Level 1

Lesson 003
Hosts: Adam Menon / Kirin Yang

Adam: Hello everyone, my name is Adam and welcome to lesson 3 of
ChineseLearnOnline.com.
Kirin: N ho . My name is Kirin.
Adam: For lesson transcripts and other tools to help you learn Chinese,
please visit our website. Now lets start with a review by listening a very
simple conversation using some of the vocabulary taught in Lesson Two.
Kirin: N ho .
Raphael: N ho .
Kirin: N ho ma ?
Raphael: W hn ho . Xixie .
Kirin: Zijin .
Raphael: Zijin .
Adam: Hopefully you were able to follow along. Now that we know how to
say hello, what if I wanted to say Hello everybody or Hello everyone?
How would I say that?
Kirin: Dji ho .
Adam: Again.
Kirin: Dji ho .
Adam: Ho , so lets break that down. This is an interesting one. There are
three characters here, two of which are new. I highly recommend you take
a look at the vocabulary link for this lesson which shows you what these
Chinese characters look like, since it will give you extra insight into the
language which will be very valuable specially later on.
The first character is d which is a fourth tone. d means big. If you look
at what this character looks like on our site, it looks like a man stretching
his hands out to show that something is big. Tell me that doesnt fascinate
you! The second character was ji which is a first tone. ji means house
or family, and the last character we should all know by now howhich
means good.
So putting those three together we get big family good. So in this context
big family or my very extended family means everyone! So by
saying everyone good you are actually saying Hello everyone!
Kirin: Dji ho .
Adam: As we said in our last lesson, where possible we try and break
down the meanings of words into their literal definitions to help you figure
out how these words and phrases are constructed and to help you piece
things together on your own. I find that it also helps in memory to translate
these words into something tangible to help you remember them.
So well continue on with a very simple introduction I am Adam. How
would I say that, Kirin?
Kirin: W sh Adam .
Adam: Alright, so lets analyze that. We have w , which means I. Then
we have a new character sh . Thats a fourth tone and is the verb to be
followed by Adam, which is of course my English name.
Kirin: W sh Adam .
Adam: Now one nice thing about Chinese is that you dont have to worry
about conjugations of verbs. So in English youd have I am, you are, he
or she is. In Chinese you just use the verb sh . Now we already know the
words for I, you and he or she, so lets try this. We have I am.
Kirin: W sh .
Adam: You are.
Kirin: N sh .
Adam: He or she is.
Kirin: T sh .
Adam: Great. See how easy that was. Now moving along, usually during
introductions people want to know where youre from, so lets look at some
of the main countries around the world. Lets start with America:
Kirin: Migu .
Adam: So thats a third tone followed by a second tone. Again please?
Kirin: Migu .
Adam: Now mi means beautiful and gu means country so the literal
translation for America in Chinese is actually beautiful country.
Kirin: Migu .
Adam: Isnt that interesting? Lets do another one: China
Kirin: Zhnggu .
Adam: So thats a first tone followed by a second tone.
Kirin: Zhnggu .
Adam: Now this actually ends up meaning middle country which makes
sense since thats where the Chinese language originates.
Kirin: Zhnggu .
Adam: Now the names of many countries in Chinese end in gu meaning
country. In some cases there is a literal meaning as in the case of China
or America. In other cases though, the Chinese version is just a
transliteration of the English name into Chinese characters. For example,
how would you say Canada?
Kirin: Jind .
Adam: So thats a first, second and a fourth tone for the three characters
there.
Kirin: Jind .
Adam: In this case there is no sense in forming a literal meaning since
there isnt one its just meant to sound like the English name Canada.
Kirin: Jind .
Adam: Lets do another one England.
Kirin: Ynggu .
Adam: So thats a first tone Yng followed by gu which kind of sounds like
England. Lets do another one, France.
Kirin: Fgu .
Adam: So thats a third tone followed by the second for gu . Lets try
Australia.
Kirin: ozhu .
Adam: So thats a fourth tone and a first tone.
Kirin: ozhu .
Adam: Now in the case of Australia they dont use gu for country, they
use zhu which actually means continent, so it has its own special name!
Now of course we recognize that there are a lot of countries out there and
we do have listeners from different parts of the world, so on our website, in
our Lesson three , vocabulary link, we do have a listing of other popular
countries and their Chinese equivalents. If there is one that youd like to
know that isnt on the list, send to me a comment and well gladly add it.
Now knowing the word in Chinese for a country allows you easy access to
some other useful vocabulary. How would you say American?
Kirin: Migurn .
Adam: As you can see, this is the name of the country with a second
tone rn added to the end of it.
Kirin: Migurn .
Adam: Rn means person. So if you look at the vocabulary link for this
lesson on our website, the character looks like a headless person. So by
saying Migurn you are literally saying America person or American.
Kirin: Migurn .
Adam: Similarly, to say a Chinese person you would say:
Kirin: Zhnggurn .
Adam: How about Canadian?
Kirin: Jindrn .
Adam: Someone from England.
Kirin: Ynggurn .
Adam: And so on. Now by knowing the country, you can also come up with
the names of some languages. How do you say the Chinese language?
Kirin: Zhngwn .
Adam: So here you have zhng from Zhnggu with a second
tone wn added after it.
Kirin: Zhngwn .
Adam: So that gives us the language spoken in Zhnggu which, of
course, is Chinese. Similarly, for English we could say:
Kirin: Yngwn .
Adam: which is the language from Ynggu . Again take a look at the
vocabulary link forlesson three on our website to see various countries,
their people and their languages.
Again, the premium pages for the first 4 lessons of each level are made
available for free, so take a look and see if you like the information there.
Well be building upon it in our next lesson so take the time to review all of
it on the site or by listening to this podcast again, then join us again for
lesson 4.
Kirin: Xixie . Zijin !

Lesson 004

Adam: Hello everyone, my name is Adam.
Kirin: Dji ho . W sh Kirin .
Adam: And welcome to lesson 4 of the ChineseLearnOnline.com podcast
series teaching Mandarin Chinese. Today were going to continue where
we left off in lesson three talking about countries, nationalities and their
languages. Were now going to try and put together what we know so far.
We know how to say I am and we know how to say the names of a few
countries. So with that in mind, how would you say I am American?
Kirin: W sh Migurn .
Adam: Good, I hope you got that right. Lets try another one. How would
you say Are you Chinese?
Kirin: N sh Zhnggurn ma ?
Adam: As you can see, adding the ma at the end turns a statement into a
question. Today, were going to try and answer some yes or no questions.
Now one big difference in Chinese is that there is no definitive word for
yes or no, so you have to follow a particular syntax when answering
such questions. Now if you wanted to answer in the affirmative as in Yes, I
am Chinese, you would reply with:
Kirin: Sh, w sh Zhnggurn .
Adam: Now, there are no new words there as you can see. We reply in
affirmative by restating the verb in question in this case its the verb to
be or sh . So the reply here means Yes, I am Chinese. Lets try another
one. Ask if I am Canadian.
Kirin: N sh Jindrn ma ?
Adam: So if you wanted to reply yes, Im Canadian you would say:
Kirin: Sh, w sh Jindrn .
Adam: Now, well learn the word used for the negative, which is quite
simply
Kirin: B
Adam: which is a fourth tone.
Kirin: b
Adam: by adding b in front of a verb, you negate it. So lets ask the
question Are you British?
Kirin: N sh Ynggurn ma ?
Adam: To reply in the negative wed say:
Kirin: B sh . W b sh Ynggurn .
Adam: On our website, in the notes link for lesson 4 youll find several
more examples using this structure. Lets now learn a couple of new verbs.
The first one is
Kirin: Hu .
Adam: This is a fourth tone.
Kirin: Hu .
Adam: Now the verb hu means to be able to do something. Well use it in
a moment. The other verb I want to introduce is:
Kirin: Shu .
Adam: This is a first tone.
Kirin: Shu .
Adam: The verb shu means to speak. So putting these two verbs
together, we get:
Kirin: hu shu
Adam: which means to be able to speak. So with that in mind, can you
guess what this next question means?
Kirin: N hu shu Zhngwn ma ?
Adam: Again?
Adam: So by the ma at the end, we know that its a question. Now the
literal meaning is You can speak Chinese? or simply Can you speak
Chinese? Now knowing what we know about how we answer such
questions how would you answer that question in the affirmative?
Kirin: Hu . W hu shu Zhngwn .
Adam: And how would you reply No, I cant speak Chinese?
Kirin: B hu . W b hu shu Zhngwn .
Adam: Now perhaps as beginners, your current answer to the question of
Can you speak Chinese? may be no, but we hope to change that over
time. So to build up your confidence, perhaps you would like to answer
with I can speak a little. So how do we say a little?
Kirin: Ydin .
Adam: Thats a first tone followed by a third tone.
Kirin: Ydin .
Adam: So how would you say I can speak a little?
Kirin: W hu shu ydin .
Adam: Great, so lets do some practice with the vocabulary we have
learned so far. First, Ill ask you to translate the following from English to
Chinese. Try this yourself before listening to the answer.
Are you Australian?
Kirin: N sh ozhurn ma ?
Adam: No, I am American.
Kirin: B sh , W sh Migurn .
Adam: Can you speak French?
Kirin: N hu shu Fwn ma ?
Adam: No I cant. I can speak English.
Kirin: B hu . W hu shu Yngwn .
Adam: Great, so hopefully you got all that. Well now teach the possessive
particle. We know how to say I :
Kirin: W .
Adam: How do we say my?
Kirin: Wde .
Adam: So you can see how easy that is. Just add the neutral tone de and
you get the possessive. Similarly, to say your we can say:
Kirin: Nde .
Adam: Good, I think you can see how easy that is and how it extends to
other pronouns. A more detailed list can be found in the notes link for
Lesson 4 on our website. Now based on what youve learned, what do you
think the following statement means?
Kirin: Nde Zhngwn shu de hn ho .
Adam: This one may be a little tricky but if you look at the literal translation
you should able to figure it out. Your Chinese speaks very good.
Basically, that means Your Chinese is very good. You could use that
same construction to tell someone their English is very good too.
Now you may notice that the grammar of this sentence is different from
English. Many times in Chinese, the subject is presented first, followed by
whats special about it. So in English we might say Its raining heavily
today. In Chinese that would become Today, rain falls heavily or
something like that. Dont worry too much about that at this point. Our goal
is to give you more examples to get a better feel for the language rather
than studying boring grammar rules that youre not likely to remember. As
the course advances, the notes section of each lesson will summarize the
highlights and grammar patterns of each lesson. So dont fright.
Now lets look at if you just wanted to tell someone Im sorry, my Chinese
isnt very good. First, we need the word for Im sorry. Its actually the
same word they use for excuse me. And how do we say that, Kirin?
Kirin: Dubuq .
Adam: So its actually three characters. The first two are fourth tones and
the last character is a third tone. However since this word is said a lot, and
usually quite quickly, the central character actually adopts a neutral tone,
making it fourth, neutral and third tones.
Kirin: Dubuq .
Adam: So that means Im sorry or excuse me.
Now to say My Chinese isnt very good, you actually have all the
vocabulary necessary to say that. Lets see if we can put it together.
Kirin: Wde Zhngwn shu de b ho .
Adam: Again.
Adam: So again, same structure as before my Chinese, speaks not
good.
Well, lots of new words and phrases today. Take a look at the summary on
our vocabulary page, with beautiful Chinese characters and all. You can
also find the detailed word for word transcript in the complete section. I
know that this is the final lesson that features free premium tools for
everyone. If you would like to continue with us and have these types of
features for all lessons, then please consider a subscription. Then join us
again for lesson 5!
Kirin: Zijin .

Lesson 005
Adam: Hello everyone, Im your host, Adam.
Adam: Welcome to Lesson Five of ChineseLearnOnline.com. Today were
going to listen to a dialogue that uses some of the vocabulary we have
learned up till now while adding some useful new words along the way. If
there are parts you dont understand, we recommend listening to lessons
one to four again or reviewing the transcripts of previous lessons found on
our website. So listen along and try and repeat the lines as you hear them.
Kirin: N ho .
Raphael: N ho .
Kirin: N ho ma ?
Raphael: W hn ho . N ne ?
Adam: So heres something new. The woman asked the man how he was
and he responded with very good. He then asked her a question
N ne ? That last word is a neutral tone or the fifth tone and is used in a
what about? context in reference to what was previously talked about. So
here it means What about you?
Raphael: N ne ?
Kirin: W hi ho .
Adam: So here again is something new. Weve seen w hn ho which
means Im very good. This is a different answer a second
tone hi followed by ho and means more like Im just ok not too good
not too bad, kind of like so-so. Again?
Kirin: W hi ho .
Adam: Great, lets continue.
Kirin: N sh Migurn ma ?
Raphael: B sh , w sh Jindrn .
Kirin: Zhnde ma ?
Adam: So heres another new word for us - zhn which is a first tone
followed by two characters weve seen before de and ma . Those are both
neutral or fifth tones. Now we know that ma means that this is a
question. De is a common word used in many capacities. Previously we
saw it as a possessive quality with wde and nde meaning mine and
yours respectively. Here it is attached to zhn , which means real giving
us of real quality. So the question
Kirin: Zhnde ma ?
Adam: is basically asking really? To which the man reply
Raphael: Zhnde !
Raphael: W hu shu ydin .
Kirin: N Zhngwn shu de hn ho .
Raphael: Xixie n .
Kirin: B kq .
Adam: So here are some words for us. When someone says thank you,
this is a standard response.
Kirin: B kq .
Adam: Weve got b which weve seen before. B is the negation of what
follows which in this case is kq . Thats two fourth tones. Kq means to
be polite. So b kq basically means Dont be polite or in this context
Theres no need to be polite.
Now to confuse you further. The character b changes to a second tone
when it proceeds a fourth tone character. So listen again
Raphael: Xixie n .
Kirin. B kq .
Adam. Great lets continue.
Kirin: N xhun Zhnggu ma ?
Adam: Ah, so some more new words for us. Heres a new verb: xhun
thats a third tone xfollowed by a first tone hun . xhun means to like
something. So what do you think
Adam: means? Well its a question asking Do you like China?
Adam: So based on what we know about answering questions, how would
you answer that question in the affirmative?
Kirin: Xhun , w xhun Zhnggu .
Adam. Great. And how would you answer in the negative?
Kirin: B xhun , w b xhun Zhnggu .
Adam: Ok, now lets add something to that last statement.
Kirin: Dnsh w xhun shu Zhngwn .
Adam: So theres another new word there dnsh . Thats two fourth tones.
That means but. So what does this mean?
Kirin: W b xhun Zhnggu . Dnsh w xhun shu Zhngwn .
Adam: I dont like China. But I like to speak Chinese.
Kirin: W b xhun Zhnggu . Dnsh w xhun shu Zhngwn .
Adam: Now that we know how to use but, we can connect a lot of the
sentences weve learned so far. Speaking of which, Id like to do a quick
review of the new vocabulary weve learned today and recently just to
make sure were all up to date. Try to answer these questions before Kirin
gives us the answer. How do you ask: What about you?
Kirin: N ne ?
Adam: How do you say: Im ok?
Kirin: W hi ho .
Adam: How do you ask: Really?
Kirin: Zhnde ma ?
Adam: How do you say I can speak a little?
Adam: How do you say Youre welcome?
Kirin: B kq .
Adam: Alright. So hopefully those were easy. Now heres a tougher one.
Try to introduce yourself. Start with My name is Cindy or simply I am
Cindy.
Kirin: W sh Cindy .
Adam: I am American.
Kirin: W sh Migurn .
Adam: But I can speak a little Chinese.
Kirin: Dnsh w hu shu ydin Zhngwn .
Adam: I like China very much.
Kirin: W hn xhun Zhnggu .
Adam: So hopefully you were able to get that. Lets hear it again. Please
repeat after Kirin.
Kirin: W sh Cindy .
W sh Migurn .
Dnsh w hu shu ydin Zhngwn .
W hn xhun Zhnggu .
Adam: Great, now lets try another one. See if you can come up with it first.
Im sorry, my Chinese isnt very good.
Kirin: Dubuq . W Zhngwn shu de b ho .
Adam: Were you able to do that? If so, give yourself a pat on the back. If
you werent, dont worry you can always review previous lessons or
review the detailed transcripts found on our website
ChineseLearnOnline.com. I recommend you try to get caught up to where
we are now before we continue as were going to use the current
vocabulary to learn new words next time. So thats all the time well take
for todays lesson. See you next time.
Kirin: Zijin !
Lesson 006
Adam: Welcome to ChineseLearnOnline.com. Im your host, Adam.
Adam: This is lesson 6 of our podcast series teaching Mandarin Chinese.
And todays lesson is all about numbers. If you know your numbers, then
lots of other vocabulary becomes quite easy as youll soon see.
Now well start with the numbers zero through ten. This is also a good way
to practice your tones. Listen and try to figure out what tone it is and then
try and repeat out loud or in your head. So lets start with zero.
Kirin: Lng .
Adam: Thats a second tone.
Kirin: Lng .
Adam: One.
Kirin: Y .
Adam: Thats a first tone.
Kirin: Y .
Adam: Two.
Kirin: r .
Adam: Thats a fourth tone.
Kirin: r .
Adam: Three.
Kirin: Sn .
Kirin: Sn .
Adam: Four.
Kirin: S .
Kirin: S .
Adam: Five.
Kirin: W .
Adam: Thats a third tone.
Kirin: W .
Adam: Six.
Kirin: Li .
Kirin: Li .
Adam: Seven.
Kirin: Q .
Kirin: Q .
Adam: Eight.
Kirin: B .
Adam: Thats also a first tone.
Kirin: B .
Adam: Nine.
Kirin: Ji .
Kirin: Ji .
Adam: Ten.
Kirin: Sh .
Adam: Thats a second tone.
Kirin: Sh .
Adam: In the Premium section of our website, youll see the numbers in
Chinese and in English so you can get some idea of what the characters
look like for these numbers. So Kirin why dont you repeat the numbers
again from zero to ten.
Kirin: Lng , y , r , sn , s , w , li , q , b , ji , sh .
Adam: Now once you know the numbers from zero to ten, that gives you
easy access to the rest of the numbers all the way up to ninety-nine.
Eleven is just ten - one or
Kirin: Shy .
Adam: Twelve becomes ten - two.
Kirin: Shr .
Adam: And so on up to twenty which is two - ten or
Kirin: rsh .
Adam: Twenty one would then be two ten one and so on. Thirty
would be three ten all the way to ninety nine which would be nine ten
- nine. So with that in mind, lets see how good you are with numbers.
Kirin, why dont you give us some numbers in Chinese, and well try to
figure out what they are in English.
Kirin: Ho . Snsh r .
Adam: Did you figure that out? It was thirty two.
Kirin: Qsh li .
Adam: Seventy six.
Kirin: Shsn .
Adam: Thirteen.
Kirin: Wsh .
Adam: Fifty.
Kirin: Ssh s .
Adam: Forty four.
Alright, I think we get the hang of that. Now as I said before, practicing
numbers is a good way to practice tones, especially with the last example.
It is very easy to confuse four (s ) with ten (sh ) so practicing numbers
should help you distinguish between the different tones.
Well now use our knowledge of numbers to tell the different months of the
year, starting with January
Kirin: Yyu .
Adam: January in Chinese is the number one followed by the character
for month yu which is a fourth tone.
Kirin: Yyu .
Adam: Similarly, February is
Kirin: ryu .
Adam: Or two - month. Try to figure out the rest of the months in the
same way.
March.
Kirin: Snyu .
Adam: April.
Kirin: Syu .
Adam: May.
Kirin: Wyu .
Adam: June.
Kirin: Liyu .
Adam: July.
Kirin: Qyu .
Adam: August.
Kirin: Byu .
Adam: September.
Kirin: Jiyu .
Adam: October.
Kirin: Shyu .
Adam: November.
Kirin: Shyyu .
Adam: December.
Kirin: Shryu .
Adam: Easy, wasnt that? Lets now learn how to say dates. How would
you say August 10th?
Kirin: Byu sh ho .
Adam: So the literal translation for that is eight month ten number. The
word for number isho which uses a fourth tone. Dont confuse that
with ho which is a third tone. Sometimes, instead of ho , you can also
use r meaning day. So Kirin maybe you can give us both versions. Lets
try another date: March 16.
Kirin: Snyu shli ho . Snyu shli r .
Adam: December 2nd.
Kirin: Shr yu r ho . Shr yu r r .
Adam: July 30th.
Kirin: Qyu snsh ho . Qyu snsh r .
Adam: September 14th.
Kirin: Jiyu shs ho . Jiyu shs r .
Adam: Ok, so hopefully youll see how it works.
Lets now do years. Years are quite simple in that you just sound out each
digit of the year separately. So for example, thats do the year 2006 which
is:
Kirin: r lng lng li nin .
Adam: The last character nin is a second tone and means year. So
basically were saying two zero zero six year.
Kirin: r lng lng li nin .
Adam: The word for today is jntin which has two first tones. Jn refers to
the current whiletin means day.
Kirin: Jntin .
Adam: We can also say
Kirin: Jnnin
Adam: which would mean this year.
Tomorrow is
Kirin: mngtin
Adam: hich is a second tone mng followed again by tin .
Interestingly, mng means bright so the literal translation for tomorrow is
bright day. Very optimistic indeed. Similarly, next year would be
Kirin: mngnin .
Adam: Yesterday and last year are however different. We say
Kirin: zutin .
Adam: For yesterday. A second tone zu followed by tin . For last year
though we say
Kirin: qnin .
Adam: A fourth tone followed by nin . Lets look at those words again.
Today.
Kirin: Jntin .
Adam: This year.
Kirin: Jnnin .
Adam: Tomorrow.
Kirin: Mngtin .
Adam: Next year.
Kirin: Mngnin .
Adam: Yesterday.
Kirin: Zutin .
Adam: Last year.
Kirin: Qnin .
Adam: So how would you say Today is August 10, 2006?
Kirin: Jntin sh r lng lng li nin byu sh ho .
Adam: Notice that in Chinese you start with the year first and work your
way down. In Chinese, dates always go from largest to smallest.
Kirin: Jntin sh r lng lng li nin byu sh ho .
Adam: This gives us a nice tie in to birthdays. Lets look at the word for
birthday.
Kirin: Shngr .
Adam: So thats a first tone and a fourth tone. Shng literally means born
while r has a meaning of sun or day as we saw before. So in this case
we get the meaning born day or birthday! So knowing that, how would
you say: My birthday is on February 15, 1980?
Kirin: Wde shngr sh y ji b lng nin ryu sh w ho .
Adam: So lets see if you can practice this with your own birthday.
Premium subscribers have an assignment for this lesson in the exercises
section, which is to tell us what your birthday is. You can record your own
answer and then submit it to us. One of our teachers will then correct it and
send you a reply. So try that out and practice on your own. Since well be
building on this in future lessons. So hope youll join us again.
Kirin: Zijin !
Lesson 007
Adam: Welcome to ChineseLearnOnline.com. Im your host, Adam.
Adam: This is Lesson 7 of our podcast series teaching Mandarin Chinese.
Please refer to our website ChineseLearnOnline.com to see detailed
transcripts of this and our previous lessons. Today, we are going to
continue with introductions and try to use some of the numbers we learned
on our last lesson. We will start today with the phrase
Kirin: Qngwn
Adam: There are two characters there. The first one is
Kirin: Qng .
Adam: which has a third tone and means please. The second
character is
Kirin: wn
Adam: which has a fourth tone and means to ask. So together that
gives us
Kirin: Qngwn .
Adam: Please ask which is actually a polite request you make before
you ask a question. It is used in situations where you want to excuse
yourself for asking the question. It is rhetorical, so you include it as a part
of your question. So for example, if we wanted to ask someone what their
name was we could ask
Kirin: Qngwn, n jio shnme mngzi ?
Qngwn, n jio shnme mngzi ?
Adam: So we have some new characters there to look at. We know the
first few words Can I please ask you a question? That is followed
by n jio . Jio is a fourth tone and means to call or to be called. This is
followed by shnme . Thats a second tone and a neutral tone. Its a
question word meaning what. The last word is mngzi . Thats a second
tone and a neutral tone, which means name. So putting all these together
gives us You called what name?
Kirin: Qngwn , n jio shnme mngzi ?
Adam: Or Whats your name?
Kirin: N jio shnme mngzi ?
Adam: Another way to ask this question would be to ask:
Kirin: Qngwn, nde mngzi sh
Adam: Excuse me, can I ask, your name is?
Kirin: Qngwn, nde mngzi sh
Adam: Great, and how do we answer that?
Kirin: W jio Kirin .
Adam: Alright, easy enough. I called Kirin. Or in my case
Kirin: W jio Adam .
Adam: Another way to say this which we have seen before would be:
Kirin: W sh Kirin .
Adam: I am Kirin. For me of course I would say
Kirin: W sh Adam .
Adam: Now thats used for the first name. In Chinese your last name is
very important so they have a different way of asking you for that.
Kirin: Nn gu xng ?
Adam: Now sometimes youll hear nn rather than n . Nn is a second tone
and is a much more polite form that you may use when you want to show
respect towards someone. Guxng is two fourth tones. The first character
means expensive or in this case honorable and the second character
means your surname or your last name. So together that becomes
What is your surname?
Kirin: Nn gu xng ?
Adam: If you want to give out your full name, how would you do that, Kirin?
Kirin: W xng Yng , jio Kirin .
Adam: So she first gave us her last name Yang followed by her first
name Kirin.
Kirin: W xng Yng , jio Kirin .
Adam: I last name Yang, called Kirin would be the literal translation.
To address someone you can use a title such as Mister, Mrs. or Ms. For
Mister we would say
Kirin: Xinshng .
Adam: Separately, these two characters are both first tones, but together
you often hear it as a first tone and a neutral tone. Xin actually means
first, while shng means born. You may remember it from shngr which
means birthday.
Kirin: Xinshng .
Adam: For a young woman you can address her as
Kirin: Xioji .
Adam: Thats two third tones.
Kirin: Xioji .
Adam: This is equivalent to Miss in English although its in a much more
broader sense. It literally means little sister. Xio means little. And do
you remember the word for big? We taught it a few lessons ago. Its d .
So now you know d and xio . Big and small. So getting back to our
example here, if you arent sure if a woman is married or not, it is much
safer to use:
Kirin: Xioji .
Adam: For a married woman we can refer to her as:
Kirin: Titi .
Adam: This is two fourth tones. But again, sometimes the second
character becomes a neutral tone.
Kirin: Titi .
Adam: Now ti on its own means too much of something. So Ill leave it to
you to figure out why Titi refers to a married woman. If you dont know
someones name, it is perfectly acceptable to address them
as Xinshng for men and Xioji or Titi for women.
If you do know their last name you can attach it to the front. So Kirin here
would be YngXioji .
Alright, so the next question we may ask someone is how old they are.
How do we ask this?
Kirin: N j su ?
Adam: So we have you, followed by a third tone j and a fourth tone su .
Kirin: N j su ?
Adam: j means how many and su means years of age. So literally that
becomes You how many years of age, or as in English How old are
you?
Kirin: N j su ?
Adam: Like in English, this question is mainly used to ask younger people
their age. Now how would we answer that?
Kirin: W r sh w su .
Adam: So hopefully you can figure that out as I twenty five years of age,
or I am twenty five.
Kirin: W r sh w su .
Adam: So practice this with your own age.
We can use some of this vocabulary to come up with another question.
Kirin: Jntin sh j ho ?
Adam: Now we know what these words mean. Lets see if we can piece
together the meaning of this question. Today is how many number?
Adam: This is the form we use to ask What is todays date? So again?
Adam: Great, now how would we answer that? Lets say we wanted to say
Today is August 11. How would we say that?
Kirin: Jntin sh byu shy ho .
Adam: Heres another question we could also ask using some of the
vocabulary we have learned:
Kirin: Nde shngr sh j ho ?
Adam: So hopefully you could figure out that as When is your birthday?
Adam: So lets give an answer to that.
Kirin: Wde shngr sh wyu r ho .
Adam: Ah. So everyone dont forget. Kirins birthday is on May 2nd.
Kirin: Wde shngr sh wyu r ho .
Adam: Lets take a break to review some of this vocabulary by looking at a
dialogue between two people introducing themselves. There will be a quiz
afterwards to test your understanding so pay close attention
Kirin: Qngwn, n gu xng ?
Raphael: W xng Li, jio Raphael .
Kirin: Li Xinshng, n ho .
Raphael: N ho .
Kirin: Qngwn, n j su ?
Raphael: W r sh w su .
Raphael: Wde shngr sh qyu sh b ho .
Adam: Ok, now lets listen to each sentence of the dialogue again, a little
slower. Repeat it if you have to and check your understanding.
Kirin: Qngwn, n gu xng ?
Kirin: Li Xinshng, n ho .
Raphael: N ho .
Kirin: Qngwn, n j su ?
Adam: Alright, quiz time. Heres a few questions to test your
understanding. Try to come up with the answer first before listening to the
answer.
Whats the mans first name?
Adam: So hopefully you understand that his first name was Raphael.
What was his last name? The answer was Lai.
How old is he?
Adam: The answer is 25.
And when is his birthday?
Adam: The answer is July 18.
So look at that, seven lessons in, and you can already understand a
conversation like this. Give yourselves a pat on the back!
Well be back with more in lesson eight. In the meantime, premium
subscribers can check all the notes and additional resource we have on
our website ChineseLearnOnline.com. So you can review all the
vocabulary weve learned so far before our next lesson. See you next time.
Kirin: Zijin !
Lesson 008
Adam: Welcome to ChineseLearnOnline.com. Im your host Adam.
Adam: This is Lesson Eight of our podcast series teaching Mandarin
Chinese. As always we continue on where we left off from previous
lessons so youre welcome to find the older lessons if you need to catch up
from our website.
Now we learned how to count to ninety-nine in Lesson six. Today, we are
now going to count a little faster up to ten thousand. So for that, there are
a few new words you need to learn first. Lets start with the word for one
hundred.
Kirin: Y bi .
Adam: So thats a first tone y which means one and a third
tone bi which means hundred. So that gives us one hundred.
Kirin: Y bi .
Adam: Now for one hundred and one up to one hundred and nine, we
literally say one hundred zero one up to one hundred zero nine. So lets
try a few of the numbers in there. How would you say one hundred and
one?
Kirin: Y bi ling y .
Adam: One hundred and five.
Kirin: Y bi lngw .
Adam: One hundred and nine.
Kirin: Y bi lngji .
Adam: Now for one hundred and ten, we say one hundred one ten.
Kirin: Y bi ysh .
Adam: Similarly for one hundred and twenty, we say one hundred two ten.
Kirin: Y bi r sh .
Adam: Lets try one hundred and seventy.
Kirin: Y bi q sh .
Adam: And so on. For the numbers in between we just say y bi followed
by the number in between so lets try one hundred and thirty six.
Kirin: Y bi sn sh li .
Adam: Lets try a few more numbers to practice. One hundred and seventy
nine.
Kirin: Y bi q sh ji .
Adam: One hundred and fifty four.
Kirin: Y bi w sh s .
Adam: One hundred and seventy seven.
Kirin: Y bi q sh q .
Adam: Great, I hope youre getting the hang of this. Were now up to two
hundred, which is a little different than you might expect. The number two
in Chinese has two forms. Theres rwhich were familiar with so far and
theres also another form which we need to use now.
Kirin: ling .
Adam: So thats a third tone.
Kirin: ling .
Adam: Ling is usually used when you need to say two of something. Its
the only number that has this alternate form and sometimes you just need
to see it used in different situations several times to get the hang of it.
Hopefully we can help you with that in our future lessons. So the first
occurrence of it when counting upwards is for two hundred. It also gets
used for two thousand, twenty thousand and two million. So while you still
may hear r bi in some parts, were going to use ling bi . So lets try a
few more examples to practice what weve just learned. How do you say
two hundred and twenty five?
Kirin: Ling bi r sh w .
Adam: Two hundred and eighty two.
Kirin: Ling bi b sh r .
Adam: Lets continue with examples of the rest of the numbers up to a
thousand since they all share the same form. Three hundred and forty
seven.
Kirin: Sn bi s sh q .
Adam: Six hundred and seventy eight.
Kirin: Li bi q sh b .
Adam: Eight hundred and fifteen.
Kirin: B bi y sh w .
Adam: Great, that now brings us to one thousand which is
Kirin: Y qin .
Adam: So thats y meaning one followed by a first tone qin .
Kirin: Y qin .
Adam: The numbers from one thousand up to ten thousand use a
similar format to what weve seen so far. To say one thousand and one,
wed literally say one thousand zero one which is:
Kirin: Y qin lng y .
Adam: Lets practice a few more. One thousand two hundred and fifty
three.
Kirin: Y qin ling bi w sh sn .
Adam: Seven thousand nine hundred and sixteen.
Kirin: Q qin ji bi y sh li .
Adam: Nine thousand and twelve.
Kirin: Ji qin lng y sh r .
Adam: So hopefully youre getting the hang of it and are able to follow
along. Its very important that you get more practice so that you can rattle
numbers off without having to think about them. There are lots of practice
questions available to premium subscribers on our website
Chineselearnonline.com. So be sure to check those out, and then join us
again for our next lesson.
Kirin: Zijin .
Lesson 009
Adam: Hello and welcome to lesson 9 of ChineseLearnOnline.com. Im
Adam.
Adam: Today were looking at money. Its always nice when you get to
speak some Chinese when shopping, especially if you want to be able to
bargain with someone. This could be used when traveling in China itself or
hey even in your local Chinatown.
Well begin todays lesson with asking how much something is. Now
normally if youre out shopping and looking at something you have to first
point out what it is youre interested in, so lets first learn how to say this
one. How do we say that, Kirin?
Kirin: Zhge .
Adam: So thats a fourth tone and a neutral tone.
Kirin: Zhge .
Adam: So that means this one. Now what if we wanted to say that one?
Kirin: Nge .
Adam: So again a fourth tone and a neutral tone.
Kirin: Nge .
Adam: So before you ask how much something is you first identify it
using zhge or nge . How do you then ask How much is it?
Kirin: Dusho qin ?
Adam: So thats a first tone du , a third tone sho and a second
tone qin .
Kirin: Dusho qin ?
Adam: Great, so lets break down the meanings there. du means many
while sho means a few. In Chinese youll see many times that when two
opposites are put together, it forms a question. Well explore this more
later. The last character qin means money. So by asking many few
money, you are basically asking how much money or how much
something is.
Kirin: Dusho qin ?
Adam: So if I ask how much something is and its fifty dollars, how would
they say that?
Kirin: Zhge wsh kui qin .
Adam: So thats saying This one is fifty dollars money.
Kirin: Zhge wsh kui qin .
Adam: The only new word there is kui which is a fourth tone and is a
generic unit of currency. Thats followed by qin which is just specifying
that its money we are talking about. Since that may be obvious you may
just hear:
Kirin: Zhge wsh kui .
Adam: Now in some places instead of kui you may hear another word.
Kirin: Yun .
Adam: Thats a second tone and specifically refers to dollars.
Kirin: Yun .
Adam: Now you may recall a couple of lessons ago we introduced a
question word j ?. Do you remember what j ? means? It means how
many? So sometimes, usually for smaller amounts, instead of saying
Kirin: Dusho qin ?
Adam: we can say:
Kirin: J kui qin ?
Adam: So literally thats How many dollars of money?
Kirin: J kui qin ?
Adam: Now this seems to be a good time to introduce another concept in
Chinese and thats measure words. Now there are actually two of them
in this sentence:
Kirin: Zhge j kui qin ?
Adam: Now, qin is money and it is measured in kui which just means
a unit of money doesnt matter what currency. Different objects use
different measure words.
So in this case, money is measured in kui . Generic objects are measured
in ge . So when we say zhge , we havent specified what it is were talking
about so we just use zhge , or this object. Over time, as we introduce
new vocabulary youll start to see new measure words being introduced as
well. Now since were talking about money, lets introduce the some
different forms of currency. Well start with US dollars which is
Kirin: Mijn .
Adam: So thats the mi from Migu or America followed by a first
tone jn which refers to the money they use in America.
Kirin: Mijn .
Adam: Another currency that may be worth noticing is the type used in
China which is
Kirin: Rnmnb .
Adam: Now rn weve seen before thats a second tone and means
person or people.Mn is also a second tone and in this context with
the rn means citizen. The last word is a fourth tone b that refers to
money. So putting them together we get the peoples money or the
money used in the Peoples Republic of China.
Kirin: Rnmnb .
Adam: B is commonly used when referring to the currencies of many
countries. On our website, in the premium section of this lesson, you will
see a list of currencies from some other countries too.
So lets have a test for our listeners now. Imagine youre out shopping for
souvenirs and you ask the clerk what the price is. So first, how do you ask
How much is this one?
Kirin: Zhge dusho qin ?
Adam: Alright, so here are some prices. Lets see if you can figure out how
much they are.
Kirin: Ling bi wsh kui .
Adam: So that is250 dollars. Lets try another one.
Kirin: Q qin sn bi r sh kui .
Adam: 7320 dollars. Heres one more
Kirin: Ji sh y kui .
Adam: So thats91 dollars. Great, so continuing with this scenario, the
clerk has just told you the price and you think its too expensive. How
would you let them know that?
Kirin: Ti gu le !
Adam: So there are three characters there the first two are fourth tones
and the last word is a neutral tone.
Kirin: Ti gu le !
Adam: Weve actually seen all three words before. We saw ti in Titai .
Do you remember what ti means? It means too much of something.
We also saw gu in Nn gu xng ?Gu means honorable or in this case
expensive. The last character le is just a particle used in expressions of
this nature. We will study it in more detail in future lessons. So again
Too expensive!
Kirin: Ti gu le !
Adam: You can see more examples using the same construct in the
premium section of this lesson found on our website. Now how about if you
wanted a cheaper price, how would you ask for that?
Kirin: Ky piny ydin ma ?
Adam: Wow, so a few new words in there. Lets break it down for you. We
know its a question because of the ma at the end. The first part
is ky which is two third tones and that means to be allowed to do
something. Since this is a question you are asking if something is
permissible. This is followed by piny which is two second tones and that
means cheap. We then have ydin which weve seen before. Do you
remember what ydin means? It means a little. So putting that all
together gives us Can cheaper a little? or Can you make this a little
cheaper?
Kirin: Ky piny ydin ma ?
Adam: Lets continue this dialogue. Youve found what you want, you like
the price so you want to let the clerk know that you want to purchase it. For
this, we need to know the verb want which is
Kirin: Yo .
Kirin: Yo .
Adam: So knowing that, we have all the vocabulary necessary to say I
want this one. Can you figure out how to say that?
Kirin: W yo zhge .
Adam: I hope you got that right.
Kirin: W yo zhge .
Adam: Now what if you wanted to say I want two of them. How would you
say that?
Kirin: W yo ling ge .
Adam: So we use ling meaning two followed by ge which is the generic
measure word soling ge means two of something. Similarly how would
you say five of something?
Kirin: W g .
Adam: And so on. You are now ready to pay for your purchase. For that,
youll need to give the cashier some money, so first lets look at the verb
to give.
Kirin: Gi .
Kirin: Gi .
Adam: So if the item is a hundred dollars, you need to say Give you 100
dollars.
Kirin: Gi n y bi kui .
Adam: Note that in many cases you can leave out pronouns when they are
obvious, so in this case you wouldnt need to say I am giving you money
since the I is implied.
Kirin: Gi n y bi kui .
Adam: I hope you got all that. That brings us to the end of lesson 9. Dont
forget to take a look at the extra notes and activities to available to
premium subscribers on our website ChineseLearnOnline.com for a more
detailed explanation of todays lesson plus more review questions and
supplemental vocabulary to get you through to the next lesson. Well
continue Lesson 10 where we left off today so be sure to join us then.
Kirin: Zijin .
Lesson 010
Adam: Hello and welcome to Lesson 10 of ChineseLearnOnline.com. Im
your host Adam.
Adam: We will begin todays lesson by listening to a dialogue that reviews
vocabulary that weve learned up till now. There will be some new words
there too that well break down and explain to you in a moment. If you
need to, you can follow along with the entire transcript available to
premium subscribers on our website. Lets begin by listening to todays
dialogue.
Cindy: N yo mi shnme ?
Yann: N yu miyu Yngwn sh ?
Cindy: Yu . Nl yu . Zhl y yu .
Yann: Zhge dusho qin ?
Cindy: Zhge w bi w sh ji yun .
Yann: Ti gu le ! Ky piny ydin ma ?
Cindy: W bi yun ho b ho ?
Yann: Ho . W yo mi ling ge .
Gi n y qin kui .
Cindy: Ho, xixie n . Zijin .
Adam: Great. Lets now go through each statement and break it down for
you starting with the first one. Try to repeat the lines as you hear them to
practice your pronunciation.
Kirin: N yo mi shnme ?
Adam: So lets see if you can figure out what that means. Theres one new
word in there mito which is a third tone. And thats the verb to buy
something. So what do you think
Adam: means? Do you remember what yo means? We saw that in
our last lesson. Its the verb to want. What does shnme ? mean?
Thats a question word and means what. So putting them together
gives us you want buy what, or What do you want to buy?
Adam: So lets listen to the next line of the dialogue.
Kirin: N yu miyu Yngwn sh ?
Adam: So this sentence needs to be broken down. First, there is a new
verb here that needs to be introduced. yu is a third tone and is the verb
to have and is of course used quite often. Now here we
have yu miyu . mi is a second tone and is the same usage
as b meaning the negation of what follows. Some verbs
like yu require mi rather than b . So by askingyu miyu you are
literally asking have not have.
Kirin: N yu miyu ?
Adam: Weve seen before that one way to ask a question is to add a ma at
the end of the statement to turn it into a question. Another way, as seen
here is by giving two alternatives one of which needs to be chosen by the
listener. So here the person is asking have or not have? This is a quite
common way of asking questions and youll see more examples of this
later as well as in the Premium notes for this lesson. It is also equivalent to
asking yu ma ? or Do you have?
Adam: So This is followed by Yngwn sh . Now hopefully we remember
what Yngwnmeans. It means. English. The last word is a first
tone sh meaning book. One nice thing youll notice is that you dont
have to specifically distinguish between singular and plural in Chinese as
you do in English its all derived by context. So by asking You have not
have English book, you are asking Do you have any English books?
Adam: Now lets see if you remember how questions of this form are
answered. The person is being given two choices yu and miyu as in
she either has some or doesnt have any. So if she had some shed say:
Kirin: Yu .
Adam: And if she didnt have any, shed say:
Kirin: Miyu .
Adam: So lets look at her answer in this dialogue.
Kirin: Yu . Nl yu . Zhl y yu .
Adam: So we know the answer is yes, she does have some English
books. She then says:
Kirin: Nl yu .
Adam: Weve seen the n before with nge meaning that one. The
second part l is a third tone. Together, nl means there. Thats followed
by yu which means has. So she is saying there has meaning There
are some over there.
Kirin: Nl yu .
Adam: When you translate many sentences and phrases literally from
Chinese they end up with very simple meanings in English but overtime
youll find that Chinese is a very efficient language with many words
omitted if they are obvious in context. So the result is many sentences are
much shorter in Chinese than their English counterparts. She then
says zhlwhich is the opposite of nl . It means here. Now in some parts
of China, especially in northern parts like Beijing you may hear them
say nr and zhr instead of nl and zhl . They mean the same thing and
are just differences in dialect. So in Beijing you may hear them say:
Kirin: Nr yu . Zhr y yu .
Adam: Now youll notice that in zhl y yu , theres an extra character in
there y which is a third tone. y means also. So that gives us There are
also some over here.
Kirin: Zhl y yu .
Adam: The next line of the dialogue is.
Adam: So hopefully you understand that. How much is this one?
Adam: We then have:
Kirin: Zhge w bi w sh ji yun .
Adam: This one is 559 dollars.
Adam: Notice here that she is using yun rather than kui . You will find
that these two words are used interchangeably.
Adam: The next line of the dialogue was:
Kirin: Ti gu le ! Ky piny ydin ma ?
Adam: Thats too expensive. Can you make it a little cheaper?
Kirin: Ti gu le ! Ky piny ydin ma ?
Adam: Hopefully you recognize all that from our last lesson. We then have:
Kirin: W bi yun ho b ho ?
Adam: So here we have vocabulary that weve seen before, but here its
being used in our new question format.
Adam: 500 dollars then ho b ho which literally translates to ok not ok
or Is that ok? So in other words Is 500 dollars ok for you?
Adam: Alright. And then the next line of the dialogue was:
Kirin: Ho . W yo mi ling ge .
Adam: So theres our new verb in there mi , meaning to buy. So this
means Ok, I want to buy two of them.
Kirin: Ho . W yo mi ling ge .
Adam: We then have:
Kirin: Gi n y qin kui .
Adam: I hope you remember this from our last lesson. It means Im giving
you 1000 dollars. We can also say:
Kirin: Gi n y qin yun .
Adam: Alright so lets listen to the dialogue one more time before we wrap
up. Please try and repeat along.
Cindy: N yo mi shnme ?
Yann: N yu miyu Yngwn sh ?
Cindy: Yu . Nl yu . Zhl y yu .
Yann: Zhge dusho qin ?
Cindy: Zhge w bi w sh ji yun .
Yann: Ti gu le ! Ky piny ydin ma ?
Cindy: W bi yun ho b ho ?
Yann: Ho . W yo mi ling ge .
Gi n y qin kui .
Cindy: Ho, xixie n . Zijin .
Adam: Great, so that brings us to the end of lesson 10. Again, take a look
at the extra notes available to premium subscribers on our website which
will break down all the dialogue in this lesson into meaningful bits. As well
you can take a look at the Chinese characters there that make up this
lesson.
In these past ten lessons weve taught you a lot of things. Weve taught
you how to identify the different tones in Chinese, how to introduce
yourself and to greet someone. Youve also learned how to count up to ten
thousand. You should also know the months of the year and how to read
dates and announce birthdays. And after todays lesson, you now have the
tools to walk into a store and do some shopping and maybe even get a
discount along the way. So good luck with that! Well continue on with our
program in our next lesson so please join us for that.
Kirin: Zijin .

