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Lesson 021 Who Are You Looking for?

 S: Ni hao! 现在学汉语。Woshi S.
M: Woshi ML. Well, Stuart, we have a few minutes before we get to your bin’guan.
S: 那好。I’ll phone Mary again. Wǒ zài dǎ gè diànhuà gěi Mǎlì. What’s her number? Tā de diànhuàhàomǎ shì duōshǎo? Tā de diànhuà hàomǎ shì duōshǎo?
M: Ta de dianhua haoma shi 4 5 6 7, sì wǔ liù qī. Ta de dianhua haoma shi 4 5 6 7, sì wǔ liù qī.
S: Xiexie. Si wu liu qi.
M: Repeat everything with us. Try to guess the meaning.
VOICE. Wéi. wéi 您找谁？nín zhǎo shéi?
S: Wǒ zhǎo Mǎlì. Wo zhao Mali.
V: 请等一等. Qǐng děng yī děng. Mali, diànhuà!
MY: 是谁呀? Shì shéi ya?
V: 不知道，wǒ bù zhīdào. Wo bu zhidao.
MY: Wéi. 您好.您是哪位? Nín shì nǎ wèi?
S: 我是 Stuart.
M: What was all that about? Let’s find out.
VOICE: Wéi. 您找谁？nín zhǎo shéi?
S: Wo zhao Mali.
M: zhǎo shéi? Zhǎo ZHAO zhǎo, to ‘look for’. Shéi SHEI shéi, is ‘who’. Zhǎo shéi? ‘Looking for who?’ Nín zhǎo shéi? Nín NIN NIN nín, is the polite form of nǐ. Nín is always singular. We never say ‘nínmen’, plural ‘you’ is always nǐmen.
S: To be polite, use nín instead of nǐ when talking to strangers, important people, or someone you want to borrow money from. For friends and kids, always use nǐ. To continue ….
V: 请等一等. Qǐng děng yī děng. Mali, diànhuà!
M: qǐng děng yī děng. děng DENG DENG děng, is to ‘wait’. When saying ‘ wait’, we always repeat it, děng yi děng. Please wait, qǐng děng yi děng. Try it, qing deng yi deng, qing deng yi deng. Now ….
MY: 是谁呀? shéi ya?
V: 不知道，wǒ bù zhīdào.
M: shì shéi, literally, ‘is who’. The ‘ya’ here on the end of the sentence helps to form a question. So the whole sentence means, ‘who is it?’ Try it: shì shéi ya, shi shei ya?
V: wo bu zhidao.
M: Wo bu zhidao. Stuart says this all the time! It means, ‘I don’t know’.
S: That’s not true! I do know. Wo zhidao. Wo zhidao.
M: zhī dào ZHI DAO zhidao, zhidao. Wo zhidao, I know. Bù zhidao, don’t know.
V: wo bu zhidao.
M: Mary takes the phone.
MY: Wéi. 您好. 您是哪位. Nín shì nǎ wèi?
S: 我是 Stuart.
M: nǎ wèi? NA WEI na wei, like ‘shéi’, means ‘who?’, na wei. Nin shi na wei? You are who? Or, ‘who is this?’ Nin shi na wei? It means the same as ‘nǐ shì shei?’, but ‘nǎ wèi’ is more polite than ‘shéi’, so, on the phone, say..
MY: ‘nín shì nǎ wèi?’ ‘nín shì nǎ wèi?’
S: Wo shi Stuart.
M: And we’ll finish the telephone call next lesson.
S: See you next lesson.
M: zaijian.

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Daily Figurative Slangs 君子博学于文

Classic Pieces (7) – The Analects 【原文选段之十六】 君子博学于文 子曰：“君子博学于文，约之于礼，亦可以弗畔矣夫。” 【今译】 孔子说： “君子广泛地学习经典，用礼来约束自己，就不会背离大道了。” 【参考译文】 Confucius said ，“A gentleman who studies the

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Lesson 022 Can You Speak Chinese Now?

