Learn how to say hello on the telephone and ask to speak to someone
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Frank: Hey, everyone! |
| Echo: Da jia hao! |
| Frank: Welcome back to ChineseClass101.com, Season 1, Lesson 25 in our Beginner series. |
| Echo: Yeah, 第二十五课(Dì èrshíwǔ kè) . |
| Frank: I’m your host, Frank Fradella, and I’m joined in the studio as always, every day, by my amazing co-host, Echo. |
| Echo: 谢谢。大家好(Xièxiè. Dàjiā hǎo)，我是(Wǒ shì) Echo. |
| Frank: Today’s dialogue takes place between… |
| Echo: Zhang Fei 和(Hé) Ma Li. |
| Frank: Our old friends. They’re in Ma Li’s apartment. |
| Echo: Yeah, I think so. |
| Frank: And they’re speaking casually to one another. |
| Echo: Yes. |
| Frank: Let’s go ahead and listen to today’s dialogue right now. |
| Echo: But before we do.. |
| Frank: But before we do, you know what, guys, we’re at the end of our first session here; 25 lesson in. We really want to know what you think. |
| Echo: Yeah. |
| Frank: Head up to ChineseClass101.com and leave us a comment. Let us know what’s working for you, what isn’t, so we can improve our service and help you learn. |
| Echo: Yes. |
| Frank: We’ll see you there. For now, let’s head on to the dialogue. |
Lesson conversation |
|---|
| 张飞: 你不高兴吗？(ZHĀNG FĒI: Nǐ bù gāoxìng ma?) |
| 马丽: 嗯，我不高兴。(MǍ LÌ: Ng, wǒ bù gāoxìng.) |
| 张飞: 为什么？(ZHĀNG FĒI: Wèishénme?) |
| 马丽: 你不爱我。(MǍ LÌ: Nǐ bù ài wǒ.) |
| 张飞: 但是我很喜欢你。(ZHĀNG FĒI: Dànshì wǒ hěn xǐhuan nǐ.) |
| 马丽: 但是你不爱我。(MǍ LÌ: Dànshì nǐ bù ài wǒ.) |
| Frank: Now one more time, just a little slower. |
| 张飞: 你不高兴吗？(ZHĀNG FĒI: Nǐ bù gāoxìng ma?) |
| 马丽: 嗯，我不高兴。(MǍ LÌ: Ng, wǒ bù gāoxìng.) |
| 张飞: 为什么？(ZHĀNG FĒI: Wèishénme?) |
| 马丽: 你不爱我。(MǍ LÌ: Nǐ bù ài wǒ.) |
| 张飞: 但是我很喜欢你。(ZHĀNG FĒI: Dànshì wǒ hěn xǐhuan nǐ.) |
| 马丽: 但是你不爱我。(MǍ LÌ: Dànshì nǐ bù ài wǒ.) |
| Frank: Echo, this is quite a twist in the story. |
| Echo: I told you. I told you before. |
| Frank: Now, is it really a first or is it… |
| Echo: I said that I didn’t like Zhang Fei at all. |
| Frank: But he says he likes here. But now she’s not saying she loves him. She just said because he doesn’t love her. I’m not sure that’s equitable. Let’s go ahead and do this line-by-line. |
| 张飞: 你不高兴吗？(ZHĀNG FĒI: Nǐ bù gāoxìng ma?) |
| Frank: Are you unhappy? |
| 马丽: 嗯，我不高兴。(MǍ LÌ: Ng, wǒ bù gāoxìng.) |
| Frank: Yeah, I’m unhappy. |
| 张飞: 为什么？(ZHĀNG FĒI: Wèishénme?) |
| Frank: Why? |
| 马丽: 你不爱我。(MǍ LÌ: Nǐ bù ài wǒ.) |
| Frank: You don't love me. |
| 张飞: 但是我很喜欢你。(ZHĀNG FĒI: Dànshì wǒ hěn xǐhuan nǐ.) |
| Frank: But I like you a lot. |
| 马丽: 但是你不爱我。(MǍ LÌ: Dànshì nǐ bù ài wǒ.) |
| Frank: But you don't love me. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Echo: How sad is it? |
| Frank: I know. I really thought our boy was the pursuer here but now it looks like Ma Li is the one who’s really feeling it. |
| Echo: Well, that’s Chinese girls. You know, they really care about you, they really love you but they don’t really… |
| Frank: They give you your whole heart. |
| Echo: Yeah. |
| Frank: That’s nice. That’s really… |
| Echo: Right. They don’t really say it sometimes but they love you. |
| Frank: Okay. Let’s do the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Male: Now, the vocab section. |
