Yajie: Perfect Chinese your way, in only five minutes a day. It’s nice to be here again. Welcome to Chinese Studio on China Radio International. I’m Yajie.
Cam: Hi, I’m Cam. 早上好 zǎoshang hǎo, yajie.
Yajie: 早上好！Last time we learned how to congratulate someone when he or she is celebrating a birthday. Cam, do you still remember how to say it in Chinese?
Cam: Yes, it’s祝你生日快乐！Happy Birthday!
Yajie: Well, today we’ll learn some new expressions used during the Spring Festival, which is considered to be the most important festival in China. First let’s check our key words of the day!
Category: Teaching & Examination
Lesson 021 I Wish You Good Health!
Yajie: Perfect Chinese your way, in only five minutes a day. Welcome to Chinese Studio. I’m Yajie.
Cam: Hi, everyone, I’m Cam. Yajie, have you bought a present yet for Louis? It’s his birthday tomorrow.
Yajie: No, not yet!
Cam: I got him something… but I need to learn how to say Happy Birthday in Chinese when I see him tomorrow.
Yajie: I’ll teach you. Today we can learn some expression of congratulations when somebody is celebrating a birthday. Let’s check Key Words of the Day.
************Key words of the day
Today we’ll expressions of congratulating someone when he/she is celebrating a birthday. 祝你生日快乐！Happy Birthday! 祝你生活幸福美满！祝你身体健康！ All in today’s Chinese Studio.
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Cam: In English we say happy birthday when attending a birthday party. How to say this in Chinese?
Yajie: We say “祝你生日快乐！”
Cam: 祝你生日快乐!
Yajie: Right. “祝你生日快乐！” Is how we would wish somebody a happy birthday. 祝你 is used to express good wishes, sometimes with the implication of “congratulating in advance”. 祝, zhù, the forth tone. It means offering good wishes. 你, means you. 祝你 together means I wish you….
Cam: 祝你 (zhù nǐ).
Yajie: 生日 is birthday. 生, shēng, the first tone. 生, to give birth to.
Cam: 生 (shēng). 日 (rì), we learned it during last week. It means the day, the forth tone. 日(rì). And 星期日(Xīngqī rì) is Sunday.
Yajie: Absolutely right! Well, Cam, you have a sound memory.
Cam: Xie xie.
Yajie: 快乐 means happy. 快, k-u-a-i, kuài, the fourth tone. 乐, l-e, lè, also the fourth tone. Together it’s快乐(kuài lè).
Cam: 快乐(kuài lè). 我很快乐 (wǒ hěn kuài lè)。I’m very happy. 你快乐吗？(nǐ kuài lèma?)
Yajie: 我也很快乐 (wǒ yě hěn kuài lè)。I’m happy too.
Lesson 020 Revision of Directions
Yajie: Perfect Chinese your way， in only five minutes a day. Welcome to Chinese Studio on China Radio International. I’m Yajie.
Cam: Good morning I’m Cam. We have reached the end of the week once again.
Yajie: Yep, so soon. It’s time for us to review some of the words and phrases we learned this past week. Let’s hear Sentences in the Week.
Lesson 019 Where Is My Room?
Yajie: Perfect Chinese your way, in only five minutes a day. Welcome to Chinese Studio. I’m Yajie.
Cam: Hi, everyone, I’m Cam. 早上好 zǎoshang hǎo, yajie.
Yajie: 早上好！Today we’ll learn how to ask directions, and look for someone. First let’s take a look at key words of the day!
Lesson 018 Expressions of the Directions in Chinese
Yajie: Perfect Chinese your way, in only five minutes a day. Welcome to Chinese Studio. Glad to have you with us again. I’m Yajie. 早上好.
Cam: And I’m Cam. 早上好(zǎoshang hǎo). What shall we learn today?
Yajie: Well, today we’ll continue learning directions. First let’s check keywords of the day!
