Learn about onomatopoeia and the car lottery
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| INTRODUCTION |
| David: Welcome to ChineseClass101.com. I am David. |
| Echo: Hi, 大家好，我是Echo. (Dàjiā hǎo, wǒ shì Echo.) |
| David: And we are here with upper intermediate, season 1, Lesson 2 |
| Echo: Resorting to Desperate Measures at the Chinese Car Yard. |
| David: Right and that’s all the English you’re gonna hear from Echo today. |
| Echo: 差不多。 (Chàbùduō.) |
| David: Right because this is upper intermediate, so it’s getting-- |
| Echo: 对。(Duì) |
| David: It’s getting up there. |
| Echo: Mmm. |
| David: We have a lesson that is largely based on real life. |
| Echo: 没错，有一点儿夸张，不过很有意思。 (Méi cuò, yǒu yīdiǎn er kuāzhāng, bùguò hěn yǒuyìsi.) |
| David: Right. It’s about the lottery system here in Beijing for buying cars. |
| Echo: 没错。(Méi cuò.) |
| David: So, we’ve got a dialogue between two friends; one of whom is a proud new owner of an automobile. |
| Echo: 他刚买了一辆新车，所以他正在跟他的朋友讲他买车的经历。 (Tā gāng mǎile yī liàng xīnchē, suǒyǐ tā zhèngzài gēn tā de péngyǒu jiǎng tā mǎi chē de jīnglì.) |
| David: Yes and, as always, this conversation is casual Mandarin. |
| Echo: Mm-hmm. |
| David: Let's get to the dialogue. |
| Echo: 好。(Hǎo.) |
| DIALOGUE |
| A: 我昨天买了一辆车。 |
| B: 哟，恭喜。听说从下月起就要摇号购车了。 |
| A: 可不是嘛。你没看见这两天车行里的人呢，乌泱乌泱的。 |
| B: 都跟你一样，生怕以后买不上了呗。 |
| A: 你不知道，当时还有两个人和我抢。我一狠心，二话不说，掏出钥匙就在车身上划了一下。 |
| B: 你这是跟谁过不去呀？ |
| A: 我问，这车还有人要吗？结果他们都不出声儿了。 |
| B: 算你狠！ |
| David: Once more, a bit slower. |
| A: 我昨天买了一辆车。 (Wǒ zuótiān mǎi le yī liàng chē.) |
| B: 哟，恭喜。听说从下月起就要摇号购车了。 (Yo, gōngxǐ. tīngshuō cóng xiàyuè qǐ jiù yào yáo hào gòu chē le.) |
| A: 可不是嘛。你没看见这两天车行里的人呢，乌泱乌泱的。 (Kěbushì ma. Nǐ méi kànjiàn zhè liǎng tiān chēháng lǐ de rén ne, wū yāng wū yāng de.) |
| B: 都跟你一样，生怕以后买不上了呗。(Dōu gēn nǐ yīyàng, shēngpà yǐhòu mǎi bù shàng le bei.) |
| A: 你不知道，当时还有两个人和我抢。我一狠心，二话不说，掏出钥匙就在车身上划了一下。(Nǐ bù zhīdào, dāngshí hái yǒu liǎng ge rén hé wǒ qiǎng. Wǒ yī hěnxīn, èrhuàbùshuō, tāochūyàoshi jiù zài chē shēn shàng huá le yīxià.) |
| B: 你这是跟谁过不去呀？ (Nǐ zhè shì gēn shéi guòbuqù yā?) |
| A: 我问，这车还有人要吗？结果他们都不出声儿了。 (Wǒ wèn, zhè chē hái yǒu rén yào ma? Jiéguǒ tāmen dōu bù chūshēng ér le.) |
| B: 算你狠！(Suàn nǐ hěn!) |
| David: Now let’s hear it with the English translation. |
| A: 我昨天买了一辆车。 (Wǒ zuótiān mǎi le yī liàng chē.) |
| David: I bought a car yesterday. |
| B: 哟，恭喜。听说从下月起就要摇号购车了。 (Yo, gōngxǐ. tīngshuō cóng xiàyuè qǐ jiù yào yáo hào gòu chē le.) |
| David: Congratulations! I hear that starting next month a lottery system will limit the number of cars sold. |
| A: 可不是嘛。你没看见这两天车行里的人呢，乌泱乌泱的。 (Kěbushì ma. Nǐ méi kànjiàn zhè liǎng tiān chēháng lǐ de rén ne, wū yāng wū yāng de.) |
| David: That's right. Haven't you seen all those people at the dealerships lately? What a crowd! |
| B: 都跟你一样，生怕以后买不上了呗。(Dōu gēn nǐ yīyàng, shēngpà yǐhòu mǎi bù shàng le bei.) |
| David: They're just like you—worried they won't be able to buy one later. |
| A: 你不知道，当时还有两个人和我抢。我一狠心，二话不说，掏出钥匙就在车身上划了一下。 (Nǐ bù zhīdào, dāngshí hái yǒu liǎng ge rén hé wǒ qiǎng. Wǒ yī hěnxīn, èrhuàbùshuō, tāochūyàoshi jiù zài chē shēn shàng huá le yīxià.) |
| David: There were two other people who were competing for my car. So I thought for a moment then took out my keys and scratched the body of the car. |
| B: 你这是跟谁过不去呀？ (Nǐ zhè shì gēn shéi guòbuqù yā?) |