| Echo: 高兴(gāoxìng) |
| Frank: To be happy. |
| Echo: 高兴(gāoxìng) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 高兴(gāoxìng) [natural native speed]. |
| Echo: 爱(ài) [natural native speed]. |
| Frank: To love. |
| Echo: 爱(ài)[slowly - broken down by syllable]. 爱(ài)[natural native speed]. |
| Echo: 不过 (búguò)[natural native speed]. |
| Frank: But. |
| Echo: 不过(búguò)[slowly - broken down by syllable]. 不过(búguò)[natural native speed]. |
| Echo: 喜欢(xǐhuan) [natural native speed]. |
| Frank: To like. |
| Echo: 喜欢(xǐhuan)[slowly - broken down by syllable]. 喜欢(xǐhuan)[natural native speed]. |
| KEY VOCABULARY AND PHRASES |
| Echo: Okay. |
| Frank: All righty. We got some great stuff today. Let’s start off with our first vocab point, the word “to like”. |
| Echo: 喜歡(xǐhuan) [natural native speed]. |
| Frank: This one gets a lot more air play than love, doesn’t it Echo? |
| Echo: Yes. |
| Frank: In America, we throw around the word “love” for everything. |
| Echo: Really? |
| Frank: Yeah. Yeah. Like, are you kidding me? Like we throw it around like confetti for cards, for music, for food. We love everything. But in China, the word is used for strong emotional or romantic love. |
| Echo: Exactly. |
| Frank: So let’s hear some sentences using the word “like”. “I like to eat Sichuan food.” |
| Echo: 我喜欢吃四川菜。(Wǒ xǐhuān chī sìchuān cài.) |
| Frank: I don’t like cilantro. |
| Echo: 我不喜欢香菜。(Wǒ bù xǐhuān xiāngcài.) |
| Frank: That one was just for me, folks. |
| Echo: I know you don’t like it. |
| Frank: I like to watch movies. |
| Echo: 我喜欢看电影。(Wǒ xǐhuān kàn diànyǐng.) |
| Frank: Now let’s hear some sentences using the word “love”. “I love my mother”. |
| Echo: 我爱我的妈妈。(Wǒ ài wǒ de māmā.) |
| Frank: I love China. |
| Echo: 我爱中国过。(Wǒ ài zhōngguóguò.) |
| Frank: Zhang Fei doesn’t love Ma Li. |
| Echo: Zhang Fei 不爱(Bù ài) Ma Li. |
| Frank: So sad. |
| Echo: So sad. I hate him. 我恨他。(Wǒ hèn tā.) |
| Frank: I knew that’s how this season was going to end folks. I’m sorry. |
| Echo: 我恨(Wǒ hèn) Zhang Fei. |
| Frank: But that’s not all. Today, we heard the word for “but” again. |
| Echo: Right, 但是.(Dànshì.) |
| Frank: But it’s important to know that’s more than one word for “but”. Let’s hear them now. |
| Echo: 可是 (kěshì) |
| Frank: And |
| Echo: 不过?(Bùguò?) |
| Frank: So then we get three choices. You can use these pretty much interchangeably, but we wanted you to know they were there. |
| Echo: Yes. |
| Frank: At the Beginner level, it’s okay to pick one and stick with it. |
| Echo: Like 但是.(Dànshì) |
| Frank: Right. But you’ll probably hear the others from time to time and we didn’t want you to get lost. |
| Echo: Exactly. |
| Frank: Let’s use these in some sample sentences. “I like you but I don’t love you.” |
| Echo: 我喜欢你(Wǒ xǐhuan nǐ)，但是我不爱你。(Dànshì wǒ bù ài nǐ.) |
| Frank: He is very tired but he’s going with us. |
| Echo: 他很累(Tā hěn lèi)，可是他和我们一起去。(Kěshì tā hé wǒmen yīqǐ qù.) |
| Frank: I like to eat hot pot but it is too expensive. |
| Echo: 我喜欢吃火锅(Wǒ xǐhuān chī huǒguō)，不过太贵了。(Bùguò tài guìle.) |
| Frank: Next stop, our grammar section. |
| Echo: My favorite part. |
| Frank: Echo’s favorite part. Let’s go do this. |
Lesson focus |
| Male: It’s grammar time! |
