Dialogue

Vocabulary

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
David: Hi, everyone.
Echo: 嗨,大家好。(Hāi, dàjiā hǎo.)
David: Welcome back to ChineseClass101.com, the fastest, easiest and most fun way to learn Chinese! I'm David Lancashire, I’m joined in the studio by Echo.
Echo: 我是(Wǒ shì) Echo.
David: And we’re here with lesson 1, in our first Intermediate series.
Echo: 第一课。(Dì yī kè.)
David: And the name of this lesson is Chinese Study Abroad. It’s what it’s all about.
Echo: 没错。(Méi cuò.)
David: We’ve got a lesson that’s about standing up for yourself.
Echo: 要学会独立。(Yào xuéhuì dúlì.)
David: We gotta tell mom the way it is. So we’ve got a conversation, and our dialogue takes place in a house.
Echo: Right.
David: between a mother and her son.
Echo: 他们之间有一个矛盾。(Tāmen zhī jiān yǒu yīgè máodùn.)
David: Right, they’ve got a conflict; however, they’re not yelling, even though they are family. So this is casual Mandarin, you can use this anywhere, it’s not gonna be too polite, it’s not gonna be too informal. Ok, so with that, let's get to the dialogue.
DIALOGUE
秦: 妈妈,毕业了我想出国留学。(Qín: Māma, bìyè le wǒ xiǎng chūguó liúxué.)
小樱: 什么?你应该马上工作。(Xiǎo Yīng: Shénme? Nǐ yīnggāi mǎshàng gōngzuò. )
秦: 我觉得机会难得,我应该出国深造。(Qín: Wǒ juéde jīhuì nándé, wǒ yīnggāi chūguó shēnzào.)
小樱: 你已经很优秀了,而且,我们也没有那么多钱呀!(Xiǎo Yīng: Nǐ yǐjīng hěn yōuxiù le, érqiě, wǒmen yě méiyǒu nàme duō qián ya! )
秦: 你同意也好,不同意也好,我已经报名参加托福考试了,我会争取拿到全额奖学金的!(Qín: Nǐ tóngyì yě hǎo, bù tóngyì yě hǎo, wǒ yǐjīng bàomíng cānjiā tuōfú kǎoshì le, wǒ huì zhēngqǔ nádào quánéjiǎngxuéjīn de!)
English Host: One more time, a bit slower.
秦: 妈妈,毕业了我想出国留学。(Qín: Māma, bìyè le wǒ xiǎng chūguó liúxué.)
小樱: 什么?你应该马上工作。(Xiǎo Yīng: Shénme? Nǐ yīnggāi mǎshàng gōngzuò. )
秦: 我觉得机会难得,我应该出国深造。(Qín: Wǒ juéde jīhuì nándé, wǒ yīnggāi chūguó shēnzào.)
小樱: 你已经很优秀了,而且,我们也没有那么多钱呀!(Xiǎo Yīng: Nǐ yǐjīng hěn yōuxiù le, érqiě, wǒmen yě méiyǒu nàme duō qián ya! )
秦: 你同意也好,不同意也好,我已经报名参加托福考试了,我会争取拿到全额奖学金的!(Qín: Nǐ tóngyì yě hǎo, bù tóngyì yě hǎo, wǒ yǐjīng bàomíng cānjiā tuōfú kǎoshì le, wǒ huì zhēngqǔ nádào quánéjiǎngxuéjīn de!)
English Host: One more time, with English.
秦: 妈妈,毕业了我想出国留学。(Qín: Māma, bìyè le wǒ xiǎng chūguó liúxué.)
David: Mother, now that I've graduated I want to study abroad.
小樱: 什么?你应该马上工作。(Xiǎo Yīng: Shénme? Nǐ yīnggāi mǎshàng gōngzuò. )
David: What? You should start working right away.
秦: 我觉得机会难得,我应该出国深造。(Qín: Wǒ juéde jīhuì nándé, wǒ yīnggāi chūguó shēnzào.)
David: I think opportunities will be hard to come by. I should go abroad to deepen my education.
小樱: 你已经很优秀了,而且,我们也没有那么多钱呀!(Xiǎo Yīng: Nǐ yǐjīng hěn yōuxiù le, érqiě, wǒmen yě méiyǒu nàme duō qián ya! )
David: You're already quite exceptional, and we don't have that much money either.
秦: 你同意也好,不同意也好,我已经报名参加托福考试了,我会争取拿到全额奖学金的!(Qín: Nǐ tóngyì yě hǎo, bù tóngyì yě hǎo, wǒ yǐjīng bàomíng cānjiā tuōfú kǎoshì le, wǒ huì zhēngqǔ nádào quánéjiǎngxuéjīn de!)
David: Whether you agree or not doesn't matter. I've already registered to take the TOEFL exam. I'll try my best to get the full scholarship.
