Dialogue

Vocabulary

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
Brendan: Hello. And welcome back to Chineseclass101.com, the fastest, easiest and funniest way to learn Chinese. I’m Brendan.
Echo: 嗨,大家好,我是Echo. (Hāi, dàjiā hǎo, wǒ shì Echo.)
Brendan: And we’re coming at you today with Lower Intermediate Series, Season 1, Lesson 6 – “Jogging in China”. In this lesson you’ll learn why having a roommate can be .
Echo: Yes, this conversation takes place in University dorm.
Brendan: And it’s between two roommates who are studying in China.
Echo: Right. They’re friends, so they’re speaking casual mandarin.
Brendan: Now, we’re going to take you to the dialogue in a moment. But, before we do that, a reminder. You’ve got full transcripts of all the dialogues and much more in our premium PDF. Check it out. It is very, very useful. All right. Let’s go to the dialogue.
DIALOGUE
A:今天我们跑多远?(Jīntiān wǒmen pǎo duōyuǎn?)
B:不远。(Bù yuǎn.)
A:太好了。我昨天没睡好。(Tài hǎole. Wǒzuótiān méi shuì hǎo.)
B:放松,只有五公里。(Fàngsōng, zhǐyǒu wǔgōnglǐ.)
A:没问题。(Méiwèntí.)
B:上山。(Shàngshān.)
A:呃……那太远了。(E ......NāTàiyuǎn le.)
Brendan: Once more, slowly.
A:今天我们跑多远?(Jīntiān wǒmen pǎo duōyuǎn?)
B:不远。(Bù yuǎn.)
A:太好了。我昨天没睡好。(Tài hǎole. Wǒzuótiān méi shuì hǎo.)
B:放松,只有五公里。(Fàngsōng, zhǐyǒu wǔgōnglǐ.)
A:没问题。(Méiwèntí.)
B:上山。(Shàngshān.)
A:呃……那太远了。(E ......NāTàiyuǎn le.)
Brendan: And now, with English translation.
A:今天我们跑多远?(Jīntiān wǒmen pǎo duōyuǎn?)
A: How far are we running today?
B:不远。(Bù yuǎn.)
B: Not far.
A:太好了。我昨天没睡好。(Tài hǎole. Wǒzuótiān méi shuì hǎo.)
A: Great. I didn't sleep well last night.
B:放松,只有五公里。(Fàngsōng, zhǐyǒu wǔgōnglǐ.)
B: Relax. It's only five kilometers.
A:没问题。(Méiwèntí.)
A: That’s no problem.
B:上山。(Shàngshān.)
B: ...uphill.
A:呃……那太远了。(E ......NāTàiyuǎn le.)
A: Enn...That's far.
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
Echo: So, Brandon, you enjoy running?
Brendan: Oh, all the time.
Echo: 真的? (Zhēn de?)
Brendan: “We’re watching you.”
Echo: 所以你从来不跑? (Suǒyǐ nǐ cónglái bu pǎo?)
Brendan: I don’t even think about it, to be very honest. This lesson…
Echo: 从来不想。 (Cónglái bu xiǎng.)
Brendan: Yes, this lesson is filled with vocabulary that is of no use, what so ever, to me.
Echo: I know.
Brendan: But it might be useful to you, so here goes. We’ve got lesson all about running and jogging and other things people do in mornings, for some reasons.
C: And now, the vocab section.
VOCAB LIST
Brendan: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson.
Echo: 跑步 (pǎobù)
Brendan: “To run”
Echo: 下坡 (xiàpō)
Brendan: “Downhill”
Echo: 上坡 (shàngpō)
Brendan: “Uphill”
Echo: 困难 (kùnnan)
Brendan: “Difficult”
Echo: 级别 (jíbié)
Brendan: “Level”
Echo: 跑步机 (pǎobù jī)
Brendan: “Treadmill”
Echo: 公里 (gōnglǐ)
Brendan: “Kilometer”
Echo: 圈 (quān)
Brendan: “Lap”
Echo: 远 (yuǎn)
Brendan: “Far”
Echo: 近 (jìn)
Brendan: “Near”
Echo: 跑道 (pǎodào)
Brendan: “Running track”
Echo: 跑道 (pǎodào)
VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE
Brendan: Let’s take a closer look at the usage for some of the words we just learned.
Echo: Ok. 第一个词:跑步。 (Dì yī gè cí: Pǎobù.)
Brendan: “To run”
Echo: 跑步,非常有用。 (Pǎobù, fēicháng yǒuyòng.)
Brendan: If you run. If you like me, you may want to skip to the grammar section.