***************Key words of the day
Today we’ll learn four words of directions, and they are: 前面，后面, 左边 右边。All in today’s Chinese Studio.
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Yajie: First let’s take a look at “前面” qiánmian, front. 前, the second tone. It means front or ahead. 面, the neutral tone. We can say: 在前面 which means “in the front ” or “in front of”.
Cam: 在前面 (zài qiánmian).
Yajie: 在 means “at”. Let’s look at an example. “老师在前面”, The teacher is in front.
Cam: 老师在前面 (lǎoshī zài qiánmian)
Yajie: Sometimes we can say 在something 的前面。For example: 我在你的前面, I’m in front of you.
Cam: 我在你的前面 (wǒ zài nǐ de qiánmian).
Yajie: And the opposite of 前面is 后面 hòumian. We can say 在后面 which means at the back.
Cam: hòumian.
Yajie: We also say 在something 的后面。For example: 我在你的后面, I’m behind you.
C: 我在你的后面 (wǒ zài nǐ de hòumian.)
Yajie: We already have 前面and后面, now let’s see the other two words: 左边 and右边. They are quite easy.
Cam: 左边(zuǒbian), 右边(yòubian).
Yajie: 左边 means the left side, zuǒbian. 左, third tone. 边has the neutral tone. So it’s左边(zuǒbian).
Cam: 左边(zuǒbian).
Yajie: 右边 means the right side, yòubian. 右, the forth tone.
Cam: yòubian.
Yajie: We can also say: 在左边means on the left;
Cam: 在左边(zài zuǒbian).
Yajie: 在右边 means on the right.
Cam:在右边. (zài yòubian.) Yajie在我的左边 (zài wǒ de zuǒbian.), yajie is on my left side.
Yajie: Well done, Cam. I think you’ve made great progress in learning Chinese!
Cam: Xie xie.
***************Key words reminder
Today we’ve learned four words of directions, and they are: 前面, 后面, 左边, 右边. All in today’s Chinese Studio.
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Yajie: OK, Maybe it’s confusing for you to learn so many new words a day. Now let’s take a quick review of what we’ve learned today: 前面 the front, 后面the back,
Cam: 前面(qianmian), 后面 (houmian).
Yajie: 左边 left side, and 右边 right side。
Cam: 左边 (zuobian), and 右边 (youbian).
Yajie: And also 在前面，in the front. 在后面，at the back.
Cam: 在前面(zai qianmian)，在后面(zai houmian).
Yajie: 在左边, on the left side; 在右边on the right side。
Cam: 在左边(zai zuobian)，在右边(zai youbian)。
Yajie:我在你的右边 (wǒ zài nǐ de yòoubian.),
Cam: And你在我的左边 (nǐ zài wǒ de zuǒbian.), yajie is on my left side.
Yajie: Right! Well, that’s it for today. Don’t forget you can win a gift by answering the question of the day in Chinese: Where is Beihai Park? Is it somewhere behind the Forbidden City, or in front of the Forbidden City?
Cam: Just make a sentence in pinyin, or the Chinese alphabet! You can send us questions or comments to Chinese@crifm.com. That’s Chinese@crifm.com. Or you can visit us on our website at en.chinabroadcast.cn. Click learn Chinese, where you can enjoy other free Chinese-learning programs.
Yajie: Well, class is over. 再见!
Cam: 再见!
(Written by Zhao Pingping)
Lesson 017 East, South, West and North
Cam: Perfect Chinese your way, in only five minutes a day. Welcome to Chinese Studio, I’m Cam..
Yajie: It’s a new week，and we are starting a brand new lesson. I’m Yajie.
Cam: What are we going to learn today?
Yajie: Well, we want to make sure that you don’t get lost in this vast country. So today we are going to talk about directions. Let’s check our key words of the day!
****************Key words of the day
Today we’ll learn four directions : 东边，南边，西边，北边, 日本在中国的东边, 泰国在中国的南边. All in today’s Chinese Studio.