| David: What did you do that for? |
| A: 我问，这车还有人要吗？结果他们都不出声儿了。 (Wǒ wèn, zhè chē hái yǒu rén yào ma? Jiéguǒ tāmen dōu bù chūshēng ér le.) |
| David: I asked, anyone else still want this car? They all went quiet. |
| B: 算你狠！ (Suàn nǐ hěn!) |
| David: You're tough! |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| David: I don’t think that’s legal. |
| Echo: 如果你要买这个车的话，我觉得还可以吧。 (Rúguǒ nǐ yāomǎi zhège chē dehuà, wǒ juédé hái kěyǐ ba.) |
| David: And, and the limit is not on the number of cars available, it’s on the license plate. |
| Echo: 对。(Duì.) |
| David: Anyway, thi is a new system in Beijing. |
| Echo: Mm-hmm. 就是摇号购车。 (Jiùshì yáohào gòuchē.) |
| David: Yes. You have to, you have to apply for the lottery system for license plates. |
| Echo: 对，没错。 (Duì, méi cuò.) |
| David: Interestingly, the first month after the system was in place... |
| Echo: Mm-hmm. |
| David: There were nearly 200,000 applications for only 20,000 licenses. |
| Echo: 天呀，二十万的申请人。哎哟！ (Tiān ya, èrshí wàn de shēnqǐng rén. Āiyō!) |
| David: It wasn’t that bad though, because if you wanted a car, you’d get all of your friends and your family to apply too, so you had a better chance of getting it. |
| Echo: 所以可能一个人要买车，十个人去摇号。 (Suǒyǐ kěnéng yīgèrén yāo mǎi chē, shí gè rén qù yáohào.) |
| David: Yeah, anyway, our, our vocab today is all about the lottery system. |
| Echo: 没错。 (Méi cuò.) |
| David: So, let’s get to that. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| David: Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| Echo: 摇号 (yáo hào) [natural native speed] |
| David: lottery system |
| Echo: 摇号 (yáo hào) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Echo: 摇号 (yáo hào) [natural native speed]: Next: |
| Echo: 车险 (chē xiǎn) [natural native speed] |
| David: car insurance |
| Echo: 车险 (chē xiǎn) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Echo: 车险 (chē xiǎn) [natural native speed]: Next: |
| Echo: 一狠心 (yī hěn xīn) [natural native speed] |
| David: to be determined |
| Echo: 一狠心 (yī hěn xīn) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Echo: 一狠心 (yī hěn xīn) [natural native speed]: Next: |
| Echo: 划 (huá) [natural native speed] |
| David: to scratch |
| Echo: 划 (huá) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Echo: 划 (huá) [natural native speed]: Next: |
| Echo: 出声 (chūshēng) [natural native speed] |
| David: to make noise |
| Echo: 出声 (chūshēng) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Echo: 出声 (chūshēng) [natural native speed]: Next: |
| Echo: 乌泱乌泱 (wū yāng wūyāng) [natural native speed] |
| David: crowded |
| Echo: 乌泱乌泱 (wū yāng wūyāng) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Echo: 乌泱乌泱 (wū yāng wūyāng) [natural native speed]: Next: |
| Echo: 生怕 (shēngpà) [natural native speed] |
| David: to be worried (about something) |
| Echo: 生怕 (shēngpà) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Echo: 生怕 (shēngpà) [natural native speed]: Next: |
| Echo: 二话不说 (èrhuàbùshuō) [natural native speed] |
| David: without a word |
| Echo: 二话不说 (èrhuàbùshuō) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Echo: 二话不说 (èrhuàbùshuō) [natural native speed]: Next: |
| Echo: 过不去 (guòbuqù) [natural native speed] |
| David: to be unable to get along |
