Learn about asking a teacher for help
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Yinru: Hi everyone, I’m Yinru. |
| Brandon: And I’m Brandon. Welcome back to ChineseClass101.com. This is lower intermediate, season 2 lesson 9. Getting Help From Your Chinese Teacher. In this lesson, you’ll learn how to use the phrase |
| Yinru: 有（一）点儿 (Yǒu (yī) diǎn er) + adjective. |
| Brandon: which means "a little of something" |
| Yinru: The conversation takes place at Tom’s teacher’s office. |
| Brandon: It’s between Tom and his teacher, so they will be using formal Chinese. Okay, let’s listen to the conversation. |
Lesson conversation |
|---|
| （敲门声）(qiāomén shēng) |
| 老师: 请进。(LǍOSHĪ : qǐng jìn.) |
| Tom: 老师，不好意思打扰了。今天的课有点儿难，我没听懂。您有空给我再解释一遍吗？(lǎoshī, bùhǎoyìsi dǎrǎo le. jīntiān de kè yǒu diǎnr nán, wǒ méitīngdǒng. nín yǒukòng gěi wǒ zài jiěshì yíbiàn ma?) |
| 老师: 是吗？今天的课确实有点难。但是我待会儿要去开会。你发邮件给我，好吗？(LǍOSHĪ : shì ma? jīntiān de kè quèshí yǒu diǎnr nán . dànshì wǒ dāi huìéryào qù kāihuì. nǐ fā yóujiàn gěi wǒ, hǎo ma?) |
| Tom: 好的。老师您的邮箱是？(hǎo de. lǎoshī nín de yóuxiāng shì?) |
| Brandon: Let’s hear the conversation one time slowly. |
| （敲门声）(qiāomén shēng) |
| 老师: 请进。(LǍOSHĪ : qǐng jìn.) |
| Tom: 老师，不好意思打扰了。今天的课有点儿难，我没听懂。您有空给我再解释一遍吗？(lǎoshī, bùhǎoyìsi dǎrǎo le. jīntiān de kè yǒu diǎnr nán, wǒ méitīngdǒng. nín yǒukòng gěi wǒ zài jiěshì yíbiàn ma?) |
| 老师: 是吗？今天的课确实有点难。但是我待会儿要去开会。你发邮件给我，好吗？(LǍOSHĪ : shì ma? jīntiān de kè quèshí yǒu diǎnr nán . dànshì wǒ dāi huìéryào qù kāihuì. nǐ fā yóujiàn gěi wǒ, hǎo ma?) |
| Tom: 好的。老师您的邮箱是？(hǎo de. lǎoshī nín de yóuxiāng shì?) |
| Brandon: Now let’s hear it with the English translation. |
| （敲门声）(qiāomén shēng) |
| Brandon(Knocking on the door) |
| 老师: 请进。(LǍOSHĪ : qǐng jìn.) |
| Brandon: Please come in. |
| Tom: 老师，不好意思打扰了。今天的课有点儿难，我没听懂。您有空给我再解释一遍吗？(lǎoshī, bùhǎoyìsi dǎrǎo le. jīntiān de kè yǒu diǎnr nán, wǒ méitīngdǒng. nín yǒukòng gěi wǒ zài jiěshì yíbiàn ma?) |
| Brandon: Teacher, sorry to interrupt you. Today's lesson was a bit difficult. I didn't understand it. Do you have time to explain it to me one more time? |
| 老师: 是吗？今天的课确实有点难。但是我待会儿要去开会。你发邮件给我，好吗？(LǍOSHĪ : shì ma? jīntiān de kè quèshí yǒu diǎnr nán . dànshì wǒ dāi huìéryào qù kāihuì. nǐ fā yóujiàn gěi wǒ, hǎo ma?) |
| Brandon: Is that so? Today's lesson is indeed a little difficult. But I have to go to a meeting later. Email me, ok? |
| Tom: 好的。老师您的邮箱是？(hǎo de. lǎoshī nín de yóuxiāng shì?) |
| Brandon: Ok. What's your email address, teacher? |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Yinru: Brandon, I wanted to ask you if teaching is a popular career choice in the U.S. |
| Brandon: Well, it is for those people who have a passion for teaching I suppose. But it’s not as popular as becoming a doctor or lawyer. |
| Yinru: I see. Actually in China, teaching is one of the most popular professions. Once you become a teacher, you also get as much respect as a doctor or lawyer. |
| Brandon: Why do Chinese people respect teachers so much? Is there some special reason? |
| Yinru: Teachers have been highly respected since the days of Confucius. Have you heard the proverb, 一日为师, 终生为父? (Yī rì wéi shī, zhōngshēng wèi fù?) |
| Brandon: No I haven’t. What does that mean? |
| Yinru: It means, “A teacher for one day is a father for a lifetime.” |
| Brandon: Wow. So a teacher has the same importance as a father. |
| Yinru: Yes. The old master-disciple or student-teacher relationship requires unquestioning obedience and respect from the pupil, and at the same time wisdom, and exemplary moral behavior from the master. |
| Brandon: How about now? Are there still so many rules of etiquette? |
| Yinru: Not so much, but still, students are always expected to be polite and obedient to teachers. |
