Archive for July 26th, 2008

Beijing Olympic – Photos: Qinhuangdao Olympic Park

Saturday, July 26th, 2008
Qinhuangdao Olympic Park
Photo taken on July 18, 2008 shows a sculpture named “The Relay” in the Qinhuangdao Olympic Park in north China’s Hebei Province. (Photo credit: Xinhua)
Photo taken on July 18, 2008 shows a sculpture named “Angels of Olympic Rings” in the Qinhuangdao Olympic Park in north China’s Hebei Province. (Photo credit: Xinhua)

Qinhuangdao Olympic Park

Qinhuangdao Olympic Park
Photo taken on July 18, 2008 shows a sculpture named “Diving” in the Qinhuangdao Olympic Park in north China’s Hebei Province. (Photo credit: Xinhua)
Qinhuangdao Olympic Park
Photo taken on July 18, 2008 shows a sculpture named “Surfing” in the Qinhuangdao Olympic Park in north China’s Hebei Province. (Photo credit: Xinhua)

The park, a theme park featuring the Olympic Games, have a music fountain and Olympic sculptures.

(Source: en.beijing2008.cn)

Cri – Lesson 36

Saturday, July 26th, 2008

Yajie: 大家好, 我是YJ. 欢迎收听 Chinese Studio。
Cam: It’s time to perfect Chinese your way in only 5 minutes a day.  Welcome to Chinese Studio. 我是元宝.
Yajie: We have a lot to cover today – we are going to learn some expressions used to make a suggestion or ask for an opinion. Cam: Perfect!

 

Key Words of the Day
好吗, 行吗, 可以吗. all mean ‘Is it ok?’,我请你吃饭,好吗?Let me treat you to dinner, ok? 吃饭, have dinner. 坐, take a seat. 一起, together. 看电影, go to the cinema. 泡吧, go to a pub. All in today’s Chinese Studio.   

Cam:  So Yajie, if I want to take a girl to dinner, what should I say?
Yajie: In Chinese, it’s 我请你吃饭 -吃饭, to have a dinner.
Cam: So 请你吃饭 (qing ni chi fan)means ‘to treat you to dinner’. 请, we’ve learned one of its meanings as ‘please’. Here it means ‘to invite’.
Yajie: 我请你吃饭 is a declarative sentence ,but when we put a phrase like 好吗 after我请你吃饭,  it turns to a question. 我请你吃饭, 好吗? Let me treat you to dinner, OK?
Cam: 好吗 (hao ma) means ‘is it OK’ or ‘how is it?’ It can be replaced by quite a few phrases.
Yajie: 行吗? 行, x-ing, second rising tone. 行. 我请你吃饭, 行吗?
Cam: And 可以吗 (ke yi ma) also works. 可以吗? 
Conversation 1:
Cam: Yajie, you told me earlier this show would help me start dating in China… I need to know how to ask a girl out!
Yajie: Well the sentence patterns we’ve learned just now are very polite. Now it’s time for something practical. If you meet a girl in the canteen, you can sit beside her.  That will help you get to know her. But don’t forget to ask permission first: 我坐这儿,行吗?   
Cam: (wo zuo zher xing ma) It means ‘Could I take this seat?’
Yajie: 坐, z-u-o, the forth falling tone, 坐, means ‘to sit’.
Cam: 我坐这儿,行吗?(wo zuo zher xing ma)
Yajie: Wonderful. Then you should pay attention to the reply. If she agrees, her answer may be行. In addition, 好的, 可以are all appropriate to express the same positive meaning.
Cam: So a positive reply can be: 行, (xing) , 好的,(hao de) 可以. (ke yi). These answers all mean ‘Fine’. So what if she says no?
Yajie: Well, she might say 抱歉 or 对不起。We learned those last time. 抱歉, it’s occupied. 对不起, it’s my friend’s seat.
Cam: Well… I don’t plan on being rejected!  But what if I want to take a girl to the cinema?
Yajie: 一起去看电影,好吗? 一起, together. 起, q-i, third tone, 起. 电影, film. 电, d-i-an, forth tone, 电. 影, y-ing, third tone, 影. 电影, film. 看电影, watch a film.
Cam: So Let’s go to cinema together, OK? 一起去看电影,好吗? (yi qi qu kan dian ying hao ma) Is it a good idea?
Yajie: I don’t think so. It may be the most boring way to have a first date because there won’t be any chance to talk.
Cam: We can definitely talk over a pi jiu.  How do I ask a girl to the pub?
Yajie: 晚上去泡吧,怎么样? 泡吧, go to pub. 泡吧. Let’s go to a pub tonight, is it OK?
Cam:  (wan shang qu pao ba zen me yang)
Conversation 2: 
Key words Reminder:
好吗, 行吗, 可以吗. all mean ‘Is it ok?’,我请你吃饭,好吗?Let me treat you to dinner, ok? 吃饭, have dinner. 坐, take a seat. 一起, together. 看电影, go to the cinema. 泡吧, go to a pub. All in today’s Chinese Studio.   

