Learn how to use the character 新 in a new way: as an adverb
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| INTRODUCTION |
| David: Welcome to chineseclass101.com. I am David. |
| Echo: Hi, 大家好(Dàjiā hǎo), 我是(Wǒ shì) Echo。 |
| David: And we are here today with lower beginner, season 1, Lesson 6. |
| Echo: What Should You Do about a Broken Cell phone in China? |
| David: Right. So the dialogue is about a cell phone. Echo, where is this taking place? |
| Echo: Actually the two people are on the phone. |
| David: Are on the phone talking about a lost phone. |
| Echo: A broken phone. |
| David: So how are they talking? |
| Echo: Well… |
| David: I am kidding! I am kidding! Anyway, this dialogue is standard colloquial Mandarin as always. So let’s get to it. |
| Echo: Okay. |
| DIALOGUE |
| A: 怎么办，我新买的手机坏了。(Zěnme bàn, wǒ xīn mǎi de shǒujī huài le.) |
| B: 您别急，我们保修。(Nín bié jí, wǒmen bǎoxiū.) |
| A: 在哪儿可以修？(Zài nǎr kěyǐ xiū ?) |
| B: 苹果的专卖店都可以。(Píngguǒ de zhuānmàidiàn dōu kěyǐ.) |
| A: 好，我明天就去。(Hǎo , wǒ míngtiān jiù qù .) |
| David: Once more, a bit slower. |
| A: 怎么办，我新买的手机坏了。(Zěnme bàn, wǒ xīn mǎi de shǒujī huài le.) |
| B: 您别急，我们保修。(Nín bié jí, wǒmen bǎoxiū.) |
| A: 在哪儿可以修？(Zài nǎr kěyǐ xiū ?) |
| B: 苹果的专卖店都可以。(Píngguǒ de zhuānmàidiàn dōu kěyǐ.) |
| A: 好，我明天就去。(Hǎo , wǒ míngtiān jiù qù .) |
| David: And now with an English translation. |
| Echo: 怎么办，我新买的手机坏了。(Zěnme bàn, wǒ xīn mǎi de shǒujī huài le.) |
| David: What can I do? My new cell phone is broken. |
| Echo: 您别急，我们保修。(Nín bié jí, wǒmen bǎoxiū.) |
| David: Don’t get anxious, we will repair it under warranty. |
| Echo: 在哪儿可以修？(Zài nǎr kěyǐ xiū ?) |
| David: Where can I get it repaired? |
| Echo: 苹果的专卖店都可以。(Píngguǒ de zhuānmàidiàn dōu kěyǐ.) |
| David: Any authorized Apple retailer can do it. |
| Echo: 好，我明天就去。(Hǎo , wǒ míngtiān jiù qù .) |
| David: Okay. I will go tomorrow. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| David: Okay so it sounds like it’s an iPhone. |
| Echo: Yeah 应该是。(Yīnggāi shì.) |
| David: Which is sad. The iPhone is broken. |
| Echo: Well I had the similar experience. |
| David: Right. Actually a tip. If you buy your iPhone out of China, you can’t get it repaired in China. |
| Echo: That’s right. |
| David: Yet this is Echo’s story. |
| Echo: 没错。(Méi cuò.) |
| David: Anyway, our vocab Echo, what’s it about today? |
| Echo: It’s about warranty and… |
| David: Warranties and cell phones… |
| Echo: Cell phone service stuff. |
| David: Language to use when you are complaining to Apple computer. |
| Echo: Right. 怎么办?(Zěnme bàn?) |
| VOCAB LIST |
| David: What can be done? |
| Echo: 怎么办, 怎么办, 新。(zěnme bàn, zěnme bàn, xīn.) |
| David: New. |
| Echo: 新, 新, 手机。(xīn, xīn, shǒujī) |
| David: Cell phone. |
| Echo: 手机, 手机, 坏。(shǒujī, shǒujī, huài.) |
| David: To break. |
| Echo: 坏, 坏, 别急。(huài, huài, bié jí.) |
| David: Don’t be anxious. |
| Echo: 别急, 别急, 保修。(bié jí, bié jí, bǎoxiū.) |
| David: To repair under warranty. |
| Echo: 保修, 保修, 苹果。(bǎoxiū, bǎoxiū, Píngguǒ.) |
| David: Apple. |
| Echo: 苹果, 苹果, 专卖店。(Píngguǒ, Píngguǒ, zhuānmàidiàn.) |
| David: Specialty shop. |
| Echo: 专卖店, 专卖店, 明天。(zhuānmàidiàn, zhuānmàidiàn, míngtiān.) |
| David: Tomorrow. |
| Echo: 明天, 明天。(míngtiān, míngtiān.) |
| David: Let’s take a closer look at some of these words and phrases. The first one I want to touch on is authorized retailer. |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Echo: 专卖店。(zhuānmàidiàn.) |
| David: Authorized retailer. |
| Echo: 专卖店。(zhuānmàidiàn.) |
| David: Right because it’s not really an authorized retailer. In the dialogue, we heard it in this sentence. |
| Echo: 苹果的专卖店都可以。(Píngguǒ de zhuānmàidiàn dōu kěyǐ.) |