| Brandon: I see. Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Brandon: Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| : The first word we shall see is: |
| Yinru: 请进 (Qǐng jìn)[natural native speed] |
| Brandon: please come in |
| Yinru: 请进 (Qǐng jìn)[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Yinru: 请进 (Qǐng jìn)[natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Yinru: 打扰 (Dǎrǎo)[natural native speed] |
| Brandon: to interrupt |
| Yinru: 打扰 (Dǎrǎo)[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Yinru: 打扰 (Dǎrǎo)[natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Yinru: 难 (Nán)[natural native speed] |
| Brandon: difficult |
| Yinru: 难 (Nán)[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Yinru: 难 (Nán)[natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Yinru: 听懂 (Tīng dǒng)[natural native speed] |
| Brandon: to understand |
| Yinru: 听懂 (Tīng dǒng)[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Yinru: 听懂 (Tīng dǒng)[natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Yinru: 解释 (Jiěshì)[natural native speed] |
| Brandon: to explain |
| Yinru: 解释 (Jiěshì)[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Yinru: 解释 (Jiěshì)[natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Yinru: 一遍 (Yībiàn)[natural native speed] |
| Brandon: once, one time |
| Yinru: 一遍 (Yībiàn)[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Yinru: 一遍 (Yībiàn)[natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Yinru: 确实 (Quèshí)[natural native speed] |
| Brandon: indeed |
| Yinru: 确实 (Quèshí)[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Yinru: 确实 (Quèshí)[natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Yinru: 发邮件 (Fā yóujiàn)[natural native speed] |
| Brandon: to send an email |
| Yinru: 发邮件 (Fā yóujiàn)[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Yinru: 发邮件 (Fā yóujiàn)[natural native speed] |
| : And Last: |
| Yinru: 邮箱 (Yóuxiāng)[natural native speed] |
| Brandon: email |
| Yinru: 邮箱 (Yóuxiāng)[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Yinru: 邮箱 (Yóuxiāng)[natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Brandon Let’s take a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Yinru: Okay. The first word is 打扰 (Dǎrǎo) |
| Brandon: It means “to interrupt”. |
| Yinru: In everyday spoken Chinese, you can hear the phrase 打扰一下 (Dǎrǎo yīxià) more often. It literally means ‘to interrupt a little’ |
| Brandon: Is it something like ‘Can I interrupt you for a moment?’ |
| Yinru: That’s right, and actually it’s more polite. It’s a polite way to start a conversation with strangers, like “excuse me”. |
| Brandon: I see. Can you give us some examples? |
| Yinru: When you're not sure where you are, and you want to ask people walking by, you can say, “你好, 打扰一下, 请问火车站怎么走?”(“Nǐ hǎo, dǎrǎo yīxià, qǐngwèn huǒchē zhàn zěnme zǒu?”) |
| Brandon: “Excuse me, how do I get to the train station?” |
| Yinru: And when you want to know what time it is, you can ask people 不好意思打扰一下, 现在几点了? (Bù hǎoyìsi dǎrǎo yīxià, xiànzài jǐ diǎnle?) |
| Brandon: “Excuse me, what time is it now?” Okay, what’s the next word? |
| Yinru: The next word is 听懂 (Tīng dǒng) meaning “to understand”. |
| Brandon: But listeners, please note that you can only use this word when it’s about what you or someone heard. |
| Yinru: That’s right. For example.. 你听懂了我的意思吗? (Nǐ tīng dǒngle wǒ de yìsi ma?) |
| Brandon: This means “Did you understand what I meant?” Since it’s about what the other person just heard, you can use the word in this sentence. So, how can we say ‘No, I didn’t understand.’? |
| Yinru: In that case, you can say 听不懂(Tīng bù dǒng), this is the same word as before, but in the negative form. For example, 对不起, 我听不懂中文(Duìbùqǐ, wǒ tīng bù dǒng zhōngwén). |