| Frank: One of the great things about the word “but”… |
| Echo: 但是(dànshì) |
| Frank: …is that like its friends… |
| Echo: 和(hé) |
| Frank: Which means “and”, and… |
| Echo: 还是(háishi) |
| Frank: …the word for “or” is that it allows you to construct longer slightly more complex sentences. We know that when you’re starting out, it can sometimes be a little frustrating being restricted to kind of spot run sentences. So let’s practice using conjuctions with the “and/but/or” to take you to the next legal. |
| Echo: Okay. |
| Frank: Are you ready, Echo? |
| Echo: Yes. |
| Frank: Let’s do this. “I don’t like to eat Peking duck, but my friends like it very much”. |
| Echo: 我不喜欢吃北京烤鸭(Wǒ bù xǐhuān chī běijīng kǎoyā)，但是我的朋友很喜欢。(Dànshì wǒ de péngyǒu hěn xǐhuān.) |
| Frank: Li Fang and Ma Li are good friends. |
| Echo: 李方和马丽是好朋友。(Lǐ fāng hé mǎ lì shì hǎo péngyǒu.) |
| Frank: Do you want to eat Korean food or Chinese food? |
| Echo: 你想吃韩国菜还是中国菜？(Nǐ xiǎng chī hánguó cài háishì zhōngguó cài?) |
| Frank: Who do you love: him or me? |
| Echo: 你爱谁？他还是我？(Nǐ ài shéi? Tā háishì wǒ?) |
| Frank: Sounds like something is coming up really exciting in Season 2, doesn’t it? All right. You guys are doing great. Think about it, 25 lessons to go. You couldn’t say “hello”. Listen to you now. |
| Echo: Right. |
| Frank: Let’s do a few more. “I want to go to dinner but she is too tired”. |
| Echo: 我想去吃晚饭(Wǒ xiǎng qù chī wǎnfàn)，但是她太累了。(Dànshì tā tài lèile.) |
| Frank: Mother and I have dinner together. |
| Echo: 妈妈和我一起吃晚饭。(Māmā hé wǒ yīqǐ chī wǎnfàn.) |
| Frank: Do you want one bottle of beer or two bottles of beer? |
| Echo: 你要一瓶啤酒还是两瓶啤酒？(Nǐ yào yī píng píjiǔ háishì liǎng píng píjiǔ?) |
| Frank: I would like one of these and two of those. |
| Echo: 我要一个这个和两个那个。(Wǒ yào yīgè zhège hé liǎng gè nàgè.) |
| Frank: That’s it. Guys, we’re at the end of the first series here, 25 lessons. You did a fantastic job. You’ve gone from zero to hero. |
| Echo: Right. |
| Frank: You guys rock. But listen, if you haven’t already taken the plunge and become a premium subscriber, now is the time. You can really take all of the stuff that you’ve learned, drive it home, reinforce it, practice it; flashcards, voice recording tool. There’s so many tools at your disposal that will really help this language sink in. We’ll see you there and we’ll see you in Season 2. But for now, from Beijing, I’m Frank Fradella. |
| Echo: 我是(Wǒ shì)Echo |
| Frank: And we’ll see you next time. 再见。(Zàijiàn.) |
| Echo: 下次见。(Xià cì jiàn.) |
Comments
HideAh, the drama! The romance! The heartbreak! What will become of our friends in the rest of this season? Anybody care to hazard a guess?
你好wwwwww，
谢谢你的意见，我们会努力做得更好的！
如果你有兴趣学习其他语言，可以看看我们其他的网站哦！ 😇
Ngai
Team ChineseClass101.com
你好 samia,
Thank you so much for your kind message! 😇❤️️
Feel free to contact us if you have any questions.
Good luck with your language studies.
Kind regards,
雷文特
Team ChineseClass101.com
給個建議，要有更多中文對話。我覺得這個課程還比較適合中國人學英文，兩人對話應該要用更多中文，才能學以致用。（然後張菲是三小啦😂By好奇外國人怎麼學中文的臺灣人
I love your Throwback Thursday lessons. I always look forward to them.
你好 robert groulx！
不用谢。(Bú yòng xiè.) = No need for thanks. You're welcome. 😇
谢谢 (Xièxie) for studying with us, it's great to have you here!
Let us know if you have any questions.