Echo: Brandon. 跑步是一种运动。 (Pǎobù shì yī zhǒng yùndòng.)
Brendan: “Running is a type of sport.”
Echo: 跑步是一种运动。(Pǎobù shì yī zhǒng yùndòng.) And, when you run, you either run 上坡。(Shàng pō.)
Brendan: “Uphill”
Echo: Or 下坡。 (Xià pō.)
Brendan: “Downhill”
Echo: 上坡,下坡。 (Shàng pō, xià pō.)
Brendan: How do you say “running on a flat surface”?
Echo: 平地 (Píngdì)
Brendan: Oh, of course. “Flat ground”.
Echo: Yes, so I have 上坡,下坡,平地。 (Shàng pō, xià pō, píngdì.)
Brendan: And we have some sample sentences for you runners, too.
Echo: The first is?
Brendan: “It’s easier to go downhill.”
Echo:跑下坡会轻松一些。 (Pǎo xià pō huì qīngsōng yīxiē.)
Brendan: Literally, it’s a bit more relaxing to go downhill.
Echo: Yes. 跑下坡会轻松一些。(Pǎo xià pō huì qīngsōng yīxiē.). And the opposite is 上坡 (Shàng pō) as in 走上坡很困难。 (Zǒu shàng pō hěn kùnnán.)
Brendan: “It’s hard to go uphill.”
Echo: So, 走上坡很困难。 (Zǒu shàng pō hěn kùnnán.)
Brendan: Actually, a lot of runners here in Beijing don’t run outside because of the pollution. So, they have to use a treadmill instead.
Echo: Yes. 跑步机 (Pǎobù jī)
Brendan: “Treadmill”. Or, literally, a running machine.
Echo: 跑步机 (Pǎobù jī)
Brendan: I hear it’s actually harder running on a treadmill.
Echo: 对,用跑步机跑步更无聊。 (Duì, yòng pǎobù jī pǎobù gèng wúliáo.)
Brendan: Yes. Using a treadmill is more boring than running outside.
Echo: 用跑步机跑步更无聊。 (Yòng pǎobù jī pǎobù gèng wúliáo.)
Brendan: Remember that word for “boring” from our last lesson?
Echo: 无聊 (Wúliáo)
Brendan: Yes.
Echo: So, 别忘了。 (Bié wàngle.)
Brendan: Yes, that’s an important one. Even with the pollution, there’s still some gluttons for punishment who insist on running outside. My head is off to you, you crazy magnificent health freaks.
Echo: Yes, 很棒。 (Hěn bàng.)
Brendan: Indeed. And, if you’re one of those, you might want to run on a running track.
Echo: 跑道 (Pǎodào)
Brendan: “Running track”
Echo: 跑道 (Pǎodào)
Brendan: These are the round circular tracks you see at schools and universities.
Echo: 比如说,他在跑道上跑了一个小时了。 (Bǐrú shuō, tā zài pǎodào shàng pǎole yīgè xiǎoshíliǎo.)
Brendan: “He’s been running on the track for an hour now.”
Echo: 他在跑道上跑了一个小时了。 (Tā zài pǎodào shàng pǎole yīgè xiǎoshíliǎo.)
Brendan: So, we already have “uphill”, “downhill”, “flat ground”, “treadmill” and “running track”.
Echo: Yes.
Brendan: One last word.
Echo: 圈 (Quān)
Brendan: Yes, “lap”.
Echo: 圈 (Quān)
Brendan: That’s “lap” as in “running a lap”.
Echo: Right. Or 三圈,我已经跑了三圈了。 (Sān quān, wǒ yǐjīng pǎole sān quānle.)
Brendan: “I’ve already run three laps.”
Echo: 我已经跑了三圈了。 (Wǒ yǐjīng pǎole sān quānle.)
Brendan: Now, notice that there is no measure word there.
Echo: Because 圈 (Quān) is already the measure word.
Brendan: Right. And it means “a rind” or “a lap”.
Echo: 我已经跑了三圈了 and 累死了。 (Wǒ yǐjīng pǎole sān quānle and lèi sǐle.)
Brendan: Yes.
Echo: I see you, right?
Brendan: Yes, that’s… I think three laps would probably, yes, just knock me out for the rest of the day.
Echo: Especially, I would say it. Better to use 跑步机 (Pǎobù jī) or the 游泳池 (Yóuyǒngchí)
Brendan: Yes, I’d actually, I do better with swimming I think, than with running. Anyway, that is our vocab section. On to the grammar section.
Echo: 好的。 (Hǎo de.)