Lesson 011
Adam: Hello and welcome to Lesson 11 of ChineseLearnOnline.com. My
name is Adam.
Adam: You can find all our previous lessons starting from lesson One on
our website. As well, you can take a look at the many notes and resources
for each lesson that we have made available to premium subscribers to
look at on your review day. As you listen to this lesson, try and repeat
along with the lines as you hear them. We leave a pause after each line of
the dialogue just for this purpose, which should help in your pronunciation.
Today were going to talk about family. Well first present a dialogue in its
entirety to start the lesson. So listen along. Well then break down the
meaning for you line by line. Its a pretty short dialogue today but it does
include lots of new words that well analyze and discuss in a moment. So
lets get started.
Cindy: N jil yu jge rn ?
Yann: W jil yu w ge rn .
Cindy: Sh n w ge rn ?
Yann: W jil yu w bba , mma , gge , mimei h w .
Adam: And thats it! I told you it was short. Lets listen to it again.
Kirin: N jil yu jge rn ?
Raphael: W jil yu w ge rn .
Kirin: Sh n w ge rn ?
Raphael: W jil yu w bba , mma , gge , mimei h w .
Adam: Ok, so lets break this down for you line by line. Starting with the
first line:
Adam: Now, weve actually seen all these words before so lets see if we
can figure out the meaning. Weve got n which means you, then we
have ji . Now Kirin says that at the top of every lesson when she
says Dji ho . Now we know that means Hello everyone but do you
remember the literal translation of Dji ? It means big house or big
family so ji is house or in this case family. Thats followed by l , which
we saw in our last lesson in nl and zhl. The literal translation of l is
inside. So nl actually means that inside or there while zhlmeans
this inside or here. So n jil means inside your house. We then
have yu which we learned in our last lesson. What does yu mean? It
means to have. We then have jg . Weve seen j ? before from
N j su ?. That meant How old are you? so j ? means How many?
The g is a measure word that we also learned in our last lesson so
together with thej ? means How many of something? The last word
is rn . Do you remember what rn means? It means person or
people. So putting all of this together gives us You house has how many
people? or How many people are in your home or family?
Adam: So lets look at how he answers that question.
Kirin: W jil yu w ge rn .
Adam: So hopefully you understand this. My house has five people.
Kirin: W jil yu w ge rn .
Adam: Lets continue with the next line.
Adam: So the first word there is sh . What does sh mean? Its the verb
to be. Thats followed by a new character n which is a third tone. n is
a new question word meaning which. Dont confuse that with n , which
is a fourth tone meaning that. So you can see why the tones are so
important, as you can have words that sound similar but have very
different meanings. We then have w g rn . What does w g rn
mean? It means 5 people. So putting that all together gives us Is
which five people or Which five people are they?
Adam: Alright, and the last line of the dialogue was:
Kirin: W jil yu w bba , mma , gge , mimei h w .
Adam: Alright, so some new words here. Youll notice that in many
instances were able to get away with saying w rather than wde again
obvious from context that we mean my and not I. So the first new word
there is bba . Can you guess what that means? It means father. It
uses a fourth tone and neutral tone. Now many times in Chinese when we
have two words repeating like we do here, the second word ends up
adopting a neutral tone. This can vary from region to region we saw that
before with xixie . Now youll see that again with our next few words. So
again father bba . We then have mma . That uses a first tone and
neutral tone and means mother. Mma . The next word
is gge . Gge , thats a first tone and neutral tone and means older
brother. So heres where it gets tricky. In Chinese you have two different
words for sister and two different words for brother depending on
whether they are older or younger than you. So here gge refers to your
older brother. Thats followed by mimei , which is a fourth tone and
means younger sister. Mimei . The last two words are h w . H is a
second tone and means and. In this context it is used just like you would
in English when you rattle off a long list and use an and before the last
word. Now of course the last word w means I. So putting these all
together gives us In my house, there are my father, mother, older brother,
younger sister and I.
Kirin: W jil yu w bba , mma , gge , mimei h w .
Adam: Now lets take this time to look at two other relationships in the
immediate family. Well start with ddi . That uses a fourth tone and refers
to your younger brother. Ddi . We also havejijie which is a third tone
meaning older sister. We saw ji before in Xioji . Do you remember
what Xioji means? It means Miss and we told you at the time that the
literal translation is small sister. So here you can see where that comes
from. Jijie .
In the Premium lesson notes found on our website, we give you a bit of a
background on Chinese family and why they have these special names to
identify relationships. Lets listen to these family members again one more
time.
Kirin: Bba .
Adam: Father.
Kirin: Mma .
Adam: Mother.
Kirin: Gge .
Adam: Older brother.
Kirin: Ddi .
Adam: Younger brother.
Kirin: Jijie .
Adam: Older sister.
Kirin: Mimei .
Adam: Younger sister.
Great, so why dont we read the lines of the dialogue again. Please try and
repeat along with the speaker.
Cindy: N jil yu jge rn ?
Yann: W jil yu w ge rn .
Cindy:Sh n w ge rn ?
Yann: W jil yu w bba , mma , gge , mimei h w .
Adam: Great, so hope you got something out of that. Please review this
and previous podcasts from time to time to make sure youre up to date
and dont forget to take a look at the extra notes and resources available to
premium subscribers on our website ChineseLearnOnline.com. Thank you
for listening and join us again next time for lesson 12.
Kirin: Zijin .

Lesson 012
Adam: Welcome to Lesson 12 of ChineseLearnOnline.com. Im your host,
Adam.
Kirin: N ho . W sh Kirin .
Adam: We will start todays lesson with a dialogue. Each dialogue reviews
and builds upon vocabulary learned from previous lessons. Todays
dialogue is about introductions again. So please listen and try and follow
along.
Cindy: Wng Xinshng n ho .
Yann: Chn Titi n ho .
Cindy: Zh sh wde pngyu . Tde mngzi jio Tina Yng .
Yann: Yng Xioji n ho .
Tina: Hn goxng rnsh ni .
Yann: N znme rnsh Chn Titi ?
Cindy: T sh wde lobn .
Adam: Alright, lets listen to it one more time at slower speed.
Kirin: Wng Xinshng n ho .
Raphael: Chn Titi n ho .
Kirin: Zh sh wde pngyu . Tde mngzi jio Tina Yng .
Raphael: Yng Xioji n ho .
Raphael: N znme rnsh Chn Titi ?
Kirin: T sh wde lobn .
Adam: Alright, so lets get right into it. The first few lines contain vocabulary
weve seen before in similar forms. The first line was:
Adam: Hopefully you understood that Hello Mr. Wang. In Chinese, the
titles of people come after their surname. So Mr. Wang becomes Wang
Mr. or Wng Xinshng .
Adam: And the next line was:
Kirin: Chn Titi n ho .
Adam: So similar format to what we just saw except were dealing with a
woman here and the words were a little bit rearranged. So it becomes
Mrs. Chen Hello.
Kirin: Chn Titi n ho .
Adam: Notice that we can say Hello Mrs. Chen or Mrs. Chen hello.
Kirin: N ho Chn Titi .
Adam: Great, we then had:
Kirin: Zh sh wde pngyu .
Adam: Ok, so some new words there. Zh we should remember
from zhge and zhl . Those meant this one and here
respectively. Zh sh means this is. We then have wde meaning my
followed by pngyu . Thats a new word - a second tone png and a third
tone yumeaning friend.
Adam: This is my friend. We then had:
Kirin: Tde mngzi jio Tina Yng .
Adam: So hopefully you remember this from before literally Her name
called Tina Yang or Her name is Tina Yang.
Adam: Notice in this portion we are using the western method of first name
- last name here rather than the Chinese version of last name - first name
because she is using her western name of Tina.
Adam: We then had:
Kirin: Yng Xioji n ho .
Adam: Do you remember what Xioji means? It means Miss. So this
becomes Hello Miss Yang.
Kirin: Yng Xioji n ho .
Adam: The next line then was:
Kirin: Hn goxng rnsh n .
Adam: Great, so some new words here too. First we have hn which we
know means very. Then we have goxng thats a first tone go and a
fourth tone xng which together means happy. Go on its own
interestingly enough means high or tall so goxng together means a
high state of being or happy. We then have rnsh which is two fourth
tones. The literal meaning is to recognize or or in this case to know or
meet. The last word is n which of course means you. Putting these
together gives us very happy know you. In other words, Nice to meet
you.
Adam: Thats a phrase worth knowing as youll hear it often when you
meet new people in Chinese.
Adam: The next line of the dialogue was
Kirin: N znme rnsh Chn Titi ?
Adam: So lets look at this one closely. n thats you followed
by znme . Thats a third tone and a neutral tone. Its another question
word and means how. We know that rnshafter that means to know
someone and then we have Chn Titi or Mrs. Chen. So together, that
gives us you how know Mrs. Chen? or How do you know Mrs. Chen?
Kirin: N znme rnsh Chn Titi ?
Adam: And the last line of the dialogue was:
Adam: T sh wde I hope you understood that. It means she is my.
Now we know thatt means she here and not he because of
context. lobn thats two third tones meaning boss. So together that
gives us She is my boss.
Adam: So I hope that all made sense to you. Lets listen again to this
dialogue at a normal speed. Please repeat along the lines after you hear
them.
Cindy: Wng Xinshng n ho .
Yann: Chn Titi n ho .
Cindy: Zh sh wde pngyu . Tde mngzi jio Tina Yng .
Yann: Yng Xioji n ho .
Yann: N znme rnsh Chn Titi ?
Cindy: T sh wde lobn .
Adam: Great, so hopefully that all made sense to you. That brings us to an
end to lesson 12. Well be reviewing this and more in our next lesson so
please join us then. In the meantime, dont forget to take a look all the
extra notes and resources available to premium subscribers on our
website ChineseLearnOnline.com. See you next time!
Kirin: Zijin .

