Dialogue

Vocabulary

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
Brendan: You’re listening 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 from Beijing today with Lower Intermediate Series, Season 1, Lesson 17 – “Video Sharing in China”.
Echo: And our dialogue takes place at home, actually.
Brendan: Yes.
Echo: Between two friends.
Brendan: Yes, possibly roommates.
Echo: And they’re speaking casual mandarin, as usual.
Brendan: And we’re going to take you to the dialogue in a moment, but before we do that, a reminder. We get lonely, guys. We like comments, we like feedback.
Echo: Right.
Brendan: If you ever have any questions, if you have any, any feedback on how we’re doing or if you just want to say “Hi.”, write to us and you’ll make our day.
Echo: Exactly.
Brendan: All right. Let’s go to the dialogue. Now, this is the dialogue ripped more or less from the headlines around here. We’re, we’re all pretty advent fence of [*].
DIALOGUE
A:看看这个视频。(Kànkan zhège shìpín.)
B:哎?这是什么网站啊?(āi? Zhè shì shénme wǎngzhàn ā?)
A:这是优酷网,你不知道吗?(Zhè shì yōukùwǎng, nǐ bù zhīdào ma?)
B:我只听说过土豆网。(Wǒ zhǐ tīngshuō guo tǔdòuwǎng.)
A:优酷最有名了。(Yōukùzuì yǒumíng le.)
B:土豆上电影多。(Tǔdòu shàngdiàn yǐng duō.)
A:对,优酷比土豆上电视剧多多了。(Duì, yōukùbǐ tǔdòu shàng diànshì jù duōduō le.)
Brendan: Once more, slowly.
A:看看这个视频。(Kànkan zhège shìpín.)
B:哎?这是什么网站啊?(āi? Zhè shì shénme wǎngzhàn ā?)
A:这是优酷网,你不知道吗?(Zhè shì yōukùwǎng, nǐ bù zhīdào ma?)
B:我只听说过土豆网。(Wǒ zhǐ tīngshuō guo tǔdòuwǎng.)
A:优酷最有名了。(Yōukùzuì yǒumíng le.)
B:土豆上电影多。(Tǔdòu shàngdiàn yǐng duō.)
A:对,优酷比土豆上电视剧多多了。(Duì, yōukùbǐ tǔdòu shàng diànshì jù duōduō le.)
Brendan: And now, with English translation.
A:看看这个视频。(Kànkan zhège shìpín.)
A: Check out this video.
B:哎?这是什么网站啊?(āi? Zhè shì shénme wǎngzhàn ā?)
B: Hey, what website is this?
A:这是优酷网,你不知道吗?(Zhè shì yōukùwǎng, nǐ bù zhīdào ma?)
A: It's Youku. You've never heard of it?
B:我只听说过土豆网。(Wǒ zhǐ tīngshuō guo tǔdòuwǎng.)
B: I've only heard of Tudou.
A:优酷最有名了。(Yōukùzuì yǒumíng le.)
A: Youku is the best known.
B:土豆上电影多。(Tǔdòu shàngdiàn yǐng duō.)
B: Tudou has more movies.
A:对,优酷比土豆上电视剧多多了。(Duì, yōukùbǐ tǔdòu shàng diànshì jù duōduō le.)
A: Yeah, but Youku has far more TV shows.
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
Echo: I used 土豆 (Tǔdòu) like two or three years ago, but now I use 优酷 (Yōukù) more.
Brendan: Yes, I use 优酷 (Yōukù) for more or less everything. And then, 土豆. (Tǔdòu.) There are a couple of things there are on there that aren’t on 优酷 (Yōukù)like this old TV show that I really like from the early 90s. But, pretty much everything you want is on 优酷.(Yōukù)Anyway, that is the theme of the lesson, is video sharing…
Echo: Media.
Brendan: Websites and media, and how you talk about it. Let’s take a look at some of the vocabulary terms from today’s dialogue.
VOCAB LIST
Echo: 网站 (wǎngzhàn)
Brendan: “Website”
Echo: 节目 (jiémù)
Brendan: “Show”
Echo: 视频 (shìpín)
Brendan: “Video”
Echo: 电影 (diànyǐng)
Brendan: “Movie”
Echo: 电视剧 (diànshìjù)
Brendan: “TV drama”
Echo: 广告 (guǎnggào)
Brendan: “Advertisement”
Echo: 流行 (liúxíng)
Brendan: “Popular”
Echo: 主持人 (zhǔchírén)
Brendan: “Host”
Echo: 遥控器 (yáo kòng qì)
Brendan: “Remote control”
Echo: 遥控器 (yáo kòng qì)
VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE
Brendan: So, these are the words that are more or less fundamental to any kind of conversation about websites, especially about video sharing websites and even more particularly about the things you’re watching on these websites.