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Cam: Knowing directions can be very important, especially in Beijing. How do you say “east”?
Yajie: It’s 东. Dōng, first tone.
Cam: dōng.
Yajie: In oral Chinese we usually say “东边”。“边”means side. Bian is said in the neutral tone. In common speech, some syllables are pronounced both light and short. Such a tone is called the neutral tone. So it’s “东边”, meaning the eastern side or the eastern direction, dōngbian.
Cam: dōngbian. OK, then how do you say “to the east”?
Yajie: It’s 在东边。For example, you can say:。Japan is to the east of China. 日本在中国的东边
Cam: 日本在中国的东边。(Rìběn zài Zhōngguó de dōngbian) OK, how do you say west in Chinese?
Yajie: It’s 西，xi, the first tone. Also西边, xībian. Here the pronunciation of 边 is the same as that of 东边.
Cam: xībian. And I can say 在西边？
Yajie: Yes, right. You can say 在西边, to the west.
Yajie: South is 南, nán ,second tone.
Cam: nán
Yajie: Yeah, nán. And we say, 南边nánbian。
Cam: nánbian and 在南边 (zài nánbian). To the south.
Yajie: Right, and you can say: 泰国在中国的南边。Thailand is to the south of China.
Cam: 泰国在中国的南边(Thaiguo zai Zhongguo de nanbian.) We have north left now. What’s “north” in Chinese?
Yajie: North is 北，běi third tone. That’s the 北of 北京 which means capital in the north. And the pronunciation is similar to that of the English word “bay”, the third tone, běi.
Cam: OK, běi ,and also 北边 and 在北边?
Yajie: Yeah 北边. Here边also has the neutral tone. 北边. the northern part and 在北边,to the north.
****************Key words Reminder
东边，南边，西边，北边, 日本在中国的东边, 泰国在中国的南边. All in today’s Chinese Studio.
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Yajie: OK, let’s take a quick review of what we’ve learned today. What’s east?
Cam:东, the first tone.
Yajie: west?
Cam:西
Yajie: South?
Cam: 南
Yajie: And north?
Cam:北
Yajie:北。And all together it’s东南西北。
Cam: 东南西北.
Yajie: Great! OK, that’s it for today. Hopefully you can practice saying these directions in Chinese sometime today. Don’t forget you can win a CRI gift by answering today’s question: Where is Japan? Is it east of China, or west?
Cam: That should be easy! Just make a sentence. You can send us questions or comments to Chinese@crifm.com. That’s Chinese@crifm.com. Or you can visit us on our website at en.chinabroadcast.cn. Click learn Chinese, where you can enjoy other free Chinese-learning programs.
Yajie: Well class is over. 再见!
Cam: 再见!
(Written by Zhao Pingping)
Lesson 016 Revision of the Usages of Numbers
Yajie: Perfect Chinese your way, in only five minutes a day. Welcome to Chinese Studio. I’m Yajie.
Cam: It’s good to be back. Zao shang hao Yajie. Time sure flies. We are already at the end of the week. That means it’s time for us to go over what we’ve learned.
Yajie: This week we mainly focused on how to use numbers. Let’s go over Sentences In The week.
***************Sentences in the Week
During the week we focused on how to use numbers. For example, 2003年, the year 2003; 一月, January; 三月，March. 四月二十五号 April the 25. All in today’s Chinese Studio.
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Yajie: In Chinese, the four figures making up the name of a year are read out as four separate numbers and “年” is put at the end. For example, this year, 2003年 (èr líng líng sān nián), the year 2003.
Cam: 2003年 (èr líng líng sān nián).
Yajie:Sometime people also say 两千零三年.
Cam: 两千零三年 (liǎng qiān líng sān nián).
Yajie: In Chinese the year 2000 is 2000年 (èr líng líng líng nián).