Lesson 013
your host, Adam.
Adam: In todays lesson well discuss more about introductions. When
youre out meeting Chinese people, they might ask if you can speak
Chinese, or you might want to ask if they can speak English, or they just
might want to know where youre from. So well go over all of this in todays
lesson. Lets begin with the word for the Chinese language. We learned
the word Zhngwn before, which is a generic word used for the language.
In Mainland China, however, they use a different word.
Kirin: Ptnghu .
Adam: Now there are three characters there with three different tones. Do
you know what they are?
Kirin: Ptnghu .
Adam: The first was a third tone p . The second is a first tone tng and
the last is a fourth tone hu . Ptnghu now this refers to the official
language of mainland China Mandarin Chinese. The literal translation is
common speech. Ptng means common or ordinary while hu refers
to speech. So when you travel to Mainland China you may hear
references to that.
If someone asks you
Kirin: N hu shu Ptnghu ma ?
Adam: Would you know what that means? Hopefully you do, since weve
taught it before Can you speak Chinese? Now what if you want to ask
someone if they can speak English, how would you do that?
Kirin: N hu shu Yngwn ma ?
Adam: Great. And how would you reply: I can speak a little.
Adam: Great! Next well learn the question Where are you from?
Kirin: N cng nl li ?
Adam: Ok, so you should know the first character for you followed by a
few new characters after that. Lets look at them separately.
Adam: The second character there is a second tone cng . Cng means
from. So that gives us you from. The next word is made up for two
characters nl , which are two third tones.nl . Weve actually seen both
of these before. Do you remember what n means? Kirin, where did we
see that before?
Kirin: Sh n wge rn ?
Adam: Ah yes, so what did n mean there? It meant which as in which
5 people are in your family? We then have l , which weve also seen
in nl and zhl meaning there and here. So l on its own means
inside. So what do you think which inside means? It actually means
where. You have to keep a very open mind when we give you these
literal definitions since the characters in Chinese have very broad
meanings and thus are very context sensitive. So as you can see we have
learned another question word here. We earlier learned shnmewhich
means what. Then we learned j ? which means how many. We then
learned n , meaning which and now we are learning nl which means
where. So getting back to our original question:
Adam: We so far have you from where. Which leads us to our last
character, a second toneli which is the verb to come. So that gives us
you from where come? I think thats easy to figure out as Where do you
come from?
Adam: We can now make use of the countries we learned in lesson three
to answer that question.
Kirin: W cng Migu li .
Adam: I come from America.
Kirin: W cng ozhu li .
Adam: I come from Australia. And so on.
Now every lesson were teaching a few new characters, but I want to make
sure that you dont forget what youve learned so far. So there are review
questions in the Premium notes link for this lesson on our website, that
should hopefully help you out well with this. These are important because
in these podcast lessons were teaching everything to you through audio of
course, which works well for some people. But other people like to see
things visually so visit the website and associated pages with for each
lesson and see the character representations of everything were talking
about here.
Now lets take this time to review some of the material from previous
lessons. Try to answer these questions yourself before listening to Kirins
answer. Well start with meeting people. How do we ask someone what
their last name or what their family name is?
Kirin: Nn gu xng ?
Adam: Ok, and how do you ask someone what their first name or their
given name is?
Adam: How about How old are you?
Kirin: N j su ?
Adam: Hm, lets try. I like America very much.
Kirin: W hn xhun Migu .
Adam: How about I can speak a little Chinese?
Kirin: W hu shu ydin Zhngwn .
Adam: Alright. Next one is My Chinese isnt very good.
Adam: Ok. And how about Nice to meet you?
Kirin: Hn goxng rnshi n .
Adam: Great. So hope youre doing well there. Now lets now listen to a
short conversation between two Chinese speakers.
Yann: N ho .
Cindy: N ho .
Yann: N ho ma ?
Cindy: W hn ho . N ne ?
Yann: W y hn ho .
Adam: Youll notice in the end that he used the character y which we
learned recently. What does y mean? It means also. So he just told
her that He is also good. Useful to know.
Lets switch to some other review questions. How do you ask: How much
is this?
Adam: Alright, and how about I am 39 years old?
Kirin: W sn sh ji su .
Adam: Ok, hope youre keeping up. Well be building upon this in future
lessons, so make sure youre using all the review tools on our website,
then join us again for lesson 14.
Kirin: Zijin .
Lesson 014
Adam: Hello and welcome to lesson 14 of the ChineseLearnOnline.com
podcast series teaching Mandarin Chinese. Im your host, Adam.
Adam: This is an interactive course that takes you through all the basics of
learning Chinese one lesson at a time. You can maximize your learning
experience by going through all the review tools on our website. You can
also follow along with the included lesson summary by viewing lyrics on
your MP3 player if its capable of doing so.
We will begin todays lesson by listening to a conversation. There are
actually two parts to it, so well listen to the first part today and then finish
off in our next lesson. The dialogue uses vocabulary that has previously
been taught in earlier lessons while introducing some new characters
along the way. So lets listen in, shall we?
Cindy: Ho ji b jin . N jntin yu kng ma ? W yo q chfn .
Yann: W xinzi hn mng . Mngtin ky ma ?
Adam: Lets now listen to the dialogue at slow down speed. Please repeat
after Kirin.
Kirin: Ho ji b jin . N jntin yu kng ma ? W yo q chfn .
W xinzi hn mng . Mngtin ky ma ?
Adam: Ok, so lets break this down and analyze it starting with the first
sentence.
Kirin: Ho ji b jin .
Adam: Now the first character ho is very versatile indeed. Weve already
seen it used in the context of good and ok. Here its being used in the
context of so or very.
Adam: ji is a third tone and means a long time. It is usually preceded
with a hn or homeaning very so that gives us very long time. We then
have b jin . We actually know both these characters. B means not
and jin is the same jin from the zijin which we tell you at the end of
every show. Do you remember what jin literally means? It means to
see someone or meet someone. So zijin means see you again. So
what do you think hoji b jin means? This one is easy because the
literal translation is the same as the proper translation Long time no
see.
Adam: From what I hear, the English phrase Long time no see may have
been imported directly from Chinese so there you go. Its as popular a
phrase in Chinese as it is in English, so youll hear that often when you
havent seen someone for a while.
Adam: Lets look at the next line that was said.
Kirin: N jntin yu kng ma ?
Adam: Now weve seen most of these characters before, so this is good
review. We have n , which means you followed by jntin . Do you
remember what jntin means? It means today. We then have the
verb yu . What does the verb yu mean? Its the verb to have. We
then have a new character kng . Kng is a fourth tone and means free
time. The last character is ma we know means that this is a question. So
putting those characters together gives us you today have free time? In
other words, Do you have any free time today?
Adam: Note the word order there. Its very important in Chinese. The time
goes after the subject. You will see more examples of this in the notes
page of this lesson on our website. So take a look at that. Lets now look at
the next line of the dialogue.
Kirin: W yo q chfn .
Adam: Alright, lets study this one. W yo we have seen the
verb yo before. Do you remember what it means? Its the verb to want.
So that gives us I want. We then have a new verb q . Thats a fourth
tone and is the verb to go. So that gives us I want to go chfn. Thats a
first tone ch and a fourth tone fn . Chfn . Ch is the verb to eat. Now
many verbs in Chinese dont make any sense unless they have an object
in front of them. Ch is one of these verbs. In English we can say I want to
go eat. In Chinese you have to specify what it is youre going to eat
even if you dont know, so the common word that goes
with ch is fn .fn literally means rice but when put together
with ch , chfn just means to eat a meal, not necessarily rice.
Although, usually that is the case.
Adam: I want to go out and eat. Now lets look at the reply.
Kirin: W xinzi hn mng .
Adam: Ok, so theres a couple of new words there to look at. We first
have w which of course means I. Thats followed by xinzi . Thats two
fourth tones and means right now. Thats followed by hn mng . We
know that hn means very. Mng is a second tone and means busy. So
that gives us I now very busy or I am very busy right now.
Adam: Notice that the time word follows the subject again. So we say I
now, rather than now I. Its very important to follow this order in Chinese.
The next line of the dialogue is:
Kirin: Mngtin ky ma ?
Adam: So hopefully you can figure this out. Weve learned all these words
before. We earlier saw jntin which means today. What does mngtin
mean? That means tomorrow. Thats followed by ky ma ? Thats a
question asking for permission. So in other words Is tomorrow ok for
you?
Adam: And thats the end of the dialogue, well for this lesson anyway.
So yes, weve left you with a cliffhanger. Im sure you will all be on the
edge of your seats waiting for our next lesson to find out if she accepts this
invitation or not. For now though, Ill get Kirin to read each line of the
dialogue again. Please repeat the lines after her.
Adam: And lets listen to the dialogue again at normal speed.
Adam: Ok, so thats it for todays lesson. As I said before, well continue
this dialogue in our next lesson, so please join us for that. In the meantime,
be sure to do all the exercises available to premium subscribers on the
vocabulary page for this lesson on our website ChineseLearnOnline.com.
See you next time!
Kirin: Zijin .
Lesson 015
your host, Adam.
Adam: In todays lesson, we are going to complete the dialogue that we
started in our last lesson. Well listen to the first part again, then continue
on with the rest of the dialogue representing todays lesson.
Cindy: Ky . N yo gn w yq q ma ?
Yann: Ky . Mngtin d dinhu gi w .
Cindy: Ho . Mngtin jin .
Adam: Alright, lets listen to it again. Please repeat after Kirin.
Ky . N yo gn w yq q ma ?
Ky . Mngtin d dinhu gi w .
Ho . Mngtin jin .
Adam: Ok, lets now go through all the lines, starting with the lines from
last time.
Adam: Long time no see.
Adam: Do you have any free time today?
Adam: I want to go out and eat.
Adam: Im very busy right now.
Adam: Would tomorrow be ok?
So that was our dialogue from our last lesson. Lets continue on with the
rest of the dialogue. Now if someone asks you:
Adam: There are two possible answers. Yes or no. In this dialogue she
replies:
Kirin: Ky .
Adam: Meaning, yes thats possible. Remember you ask Ky ma ? to
find out if something is possible. If you wanted to reply Its not ok, you
would say B ky .
Lets now look at the next line.
Kirin: N yo gn w yq q ma ?
Adam: So lets analyze this. The first two characters are n yo meaning
you want. We know its a question though by the ma at the end of the
sentence so that makes it Do you want? Thats followed by gn w yq .
So first we have the character gn which is a first tone meaning with. We
then have w meaning I followed by yq . Thats a first tone and a third
tone. Yq means together. So putting it all together gives
us gn w yq or with me together. The next character is the verb q . Do
you remember what q means? Its the verb to go. So putting that
together gives us You want with me together go? or Do you want to go
together with me?
Adam: Now in English, we wouldnt often say Do you want to go together
with me? But in Chinese its much more common to have the yq together
in there as well.
Adam: Lets listen to the next line of the dialogue.
Kirin: Ky . Mngtin d dinhu gi w .
Adam: So lets look at what we know from this sentence. What does
mngtin mean? We saw that earlier in this conversation meaning
tomorrow. What does the verb gi mean? Its the verb to give. So
knowing what we know so far and looking at that sentence gives us Ok,
tomorrow something something give me. Lets look at that something
something part which is d dinhu . The d is a third tone. Dont confuse
that with d which is a fourth tone meaning big. d means to hit. Now
what are we trying to hit in this conversation? Well lets look at the next
word dinhu which is two fourth tones. Din means electric or to do
with electricity while hu weve seen before in Ptnghu . The character
there you may remember means speech so the two characters
here dinhu gives us electric speech. Can you guess what electric
speech is referring to? Its actually the word in Chinese for telephone.
Now in English we dial a telephone. In Chinese you hit a telephone.
And why not? So they use the verb hit to indicate dialing. So lets listen to
the sentence again.
Kirin: Ky . Mngtin d dinhu gi w .
Adam: Its possible. Tomorrow dial telephone give meor Give me a
call tomorrow.
Kirin: Mngtin d dinhu gi w .
Adam: We purposely give you these literal translations and try to break
down sentences into as much detail as we can since it helps you
remember all this new vocabulary. In the Premium notes for this lesson
you will see examples of other vocabulary that utilizes the
same din construction that we see here. It will also give you a better feel
for the language if you learn the roots of where these words and
expressions come from. Its easier to remember smaller components that
can be reconstructed into something bigger than to just try and remember
the end phrase without really knowing how it came about.
Now the last sentence of the dialogue was
Kirin: Ho . Mngtin jin .
Adam: So we should be able to figure that one out. We know mngtin is
tomorrow and we know that jin means to meet. So tomorrow meet is
the same asSee you tomorrow.
Kirin: Mngtin jin .
Adam: Great so lets listen to each line of the dialogue one more time.
Please repeat after Kirin.
N jntin yu kng ma ?
W yo q chfn .
W xinzi hn mng .
Mngtin ky ma ?
Ky .
N yo gn w yq q ma ?
Ky . Mngtin d dinhu gi w .
ho . Mngtin jin .
Adam: And lets now listen to the dialogue again at normal speed.
Cindy: Ky . N yo gn w yq q ma ?
Yann: Ky . Mngtin d dinhu gi w .
Cindy: Ho . Mngtin jin .
Adam: Great! So lots of useful vocabulary and expressions there. To help
you put it into memory I highly recommend you go through the various
exercises that weve made available to premium subscribers in the
vocabulary page for this lesson, found on our website
ChineseLearnOnline.com. Then please join us again for lesson 16.
Kirin: Zijin .
Lesson 016
Adam: Hello and welcome to Lesson 16 of the ChineseLearnOnline.com
Adam: Well start off this lesson with a dialogue that well listen to in its
entirety. The dialogue will make use of vocabulary that weve taught in
previous lessons while adding a few new words and phrases along the
way.
Now there are two things we recommend you do while listening to our
podcasts to get the maximum value for them. The first is to have a
transcript in front of you to follow along. You can do this in two ways, one
is by viewing the included lesson notes directly on your MP3 player if its
capable of doing so. If not, you can also view them directly from our
website. Premium subscribers can also download PDF versions that can
be printed out, or you can view the interactive complete transcripts with
popup translations.
The second thing we ask you to do is to repeat the sentences and words in
Chinese as you hear them. We leave pauses on purpose just for you to do
that.
SO with that in mind, were ready to get started so lets listen to our
dialogue. Miss Lin opens the door and sees Mr. Wang outside so heres
their conversation. You should already know many of the words in this
dialogue, so see if you can figure out whats happening before we break it
down for you.
Cindy: Wng Xinshng n ho . Qng jn .
Yann: Xixie n .
Cindy: Qng zu .
Yann: Ho .
Cindy: N yo h kfi ma ?
Yann: B ho ysi . W b h kfi .
Cindy: Nme , Zhnggu ch znme yng ?
Yann: Ho, w xhun Zhnggu ch .
Adam: So, did you understand that? Lets listen to it again. Please repeat
after Kirin.
Kirin: Wng Xinshng n ho . Qng jn .
Xixie n .
Qng zu .
Ho .
N yo h kfi ma ?
B ho ysi . W b h kfi .
Nme , Zhnggu ch znme yng ?
Ho, w xhun Zhnggu ch .
Adam: Ok, so time to break down this dialogue line by line, starting with
the first line.
Adam: Pretty easy I think. Hello Mr. Wang.
Kirin: Qng jn .
Adam: Alright, so lets look at this. Weve seen qng before. Its
the qng from Qngwn . Do you remember what that means? It means
please. This is followed by jn . Thats a fourth tone. Jn means to enter
or come in. So together that gives us please come in.
Kirin: Qng jn .
Adam: We then have
Kirin: Xixie n .
Adam: Easy enough thank you. Thats followed by:
Kirin: Qng zu .
Adam: So theres another qng meaning please followed by a zu which
is a fourth tone and means to sit, so please sit.
Kirin: Qng zu .
Adam: The man then replies:
Kirin: ho .
Adam: So hopefully you know what that is by now. Ok. The lady then
asks him:
Kirin: N yo h kfi ma ?
Adam: Ok, so this starts with N yo . Since we know this is a question by
the ma at the end that becomes Do you want to h kfi ? H is a first
tone and is the verb to drink. So Do you want to drink kfi ? Can you
guess what kfi is? Thats two first tones and is the transliteration of the
word for coffee so that should be easy to remember. So Do you want
to drink coffee?
Kirin: N yo h kfi ma ?
Kirin: B ho ysi . W b h kfi .
Adam: The first phrase is a very common expression. B ho ysi . What
does bho mean? Hopefully you know that it means not good. Thats
followed by ysi which is a fourth and a neutral tone meaning meaning.
Notice the difference between this y which is a fourth tone versus y which
is a first tone meaning one. So here we have not good meaning which
may sound strange but its actually a very popular expression along the
lines of I dont feel good or Im embarrassed to trouble you in this way.
Kirin: B ho ysi .
Adam: He then follows this with:
Kirin: W b h kfi .
Adam: So hopefully you can figure this out since we should know all these
words now. I dont drink coffee.
Kirin: W b h kfi .
Adam: She then says:
Kirin: Nme , Zhnggu ch znme yng ?
Adam: Ok, so some new words here. The first one is nme . Thats a
fourth tone and a neutral tone nme meaning in that case. Youll hear it
used often in conversations. Nme, Zhngguch . Do you remember
what Zhnggu is? Thats the word for China. We then have a
character ch which is a second tone and is the opposite of coffee. Its
tea. So Zhngguch is Chinese tea. The last part znme yng is also
a popular expression. We learnedznme before. What does znme
mean? Its the question word for how. Yng is a fourth tone. And
together, znme yng ? means how about?
So Zhnggu ch znme yng ? - means How about Chinese tea?
Kirin: Nme, Zhnggu ch znme yng ?
Adam: Znme yng ? as I said is a very useful construct. You can use it
to ask how anything is. N znme yng ? - How are things with
you? Nde sh znme yng ? - Hows your book? And so on. The
Premium notes for this lesson found on our website, will review other
examples using the same construct.
The next line of the dialogue was
Kirin: Ho, w xhun Zhnggu ch .
Adam: Do you remember what the verb xhun means? Its the verb to
like. So that gives us I like Chinese tea.
Kirin: Ho, w xhun Zhnggu ch .
Adam: Ok, so lets listen to Kirin read each line of the dialogue one more
time again before wrapping up. Please repeat after her.
Kirin: Wng Xinshng n ho . Qng jn .
Xixie n .
Qng zu .
ho .
N yo h kfi ma ?
B ho ysi . W b h kfi .
Nme , Zhnggu ch znme yng ?
Ho, w xhun Zhnggu ch .
Adam: And lets listen to this dialogue again at normal speed.
Cindy: Wng Xinshng n ho . Qng jn .
Yann: Xixie n .
Cindy: Qng zu .
Yann: Ho .
Cindy: N yo h kfi ma ?
Yann: B ho ysi . W b h kfi .
Cindy: Nme , Zhnggu ch znme yng ?
Yann: Ho, w xhun Zhnggu ch .
Adam: Excellent, and as always premium subscribers can visit the
vocabulary and other pages for this site along with watching the
accompany video on our website ChineseLearnOnline.com. You can also
find more lesson notes, practice and review examples there. You can also
check out the Course Outline in the Lessons section that keeps track of the
vocabulary learned so far, and which lesson it was introduced in and so
on. Once youve done all that, then please join us again next time for our
next lesson.
Kirin: Zijin .
Lesson 017
Adam: Hello and welcome. My name is Adam.
Kirin: Nmen ho . W sh Kirin .
Adam: This is Lesson 17 of the ChineseLearnOnline.com podcast series
teaching Mandarin Chinese. Each lesson builds upon previously learned
material, while adding new words as we go along. If you ever find yourself
in trouble, then please use the course outline on the site to see what words
were taught in each lesson.
Now if youre a sharp listener, you may have noticed that Kirin just used a
new character in her introduction. We all know what n ho means. The
literal translation is You good. Here she said Nmen ho . The men is a
neutral tone character that is added after n to make it plural. So its the
difference between you singular and you plural.
Similarly we could say wmen to mean we, rather than w meaning I.
We could also saytmen to mean they rather than t meaning he or
she. So when saying hello, you can say n ho using a singular n or
you could also say Nmen ho to address a group. And of course we also
have Dji ho to mean Hello everyone. So thank you, Kirin.
Kirin: B kq .
Adam: Alright, so well begin todays lesson with a short conversation.
Well then break it down for you line by line. Like we did recently, this one
is also a two part dialogue. Well listen to the first part today and then finish
off in our next lesson. You can try and follow along by viewing lesson notes
directly on your MP3 player if you can, or by viewing the transcripts on our
website. As well, if you can, try and repeat the lines and characters as you
hear them. So lets get started here.
Cindy: Qng n zw jisho yxi . N jihn le ma ?
Yann: Dubuq . W tng b dng . Jihn sh shnme ysi ?
Adam: So pretty simple there, lets listen to it again. Please repeat after
Kirin.
Kirin: Qng n zw jisho yxi . N jihn le ma ?
Dubuq . W tng b dng . Jihn sh shnme ysi ?
Adam: So lots of new vocabulary there. Well now break it down for you
starting with the first line.
Kirin: Qng n zw jisho yxi .
Adam: So weve seen the first two characters before qng n . What does
qng mean? It means please. So that gives us please you. Now
something to note here, they are both third tones. However, when we have
two third tones together, the first one frequently changes to a second tone
since that makes it simpler to pronounce. So for example n ho is two
third tones, but that slows us down to say the full third tones so usually
youll hear n ho . So then here becomes n - a second tone. So getting
back to our example here, we have qng n , so the qng becomes a second
tone qng .
Adam: Qng n zw . The character z is a fourth tone and when combined
with the w means self. So n zw means you yourself. We then have a
new word jisho . Thats two fourth tones and together that means
introduce. The last two characters are yxi . Y we should know means
one or a, while xi is a fourth tone and in this context combines with
the y to mean a moment or a short time.
Adam: So the literal translation of the whole sentence is Please you self
introduce a moment or Please give us a quick introduction.
Adam: She then asks:
Kirin: N jihn le ma ?
Adam: So we have a new word here jihn . Thats a second tone ji and a
first tone hn .jihn . And that means to be married. The neutral
particle le indicates a change in situation. If you were married, your
situation would already have changed from being single to being married.
As you may have noticed, the Chinese language doesnt use tenses as we
do in English so to indicate past tense they make use of particles such
as le . So that gives us Are you married?
Adam: By adding the le , we know she is asking Are you already
married? as opposed to Are you getting married? or Are you going to
get married? , in which case your situation wouldnt have changed and so
you wouldnt need to use the le particle.
Adam: To which the man replies:
Kirin: Dubuq . W tng b dng .
Adam: Ah yes, my favorite expression when I was learning Chinese. We
know
Kirin: Dubuq .
Adam: means Im sorry or excuse me. We then have:
Kirin: W tng b dng .
Adam: We have a couple of new characters there. Tng is a first tone and
is the verb to listen. Thats followed by b dng . We know b is a
negation character and dng is a third tone meaning to understand. So
Adam: means I dont understand what Im hearing. Its a common
phrase thats used when someone says something to you that you dont
understand. So
Kirin: Dubuq . W tng bdng .
Adam: means Im sorry I dont understand. Quite a useful phrase to
know when learning Chinese.
Adam: The last line of the dialogue was
Kirin: Jihn sh shnme ysi ?
Adam: So weve actually seen all these words before. We
know jihn means married. Although in this line the speaker actually
doesnt know that as youll soon see. What does shnme mean? Its a
question word meaning what. We saw the last word we saw in our last
lesson. Do you remember what ysi means? It means meaning. So
putting that all together gives us jihn is what meaning? The speaker
doesnt understand what jihnmeans so he is asking What
does jihn mean?
Adam: This is a very useful expression to know. You may also often hear
Shnme ysi ? meaning What does that mean?
We will continue this dialogue in our next lesson. For now lets listen to the
first part one more time before we wrap up. First, repeat after Kirin.
Dubuq . W tng b dng . Jihn sh shnme ysi ?
Adam: And lets hear the dialogue again at normal speed.
Yann: Dubuq . W tng b dng . Jihn sh shnme ysi ?
Adam: Ok, so thank you all for listening us today. We try to keep these
lessons moving along and dont dwell too long on some of the points.
Thats where our Premium notes come in to play they pick up where our
podcasts leave off giving you more examples and more explanations of
items that we dont spend enough time on in the actual lesson. So please
take a look at them to get the full experience of this course and try out
some of the exercises and review activities we created for you. And then
join us next time for lesson 18, where well finish off this dialogue. So see
you then!
Kirin: Zijin .
Lesson 018
Adam: Hello, everyone. My name is Adam.
Adam: And welcome to Lesson 18 of the ChineseLearnOnline.com
podcast series teaching Mandarin Chinese. Each lesson builds upon the
previous ones, so please visit our website for a list of lessons so far and
what has been taught in each one. Today, we will finish off a dialogue that
we started in our last lesson. So well first listen to the entire dialogue from
start to finish and then break it down for you line by line. Please follow
along with the dialogue transcript, if you have that available. So lets get
started here.
Yann: Dubuq . W tng bdng . Jihn sh shnme ysi ?
Cindy: Jihn sh married de ysi .
Yann: A, w dng le . W jihn le .
Cindy: N yu xiohi ma ?
Yann: Yu, yge rzi hiyu ling ge nr .
Adam: So there you go. Lets listen to it again at slow down speed. Please
repeat after Kirin.
Dubuq . W tng bdng . Jihn sh shnme ysi ?
Jihn sh married de ysi .
A, w dng le . W jihn le .
N yu xiohi ma ?
Yu, yge rzi hiyu ling ge nr .
Adam: Ok, so lets recap the first part of the dialogue that we did in our last
lesson. Try and recall the meaning of each line before we give it to you.
Adam: Please take a moment to introduce yourself.
Adam: Are you married?
Adam: Im sorry. I dont understand.
Adam: What does jihn mean?
So that was last times lesson. Lets continue with the next line from
todays lesson.
Kirin: Jihn sh married de ysi .
Adam: So hopefully you can figure that out. Literally its jihn is marrieds
meaning. Youll recall that de is the possessive particle so its like saying
in reverse Marrieds meaning is jihn . You can also say the above
as Jihn de ysi sh married .
Kirin: A, w dng le .
Adam: So thats saying Ah, I understand. Do you remember
what le means? In our last lesson we told you that it indicates a change in
situation. So here, adding the le to w dngmeans that the situation has
changed and now the speaker understands.
Kirin: W dng le .
Adam: You may recall in a previous lesson we talked about the phrase
Ti gu le ! What does that mean? It means too expensive! The le there
acts in a similar form the speaker there just realized that the item is too
expensive which is why we have the le there. You can learn these subtle
differences by studying more examples. And thats exactly what we give
you in vocabulary page of this lesson, which you can find on our website.
By studying more examples you should be able to get a better grasp of the
meaning and usage of such characters. The next line was:
Kirin: W jihn le .
Adam: So we know what this means I am married. Again, the le particle
indicates that at some point he wasnt married, but now he is.
Kirin: W jihn le .
Adam: The next line of the dialogue was:
Kirin: N yu xiohi ma ?
Adam: So we have a new word xiohi . Thats a third tone and a second
tone. Do you remember what xio means? It means little. Hi refers to
children so that gives us little children. Many times in Chinese youll see
an extra character added to clarify meaning. Why? Because many
characters in Chinese share the same sound but have different meanings.
Previously we taught the character hi from hi ho meaning ok. Here we
have a different himeaning children. Now if youre following the Chinese
character versions of our transcripts, then you wont have a problem since
the two characters are written differently, however in speech, many words
are made up of two or more characters, just to clarify the meaning, so here
adding the xio in front. It further clarifies that were referring to children.
So Do you have any children?
Kirin: N yu xiohi ma ?
Adam: Now, Northern Chinese accents tend to add an extra r sound to
the end of that giving us:
Kirin: Xiohir .
Adam: So keep an eye out for that depending on who youre talking to. The
next line was.
Kirin: Yu, yge rzi .
Adam: So Yes, I have one rzi . rzi is a second tone and a neutral
tone. Zi is a character that is added to the end of many nouns.
So rzi means son. I have one son.
Kirin: Yu, yge rzi .
Adam: Note, how the I, is omitted, since thats derived from context. The
last line of the dialogue was:
Kirin: Hiyu ling ge nr .
Adam: Weve seen the first character hi before. In fact, we just talked
about it in W hi ho . That means Im ok. The literal translation is Im
still good. So here we have hiyu . yu of course is the verb to have,
so hiyu means still have or in this case additionally have. If you hear
someone ask Hiyu ma ? that was asking Is there anymore? So
Kirin: Hiyu ling ge nr .
Adam: means As well I have two nr . Thats a third tone n and a
second tone rmeaning daughter. n refers to female, while the second
tone nn refers to male. In Northern China you may hear daughter
referred to as nr and the son referred to as nnhir .
Again, take a look at the vocabulary page on our website for a summary of
these relationships and more examples of the structures we are teaching
here.
Now lets have Kirin read each line of the dialogue one more time to wrap
up todays lesson. Please repeat after her.
Dubuq . W tng bdng . Jihn sh shnme ysi ?
Jihn sh married de ysi .
A, w dng le . W jihn le .
N yu xiohi ma ?
Yu, yge rzi hiyu ling ge nr .
Yann: Dubuq . W tng bdng . Jihn sh shnme ysi ?
Cindy: Jihn sh married de ysi .
Yann: A, w dng le . W jihn le .
Cindy: N yu xiohi ma ?
Yann: Yu, yge rzi hiyu ling ge nr .
Adam: Great, so thanks for joining us today. Dont forget to make use of all
the resources we have available to premium subscribers on our website
ChineseLearnOnline.com. Then join us again next time for lesson 19.
Kirin: Zijin .
Lesson 019
Adam: Today were going to listen to a conversation that involves time and
teaches us how to say the different times of the day. Please follow along
with the included summary on your MP3 player screen, or through one the
transcripts on our website.
Yann: Xinzi j din ?
Cindy: Xinzi li din bn .
Yann: Wmen mngtin jdin yo chq ?
Cindy: Mngtin xiw ling din ky ma ?
Yann: Ho, mi wnt .
Adam: Ok, lets listen to the dialogue one more time. This time, repeat after
Kirin.
Kirin: Xinzi j din ?
Xinzi li din bn .
Wmen mngtin jdin yo chq ?
Mngtin xiw ling din ky ma ?
Ho, mi wnt .
Adam: Ok, lets now go through this dialogue line by line, starting off with
the first line.
Kirin: Xinzi jdin ?
Adam: Weve actually seen all these characters before. What does
xinzi mean? It means right now. How about j ? What does that
mean? That means how many? The last character din weve seen
before in ydin . What does ydin mean? It means a little. The literal
translation of din is a dot or a point. So by saying a dot or a point
we are actually saying a little in Chinese. So getting back to our example
here we literally have Right now how many dots? Do you have any idea
what that means? Thats actually asking What time is it right now? The
dots or points refers to the points or dots on a clock. So youre actually
asking right now how many points (are on the clock)? or What time is
it?
Kirin: Xinzi jdin ?
Adam: The woman then replies:
Kirin: Xinzi li din bn .
Adam: Ok, so you may figure out the first part. Right now its six points or
six oclock. However we also have a bn character at the end. The bn is
a fourth tone and literally means half. So six point half translates to half
past six or six thirty.
Kirin: Xinzi li din bn .
Adam: For other times we use the character fn which is a first tone
meaning minute. So for example to say six fifteen you would say:
Kirin: Li din sh w fn
Adam: which literally means six points fifteen minutes.
Kirin: Li din sh w fn .
Adam: Alright so lets continue on with the next line of the dialogue.
Kirin: Wmen mngtin jdin yo chq ?
Adam: So you may be able to figure out most of this. What does wmen
mean? It means we. What does mngtin mean? That means
tomorrow. We then have jdin or what time followed by the verb yo .
Do you remember what yo means? Thats the verb to want. The last
character of the sentence is another verb q . What does q mean?
Thats the verb to go. Now theres another character sandwiched in
between. Its a first tone ch and in this context means out. So the literal
translation of the sentence is We tomorrow what time want out go? So
you may be able to figure that out to mean What time do we want to go
out tomorrow? This could also mean What time are we going out
tomorrow?
Kirin: Wmen mngtin jdin yo chq ?
Adam: Youll often see chq used together to mean go out, so
remember that one. The next line was
Kirin: Mngtin xiw ling din ky ma ?
Adam: Theres a new word there xiw which is important thats a fourth
tone xi and a third tone w . And together means afternoon. Now xi is
another one of those characters with many meanings depending on
context. Weve seen it before with yxi . Do you remember
what yxi means? It means a moment. Here, it means after. And
the w loosely translates to noon, so after noon xiw . Take a look at
the vocabulary and notes link for this lesson on our website to learn more
about xi in where its used. You can hopefully figure out the rest of the
sentence.
What does ling mean? It means two of something in this case its
two points on the clock so shes saying tomorrow afternoon two
oclock ky ma ? What does ky ma ? mean? Its asking if this is
permissible.
Kirin: Mngtin xiw ling din ky ma ?
Adam: Is tomorrow at 2 pm OK? The last line of the dialogue was:
Kirin: Ho, mi wnt .
Adam: So we know ho means ok. Thats followed by Mi wnt . Weve
seen mi before inmiyu . What does that mean? That means dont
have so the mi is a negation character similar to b . We then
have wnt . Weve seen wn before in Qngwn ?. What does
Qngwn ? mean? That means Please can I ask or literally Please ask
so wn on its own means ask. The t at the end is a second tone and
together with the wn means question. So mi wnt literally means no
question. Now in Chinese, question is a synonym for the word problem
so this is a very common expression meaning no problem.
Kirin: Mi wnt .
Adam: Now we talked about xiw which means afternoon. Lets look at
some other times of day.
Kirin: Shngw .
Adam: Thats a fourth tone shng followed by w . shng is the opposite
of xi so if xiwmeans afternoon, shngw means before noon or in
other words morning.
Kirin: Shngw .
Adam: You may also hear the word:
Kirin: Zoshng .
Adam: Zo is a third tone and means early. So
Kirin: Zoshng .
Adam: means early before which translates to morning in Chinese.
So zoshng andshngw both mean morning.
Another time of the day is:
Kirin: Zhngw .
Adam: Thats a first tone zhng followed by w . Now weve
seen zhng before in Zhnggu . Do you remember what the zhng
there means? It means middle. So if shngw means morning
and xiw means afternoon, whats in the middle? Thatll be noon.
Kirin: Zhngw .
Now noon in Chinese is a little different from the noon in English it
actually refers to the time between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. So its a couple of
hours long in Chinese. Lastly well introduce:
Kirin: Wnshng .
Adam: which is a third tone wn followed by shng . wn is the opposite
of zo . So whilezo means early, wn means late. So before late
here ends up translating to night time.
Kirin: Wnshng .
Adam: When telling times in Chinese they use the times of day to specify
a.m. or p.m. So Kirin, why dont you give us some times and well try
and figure out what time of day it is.
Kirin: Xiw sn din s sh w fn .
Adam: So thats afternoon 3:45 or 3:45 p.m.
Kirin: Xiw sn din s sh w fn .
Adam: Lets try another one.
Kirin: Zoshng q din bn .
Adam: So thats morning 7:30 or 7:30 a.m.
Kirin: Zoshng q din bn .
Adam: Now bn of course means half. This is equivalent to saying half
past 7 rather than 7:30. If you wanted to, though, you could say:
Kirin: Zoshng q din sn sh fn .
Adam: meaning 7:30. Lets do one more.
Kirin: Wnshng ji din w fn .
Adam: So that is evening 9:05 or 9:05 p.m.
Kirin: Wnshng ji din w fn .
Adam: So hopefully you see how this works. You can find more examples
and lesson summaries in the vocabulary and notes section of this lesson
on our website. For now, though, lets listen to the dialogue line by line.
Please repeat after Kirin.
Xinzi li din bn .
Wmen mngtin jdin yo chq ?
Mngtin xiw ling din ky ma ?
Ho, mi wnt .
Adam: And lets now hear the dialogue again at regular speed.
Yann: Xinzi j din ?
Cindy: Xinzi li din bn .
Yann: Wmen mngtin jdin yo chq ?
Cindy: Mngtin xiw ling din ky ma ?
Yann: Ho, mi wnt .
Adam: Great; so I hope you all learned something there. Please take a
look at all the notes and review activities on our website to make sure
youre keeping up, then join us again next time for Lesson 20.
Kirin: Zijin .