| Echo: 过不去 (guòbuqù) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Echo: 过不去 (guòbuqù) [natural native speed] |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| David: Let's take a closer look at some of these words and phrases. |
| Echo: 我们今天要看的第一个词是 (Wǒmen jīntiān yào kàn de dì yī gè cí shì)... 摇号 (yáo hào)。 |
| David: Lottery system |
| Echo: 摇号 (yáo hào)。其实你可以更具体的说 (Qíshí nǐ kěyǐ gèng jùtǐ de shuō)... 摇号购车。(Yáohào gòuchē.) |
| David: Yeah, and it literally means to shake the number. |
| Echo: Yes. 摇号 (yáo hào) |
| David: Right. |
| Echo: 摇号购车 (Yáohào gòuchē) |
| David: Our next word is “car insurance”. |
| Echo: 车险 (Chēxiǎn) |
| David: Auto insurance. |
| Echo: 车险 (Chēxiǎn) |
| David: Which is a contraction. |
| Echo: 对，其实应该是 (Duì, qíshí yīnggāi shì)... 汽车保险。 (Qìchē bǎoxiǎn.) |
| David: Yes. |
| Echo: 汽车保险。 (Qìchē bǎoxiǎn.) |
| David: Right, and the verb to go with this is… |
| Echo: 上(Shàng)。上保险，上车险 (Shàng bǎoxiǎn, shàng chēxiǎn)。 |
| David: Right, so when buying a new car, you'd need to buy insurance too. |
| Echo: 对。购买新车的时候必须同时购买车险。 (Duì. Gòumǎi xīnchē de shíhòu bìxū tóngshí gòumǎi chēxiǎn.) |
| David: When buying a new car, you'd have to buy insurance too. |
| Echo: 购买新车的时候必须同时购买车险。(Gòumǎi xīnchē de shíhòu bìxū tóngshí gòumǎi chēxiǎn.) |
| David: Or you can do what we do and just take cabs everywhere. |
| Echo: 对，但是现在在北京找出租车越来越难了。 (Duì, dànshì xiànzài zài běijīng zhǎo chūzū chē yuè lái yuè nánle.) |
| David: True. |
| David: If you want to get a cab, you are going to need to be determined. |
| Echo: 要一狠心，就把别人的车抢了。(Yào yī hěnxīn, jiù bǎ biérén de chē qiǎngle.) |
| David: Yes, and it’s not just determined, it’s also, you know, certain ruthlessness. |
| Echo: 对，有一点。 (Duì, yǒu yīdiǎn.) |
| Echo: 一狠心 (Yī hěnxīn) |
| David: And that literally means “one violent heart.” |
| Echo: 一狠心 (Yī hěnxīn) |
| David: Right. So when you see the opportunity, you gotta leap at it. |
| Echo: 没错，特别在坐出租车的时候，抢出租车的时候。 (Méi cuò, tèbié zài zuò chūzū chē de shíhòu, qiǎng chūzū chē de shíhòu.) |
| David: Yes and with that, let’s go to our grammar section. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| David: Echo, what are we talking about today? |
| Echo: 今天我们讲的这个，在中文里是有一点难度的 (Jīntiān wǒmen jiǎng de zhège, zài zhōngwén lǐ shì yǒu yīdiǎn nándù de) - 象声词 (Xiàngshēngcí)。 |
| David: The word itself sounds difficult. What’s that? |
| Echo: 象声词 (Xiàngshēngcí) |
| David: So it’s like a sound word. |
| Echo: 对，好像的象，声音的声，词汇的词。 (Duì, hǎoxiàng de xiàng, shēngyīn de shēng, cíhuì de cí.) |
| David: Well, the English word there is onomatopoeia. |
| Echo: 对。 (Duì.) |
| David: So, I think, I think English is more difficult. |
| Echo: 对。我觉得在英文里也有象声词，对不对。 (Duì. Wǒ juédé zài yīngwén lǐ yěyǒu xiàngshēngcí, duì bùduì.) |
| David: Yeah, yeah, yeah. |
| Echo: 不同语言的象声词不一样。(Bùtóng yǔyán de xiàngshēngcí bù yīyàng.) |
| David: And Chinese ones are a bit more fun when they make four characters like the one we heard in our dialogue. |
| Echo: 没错。乌泱乌泱。(Méi cuò. Wū yāng wū yāng.) |
| David: Which means “crowded.” |
| Echo: 对，就人很多。(Duì, jiù rén hěnduō.) 乌泱乌泱。(Wū yāng wū yāng.) |
| David: Like a big crowd. |
| Echo: Mmm. |
| David: So it’s like the sound of, sound of people bustling about. |
| Echo: 差不多。还有那个气。(Chàbùduō. Hái yǒu nàgè qì.) |
| David: It’s the sound of Chinese people bustling back and forth. I don’t think I’ve heard this back home. |
