de fángjià yǒu duō gāo ma?) |
| David: Okay, so anyway, at ChineseClass101.com we may not be investors ourselves, but our vocab today is for all of you guys who do invest. Let’s get to the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Echo: 景气(Jǐngqì) [natural native speed] |
| David: thriving |
| Echo: 景气(Jǐngqì) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Echo: 景气(Jǐngqì) [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Echo: 投资(Tóuzī) [natural native speed] |
| David: to invest |
| Echo: 投资(Tóuzī) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Echo: 投资(Tóuzī) [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Echo: 股票(Gǔpiào) [natural native speed] |
| David: stocks |
| Echo: 股票(Gǔpiào) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Echo: 股票(Gǔpiào) [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Echo: 债券(Zhàiquàn) [natural native speed] |
| David: bonds |
| Echo: 债券(Zhàiquàn) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Echo: 债券(Zhàiquàn) [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Echo: 熊市(Xióngshì) [natural native speed] |
| David: bear market |
| Echo: 熊市(Xióngshì) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Echo: 熊市(Xióngshì) [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Echo: 牛市(Niúshì) [natural native speed] |
| David: bull market |
| Echo: 牛市(Niúshì) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Echo: 牛市(Niúshì) [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Echo: 利息(Lìxí) [natural native speed] |
| David: interest |
| Echo: 利息(Lìxí) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Echo: 利息(Lìxí) [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Echo: 通货膨胀(Tōnghuò péngzhàng) [natural native speed] |
| David: inflation |
| Echo: 通货膨胀(Tōnghuò péngzhàng) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Echo: 通货膨胀(Tōnghuò péngzhàng) [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Echo: 亏钱(Kuī qián) [natural native speed] |
| David: to lose money |
| Echo: 亏钱(Kuī qián) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Echo: 亏钱(Kuī qián) [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCABULARY AND PHRASES |
| David: Let’s have a closer look at the usage for some of these words and phrases. |
| Echo: 第一个词，景气。(Dì yī gè cí, jǐngqì.) |
| David: Right, this is a tricky word. |
| Echo: 景气(Jǐngqì) |
| David: And we translated it as prosperous, or thriving. |
| Echo: 比如说:最近两年，市场不太景气。(Bǐrú shuō: Zuìjìn liǎng nián, shìchǎng bù tài jǐngqì.) |
| David: In the last two years, the market hasn’t been so hot. |
| Echo: 最近两年(Zuìjìn liǎng nián)，市场不太景气。(Shìchǎng bù tài jǐngqì) |
| David: Right, where the market hasn’t been really thriving in the last two years. So tricky word, you’re only going to use this for markets and the economy. |
| Echo: 对。(Duì.) |
| David: Right. So, all of our words are about the economy, then next one you may have heard before. |
| Echo: 股票(Gǔpiào) |
| David: Stocks. |
| Echo: 股票(Gǔpiào) |
| David: Right. These are stocks which are traded on stock market. |
| Echo: 股市(Gǔshì) |
| David: Right, and they’re different from bonds which are-- |
| Echo: 债券(Zhàiquàn) |
| David: Bonds. |
| Echo: 债券(Zhàiquàn) |
| David: So we have stocks. |
| Echo: 股票(Gǔpiào) |
| David: And bonds. |
| Echo: 债券(Zhàiquàn) |
| David: And both of these are ways to lose money, on Chinese markets. |