Lesson 020
Adam: We will begin todays lesson by listening to a first half of the
conversation that makes use of the vocabulary weve learned up till now
while adding a few new words and expressions along the way. Please
follow along by viewing the included summary on your MP3 player if you
can, or by accessing it directly from our website. Well first listen to the
dialogue twice first at normal speed, and then at a slow-down speed to
allow you to repeat along. So the first time you listen to it, try and pick out
what words you do know and see if you can figure out the meaning from
that.
Yann: N sh nl rn ?
Cindy: W sh Rbnrn .
Yann: N zi zhl du ji le ?
Cindy: W zi zhl ling ge xngq le .
Adam: Ok, so lets listen to it one more time this time try and repeat each
line after Kirin.
Kirin: N sh nl rn ?
W sh Rbnrn .
N zi zhl du ji le ?
W zi zhl ling ge xngq le .
Adam: Lets now break down this dialogue for you starting with the first
line.
Kirin: N sh nl rn ?
Adam: Weve seen all these words before. What does nl mean? It
means where. So we know that this is a question. What
does rn mean? It means person. So putting that together gives us
you are where person. So can you guess what You are where person is
asking? Its the same as asking Whats your nationality? or Where do
you come from?
Kirin: N sh nl rn ?
Adam: The lady then replies:
Kirin: W sh Rbnrn .
Adam: So here we have a new country added to the mix. Rbn is a fourth
tone and a third tone. Do you remember what r means? It has two
meanings it can mean day or sun.Bn in this context can mean the
source or the origin. So we have the origin of the sun or how about
the land of the second sun what country is that? Its of course
Japan. rn of course means person so Rbnrn is a Japanese person.
So
Kirin: W sh Rbnrn .
Adam: means I am Japanese. The man then asks.
Kirin: N zi zhl du ji le ?
Adam: So, some new characters here. N zi zhl . We know n is you.
What does zhl mean? It means here. zi is a fourth tone and
means to be located. So putting that together N zi zhl gives you
are located here. The next two characters du ji weve actually seen
before in different contexts. Theres du from Dusho qin ? What does
Dusho qin ? mean? Its asking how much money? So the du
here translates to how much? We then have ji from ho ji b jin . Do
you remember what ho ji b jin means? It means long time no
see. Ji there refers to time ho ji long time. So what do you
think the question:
Adam: means? It is asking How long have you been here? Now we
know this question is talking about the past, because of the le particle at
the end, which you may remember indicates a change in situation. So up
to this point, how long have you been here? From hereon, that answer
may change because you may choose to stay longer.
Kirin: W zi zhl ling ge xngq le .
Adam: So lets look at this: W zi zhl . I am here. ling ge what does
ling ge mean? It means two of something. So what is the
something theres a new word xngq which is two first tones and is the
word for week. So ling ge xngq is two weeks. Again, notice the le at
the end of the sentence, which indicates up to now, I have been here two
weeks.
Adam: So lets listen to the dialogue again a couple of times. During the
first time, please repeat each line after Kirin.
Kirin: N sh nl rn ?
W sh Rbnrn .
N zi zhl du ji le ?
Adam: Ok, and lets listen to the dialogue again at normal speed.
Yann: N sh nl rn ?
Cindy: W sh Rbnrn .
Adam: Ok, were going to take some time to look at some related
vocabulary here. We taught the word for week which is:
Kirin: xngq .
Adam: The days of the week, Monday to Sunday actually use that same
word in them. The Chinese week starts with Monday which is:
Kirin: Xngq y .
Adam: So the literal translation week 1 becomes Monday.
Kirin: Xngq y .
Adam: Lets look at the rest of the days of the week. Tuesday is:
Kirin: Xngq r .
Adam: Wednesday:
Kirin: Xngq sn .
Adam: Thursday:
Kirin: Xngq s .
Adam: Friday:
Kirin: Xngq w .
Adam: Saturday:
Kirin: Xngq li .
Adam: Now Sunday is slightly different. It is:
Kirin: Xngq r .
Adam: Or:
Kirin: Xngq tin .
Adam: You may remember from Lesson 6 that tin and r are sometimes
used interchangeably to mean day. Now since r also means sun its
interesting to see it also associated with Sunday here, isnt that
interesting? WellI thought so anyway.
So there you have it the days of the week from Monday to Sunday. Pretty
easy to remember and youll need to know them if youre going to attempt
the questions found in the lesson notes for this lesson, so take a look at
them on our website, ChineseLearnOnline.com. Then join us again for
lesson 21 where well listen to the second half of the dialogue.
Kirin: Zijin .
Lesson 021
Adam: Hello and welcome to Lesson 21 of ChineseLearnOnline.com
Adam: Today were going to start with a dialogue that continues where our
dialogue from last time left off. So well begin by listening to the old
dialogue and continue on with todays situation. Well listen to this dialogue
twice first at normal speed.
Yann: N sh nl rn ?
Cindy: W sh Rbnrn .
Yann: Nde gngzu sh shnme ?
Cindy: W sh losh . N n ne ?
Yann: W sh xushng .
Adam: Ok, so lets listen to it one more time. This time try and repeat each
line after Kirin.
Kirin: N sh nl rn ?
W sh Rbnrn .
N zi zhl du ji le ?
Nde gngzu sh shnme ?
W sh losh . N n ne ?
W sh xushng .
Adam: Alright, so lets break down this dialogue line by line. The first few
lines we should remember from our last lesson.
Kirin: N sh nl rn ?
Adam: Whats your nationality?
Kirin: W sh Rbnrn .
Adam: I am Japanese.
Adam: How long have you been here?
Adam: I have been here two weeks.
Kirin: Nde gngzu sh shnme ?
Adam: So heres the first new line of todays lesson. We know
that nde means your. Thats followed by gngzu . Thats a first tone and
a fourth tone. And together that means job. The literal translation
is gng meaning work and zu which is the verb to do. So the work
you do translates to job in Chinese. The last two characters we should
know. What does shnme ? mean? It means what? so we know this is
a question asking Whats your job?
Adam: So literally thats Your job is what. The person then replies:
Kirin: W sh losh .
Adam: So that gives us I am followed by losh . Thats a third
tone lo and a first tone sh . Weve seen lo before in lobn . Do you
remember what lobn is? It means boss. loliterally means old.
Now in English, calling someone old might be considered rude, but in
Chinese its actually a sign of respect. As they have a lot of respect for the
elderly in Chinese culture. sh means master so, together, a teacher is an
old master losh .
Kirin: W sh losh .
Adam: I am a teacher. She then adds a:
Kirin: N n ne ?
Adam: Weve seen n ne ? before. What does that mean? It means
and you? The n here is the same n from nge and nl meaning that
one or there respectively. So here it is added to give flow to the
conversation. Just saying n ne and you might seem a little abrupt but if
we say N n ne ? thats more polite, kind of like And how about you?
Kirin: N n ne ?
Adam: The person then responds.
Kirin: W sh xushng .
Adam: I am a xushng . Xu is a second tone and means study
while shng you may remember from shngr . What does shngr
mean? It means birthday so shng means born. So what do you a call a
person who is born to study? Its, of course, a student.
Adam: I am a student.
Adam: So now you know the names of some positions boss, teacher,
student. In the premium notes for lesson 21, weve done something a little
bit different. Instead of review questions this time, weve included the literal
definitions of some other jobs to see if you can guess what they are. Some
are easier to figure out than others so premium subscriber can try that
out on our website. Lets listen to this entire dialogue again a couple of
times. First, repeat after Kirin.
Kirin: N sh nl rn ?
W sh Rbnrn .
N zi zhl du ji le ?
Nde gngzu sh shnme ?
W sh losh . N n ne ?
W sh xushng .
Yann: N sh nl rn ?
Cindy: W sh Rbnrn .
Yann: Nde gngzu sh shnme ?
Cindy: W sh losh . N n ne ?
Yann: W sh xushng .
Adam: Great were now going to take the next few minutes to do a quick
review of some of the expressions we have taught you over the last little
while. Lets see how many of them you can remember.
How do you say: Excuse me?
Kirin: Dubuq .
Adam: Youre welcome or Theres no need to be polite.
Kirin: B kq .
Adam: Can I ask a question
Kirin: Qngwn .
Adam: How much is this?
Adam: May I or Can I?
Kirin: Ky ma ?
Adam: Alright, so hopefully you were able to get those. Lets now try
listening to some in Chinese and you tell me what it means in English.
Kirin: Ho b ho ?
Adam: Is that ok?
Adam: Nice to meet you.
Adam: Long time no see.
Kirin: Mngtin jin .
Adam: See you tomorrow.
Kirin: B ho ysi .
Adam: Sorry to trouble you, or this is embarrassing.
So, how did you do? Those all came from Lessons 1 to 16 of our podcast
series. We will be doing reviews like this from time to time. As always, you
can download and review older lessons from our website
ChineseLearnOnline.com. And while youre there, you can find review
questions and exercises from older lessons in the Premium section
available to premium subscribers. You can also check out our Course
Outline that shows what vocabulary has been introduced in each lesson
so you can see if it all makes sense to you. Once youre comfortable with
everything up there, you can then join us for lesson 22. Well see you then.
Kirin: Xixie dji .
Lesson 022
Adam: We will start todays lesson with a short dialogue that uses
vocabulary that has been previously taught while adding a few new words
to the mix. If you find yourself fourth behind at any time, we recommend
you review our previous lessons. This can be found on our website.
Lets get started then with todays lesson. It takes place in a restaurant.
Well first listen to the dialogue in its entirety and then break it down for you
line by line. Try and follow along with the included lesson summary. You
can either viewing directly on your MP3 screen if its capable of doing so, or
you can downloading the accompanying PDFs from our website. So here
we go.
Yann: N dzi ma ?
Cindy: Du . W dzi .
Yann: N xing yo ch shnme ?
Cindy: W xing yo ch jru .
Yann: N hu yng kuizi ma ?
Cindy: Hu yng, dnsh yng de b ti ho .
Adam: Alright, Kirin will now read each line of the dialogue for us. Please
repeat after her.
Kirin: N dzi ma ?
Du . W dzi .
N xing yo ch shnme ?
W xing yo ch jru .
N hu yng kuizi ma ?
Hu yng, dnsh yng de b ti ho .
Adam: Ok, so lets break this down for you line by line, starting with the first
line.
Kirin: N dzi ma ?
Adam: So theres a couple of new words there. Dzi is a fourth tone and a
neutral tone and refers to your stomach. Zi you may remember is a
neutral particle that is often added to the end of nouns. is a fourth tone
and is the verb to be hungry. Now while you wouldnt normally say My
stomach is hungry in English, its common to express hunger this way in
Chinese.
Kirin: N dzi ma ?
Adam: So here he is asking her if she is hungry. To which she replies.
Kirin: Du .
Adam: Du is a fourth tone and is very commonly used for agreement. It
can mean right or correct. Since theres no word for yes in
Chinese, du is a close substitute. She then says:
Kirin: W dzi .
Adam: So here shes saying My stomach hungry which means I am
hungry.
Kirin: W dzi .
Adam: He then asks:
Kirin: N xing yo ch shnme ?
Adam: So theres a new verb in there - xing . Thats a third tone. On its
own, it means to think or to consider. Thats followed by yo . What
does yo mean? Its the verb to want. So to consider to want.
Together, gives up the meaning of would like. Weve seen the next
verb ch before in chfn . What does ch mean? It means to eat. And
what does shnme? mean? That means what. So putting all of this
together gives us You would like eat what? or What would you like to
eat?
Adam: The woman then replies.
Kirin: W xing yo ch jru .
Adam: So you can see that the answer there is I would like to eat jru .
Thats a first tone jand a fourth tone ru . J on its own refers to a
chicken and ru means meat. So togetherjru refers to chicken that
can be eaten, and not what you may have running around in your
backyard. So again, I would like to eat chicken.
Kirin: W xing yo ch jru .
Adam: The man then asks her:
Kirin: N hu yng kuizi ma ?
Adam: Ok, so a couple of new words there. We know this is a question
because of the ma at the end. Weve seen the verb hu before. What does
hu mean? It means to be able to do something. So here he is being
asked Are you able to yng kuizi ? Now yng is a fourth tone and is the
verb to use. So together hu yng means to be able to use something.
Which brings us to the last word of the sentence kuizi . Thats a fourth
tone kui and a neutral tone zi which represents what most Chinese
people use when they eat chopsticks. So Can you use chopsticks?
Adam: To which the woman responds
Kirin: Hu yng, dnsh yng de b ti ho .
Adam: So you may be able to figure it out, as weve seen all these words
before.
Adam: What does dnsh mean? It means but. So that gives us I
can use but yng deb ti ho . What does ti mean? That means too
as in too much of something. So the literal translation of all of this is Able
to use but use not too good. Or I can use them, but I cant use them
very well.
Adam: Note, how the objects I and them are left out since they are
obvious by context. Similarly, the sh in dnsh is sometimes also left out,
giving us:
Kirin: Hu yng, dn yng de b ti ho .
Adam: So there you have it. Youve learned the word for chopsticks and
lots of new verbs to go with that. This was a big problem for me the first
time I was in Taiwan as I didnt know how to use chopsticks. So I would
always use a fork. Actually, whats the word for fork in Chinese, Kirin?
Kirin: Chzi .
Adam: So thats a first tone ch followed by the neutral tone zi .
Kirin: Chzi .
Adam: So Ill ask our listeners, how would you ask Excuse me. Do you
have a fork?
Kirin: Qngwn , yu miyu chzi ?
Adam: There are many ways to ask this of course, and this is one of them.
Kirin: Qngwn , yu miyu chzi ?
Adam: Alright, so Kirin will now read each line of the dialogue again.
Please repeat after her.
Kirin: N dzi ma ?
Du . W dzi .
N xing yo ch shnme ?
W xing yo ch jru .
N hu yng kuizi ma ?
Hu yng, dnsh yng de b ti ho .
Yann: N dzi ma ?
Cindy: Du . W dzi .
Yann: N xing yo ch shnme ?
Cindy: W xing yo ch jru .
Yann: N hu yng kuizi ma ?
Cindy: Hu yng, dnsh yng de b ti ho .
Adam: Ok, now before we wrap up in the dialogue we saw the
word jru which refers to chicken. Lets briefly look at some other types
of ru or meat. So Kirin, please help me out here.
Kirin: Niru .
Adam: So thats a second tone ni , which means cow followed
by ru which we now know means meat. So that gives us cow meat
or beef.
Kirin: Niru .
Adam: Alright, lets do another one.
Kirin: Zhru .
Adam: Ah, now you might even remember this all the way back from
lesson one when we were first looking at tones. Zh is a first tone and
means pig so zhru is pork.
Kirin: Zhru .
Kirin: Yngru .
Adam: Yng is a second tone and refers to sheep so yngru is
mutton
Kirin: Yngru .
Adam: And lets do one last one.
Kirin: Yru .
Adam: This is also a second tone and means fish.
Kirin: Yru .
Adam: As in the type that you eat.
Kirin: Yru .
Adam: As you may guess, the vocabulary page for this lesson on our site
summarizes all this vocabulary as well as introduces the names of some
other common foods in Chinese. As well, you will also get to see the
Chinese characters you need to look for when ordering from a Chinese
menu, so be sure to visit our website: ChineseLearnOnline.com. Thank
you for joining us today and well see you next time.
Kirin: Zijin .
Lesson 023
Adam: We will start todays lesson with a short dialogue that makes use of
vocabulary that we have learned in previous lessons while adding some
new words and expressions along the way. This way we can build up your
vocabulary lesson by lesson while still reviewing what weve taught before.
Listen to the following conversation and see if you can figure out what is
being talked about on your own first, before we give you all the meanings.
Yann: N sh Dgurn ma ?
Cindy: Du, w sh .
Yann: Zh sh n dy c li Zhnggu ma ?
Cindy: B sh . Zh sh w dr c .
Adam: Theres more to this conversation, but well give that to you in our
next lesson. Kirin will now read each line for us. Please repeat after her.
Kirin: N sh Dgurn ma ?
Du, w sh .
Zh sh n dy c li Zhnggu ma ?
B sh . Zh sh w dr c .
Adam: Ok, so lets see if we can figure this out starting with the first line.
Adam: So theres one new word in there which you may figure out is a
country or in this case a nationality. Dgu is two second tones and
represents the country of Germany. What does rn mean? It means
person. So Dgurn is a German person. So here the person is being
asked Are you German?
Adam: To which she replies:
Kirin: Du, w sh .
Adam: What does du mean? You may remember it from our last lesson
meaning correct. Thats followed by w sh or I am, so that gives us,
Yes, I am.
Kirin: Du, w sh .
Adam: He then asks her:
Kirin: Zh sh n dy c li Zhnggu ma ?
Adam: So we have zh sh n this is you. We then have a new concept
for you -ordinal numbers. We know how to count numbers y , r , sn and
so on. We will now look at the ordinal forms such as first, second, third
and so on. In Chinese its really easy. You just add a fourth tone d before
the number. So here we have dy meaning first. Similarly, you could also
have dr for second, dsn for third and so on. So here we
have dy c . The c is a fourth tone and means instance or time.
So y c means one time and here dy c means first time.
Adam: We then have li Zhnggu . What does the verb li mean? It
means to come. What is Zhnggu ? That means China. We know
its a question by the ma at the end; so putting it all together gives us:
Adam: Is this your first time coming to China?
Kirin: B sh . Zh sh w dr c .
Adam: B sh No, it isnt. This is my second time dr c .
Adam: And thats it. Like I said, there is a part two to all of this, but well
save that for our next lesson. Kirin, why dont you repeat each line for us
so our listeners can repeat after you.
Du, w sh .
Cindy: Du, w sh .
Adam: Ok, so I hope that made sense to you. Now since we have a few
minutes here, lets do a quick review of some of what weve learned in
recent lessons.
How do you say the following Im sorry. I dont understand what youre
saying.
Kirin: Dubq . W tng b dng .
Adam: How do you say What does that mean?
Kirin: Shnme ysi ?
Adam: How do you say Ah, now I understand.?
Kirin: A, w dng le .
Adam: Alright, now Kirin, why dont you give us a couple of questions or
phrases and well try and translate them into English.
Kirin: Xinzi jdin ?
Adam: What time is it now?
Kirin: Mi wnt .
Adam: No problem.
So I hope you were able to get all of that. If you like this format of review,
then Premium subscribers can take advantage of the audio summaries
and reviews, which are similar to what weve just heard. This way you can
re-listen to older material frequently without having to go through all the
explanations in this podcast. You can find this, along with other exercises
and review tools on our website: ChineseLearnOnline.com. Well be back
again next time with part two of this lesson.
Kirin: Zijin .
Lesson 024
Adam: Hello, and welcome to Lesson 24 of the ChineseLearnOnline.com
Adam: Each lesson here builds upon vocabulary taught in previous
lessons, so if you are a beginner, we recommend you go through our
earlier lessons or look at the course outline found on our website.
Now in our last lesson, we introduced a dialogue that were going to finish
up today. So lets first listen to the entire conversation - last times and
todays together.
Cindy: Du, w sh .
Yann: N shnme shhu yo huq Dgu ?
Cindy: W tin hu .
Yann: N zi zhl xhun zu shnme ?
Cindy: W xhun gn pngyu q ch gun .
Adam: Ok, Kirin will now read each line for us. Please repeat after her.
Du, w sh .
N shnme shhu yo huq Dgu ?
W tin hu .
N zi zhl xhun zu shnme ?
W xhun gn pngyu q ch gun .
Adam: Ok, thank you Kirin. Well now go through each line of the dialogue
for you and break down the meanings. The first few lines will be a review
from our last lesson.
Adam: Are you German?
Kirin: Du, w sh .
Adam: Yes, I am.
Adam: Is this your first time coming to China?
Adam: No, its my second time.
So that was the conversation from last time. Lets continue on with the new
lines from todays dialogue.
Kirin: N shnme shhu yo huq Dgu ?
Adam: So lets see if we can figure out what this means. N of course
means you. What does shnme ? mean? That means
what?. Shhu is a second and a fourth tone meaning time. Together
what time in Chinese is the same meaning as question word when. We
then have the verb yo . What does yo mean? It means to want. We
then have hu which is a second tone and means return. Next we have
the verb q . What does q mean? It means to go. And lastly we
have Dgu which of course is Germany. So looking at the literal
definitions of all these individual characters we get You what time want
return go Germany?
Adam: So you may be able to figure that out as meaning When are you
going back to Germany?
Adam: The verb yo means want, but it is also commonly used to
describe an action in the future. So, w yo q has the dual meaning of I
want to go as well as I am going to go. So in our example, the meaning
could either be When do you want to return to Germany? or When are
you returning to Germany?
Adam: As Ive said before, Chinese is very context sensitive, so the same
sentences can have different meanings in different contexts. The
word hu is commonly used with q to mean go back. Huq . Similarly,
you could say huli to mean come back. Lets see what the woman
responds.
Kirin: W tin hu .
Adam: So what does w mean? Its the number five. And what does
tin mean? Its the character for day. So that gives us five days.
Kirin: W tin hu .
Adam; The last character is hu is a fourth tone and means after. So that
gives us five days after or after five days.
Kirin: W tin hu .
Adam: The man then asks her:
Kirin: N zi zhl xhun zu shnme ?
Adam: Weve seen all these words before, so lets try and figure out the
meaning. What does zi zhl mean? That means located here. What
does the verb xhun mean? It means to like. Next we have the
verb zu . We saw it before in gngzu . What does gngzu mean? It
means work or the work you do. So zu is the verb to do. And the last
word wasshnme meaning what. So putting all that together gives us
You located here like do what?
Adam: In other words, What do you like to do here?
Adam: She then answers
Kirin: W xhun gn pngyu q ch gun .
Adam: Hmmn lets look at this. W xhun I like gn pngyu .
What does pngyu mean? It means friend. And what does gn
mean? That means with. We know q means to go. What does ch
mean? That means tea. And the last character gun is a third tone and
means establishment. So tea establishment or tea shop. So together
we have I like with friend go tea shop.
Adam: In other words, I like to go with friends to tea-shops.
Adam: Again, notice that we dont distinguish between singular and plural
here. We dont know if its one friend or if its many tea-shops. Its all
derived from context. By going through these literal translations we hope to
give you a better idea of how these sentences are constructed. Word order
is very important in Chinese; so hopefully with more examples youll get a
better idea of this structure and will be able to come up with your own
sentences.
Premium subscribers can visit the exercise section of this website to have
their own chance to come up with their own sentences and check to see if
theyre right.
So lets listen to Kirin read each line of the dialogue for us one more time.
Du, w sh .
N shnme shhu yo huq Dgu ?
W tin hu .
N zi zhl xhun zu shnme ?
W xhun gn pngyu q ch gun .
Cindy: Du, w sh .
Yann: N shnme shhu yo huq Dgu ?
Cindy: W tin hu .
Yann: N zi zhl xhun zu shnme ?
Cindy: W xhun gn pngyu q ch gun .
Adam: Great. And that ends another lesson for us. Be sure to visit our
website and go through all the review tools available there. You can also
try completing some of the exercises, such as answering a question
related to this topic using the Chinese you know. One of our teachers will
go through your answers and send you a reply. This and other tools are
available to premium subscribers on our website
ChineseLearnOnline.com. So try those out, then join us again for our next
lesson.
Kirin: Zijin .
Lesson 025
progressive course teaching Mandarin Chinese. Im your host, Adam.
Adam: We begin each lesson by listening to a dialogue that reviews
material weve learned up till now, while adding a few new words and
phrases along the way. This way we slowly build up your vocabulary while
constantly reviewing previously learned material. You can view our archive
of lessons starting all the way back from lesson one on the course outline
of our website, which also shows you what vocabulary was taught in each
lesson. Todays dialogue takes place on the telephone. Please follow
along with the lesson summary on your MP3 player screen, or from our
website.
Yann: Wi ?
Cindy: L Xinshng zi ma ?
Yann: Dubuq , w xing n d cu le .
Cindy: Zhge dinhu sh b sh sn w lng r q b ji sn ?
Yann: B sh, sh sn w lng r q b ji r .
Cindy: Hn boqin .
Yann: Mi gunx .
Adam: Alright, Kirin will now read each line of the dialogue for us. Please
repeat after her.
Kirin: Wi ?
L Xinshng zi ma ?
Dubuq, w xing n d cu le .
Zhge dinhu sh b sh sn w lng r q b ji sn ?
B sh, sh sn w lng r q b ji r .
Hn boqin .
Mi gunx .
Adam: Great, well now break down this dialogue for you line by line,
starting with:
Kirin: Wi ?
Adam: This is a second tone and is the standard greeting when you pick
up the phone. You could add a wi n ho if youd like, but usually
a wi should suffice.
Kirin: Wi ?
Kirin: L Xinshng zi ma ?
Adam: What does xinshng mean? It means Mister. So that gives
us Mr Li. We then have zi . What does zi mean? It means to be
located. So zi ma ? is a question asking if the subject Mr Li is currently
located there.
Kirin: L Xinshng zi ma ?
Kirin: Dubuq, w xing n d cu le .
Adam: What does dubuq mean? It means Im sorry. What does the
verb xing mean? It means to think so that gives us Im sorry, I think.
We then have n d cu le . Weve seend before in the context of a
telephone. What does d mean here? It means to dial or to
call. Cu is a fourth tone and means wrong or incorrect and le is the
particle indicating a changing situation. So N d cu le means You
have dialed incorrectly, or You have dialed the wrong number.
Kirin: W xing n d cu le .
Adam: The woman then asks:
Kirin: Zhge dinhu sh b sh sn w lng r q b ji sn ?
Adam: You may be able to guess what this means since weve seen all
these words before. What does zhge dinhu mean? It means this
telephone. We then have sh b sh ? thats a question asking Is or
isnt it?
Kirin: Zhge dinhu sh b sh ?
Adam: We then have a number:
Kirin: Sn w lng r q b ji sn .
Adam: So that translates to three five zero two seven eight nine three.
Kirin: Sn w lng r q b ji sn .
Adam: So Is this number 35027893?
Kirin: Zhge dinhu sh b sh sn w lng r q b ji sn ?
Kirin: B sh .
Adam: Simple enough. b sh No it isnt.
Kirin: Sh sn w lng r q b ji r .
Adam: Its 35027892.
Kirin: Sh sn w lng r q b ji r .
Adam: The woman then says:
Kirin: Hn boqin .
Adam: This is a new expression. We know hn means very. Bo qin is
two fourth tones and is another way of saying Im very sorry. We usually
use dubuq for casual mistakes and hnboqin for more serious ones.
Kirin: Hn boqin .
Adam: Again as in many other cases, youll notice that the pronoun w is
left out here. You could add it if you wanted to for extra emphasis similar
to the difference between saying sorry and Im sorry.
Kirin: Hn boqin .
Kirin: Mi gunx .
Adam: This is a very popular phrase. What does mi mean? Mi is
similar to b , meaning the negation of what follows. In this case what
follows is gunx .
Adam: Thats a first tone and a fourth tone and means relationship.
Kirin: Mi gunx .
The phrase mi gunx is used to say Thats ok this incident wont
affect our relationship so in other words, There is no need to apologize.
Kirin: Mi gunx .
Adam: So, lots of new vocabulary and phrases that you can use. Well be
seeing a lot of them again in future lessons to help you review them. Well
now get Kirin to read each line of the dialogue for us again. Please repeat
after her.
Kirin: Wi ?
L Xinshng zi ma ?
Dubuq, w xing n d cu le .
Zhge dinhu sh b sh sn w lng r q b ji sn ?
B sh, sh sn w lng r q b ji r .
Hn boqin .
Mi gunx .
Yann: Wi ?
Cindy: L Xinshng zi ma ?
Yann: Dubuq , w xing n d cu le .
Cindy: Zhge dinhu sh b sh sn w lng r q b ji sn ?
Yann: B sh, sh sn w lng r q b ji r .
Cindy: Hn boqin .
Yann: Mi gunx .
Adam: Great, hope you learned something there. You can review this
lesson as well as past lessons on our website ChineseLearnOnline.com.
There are also extra resources there for our Premium subscribers to help
you retain all this content. So go through all of that, then join us again next
time.
Kirin: Zijin .
Lesson 026
Adam: This is a structured course. So each lesson builds upon previous
ones. For a list of lessons and what vocabulary was taught in each one,
please visit the course outline page on our website.
Todays lesson is part of a two-part dialogue and takes place at the front
desk of a hotel. It introduces a couple of new measure words. Measure
words you may remember were first introduced in lesson nine. They are
the words used between a number and a noun. Now back in lesson nine,
we looked at g and kui . g is a generic measure word while kui is the
measure word used for pieces or for money. Now listen to the following
dialogue and see if you can spot the two new measure words that are used
here.
Cindy: Xinshng, nmen yu fngjin ma ?
Yann: Yu . Qngwn nmen yu j wi ?
Cindy: Wmen yu ling ge rn, yo zh y jin fngjin .
Adam: Ok, so a short dialogue but lots of new words in there. Dont worry
well translate them all for you in a moment. But first, try and repeat each
line of the dialogue after Kirin.
Kirin: Xinshng, nmen yu fngjin ma ?
Yu . Qngwn nmen yu j wi ?
Wmen yu ling ge rn, yo zh y jin fngjin .
Adam: Alright, well now break down this dialogue for you line by line,
Kirin: Xinshng .
Adam: What does xinshng mean? It means Mister. It is also used
to mean Sir and is quite commonly used to address men whose names
you dont know. Now lets look at the rest of the sentence.
Kirin: Nmen yu fngjin ma ?
Adam: What does nmen mean? It means you in plural. And what does
the verb yu mean? Its the verb to have. We then have a new
word fngjin . Thats a second tone fngand a first tone jin . Fng comes
from the word for house, fngzi . Jin refers to a room. Because
monosyllabic words are so hard to confuse, extra characters are usually
added to distinguish meaning. So here she is asking if the hotel has any
rooms available.
Kirin: Nmen yu fngjin ma ?
Kirin: Yu . Qngwn nmen yu j wi ?
Adam: So, here we have yu meaning have as in Yes, the hotel has
rooms. He then asks You have j wi ? What does j ? mean? Its a
question word asking how many? The next character wi is a fourth tone
and is our first measure word used for people.
Kirin: Qngwn nmen yu j wi ?
Adam: Since we are using wi , we dont need to specify rn or people,
since wi here is a measure word limited to people. Earlier we saw
jg rn ? There we needed to specify rnsince jg ? is a generic how
many? and could refer to anything. Using wi also conveys more respect
than jg rn ?.
Kirin: Qngwn nmen yu j wi ?
Kirin: Wmen yu ling ge rn, yo zh y jin fngjin .
Adam: Lets look at the first part, she replies wmen yu ling ge rn .
What does ling ge mean? It means two of something. Note that the
woman replying can choose to say ling gern or ling wi . So shes
saying we have two people, as in there are two people in our party.
Adam: Ok, so The two of us yo . What does the verb yo mean? It
means to want. So we want to zh . Zh is a fourth tone and we saw it all
the way back in lesson one. It is the verb to live. In Chinese though, it is
also used to mean to stay for a short time.
Adam: We then have y jin fngjin . Jin is a first tone and is the
same jin from fngjin . By itself, it functions as a measure word for
rooms. So y jin fngjin means one room.
Adam: The two of us would like one room.
Adam: As mentioned earlier, this is part one of a two part dialogue, so we
will listen to the rest of the dialogue in our next lesson. For now though,
Kirin will read each line of the dialogue for you again. Please repeat after
her.
Adam: Alright, and lets listen to the dialogue one more time at normal
speed.
Adam: Great. The Premium notes for this lesson found on our website
recap the vocabulary used in this lesson and shows how it can be
combined with other words weve already learned to form new vocabulary
so be sure to take a look at that, and test yourself by doing the review
questions.
Then join us again next time for Lesson 27.
Kirin: Xixie dji .
Lesson 027
Adam: Welcome to Lesson 27 of the ChineseLearnOnline.com podcast
series teaching Mandarin Chinese. Im your host, Adam.
Adam: Todays lesson is a continuation of a dialogue that we began in our
last lesson. The lesson will begin with a dialogue that takes place at the
front desk of a hotel. It reviews previously taught vocabulary while
introducing a few new words along the way. Premium subscribers can
follow along with the transcripts available on our website or on the screen
of your MP3 player.
Yann: Qng gi w kn yxi nde hzho .
Cindy: Ky yng xnyngk ma ?
Yann: Dngrn ky .
Adam: Alright, so definitely some new words there. Kirin will now read
each line of the dialogue for us. Please repeat after her.
Qng gi w kn yxi nde hzho .
Ky yng xnyngk ma ?
Dngrn ky .
Adam: Ok, well now break it down for you line by line. We did the first few
lines before so this should be a good review.
Adam: Sir, do you have any rooms available?
Kirin: Yu . Qngwn nmen yu j wi ?
Adam: Yes, we do. How many of you are there in your party?
Adam: There are two in our party, and we would like to rent one room.
Now that was our dialogue from last time. Lets continue with the rest of
the dialogue for todays lesson.
Kirin: Qng gi w kn yxi nde hzho .
Adam: Ah, so some new words here. Lets start with the first part which we
should know. Qnggi w . What does the verb gi mean? It means to
give. So hes asking Please give me. We then have a new verb kn .
Thats a fourth tone and means to look. Its actually one of the examples
used by Kirin in our very first lesson on tones. Now the literal translation
may not make much sense in English give me look but its a very
popular construction in Chinese. Gi w kn means Give it to me so I can
look at it or Show me. Chinese is a very efficient language so those
many words are reduced simply to gi w kn .
Kirin: Qng gi w kn yxi .
Adam: The next word weve seen before yxi . We saw it before in the
phrase:
Adam: Do you remember what yxi means? It means a moment. So
the phrase we just heard meant Please take a moment to introduce
yourself. Here we have
Kirin: Qng gi w kn yxi .
Adam: which literally means Please give me look a moment which
translates to Please let me take a quick look at it.
Now what is it that he wants to look at it?
Adam: The last few words are nde hzho . Nde means your
and hzho is two fourth tones. Its the word for passport. So Please,
can I take a quick look at your passport.
Adam: The Premium notes for this lesson show examples of
using gi and yxi to form other sentences so please be sure to take a
look there. The woman then asks the man:
Kirin: Ky yng xnyngk ma ?
Adam: What does the verb yng mean? It means to use.
So ky yng gives us Can use. We then have xnyngk . Thats two
fourth tones and a third tone. The middle characteryng is the same one
we just saw, but here it combines with the xn to give us the
wordxnyng which means credit. Thats followed by k which is a third
tone and its transliteration of the English word card. So together, shes
asking Can we use a credit card?
Kirin: Ky yng xnyngk ma ?
Kirin: Dngrn ky .
Adam: So the first two words there is made up of two characters which are
a first tone and a second tone dngrn and that means of course. So of
course you can use it.
Kirin: Dngrn ky .
Adam: So thats our dialogue for today. Kirin will now repeat each line for
us again. Please repeat after her.
Qng gi w kn yxi nde hzho .
Ky yng xnyngk ma ?
Dngrn ky .
Adam: Great, and well wrap up by listening to the dialogue again at
normal speed.
Yann: Qng gi w kn yxi nde hzho .
Cindy: Ky yng xnyngk ma ?
Yann: Dngrn ky .
Adam: Alright, premium subscribers can dissect todays material in the
vocabulary and notes sections of our website ChineseLearnOnline.com so
be sure to do that before our next lesson.
Kirin: Xixie dji .
Lesson 028
Adam: Hello everyone and welcome to Lesson 28 of the
ChineseLearnOnline.com podcast series teaching Mandarin Chinese. Im
your host, Adam.
Adam: In todays lesson, we are going to listen to a dialogue that uses
vocabulary that we have taught you in previous lessons, while adding
some new words for you along the way. Premium subscribers can follow
along with the transcripts on your MP3 player screen or from our website.
Cindy: N zhdo t sh shi ma ?
Yann: W b zhdo . T sh shi ?
Cindy: T zi zhl sh ge hn yumngde rn .
Adam: Hmmn interesting. Kirin will now read each line for us please
repeat after her.
Kirin: N zhdo t sh shi ma ?
W b zhdo . T sh shi ?
T zi zhl sh ge hn yumngde rn .
Adam: Alright, so lets start with the first line:
Adam: So we have a couple of new words here. The first word is the
verb zhdo . Thats a first tone and a fourth tone and is the verb to know.
Very useful word to know. So here we have:
Adam: What does t mean? T can mean he or she. Now usually when
you refer to a he or a she, there is some context involved either
someone you were previously talking about, or someone you are pointing
to perhaps. So in this dialogue, she is pointing at a woman, so there is a
woman. We then have the verb to be sh followed by a new
character shi . Thats a second tone and is a new question word meaning
who. We know this is a question by thema at the end. So putting it all
together gives us Do you know she is who?
Adam: Or Do you know who she is?
Kirin: W b zhdo . T sh shi ?
Adam: So what do you think w b zhdo means? It, of course, means I
dont know. He then asks:
Kirin: T sh shi ?
Adam: Thats a question since shi is a question word asking who. So in
this case Who is she?
Kirin: T sh shi ?
Adam: Now in this case, we know he is asking a question by his intonation.
However, he could also have replied like this.
Kirin: W b zhdo t sh shi .
Adam: Here, hes just saying I dont know who she is. In this case, hes
not asking who the person is. The woman then replies:
Kirin: T zi zhl sh ge hn yumngde rn .
Adam: Alright, lets see if we can figure this one out. Weve actually seen
all these words before. T zi zhl what does zi zhl mean? It
means to be located here. We then have sh ge hn yumngde rn .
What does hn mean? It means very.
Thats followed by ge . This is the short form for sh y ge . We then
have yumngde . What does the verb yu mean? It means to have.
Weve seen mng before in the word mngzi . What does mngzi mean? It
means name.
And lastly what does rn mean? It means person. So can you guess
what a yumngdern or has name person is? That means a famous
person. Yumngde rn . As in someone who has made a name for
themselves. So that gives us a literal translation of She located here is a
very famous person.
Adam: Or Shes a very famous person here.
Adam: The Premium notes for this lesson show you some other adjectives
and words that can be constructed using vocabulary we have already
learned giving you a grander picture of how this language works, so be
sure to check them out when you have a chance. Well listen to the part 2
of this dialogue in our next lesson. For now though, lets get Kirin to repeat
each line for us again. Please repeat after her:
normal speed.
Adam: Great! Thank you. As always, please review the material available
to premium subscribers on our website, ChineseLearnOnline.com as we
will be reusing it in later lessons. Then join us again next time for our next
lesson.
Kirin: Xixie dji . Zijin .
Lesson 029
your host, Adam.
Raphael: Nmen ho . W sh Raphael .
Adam: This is a progressive course in learning Mandarin Chinese. Each
lesson builds upon previous ones. For a list of all our lessons so far and
what was taught in each one, please visit our website. Todays lesson
finishes up a dialogue that we introduced and studied in our last lesson.
Well first listen to the dialogue in its entirety before breaking it down for
you line by line. Please follow along with the dialogue transcript included
with this podcast. You can either view it on your MP3 player screen if it
supports the viewing of lyrics, or you can find it on our website.
Yann: W wi shnme b rnsh t ?
Cindy: N dngrn b rnsh t . Ynwi n sh wigurn .
Adam: Ok, Kirin will now read each line of the dialogue for us. Please
repeat after her.
W wi shnme b rnsh t ?
N dngrn b rnsh t . Ynwi n sh wigurn .
Adam: Alright, so lets break this down line by line starting with the first few
lines from our last lesson.
Adam: Do you know who she is?
Kirin: W b zhdo . T sh shi ?
Adam: I dont know. Who is she?
Adam: Shes a very famous person here. Now lets continue with the new
lines from todays lesson.
Kirin: W wi shnme b rnsh t ?
Adam: So here we have a new question word. First, what does shnme
mean? It means what. Here we have wi shnme . The wi is a fourth
tone and together wi shnme is the question word asking why? We then
have the verb rnsh . What does rnsh mean? In this context, its the
verb to recognize or to know someone. So the literal translation of this
sentence is I why dont recognize her?
Adam: Or, Why dont I recognize her?
Kirin: N dngrn b rnsh t .
Adam: What does dngrn mean? It means Of course. So that gives us
You of course dont recognize her.
Adam: Or Of course you dont recognize her.
Kirin: Ynwi n sh wigurn .
Adam: So the first word is a very useful one to know.
Kirin: Ynwi .
Adam: Thats a first tone and a fourth tone and is the word for because.
Kirin: Ynwi .
Kirin: N sh wigurn .
Adam: Hmmn what do we know from that sentence? You
are wi country person. What country is that? Well, wi is a fourth tone and
means outside so that gives us You are an outside country person.
Adam: Or You are a foreigner.
Adam: In other parts of China, foreigners are referred to by a different
term.
Raphael: Lowi .
Adam: Weve seen lo before in losh . What does lo mean? It means
old. However, it is also an endearing term so lowi is a respectable term
for foreigners.
Raphael: Lowi .
Adam: So you can see the construction here, someone
asks wi shnme or why and you reply with ynwi because.
Kirin: W wi shnme b rnsh t ? Ynwi n sh wigurn .
Adam: Lets listen to Kirin repeat each line of the dialogue for us again.
W wi shnme b rnsh t ?
N dngrn b rnsh t . Ynwi n sh wigurn .
normal speed.
Yann: W wi shnme b rnsh t ?
Cindy: N dngrn b rnsh t . Ynwi n sh wigurn .
Adam: Great, as we mentioned in our last lesson, we are now approaching
the half way point of the Level 1 of the first 60 ChineseLearnOnline.com.
You will see us use a slightly different approach from our next lesson on.
Now lets take some time now though to review some sentences and
phrases from our earlier lessons. Listen to the following sentences and
translate them into English.
Kirin: Bijng znme yng ?
Adam: How is Beijing?
Kirin: W xhun ch jru .
Adam: I like to eat chicken.
Kirin: W y hn ho . Xixie .
Adam: Im also very good. Thank you.
Kirin: N ddi yo shnme ?
Adam: What does your younger brother want?
Kirin: Tmen yo q nl ?
Adam: Where do they want to go? or Where are they going?
Ok, now well give you some sentences in English lets see if you can
say them in Chinese.
Today is February 15th.
Kirin: Jntin sh ryu sh w ho .
Adam: I want to buy four of them.
Kirin: W yo mi s ge .
Adam: This is my friend.
Adam: He is very happy.
Kirin: T hn goxng .
Adam: When will you come back?
Kirin: N shnme shhu hu li ?
Adam: Alright, hope you were able to get those. If not, you can find similar
review material available to Premium subscribers on our website,
ChineseLearnOnline.com so be sure to go through there every now and
then to make sure youre up to date. In any case, please join us again for
Lesson 30 real soon.
Lesson 030
progressive course teaching Mandarin Chinese. Im your host, Adam. We
are at the half-way point of our 60 lesson level 1. We hope that by now you
do have a beginners grasp of the language and are ready for something
more advanced. And thats what we hope to give you in the second half
here. Starting from this lesson on, we will use more Chinese within the
lesson, so in todays lesson we will explain some of the terms and phrases
that we will start using from hereon. As we teach you new vocabulary, we
like to reuse older vocabulary that we have already taught. So from time to
time if you hear me ask you how do you say? that means theres a word
that we have taught before. On our website, you will see a link to the
Course Outline pages which show each lesson that weve taught so far
and what new words were introduced in each lesson. So I recommend that
you wander through there from time to time just to make sure that all the
words look familiar to you. If not, then please review the lesson that it was
first introduced in. Now I started off todays lesson by saying Welcome to
Lesson 30. But I did so in English. So I think its time we changed some of
these phrases that we say in every lesson to Chinese. Thats why todays
lesson is so important. Lets learn the word for welcome in Chinese.
Kirin: hunyng
Adam: Thats a first tone hun and a second tone yng . Hun refers to
happiness or joyousness while yng refers to welcome or to receive.
So to receive happiness is to welcome so we say hunyng . Now what
if I wanted to say welcome everyone, how would I say that?
Kirin: Hunyng dji .
Adam: Now in English we say welcome to. In Chinese though, we would
say Welcome come. What is the verb to come?
Kirin: Li
Adam: And thats a second tone. Next on our list is the word for lesson.
Thats an easy one.
Kirin: k
Kirin: k
Adam: Now to say Lesson 30, in Chinese we would say 30th lesson. So
how would you say 30th?
Kirin: D sn sh .
Adam: So 30th lesson becomes
Kirin: D sn sh k .
Adam: So with that in mind, how would you say Welcome to our Lesson
30?
Kirin: Hunyng li wmen de d sn sh k .
Adam: Now it may seem a bit unnatural to say Our lesson 30 in English,
but in Chinese its more natural.
Kirin: Hunyng li wmen de d sn sh k .
Adam: Now just to keep things interesting, we are going to vary that intro
from time to time so here are some other variations. Sometimes, instead of
saying Welcome come our 30th Lesson you could also hear Welcome
come arrive 30th lesson. This new verb arrive is a fourth
tone do . do is often attached to the end of other verbs, when that action
has just been completed. So you have just come to our lesson and we are
welcoming you, so we say
Kirin: Hunyng lido d sn sh k .
Adam: Welcome to Lesson 30.
Kirin: Hunyng lido d sn sh k .
Adam: Lets look at one more way to say this phrase: Welcome everyone
come study 30th class. Now we briefly saw the verb study when we
looked at the word student. How do you say student?
Kirin: Xushng .
Adam: So the first part of that is the verb to study. However, you may see
an extra character tacked on there to make it xux . Thats two second
tones xux . The second character xrefers to practicing so you often see
them together as in xux . So putting this all together gives us:
Kirin: Hunyng dji li xux d sn sh k .
Adam: So that will be one of our new intro to the lessons from hereon.
Adam: Alright, now usually we start off each lesson with a dialogue. So
lets learn the word for dialogue. Its two fourth tones: duhu .
Now hu you may remember from ptnghu anddinhu . Do you
remember what hu means? It means speech. Du means opposite or
facing as in what two people do when they are having a dialogue or a
conversation they face each other. duhu .
So in our lesson, we listen to the dialogue. What is the verb to listen?
Its tng . And thats a first tone. To say lets listen we need the word for
let, which is a fourth tone rng . So how would you say Let us listen?
Kirin: Rng wmen tng .
Adam: Now if we wanted to say Lets first listen as in The first thing we
want to do is listen we need the word for first. Weve actually seen it
before in the word for Mister. How do you say Mister?
Kirin: Xinshng .
Adam: You may remember that the literal definition of Xinshng was first
born. So xin here means first as in the first thing we would do. If we
wanted to say Lets listen one time how do we say one time?
Kirin: y c .
Adam: Thats the character for one, y , and the character for instance of
time, c which is a fourth tone, y c . So lets put all this together and create
the sentence Lets first listen to todays dialogue one time. Literally, that
would be Let us first listen one time todays dialog.
Kirin: Rng wmen xin tng y c jntin de duhu
Adam: Great. Now if we wanted to repeat it we would need to say again
listen one time. We know the word again from the Chinese word for
goodbye Zijin . Do you remember the literal translation of zijin ? It
means again meet. So zi here means again. So how would you say
again listen one time.
Kirin: Zi tng y c .
Adam: Or, Listen one more time.
Kirin: Zi tng y c .
Adam: Good, were making progress. Now what if we wanted to say
Please repeat after her? In Chinese, we would literally say Please with
her speak. Now we know all these words from before. How do we say
please?
Kirin: Qng .
Adam: And how do we say with?
Kirin: Gn .
Adam: And what is the verb to speak?
Kirin: Shu .
Adam: So how would we say Please with her speak?
Kirin: Qng gn t shu .
Adam: Or Please repeat after her.
Adam: Great. Ill do a couple more here before we wrap up. If I want to ask
How do you say in Chinese? we literally say Chinese how speak? What
is the word how in Chinese?
Kirin: Znme .
Adam: So how would we say Chinese how speak?
Kirin: Zhngwn znme shu ?
Adam: Youll notice that the verb speak and the verb say are the same
in Chinese.
Adam: If I want to ask What does it mean? how would I ask that in
Chinese?
Kirin: Shnme ysi ?
Adam: Great, so lots of new phrases youll be hearing in the second half of
our level one. Lets do a quick recap of all these new words and phrases
we have taught today. How would you say the following? Now, some of
these may sound a little strange in English, but they are perfectly normal in
Chinese, which we are focused on.
Welcome everyone to study Lesson 30.
Adam: Lets first listen to todays dialogue one time.
Kirin: Rng wmen xian tng y c jntin de duhu .
Adam: Listen one more time. Literally, thats Again listen one time.
Kirin: Zi tng y c .
Adam: Please repeat after her. Literally, thats Please with her say.
Adam: How do you say in Chinese?
Adam: And lastly What does it mean? Literally is what meaning?
Kirin: Sh shnme ysi ?
Adam: And there you have it. Premium subscribers can take advantage of
the review audio summary available for this lesson on our website to make
sure you have all these phrases down pat, as well be using them
frequently in later lessons. Congratulations for making it this far and no
longer being a beginner in Mandarin Chinese. Once youve got used to
these phrases, well also be adding more to them, as our goal is to be able
to teach entire lessons using only Chinese that has been taught, so keep
at it!
Kirin: Zijin .
Lesson 031
Adam: Hello everyone and welcome to our progressive series teaching
Mandarin Chinese. Im your host, Adam.
Kirin: Hunyng dji li xux wmen de d sn sh y k . W sh Kirin .
Raphael: Dji ho . W sh Raphael .
Adam: Now there was a bit of Chinese in that intro which is our goal now
to use more of what we have taught you so far. Those were all words we
taught you in our last lesson, so please review that lesson if it doesnt
make sense, or follow the transcript of this lesson available to premium
subscribers on our website.
Raphael: Jntin wmen yo tng yge duhu . Rng wmen xin tng y c
jntin de duhu .
Yann: N znme q shng bn ?
Cindy: Dubuq, w tng b ti dng . Qng n zi shu y c .
Raphael: Ho, qng nmen zi tng y c . Qng gn Kirin shu .
Kirin: N znme q shng bn ?
Dubuq, w tng b ti dng . Qng n zi shu y c .
N znme q shng bn ?
Adam: Alright, I hope youre able to keep up with all the Chinese. Before
we continue, Id like to teach two new words. The first one is kish . Thats
a first tone ki and a third tone sh .kish . Ki on its own has a few
meanings including to open, or to start. The sh means to begin so
together, kish means to start. The second word I want to teach is fny .
Thats a first tone and a fourth tone. That means to translate. Im telling
you this, so I can use the following line:
Raphael: Wmen ky kish fny jntin de duhu .
Adam: We can now begin to translate todays dialogue.
The first line was:
Raphael: Znme sh shnme ysi ?
Adam: That means how.
Raphael: Q sh shnme ysi ?
Adam: Thats the verb to go. We then have a few new sets of
words shng bn .
Weve seen shng before in shngw and zoshng .
Raphael: Shng sh shnme ysi ?
Adam: Now in the context of morning it means before. However, here it
has a different meaning of start. The next word bn is a first tone and
here means work.
Adam: So putting it altogether gives us You how go start work.
Now, shng bn can be a time or an event so shes being asked How
do you go to the start of your job?
Adam: Or, How do you get to work?
Adam: She then replies:
Kirin: Dubuq, w tng b ti dng .
Adam: So weve heard all this before. Im sorry I dont understand what
youre saying.
Raphael: Ti sh shnme ysi ?
Adam: That means too, as in t-o-o. So shes saying I dont understand
too well what youre saying.
Kirin: Qng n zi shu y c .
Adam: So weve heard all these words before.
Raphael: Zi sh shnme ysi ?
Adam: That means again. So heres she saying Please say it again, one
more time.
Adam: The man then repeats:
Adam: How do you get to work? So hes saying it again so that the
woman will understand.
Adam: As you may guess, this is part one of a two part dialogue. Well
finish the second part in our next lesson. In the meantime though:
Raphael: Wmen ky zi tng y c . Qng gn Kirin shu .
N znme q shng bn ?
Adam: Ok, and lets listen to it one more time at regular speed:
Adam: Great, lets do a quick review of some of the new words weve
learned today:
Raphael: Start work, Zhngwn znme shu ?
Kirin: Shngbn .
Adam: Now as we said before shng here means start. Do you
remember the opposite ofshng ? Its xi . So
Raphael: Xibn sh shnme ysi ?
Kirin: Sh finish work de ysi .
Adam: In this lessons Premium notes youll see more examples of how we
can use this construct.
Raphael: Start Zhngwn znme shu ?
Kirin: Kish .
Adam: And the last one is translate
Raphael: Zhngwn znme shu ?
Kirin: Fny .
Adam: So hopefully there are some useful new words there for you. Again,
this may be happening too quickly for some of you, so please take
advantage of all the review tools available to premium subscribers on our
website, ChineseLearnOnline.com. And please join us again next time.
Kirin: Zijin .
Lesson 032
Adam: Hello, Im Adam and youre listening to the
ChineseLearnOnline.com podcast series teaching Mandarin Chinese.
Raphael: Hunyng dji li h wmen yq xux d sn sh r k .
Adam: Yes, welcome to lesson 32. With me today is:
Adam: Today, were going to finish a dialogue that we started in our last
lesson. Well first listen to it in its entirety and then break it down for you
line by line. While listening, please follow along with the included dialogue
transcript either on your MP3 player screen, if its capable of doing so, or
from our website.
Raphael: Rng wmen xin tng y c jntin de duhu .
Cindy: A, w kich q shng bn .
Yann: Kich ? Zhge fngf znme yng ?
Cindy: Hn mfan . Yzh yu sich .
Raphael: Rng wmen zi tng y c jntin de duhu . Bng gn Kirin shu
.
Adam: Now before we continue, I noticed that Raphael just used a new
word. She said: Bnggn Kirin shu . Bng is a fourth tone and is a
conjunction word meaning furthermore. So lets hear it again.
Raphael: Bng gn Kirin shu .
N znme q shng bn ?
A, w kich q shng bn .
Kich ? Zhge fngf znme yng ?
Hn mfan . Yzh yu sich .
Adam: OK. By the way, a lot of this extra Chinese that is being used within
the lesson was explained in lesson 30, so for a refresher course, feel free
to review that lesson again.
Now we did the first few lines of the dialogue in our last lesson. Lets
review them again and their meanings.
Adam: How do you go to work?
Adam: Im sorry, I dont really understand what youre saying.
Adam: Please say it again.
Adam: How do you go to work? Hes saying it more clearly this time so
she can understand.
Kirin: A, w kich q shng bn .
Adam: So heres the first new line of todays dialogue. W kich . Now we
saw ki before inkish .
Raphael: Kish sh shnme ysi ?
Kirin: Sh start or begin de ysi .
Adam: Here however it has a different meaning as its being used with a
new word ch . Thats a first tone and means vehicle. By itself though it
means car. So kich means to operate a vehicle or, in this case, drive
a car.
Kirin: W kich q shng bn .
Adam: So, I drive a car to work.
Kirin: W kich q shng bn .
Adam: He then asks:
Kirin: Kich ? Zhge fngf znme yng ?
Adam: Theres only one new word for us in this sentence. Fngf . Thats a
first tone fng and a third tone f and that means method or way of
doing something.
Raphael: Znme yang sh shnme ysi ?
Adam: That means how about or what is it like? So hes asking What
do you think of this method of traveling as in driving a car?
Adam: To which the woman replies:
Kirin: Hn mfan . Yzh yu sich .
Adam: So we know this means very something. The something
is mfan thats two second tones. Together that means troublesome or
bothersome, so its a big bother.
Kirin: Hn mfan .
Adam: So she doesnt seem to like traveling by car.
Raphael: Wi shnme ?
Kirin: Yzh yu sich .
Adam: So some new words here. yzh . The y means one but together
with the second tonezh it means continuously. So yzh yu always
have sich . Now we know ch means vehicle si is a first tone and
refers to stopping up or squeezing. So, sich is a common word used
to refer to traffic in Taiwan.
Kirin: Yzh yu sich .
Adam: Now in China, they have a different term for traffic.
Kirin: Dch .
Adam: D is a third tone and on its own refers to stopping or blocking
something, so dchrefers to traffic. So in China, they may say
Kirin: Yzh yu dch .
.
N znme q shng bn ?
A, w kich q shng bn .
Kich ? Zhge fngf znme yng ?
Hn mfan . Yzh yu sich .
Adam: Ok, and lets listen to it one more time at regular speed.
Cindy: A, w kich q shng bn .
Yann: Kich ? Zhge fngf znme yng ?
Cindy: Hn mfan . Yzh yu sich .
Adam: Now before we leave you today, lets take a quick look at some
other forms of ch or vehicles in Chinese. See if you can guess the
meaning from the literal translation.
Kirin: Gng gng q ch .
Adam: Thats a first tone, two fourth tones and a first tone.
Adam: The literal translation is a public steam vehicle that everyone can
use. And that refers to a bus.
Adam: Now thats a long name, so sometimes you may hear it reduced to:
Kirin: gngch .
Adam: Heres another one:
Kirin: Chzch .
Adam: Thats three first tones and literally means: rent car.
Kirin: Chzch .
Adam: However, its not a rental car. Its actually a taxi.
Kirin: Chzch .
Adam: Now this is a term that is used in China. In Taiwan, they use a
different term.
Kirin: Jchngch .
Adam: Which is a fourth, second and a first tone.
Kirin: Jchngch .
Adam: The literal translation there is plan a journey vehicle.
Kirin: Jchngch .
Adam: Ng, lets do one more:
Kirin: Huch .
Adam: Thats a third tone and a first tone.
Kirin: Huch .
Adam: That literally means fire vehicle. Any guesses as to what it could
be? Its not a fire truck if thats what you guessed. Its actually the word
for train.
Kirin: Huch .
Adam: So there you have it. Premium subscribers have all kinds of review
tools they can use on our website ChineseLearnOnline.com so be sure to
do that. Then please join us again for our next lesson.
Kirin: Zijin .
Lesson 033
Kirin: Hunyng dji h wmen yq xux d sn sh sn k .
Adam: Welcome to lesson 33. With me today is:
Kirin: Nmen ho , W sh Kirin .
Adam: Please visit our website for a list of our previous lessons. Weve
come a long way since lesson 001 so we encourage you to take
advantage of all the review material available there for your learning
pleasure. We have a new dialogue were going to listen to today with the
help of our speakers. Most of it should be a review, although there are few
new words in there. Please follow along with the included dialogue
transcript either on your MP3 player screen or from our website.
Yann: W mngtin yo zu fij .
Cindy: N yo q nl ?
Yann: W yo q Tigu .
Cindy: N wi shnme yo q Tigu ?
Yann: Ynwi w yo q dji .
Cindy: O, n zhn xngyn !
.
Kirin: W mngtin yo zu fij .
N yo q nl ?
W yo q Tigu .
N wi shnme yo q Tigu ?
Ynwi w yo q dji .
O, n zhn xngyn !
Raphael: Hao, rng wmen kish fny jntin de duhu .
Adam: So that gives us I tomorrow want to zu fij . Now weve
seen zu two different times before. The first time was in Lesson 16
with Qng jn , Qng zu . What did that mean? That meant Please come
in and Please sit respectively, so there, zu means to sit. We later saw
a different zu in Lesson 24 with N zi zhl xhun zu shnme ?
Raphael: Nge zu sh shnme ysi ?
Adam: There, its the verb to do. So these two types of zu share the
same pronunciation, but are two different characters altogether.
In our example here, its the former zu to sit. However, its being used in
a different contextzu fij . Fij is two first tones. The first
character fi means to fly while j means machine. So what do you think
a flying machine refers to? Its of course an airplane. To zu fij means
to take an airplane.
Adam: If I wanted to say, I am going to take a train
Raphael: Zhngwn znme shu ?
Kirin: W yo zu hu ch .
Adam: The lady then says:
Kirin: N yo q nl ?
Adam: Hopefully, you remember what this means. Where are you going?
Kirin: N yo q nl ?
Kirin: W yo q Tigu .
Adam: I am going to Tigu .
Raphael: Gu sh shnme ysi ?
Kirin: Sh country de ysi .
Adam: So can you guess what country Tigu is? Its actually Thailand.
Kirin: W yo q Tigu .
Adam: The woman then asks:
Kirin: N wi shnme yo q Tigu ?
Adam: Do you remember what wi shnme means? Its a question
asking why? So, why are you going to Thailand?
Kirin: N wi shnme yo q Tigu ?
Adam: To which he replies:
Kirin: Ynwi w yo q dji .
Adam: So when someone asks wi shnme , you reply with ynwi .
Raphael: Ynwi sh shnme ysi ?
Kirin: Sh because de ysi .
Adam: So thats Because I am going to dji . Those are both fourth
tones. D here refers to spending time while ji refers to a vacation
so dji means to go on vacation.
Kirin: O, n zhn xngyn !
Adam: Weve seen zhn before from zhnde .
Raphael: Zhn sh shnme ysi ?
Kirin: Sh real de ysi .
Adam: So that gives us you real xngyn . Those are two fourth tones
and together that means to be lucky.
Adam: Oh, youre really lucky!
So hopefully you picked up something new there, while getting a review of
some older vocabulary.
.
N yo q nl ?
W yo q Tigu .
N wi shnme yo q Tigu ?
Ynwi w yo q dji .
O, n zhn xngyn !
Adam: Ok, and lets listen to it one more time at regular speed.
Yann: W mngtin yo zu fij .
Cindy: N yo q nl ?
Yann: W yo q Tigu .
Cindy: N wi shnme yo q Tigu ?
Yann: Ynwi w yo q dji .
Cindy: O, n zhn xngyn !
Adam: Great, as always, please take advantage of the extensive review
features weve been putting together for premium subscribers on our
website ChineseLearnOnline.com. Each lesson is broken down in great
detail with all kinds of ways to review it, which youll need to do as our
lessons progress further from hereon. So go ahead and get your review
done, and then join us back here for our next lesson.
Kirin: Zijin .
Lesson 034
Kirin: Hunyng dji h wmen yq xux d sn sh s k .
Adam: Hello, Im you host, Adam. Welcome to lesson 34. With me today is:
Adam: This is a progressive course teaching Mandarin spoken Chinese.
Each lesson builds upon previous ones. For a list of all our lessons and
what was taught in each one, please visit the course outline pages on our
website. As well, you can find plenty of review material for each lesson
there.
We will start todays lesson with a dialogue that introduces some new
vocabulary while reviewing some previously taught words and phrases. As
you listen to them, please follow along with the included dialogue
transcript. They can be viewed directly on your MP3 player screen if its
capable of doing so or from our website.
Yann: Zhge cntng yu hndu dngxi ky ch .
Cindy: Ksh w kn b dng tmen de cidn .
Yann: Mi gunx . W ky bng n din cn .
.
Kirin: Zhge cntng yu hndu dngxi ky ch .
Ksh w kn b dng tmen de cidn .
Mi gunx . W ky bng n din cn .
Adam: Alright, now this is part one of a two-part dialogue, that we will finish
in our next lesson. Lets now break it down for you line by line, starting with
the first one
Adam: Ok, so lots of new words there for you. Zhge cntng . Cntng is
two first tones and together means dining hall but is a commonly used
word to mean restaurant. Cntng . So this restaurant has hndu . We
know hn means very and du weve seen before from Dusho qin ?
On its own, du means many so together hndu means very many or
a lot.
Adam: The next word we hear is dngxi . Thats a first tone and a neutral
tone. Dng on its own means East while x represents West. dngxi .
However, when you put these two together you get dngxi which means a
thing or an item.
Adam: The last two words we should know.
Raphael: Ky ch sh shnme ysi ?
Kirin: Sh can eat de ysi .
Adam: So putting it all together gives us This restaurant has a lot of things
can eat.
Adam: In other words: There are a lot of things to eat at this restaurant.
Kirin: Ksh w kn b dng tmen de cidn .
Adam: So lots of new words there as well. The first one is ksh . The k is
from ky meaning can while sh is the verb to be. Put them together
and you get ksh which is another word meaning but or however. Do
you remember what the other word we taught you way back when was that
also means but?
Kirin: Dnsh .
Adam: The next part of the sentence was w kn b dng . Weve seen all
these words before.
Raphael: Kn sh shnme ysi ?
Adam: Thats the verb to look. We then have b dng .
Raphael: B dng sh shnme ysi ?
Kirin: Sh dont understand de ysi .
Adam: So putting those together gives us I dont understand what Im
seeing.
Adam: Now kn as a verb can mean to look or to read. So in this
context she is saying I dont understand whatever it is that she is trying to
read. So what is it that she cant read?Tmen de cidn .
Raphael: Tmen de sh shnme ysi ?
Kirin: Sh their de ysi .
Adam: We then have cidn .
Ci is a fourth tone and refers to vegetables or a dish you may eat for a
meal. The dn here is a first tone and refers to a list. So a list of dishes
is what they term a menu. Cidn . So, I cant understand their menu.
Kirin: Mi gunx . W ky bng n din cn .
Adam: We saw the first expression recently. Mi gunx .
Raphael: Mi gunx sh shnme ysi ?
Kirin: Sh Thats okay de ysi .
Adam: We then have W ky bng n . Theres a new verb in
there. bng is a first tone and is the verb to help. So I can help you
to din cn . Now weve seen din several times before in ydin and also
in telling time. Now there it meant a dot. Here, however, it functions as
the verb to order. So its the same character just a different meaning.
Now what is she going to order? Well the last word we saw
earlier cn meaning dish. So I can help you order a dish.
Kirin: W ky bng n din cn .
.
Mi gunx . W ky bng n din cn .
Adam: Ok, and lets listen to the dialogue one more time.
Yann: Mi gunx . W ky bng n din cn .
Adam: Great! And as mentioned earlier, this is a two part dialogue which
well finish up in our next lesson. In the meantime, visit our website
ChineseLearnOnline.com and take a look at all the resources weve put
together for premium subscribers to help you review this and all our
previous lessons. Then join us again next time for Lesson 35.
Kirin: Xixie dji .
Lesson 035
ChineseLearnOnline.com podcast series. This is lesson 35 titled Thank
you for your help.
Kirin: Hunyng lido d sn sh w k : Xixie nde bng mng .
Adam: With me today are my co-hosts:
Adam: This is a structured course teaching Mandarin Chinese. Todays
lesson continues where our previous one left off. We will first review the
dialogue that we started last time and then continue on with the second
half today. Please following along with the included dialogue transcript
either directly on your MP3 screen if it can or from our website.
Yann: Mi gunx . W ky bng n din cn . N yo n y zhng ?
Cindy: Ky bng w din hnbo gn shtio ma ?
Xixie nde bng mng .
Yann: B kq .
Raphael: Rng wmen zi tng y c jntin de duhu . Bng gn Kirin yq s
hu .
Mi gunx . W ky bng n din cn . N yo n y zhng ?
Ky bng w din hnbo gn shtio ma ?
Xixie nde bng mng .
B kq .
Raphael: Rng wmen kish fny jntin de duhu .
Adam: This restaurant has a lot of food that we can eat.
Adam: But I cant read their menu.
Kirin: Mi gunxi .
Adam: Thats okay.
Kirin: W ky bng n din cn .
Adam: I can help you order.
Kirin: N yo n y zhng ?
Adam: So heres the first new line from todays dialogue. N yo . You
want. N y Weve seen n before from nl .
Raphael: N sh shnme ysi ?
Kirin: Sh which de ysi .
Adam: Thats followed by y zhng . We know that y means one or
a. zhng is a third tone and means kind or type. So You want which
kind?
Adam: Or What kind would you like?
Kirin: Ky bng w din hnbo gn shtio ma ?
Adam: So we should be able to figure out the first
part. Ky bng w din ? - Can you help me order. So what is that that
she wants to order?
Kirin: Hnbo gn shtio ma ?
Adam: There are two items here. The first one is hnbo . Thats a fourth
tone and a third tone.Hnbo , its actually the transliteration of a city in
Germany: Hamburg Hnbo . And its, of course, also a popular fast food
the hamburger. Hnbo . She then uses the word gn .
Raphael: Gn sh shnme ysi ?
Kirin: Sh with de ysi .
Adam: So she wants a hamburger with shtio . Thats a third tone and a
second tone and together means French fries. shtio . The sh refers to
potatoes and the tio is a measure word for long thin things like French
fries. shtio .
Kirin: Ky bng w din hnbo gn shtio ma ?
Adam: Can you help me order a hamburger and French fries? She then
adds a:
Kirin: Xixie nde bng mng .
Adam: We should be able to figure this out. Thanks your help followed by
the last word mng. We saw mng way back in Lesson 14.
Raphael: Mng sh shnme ysi ?
Kirin: Sh busy de ysi .
Adam: So help busy bng mng is a common way to say to give a
hand.
Adam: Thank you for giving me a hand.
Kirin: B kq .
Adam: So hopefully, you remember that. No need to be polite.
Kirin: B kq .
Adam: Or Youre welcome.
Kirin: B kq .
.
Mi gunx . W ky bng n din cn . N yo n y zhng ?
Ky bng w din hnbo gn shtio ma ?
Xixie nde bng mng .
B kq .
Adam: Alright, and lets listen to the conversation again at normal speed
with our native speakers.
Yann: Mi gunx . W ky bng n din cn . N yo n y zhng ?
Cindy: Ky bng w din hnbo gn shtio ma ?
Xixie nde bng mng .
Yann: B kq .
Adam: Great, and as always, premium subscribers can visit our website
Chineselearnonline.com to review this lesson as well as previous ones,
and to also try out some of the many supplementary resources that we
have there. So thats it for us today, please join us again next time for our
next lesson.
Kirin: Zijin .
Lesson 036
Adam: Hello Im Adam, and youre listening to Lesson 36 of the
Kirin: Hunyng dji li xux d sn sh li k .
Adam: With me today are our co-hosts
Kirin: Dji ho, w sh Kirin .
Adam: Alright. Now everything weve said so far has all been vocabulary
weve taught since Lesson 1. You can find plenty of resources of our site
including word for word transcripts with the translation of all our lessons.
Plus you can also check our course outline pages that show you exactly
what words we were teaching in each lesson.
If theres a word you dont understand, then I recommend you use the
review tools available to premium subscribers. So make sure you are
keeping up, as this is a Progressive course, meaning material is constantly
being reused in later lessons to make sure you understand and remember
it.
Now, todays lesson is called Are you wearing new clothes today? So Ill
get Kirin to help me here. How would you say that entire line in Chinese?
Kirin: Jntin de tm sh N jntin chun de yf sh xnde ma ?
Adam: Lets look at the word she used there. Tm . Thats a second tone
and a fourth tone. Weve seen t before from wnt .
Raphael: Wnt sh shnme ysi ?
Kirin: Sh problem or question de ysi .
Adam: Tm here means topic or title. So again, the title is Are you
wearing new clothes today?
Kirin: Tm sh N jntin chun de yf sh xnde ma ?
Adam: Alright. Now were going to listen to a short conversation today that
will use vocabulary weve taught before while teaching some new words.
Yann: N jntin chun de yf sh xnde ma ?
Cindy: Du a . Wde wito sh xnde, ksh wde kzi sh jide .
.
Kirin: N jntin chun de yf sh xnde ma ?
Du a . Wde wito sh xnde, ksh wde kzi sh jide .
Raphael: Xinzi wmen kish fny jntin de duhu .
Adam: So we should know the first few words there, you today chun .
Thats a new verb which is a first tone and is the verb to wear.
Adam: We then have the word yf which is a first tone and second tone
and together means clothes. We then have xnde . Xn is a first tone and
means new. The de particle is commonly used for adjectives like
this. xnde .
So by saying
Adam: Hes saying The clothes you are wearing today are new. However,
theres a ma at the end meaning this is a question.
Adam: So that makes it Are you wearing new clothes today?
Kirin: Du a .
Adam: Now weve seen the first character before: Du .
Raphael: Du sh shnme ysi ?
Kirin: Sh correct de ysi .
Adam: The a at the end is an exclamation particle. So its the difference
between saying right and Thats right!
Kirin: Du a .
Kirin: Wde wito sh xnde, ksh wde kzi sh jide .
Adam: So you may be able to figure out the construction of that sentence
there. The first part is: Wde wito . My wito . Now, weve
seen wi before from wigurn and lowi .
Raphael: Wi sh shnme ysi ?
Kirin: Sh outside de ysi .
Adam: Wito . The to refers to an item that wraps or covers something
else. So can you guess what item of clothing you wear outside that wraps
or covers you, is? Its, of course, a coat.
Adam: We saw the word ksh in our last lesson. That has a same
meaning is dnshmeaning but or however.
Adam: The next part of the sentence introduces another item of
clothing. Kzi which refers to trousers or pants. The zi you may
remember is a common ending in nouns. Kzi . So wdekzi sh jide . My
pants are jide . Thats a fourth tone and is the opposite of xnde . So it
means old. So that gives us My coat is new, but my pants are old.
Adam: So thats it for todays dialogue. It is part 1 of 2 though, so youll
hear the conclusion in our next lesson. For now though:
.
Adam: Ok, and lets listen to our native speakers again one more time
before we wrap up:
Adam: Alright, now before we finish lets recap the new vocabulary from
todays lesson. See if you remember them.
What is the verb to wear? Chun .
How do you say clothes? Yf .
How do you say coat? Wito .
How do you say pants? Kzi .
What is the adjective new? Xnde .
And what is the adjective old? Jide .
For more review practice please listen to the review summaries of each
lesson available to premium subscribers on our website
ChineseLearnOnline.com. Thats it for us today. Listen again next time to
hear the exciting conclusion of todays dialogue.
Kirin: Zijin .
Lesson 037
Adam: Hello Im Adam, and youre listening to Lesson 37 of the
ChineseLearnOnline.com podcast series titled I like this color very much!
Kirin: Hunyng dji li xux d sn sh q k . Jntin de tm sh W h
n xhun zhgeyns .
Adam: With me today is
Kirin: Dji ho, w sh Kirin .
Adam: This is a progressive course teaching Mandarin Chinese. Each
lesson builds upon the previous ones. For a list of our lessons and what
was taught in each one, please visit the course outline pages on our
website.
Todays dialogue continues where our last one left off. So well begin by
listening to the first part of the dialogue from our last lesson, followed by
the rest of it representing todays lesson. As always, please follow along
with the included dialogue transcript, either by viewing it on your MP3
player screen if you can or from our website.
Yann: W hn xhun zhge xn wito de yns .
Cindy: W y hn xhun . W jude lns gn bis hn ho kn .
.
W hn xhun zhge xn wito de yns .
W y hn xhun . W jude lns gn bis hn ho kn .
Adam: If youre having trouble with the extra Chinese were using in this
lesson, please take a look at the complete word for word transcripts
available to premium subscribers. That translate everything for you there.
As well, most of it was introduced in lesson 30 and beyond, so youre
welcome to listen to those lessons again for a quick review.
Now lets listen to each line of the dialogue starting with the first line:
Adam: Are the clothes you are wearing today new?
Kirin: Du a .
Adam: Thats right.
Adam: My jacket is new, but my pants are old.
Kirin: W hn xhun zhge xn wito de yns .
Adam: So heres the first new line of the dialogue today. It starts
with W hn xhun .
Raphael: Xhun sh shnme ysi ?
Adam: Thats the verb to like. So w hn xhun literally translates to I
very like which of course means I like very much. So what is it that he
likes?
Kirin: Zhge xn wito de yns .
Raphael: Zhge sh shnme ysi ?
Kirin: Sh this one de ysi .
Adam: Now you may remember that most nouns in Chinese require a
measure word when identifying them. Ge is the most common measure
word. In this case the noun being identified is xn wito de yns . Lets
break that down for you. We saw the character xn earlier in this dialogue
meaning new. We then have wito again meaning coat. So together
that gives us this new coat. We then have a new word yns . Thats a
second tone and a fourth tone and together is the word for color. Yns .
Adam: I really like the color of this new coat.
Kirin: W y hn xhun .
Raphael: Y sh shnme ysi ?
Adam: That means also.
Adam: So, I also like. Notice that since the context is understood we dont
have to specify this color again.
Adam: The woman then adds:
Kirin: W jude lns gn bis hn ho kn .
Adam: So lots of new words here. The first one is the verb jude . Thats a
second tone and a neutral tone and is the verb to think. jude . Now hold
it, I know what youre thinking. We already taught the word to think back
in Lesson 22? Now what was the verb to think that we taught you back
then? It was the verb xing . Xing is more along the lines of to think or to
believe whereas jude is to think or to feel.
Adam: Lets look at the next few words to see what the sentence
means: lns . Now earlier, we saw yns which means color. Colors are
easy to identify as they end with the characters which means look or
appearance.
Adam: The first color here is a second tone and a fourth tone lns which
happens to be the color blue. Lns gn bis . So blue with another
color bis which is also a second tone and a fourth tone and is the color
white. Bis . The last few words make up an important
phrase: hn ho kn . We know that hn ho means very good.
Adam: Thats the verb to look. So hn ho kn means very good look or
looks good.
Adam: I think blue and white looks very good.
.
W hn xhun zhge xn wito de yns .
W y hn xhun . W jude lns gn bis hn ho kn .
Adam: And lets listen one more time to our native speakers at normal
speed.
Yann: W hn xhun zhge xn wito de yns .
Cindy: W y hn xhun . W jude lns gn bis hn ho kn .
Adam: Great, now before we leave you today, lets look at a few other
colors.
Kirin: Ls .
Adam: Thats two fourth tones and means green.
Kirin: Ls .
Kirin: His .
Adam: Thats a first tone and a fourth tone and means black.
Kirin: His .
Adam: Ok, lets do a couple more.
Kirin: Hngs .
Adam: Thats a second tone then a fourth tone means red.
Kirin: Hngs .
Adam: And one last one.
Kirin: Hungs .
Adam: Thats a second and a fourth tone meaning yellow.
Kirin: Hungs .
Adam: Great, so thats it for us today. Visit the Premium section of our
website ChineseLearnOnline.com to review this lesson and all the new
vocabulary in there. Then join us again next time for Lesson 38.
Kirin: Zijin .
Lesson 038
Kirin: Dji ho . W sh Kirin . Rng wmen yq li xux d sn sh b k
.
Adam: Welcome to lesson 38 of the ChineseLearnOnline.com podcast
series teaching Mandarin Chinese.
Raphael: Jntin de tm sh shnme ?
Kirin: N ky ji gi w yxi qin ma ?
Adam: Ah, Can you lend me some money?
Alright. Now all the Chinese we use outside of the lesson is vocabulary
that we have taught before in previous lessons or are going to teach you
today. For a list of these lessons and what was taught in each one, visit the
course outline on our website.
Lets begin todays lesson with a dialogue using our speakers Raphael and
Kirin. Please follow along with the included dialogue transcript either on
your MP3 player screen if you can or from our website.
Yann: N ky ji gi w yxi qin ma ?
Cindy: W xinzi zh shng xi sh kui qin .
Yann: W y miyu di hn du qin .
.
W xinzi zh shng xi sh kui qin .
W y miyu di hn du qin .
Raphael: Rng wmen li fny jntin de duhu .
Adam: Lets start with the first line of todays dialogue.
Adam: Now weve seen N ky before several times in the context of Can
you? We then have a new verb here, which is a fourth tone ji . That can
actually mean to lend or to borrow. Now that may seem strange that the
same word can mean two opposites, but as Ive said several times before,
Chinese is a very efficient language. So whether you are borrowing
something from someone, or someone is lending something to you, its the
same thing so why have two different words, right?
Kirin: N ky ji gi w ?
Adam: You may notice the character gi added after the ji . Do you
remember what gimeans? Its the verb to give. By combining it with
the ji we get lend give which specifies the direction of the borrowing. So
we have Can you lend me? Now what is it that he wants to borrow?
Adam: So we have yxi qin . We know y means a. Thats followed
by xi which is a first tone. Together, yxi means a few or some.
Some what? you ask? Some qin .
Raphael: Qin sh shnme ysi ?
Kirin: Sh money de ysi .
Adam: So the man wants to borrow some money.
Adam: Can you lend me some money? The woman then replies:
Kirin: W xinzi zh shng xi sh kui qin .
Adam: So that gives us I right now only. We then have the next part
which is two fourth tonesshng xi . Together, this means to be left
over. Shng xi . The last part is sh kui qin .
Kirin: Sh ten dollars de ysi .
Adam: So I right now only have left over ten dollars.
Adam: In other words, I only have ten dollars left at the moment. The
man then replies:
Kirin: W y miyu di hn du qin .
Adam: So here we have W y miyu . I also dont have. In other words
I dont have either.
Adam: Theres a new verb there di which is a fourth tone and in this
context means to bring. That gives us I also didnt bring hn du qin .
Now we saw hn du recently.
Raphael: Hn du sh shnme ysi ?
Kirin: Sh a lot or many de ysi .
Adam: So that gives us I also dont have bring a lot of money.
Adam: In other words, I didnt bring much money either.
Adam: Great, now this is part one of a two-part dialogue that well finish up
in our next lesson.
.
Adam: Alright, and lets listen to this dialogue again at normal speed.
Yann: W y miyu di hn du qin .
Adam: Great. Now before we leave you today lets quickly review the new
vocabulary learned in this lesson.
Raphael: Borrow Zhngwn znme shu ?
Kirin: Ji .
Raphael: Some Zhngwn znme shu ?
Kirin: Yxi .
Raphael: Only Zhngwn znme shu ?
Kirin: Zh .
Raphael: To have left over Zhngwn znme shu ?
Kirin: Shng xi .
Raphael: To bring Zhngwn znme shu ?
Kirin: Di .
Adam: Great! Hope that helped you out. As I said before, well review and
continue this dialogue in our next lesson so be sure to join us then. In the
meantime, youre welcome to review this lesson and a lot more on our
website ChineseLearnOnline.com.
Kirin: Zijin .
Lesson 039
Adam: Hello everyone, Im one of your hosts, Adam.
Kirin: Dji ho . W sh Kirin . Hunyng lido d sn sh ji k .
teaching Mandarin Chinese.
Raphael: Jntin de tm sh
Kirin: Mi bnf .
Adam: Theres nothing we can do. Were going to shortly review a
dialogue that we looked at in our last lesson and then build upon it by
adding a few more lines making up todays lesson. As you listen, please
follow along with the included dialogue transcript, either directly on your
MP3 player screen or from our website. All the Chinese we use outside of
the dialogue has been taught in previous lessons especially from Lesson
30 on, so we encourage you to review any of our older lessons from our
website.
Yann: W y miyu di hn du qin . Znme bn ?
Cindy: Mi bnf . Nme, wmen jntin b nng mi hndu dngxi .
Yann: Zhn zo go .
Kirin: Rng wmen zi tng y c jntin de duhu . Bng gn Kirin shu .
Znme bn ?
Mi bnf .
Nme, wmen jntin b nng mi hndu dngxi .
Zhn zo go .
Adam: Lets begin by reviewing the first few lines of the dialogue from our
last lesson.
Adam: Can you lend me some money?
Adam: I only have ten dollars left over at the moment.
Adam: I didnt bring much money either.
Kirin: Znme bn ?
Adam: So heres the first line of todays lesson. Znme bn ?
Adam: Thats a question word meaning how. Here the bn means to
manage or to handle. So Znme bn ? How do we manage or handle
this situation?
Kirin: Znme bn ?
Adam: This is a very popular expression, which in this case could mean
What can we do?
Kirin: Znme bn ?
Kirin: Mi bnf .
Adam: So here we have a second tone mi , which weve seen before.
Raphael: Mi sh shnme ysi ?
Adam: Its a negation word, similar to b . So No bnf . Thats a fourth
tone bn that we just saw, followed by a third-tone f and together means
method of doing something or, in this context, solution.
Kirin: Mi bnf .
Adam: In other words, Theres nothing we can do. Theres no solution.
Kirin: Mi bnf .
Adam: This is another very popular expression and youll often see it as
the answer to Znmebn ? So What can we do? Theres nothing we can
do. The woman then says:
Kirin: Nme, wmen jntin b nng mi hndu dngxi .
Adam: Theres only one new word there, so this is a good review. In that
case, we today bnng . Theres a new verb nng which is a second tone
and means to be capable of doing something. Now because we have
the b in front, shes saying were not capable. Theres a subtle difference
between b ky and b nng . The former means something is not
permissible, whereas the latter here is more due to circumstance. Over
time seeing these used in different contexts will give you a better grasp of
these subtle differences.
Adam: The next word there is the verb mi .
Raphael: Mi sh shnme ysi ?
Adam: Thats the verb to buy. So today, we cant buy hndu dngxi .
These are all words weve seen recently.
Raphael: Hndu sh shnme ysi ?
Kirin: Sh many de ysi .
Raphael: Dngxi sh shnme ysi ?
Kirin: Sh things or items de ysi .
Adam: So putting these all together gives us In that case, we today cant
buy many things.
Adam: In other words, In that case, we cant buy much today.
Adam: And the last line of the dialogue was:
Kirin: Zhn zo go .
Adam: We know zhn from zhnde .
Raphael: Zhn sh shnme ysi ?
Kirin: Sh real de ysi .
Adam: Thats followed by zo go which is two first tones. The literal
translation here is spoiled or rotten cakes, but this is commonly used to
express Thats too bad, or Thats terrible!
Kirin: Zhn zo go .
Adam: Or in this case, Thats really too bad!
Kirin: Zhn zo go .
Adam: So lots of very popular phrases and expressions in todays
dialogue, that will hopefully come in handy for you.
.
Znme bn ?
Mi bnf .
Nme, wmen jntin b nng mi hndu dngxi .
Zhn zo go .
Adam: Great, and lets listen to this dialogue again then by our native
speakers.
Yann: W y miyu di hn du qin . Znme bn ?
Cindy: Mi bnf . Nme, wmen jntin b nng mi hndu dngxi .
Yann: Zhn zo go .
Adam: Alright, hope that made some sense to you. Please take the time to
review this material in the Premium section of our website
ChineseLearnOnline.com and then join us again next time for Lesson 40.
Kirin: Zijin .
Lesson 040
Adam: Hello, everyone. My name is Adam.
Kirin: Dji ho . W sh Kirin . Hunyng lido d s sh k .
Adam: Welcome to Lesson 40 of the ChineseLearnOnline.com podcast
series teaching Mandarin Chinese.
Kirin: Qngwn, n zhdo csu zi nl ma ?
Adam: Do you know where the restroom is? Always important to know
wherever you go. So well begin todays lesson, as we do most lessons, by
listening to a short dialogue. Todays is actually part 1 of a 3 part series.
Each dialogue has a mix of new vocabulary along with old vocabulary that
has been taught before. The words are carefully chosen to reflect their
usage in day to day conversation. So if you notice a word or an expression
coming up often in our lessons, theres a reason for that. Its because its
used quite often in daily Chinese conversation. For a list of lessons and
what was taught in each one, please view the Course Outline on our
website.
As you listen to todays dialogue please try and follow along with the
included dialogue transcript. You can do so either by viewing it directly on
your MP3 player screen or from our website.
Yann: B ho ysi . Qngwn , n zhdo csu zi nl ma ?
Cindy: Zhdo . Xin zh zu . Rnhu yu zhun .
.
Kirin: B ho ysi . Qngwn , n zhdo csu zi nl ma ?
Zhdo .
Xin zh zu .
Rnhu yu zhun .
Adam: Lets start with the first line from todays dialogue:
Kirin: B ho ysi .
Adam: Now weve seen this expression a few times before.
Raphael: B ho ysi sh shnme ysi ?
Kirin: Sh I feel embarrassed to trouble you de ysi .
Adam: Now keep in mind that theres a lot more respect shown in the
Chinese language than you would normally see in English. So while such
an expression wouldnt be that common in English, its very common in
Chinese. These phrases can also be used in different situations with
different meanings, which is why we keep reusing them to show you other
situations and other contexts where they may be used.
Kirin: B ho ysi .
Adam: So what is it that the man wants to ask?
Adam: So again, most of this should be review.
Raphael: Qngwn sh shnme ysi ?
Kirin: Sh May I ask de ysi .
Adam: Notice again, how much politeness and modesty is being added
before this question is asked. When in doubt, its much better to have too
much of politeness in your speech than too little so dont forget these
terms. We then have the verb zhdo which weve also seen before.
Raphael: Zhdo sh shnme ysi ?
Adam: Its the verb to know. So so far we have, May I ask, do you
know?
Adam: So theres our first new term of the lesson. Csu . Thats a fourth
tone and a third tone and refers to a toilet or a restroom.
Adam: The last part has another construction we should be familiar with.
Raphael: Zi nl sh shnme ysi ?
Kirin: Sh located where de ysi .
Adam: So in another words, Do you know where the toilet or restroom is?
Kirin: Zhdo .
Adam: So again this is how they answer questions in Chinese. To say
yes, you restate the verb in question. So n zhdo ma ? Do you
know? Zhdo . I know.
Kirin: Zhdo .
Adam: She then continues:
Kirin: Xin zh zu .
Adam: Now we heard the word xin earlier in this lesson when Raphael
said:
Adam: What does xin mean there? It means first as in Lets first listen
to todays dialogue. So here in the dialogue shes saying first zh zu .
The first character is a second tone and means straight. The second
character is a third tone zu and refers to walking or going.
Kirin: Xin zh zu .
Adam: First go straight.
Kirin: Xin zh zu .
Adam: And the last line of todays dialogue was:
Kirin: Rnhu yu zhun .
Adam: The first term of the sentence is very important: Rnhu . Thats a
second tone and a fourth tone. Weve actually seen both those characters
before in different contexts. We sawRn before back in Lesson 27
in dngrn .
Raphael: Dngrn sh shnme ysi ?
Kirin: Sh of course de ysi .
Adam: Weve also seen hu before from Lesson 24. We asked someone
how long he was in town and he said: w tin hu . What did the hu mean
there? It meant after. So when you put the characters from of course
and after together, you get the word meaning after that.
Adam: So earlier she told him to go straight. Now shes saying After
that yu zhun . Yu is a fourth tone. Dont confuse it with the third
tone yu meaning to have. Here yu refers to the word right as in the
opposite of left
Adam: The last character of the sentence is a third tone zhun and means
turn. So the literal translation of this sentence is After that right turn.
Adam: Or simply and then turn right
Adam: Theres a lot more to this dialogue. Two more lessons worth in fact.
But well stop off here and review what we have so far.
.
Kirin: B ho ysi . Qngwn , n zhdo csu zi nl ma ?
Zhdo .
Xin zh zu .
Rnhu yu zhun .
Adam: Alright, and now lets listen to this dialogue again at normal speed:
Yann: B ho ysi . Qngwn, n zhdo csu zi nl ma ?
Cindy: Zhdo . Xin zh zu . Rnhu yu zhun .
Adam: Great; so hopefully you learned something there. Theres a lot more
where this came from coming up in our next two lessons so please join us
again then. In the meantime though, please use the all the resources
available to our online subscribers on our website
Kirin: Xixie dji .
Lesson 041
Kirin: Dji ho . W sh Kirin . Rng wmen yq li xux d s sh y k .
Kirin: Jntin de tm sh B ti yun .
Adam: Its not very far. This is a progressive course so each lesson does
build upon previous ones. For a list of all our lessons and what was taught
in each one, please visit the Course Outline page on our website.
Were going to listen to part 2 of a 3-part dialogue today. Todays
continues where our last lesson left off. Well first listen to our speakers
Raphael and Kirin do the dialogue. As you listen, please follow along with
the dialogue transcript that we provide for this lesson. You can either view
it directly from your MP3 player screen or from our website.
Cindy: Zhdo . Xin zh zu . Rnhu yu zhun . Csu hu zi nde zu
bin .
Yann: Cng zhl do nl hn yun ma ?
Cindy: B ti yun .
.
Kirin: B ho ysi .
Qngwn, n zhdo csu zi nl ma ?
Zhdo .
Xin zh zu .
Rnhu yu zhun .
Csu hu zi nde zu bin .
Cng zhl do nl hn yun ma ?
B ti yun .
Adam: So the first few lines are review from our last lesson. Lets take a
quick look at them again. Feel free to repeat after Kirin to practice your
pronunciation.
Kirin: B ho ysi .
Adam: You may notice that the si from ysi becomes a neutral tone during
pronunciation. So instead of ysi , you end up hearing ysi .
Kirin: B ho ysi .
Adam: Sorry to trouble you.
Adam: Do you know where the restroom is?
Kirin: Zhdo .
Adam: Yes I do.
Kirin: Xin zh zu .
Adam: Then turn right.
So thats what we learned in our last lesson. Lets continue on with the
lines from todays lesson.
Kirin: Csu hu zi nde zu bin .
Adam: So the first word csu , we know, means restroom. She then
says hu zi .
Weve seen the verb hu before.
Raphael: Hu sh shnme ysi ?
Adam: When we first introduced it in Lesson 4, it had the meaning of to be
able to as in Whu shu Zhngwn . I am able to speak Chinese. Here
it has a different meaning to be likely to or will. We know that zi means
to be located. So hu zi means will be located.
Adam: So the restroom will be located nde zu bin . Now last time we
saw the word yumeaning right. Here we have zu which is a third tone
and means left. The last word is a first tone bin meaning side.
Adam: The restroom will be located on your left side.
Adam: The man then asks:
Kirin: Cng zhl do nl hn yun ma ?
Adam: Weve seen the first word cng before.
Raphael: Cng sh shnme ysi ?
Kirin: Sh from de ysi .
Adam: We then have zhl .
Raphael: Zhl sh shnme ysi ?
Kirin: Sh here de ysi .
Adam: So that gives us from here. Weve also seen the next
verb do before.
Raphael: Do sh shnme ysi ?
Kirin: Sh arrive de ysi .
Adam: So From here arrive nl . We know nl is the opposite
of zhl and means there. This
construction cng zhl do nl essentially means From here to there.
Adam: The last part is asking hn yun ma ? Is it very yun ? Thats a
third tone and means far. So is it far to go there from here?
Kirin: B ti yun .
Raphael: Ti sh shnme ysi ?
Kirin: Sh too t-o-o de ysi .
Adam: So b ti yun Not too far.
Kirin: B ti yun .
Adam: Great, so thats part two of the dialogue. We will hear the last part in
our next lesson. For now though:
.
Kirin: B ho ysi .
Zhdo .
Xin zh zu .
Rnhu yu zhun .
Cng zhl do nl hn yun ma ?
B ti yun .
bin .
Cindy: B ti yun .
Adam: Great. Take a look at the Premium notes for this lesson to see more
detailed explanations and examples of some of the concepts we talked
about in todays lesson. Then take advantage of the review tools available
there, and then join us again next time for Lesson 42.
Kirin: Xixie dji .
Lesson 042
Kirin: Nmen ho . W sh Kirin . Rng wmen li xux d s sh r k .
Kirin: N bng le w y ge d mng .
Adam: Youve been a great help.
This is a progressive course as each lesson is built upon previous ones.
Today, we wrap up a dialogue that we started previous lesson. For a list of
all our old lessons and what was taught in each one, please visit the
course outline page on our website.
We will now listen to Raphael and Kirin read todays dialogue. The first part
should be review for you. As you listen, please follow along with the
included dialogue transcript, either on your MP3 player screen or from our
website.
bin .
Cindy: B ti yun . Zu l q dgi ling fn zhng zu yu .
Yann: Xixie . N bng le w yge d mng .
Cindy: B kq .
.
Kirin: B ho ysi .
Zhdo .
Xin zh zu .
Rnhu yu zhun .
Cng zhl do nl hn yun ma? ?
B ti yun .
Zu l q dgi ling fn zhng zu yu .
Xixie .
N bng le w yge d mng .
B kq .
Adam: The first few lines are review from our last couple of lessons.
Kirin: B ho ysi .
Adam: Sorry to bother you.
Adam: Do you know where the restroom is?
Kirin: Zhdo .
Adam: Yes, I do know where it is.
Kirin: Xin zh zu .
Adam: Then turn right.
Adam: The restroom will be on your left.
Adam: Is it very far to go there from here?
Kirin: B ti yun .
Adam: Not too far.
So thats where we ended off last time. Lets continue with the lines from
todays lesson.
Kirin: Zu l q dgi ling fn zhng zu yu .
Adam: Lets look at the first part.
Kirin: Zu l q .
Adam: There are three characters there. The first word is zu . We saw it
earlier with zh zu .
Raphael: Zu sh shnme ysi ?
Kirin: Sh to walk or to go de ysi .
Adam: The next word is a fourth tone l , which means road. We then
have the verb q .
Raphael: Q sh shnme ysi ?
Kirin: Sh to go de ysi .
Adam: So putting those three together gives us zu l q walk road go.
Kirin: Zu l q .
Adam: This expression means to go on foot.
Kirin: Zu l q .
Kirin: Dgi ling fn zhng zu yu .
Adam: The first word is two fourth tones. Dgi . We hear the first
part d at the top of every lesson when we say Dji ho .
Raphael: D sh shnme ysi ?
Kirin: Sh big de ysi .
Adam: The next part gi means approximate. So the expression dgi or
big approximate is what they use to say probably.
Adam: So to go on foot is probably ling fn zhng Lets examine
this. Ling fn zhng .
Raphael: Ling sh shnme ysi ?
Kirin: Sh two of something de ysi .
Adam: So two of what? Ling fn zhng . Weve seen the fn before from
our lesson on time. If you asked me what time it was, and I replied
with q din w fn , what time would that be? That would be 7:05. So
the w fn means 5 minutes. Now fn on its own can mean many things
based on context. It represents a portion of something, so it could be
points on a scoreboard or in this case minutes on a clock. So to clarify
that its minutes were talking about, they add a first tone zhng after it
which means clock. So now we know were talking about minutes on
clock.
Adam: The last two characters are very interesting and weve seen both of
them earlier in this dialogue. Zu and yu are opposites to each other
meaning left and right repectively. Zuyu is the Chinese equivalent to
saying more or less in English except here they are saying left or right..
So ling fn zhng zu yu means 2 minutes more or less or about 2
minutes.
Adam: So to go there on foot will probably take about two minutes or so.
Adam: Lets move on to our last couple of sentences.
Kirin: Xixie .
Adam: Thank you.
Kirin: N bng le w yge d mng .
Adam: Now weve seen all these words before but in a slightly different
order. We saw bngrecently.
Kirin: Sh help de ysi .
Adam: So here we have N bng le w . The le particle makes it past tense
making it You helped me. Thats followed by yge d mng . So hopefully
you remember that yge means one of something. In this case
one d mng . So d we saw earlier meaning big.
Raphael: Mng sh shnme ysi ?
Kirin: Sh busy de ysi .
Adam: You may remember that busy often goes together with help to
mean give me a hand.
Adam: So in other words, Youve been a great help to me.
Adam: To which the lady replies:
Kirin: B kq .
Adam: Youre welcome.
Kirin: B kq .
.
Kirin: B ho ysi .
Zhdo .
Xin zh zu .
Rnhu yu zhun .
Cng zhl do nl hn yun ma? ?
B ti yun .
Zu l q dgi ling fn zhng zu yu .
Xixie .
N bng le w yge d mng .
B kq .
bin .
Cindy: B ti yun . Zu l q dgi ling fn zhng zu yu .
Yann: Xixie . N bng le w yge d mng .
Cindy: B kq .
Adam: Great! So thats it for us today. Hope you got something out of it.
Please take a look at the review tools for this and all our previous lessons
on our website ChineseLearnOnline.com and then join us again next time
for lesson 43.
Kirin: Zijin .
Lesson 043
Adam: Hello everyone, Im Adam. Welcome to the
Todays lesson is going to be purely review, as we havent done a review
lesson for some time. Now back in lesson 30, we introduced a new format
to the lesson where there was a lot more Chinese spoken inside the
lesson. Weve been using that format for the past 12 lessons and have had
mixed feedback from you. Some of you liked it and some of you found it
too much, which is understandable, so I thought I would take this time
today to review this new format just to make sure everyone is on the same
page going forward.
So usually at the start of each lesson I introduce myself along with my co-
hosts here.
Adam: Alright. Now at this point Kirin then introduces the lesson for us.
Now there are a few different ways of doing so. Lets look at how she
introduced our lesson last time:
Kirin: Rng wmen li xux d s sh r k .
Adam: So there are four important words there in the front: What
does rng mean? It means let. And what does wmen mean? That
means us or we. And what does li mean? Its the verb to come. And
finally what does xux mean? That means to study. So that first part
gives us Let us come study.
Adam: And the last part of that line was the lesson number from last time
which was d s shr the 42nd k . What does k mean? It means
lesson. So that gives us Let us study Lesson 42.
Adam: So that was one way to introduce the lesson. Now Kirin, why dont
you pick a different way to introduce todays lesson?
Kirin: Hunyng lido d sshsn k .
Adam: So there are a couple of different words there. What
does hunyng mean? It means welcome. We then have lido . Thats
made up of two verbs li which we just saw earlier and do . What
does do mean? Its the verb to arrive. Adding do to a verb signifies an
action that was just completed. So you have just come to the lesson so
were welcoming you.
Adam: And of course d s sh sn k means Lesson 43.
Adam: So that covers the introduction of the lesson. I then usually ask
her: Jntin de tm shshnme ? What does Jntin de mean? It means
todays. What does tm mean? It means topic or title.
So Jntin de tm is todays topic or the title of todays
lesson. Jntin detm sh shnme ? So we are asking: What is the title of
todays lesson?
After this point, I usually go into a background on our series for our new
listeners after which we are ready to begin the lesson. Thats when
Raphael comes in and says:
Adam: So we have rng wmen again, meaning Let us. Thats followed
by xin . What doesxin mean? It means first. We then have the
verb tng . What does tng mean? Its the verb to listen.
Adam: The next part was y c . We know that y means one. What
does y c mean? It means one time. We then have the next word which
we also saw earlier jntin de todays followed by the last word duhu .
What does duhu mean? It means dialogue or conversation. So lets
first listen to todays dialogue.
Adam: So at this point, Raphael and Kirin read the lessons dialogue at
normal speed. When they finish, Raphael says:
Raphael: Rng wmen zi tng y c jntin de duhu .
Adam: So thats a slight modification of what he said
earlier. Rng wmen let us. Zi tng yc . What does zi mean? It
means again. So zi tng y c literally means again listen one time
Adam: And the last part we also saw earlier jntin de duhu todays
dialogue.
Adam: Lets listen again to todays dialogue. He then adds another line.
Adam: What does the bng mean? It means furthermore. Gn Kirin shu .
What does gnmean? It means with Kirin shu . And what
does shu mean? Its the verb to speak. So what does he mean by
furthermore with Kirin speak?
Adam: Hes saying As well, repeat after Kirin
Adam: The word gn actually has multiple meanings based on context. It
can mean with or in this case follow. So if I say Bng gn Kirin shu .
That means As well, repeat after Kirin.
Kirin: Bng gn Kirin shu .
Adam: So at this point, Kirin goes through the dialogue for us line by line,
giving you time to repeat after her. When shes done, Raphael then says:
Adam: So again, similar structure to what we saw earlier. Xinzi wmen .
What does xinzimean? It means right now. So right now we kish .
What does kish mean? It means to start or to begin. The next word
is fny . What does fny mean? It means to translate. So what are we
going to translate? Jntin de duhu . Todays dialogue.
Adam: So lets begin to translate todays dialogue now.
Adam: So this is the part where I take over, going through each line and
explaining all the new words. Now during this part, youll hear Raphael ask
the question sh shnme ysi ? What does ysi mean? It means
meaning. So sh shnme ysi ? is literally asking is what meaning? In
other words what does it mean? sh shnme ysi ? Or you may hear him
ask n sh shnme ysi ? What does that mean?
During the review portion, Raphael may ask Zhngwn znme shu ?
What does that mean? Well, we know Zhngwn means Chinese
Adam: So he just asked you what does znme mean?
Kirin: Sh how de ysi .
Adam: It means how. So Chinese how say? means How do you say
that in Chinese?Zhngwn znme shu ?
So thats pretty much it as far as the Chinese that we use within the lesson
goes. Its also what well continue to use up to lesson 60 which is the last
lesson of our level 1. The level 2 portion which starts at lesson 61 will then
introduce more words and phrases that well start to use within the lesson,
so its important that you understand these ones first before we start
teaching you new ones.
Now lets quickly review the phrases we just looked at again before we
wrap up todays lesson. Well listen to the Chinese phrase, then leave a
pause for you, the listener, to repeat after the speaker and figure out the
meaning, and then Ill give you the English translation.
Adam: Lets come study Lesson 42.
Kirin: Hunyng lido d s sh sn k .
Adam: Welcome to Lesson 43.
Kirin: Jntin de tm sh shnme ?
Adam: What is todays topic?
Kirin: Rng wmen xin tng y c jntin de duhu .
Adam: Lets first listen to todays dialogue.
Kirin: Rng wmen zi tng y c jntin de duhu .
Adam: Lets listen again one more time to todays dialogue.
Kirin: Bng gn Kirin shu .
Adam: As well, please repeat after Kirin.
Kirin: Xinzi wmen kish fny jntin de duhu .
Adam: Lets now begin to translate todays dialogue.
Kirin: N sh shnme ysi ?
Adam: What does that mean?
Adam: How do you say that in Chinese?
So thats it. Hope it helped. Please sending whatever feedback you have to
us using the contact form on our website. Review all the material learned
in todays lesson. And then join us again for our next lesson.
Kirin: Zijin .
Lesson 044
Adam: Hello everyone, my name Adam. And youre listening to Lesson 44
of the ChineseLearnOnline.com podcast series teaching Mandarin
Chinese.
Kirin: Rng wmen yq li xux d s sh s k .
Kirin: N ji l yu chngw ma ?
Adam: Do you have any pets at home?
If you need help understanding the extra Chinese being used within the
lessons please listen to our last lesson, lesson 43 or you can also consult
the word for word transcripts found for Premium subscribers on our
website. These translate everything that is said in each lesson.
Well begin in a moment by listening to a short dialogue that makes use of
some words and concepts that weve taught before while teaching a few
new bits of vocabulary. For a list of all our lessons and what was taught in
each one, please visit the Course Outline page on our website. As well,
please try and follow along with the included dialogue transcript either from
our website or directly on the screen of your MP3 player if its able to do
so.
Yann: N jil yu chngw ma ?
Cindy: Yu, w ji yu yzh xiogu hiyu yzh mo .
.
Kirin: N jil yu chngw ma ?
Yu .
W ji yu y zh xiogu
Hiyu y zh mo .
Adam: Alright, pretty short dialogue today. We will add a bit more to it in
our next lesson. For now though, lets start with the first line.
Adam: So this is a similar construction to lesson 11 where we asked:
Kirin: N ji l yu jge rn ?
Raphael: N ji l yu jge rn sh shnme ysi ?
Adam: That was asking How many people are there in your family?
Kirin: N ji l yu jge rn ?
Adam: Here, we have:
Adam: So hes asking if her house has a chngw . Thats made up
of chng which is a third tone meaning to pamper or to spoil
and w which is a fourth tone and means an object. So what object is
there in peoples houses that they pamper and spoil? Its actually a
pet.chngw Now it may seem strange to think of a pet as an object.
However, if you look at the word for animal in Chinese, thats dngw .
We know that w is an object while dng is a fourth tone and refers to
something moving so dngw is actually a moving object, which refers
to an animal. Dngw .
Adam: Do you have a pet at home?
Kirin: Yu
Adam: So we know that yu means have as in yes, I have one.
Kirin: Yu .
Kirin: W ji yu y zh xiogu .
Adam: W ji yu , My house has y zh xiogu . Now in the first
part y zh , we know thaty means one or a. Thats followed
by zh which is a first tone and is the measure word for animals. So if I
say w yu y zh , you know that means I have one animal. What kind of
animal you ask?
Kirin: y zh xiogu .
Adam: Now weve seen the word xio before from xioji .
Raphael: Xio sh shnme ysi ?
Adam: Heres a clue, its the opposite of d .
Kirin: Sh small de ysi .
Adam: So I have a small gu . Thats a third tone and is the word for dog.
Now a small dog in Chinese actually refers to a puppy.
Adam: So I have a puppy at home.
Adam: She then adds:
Kirin: Hiyu y zh mo .
Adam: We saw hiyu back in lesson 18 in the line:
Kirin: Yu yg rzi hiyu ling ge nr .
Adam: What is she talking about there? She just said I have a son as well
as two daughters. So the hiyu literally means additionally have. So
back to our dialogue, here she says she has a puppy as well
as y zh mo .
Kirin: W ji yu y zh xiogu hiyu y zh mo .
Adam: So we know that shes referring to another animal by the yzh .
That animal is a first tone mo and is the word for cat.
Kirin: Hiyu y zh mo .
Adam: As well as a cat.
Kirin: W ji yu y zh xiogu hiyu y zh mo .
Adam: I have a puppy at home, as well as a cat.
.
Yu .
W ji yu y zh xiogu
Hiyu y zh mo .
Adam: And lets listen to our native speakers again before we wrap up.
Adam: So that brings us to the end of another lesson. Please use all the
review tools on our website ChineseLearnOnline.com to help you review
this and all our previous lessons. Then join us again next time for Lesson
45.
Kirin: Zijin .
Lesson 045
Adam: Hello everyone, my name is Adam, and welcome to Lesson 45 of
the ChineseLearnOnline.com podcast series teaching Mandarin Chinese.
Kirin: Rng wmen li xux d s sh w k .
Kirin: T fichng ki !
Adam: Ooh, Its very cute!
You may notice that theres lots of extra Chinese being spoken within the
lesson. All of it was reviewed in Lesson 43; so please review that lesson if
you have trouble with it. As well, there are word for word transcripts
available to premium subscribers on our website.
In a moment, we are doing to continue a dialogue that we started in our
last lesson. As always, we have our Chinese speakers Raphael and Kirin
here to help us out. As you listen to them, please follow along with the
included dialogue transcript. You can either try viewing it on your MP3
player screen or from our website.
Raphael: Rng wmen xin tng yc jntin de duhu .
Yann: O, nde xiogu ki ma ?
Cindy: Du, t fichng ki .
.
Yu .
W ji yu yzh xiogu .
Hiyu yzh mo .
Nde xiogu ki ma ?
Du, t fichng ki !
Adam: Alright, so lets begin by looking at the sentences from last time,
Adam: Do you have any pets at home?
Kirin: Yu
Adam: Yes, I do.
Kirin: W ji yu yzh xiogu .
Adam: I have a puppy.
Kirin: Hiyu yzh mo .
Adam: As well as a cat.
So that was the dialogue from our last lesson. Lets continue with the rest
of it from todays lesson:
Kirin: O, nde xiogu ki ma ?
Adam: So we have nde xiogu meaning your puppy. Thats followed
by ki . Weve seenk before from ky .
Rapahel: Ky sh shnme ysi ?
Kirin: Sh can or able to de ysi .
Adam: The next part is a fourth tone i and is the character for love.
Good character to know. So putting those two together gives us can love
which is the term used for cute. Interesting isnt it?
Kirin: Nde xiogu ki ma ?
Adam: Is your puppy cute?
Kirin: Nde xiogu ki ma ?
Kirin: Du, t fichng ki !
Adam: Now weve seen t before in the context of he or she. This t is
pronounced exactly the same way but is written differently. If you take a
look at the Chinese characters in the Premium section for this lesson you
will see the difference. It is used primarily for animals, so similar to an it
context.
Adam: The next word is new to us fichng . Thats a first tone and a
second tone. The chngrefers to frequent while the fi in this context is a
negation particle giving us not frequent or not common. So
together, fichng is the word used for very or extremely.
Adam: And the last word of course means cute, so together that gives us
Yes, its extremely cute.
Adam: Weve looked at hn before meaning very. However, that has a
lighter meaning than the very in English. Similarly fichng has a lighter
meaning than extremely in English so you will see it being used much
more often in Chinese.
.
Yu .
W ji yu yzh xiogu .
Hiyu yzh mo .
Nde xiogu ki ma ?
Du, t fichng ki !
Adam: And lets listen to our native speakers again before we wrap up.
Yann: O, nde xiogu ki ma ?
Cindy: Du, t fichng ki !
Adam: Now before we finish todays lesson, lets take a quick look at some
of the animals some of whom we saw in todays lesson and previously that
you may find around the home.
Kirin: Gu .
Adam: So thats a dog.
Kirin: Mo .
Adam: Thats a cat.
Kirin: Y .
Adam: Ah so heres one that we saw before in our lesson different types of
meat. Do you remember what it was?
Kirin: Y .
Adam: That means fish.
Kirin: Y .
Adam: Lets do a couple more.
Kirin: Nio .
Adam: So thats a third tone.
Kirin: Nio .
Adam: And that means bird.
Kirin: Nio .
Adam: Lets do one more.
Kirin: Losh .
Adam: So thats two third tones.
Kirin: Losh .
Adam: And that means mouse.
Kirin: Losh .
Adam: Now dont confuse that with losh meaning teacher. There the
second part has a first tone. Losh . For mouse though, we say:
Kirin: Losh .
Adam: Alright, so thats it for us today. Hope you learned something. Take
a look at the review tools created for you on our website. Premium
subscribers can also look the different characters for different animals see
what resemblance they are. And then join us again next time for lesson 46.
Kirin: Zijin .
Lesson 046
Adam: Hello everyone, my name is Adam and youre listening to Lesson
46 of the ChineseLearnOnline.com podcast series teaching Mandarin
Chinese.
Kirin: Hunyng lido d s sh li k .
Kirin: W ml le .
Adam: I am lost. Interesting.
In a moment were going to listen to a short conversation that uses
vocabulary we have studied in earlier lessons while adding a few new
words and concepts. Please follow along with the included dialogue
transcript on your MP3 player or by viewing the transcript available to
premium subscribers on our website.
Yann: B ho ysi . W ml le . W yu dt
ksh w kn b dng zhge z sh shnmeysi .
Cindy: W y kn b dng .
Raphael: Rng wmen zi tng yc jntin de duhu . Bng gn Kirin shu
.
Kirin: B ho ysi .
W ml le .
W yu dt ,ksh w kn b dng zhge z sh shnme ysi .
W y kn b dng .
Adam: Alright, now lets go through each line of this dialogue. Incidentally,
if you need help with the extra Chinese being used within the lesson,
please refer to Lesson 43 which tries to do a thorough recap.
Kirin: B ho ysi .
Adam: So heres one of our favorite lines in these dialogues. We use it
over and over since we want you to understand its importance and how
frequently it does get used in real life.
Kirin: B ho ysi .
Adam: The literal meaning is Not good meaning but this meaning extends
to this is embarrassing or Sorry to trouble you. The Chinese have a very
modest culture and you have to employ that modesty in your speaking by
using such phrases. So usually when you hear this, it means that the
person is sorry to trouble you.
Kirin: B ho ysi .
Adam: So lets see what the trouble is.
Kirin: W ml le .
Adam: So theres a new word here ml which is a second tone and a
fourth tone ml . The mrefers to being lost or confused while the l we
saw recently in lesson 42 in the expressionzu l . Do you remember
what zu l means? It means to go on foot. The literal meaning was to
go and road. So l means road. So here ml literally means lost road
and is the term you use for not knowing where you are.
Kirin: W ml le .
Adam: The le particle at the end signifies a change in situation so this
person is saying that he wasnt lost before, but now he is.
Kirin: W ml le .
Adam: He then continues:
Kirin: W yu dt .
Adam: So the first part W yu means I have thats followed by a new
word dt . Thats a fourth tone and a second tone. The d comes from the
word for earth in Chinese and the trefers to a diagram. So earth
diagram in Chinese is the term used for a map.
Kirin: W yu dt .
Adam: I have a map.
Kirin: W yu dt .
Adam: He then says:
Kirin: Ksh w kn b dng .
Adam: Now this is a very similar construction to what we used in lesson 34
when we heard:
Adam: What did that sentence mean? It meant But I cant read their
menu.
Adam: The phrase kn b dng refers to not being able to read due to not
being able to understand what it is that youre reading.
Kirin: Sh to look or to read de ysi .
Adam: So literally kn b dng means see or read dont understand. So
back to our current lesson here, we have:
Adam: But I cant read. Now what is it that he cant read? Well we know
from the context that its the map that he cant read. Lets find out more.
Kirin: Zhge z sh shnme ysi ?
Raphael: Zhge sh shnme ysi ?
Kirin: Sh this one de ysi .
Adam: The next character z refers to a character. Now of course the
Chinese language doesnt use words and letters. Instead it is composed of
hundreds and even thousands of different characters. With so many
different characters, it is quite common that students of the language come
across a character that they havent seen before or dont remember, so
when that happens they ask:
Adam: What does this character mean?
Kirin: W y kn b dng .
Raphael: Y sh shnme ysi ?
Kirin: Sh also de ysi .
Adam: So shes saying: I also cant understand it.
Adam: Or I cant read it either.
Raphael: Rng wmen zi tng yc jntin de duhu . Qng gn Kirin shu
.
Kirin: B ho ysi .
W ml le .
W yu dt ,ksh w kn b dng zhge z sh shnme ysi .
W y kn b dng .
Cindy: W y kn b dng .
Adam: Alright, so please take advantage of the review tools we have
assembled in the Premium section of our website
ChineseLearnOnline.com then join us next time for Part 2 of this dialogue
where well find out why the woman cant help the gentleman read his
map. Im sure youre dying to find out.
Kirin: Zijin .
Lesson 047
Adam: Hello everyone, and welcome to Lesson 47 of the
ChineseLearnOnline.com podcast series teaching Mandarin Chinese. Im
your host, Adam.
Kirin: Hunyng lido d s sh q k .
Kirin: W zi wigu zhng d .
Adam: I grew up overseas. Alright, lets get into it. Todays lesson
continues where our last one left off. We heard the first past last time and
well hear the second part in todays lesson. Each lesson in this course
does build upon previous material so take a look at our website for all the
old lessons starting all the way back at Lesson 1 if you need to.
As you listen to this dialogue, try and follow along with the included
transcript either from our website or directly on your MP3 player screen.
Cindy: W y kn b dng . Ynwi w zi wigu zhng d, suy w Zh
ngwn b ti ho .
.
Kirin: B ho ysi .
W ml le .
W yu dt ksh w kn b dng zhge z sh shnme ysi .
W y kn b dng .
Ynwi w zi wigu zhng d, suy w Zhngwn b ti ho .
Adam: Now since weve heard the first part of the dialogue in our last
lesson, Ill give you the translation at this time.
Kirin: B ho ysi .
Adam: Sorry to trouble you.
Kirin: W ml le .
Adam: I am lost.
Kirin: W yu dt .
Adam: I have a map.
Adam: But I cant understand it.
Adam: What does this character mean? The lady then responds.
Adam: I dont understand it either.
So that was our last lesson. Lets now explore the next part of the
dialogue. At this point, Ill set the context a little bit. This gentleman is a
tourist somewhere in China and he is lost. He has a map but its in
Chinese so he cant understand it. He then sees a Chinese lady and wants
her help. But she has just told him that she cant understand it either. She
now explains why that is.
Kirin: Ynwi w zi wigu zhng d .
Adam: So there are a few new words to look at there.
Adam: W zi wigu . We saw wigu back in lesson 29 when we talked
about wigurn . Do you remember what the meaning of wigu was? It
literally means outside country or foreign country.
Raphael: Zi sh shnme ysi ?
Kirin: Sh to be located de ysi .
Adam: So that gives us Because I in a foreign country zhng d . So
theres a new word therezhng which is a third tone and is the verb to
grow.
Adam: The last word d weve seen several times before and means
big. So together that gives us grow big which is the term in Chinese
used to mean to grow up.
Adam: Because I grew up in a foreign country.
Adam: The lady then adds:
Kirin: Suy w Zhngwn b ti ho .
Adam: So theres another new important word there. Suy . Thats two
third tones and together means so or therefore.
Adam: So hopefully you understand that the last part is being my Chinese
not too good
Adam: So the complete sentence is Because I grew up overseas so my
Chinese isnt very good.
Now that may sound like a strange construction. But in Chinese, you often
see the because and so put together in this way.
Kirin: Ynwi w zi wigu zhng d, suy w Zhngwn b ti ho .
.
Kirin: B ho ysi .
W ml le .
W y kn b dng .
ngwn b ti ho .
Adam: Great. Please take advantage of all the review tools available to
premium subscribers on our website to help you with your learning, go
through those at your leisure, then join us for our next lesson where well
wrap up this dialogue.
Kirin: Zijin .
Lesson 048
Adam: Hello everyone, and welcome to Lesson 48 of the
Kirin: Rng wmen yq li xux d s sh b k .
Kirin: Zh n ho yn !
Adam: Good luck!
So lets get right into it. Were going to finish up a dialogue that we started
a couple of lessons ago. Well first listen to our speakers, and then
translate the dialogue and explain the new sentences to you.
ngwn b ti ho .
Yann: Nme, w ynggi yo zho y zhng Yngwn de dt .
Cindy: Du, zh n ho yn .
.
Kirin: B ho ysi .
W ml le .
W y kn b dng .
Nme, w ynggi yo zho y zhng Yngwn de dt .
Du, zh n ho yn .
Kirin: B ho ysi . W ml le .
Adam: Excuse me. Im lost.
Kirin: W yu dt , ksh w kn b dng . Zhg z sh shnme ysi ?
Adam: I have a map. But I dont understand. What does this character
mean?
Adam: I dont understand it either.
Kirin: Ynwi w zi wigu zhng d, suy w Zhngwn b ti ho .
Adam: I grew up overseas, so my Chinese isnt very good.
Lets now continue with the new lines from todays dialogue. The man now
replies:
Kirin: Nme, w ynggi yo zho y zhng Yngwn de dt .
Adam: So the first word nme we saw back in lesson 16 when the lady
asked:
Raphael: Nme sh shnme ysi ?
Kirin: Sh in that case de ysi .
Adam: So there the lady was asking In that case, how about some
Chinese tea?
Adam: Here, hes saying:
Adam: So the next new word there is ynggi which is two first tones. This
is a good word to know it means should. Thats followed by yo zho .
Now weve seen yo before in the context of to want. Here it has the
meaning of doing something in the future. So, for example, if I say:
Adam: That can either mean I want to go and eat or it could also mean I
am going to go and eat.
Adam: So here, w ynggi yo means I should do something in the
future. So what is it that he should do?
Adam: So the next new word there is zho which is a third tone and is the
verb to look for. So were getting closer here I should look
for y zhng Yngwn de dt . So you may figure some of
this. Y zhng . Zhng is a first tone and is another measure word. Its used
for flat objects which in this case is an Yngwn de dt .
Raphael: Yngwn sh shnme ysi ?
Kirin: Sh English de ysi .
Adam: And the last word dt we saw earlier in this dialogue meaning
map.
Adam: In that case, I should look for an English map.
Adam: In the Premium notes for this lesson you will see other examples
using the measure word zhng so be sure to look at that.
The woman then replies.
Kirin: Du, zh n ho yn !
Adam: Weve seen du a few times recently. What does it mean? It means
right or correct. Since theres no direct word for yes in Chinese, du is
a close substitute.
Kirin: Du, zh n ho yn !
Adam: The next part is zh n . The zh is a fourth tone and is the word
used to wish someone. So what is she wishing here?
Kirin: Zh n ho yn !
Adam: Ho yn . We saw yn before back in Lesson 33 when we heard:
Adam: Do you remember what that line means? It means oh, you are
really lucky.
Adam: Here we have:
Kirin: Zh n ho yn !
Adam: Which literally means: Wish you good luck!
Kirin: Zh n ho yn !
Adam: Its almost a direct translation from English so that should make it
easy.
Kirin: Zh n ho yn !
.
Kirin: B ho ysi .
W ml le .
W y kn b dng .
Nme, w ynggi yo zho y zhng Yngwn de dt .
Du, zh n ho yn .
ngwn b ti ho .
Yann: Nme, w ynggi yo zho y zhng Yngwn de dt .
Cindy: Du, zh n ho yn .
Adam: Great, so take advantage of the review tools weve assembled for
you on our website ChineseLearnOnline.com and join us again for next
lesson.
Kirin: Zijin .
Lesson 049
Adam: Hello, my name is Adam, and youre listening to
ChineseLearnOnline.com lesson 49 titled Where were you born?
Kirin: Hunyng lido d s sh ji k .
Adam: This is a progressive course teaching Mandarin Chinese. In a
moment were going to listen to a dialogue thatll recap some of what weve
learned so far while introducing some new vocabulary. Please use the
included dialogue transcript viewable on your MP3 player screen or from
our website.
Yann: N zi nl chshng ?
Cindy: W zi Ynd chshng .
Yann: Hn yu q .
.
Kirin: N zi nl chshng ?
W zi Ynd chshng .
Hn yu q .
Adam: So lets break down each line of this dialogue starting with the first
line.
Adam: So weve seen the first part of that before.
Raphael: N zi nl sh shnme ysi ?
Kirin: Sh where are you de ysi .
Adam: Weve seen the last two characters chshng before as well but
separately in different contexts. We first heard ch back in lesson 19 in the
line:
Kirin: Wmen mngtin j din yo chq ?
Adam: Now what did that line mean?
Kirin: Wmen mngtin j din yo chq ?
Adam: That meant What time are we going out tomorrow?
So the ch in this line has a meaning of out. Here its combined
with shng which weve seen before in shngr .
Kirin: Sh birthday de ysi .
Adam: So together chshng has a literal meaning of out born which
together ends up meaning to be born.
Adam: In other words, Where were you born?
Kirin: W zi Ynd chshng .
Adam: So theres a new country being mentioned here: Ynd which is two
fourth tones and is somewhat of a transliteration of the country India.
Adam: So literally thats I located in India born or I was born in India.
Adam: The man then says:
Kirin: Hn yu q .
Adam: So this is a new expression that we can break down. There are
three characters there,hn meaning very, yu meaning to
have. Q which is a fourth tone meaning of interest
Kirin: Hn yu q .
Adam: Now we taught you earlier that q is the verb to go. The character
here has the same pronunciation but is a different Chinese character
altogether; so its actually a homonym there are many of them in the
Chinese language. So a lot of these syllables dont make sense on their
own unless you put them together with other words or youre looking at the
actual character itself.
Kirin: Hn yu q .
Adam: So together this gives us a literal meaning of very has interest or
Very interesting.
Kirin: Hn yu q .
Adam: yu can be combined with a lot of other characters to give new
meanings. For example, Hn yu ysi meaning has a lot of meaning is
another way to say very interesting. In the premium notes for this lesson,
found on our website you will see other examples of common words and
expressions using this same format. For now though
.
W zi Ynd chshng .
Hn yu q .
Adam: Great, and lets listen to this dialogue again at normal speed.
Yann: Hn yu q .
Adam: Alright, so thats it for todays lesson. I encourage you to review this
and past lessons on our website ChineseLearnOnline.com and then join us
for lesson 50 where well add more to todays dialogue.
Kirin: Zijin .

