Tag: chinese for

Lesson 042 What’s Your Nationality?

 M: Pengyoumen, huanying dao Xianzai Xue Hanyu. Wo shi ML
S: Wo shi Stuart. Let’s not waste time, wo men bu yao langfei shijian.
M: yi er san, kaishi!
S: And we kaishi with the your homework, nimen de gongke.
M: Yes, you should have been speaking loudly to yourself in Chinese for at least 15 minutes.
S: Now, we’ll ask you, 他, or 他们，是哪国人? Ta, or tamen, shi nei guo ren?
M: And you answer, ‘American’. 准备，get ready, zhunbai. Kaishi.
S: Ta shi ne guo ren?
M: Dui le! Ta shi meiguo ren. Ta shi meiguo ren.
S: Now answer, New Zealanders. Tamen shi nei guo ren?
M: Hen hao! Tamen shi Xinxilan ren. Tamen shi Xinxilan ren.
S: Now, British. Ta shi nei guo ren?
M: Dui le! Ta shi Yingguo ren. Ta shi Yingguo ren.
S: Now, Aussies. Tamen shi nei guo ren?
M: Tamen shi Aodaliya ren. Tamen shi Aodaliya ren.
S: Too easy, 太容易, tai rong yi. So try this. Three are Irish, two are Canadians. Tamen shi neiguo ren?
M: Dui le, tai hao le! 三个是爱尔兰人，两个是加拿大人. San ge shi Aierlan ren. Liang ge shi Jianada ren.
S: Refreshed after that long break, here we go again. If you want to use a classifier for people that is a bit formal, you can use 位，wei WEI wei, instead of ge. Let’s try it, again, three Irish, two Canadians. Tamen shi nei guo ren?
M: 三位是爱尔兰人，两位是加拿大人. San wei shi Aierlan ren. Liang wei shi Jianada ren.
S: Pretty good! Try using wei again, but this time it’s ‘two New Zealanders, four Americans’. Tamen shi nei guo ren?
M: 两位是新西兰人，四位是美国人. Liang wei shi Xinxilan ren, si wei shi Meiguo ren.
S: 再来一次，once again, zai lai yi ci. This time all on your own, then ML will say it with you. Tamen shi nei guo ren?
M: ….两位是新西兰人，四位是美国人. Liang wei shi Xinxilan ren, si wei shi Meiguo ren.
S: Tai hao le! You’re all so clever. 你们都这么聪明, nimen dou zheme congming! Agree ML? 你同意吗?

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Lesson 030 I’m Waiting for A Friend.

  S: 朋友们,你们好! 我是Stuart.
M: Wo shi ML. 欢迎来到Learn Chinese Now. Let’s not waste time. 我们不要浪费时间. women bu yao langfei shijian. Repeat everything, and, yi er san. Kaishi!
S: Now listen for the Chinese for ‘tell’ and ‘friends’.
M: Stuart, please tell our friends what time it is. 请告诉我们的朋友们, 现在是几点钟. Qing gaosu women de pengyoumen xianzai shi jidian zhong.
S: 朋友们,现在是六点. Pengyoumen, xianzai shi liu dian.
M: Please tell our friends where we are now. 请告诉我们的朋友们现在我们在哪儿.
S: 朋友们，现在我们在我的房间. Pengyoumen, xianzai women zai wo de fangjian.
M: We’re waiting for a friend. 我们在等一个朋友. Women zai deng yi ge pengyou.
S: Then we’ll go to the bar. 然后我们去酒吧。Ranhou women qu jiuba. Wo hen gaoxing.
M: Ok, Stuart, first we have to check the new words.
S: Ok. Let’s not waste time. 我们不要浪费时间
M: women bu yao langfei shijian. Bu yao, literally ‘not want’, bu yao. But it actually means “don’t”. Langfei LANGFEI langfei, to ‘waste’. Shijian SHIJIAN shijian, is ‘time’.
S: So, pengyoumen, try to say, with no help from us, ‘waste time’. … Dui le, langfei shijian. Langfei shijian.
M: Now try, let’s not waste time…….. Hen hao. Women bu yao lang fei shijian. 再来一次. Once again. Zai lai yi ci. Women bu yao lang fei shijian.
S: And did you catch how we say ‘friends’? Right. Pengyoumen, pengyoumen.
M: Now, if ‘we’ is women, and ‘I’ is wo, if ‘they’ is tamen, and ‘he’ or ‘she’ is ta, and if pengyoumen means ‘friends’, then how do we say ‘friend’? Right, pengyou, PENGYOU, pengyou, 2nd tone, 3rd tone, pengyou. Say it, pengyou, pengyou.
S: Hen hao. Now, do you remember ML saying?
M: And we’re waiting for a friend. 我们在等一个朋友. Women zai deng yi ge pengyou.
S: And do you remember, way back in lesson 1, that we told you Chinese has lots of classifiers, like head of cattle, where ‘head’ is the classifier? And how we always say, one ge person, or three ge persons. By the way, you can also call classifiers ‘measure words’, same idea.
M: Well, we’ve already used ge. Remember 打个电话，make a phone call, da ge dianhua. Well, the ge here is the measure word for ‘phone call’.
S: Now listen again to ML say, ‘we’re waiting for a friend’.
M: 我们在等一个朋友. Women zai deng yi ge pengyou.
S: There’s the ge again. Can you guess how to say ‘three friends”?
M: Dui le. 三个朋友. San ge pengyou.
S: And four friends?
M: Right. 四个朋友,si ge pengyou.
S: Five friends.
M: 五个朋友 wu ge pengyou.
S: Enough, enough! 够了,够了! That’s enough friends.
M: So, pengyoumen, see you tomorrow. 明天见.
S: Mingtian jian

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American Boy, Clay Garner, Becomes China's Justin 美国男孩成中国比伯

Clay Garner (or Gaoshan in Chinese) might be China’s answer to Justin Bieber. Through the powers of social media, the 18-year-old high school student has become famous among Chinese netizens after he posted homemade videos of himself singing Chinese pop songs on Youku. The videos have captured millions of views and the amateur musician has gained close to 30,000 Weibo followers (that number is still growing!). He has also appeared on a bunch of media, including Beijing TV and 56.com.

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