 M: Ni hao! 现在学汉语。Now learn Hanyu, with Learn Chinese Now! Woshi ML.
S: Woshi Stuart.
M: And Stuart is using my shouji to talk with Mary. She’s just picked up the phone.
MY: Who is this? 您是哪位? Nín shì nǎwèi?
S: Wǒ shì Stuart.
M: Now listen to and repeat each bit of the rest of their chat. Try to guess the meaning. I’ll give you three clues: yì diándiǎn means ‘a little’, ‘zài lù shang’ means ‘on the road’, and sān diǎn means ‘ 3 o’clock’. Mary is a bit surprised, because it seems Stuart can speak Chinese now.
MY: Stuart,现在你会说汉语了吗? Xiànzài nǐ huì shuō hànyǔ le ma?
S: Yī diǎn diǎn. Yī diǎn diǎn. Wǒ zhǐ huì shuō yī diǎn diǎn. Wǒ zhǐ huì shuō yī diǎn diǎn.
MY: Tài hǎo le! Tài hǎo le! 你在哪儿？Nǐ zài nǎr?
S: 我和ML在路上。Wǒ hé Manli zài lù shang. Wǒmen zài lù shàng. Women qu yǒuyì bin’guan. Women qu yǒuyì bin’guan.
MY: 你们几点到? Nǐmen jǐdiǎn dào?
S: 三点. sān diǎn. sān diǎn zhōng.
M: Right! Let’s learn the new stuff. Mary said:
MY: Stuart! xiànzài nǐ huì shuō hànyǔ le ma?
M: nǐ huì shuō hànyǔ. nǐ huì, huìHUI huì, means ‘can’, ‘able to’. Nǐ huì shuō. shuō SHUO shuo, means ‘speak’. Nǐ huì shuō hànyǔ. Now, you at home try to say, ‘I can speak Chinese’. ….. Hěnhǎo. I can speak Chinese, wǒ huì shuō hànyǔ. wǒ huì shuō hànyǔ. Now, back to what Mary said.
MY: xiànzài nǐ huì shuō hànyǔ le ma?
M: huì shuō hànyǔ le ma? The little ‘le’ indicates that something has been achieved. Here, it’s learning Chinese. The ‘ma’ makes it a question, albeit a rhetorical question. Modest Stuart replied:
S: Yī diǎn diǎn.
M: Yi diandian. A little. YI DIAN DIAN. Yi diandian.
S: Wǒ zhǐ huì shuō yī diǎn diǎn. I only can speak a little.
M: zhǐ, ZHI, third tone, means only. So all together, the whole sentence.
S: Wo zhi hui shuo yi diandian. Wo zhi hui shuo yi diandian.
M: Now Mary asks, ‘where are you?’
MY: 你在哪儿？
S: 我和ML在路上。
M: Wǒmen zài lù shàng. lù LU lù, means ‘road’. Shàng SHANG shàng, means ‘on’. ‘We’re on the road’ , Women zai lu shang. Zai lu shang.
S: Going to the Friendship Hotel.
M: qù yǎuyī bin’guan. qù yǒuyī bin’guan.
MY: 你们几点钟到?
M: jídiǎnzhōng dao? jídiǎn, JI DIAN jídiǎn, is ‘what time?’, jidian. Add zhong ZHONG zhong, and we get ‘jidian zhong, which means exactly the same. jídiǎn, jídiǎn zhōng, yī yàng. Dào is ‘to arrive’. So what does ‘nǐmen jídiǎn zhōng dào’ mean? Right, ‘what time will you arrive?’
S: Sān diǎn. Sān diǎn zhōng.
M: Guess what ‘sān diǎn zhōng’ means. Remember 1 2 3, yī èr sān. Right, san dian zhong is ‘ o’clock’.
S: And sān diǎn means the same. Sān diǎn, sān diǎn zhōng, yi yang.
M: Which is a good time to finish today’s lesson. zaijian.
 

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