Lesson 050
Adam: ChineseLearnOnline.com Lesson 50: But my parents can.
Hello everyone, my name is Adam, and youre listening to our progressive
course teaching Mandarin Chinese.
Raphael: Nmen ho , W sh Raphael .
Kirin: Rng wmen yq li xux d w sh k .
Adam: Todays lesson continues where our last one left off. Well first listen
to our native speakers read a dialogue. Please follow along with the
included dialogue transcript either on your MP3 player screen or from our
website.
Yann: Hn yu q . N n hu shu Ynd hu ma ?
Cindy: B hu . Ynwi w zi Jind zhng d, suy w b hu shu Yn
d hu .
Dnsh wde fm hu shu Ynd hu .
.
W zi Ynd chshng .
Hn yu q .
N n hu shu Ynd hu ma ?
B hu .
Ynwi w zi Jind zhng d .
Suy w b hu shu Ynd hu .
Adam: So the first few lines were review from our last lesson.
Adam: Where were you born?
Adam: I was born in India.
Kirin: Hn yu q .
Adam: Very interesting.
Lets now continue with the lines from todays lesson.
Kirin: N n hu shu Ynd hu ma ?
Adam: Weve seen the first part of this back in lesson 21 in the phrase:
Kirin: N n ne ?
Adam: Do you remember what that means? It means So how about you?
Kirin: N n ne ?
Adam: We could say n ne ? which means the same thing but saying
N n ne ? softens it a little bit in the same way saying So how about
you? differs from the more abrupt How about you? Here we have:
Adam: Now hopefully you remember hu shu all the way back from
Lesson 4 meaning able to speak. So its a question asking Are you able
to speak Ynd hu Now what language do you suppose that is? Well we
know that Ynd means India while hu weve seen before
inPtnghu and dinhu . So hu on its own means speech.
Adam: So Ynd hu here refers to the language they speak in India. So
can you speak the Indian language?
Adam: To which she replies.
Kirin: B hu .
Adam: Easy enough, No, I cant
Kirin: B hu .
Adam: She then continues.
Kirin: Ynwi w zi Jind zhng d .
Adam: So these are all words weve seen before.
Adam: We then have:
Kirin: W zi Jind zhng d .
Adam: Now what country is Jind ? Its, of course, Canada. We then
have another set of words weve seen before zhng d .
Adam: That means to grow up so shes literally saying Because I located
in Canada grow up.
Adam: Or, Because I grew up in Canada.
Adam: Lets hear the rest of the sentence.
Kirin: Suy w b hu shu Ynd hu .
Raphael: Suy sh shnme ysi ?
Adam: That means so. You may remember from one of our recent
lessons that ynwi andsuy often go together.
Kirin: Ynwi w zi Jind zhng d, suy w b hu shu Ynd hu .
Adam: Because I grew up in Canada, I cant speak the Indian language.
Kirin: Ynwi w zi Jind zhng d, suy w b hu shu Ynd hu .
Adam: And the last line was.
Kirin: Dnsh wde fm hu shu Ynd hu .
Raphael: Dnsh sh shnme ysi ?
Kirin: Sh however or but de ysi .
Adam: Fm is the first and only new word in todays dialogue. Its a fourth
tone and a third tone. The f refers to father and the m refers to
mother, when you put them together you get the word for parents.
Adam: However, my parents can speak the Indian language.
.
W zi Ynd chshng .
Hn yu q .
N n hu shu Ynd hu ma ?
B hu .
Ynwi w zi Jind zhng d .
Suy w b hu shu Ynd hu .
Adam: Alright and lets listen to this dialogue again at normal speed.
Yann: Hn yu q . N n hu shu Ynd hu ma ?
Cindy: B hu . Ynwi w zi Jind zhng d, suy w b hu shu Yn
d hu .
Adam: Great, so please take advantage of all the review tools available to
premium subscribers on our website ChineseLearnOnline.com and then
join us again next time for lesson 51.
Kirin: Zijin .