Lesson focus

Brendan: Now, our grammar point for today is something you’re going to see all the time.
Echo: It’s 多 (Duō) plus an adjective.
Brendan: Yes. Now, in the dialogue, we heard this:
Echo: 今天我们跑多远? (Duō jīntiān wǒmen pǎo duō yuǎn?)
Brendan: “How far are we running today?”
Echo:今天我们跑多远?多远? (Jīntiān wǒmen pǎo duō yuǎn? Duō yuǎn?)
Brendan: Now, that is 多 (Duō) plus the adjective:
Echo: 远 (Yuǎn)
Brendan: For “far”.
Echo: It’s a lot like a word we already know.
Brendan: You mean…
Echo: 多少 (Duōshǎo)
Brendan: Right. And that’s a question, too. In fact, there are a lot of these.
Echo: There are: 多好. (Duō hǎo.)
Brendan: “How good”
Echo: 多难 (Duō nàn)
Brendan: “How hard”. And these are all questions like in these sentences.
Echo: Yes. 这儿离你家多远啊? (Zhè'er lí nǐ jiā duō yuǎn a?)
Brendan: “How far is this from your house?”
Echo: 这儿离你家多远啊?他有多聪明啊? (Zhè'er lí nǐ jiā duō yuǎn a? Tā yǒu duō cōngmíng a?)
Brendan: “How clever is he?”
Echo: 他有多聪明啊? (Tā yǒu duō cōngmíng a?)
Brendan: And that’s useful, actually. It’s a good reminder that our adjective can be more than one character long.
Echo: And these are all questions.
Brendan: Yes, but, because you know there had to be a “but”…
Echo: Yes.
Brendan: Sometimes, sometimes we see this used when it isn’t a question.
Echo: Right.
Brendan: Like in this sentence, for instance:
Echo: 他多善良啊! (Tā duō shànliáng a!)
Brendan: Right. Now, that isn’t the question. It’s more of an exclamation, you know. “Isn’t she kind hearted?”
Echo: Yes. 多 (Duō) in this case is the same as 多么.(Duōme.)
Brendan: Right. It’s an exclamation. Literally, it’s “How kind hearted she is.”.
Echo: Yes. 他多善良啊!(Tā duō shànliáng a!). Or you can say 你今天多么漂亮啊!(Nǐ jīntiān duōme piàoliang a!)
Brendan: “You’re so beautiful today.”
Echo: 你今天多么漂亮啊! (Nǐ jīntiān duōme piàoliang a!)
Brendan: I hear that one all the time.
Echo: Yes. You can also use 多(Duō) instead of 多(Duō)。你今天多漂亮啊!(Nǐ jīntiān duō piàoliang a!)
Brendan: And again, that just means “How beautiful you look today.”. People are always saying that to me.
Echo: Yes, they’re all the same. 你今天多么漂亮啊!你今天多漂亮啊!(Nǐ jīntiān duōme piàoliang a! Nǐ jīntiān duō piàoliang a!)
Brendan: Yes, these are both perfectly fine. So, to review. When you see 多 (Duō) followed by an adjective, it’s doing one of two things.
Echo: Either it’s a question like 多少 or 多远?(Duōshǎo or duō yuǎn?)
Brendan: Or it’s an exclamation where多 (Duō) means the same thing as 多么。(Duōme.)
Echo: Yes. I think this grammar point is pretty easy.

Outro

Brendan: Yes. You guys are going to be fine with this. That just about does it for today. But, before we go, we want to tell you about a way of improving your pronunciation in a serious way.
Echo: Right. The voice recording tool. Record your voice with a click of a button.
Brendan: And play it back just as easily.
Echo: Yes, record and listen.
Brendan: Then, you can compare yourself to a native speaker’s and adjust your pronunciation according to it. This is really painful. It is humiliating and just physically uncomfortable to listen to yourself speaking Chinese. I know, I’ve done it.
Echo: 啊,没有那么困难。(A, méiyǒu nàme kùnnán.)
Brendan: It’s hard, it’s hard.
Echo: 多么有意思呀! (Duōme yǒuyìsi ya!)
Brendan: Well, it is a great way to improve your pronunciation. It’s the best way I know.
Echo: Yes.
Brendan: In the meantime, if you have any questions about today’s lesson…
Echo: You can always leave a comment on the site or write to us at contactus@Chineseclass101.com.

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