| Echo: 差不多吧。(Chàbùduō ba.) |
| David: So, just like in the west though. If you’re going to lose money, you make money, you’re going to be in some special kind of market. And Chinese people have words for this as well, we’ve got the bull market. |
| Echo: 牛市(Niúshì) |
| David: Literally Cow market. And the bear market. |
| Echo: 熊市。比如说:现在是熊市，大家都在卖股票。(Xióngshì. Bǐrú shuō: Xiànzài shì xióngshì, dàjiā dōu zài mài gǔpiào.) |
| David: It’s a bear market right now. Everyone is selling stocks. |
| Echo: 或者说:现在是牛市，你的股票卖了吗？(Huòzhě shuō: Xiànzài shì niúshì, nǐ de gǔpiào màile ma?) |
| David: It’s a bull market, have you bought stocks? Chinese people love the stock market. |
| Echo: 对，有点儿像赌博。(Duì, yǒudiǎn er xiàng dǔbó.) |
| David: Yeah, some of the most popular blogs in china are actually just stock market blogs. Anyway, for the last few years though we’ve definitely been in a bit of a bear market. |
| Echo: 熊市(Xióngshì) |
| David: Right. The market’s in trouble. |
| Echo: 所以你要小心。(Suǒyǐ nǐ yào xiǎoxīn.) |
| David: And what do you need to be careful of? |
| Echo: 通货膨胀(Tōnghuò péngzhàng) |
| David: This means inflation. |
| Echo: 通货膨胀。因为通货膨胀(Tōnghuò péngzhàng. Yīnwèi tōnghuò péngzhàng)，市场价格越来越贵。(Shìchǎng jiàgé yuè lái yuè guì.) |
| David: Because of inflation, prices in the market are more and more expensive. |
| Echo: 或者说:股票越来越贵。(Huòzhě shuō: Gǔpiào yuè lái yuè guì.) |
| David: Stocks are more and more expensive. |
| Echo: 债券越来越贵。(Zhàiquàn yuè lái yuè guì.) |
| David: Bonds are more and more expensive. |
| Echo: 通货膨胀让所有的东西的价格越来越贵。(Tōnghuò péngzhàng ràng suǒyǒu de dōngxī de jiàgé yuè lái yuè guì.) |
| David: Right. And when we speak of that word for inflation... |
| Echo: 通货膨胀(Tōnghuò péngzhàng) |
| David: There’s a mistake I always make. And that is mixing it up with the word for “tent”. |
| Echo: 帐篷(Zhàngpéng) |
| David: Right. |
| Echo: 这两个完全不一样。(Zhè liǎng gè wánquán bù yīyàng.) |
| David: No, not 完全不一样(Wánquán bù yīyàng) They’re pretty close. Anyway, let’s hear them again, Inflation. |
| Echo: 膨胀(Péngzhàng) |
| David: And tent. |
| Echo: 帐篷。大家要记住(Zhàngpéng. Dàjiā yào jì zhù)，不要跟David犯一样的错。(Bùyào gēn David fàn yīyàng de cuò.) |
| David: Everyone is going to get this wrong. So confusing. They both go up. |
| Echo: 这两个完全不一样。(Zhè liǎng gè wánquán bù yīyàng.) |
| David: You’re a native speaker, Echo. Anyway, let’s move on to the grammar point now. |
| Echo: 好吧。(Hǎo ba.) |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| David: The focus of our grammar point is on a particular construction. |
| Echo: 也好... 也罢(Yě hǎo... Yěbà) |
| David: Right. In the dialogue we heard this sentence: |
| Echo: 股票也好(Gǔpiào yě hǎo)，债券也罢(Gǔpiào yě hǎo)，反正都是要亏钱的。(Fǎnzhèng dōu shì yào kuī qián de.) |
| David: Stocks are okay, and bonds are okay too. You’re going to lose money no matter what you do. |
| Echo: 股票也好(Gǔpiào yě hǎo)，债券也罢(Zhàiquàn yěbà)，反正都是要亏钱的。(Fǎnzhèng dōu shì yào kuī qián de.) |
| David: Stocks are okay, and bonds are okay too. You’re going to lose money anyway. |
| Echo: 这非常有用:也好...也罢(Zhè fēicháng yǒuyòng: Yě hǎo... Yěbà) |
| David: Right, and what it literally means is, this is okay, and then this is okay, too. So two things that are both okay. |
| Echo: 对(Duì)，所以他的意思就是说两个选择都可以。比如说:你去也好(Suǒyǐ tā de yìsi jiùshì shuō liǎng gè xuǎnzé dōu kěyǐ. Bǐrú shuō: Nǐ qù yě hǎo)，不去也罢，我管不着。(Bù qù yěbà, wǒ guǎn bùzháo.) |