Lesson 051
Adam: ChineseLearnOnline.com Lesson 51: Today is very cold.
Hello everyone, my name is Adam, and youre listening to our progressive
Kirin: Rng wmen yq li xux d w sh y k .
Adam: Well begin todays lesson by listening to a conversation featuring
our native speakers. Please follow along with the included dialogue
Yann: Jntin de tinq hn lng .
Cindy: Du , dngtin de shhu, du sh zhme lng .
.
Kirin: Jntin de tinq hn lng .
Du , dngtin de shhu, du sh zhme lng .
Adam: Ok, so lets break down this for you starting with the first line.
Adam: So we know jntin de means todays. You hear it lots of times in
each lesson withjntin de duhu meaning todays dialogue. Here we
have jntin de tinq . The tin is the same tin from jntin . On its own, it
can refer to day or sky. The second part is a fourth tone q and refers to
weather. So together tinq literally means sky weather or simply
weather. Its easy to confuse single characters on their own, so they are
often paired with another word to clarify meaning which is why we
have tinq and not just q .
Adam: We know the next character hn means very. Thats followed
by lng which is a third tone and is the character for cold.
Adam: Todays weather is very cold.
Kirin: Du .
Kirin: Dngtin de shhu, du sh zhme lng .
Adam: So there are some important concepts here that we need to look at.
Lets start with the first word dngtin . Thats made up of a first
tone dng meaning winter followed again by tinmeaning sky. Putting
those two characters together gives us the winter season.
Kirin: Dngtin de shhu .
Adam: The next word is shhu which weve seen back in lesson 24 with
the term shnmeshhu . What does shnme shhu mean? Its a question
word asking when. The literal translation is what time so shhu here
means time. Back in our dialogue we have dngtinde shhu , meaning
wintertime.
Adam: The next new character we have here is du . Thats a first tone
and in this context means all or entirely. It is referring to the wintertime
we just talked about. So shes saying the entire
wintertime sh zhme lng . The next word zhme uses a fourth tone and a
neutral tone and can be used to say so much or this much. Finally, the
last character lng we saw earlier meaning cold so
together zhme lng can be translated as this cold.
Adam: So the literal translation of the entire sentence is Correct, winter
time all is how cold. Or in other words Thats right, wintertime is very
cold.
Adam: Please take a look at the Premium notes for this lesson on our
website to see other examples of this same construction. For now
though
.
Du , dngtin de shhu, du sh zhme lng .
Cindy: Du , dngtin de shhu, du sh zhme lng .
Adam: Great, so be sure to use all the review tools available to premium
subscribers on our website ChineseLearnOnline.com then join us again
next time for lesson 52.
Kirin: Zijin .
Lesson 052
Adam: ChineseLearnOnline.com Lesson 52: Hot weather is better
Hello everyone, my name is Adam, and welcome to our progressive
Kirin: Hunyng lido d w sh r k .
Adam: In a moment, we will listen to a dialogue by our native Chinese
speakers that continues where our last lesson left off. Please follow along
with the included dialogue transcript either on your MP3 player screen or
from our website.
Cindy: Du, dngtin de shhu, du sh zhme lng .
Yann: W jude r de tinq bjio ho, suy w xhun xitin .
Cindy: W y zhme jude . W y b xhun lng de tinq .
.
Du, dngtin de shhu .
Du sh zhme lng .
W jude r de tinq bjio ho, suy w xhun xitin .
W y zhme jude . W y b xhun lng de tinq .
Adam: So the first couple of lines we saw in our last lesson.
Adam: Todays weather is very cold.
Kirin: Du, dngtin de shhu, du sh zhme lng .
Adam: Thats right wintertime is always this cold.
Lets now look at the new lines from todays lesson.
Kirin: W jude r de tinq bjio ho .
Adam: So first we have the verb jude which we saw in lesson 37.
Kirin: Sh to think or to feel de ysi .
Adam: Thats followed by a new character r de . R is a fourth tone and is
the opposite oflng . It means hot. We then have tinq which we learned
last time means weather followed by another new word bjio . Thats a
third tone and a fourth tone and means comparatively or more. When
combined with the ho , which on its own we know means
good, bjio homeans better.
Adam: So youve just learned how easy it is to create a comparative in
Chinese. You just use the word bjio . So if I said bjio lng , what would
that mean? That would mean colder.
Adam: He then adds:
Kirin: Suy w xhun xitin .
Raphael: Suy sh shnme ysi ?
Kirin: Sh so or therefore de ysi .
Adam: So here we have:
Raphael: Xhun sh shnme ysi ?
Adam: Thats the verb to like. So that gives us I like xitin . Thats a
fourth tone and a first tone and is the opposite of dngtin . So it means
summer.
Adam: So I like summer.
Kirin: W y zhme jude .
Adam: So weve seen all these words before. Literally this gives us I also
this way feel.
Adam: In other words, I feel the same way.
Kirin: W y b xhun lng de tinq .
Adam: So again shes restating words weve seen earlier. I also dont like
cold weather.
Adam: Or, I dont like cold weather either.
Adam: Great, now in this lesson we saw the words for
summer xitin and winter dngtin . Lets look at the words for the
other two seasons.
Kirin: Chntin .
Adam: Thats two first tones and means spring.
Kirin: Chntin .
Adam: And the only other season left is:
Kirin: Qitin .
Adam: Thats also two first tones and is the word for autumn or the fall
season.
Kirin: Qitin .
.
Du, dngtin de shhu, du sh zhme lng .
W jude r de tinq bjio ho, suy w xhun xitin .
W y zhme jude . W y b xhun lng de tinq .
Adam: Ok, and lets listen to this dialogue again at normal speed.
Cindy: Du, dngtin de shhu, du sh zhme lng .
Yann: W jude r de tinq bjio ho, suy w xhun xitin .
Cindy: W y zhme jude . W y b xhun lng de tinq .
Adam: Great, so hope you learned something there. Be sure to use the
review tools we have for this and all our earlier lessons, available to
premium subscribers on our website ChineseLearnOnline.com then join us
again for our next lesson.
Kirin: Zijin .
Lesson 053
Adam: ChineseLearnOnline.com Lesson 53: Do you need a drink?
Hello, and welcome to our progressive course teaching Mandarin Chinese.
Im your host, Adam.
Kirin: Hunyng lido d w sh sn k .
Adam: Well begin todays lesson with a dialogue by our native speakers.
Please follow along with the included dialogue transcript on your MP3
player screen or from our website.
Yann: Hunyng gungln . N xyo shnme ?
Cindy: W yo yge jru hnbo .
Yann: N xyo ynlio ma ?
.
Kirin: Hunyng gungln .
N xyo shnme ?
W yo yge jru hnbo .
N xyo ynlio ma ?
Adam: Alright, lets start with the first line of the dialogue.
Adam: Now we hear Kirin say the first part at the top of every lesson.
Raphael: Hunyng sh shnme ysi ?
Adam: That means welcome. The second part gungln is a first tone and
a second tone. It refers to your presence or your attendance.
Adam: So together this means We welcome your presence.
Adam: It is most commonly heard when you as a customer enter a shop.
So this is one of those phrases that you probably wouldnt need to say, but
that you would hear quite often.
Kirin: N xyo shnme ?
Adam: So heres a new verb for you. Xyo Thats a first tone x and a
fourth tone yo . Thex refers to need while the yo weve seen before
meaning want. So together this could translate to What need do you
want to have met?
Adam: Or simply, What do you need?
Adam: The woman then replies.
Kirin: W yo yge jru hnbo .
Adam: So there are actually no new words in that sentence. W yo yge I
want one. Jruhnbo .
Raphael: Jru hnbo sh shnme ysi ?
Adam: Weve seen both these words separately before. Jru means
chicken and hnbomeans hamburger. So
together, jru hnbo means chicken burger.
Adam: I want a chicken burger.
Kirin: N xyo ynlio ma ?
Adam: So, theres the Xyo verb again meaning need so shes being
asked Do you needynlio ? Thats a third tone and a fourth tone and
together means a drink or a beverage.
Adam: Do you need a drink?
Adam: So as you might guess, this is part one of a two-part dialogue.
Which means youll have to join us again next time to find out if the woman
wants a drink. Hopefully you can bear the suspense until then. For now
though.
.
N xyo shnme ?
W yo yge jru hnbo .
N xyo ynlio ma ?
Adam: Great, so be sure to check out all the resources weve put together
for Premium subscribers on our website ChineseLearnOnline.com then
join us again next time for our exciting conclusion to todays dialogue.
Kirin: Zijin .
Lesson 054
Adam: Hello, and welcome to our progressive course teaching Mandarin
Chinese. Im your host, Adam.
Kirin: N ho . W sh Kirin .
Kirin: Rng wmen yq li xux d w sh s k .
Adam: In a moment were going to continue a dialogue that we started in
our last lesson. As you listen, please refer to the included dialogue
Cindy: Du, w yo ybi d bi kl .
Yann:Zhbin yng hish widi ?
Cindy: Zhbin yng, xixie .
.
N xyo shnme ?
W yo yge jru hnbo .
N xyo ynlio ma ?
Du, w yo ybi d bi kl .
Zhbin yng hish widi ?
Zhbin yng, xixie .
Adam: Welcome.
Adam: What do you need?
Adam: I want a chicken burger.
Adam: Do you need a drink?
Lets now continue with the lines added in todays lesson.
Kirin: Du, w yo ybi d bi kl .
Adam: So the first part you should know. Correct, I want a d bi kl .
Now d is a character you should be familiar with.
Raphael: D sh shnme ysi ?
Kirin: Sh big or large de ysi .
Adam: Thats followed by a first tone bi which is a measure word for cups.
So I want a large cup of kl . Thats a third tone and a fourth tone and is
a transliteration of the word cola. So usually this ends up being a Coke or
a Pepsi.
Adam: Yes, I want a large soda.
Adam: The man is then asked:
Kirin: Zhbin yng hish widi ?
Adam: So the first word consists of a fourth tone and a first tone and is
another way to say here, zhbin . The literal translation is this side.
The next character is yng which weve seen before. Where did we see
that before?
Adam: Ah yes, back in lesson 22. What did yng mean there? Its the verb
to use as in Can you use chopsticks?
Adam: Here, its the same character but is being used in a more broad
context. So instead of using chopsticks, were using food.
So zhbin yng means to eat here.
Adam: The next word is an important one hish . Its made up of two
characters weve seen before a second tone hi and a fourth tone sh .
The hi we saw before in hi yu . Do you remember what that means?
That meant additionally have; so hi means additionally, followed
by sh , which we know is the verb to be. Putting them together gives
us hishliterally meaning additionally is, which ends up being the word
for or. So when you seehish you know its a question where youre
being given choices.
Adam: So the question is: Do you want to eat here or do you want
to widi ? The wi is a fourth tone and is the
same wi from wigurn and lowi .
Raphael: Wi sh shnme ysi ?
Kirin: Sh outside de ysi .
Adam: And the last character di is also a fourth tone and is the verb to
carry. So the literal translation of widi is out carry or, in other words,
carry out.
Adam: Do you want to eat here or carry out?
Kirin: Zhbin yng, xixie .
Adam: Ill eat here, thank you.
Kirin: Zhbin yng, xixie .
.
N xyo shnme ?
W yo yge jru hnbo .
N xyo ynlio ma ?
Du, w yo ybi d bi kl .
Zhbin yng hish widi ?
Zhbin yng, xixie .
Cindy: Du, w yo ybi d bi kl .
Yann:Zhbin yng hish widi ?
Cindy: Zhbin yng, xixie .
Adam: Great, please take it all the resources weve phrased for premium
subscribers on our website ChineseLearnOnline.com then join us again
next time for lesson 55.
Kirin: Zijin .

