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Lesson 050 I Want to Eat Fish.

 M: Dajia hao. Huan ying ni dao Xianzai Xue Hanyu. Wo shi ML.
S: Nimen hao, wo shi Stuart. First, Say, ‘I fancy eating meat’.
M: Hen hao. Wo xiang chi rou. Wo xiang chi rou.
S: Now, ‘do you fancy fish?’
M: Dui le. 你想吃鱼吗, ni xiang chi yu ma?
S: And ‘menu’ is? mei cuo. Caidan, caidan.
M: Hao. Zhe shi caidan. Wo kan yi kan.
S: Now we’ll order some food. 现在我们点菜, xianzai women dian cai.
M: Only the two of us, 只有我们两个人, zhi you women liang ge ren.
S: So, suoyi, don’t order too much. 所以, 不要点太多, suo yi, bu yao dian tai duo.
M: Wo tong yi. I fancy a cold dish 一个凉菜, yi ge liang cai; beef, 牛肉niurou; pork, 猪肉zhurou; mutton 羊肉 yangrou; chicken 鸡肉jirou; fish 鱼yu; and two veggie dishes; 和两个青菜, he liang ge qing cai.
S: 8 dishes! Is 8 dishes enough? 八个菜够吗, ba ge cai gou ma?
M: 八个菜。我想够了, ba ge cai, wo xiang gou le. I think that’s enough.
S: Oh dear, I’ll never lose weight in China!
M: Now to learn the new stuff.
S: Only the two of us, 只有我们两个人.
M: zhi you women liang ge ren. 只ZHI zhi, means ‘only’ zhi. 有 YOU you, here means ‘is’ or ‘are’. 只有 there’s only; women liang ge ren, we two people. Zhi you women liang ge ren, there’s only two of us. Say it, zhi you women liang ge ren. Zai lai yi ci: zhi you women liang ge ren.
S: 所以, 不要点太多. 所以 SUO YI suoyi, is ‘therefore’, or ‘so’, suo yi. 不要 bu yao, ‘don’t’. dian tai duo, order too much. So don’t order too much. Suo yi, bu yao dian tai duo.
S: Now let’s quickly learn some animals. First, a member of the cattle family is 牛NIU niu. Niu. Say mooo, then niu. Good. Help to remember it.
M: And ‘rou’, ROU, rou, is meat, 肉。So niu2rou4, literally ‘cattle meat’ is – of course beef. Niúròu, 牛肉。
S: 猪 ZHU zhu is ‘pig’. So pork is?
M: Duile, zhurou, zhu rou.
S: 羊 YANG yang is sheep. So what is mutton? Right, Yangrou, yangrou.
M: 鸡 JI ji, is a chicken. The meat is? Yes, ji rou, ji rou.
S: And 青QING, 1st tone, qing, means ‘green’. Qing cai, green leafy veggies. Qing cai.
M: Yi ge liang cai; niurou; zhurou; yangrou; jirou; yu; he liang ge qing cai.
S: Ba ge cai gou ma?
M: Ba ge cai, wo xiang gou le.
S: Wo xiang tai duo le! Anyway, we’ll see next lesson.
M: Till then, zai jian.

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Chinese language vocabulary 汉语词汇 OMG! Chinese Buzzwords! (32)

炒冷饭(chǎo lěng fàn)
Rehash, repeat old content, flogging a dead horse

Shanghai locals are mostly rice eaters. So, if there’s any leftover cooked rice, they tend to 炒冷饭, meaning to “stir-fry the cold rice,” usually by adding a spoon of edible oil, a pinch of minced green onion or even an egg. As a result, 炒冷饭 is a common meal among many Shanghainese.

But when the phrase is used figuratively, it means to rehash old materials, repeat old content or reproduce an old idea. It’s like flogging a dead horse or putting old wine in a new bottle in English.

So, this colloquial term has a connotation of cliché, banality, bromide and lack of excitement.
Despite the fact that many Shanghainese do eat 炒冷饭 from time to time, few like it in speeches and writing. Locals also tend to use a vulgar alternative to express their dislike of this type of 炒冷饭: “Why do you always eat today’s fresh rice, but fart yesterday’s gas?”

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Never make these mistakes in Chinese 54

          Wǒ wèn tā qù kàn diànyǐnɡ, tā lìkè jiù dāyìnɡ le.
False:  我问他去看电影，他立刻就答应了。
          Wǒ qǐnɡ tā qù kàn diànyǐnɡ, tā lìkè jiù dāyìnɡ le.
True:  我请他去看电影，他立刻就答应了。

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Lesson 046 Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow.

 M: Dajia hao. Huan ying dao Xianzai Xue Hanyu. Wo shi ML.
S: Nimen hao, wo shi S. Now to study hard, haohao xuexi. Repeat everything.
M: Stuart, what lesson do we learn today? 今天我们学第几课, jin tian women xue di ji ke?
S: 今天我们学第四十六课xue di si shi liu ke.
M: 没错, not wrong, mei cuo! Lesson 46, di si shi liu ke.
S: Hey, this is a good time so learn to say ‘yesterday’ and ‘tomorrow’.
M: Hao zhuyi.
S: Try to pick out ‘yesterday’ and ‘tomorrow’. Remember, the little le after a verb makes it past tense.
M: 昨天我们学了第四十五课, zuo tian women xue le di si shi wu ke.
S: 今天我们学第四十六课, jin tian women xue di si shi liu ke.
M: 明天我们学第四十七课, ming tian women xue di si shi qi ke.
S: 你们听见了吗? Did you hear it? Nimen ting jian le ma?
M: Heard it! Ting jian le. ‘Yesterday’ is 昨天 ZUO TIAN zuo tian, 2nd tone, 1st tone, zuo tian.
S: Now say, ‘yesterday we learnt’, …… Dui le. Zuo tian women xue le.
M: Now say, ‘lesson 45’. …. Dui le. Di si shi wu ke. Di si shi wu ke.
S: Now try, ‘yesterday we learnt lesson 45’.
M: Dui le. Zuo tian women xue le di si shi wu ke. Zuo tian women xue le di si shi wu ke.
S: Now say, ‘today we learn lesson 46’ ….. Dui le, jin tian women xue di si shi liu ke.
M: And ‘tomorrow’, 明天 MING TIAN ming tian, 2nd tone 1st tone, ming tian. Try it, ming tian, ming tian.
S: Now say, ‘tomorrow we learn lesson 47’. …..
M: Feichang hao! 明天我们学第四十七课, ming tian women xue di si shi qi ke.
S: Wow, that was a lot of work! Breaktime.
S: Now, where were we? Time to check if you did your gongke.
M: We asked you to say out loud all the variations you can think of, ta, tamen, wo, women, ‘like’ and don’t like’, and zhongcan and xican.
S: For example, 我们喜欢中餐, women xihuan zhongcan.
M: Or, 他不喜欢西餐, ta bu xihuan xican.
S: We also asked you to practice, ‘what restaurant are we/you/ they etc. going to?’
M: Like, 我们去哪个餐馆, women qu nei ge canguan?
S: Or, 你去什么餐馆? Ni qu shenme canguan?
M: The shenme is the same shenme as in 什么意思？ What meaning? Shenme yisi?
S: By the way, it’s very important that you make up and say these homework sentences. You’ll learn and remember much better than if you don’t.
M: Dui le. We must hao hao xue xi.
S: And, before we go, ‘yesterday’?
M: zuo tian.
S: Today.
M: jin tian.
S: Tomorrow.
M: ming tian.
S: And “Ming Tian Jian”! See you tomorrow.

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