| David: Right. That’s a really easy sentence we can see as you know, if you go that’s okay. |
| Echo: 你去也好(Nǐ qù yě hǎo)， |
| David: If don’t go that’s okay too. |
| Echo: 不去也罢(Bù qù yěbà)， |
| David: I don’t really care. |
| Echo: 我管不着。(Wǒ guǎn bùzháo.) |
| David: Right. So it’s really easy to use, we say choice one. |
| Echo: 你去也好(Nǐ qù yě hǎo) |
| David: Right. And then we say choice two. |
| Echo: 不去也罢(Bù qù yěbà) |
| David: Let’s have another example. |
| Echo: 挣钱也好(Zhèng qián yě hǎo)，亏欠也罢(Kuīqiàn yěbà)，他都不关心。(Tā dōu bù guānxīn.) |
| David: He doesn’t care if he makes money or loses it. |
| Echo: 挣钱也好(Zhèng qián yě hǎo)，亏欠也罢(Kuīqiàn yěbà)，他都不关心。(Tā dōu bù guānxīn.) |
| David: And this is really close to another pattern you may have heard. |
| Echo: 也好... 也好....(也好... 也好....) |
| David: Right, it works almost the same way, but there’s a really important difference. Echo, what is it? |
| Echo: 比如说(Bǐrú shuō)，如果你说也好...也罢(Rúguǒ nǐ shuō yě hǎo... Yěbà)，意思是你对哪个选择都不太喜欢(Yìsi shì nǐ duì nǎge xuǎnzé dōu bù tài xǐhuān)，都不太在乎。(Dōu bù tài zàihū.) |
| David: Yeah, you’ve got two choices but you don’t really like either of them. Or as if you say-- |
| Echo: 也好... 也好....(Yě hǎo... Yě hǎo....) |
| David: You can actually like it, right? Like, oh my gosh, I got into Harvard and Stanford, which should I go to? Right? So subtle difference, really important. So we’re going to give you another sentence, see if you can understand it, before I come in with the translation. |
| Echo: 这些钱你买衣服也好(Zhèxiē qián nǐ mǎi yīfú yě hǎo)，买吃的也罢(Mǎi chī de yěbà)，都随你的便。(Dōu suí nǐ de biàn.) |
| David: That’s tricky, because we’ve got the object at the front of a sentence. Let’s listen to it again. |
| Echo: 这些钱你买衣服也好(Zhèxiē qián nǐ mǎi yīfú yě hǎo)，买吃的也罢(Mǎi chī de yěbà)，都随你的便。(Dōu suí nǐ de biàn.) |
| David: Okay, did you get it? It means this money, you can buy clothes or food with it. Whatever you want. |
| Echo: 都随你的便(Dōu suí nǐ de biàn) |
| David: Right, because we have the-- |
| Echo: 应该买衣服 (Yīnggāi mǎi yīfú) |
| David: I think, yeah, you would buy clothes. Anyway, a really simple grammar pattern, but very very useful. And it’s going to make your Chinese sound a lot better. |
| Echo: 对。(Duì.) |
Outro |
| David: Before we let you go, as always we want to remind you we have the premium learning center, right on Chineseclass101.com. And Echo, it’s got a ton of great tools including this voice recording tool. |
| Echo: 没错。(Méi cuò.) |
| David: You’ve mentioned in the past. |
| Echo: You can record your voice, just with click a button. |
| David: Yeah, and you can play it back, and you can see how you actually sound. It’s really useful, especially for figuring out are the tones you’re saying really the tones you think you’re saying? We’ve all made this mistake, especially with the third tone. Nasty, nasty third tone. Anyway, that’s our podcast for today, we hope we will see you on the site, if you have any questions, leave us a comment or send us an email, contactus@chineseclass101.com. |
| Echo: 我们都想看到你们的信和留言。(Wǒmen dōu xiǎng kàn dào nǐmen de xìnhé liúyán.) |
| David: Right, from Beijing, I’m David. |
| Echo: 我是(Wǒ shì)Echo. |
| David: Thanks a lot for listening, and we will see on the site. |
| Echo: 网上见吧，拜拜！(Wǎngshàng jiàn ba, bàibài!) |
Comments
Hide