| Brandon: This means “Sorry, I don’t understand Chinese.” |
| Yinru Here, we used the word 听懂(Tīng dǒng), because we are talking about language, something you hear. And you can also use this expression. 你这样说我听不懂, 能直接一点吗? (Nǐ zhèyàng shuō wǒ tīng bù dǒng, néng zhíjiē yīdiǎn ma?) |
| Brandon: This means “I don’t understand when you put it that way, can you be more direct?” Okay, now onto the grammar. |
Lesson focus |
| Brandon: In this lesson, you’ll learn the phrase |
| Yinru: 有（一）点儿 (Yǒu (yī) diǎn er)+ adjective. |
| Brandon: It means "a little of something" or "somewhat of something" |
| Yinru: You may have noticed that Chinese people tend to be humble and moderate all the time, especially when they talk. |
| Brandon: This phrase can be used when talking humbly. Let’s look at some examples and learn what it actually means. |
| Yinru: Sure. For example, 我有一点儿不舒服, 想休息一下.(Wǒ yǒu yīdiǎn er bú shūfú, xiǎng xiūxí yīxià.) |
| Brandon: This means “I’m feeling a little sick; I would like to take a break.” |
| Yinru: Here, I put the adjective 不舒服 (Bú shūfú) “uncomfortable” after 有一点儿(Yīdiǎn er). So it literally means ‘I’m a little uncomfortable’ or ‘I’m feeling a little sick.’ |
| Brandon: But it actually doesn’t mean that the speaker is slightly sick, right? |
| Yinru: That’s right. Even if they feel really bad, you’ll hear this phrase because adding ‘a little’ or “有一点儿”(“Yǒu yīdiǎn er”) makes the expression more humble. |
| Brandon: I see. Can you give us another example? |
| Yinru: Sure. 你这样说会不会有点儿不礼貌? (Nǐ zhèyàng shuō huì bù huì yǒudiǎn er bù lǐmào?) |
| Brandon: This literally means "You putting the words this way, could be a little rude, don’t you think?" |
| Yinru: Here, we have the phrase “有点儿不礼貌”(“Yǒudiǎn er bù lǐmào”) meaning “a little rude.” Although it’s very rude, you can use this phrase to be more humble. |
| Brandon: Okay, do you have one more example? |
| Yinru: Yes. 不好意思, 路上有点儿堵.(Bù hǎoyìsi, lùshàng yǒudiǎn er dǔ.) |
| Brandon: Meaning “Sorry, the traffic was a little bit jammed.” Even if the traffic jam was really bad like in Beijing, you can say ‘a little bad’ if you need to be humble. |
| Yinru: Yes, especially when you’re asking a favor of someone else. Depending on the region the speaker is from, you can hear the same word in different ways, such as 有点 or 有一点 (Yǒudiǎn or yǒu yīdiǎn)and 有点儿 or 有一点儿 (Yǒudiǎn er or yǒu yīdiǎn er)but these are all correct. The difference between them is only the difference in pronunciation, depending on where in China you are. |
| Brandon: How do the pronunciations differ? |
| Yinru: People from the north tend to use 有点儿 or 有一点儿 (Yǒudiǎn er or yǒu yīdiǎn er) more. They like to curl their tongues more, so they make a lot of 儿化音(Ér huà yīn), which refers to words with an “er” at the end. |
| Brandon: People from Beijing do that a lot, don’t they? |
| Yinru: Yes. They tend to add ‘ER’ sound at the end, for example, 没事儿 (Méishì er)meaning "it’s ok," and 玩儿 (Wán er) meaning "to play." |
| Brandon: And the people from Southern China don’t add the extra sound, right? |
| Yinru: They usually don’t, and in many of the local southern dialects, there are never any sounds that need the tongue to be curled. |
| Brandon: That’s interesting. |
| Yinru: So people from the South will say 有点 (Yǒudiǎn)instead of 有点儿, 没事 (Yǒudiǎn er, méishì)instead of 没事儿(Méishì er), and 玩 (Wán)instead of 玩儿(Wán er). |
| MARKETING PIECE |
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| Yinru: Go to ChineseClass101.com to setup your customized My Feed today! |
Outro |
| Brandon: Well, that’s all for this lesson. Thanks for listening, and we’ll see you next time. Bye! |
| Yinru: 再见 (Zàijiàn) |
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