Cam: 2000年 (èr líng líng ling nián).
Yajie: Or you can say两千年 (liǎng qiān nián).
Yajie: Month in Chinese is 月(yuè). The name of the months are produced by combining the numbers 1 to 12 with “月”.
Cam: January is一月 (yī yuè)，February is二月 (èr yuè), right?
Yajie: Exactly! And how to say March?
Cam: Is it 四月(Si yue)?
Yajie: Nope, March in Chinese is 三月 (sān yuè). Remember we said, the name of the months are produced by combining the numbers 1 to 12 with “月”.
Cam: OK. I see. March is 三月 (sān yuè).
Yajie: In Chinese, the names of the dates are produced by combining the numbers 1 to 31 with 号, which is the spoken form for date, or 日, the written form. For example, December 25th, Christmas十二月二十五号 (shí èr yuè èrshí wǔ hào).
Cam: 十二月二十五日 (shí èr yuè èrshí wǔ hào). And the New Year is on the 一月一号(yī yuè yī hào), right?
Yajie: Right, it’s一月一号(yī yuè yī hào).
Yajie: If you want to ask a child’s age, you could say “你几岁了？” (nǐ jǐ suì le?) 几 means how many. And 岁 means age.
Cam: “你几岁了？” (nǐ jǐ suì le?)
Yajie: For an adult or people of the same general age as yourself, you can say: 你多大了？
Cam: 你多大了？(ní duō dà le?)
Yajie: Yes. As I said before多, is an adverb, meaning how many? 多大together means how old. 你多大了？(ní duō dà le?)
***************Sentences in the Week
This week we learned how to say the days during a week in Chinese. The numbers from 1 to 6 follow“星期” and are employed to express Monday to Saturday. Monday, 星期一(xīngqī yī). Sunday, 星期日or星期天. Also we learned how to ask one’s age in Chinese你几岁了？ 您多大了？
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Yajie: One more thing there is another courteous way of asking a senior person’s age. You can say: 您多大了？
Cam: 您多大了？(nín duō dà le?) We’ve learned 您. It’s the polite form of 你, right?
Yajie: Right!
Cam: Send us your answer to chinese@crifm.com. That’s chinese@crifm.com. If you answer the question correctly, you’ll be able to win CRI prizes! Also you are welcome to log on to the website, that’s en.chinabroadcast.cn. It’s available 24 hours a day.
Yajie: Well, every one, you can win a CRI gift by answering the question of the day. This time please make a sentence with 星期天. You might even win CRI prizes! Hope you will join us tomorrow on China Radio International. 再见！
Cam: 再见！
Lesson 015 How Old Are You?
Y: Perfect Chinese your way, in only five minutes a day. Welcome to Chinese Studio. I’m Yajie.
C: Hi, everyone, I’m Cam. 早上好 zǎoshang hǎo, yajie.
Y: 早上好！Today we’ll learn how to ask one’s age in Chinese. First let’s check our key words of the day!
Lesson 012 Revision of Numbers
Y: Perfect Chinese your way, in only five minutes a day. Welcome to Chinese Studio. I’m Yajie.
C: Good morning, I’m Cam. Well, we are almost at the end of the week. It’s time for us to review what we’ve learned.
Y: Yeah. This week we mainly focused on numbers and some sentences related to numbers. Let’s review.
Lesson 014 Usages of the NumbersⅡ
Y: Perfect Chinese your way, in only five minutes a day. Welcome to Chinese Studio. I’m Yajie.
C: Hi, everyone, I’m Cam. 早上好 zǎoshang hǎo, yajie.
Y: 早上好！Today we’ll continue with how to use numbers. First let’s check our key words of the day!
************Key words of the day
Today we’ll continue with the usages of the numbers. For example, 四月二十五号 April the 25. 五月一号, May the 1st. 星期一，Monday. 星期三，Wednesday. 星期天, Sunday. All in today’s Chinese Studio.
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