Tag: Dialogue

 M: 大家好！我是ML!
S: dajia hao! Wo shi Stuart.
M: Pencil and paper ready? Hao! 请，Please, qǐng, repeat the Chinese out loud with us.
S: First some tone practice. Remember the four tones, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th.
M: flat, up, down and up, down. Let’s try ba BA BA ba. Ready, bā bá bǎ bà. Again, bā bá bǎ bà. 很好，非常好。
S: ML, let’s try something else. Instead of 1st tone to 4th, why not 4th to 1st. You do it with ba.
M: 没问题，no problem, mei wenti. Here goes. Bà bǎ bá bā. All together, bà bǎ bá bā. Once more, bà bǎ bá bā.
S: Great. That calls for a break! Then maybe we leave this jichang!
M: At last we’re going to leave the 机场。But, 天啊，too much luggage! Stuart, 你的行李太多了! Ni de xingli tai duo!
S: 是的，我的行李太多了! wode xingli tai duo le!
M: Ni de xingli tai duo le. Tài TAI tài, means “too”, as in ‘too much’. Duo DUO, duō, means many or much. Tài duō, ‘too many’, or ‘too much’. Xingli tai duo le.
S: The little LE on the end doesn’t have any real meaning. It’s just a colloquial habit.
M：Right. Stuart, 你的行李太多了! Ni de xingli tai duo le!
S: 没问题，no problem, mei wenti. 我来拿, wo lai na. I’ll get it. Wo lai na. OOH! 太重了！tai zhong le! Wo de xingli tai zhong le.
M: Guessed what tai zhong means? 对了，dui le. Too heavy, tai zhong. Zhòng ZHONG zhong, 4th tone, zhòng. 他的行李太重了. His luggage is too heavy. Ta de xingli tai zhong le.
M: So much luggage! Now, you guys at home, follow and repeat this short dialogue. Stuart, 你的行李太多了. Ni de xingli tai duo le.
S: Wo tongyi. 我的行李太多了. Wode xingli tài duo le.
M: 你的行李也太重了。 Ni de xingli yě tai zhong.
S: Shide, wo de xingli ye tai zhong. Wo de xingli ye tai zhong.
M: Did you hear a new word? Listen. Ni de xingli tai duo le. Ni de xingli yě tai zhong le. I’m sure you did. It’s yě YE ye, 3rd tone, yě. Can you guess what it means? A clue. Too much luggage, and also too heavy. Guessed? Right. Yě yě means ‘also, or ‘as well’.
S: So, can you say, ‘Ok, you go, and I’ll also go’. Remember how to say ‘go’? Right, zǒu ZOU zǒu, or qù QU qù. So try to say ‘Ok, you go, and I’ll also go’. …..
M: Did you say，Hao, ni zou, wo ye zou. Or, Hao, ni qu, wo ye qu. Hen hao!
S: Ok, ML, it’s time for us to go now. 我们也走。We’ll also go. So, until next time, Zai jian.
M: Zai jian.

