M: Da jia hao! 现在学汉语。Now learn Hanyu, with Learn Chinese Now! Woshi ML.
S: Woshi Stuart.
M: And Stuart is using my shǒujī to talk with Mary. He has just told her we’ll get to the hotel at sān diǎn zhōng. Three o’clock. San dian zhong. Listen, and see if you can hear what time Mary will come to look for Stuart at the 友谊宾馆.
S: Mary told me:
MY: 我六点钟来找你。好不好? Hǎo, wǒ liù diǎn lái zhǎo nǐ. Hǎo bù hǎo?
S: hǎo. liù diǎn zhōng jiàn. hǎo. liù diǎn zhōng jiàn.
M: What time will Mary look for Stuart at the hotel?
MY: 我六点钟来找你。wǒ liù diǎn lái zhǎo nǐ.
M: Dui le! Yī èr sān sì wǔ5 liù6: liù diǎn, liù diǎn zhōng, 6 o’clock.
MY: Wǒ lái zhǎo nǐ. Hǎo bù hǎo.
M: I’ll come to look for you. Wǒ lái zhǎo nǐ. Hǎo bù hǎo, ‘good not good’, meaning, Ok? Is that alright? Hǎo bù hǎo.
S: hěn hǎo. liù diǎn zhōng jiàn.
M: liù diǎn zhōng jiàn, to ‘see’, like in ‘zài jiàn’. So, ‘see you at six’, liù diǎn zhōng jiàn. Liu dian zhong jian.
M: And now we’ve finally arrived at the Youyi Bin’guan.
S: 好，我们到了。Hǎo, wǒmen dào le.
M: 我们到了友谊宾馆. Women dao le Youyi Bin’guan.
S: And we’ll have to pay the taxi fare. Guess we’ll have to learn a few more numbers. We’ll learn some now, and more in the bar later, when we work out the prices of drinks.
M: I’ll ask the driver how much money it is. 司机，多少钱? Duōshǎo qián.
TD: 七十块。 Qī shí kuai.
S: Duōshǎo. Duōshǎo is ‘how many’, or ‘how much’. Qián QIAN qián, is ‘money’. How much? How much money? Duōshǎo qian? Here they are again
M: 司机，多少钱? Duōshǎo qián.
TD: 七十块。 Qī shí kuài.
S: Now, listen carefully, repeat everything, and guess what 七十 qīshí and qi shi kuai mean. A clue – qī shí kuai is less than 100 元, and a yuán is a Chinese dollar. ML’s counting out the money.
M: shí, èr shi, sān shi, sì shí, wǔ5 shí, liù shí, qī shí. Qī shí kuài. Gěi nǐ qī shí kuài.
TD: Xièxiè. 正好. Zhèng hǎo.
S: So what does qī shí mean? Right, seventy. Literally, ‘seven’ ‘ten’. Manli counted in tens from ten to seventy.
M: shí, èr shi, sān shi, sì shí, wǔ5 shí, liù shí, qī shí. Qī shí kuài. Gěi nǐ qī shí kuài.
TD: Xièxiè. 正好. Zhèng hǎo.
S: Now for the last few words.
M: Qī shí kuài. Qī shí kuài.
S: Kuài KUAI kuai, here means Chinese dollar, or yuán. ‘Give you seventy yuan’
M: Gěi nǐ qī shí kuài.
TD: Xièxiè. 正好. Zhèng hǎo.
S: zheng ZHENG zhèng, means ‘exact, right, just’. When you pay someone the exact amount of money, they’ll say, Zhèng hǎo, zheng hao.
M: So, after the lesson, why don’t you people at home practice “duo shao qian?’
S: Answer with ten, twenty, etc. kuai, and then say.
M: Zhèng hǎo.
S: Hǎo zhúyi. Good idea. Hao zhuyi.
Zaijian.
(Source:english.cri.cn)