| Echo: 我们举个例子，国庆节的时候广场上的人乌泱乌泱的。 (Guóqìng jié de shíhòu guǎngchǎng shàng de rén wū yāng wū yāng de.) |
| David: Right. On the national holidays, the people in the square are 乌泱乌泱的 (wū yāng wū yāng de). |
| David: There’s another one which is the sound of thunder. |
| Echo: 雷声是轰隆轰隆的。 (Léi shēng shì hōnglóng hōnglóng de.) |
| David: Mmm. |
| Echo: 轰隆轰隆的。 (Hōnglóng hōnglóng de.) |
| Echo: 轰隆轰隆，打雷了。 (Hōnglóng hōnglóng, dǎléile.) |
| David: I don’t think it sounds like thunder. It’s 轰隆 (Hōnglóng)? |
| Echo: 对，我们中文来说是的，中国人就很像，轰隆轰隆。 (Duì, wǒmen zhōngwén lái shuō shì de, zhōngguó rén jiù hěn xiàng, hōnglóng hōnglóng.) |
| David: Okay, it’s the crushing sounds of thunder. We’ve also got another one for the sound of fireworks. |
| Echo: 对，鞭炮的声音是噼里啪啦的。 (Duì, biānpào de shēngyīn shì pīlipālā de.) |
| David: Yes. |
| Echo: 噼里啪啦 (pīlipālā) |
| Echo: 好像什么都在爆炸一样，噼里啪啦。但又不是那种炸弹的爆炸，就是鞭炮的爆炸。 (Hǎoxiàng shénme dōu zài bàozhà yīyàng, pīlipālā. Dàn yòu bùshì nà zhǒng zhàdàn de bàozhà, jiùshì biānpào de bàozhà.) |
| David: Okay. So, we have three advanced onomatopoeia to date. First… |
| Echo: 乌泱乌泱。(Wū yāng wū yāng.) |
| David: Then… |
| Echo: 轰隆轰隆。 (Hōnglóng hōnglóng.) |
| David: And… |
| Echo: 噼里啪啦 (pīlipālā) |
| David: And if you throw this in the conversation, it’s gonna sound really good. |
| Echo: 肯定的。(Kěndìng de.) |
| David: Yes, Echo is gonna be like, “That’s my student.” |
| Echo: 没错。(Méi cuò.) 而且是我的好学生。(Érqiě shì wǒ de hào xuéshēng.) |
| David: Yes and when they ask where you learned Chinese, you tell them ChineseClass101.com. |
| Echo: 没错。(Méi cuò.) |
| David: We’re almost done, but we’re gonna give you one more and that is the sound of things crashing into water. |
| Echo: 对，这个只有两个字，容易点儿 (Duì, zhège zhǐyǒu liǎng gè zì, róngyì diǎn er) - 扑通 (Pūtōng) |
| David: The sound of something crashing into the water. |
| Echo: 扑通 (Pūtōng) |
| David: I think it makes sense. It does sound like you’ve dropped something in the water. |
| Echo: 对呀，扑通 (Duì ya, pūtōng)。 |
| Echo: 比如说，他扑通一下跳进水里去了。(Bǐrú shuō, Tā pūtōng yīxià tiào jìn shuǐ lǐ qùle.) |
| David: He 扑通 (Pūtōng) a bit and jumped into the water. There’s another one, though, too. |
| Echo: 也是这个扑通，你可以把它用在你的心跳上。(Yěshì zhège pūtōng, nǐ kěyǐ bǎ tā yòng zài nǐ de xīntiào shàng.) |
| Echo: 比如说，他的心在扑通扑通地跳。(Bǐrú shuō, tā de xīn zài pūtōng pūtōng de tiào.) |
| David: Yes. It means someone’s heart is beating loudly. |
| Echo: 对，扑通扑通地跳。(Duì, pūtōng pūtōng de tiào) |
| David: So, for onomatopoeia, and, Echo, the word for onomatopoeia again? |
| Echo: 象声词 (Xiàngshēngcí) |
| David: So, armed with these, you can now go out into the world and cause chaos, or at least, adequately describe the strange sounds of China. |
| Echo: 对，如果你们有什么问题，或者有什么象声词你们想知道，想了解的，都可以给我们在网上上留言。(Duì, rúguǒ nǐmen yǒu shé me wèntí, huòzhě yǒu shé me xiàngshēngcí nǐmen xiǎng zhīdào, xiǎng liǎojiě de, dōu kěyǐ gěi wǒmen zài wǎngshàng shàng liúyán.) |
| David: Yes. Our email address is also contactus@ChineseClass101.com. |
| Echo: 没错。(Méi cuò.) |
| David: And if you have any questions about the content, we really do encourage you to check out the PDFs because we prepared them for you to answer your questions. |
Outro |
| David: That’s it. We are done for today. So, come check us out and we look forward to hearing from you. |
| Echo: 我们下次见吧。(Wǒmen xià cì jiàn ba.) Bye-bye! |
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