 M: Hi everybody, dajia hao!
S: dajia hao! All together.
S/M: 大家好！
S: ML, 今天, today, jīntiān, we really will leave the airport.
M: Hao zhúyi. Good idea. Hao zhúyi. Wo tongyi. I agree, wo tongyi.
S: 我们去哪儿?
M: 我们去宾馆。Women qù bīnguǎn. Women qu ni de bin’guan.
S: na hao. Women qu wo de bin’guan. Good, we’re going to my hotel. Women qu wo de bin’guan.
M: Did you hear the words for GO and HOTEL? 去QU QU qù. To go. Try it, qù qù qù. We don’t have the u sound in English. It’s like the u of tu in French.
S: To make this sound, remember how your grandmother used to pucker her lips to kiss you. Do the same and try to say “u”.
M: Try it u u u. Now qu qu qu. Remember qù to go, is 4th tone. Qù.
S: And notice that in pinyin Q is pronounced like a hard, short 期. Listen, 去，qù. Hao! Back to the dialogue. Don’t worry, we’ll soon learn a word for HOTEL.
S: 我们去哪儿?
M: 我们去你的宾馆。
S: Women qu wo de bin’guan. Wode bin’guan. What does Binguan mean? 宾馆是什么意思?
M：宾馆是什么意思？shì SHI, to be, is. Shenme SHENME, shén me. Shenme means ‘what’. Yisi, yi si, means ‘meaning’. Shenme yisi? What meaning? Shenme yisi.
S: So, Bin’guan shi shenme yisi? What does bin’guan mean?
M: I’ll give you a clue. Bīn BIN BIN bīn, here means ‘guest’. Guǎn GUAN, guǎn, ‘house’, or ‘hall’. Guess what binguan means? Dui le, guesthouse, or hotel. Binguan.
S: Another word for ‘hotel’ is ‘饭店’, fandian. Fàn FAN fàn, means rice. diàn DIAN DIAN diàn, means shop, or inn, that’s I-N-N, not I-N. Fandian, hotel. It also means restaurant. Let’s have a break, then practice all this.
M: 我同意. I agree, wo tongyi.
S: Now, let’s practice 去，to ‘go’, 哪儿, ‘where?’ and 什么意思。You people at home, answer with bin’guan or fandian.
M: Ready? 你去哪儿？ Ni qu nǎr?
S: Wo qu fandian. Wo qu fandian.
M: Nimen, nimen qu nǎr?
S: Women, women qu bin’guan. Women qu bin’guan.
M: Why don’t we add another place in here, Stuart?
S: Mei wenti, no problem, mei wenti.
M: Ok. 商店 shang SHANG SHANG shāng, means ‘business’. diàn DIAN diàn, meaning shop, like in fàndiàn. So, shangdian, shop. A question: Where is he going?
S: To the shop.
M:他去哪儿？ Ta qu nǎr?
S：Ta qu shangdian. Ta qu shangdian.
M: Tamen qu nar? Tamen qu nǎr?
S: Tamen qu shangdian. Tamen qu shangdian.
M: Stuart, ni qu nǎr?
S: Wo qu xishoujian. Wo qu xishoujian.
M: Good, then we can leave the 机场。
S: So now we can say zai jian.
M: See you next time.

 M: Huanying ni dao zhongguo lai. Welcome to China. Huanying ni dao zhongguo lai.
Huanying HUAN YING. huan, HUAN 1st tone. Yíng YING yíng, 2nd tone. Huanying means Welcome. Huanying ni, huanying ni, welcome you, or simply welcome.
S: Huanying ni dao zhongguo lai. Dao4 DAO dào here means to arrive, or reach. Dào, 4th tone, dào to arrive or reach.
M: And zhong ZHONG zhong, 1st tone means middle. Guó GUO guó, second tone, is country, or kingdom, so zhongguo, Middle Kingdom, or China.
S: And lái LAI lái is to come. 欢迎你到中国来 welcome to China. Say it everybody.
M: Huanying ni dao zhongguo lai, huanying ni dao zhongguo lai.
S: And xiè XIE XIE, xiè, meaning thanks, and always said twice. Xiexie, thanks.
(break)
M: Now for the short dialogue again, at natural speed. Stuart, 你好!
S: ni hao！
M: 欢迎你到中国来
S: 谢谢
M: 很好，very good. Now listen to and try to mimic this:. 欢迎你到 (pause) 北京 来. Huanying ni dao Beijing lai. No prizes for guessing what Beijing means. Běi BEI běi, 3rd tone, is north. Jīng JING jīng, hear the tone? 1st tone. Jīng. Remind our listeners of the tones again, Stuart.
S: 没问题，mei wenti, no problem! Mei wenti. Ready? Flat, rising, down and up, down!
M: So, jing1, right. 1st tone. And here jing means capital. Beijing – northern capital, referring to the capital of China, and where Stuart and I am right now. Now, let’s pretend we’re in another city. 欢迎你到 南京 来, huanying ni dao nanjing lai.
S: Nanjing. Nán NAN nán means south. Jing is capital. So, southern capital. Nanjing, another famous city in China.
M: But we don’t have time for all the cities in China. Time’s up.
S: We’ll finish by welcoming you all to China.
S/M: Huanying dao zhongguo lai! Zai jian.