| David: Right. Any Apple store will do or any Apple authorized retailer. Really, character by character, it just means it’s a store that specializes in selling something. |
| Echo: That’s right 专卖店。(zhuānmàidiàn.) |
| David: Right. So actually they could specialize in selling different products and different brands but in this case because it’s Apple, we translated it the English way. |
| Echo: 对。(Duì.) |
| David: There are some other tricky words here Echo. What’s your favorite? |
| Echo: 别急。(bié jí.) |
| David: Don’t be anxious. |
| Echo: 别急(Bié jí) You can also say 别着急(Bié zhāojí) |
| David: Right. 急(Jí) here is the short version of |
| Echo: 着急。(Zhāojí.) |
| David: Which means to be anxious or to be nervous or to be – you know, you are 着急(Zhāojí) here oh, I am on edge. |
| Echo: Right. |
| David: Right but it’s so common to say relax but people will just say |
| Echo: 别急。(Bié jí.) |
| David: And there are other ways of saying relax too. |
| Echo: 对! 我们也可以说 放心。(Duì! Wǒmen yě kěyǐ shuō fàngxīn.) |
| David: To place your heart. |
| Echo: 您放心。(Nín fàngxīn.) |
| David: And that’s what Chairman Mao apparently said to his successor. He said, with you running things, I can be at ease. |
| Echo: 唔, 你办事, 我 放心。(Wú, nǐ bànshì, wǒ fàngxīn.) |
| David: Right. That was a year or two before the successor promptly disappeared but yeah so you can say – you know, you can say relax |
| Echo: 放心。(Fàngxīn.) |
| David: That’s kind of emotional. If you are talking physically, you could even say |
| Echo: 放松。(Fàngsōng.) |
| David: Right which is more of your muscles. Now I am giving you a massage, relax. |
| Echo: 我给你一个按摩 (Wǒ gěi nǐ yīgè ànmó), 你放松。(Nǐ fàngsōng.) |
| David: Or relax, I am giving you a massage. |
| Echo: 放松! 我在给你按摩。(Fàngsōng! Wǒ zài gěi nǐ ànmó.) |
| David: Right. Or you could say, it’s nothing big, don’t worry about it. |
| Echo: 没什么大事, 放心。(Méishénme dàshì, fàngxīn.) |
| David: Right. Or if they are really visibly agitated, you are going to want to use |
| Echo: 别急。(Bié jí.) |
| David: Like don’t be nervous, we are going to make the plane on time. |
| Echo: 唔, 别急, 我们能赶上飞机。(Wú, bié jí, wǒmen néng gǎn shàng fēijī.) |
| David: Yeah. Don’t be nervous, we won’t be late. |
| Echo: 唔, 别急, 我们不会迟到。(Wú, bié jí, wǒmen bù huì chídào.) |
| David: Right. One more word we want to mention is the word for warranty specifically to repair under warranty. |
| Echo: 唔, 保修。(Wú, bǎoxiū.) |
| David: This is really important in China especially if you are buying cell phones or electronics. |
| Echo: 对, 你可以问他,(Duì, nǐ kěyǐ wèn tā,) |
| David: Right. |
| Echo: 你们保修几年?(Nǐmen bǎoxiū jǐ nián?) |
| David: How long do you repair under warranty? |
| Echo: 你们保修几年?(Nǐmen bǎoxiū jǐ nián?) |
| David: Right and depending on where you are buying from, either its they or the manufacturer will take care of the repair. |
| Echo: 对, 保修。(Duì, bǎoxiū.) |
| David: Right. Usually it’s a bit cheaper at the smaller stores but then you never really know if they are going to be around. So a lot of people will pay the extra 100 Yuan to get the product at the |
| Echo: 专卖店。(zhuānmàidiàn.) |
| David: Authorized retailer. Okay. |
| Echo: 够放心。(Gòu fàngxīn.) |
| David: Yes so that’s the key vocab we wanted to pull your attention to. We’ve got something really exciting that is new for our grammar point. |
| Echo: It’s new. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| David: It’s grammar time. Okay our grammar point is new as we said. Echo, what exactly is it? |
| Echo: It’s actually the word new. 新。(Xīn.) |
| David: Yeah and we see it used in this new and really useful way today, right. In previous lessons, we’ve taught you that this is an adjective. |