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
David: Ok, so a lesson about Chinese people studying abroad, Echo. So, it's the moment of truth for you. Did you ever study abroad?
Echo: Nope.
David: No.
Echo: 但我一直想去。(Dàn wǒ yīzhí xiǎng qù.)
David: Right, everyone in China that I know, they want to study abroad.
Echo: 对 (duì).
David: Go to the states, go to Canada…
Echo: People talk about it all the time.
David: Right. Which is why our vocab section is about getting an education and studying abroad.
Echo: And working hard for it.
David: And work hard for it, we’ve got a lot of these kinds of words. So let's get to them now.
VOCAB LIST
Echo: 毕业 (bìyè) [natural native speed]
David: to graduate
Echo: 毕业 (bìyè) [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Echo: 毕业 (bìyè) [natural native speed]
Echo: 出国 (chūguó) [natural native speed]
David: to leave the country
Echo: 出国 (chūguó) [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Echo: 出国 (chūguó) [natural native speed]
Echo: 留学 (liúxué) [natural native speed]
David: to study abroad
Echo: 留学 (liúxué) [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Echo: 留学 (liúxué) [natural native speed]
Echo: 深造 (shēnzào) [natural native speed]
David: to deepen one's knowledge
Echo: 深造 (shēnzào) [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Echo: 深造 (shēnzào) [natural native speed]
Echo: 报名 (bàomíng) [natural native speed]
David: to register, to sign up
Echo: 报名 (bàomíng) [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Echo: 报名 (bàomíng) [natural native speed]
Echo: 参加 (cānjiā) [natural native speed]
David: to participate
Echo: 参加 (cānjiā) [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Echo: 参加 (cānjiā) [natural native speed]
Echo: 全额 (quáné) [natural native speed]
David: total amount
Echo: 全额 (quáné) [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Echo: 全额 (quáné) [natural native speed]
Echo: 奖学金 (jiǎngxuéjīn) [natural native speed]
David: scholarship
Echo: 奖学金 (jiǎngxuéjīn) [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Echo: 奖学金 (jiǎngxuéjīn) [natural native speed]
Echo: 优秀 (yōuxiù) [natural native speed]
David: outstanding
Echo: 优秀(yōuxiù) [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Echo: 优秀 (yōuxiù) [natural native speed]
Echo: 争取 (zhēngqǔ) [natural native speed]
David: to struggle (to do something)
Echo: 争取 (zhēngqǔ) [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Echo: 争取 (zhēngqǔ) [natural native speed]
VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE
David: Ok, let's take a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. Some of them are a little tricky.
Echo: Right, like 留学 (liúxué)
David: Right, that one is tricky and it means "to study abroad".
Echo: 留学 (liúxué)
David: "to study abroad". We got a sample sentence for you. Echo, what is that?
Echo: 他毕业以后出国留学了。 (Tā bìyè yǐhòu chūguó liúxuéle.)
David: “After he graduated, he left the country to study abroad.” One more time?