Lesson 055
Adam: ChineseLearnOnline.com Lesson 55: In your spare time.
Hello, and welcome to our progressive course teaching Mandarin Chinese.
Im your host, Adam.
Kirin: Rng wmen yq li xux d w sh w k .
Adam: In a moment youll listen to a short dialogue read by our native
Chinese speakers. As you listen, please follow along with the included
dialogue transcript either on your MP3 player screen or from our website.
Yann: N yu kng de shhu xhun zu shnme ?
Cindy: W xhun tng ynyu . Yu shhu, w y xhun q kn dinyng .
N n ne ?
Yann: W bjio xhun di zi ji l kn dinsh .
.
Kirin: N yu kng de shhu xhun zu shnme ?
W xhun tng ynyu . Yu shhu, w y xhun q kn dinyng . N n
ne ?
W bjio xhun di zi ji l kn dinsh .
Adam: Alright, lets start with the first line.
Adam: Now these are all words weve seen before. You have kng .
Thats a character that we saw back in lesson 14 in the line:
Adam: Do you remember what kng means? It means free time. So in
the line we just heard, we were being asked Do you have any free time
today?
Adam: So back to todays lesson we have:
Adam: N yu kng de shhu . We saw this construction a couple of
lessons ago. Shhu you may remember means period of time. So
N yu kng de shhu means When you have free time.
Adam: We know that xhun is the verb to like. Do you remember what
the verb zu means? It means to do. So the literal meaning of all these
words together is You have free time like do what?
Adam: Or simply What do you like to do in your free time?
Kirin: W xhun tng ynyu .
Adam: So I like to tng ynyu . Do you remember what the
verb tng means? We saw it in lesson 17 in the expression:
Adam: Do you remember what that expression means? It means I dont
understand or more specifically I dont understand what Im hearing.
Adam: So tng is the verb to hear or to listen. So the woman likes to
listen to ynyu which is a first tone and a fourth tone. Ynyu .
The yn comes from the word sound and the yurefers to music. So if
you put these two characters together you get the word for music.
Kirin: Ynyu .
Adam: I like to listen to music.
Kirin: W xhun tng ynyu .
Kirin: Yu shhu, w y xhun q kn dinyng .
Adam: This next set of words is an important one. Yu shhu . The literal
meaning is have time but when you put them together, that gives us the
word for sometimes.
Kirin: Yu shhu .
Adam: Lets listen to the rest of the sentence.
Kirin: W y xhun q kn dinyng .
Adam: I also like. We then have a couple of other verbs we should know.
What does qmean? Its the verb to go. How about kn ? Thats the verb
to look or to watch. So this gives us sometimes, I also like to
see dinyng . Thats a fourth tone and a third tone. The literal translation is
electric image which happens to be the word for movie.
Adam: Sometimes, I also like to go watch a movie.
Kirin: N n ne ?
Adam: This is another expression weve seen before.
Kirin: Sh How about you? de ysi .
Kirin: N n ne ?
Adam: Then man then replies:
Kirin: W bjio xhun di zi ji l kn dinsh .
Adam: Do you remember what bjio means? We saw it a few lessons ago
meaning comparatively. In this case, you can also think of it as more
simply meaning more. So that gives us literally meaning of I more
like di zi jil . The first character there is a first tone diand is the verb
to stay. What does zi jil mean? It means at home. So
together di zijil means to stay at home.
Adam: We then have the verb kn again meaning to watch followed
by dinsh which is two fourth tones. Im sure you can guess what he likes
to stay home and watch. Its of course, a television.
Adam: I prefer to stay at home and watch television.
.
W xhun tng ynyu . Yu shhu, w y xhun q kn dinyng . N n
ne ?
W bjio xhun di zi ji l kn dinsh .
Yann: N yu kng de shhu xhun zu shnme ?
Cindy: W xhun tng ynyu . Yu shhu, w y xhun q kn dinyng .
N n ne ?
Yann: W bjio xhun di zi ji l kn dinsh .
Adam: Great; and as always please take advantage of the all the review
tools weve made available to premium online subscribers on our website
ChineseLearnOnline.com, then join us again next time for lesson 56.

