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 S: 大家好！Is everybody ok? Dajia hao. Huanying, Welcome to LCN. Wo shi S., I’m S, and …..
M: Wo shi ML.
S: Are all our listeners repeating all the Chinese, ML?
M: I’m sure they are.
S: 那好。That’s good. Nà hǎo. Nà hǎo. Two questions, ML, what will we learn today, and where are we?
M: We’ll learn one way of ASKING A QUESTION; how to say VERY, and NOT, as in not good. We’ll also learn to say WE or US, YOU (plural), and HE or SHE, and THEY, or THEM. And where are we? We are still at the airport.
S: Been here for days! ML asks me a question. Try to guess the meaning.
M: Stuart, 你累吗？nǐ lèi ma?
S: 是的，我很累. Shi de, wǒ lèi.
M: Guessed the meaning? Listen to how TIRED Stuart is. 你累吗?
S: 是的，我很累.
M: Nǐ, You. Lèi LEI lèi. lei, of course means tired. Ni lei, you tired. Put a little ma MA ma on the end, and you have a question. 你累吗?
S: shi de, wo hen lei! Shi de, wo hen lei.
M: shide, shide, at the beginning of a sentence, means right or yes. wǒWO wǒ, wǒ means I, or me. Wǒ. Wǒ hěn lèi. I’m very tired. Wǒ hěn lèi. Wǒ hěn lèi. Hěn HEN hěn, means very. Like in hěn hao, very good. Wo hen lei. I’m very tired.
M: Stuart, ni lei ma?
S: 是的，我很累。
M: And now we’re both tired.
S/M 我们很累。
M: Say it, everybody. Wǒ men hěn lèi. Wǒ men hěn lèi.
S: So we need a few seconds break.
S: Ok, we’ve recovered. We’re not tired now.
M: 我们不累。We are not tired. Say it everybody. Wǒ men bú lèi.
S: Bù BU bù, means not, bú lèi. Not tired.
M: Stuart, and you people at home, say, bu4 lei4. Both words in the 4th tone. Bù lèi
S: Ok. Bù lèi.
M: Notice anything?
S: Kind of difficult to pronounce. Bú lèi, bú lei, 2nd tone then 4th tone is much easier.
M: You’re right. The BU sound bu , meaning not, is really a 4th tone word. But when it’s in front of another 4th tone word, it changes to the 2nd tone.
S: Agreed. Listen to the difference between Not Tired, and Not Good. Don’t forget to repeat them.
M: Bú lèi, bú lèi. Bù hǎo, bù hǎo.
S: Get it? 很好。Very good. Actually, a change of tone to make something easier to pronounce is quite common in Chinese. It comes naturally. For example, 你 ni， ‘you’ is third tone. But I bet none of you have been saying nǐ hǎo. It’s awkward. Like us, you’ve been saying nǐhǎo – the nǐ changes to 2nd tone. As I said, changes like this come naturally. Just mimic us, and you’ll do fine.
M: 对 duì, correct. But now maybe you at home are tired. I’ll ask you: Nǐ lèi ma? Nǐ lèi ma?
S: I heard, ‘wǒ hěn lèi. wo hen lei’.
M: So did I. So let’s call it a day.
S: 我不同意！wǒ bù tóng yì! I disagree! Wǒ bù tóng yì!
M: Nǐ bù tong yì?! Wǒ hěn shēng qì! I’m very angry! 我很生气！
S: Tian na! Ta hen sheng qi. Hǎo, wǒ tong yì. Ok, I agree.
M: So, till the next lesson, zaijian.
S: zaijian.