Echo: 他毕业以后出国留学了。 (Tā bìyè yǐhòu chūguó liúxuéle.)
David: And this is really really popular in China.
Echo: Right!
David: It’s the dream of a lot of college students. It’s the dream of a lot of parents.
Echo: 没错。(Méi cuò.)
Echo: Because most people think it's 深造 (shēnzào).
David: Right, going to study abroad is a form of…
Echo : 深造 (shēnzào)
David: And it’s an interesting Chinese word, it means "to deepen one's knowledge"
Echo: 深造 (shēnzào).
David: And what’s tricky here is instead of from English, you’re not deepening your knowledge in something, it’s just a very general term so there’s nothing to go after this verb.
Echo: Uh-huh, no object.
David: So you don't "deepen your knowledge IN something". You just...
Echo: 深造 (shēnzào).
David: Right.
Echo: Like in the sentence, 我正在找机会出去深造 (Wǒ zhèngzài zhǎo jīhuì chūqù shēnzào).
David: “I'm looking for an opportunity to go and deepen my knowledge.” One more time.
Echo: 我正在找机会出去深造 (Wǒ zhèngzài zhǎo jīhuì chūqù shēnzào).
David: Ok, so now we know how to go study abroad…
Echo: 留学 (liúxué),
David: and how to deepen our knowledge,
Echo: 深造 (shēnzào).
David: So what's our next word?
Echo: 报名 (bàomíng).
David: This is "to enroll," like. enrolling in school?
Echo: Oh no! You cannot say that.
David: I was setting people up. It’s not enrolling in schools, it’s enrolling in a test, maybe.
Echo: Right. in Chinese, you can say 报到 (bàodào) for schools,
David: but if it’s a test, you need to…
Echo: 报名 (bàomíng).
David: Ok, quick review. For schools,
Echo: 报到 (bàodào);
David: for tests,
Echo: 报名 (bàomíng).
David: As in the sentence, “I enrolled in the school.”
Echo: 我去学校报到。(Wǒ qù xuéxiào bàodào.)
David: That’s literally, “I went to the school to report there in person.” As opposed to “I enrolled in the test.”
Echo: 我报名参加考试。(Wǒ bàomíng cānjiā kǎoshì.)
David: Yeah, and you might do that online. Let's have another sample sentence for 报名 (bàomíng).
Echo: Ok. 你报名参加研究生考试了吗?(Nǐ bàomíng cānjiā yánjiūshēng kǎoshìle ma?)
David: “Have you enrolled to take the graduate student exam?”
Echo: That's a very useful word, 研究生考试 (Yánjiūshēng kǎoshì)
David: Yes, graduate student exam. And that’s actually an awkward climb. We might even say, segway coming, that it is a struggle; and that's our next word, it’s the verb “to struggle.”
Echo: 争取(Zhēngqǔ)
David: Let’s hear that one more time.
Echo: 争取 (Zhēngqǔ)
David: This means “struggle” and we put it in front of other verbs.
Echo: Like, 争取学好(Zhēngqǔ xuéhǎo)
David: “to struggle to learn well.” We might also say
Echo: 争取得到 (Zhēngqǔ dédào)
David: “to struggle to get”
Echo: Right. Just like in this sentence - 他在争取得到奖学金 (Tā zài zhēngqǔ dédào jiǎngxuéjīn.)
David: “He's struggling to get the scholarship.”
Echo: Yeah, and the last word is scholarship, 奖学金.(Jiǎngxuéjīn.)
David: Right, “scholarship.”
Echo: 奖学金 (Jiǎngxuéjīn)
David: “He's struggling to get the scholarship.”
Echo: 他在争取得到奖学金 (Tā zài zhēngqǔ dédào jiǎngxuéjīn.)
David: Perfect. So that’s the vocab section, let's move on to grammar.