Lesson 056
Adam: ChineseLearnOnline.com Lesson 56: Its pretty good.
Hello, my name is Adam and youre listening to our progressive course
Kirin: Hunyng lido d w sh li k .
Adam: Well begin by listening to a short dialogue read by our native
Chinese speakers. As you listen, please follow along with the included
dialogue transcript either on your MP3 player screen or from our website.
Yann: T ji qinmin yu y ji cntng . Hn b cu . N xing yo q ma
?
Cindy: T ji humin y yu y ji cntng . Y hn b cu .
.
Kirin: T ji qinmin yu y ji cntng . Hn b cu . N xing yo q ma
?
T ji humin y yu y ji cntng . Y hn b cu .
Adam: Lets begin with the first line.
Kirin: T ji qinmin yu y ji cntng .
Adam: So we have t ji meaning his house followed by a new word
consisting of a second tone and a fourth tone. qinmin . The literal
translation is front side.
Kirin: Qinmin .
Adam: So looking at the sentence, that gives us, his house front side
has y ji cntng . So we have another new measure word ji , which is
as the same as the character for house, but here its used as a measure
word for shops or companies. In this case, its not a shop but a cntng .
Do you remember what a cntng is? We saw it back in lesson 34 in the
line:
Kirin: W, zhge cntng yu hndu dngxi ky ch .
Adam: Meaning Wow, this restaurant has so many things to eat. So,
hopefully, you remember that cntng means restaurant.
Kirin: W, zhge cntng yu hndu dngxi ky ch .
Adam: Back to todays line we have:
Adam: Meaning In the front of his house, there is a restaurant.
Adam: The man then adds.
Kirin: Hn b cu .
Adam: This is a common phrase using characters weve seen before.
Very not cu .
Raphael: Cu sh shnme ysi ?
Adam: We saw it in Lesson 25. Two people were talking on the telephone
and one of them said:
Kirin: N d cu le .
Adam: Meaning You dialed incorrectly. So cu , you may remember,
means wrong or incorrect. What is the opposite of cu ?
Kirin: Dui .
Adam: So back to our line here, we have:
Kirin: Hn b cu .
Adam: Which literally gives us: Very not wrong. B cu can be used to
say not bad which makes hn b cu means pretty good.
Kirin: Hn b cu .
Kirin: N xing yo q ma ?
Adam: Do you remember what xing yo means? We heard that in Lesson
22 in the line:
Adam: Meaning What would you like to eat?
Adam: So in todays lesson he asks:
Adam: Would you like to go?
Kirin: T ji humin y yu y ji cntng .
Adam: So earlier we saw qinmin meaning in front. Here we have its
opposite huminwhich is two fourth tones and means behind.
Adam: Hopefully you can figure out the rest of the sentence. Behind his
house, there is also a restaurant.
Kirin: Y hn b cu .
Adam: Meaning Its also not bad
Kirin: Y hn b cu .
Adam: Or Its not bad either.
Kirin: Y hn b cu .
Adam: Alright, well continue this dialogue in our next lesson. For now
though.
.
?
Adam: And lets listen to this dialogue one more time at normal speed.
?
Cindy: T ji humin y yu y ji cntng . Y hn b cu .
Adam: Great, so hopefully you can see how important it is to review and
understand each line of the dialogue as it does get used again in future
lessons. We encourage you to take advantage of the many review tools
available to premium online subscribers on our website
ChineseLearnOnline.com then join us again next time for lesson 57.
Kirin: Zijin .
Lesson 057
Adam: ChineseLearnOnline.com Lesson 57: Lets go!
Hello, my name is Adam and this is our progressive course teaching
Mandarin Chinese.
Kirin: Dji ho . W sh Kirin . Hunyng lido d w sh q k .
Adam: Well begin by listening to a dialogue from our last lesson and then
add a few lines to it, forming todays lesson. As you listen, please follow
along with the included dialogue transcript either on your MP3 player
screen or from our website.
?
Cindy: T ji humin y yu y ji cntng . Y hn b cu . W xing q
kn kan .
Yann: Ho, n wmen q t ji humin n ji cntng kn kan .
Cindy: Zu ba .
.
?
W xing q kn kan .
Ho, n wmen q t ji humin n ji cntng kn kan .
Zu ba .
Adam: Great, so lets begin by reviewing the lines from our last lesson.
Adam: Theres a restaurant in front of his house.
Kirin: Hn b cu .
Adam: Its pretty good.
Adam: Would you like to go?
Adam: There is also a restaurant behind his house.
Kirin: Y hn b cu .
Adam: Its also pretty good. So that was the dialogue from our last
lesson. Lets continue with the lines from todays lesson.
Kirin: W xing q kn kan .
Adam: So weve seen all these words before.
Adam: Do you remember what the verb xing means on its own? It means
to think so that gives us a literal translation of I think go look look. Youll
commonly see a pattern of words repeating like this to soften the meaning.
So for example if I said:
Kirin: W xing q kn .
Adam: That could mean I think Ill go look. If I said:
Adam: That becomes I think Ill take a look.
Kirin: Ho, n wmen q t ji humin n ji cntng kn kan .
Adam: The n word here is used twice with two different meanings. In the
first instance, it can be translated as in that case while in the second
instance it has the meaning of that.
Adam: So the literal translation here based on what we know is: Ok, in
that case we go his house behind that restaurant take a look.
Adam: Or Ok, in that case well go the restaurant behind his house and
take a look.
Kirin: Zu ba .
Adam: Weve seen zu before in lesson 42 in the words:
Kirin: Zu l .
Adam: What did that mean? It meant to go on foot.
Kirin: Zu l .
Adam: So zu here means to go. The ba particle is commonly added to
the end of sentences to form a suggestion. So by saying:
Kirin: Zu ba .
Adam: Shes suggesting, Lets go.
Kirin: Zu ba .
Raphael: Rng wmen zi tng yc Jntin De duhu . Qng gn Kirin shu
.
?
W xing q kn kan .
Ho, n wmen q t ji humin n ji cntng kn kan .
Zu ba .
?
Cindy: T ji humin y yu y ji cntng . Y hn b cu . W xing q
kn kan .
Yann: Ho, n wmen q t ji humin n ji cntng kn kan .
Cindy: Zu ba .
Adam: Great, now last time we looked at the words
Kirin: qinmin
Adam: meaning in front of and
Kirin: humin
Adam: meaning behind. While were here, lets add another one.
Kirin: Pngbin .
Adam: That means on the side of.
Kirin: Pngbin .
Adam: You may remember bin from
Kirin: Zubin
Adam: and
Kirin: Yubin
Adam: meaning left side and right side respectively.
Kirin: Zubin , yubin
Adam: Take a look at the notes for this lesson available to premium
subscribers to see more examples and usage of all these sentences, then
join us again next time for lesson 58 where well begin a review of all our
lessons so far.
Kirin: Zijin .
Lesson 058
Adam: ChineseLearnOnline.com Lesson 58 Unit 1 Review Part I.
Hello, my name is Adam and youre listening to our progressive course
teaching Mandarin Chinese. If youve been following along since Lesson 1,
then congratulations. Were now going to use a slightly different approach
to see how much of it you remember. Our next three lessons starting with
this one will do a review of the vocabulary weve learned so far. You will
first hear a conversation that makes use of material that has been
previously been taught. You will then be asked to translate a series of
similar statements or questions into Chinese. If you need to, you can follow
along with the included dialogue transcript either on your MP3 player
screen, or from our website.
Yann: Qngwn, n sh nl de rn ?
Cindy: W sh Migurn .
Yann: N zi Zhnggu du ji le ?
Cindy: W zi Zhnggu ling nin le .
Yann: Nde Zhngwn shude hn ho .
Cindy: Xixie n .
Yann: N n zi zhl zu shnme gngzu ?
Cindy: W sh Yngwn losh .
Yann: Zhnde ma ? Hn goxng rnsh n .
Cindy: W y hn goxng rnsh n .
Adam: So hopefully you were able to understand that dialogue. A complete
translation is available to Premium subscribers on our website.
Please translate the following statements or questions into Chinese. Try
and come up with the answer first before listening to Kirins answer. You
can then repeat after her.
Excuse me, may I ask
Kirin: Qngwn .
Adam: I am British.
Kirin: W sh Ynggurn .
Adam: Really? Note that this is a question.
Kirin: Zhnde ma ?
Adam: How long have you been in Taiwan?
Kirin: N zi Tiwn du ji le ?
Adam: Ive been in Taiwan six months.
Kirin: W zi Tiwn li ge yu le .
Adam: This is my third year.
Kirin: Zh sh wde dsn nin .
Adam: You speak English very well.
Kirin: Nde Yngwn shude hn ho .
Adam: I dont speak Chinese very well. Literally: My Chinese speaks not
too good.
Kirin: Wde Zhngwn shude b ti ho .
Adam: Thank you.
Kirin: Xixie n .
Adam: Youre welcome.
Kirin: B kq .
Adam: What work do you do here?
Kirin: N zi zhl zu shnme gngzu ?
Adam: Lets ask this question in a different way. Whats your job?
Adam: I am a student.
Adam: Nice to meet you.
Adam: Its also nice to meet you.
Kirin: W y hn goxng rnsh n .
Adam: So hopefully you see how that works. Lets listen to the dialogue
one more time.
Yann: Qngwn, n sh nl de rn ?
Cindy: W sh Migurn .
Yann: N zi Zhnggu du ji le ?
Cindy: W zi Zhnggu ling nin le .
Yann: Nde Zhngwn shude hn ho .
Cindy: Xixie n .
Yann: N n zi zhl zu shnme gngzu ?
Cindy: W sh Yngwn losh .
Yann: Zhnde ma ? Hn goxng rnsh n .
Cindy: W y hn goxng rnsh n .
Adam: Great, well try this again with another dialogue in our next lesson. If
there were any particular words you didnt understand there, please
consult our complete word for word transcripts available to premium
subscribers on website ChineseLearnOnline.com.
Kirin: Zijin .
Lesson 059
Adam: ChineseLearnOnline.com Lesson 59: Unit 1 Review Part 2
Hello, Im Adam and welcome to our Progressive course teaching
Mandarin Chinese. Todays lesson continues our three-part review of Level
One of our series. In a moment youll hear a conversation that uses
vocabulary weve taught previously. Ill then test you to see how much of it
you remember. If you need help with the translations of any of the words in
the dialogue, please consult the transcripts available to premium
subscribers on our website.
Yann: Wi ?
Cindy: Kiwn zi ji ma ?
Yann: W sh .
Cindy: N mngtin yu kng ma ? W xing yo jisho wde nnpngy
u gi n rnsh .
Yann: Dngrn ho a . T jio shnme mngzi ?
Cindy: T jio Dwi . N wmen q n ji xnde Rbn cntng chfn . H
o b ho ?
Yann: Ho a . J din ?
Cindy: Xiw ling din znme yng ?
Yann: Ky . Mngtin jin .
Adam: Alright, so lets see again how much of this you understood. Try and
translate the following into Chinese. Keep in mind that this is a telephone
conversation.
Hello?
Kirin: Wi ?
Adam: May I ask, is Sally at home? Now for Sally, use the Chinese
equivalent:
Kirin: Shl .
Adam: So again, May I ask, is Sally at home?
Kirin: Qngwn, Shl zi ji ma ?
Adam: Lets try another way to ask that. Is Sally there?
Kirin: Shl zi ma ?
Adam: Yes, this is Sally, or simply I am Sally.
Kirin: Sh, w sh Shl .
Adam: Im sorry, Sally is not here.
Kirin: Dubuq, Shl b zi .
Adam: Do you have any free time?
Kirin: N yu kng ma ?
Adam: Introduce.
Kirin: Jisho .
Adam: I want to introduce someone to you. Literally: I want introduce
give you to know.
Kirin: W xing yo jisho gi n rnsh .
Adam: My girlfriend. Literally: My female friend.
Kirin: Wde npngyu .
Adam: Of course thats okay.
Kirin: Dngrn ho a .
Adam: Whats your name?
Adam: My name is Adam. Now again, lets use the Chinese equivalent to
Adam which is:
Kirin: Ydng .
Adam: So again, My name is Adam or literally, I am called Adam.
Kirin: W jio Ydng .
Adam: Lets try another way to say this, literally, My name is Adam.
Kirin: Wde mngzi sh Ydng .
Adam: What is the verb can or able to?
Kirin: Ky .
Adam: We can go.
Kirin: Wmen ky q .
Adam: New.
Kirin: Xnde .
Adam: Old.
Kirin: Jide .
Adam: French restaurant.
Kirin: Fgu cntng .
Adam: Is that okay? Literally: Okay, not okay.
Kirin: Ho b ho ?
Adam: What time is it right now?
Adam: Tomorrow, at half past five p.m.
Kirin: Mngtin xiw w din bn .
Adam: How about today?
Kirin: Jntin znme yng ?
Adam: How is the weather today?
Kirin: Jntin de tinq znme yng ?
Adam: See you tomorrow.
Kirin: Mngtin jin .
Adam: So, hopefully, you were able to get most of those. Lets listen to the
conversation again.
Yann: Wi ?
Cindy: Kiwn zi ji ma ?
Yann: W sh .
Cindy: N mngtin yu kng ma ? W xing yo jisho wde nnpngy
u gi n rnsh .
Yann: Dngrn ho a . T jio shnme mngzi ?
Cindy: T jio Dwi . N wmen q n ji xnde Rbn cntng chfn . H
o b ho ?
Yann: Ho a . J din ?
Cindy: Xiw ling din znme yng ?
Yann: Ky . Mngtin jin .
Adam: Great. Now by request were going to add another dialogue review
to todays lesson. So here it is.
Cindy: Zh ge yf hn ki .
Yann: N xing yo mi ma ?
Cindy: B xing . Ti gu le !
Yann: Nge du sho qin ?
Cindy: Zhge y qin sn bi kui .
Yann: Du, ti gu le . N ynggi yo zho bjio piny ydin de .
Cindy: Nme, zhge kzi ne ?
Yann: W jude b ho kn .
Cindy: Wi shnme ?
Yann: Ynwi w b xhun tde yns .
Adam: So, lets see how much of this you understood. Translate the
following into Chinese before listening to the answer.
This one.
Kirin: Zhge .
Adam: Very cute.
Kirin: Hn ki .
Adam: Clothing or clothes.
Kirin: Yf .
Adam: That coat is very cute.
Kirin: Nge wito hn ki .
Adam: Would you like to buy it?
Kirin: N xing yo mi ma ?
Adam: I dont think so. Or literally Dont think so.
Kirin: B xing .
Adam: Its too expensive.
Kirin: Ti gu le .
Adam: Its very cheap.
Kirin: Hn piny .
Adam: How much is this one?
Kirin: Zhge du sho qin ?
Adam: This one is 563 dollars. Use yun .
Kirin: Zhge w bi li sh sn yun .
Adam: Thats right.
Kirin: Du .
Adam: You should find.
Kirin: N ynggi yo zho .
Adam: A little bigger.
Kirin: Bjio d ydin de .
Adam: A little smaller.
Kirin: Bjio xio ydin de .
Adam: In that case.
Kirin: Nme .
Adam: How about that one?
Kirin: Nge ne ?
Adam: I think it looks great.
Kirin: W jude hn ho kn .
Adam: Why?
Kirin: Wi shnme ?
Adam: Because.
Kirin: Ynwi .
Adam: I really like this color.
Kirin: W hn xhun zhge yns .
Adam: So, hopefully, you were able to get most of those. Lets listen to this
dialogue one more time.
Cindy: Zh ge yf hn ki .
Yann: N xing yo mi ma ?
Cindy: B xing . Ti gu le !
Yann: Nge du sho qin ?
Cindy: Zhge y qin sn bi kui .
Yann: Du, ti gu le . N ynggi yo zho bjio piny ydin de .
Cindy: Nme, zhge kzi ne ?
Yann: W jude b ho kn .
Cindy: Wi shnme ?
Yann: Ynwi w b xhun tde yns .
Adam: So there we have it, a quick review of some of the vocabulary we
learned in unit one. We have one more review lesson like this planned
before we wrap up Unit One. And as always, for more translation and
review tools, consult the Premium section of our website
Kirin: Zijin .
Lesson 060
Adam: ChineseLearnOnline.com Lesson 60 Unit 1 Review Part III.
Hello, and welcome to our Progressive series teaching Mandarin Chinese.
Im your host, Adam.
Kirin: Dji ho . W sh Kirin . Hunyng lido d li sh k .
Adam: Todays lesson concludes our three-part review of Unit One. Well
begin by listening to a short dialogue conducted by our native Chinese
speakers. I will then proceed to ask you to translate some similar
sentences into Chinese. If you wish, you can follow along with the included
dialogue transcript, either right on the screen of your MP3 player, or from
our website.
Raphael: Rng wmen xin tng yc jntin de dy ge duhu .
Yann: N yo gn w yq q jin Hngl ma ?
Cindy: Ho a, ksh w b zhdo tde ji zi nl .
Yann: Mi gunx . W zhl yu dt .
Cindy: Cng zhl do nl xyo du ji ?
Yann: Dgi r sh fn zhng zu yu . Wmen ky kich q .
Cindy: Ho, n kich de shhu w ky bng n kn dt .
Adam: Great, now lets see if you understood it. Please translate the
following into Chinese.
Together with us.
Kirin: Gn wmen yq .
Adam: Do you want to go meet Henry? For Henry, use the Chinese
equivalent:
Kirin: Hngl .
Adam: So again, Do you want to go meet Henry?
Kirin: N yo q jin Hngl ma ?
Adam: I dont know.
Kirin: W b zhdo .
Adam: His house.
Kirin: Tde ji .
Adam: His house is over there.
Kirin: Tde ji zi nl .
Adam: Where is his house?
Kirin: Tde ji zi nl ?
Adam: Thats okay.
Kirin: Mi gunxi .
Adam: But I dont have a map.
Kirin: Ksh w miyu dt .
Adam: How much time is needed? Literally: Need how long?
Kirin: Xyo du ji ?
Adam: From here to there.
Kirin: Cng zhl do nl .
Adam: Around.
Kirin: Dgi .
Adam: More or less or give or take.
Kirin: Zu yu .
Adam: Around fifteen minutes, more or less.
Kirin: Dgi sh w fnzhng zu yu .
Adam: Drive a car.
Kirin: Kich .
Adam: A bus.
Kirin: Gngch .
Adam: A train.
Kirin: Huch .
Adam: While you are driving.
Kirin: N kich de shhu .
Adam: I can help you.
Kirin: W ky bng n .
Adam: Look at a map.
Kirin: Kn dt .
Raphael: Rng wmen zi tng yc jntin de dy ge duhu .
Yann: N yo gn w yq q jin Hngl ma ?
Cindy: Ho a, ksh w b zhdo tde ji zi nl .
Yann: Mi gunx . W zhl yu dt .
Cindy: Cng zhl do nl xyo du ji ?
Yann: Dgi r sh fn zhng zu yu . Wmen ky kich q .
Cindy: Ho, n kich de shhu w ky bng n kn dt .
Rapahel: Xinzi qng tng jntin de dr ge duhu .
Yann: Wde dzi fichng , ksh w jntin mi di qin . Znme bn ?
Cindy: Mi gunx . W yng wde xnyngk ba . N yo shnme ?
Yann: Qng bng w din yge hnbo gn yge d bi kl .
Cindy: Zhn zogo . Tmen zhbin b nng yng xnyngk .
Yann: Hn mfan .
Adam: Alright, so lets try this again. Translate the following into Chinese.
Im hungry. Literally: I stomach hungry.
Kirin: W dzi .
Adam: Im extremely hungry. Literally: My stomach extremely hungry.
Kirin: Wde dzi fichng .
Adam: I dont have any money.
Kirin: W miyu qin .
Adam: I didnt bring any money today.
Kirin: W jntin mi di qin .
Adam: What can I do?
Kirin: Znme bn ?
Adam: No problem.
Kirin: Mi wnt .
Adam: You are using your credit card.
Kirin: N yng nde xnyngk .
Adam: What do you want?
Kirin: N yo shnme ?
Adam: What would you like?
Kirin: N xing yo shnme ?
Adam: One chicken burger.
Kirin: Yge jru hnbo .
Adam: A small cup of cola.
Kirin: Yge xio bi kl .
Adam: A medium glass of cola.
Kirin: Yge zhng bi kl .
Adam: I want to order.
Kirin: W yo din .
Adam: Please order for me.
Kirin: Qng bng w din .
Adam: Thats really too bad.
Kirin: Zhn zogo .
Adam: Over here.
Kirin: Zhbin .
Adam: Over there.
Kirin: Nbin .
Adam: They dont use credit cards here. Literally: They over here not
able to use credit card.
Kirin: Tmen zhbin b nng yng xnyngk .
Adam: Its a lot of trouble.
Kirin: Hn mfan .
Raphael: Rng wmen zi tng yc jntin de dr ge duhu .
Yann: Wde dzi fichng , ksh w jntin mi di qin . Znme bn ?
Cindy: Mi gunx . W yng wde xnyngk ba . N yo shnme ?
Yann: Qng bng w din yge hnbo gn yge d bi kl .
Cindy: Zhn zogo . Tmen zhbin b nng yng xnyngk .
Yann: Hn mfan .
Adam: So there you have it, another review for you. This is the last lesson
for Unit One of this series. For more information about Unit Two, as well as
more review tools and resources, visit our website,
Kirin: Zijin .

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Lesson 003

Hosts: Adam Menon / Kirin Yang

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