Cam: OK. We’ve come to the end of today’s lesson. And the question of the day is to come up with a sentence and add 好吗 at the end.
Yajie: Send us your answer to Chinese@crifm.com. I’m Yajie, bye for now.
Cam: And I’m Cam, ming tian jian.

(Source:english.cri.cn)

Cri – Lesson 31

Saturday, July 26th, 2008

Yajie: Hello, everyone. Welcome to Chinese Studio. This is Yajie.
Cam: 大家早上好(dajia zaoshang hao)。I’m Cam.
Yajie: Cam, today we’ll learn some useful sentences for those that need to get around China.
Cam: Let’s check Key Words of the Day.

 

***********Key words of the day
Today we’ll learn how to ask the location of something. 邮局, post office. 医院, hospital.  银行, bank. 超市, supermarket 哪儿, where. All in today’s Chinese Studio. 
***********

Yajie: 邮局(yóujú), post office.
Cam: 邮局(yóujú)
Yajie: 邮, y-o-u, the second tone.
Cam: 邮(yóu)
Yajie: 局,j-u, also the second tone.
Cam: 局(jú)
Yajie: Togethere it’s邮局(yóujú) , post office.
Cam: 邮局(yóujú).
Yajie:  Knowing where the post office is is important.  You can send letters and packages through regular post, or you can now use the Express Mail Service.
Cam: That’s good to know.
Yajie: 在哪儿?
Cam: 在哪儿?(zài nǎr?) I remember we learned it before. It means “where is” in English.
Yajie: Yes. 邮局在哪儿?Where is the post office?
Cam: 邮局在哪儿?(yóujú zài nǎr?)

Conversations (1):

Yajie: Now comes to the second word医院, hospital.
Cam: 医院 (yīyuàn).
Yajie: 医, y-i, the first tone. 院, y-u-a-n, the fourth tone.
Cam: 医院 (yīyuàn), hospital. And doctor is 医生(yisheng), all in the first tone, right?
Yajie: Exactly. If you want to ask “where is the hospital”, you may say it in this way “医院在哪儿?”
Cam: 医院在哪儿?(yīyuàn zài nǎr?)

Conversations (2):

Cam:  I often need to go pay my phone bill, but I’m not sure where to pay it.  Where is the bank?
Yajie: Well, bank is 银行.
Cam: 银行(yínháng).
Yajie: 银行(yínháng), all in the second tone.
Cam: 银行在哪儿(yínháng zài nǎr)?Where is the bank?

Conversations (3):
Cam:  And the last really important word is supermarket.  I can’t go on without eating!
Yajie:  Supermarket is 超市。
Cam:  Okay… so where is the supermarket would be超市在哪?
Yajie:  Right!

Conversations (4):

**********Key words Reminder
Today we learned how to ask the location of something. 邮局, post office. 邮局在哪儿?Where is the post office? 医院, hospital. 医院在哪儿?Where is the hospital? 银行, bank. 银行在哪儿?Where is the bank? 超市, supermarket Where is the supermarket 超市在哪?
**********
Yajie: Well, class is over for this time. Last time we brought up a question of “What’s his job?” One of the right answer is “他做什么工作?”. Now question for this time:
Cam: How do the Chinese say “Where is the post office”? You are welcome to write us in Chinese characters. Of course, you are also welcome if you wrote in pinyin or Chinese alphabet.
Yajie: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”. You can enjoy other free Chinese-learning programs there.
Cam: Well class is over. 再见!
Cam: 再见!

(Source:english.cri.cn)