Archive for April 16th, 2008

Cri – Lesson 108

Wednesday, April 16th, 2008

M: Dàjiā hǎo. Huānyíng nǐmen dào Xiànzài Xué Hànyǔ. Wǒ shì ML.

S: Wǒ shì Stuart. Today, lesson 108, dì yìbǎi líng bā kè. 复习课。

M: Remember? 记得吗? jìde ma? Wǒmen hái zài Yíhéyuán.

S: Wǒmen xiǎng zhàoxiàng. Where’d I put my camera? 我的照相机放在哪儿了?Wǒde zhàoxiàngjī fàng zài nǎrle?

M: I’ll help you look. 我帮你找 wǒ bāng nǐ zhǎo.

S: Is it on the table? 它在桌子上吗 tā zài zhuōzi shàng ma?

M: 我看看 wǒ kàn kàn. 它不在桌子上. Tā bú zài zhuōzi shàng.

S: Under it? 它在桌子下面吗 tā zài zhuōzi xiàmian ma?

M: 我看看。也不在桌子下面 wǒ kànkan, yě bú zài zhuōzi xiàmian.

S: 我的照相机不在桌子上,也不在桌子下面.

M: Poor Stuart.

M: Now, remember放 FANG fàng, ‘to place’ or ‘to put’. So everybody say, ‘where did I put my camera?’ Hěn hǎo. wǒde zhàoxiàngjī fàng zài nǎrle? wǒde zhàoxiàngjī fàng zài nǎrle?

S: Now say, ‘where’d I put my beer?’

M: Méi cuò. 我的啤酒放在哪儿了?Wǒ de píjiǔ fàng zài nǎrle?

S: And 找, remember is ‘to seek’, ‘look for’. So say, ‘you are looking for what?’

M: Hěn hǎo. 你找什么? Nǐ zhǎo shénme?

S: And say, ‘I’m looking for your camera’.

M: Duì le. 我找你的照相机 wǒ zhǎo nǐde zhàoxiàngjī.

S: And 桌子 zhuōzi, is ‘table’. So now say, it’s not on the table’.

M: Fēicháng hǎo. 它不在桌子上 tā bú zài zhuōzi shàng.

S: Now ask, ‘is it under the table?’.

M: 它在桌子下面吗 tā zài zhuōzi xiàmian ma?

S: And it’s not under the table, 它也不在桌子下面tā yěbú zài zhuōzi xiàmian.

M: Oh dear! M: But, finally, Hey! Found it. 嘿!找到了 zhǎodào le.

S: Good! I’ll go buy a glass of beer. 我去买杯啤酒 wǒ qù mǎibēi píjiǔ. Tiān a! Where’s my wallet? 我的钱包在哪儿? wǒde qiánbāo zài nǎr?

M: 我的天啊!现在他又找不到他的钱包了。Xiànzài tā yòu zhǎobúdào ta1de qiánbāole.

S: My poor wallet. We’ve been searching for ages, 我们找了半天,wǒmen zhǎole bàntiān, 但是,找不到dànshì, zhǎo bú dào.

M: Found it 找到了 zhǎodào le.

S: 找到了,那太好了!Zhǎodào le, nà tài hǎole. And before we continue, remember how to say ‘in’ or ‘inside’ something? Right. 在 something 里面。

M: Like, ‘your wallet’s in your bag’ 你的钱包在你的包里面 nǐde qiánbāo zài nǐde bāolǐmian.

S: But where’s my bag? 但是,我的包在哪儿? Dàn shì, wǒde bāo zài nǎr?

M: And remember the word for ‘car’? Duìle. 汽车 qìchē. It’s in the car 它在汽车里面. Tāzài qìchē lǐmian.

S:Good. Now I’ll drink a beer. Nà hǎo. xiànzàiwǒyào hē yìbēi píjiǔ. Zàijiàn.

M: Zàijiàn!

(Source:english.cri.cn)

Chinese Characters: aardvark (animal) 土豚

Wednesday, April 16th, 2008

aardvark (animal):

Chinese Pinyin: tu3 tun2

Source: about.com

Chinese Pinyin – Tones

Wednesday, April 16th, 2008

In Mandarin, words that have the same pronunciation can have different meanings depending on how the word is said. The “tone” of a word describes how the pitch changes as the word is said. There are four “tones” in Mandarin. The tones are represented in pinyin by marks above the words and are read from left to right. The absence of a tone also has meaning.

For example, the word “ma” can have a number of different meanings depending on how it is said.

Word with tone
Description of tone
Description of tone
Name of tone

Mother

The straight line over the word indicates that the word should be said with a flat and unchanging high tone.

1st tone

To bother

The mark going up above the word indicates the word should be said in a rising tone.

2nd tone

Horse

The down and then up mark above the word indicates that the word should be said with a falling and then rising tone.

3rd tone

To scold

The down mark above the word indicates that the word should be said with a falling tone.

4th tone

ma

Grammatical marker used in a question.

When a word has no tone or mark above the word it is said to be neutral and is pronounced in an abbreviated manner with no emphasis.

Neutral

Using tones 1, 3, 4, and 5 in order we can form the sentence: mā mà mǎ ma?
This sentence asks the question: Did mother scold the horse?

The following diagram shows how the tones are pronounced in relation to each other.

 

www.instantspeakchinese.com