| Echo: Right for example, 这是我的新手机。(Zhè shì wǒ de xīn shǒujī.) |
| David: This is my new phone. |
| Echo: Or 你的电脑很新。(Nǐ de diànnǎo hěn xīn.) |
| David: Your computer is really new, right and so we are putting it in front of a noun there or we are using it with a adverb of degree. |
| Echo: After adverb, right. |
| David: And 非常. We see something different here. |
| Echo: 我新买的新手机坏了(Wǒ xīn mǎi de xīn shǒujī huàile) |
| David: My newly bought phone is broken. |
| Echo: 我新买的新手机坏了(Wǒ xīn mǎi de xīn shǒujī huàile) |
| David: We are going to give you a couple of examples that are like this and then we are going to talk about what’s happening. So see if you can pick up on it. |
| Echo: Okay 新来的同事很漂亮。(Xīn lái de tóngshì hěn piàoliang.) |
| David: The newly arrived colleague is very pretty. |
| Echo: 新来的同事很漂亮。(Xīn lái de tóngshì hěn piàoliang.) |
| David: The newly arrived colleague is very pretty. |
| Echo: 他新交了女朋友。(Tā xīn jiāole nǚpéngyǒu.) |
| David: He just made a new girlfriend. |
| Echo: 他新交了女朋友。(Tā xīn jiāole nǚpéngyǒu.) |
| David: Okay that last one is a bit tricky but let’s take a look at what’s going on here. First we have the character |
| Echo: 新。(xīn.) |
| David: New. Right and this is not functioning as an adjective really. |
| Echo: No. |
| David: It’s functioning as an adverb. |
| Echo: Right because it’s used in front of verbs. |
| David: Yes and we are putting it specifically in front of one character verbs and then we are following it either with 的(De) or 了(Le) okay. So both of them are okay and what it’s doing is it’s forming this kind of compound adjectival verb phrase. |
| Echo: That’s right. |
| David: Right. Newly arrived, newly studied, newly made. |
| Echo: 新来的, 新学的, 新交了。(Xīn lái de, Xīn xué de, Xīn jiāole) |
| David: Yeah and that last one is tricky because it’s not 的.(De.) So normally if you are using 的(De), you are making this kind of adjectival phrase which is then used in this sentence with another verb. |
| Echo: Right. |
| David: For instance |
| Echo: 这是我新买的新手机。(Zhè shì wǒ xīn mǎi de xīn shǒujī.) |
| David: This is my newly bought phone. The main verb there is |
| Echo: 是。(Shì.) |
| David: And this compound is serving as an adjectival phrase. However look at that last sentence with the new girlfriend. |
| Echo: 他新交了女朋友。(Tā xīn jiāole nǚpéngyǒu.) |
| David: This isn’t an adjectival clause. This is – it’s like a modified verb clause. |
| Echo: 对!(Duì!) |
| David: Right. The main verb there is |
| Echo: 交。(Jiāo.) |
| David: So this can be a bit tricky but really it’s just a sign of how flexible Chinese is. |
| Echo: 没错!(Méi cuò!) |
| David: Right. So as you are listening, pay attention to whether there is a 的(De) there or there is a 了(Le) there. |
| Echo: Yeah. |
| David: And that will help you translate it in your mind appropriately. |
| Echo: But just remember, you always want to put the 新(Xīn) before verbs. |
| David: Yeah and it’s going to be a one character verb. |
| Echo: Yeah. |
Outro |
| David: Okay and with that, that’s the end of our lesson. Before we go, we want to mention one more time that we have transcripts on the site. |
| Echo: That’s right. We have PDFs. |
| David: PDFs with a vocab list with copies of the transcript translations and we write out our grammar note in full with extra details that don’t come in the podcast. |
| Echo: 没错。(Méi cuò.) |
| David: So bonus for those of you who are supporting us. For now though, that is all the time we have. |
| Echo: Yes , from Beijing, 我是(Wǒ shì) Echo. |
| David: And I am David and thank you for listening. |
| Echo: We will see you on the site, bye bye. |
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