Echo: Right.
Brendan: So, let’s take a look at a few sample sentences, so that we can see the way that people would use these words in context.
Echo: The first word is 网站。(Wǎngzhàn.)
Brendan: Which just means “website”.
Echo: 网站。这是什么网站?(Wǎngzhàn. Zhè shì shénme wǎngzhàn?)
Brendan: “What website is this?”
Echo: 这是什么网站?节目。(Zhè shì shénme wǎngzhàn? Jiémù.)
Brendan: Now, this means a “program” or just a “show”. It can be any kind of show.
Echo: 你在看什么节目?(Nǐ zài kàn shénme jiémù?)
Brendan: “What show are you watching?”
Echo: 你在看什么节目?(Nǐ zài kàn shénme jiémù?). Maybe this 节目(Jiémù) is the 视频。(Shìpín.)
Brendan: Right. Which just means “video”. And this, again, can be any kind of video clip, it doesn’t have to be a TV show, it doesn’t have to be a 节目 (Jiémù)necessarily. It’s just a video.
Echo: 视频,这个视频太有意思了。(Shìpín, zhège shìpín tài yǒuyìsile.)
Brendan: “This video is really fun.”
Echo: 这个视频太有意思了。电影。(Zhègeshìpíntài yǒuyìsile. Diànyǐng.)
Brendan: Now, this one I think we know by now, it’s a “film” or a “movie”.
Echo: 电影,我最近看了太多恐怖电影了。(Diànyǐng, wǒ zuìjìn kànle tài duō kǒngbù diànyǐngle.)
Brendan: “I’ve watched too many horror movies recently.”
Echo: 我最近看了太多恐怖电影了。(Wǒ zuìjìn kànle tài duō kǒngbù diànyǐngle.)
Brendan: Actually, true fact, my girlfriend watches more horror movies than I do.
Echo: 真的?(Zhēn de?) So, I prefer Japanese horror movies.
Brendan: “The ring” freaked me out. The very end of it. You know, I was actually, literally, in the middle of congratulating myself like “That wasn’t scary, that was… Oh my sh…” That freaked me out.
Echo: Yes. 我觉得我还是看电视剧吧。(Wǒ juédé wǒ háishì kàn diànshìjù ba.)
Brendan: Yes, now that’s just a “TV drama”.
Echo: Right.
Brendan: And in China it tends to be something, well, it’s a soap opera, but it’s something less realistic than a soap opera and usually not as well acted.
Echo: 电视剧。你喜欢看电视剧吗?(Diànshìjù. Nǐ xǐhuān kàn diànshìjù ma?)
Brendan: “Do you like watching TV dramas?”
Echo: 你喜欢看电视剧吗?广告。(Nǐ xǐhuān kàn diànshìjù ma? Guǎnggào.)
Brendan: “Adds”
Echo: 广告,我真讨厌广告。(Guǎnggào, wǒ zhēn tǎoyàn guǎnggào.)
Brendan: “I hate adds.”
Echo: We all do. 我真讨厌广告。(Wǒ zhēn tǎoyàn guǎnggào.)
Brendan: “Yes, I hate them even more than the rest of TV programming.
Echo: Ok, next one. 流行。(Liúxíng.)
Brendan: Now, that means “popular”. But you wouldn’t use it of a person, you’d use it of an idea of a slang term or of a TV show.
Echo: 流行,现在哪个电视剧最流行啊?(Liúxíng, xiànzài nǎge diànshìjù zuì liúxíng a?)
Brendan: “Which TV dramas most popular now?”
Echo: 现在哪个电视剧最流行啊?主持人 (Xiànzài nǎge diànshìjù zuì liúxíng a? Zhǔchí rén)
Brendan: Now, that means a “host”, not of a party, but of a TV show.
Echo: 主持人。大家都喜欢这个主持人。(Zhǔchí rén. Dàjiā dōu xǐhuān zhège zhǔchí rén.)
Brendan: “Everyone likes this host.”
Echo: 大家都喜欢这个主持人。(Dàjiā dōu xǐhuān zhège zhǔchí rén.) And last one: 遥控器。(Yáokòng qì.)
Brendan: “Remote control”
Echo: 遥控器,把遥控器给我。(Yáokòng qì,bǎyáokòng qì gěi wǒ.)
Brendan: “Give me the remote control.”
Echo: Or you can do this: 把遥控器给我。(Bǎ yáokòng qì gěi wǒ.)
Brendan: Yes, if you really give me the remote control.
Echo: Right.
Brendan: If you want to make sure that the other person knows you’re serious about…
Echo: 对。(Duì.)
Brendan: Your TV shows.
Echo: 没错。(Méi cuò.)
Brendan: Anyway, we better leave that behind and go on to the grammar point.