Lesson focus

David: Ok, as in our dialogue, our grammar section’s all about standing up for yourself.
Echo: Right. 独立 (dúlì).
David: Let’s go back to our dialogue and we’re going to take a look at the last line.
Echo: 你同意也好(Nǐ tóngyì yě hǎo),不同意也好(Bù tóngyì yě hǎo),反正我已经报名参加托福考试了(Fǎnzhèng wǒ yǐjīng bàomíng cānjiā tuōfú kǎoshìle).
David: Right, so the translation of this is, "whether you agree or not, I've already signed up for the TOEFL test." Pay attention to the first bit though, "whether you agree or not.” Let’s listen to it one more time.
Echo: 你同意也好(Nǐ tóngyì yě hǎo),不同意也好(Bù tóngyì yě hǎo),反正我已经报名参加托福考试了(Fǎnzhèng wǒ yǐjīng bàomíng cānjiā tuōfú kǎoshìle).
David: And our key grammar point here is, "whether you agree or not.”
Echo: 你同意也好(Nǐ tóngyì yě hǎo),不同意也好(Bù tóngyì yě hǎo)
David: What’s the grammar pattern here?
Echo: ... 也好 ...也好(... Yě hǎo... Yě hǎo)
David: Ok, so we’re repeating ourselves and we use this to present two options.
Echo: 同意(Tóngyì) and 不同意(Bù tóngyì)
David: Yeah, that’s in the dialogue, although it could be anything as long as they are the same part of speech.
Echo: 没错。(Méi cuò.)
David: So we’re presenting two options here. One of the options is you agree, another option is you don’t agree. Let's listen to some other examples.
Echo: Ok. 出国也好,留在国内也好,我听你的。(Chūguó yě hǎo, liú zài guónèi yě hǎo, wǒ tīng nǐ de.)
The first bit is “going abroad is ok"
Echo: 出国也好 (Chūguó yě hǎo)
David: And then "Staying in China is ok, too"
Echo: 留在国内也好 (Liú zài guónèi yě hǎo)
David: And then at the end we’ve got this, “you decide.”
Echo: 我听你的 (Wǒ tīng nǐ de.)
David: And for this grammar pattern, we have to have that final statement.
Echo: Right. 也好...也好...(Yě hǎo... Yě hǎo...), and then something.
David: Right, the final statement helps us interpret what it actually meant. Is it positive, I’m going to listen to you? Or is it negative, as in the case in our dialogue, which is like “whatever it is, I’m doing this anyway.”
Echo: Right.
David: So let's have another example.
Echo: Ok. 优秀也好,不优秀也好,他能考上大学就行了。(Yōuxiù yě hǎo, bù yōuxiù yě hǎo, tā néng kǎo shàng dàxué jiùxíngle.)
David: That's what my parents said about me.
Echo: 真的吗?(Zhēn de ma?)
David: Yeah. It means, "Doesn’t matter if he's smart or not, as long as he can get into university." Don’t put shame on the family.
Echo: Well, you have very good parents.
David: Actually, they'd have killed me if I didn't go. Let's listen to that sentence again.
Echo: 优秀也好,不优秀也好,他能考上大学就行了。(Yōuxiù yě hǎo, bù yōuxiù yě hǎo, tā néng kǎo shàng dàxué jiùxíngle.)
David: And I guess something to know here is we're using two adjectives.
Echo: 优秀(Yōuxiù)
David: Which means “outstanding.”
Echo: 不优秀(bù yōuxiù)
David: “Not outstanding.” So one option is that the son is outstanding, the other is, yeh, nothing special; doesn’t matter as long as he gets into college. So we have one more example for you, it’s something you might say this one if you're hiring someone for a job.
David: 研究生也好(Yánjiūshēng yě hǎo),本科生也好(Běnkē shēng yě hǎo),无所谓(Wúsuǒwèi).
David: “Graduates and undergraduates are both ok. It doesn't really matter.”
Echo: Right. 研究生也好,本科生也好,无所谓.(Yánjiūshēng yě hǎo, běnkē shēng yě hǎo, wúsuǒwèi.)

Outro

David: Now before we leave you if you're a premium member we want to remind you not forget to subscribe to the premium feed.
Echo: Right, one of our most powerful web 2.0 features to date.
David: Right the premium feed that easily and effortlessly get all of the contents. Switch your buttons just at iTunes and then iTunes is going to download all of those files to your computer, or your iPod, or iPhone, with just a single click of a button.
David: From Beijing, I’m David.
Echo: 我是(Wǒ shì)Echo.
David: Thanks a lot for listening, and I’ll see you next time.
Echo: 网上见吧。(Wǎngshàng jiàn ba.)
David: Bye-bye!
Echo: Bye-bye!

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