Lesson focus

Brendan: Our grammar point for today is about comparing things. Now, in the dialogue we saw this, we’re comparing, one website has got more movies, but the other one has got more TV shows.
Echo: 优酷比土豆上电视剧多多了。(Yōukù bǐ tǔdòu shàng diànshìjù duōduōle.)
Brendan: That is “There are more TV shows on 优酷 (Yōukù) than there are on 土豆.(Tǔdòu.)”
Echo: 优酷比土豆上电视剧多多了。(Yōukù bǐ tǔdòu shàng diànshìjù duōduōle.)
Brendan: Yes, so we all know 比. 比 (Bǐ. Bǐ) is for comparison. But, if you look at the second part of that sentence…
Echo: 多多了 (Duōduōle)
Brendan: That’s what’s new and interesting about this. So, what’s going on here?
Echo: 优酷不只比土豆上面的电视剧多,而且它是多了很多。(Yōukù bùzhǐ bǐ tǔdòu shàngmiàn de diànshìjù duō, érqiě tā shì duōle hěnduō.)
Brendan: So, 优酷 (Yōukù) doesn’t just have more than 土豆 (Tǔdòu), it has many more, it has way more.
Echo: 多多了。(Duōduōle.)
Brendan: That is the emphasis is on “far more”. Yes, so 多 (Duō), of course we know, it means “many” as in 多少. (Duōshǎo.)
Echo: Right.
Brendan: “Many or few” meaning “how many”. Let’s look at some other sentences where this is going on.
Echo: 红色比其他颜色好多了。(Hóngsè bǐ qítā yánsè hǎoduōle.)
Brendan: “Red is far better than other colors.”
Echo: 红色比其他颜色好多了。(Hóngsè bǐ qítā yánsè hǎoduōle.)
Brendan: Now, here we’re dealing with a different adjective and this should actually make it clearer what’s going on. Now, if we do without that 多(Duō), we just have a simple statement “Red is better than other colors.”
Echo: 红色比其他颜色好。(Hóngsè bǐ qítā yánsè hǎo.)
Brendan: But, if we want to say “it’s far better”, then we emphasize it with [*].
Echo: 红色比其他颜色好多了。(Hóngsè bǐ qítā yánsè hǎoduōle.)
Brendan: “It is many better”, “it is many more better than other colors”.
Echo: And you cannot only use 好 (Hǎo) or 多了 (Duōle) like this kind of adjective. You can also use like two characters adjective, too, like 这个主持人比那个聪明多了。(Zhège zhǔchí rén bǐ nàgè cōngmíng duōle.)
Brendan: Yes, this is a comparison that my parents always used to make between me and my younger brother, yes…
Echo: 所以你是聪明的还是你的… (Suǒyǐ nǐ shì cōngmíng de háishì nǐ de…)
Brendan: Oh, I’m 聪明多了(Cōngmíng duōle). But, in that sense, anyway. “This host is far smarter than that one.”
Echo: 这个主持人比那个聪明多了。(Zhège zhǔchí rén bǐ nàgè cōngmíng duōle.)

Outro

Brendan: So, there we have another two character adjective being emphasized to the extreme with 多了(Duōle). So, there we go. It’s a fairly straightforward pattern X 比 (bǐ) Y adjective 多了(Duōle). Now, if you want to test out your pronunciation of that, if you want to make sure that you’re emphasizing it properly, or if you want to test your pronunciation on anything else, we’ve got a voice recording tool in our premium Learning Center. It is, as far as I know, the best way of improving your pronunciation.
Echo: Right. So, 现在 (Xiànzài) Brandon pronunciation 好多了。(Hǎoduōle.)
Brendan: I like to think so. If you have any questions about today’s lesson…
Echo: You can always write us at contactus@Chineseclass101.com or leave a comment on the site.
Brendan: And we’ll look…

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