Kind regards,
雷文特 (Levente)
Team ChineseClass101.com
thank you for your lesson
my favorite word is Dànshì tā tài lèile.
robert
Hello Benedict,
Thank you for your comment. They all mean "but". Among the three, 不过 bùguò is a softer "but", it means something like "only", "merely". 但是 dànshì and 可是 kěshì are pretty much the same, only that the tone of 但是 is slightly stronger. 可是 is frequently used in spoken Chinese.
As always, let us know if you have any questions.
Ngai Lam
Team ChineseClass101.com
Hi!
How do I decide if danshi, buguo or keshi? Which is the most basic word?
Hello Celestial Topaz,
Thank you for your comment. 但是 and 可是 both mean "but", they are interchangeable. The tone of 但是 is more formal and stronger than that of 可是.
Hope it helps, let us know if you have any questions.
Ngai Lam
Team ChineseClass101.com
Hello Teacher!
I notice that you used the word '可是' instead of ‘但是' once in the audio lesson.
Google translate tells me that kaishi also means "but". I just wondered if there was any particular reason you decided to use one instead of the other in the second sample sentence? (ie. is it better suited to different situations than danshi)?
Thank you in advance!!
Al -> Alexis Thanks for the info on the Hanzi book. I did not know of its existence. I am for looking into any other approach to the wrote memorization model, or write them down on a piece of paper. I have no idea of stroke procedures. My wife cannot be of any help. Her days are filled with travel and work. Also, we don't have a Skype account which really is irrelevant. Living in Greece makes for a communication need to Taiwan, China or some other source of discussion in Chinese or whatever your need is. Facebook has a great number of Language Schools for Chinese learners of English. You might find a source there. I believe Facebook has a chat feature (audio). But I haven't tried it out. Anyway, thanks again for the direction. I would make more comments on this subject, but am afraid of the ice caps melting.
All the best.
Al
Al, 你好 (Nǐ hǎo)，
Yes, Remembering Simplified Hanzi 1 is a book. It's available on amazon. There are actually two volumes , which cover 3000 characters. It gives a logical progression and encourages one to use the imagination to learn the characters, very little drawing required.
As for myself, I live in Greece (希腊, Xīlà), so I'm not sure how that affects time zones and schedules. At this point, I'm not much of a Chinese conversationalist, but to learn a language, speaking with a native seem essential.
Thanks for responding. 谢谢你 （Xièxiè nǐ）
Alexis
To: Michael Tuchman
I agree Michael. There is not enough repetition in the lessons. There has been a cut-back in this rudimentary technique for learning. I am not hearing the content enough nor is it always understandable. I guess the team has decided that we have become so smart that we don't need the repetition.
As to Ma Li. Well, my feeling is that she ought to be patient. Why? Zhang Fe is courting her and is in the process of learning more about her. She is a bit pushy with a love accusation. She wants to hear "I love you.", while under stating her feelings for him. Does she love him? Hell, who knows. If I were Zhang Fe, I would ask her is she feels love for him. Just because she loves him (if she does) doesn't mean he has to return the love. "To thine on self be true."
Thank you for taking time to respond to my observation. Learning characters is the last frontier for me in learning the Chinese language. James Heisig’s Remembering Simplified Hanzi 1 is a book? I am interested in exploring a different way to study characters as they are a sticking point. I suppose if I can write (draw?) characters, I should be able to read them. Just walking into a Chinese grocery store gives me a headache. I almost can see the characters attack me as I enter the store. :) As far as someone listening to your Chinese, I am not sure I have a solution for you. My wife is Chinese and would be helpful, though she has a heavy work schedule. She is native born Chinese and Hennan hua and Mandarin of course. Where are you located? That makes a difference.
Your Welcome, Al.
不客气 （Bù kèqì,).
The characters are a huge challenge, I think, for all of us. I sometimes need to go to the pinyin to realize what I have written in Chinese characters! But I think learning the characters is a real must. I'm simultaneously going through James Heisig's Remembering Simplified Hanzi 1. It takes time, but it eventually pays off. It's better than rote writing out the characters. The other aspect of the language that I will need is to talk with someone in Chinese, but I've not figured that part out. If you've got any ideas. They're welcome.
加油! (Jiāyóu)! Keep up your good effort!
卫力
Thanks for the pinyin Alexis. It help those beginners like myself that doesn't have a strategy for learning characters, either writing them or reading them. Again thank you...The Happy Beginner
Hi 卫力，
You got it!
Cho
Team ChineseClass101.com
谢谢你， Cho!
老师，you are very kind!
Yes, if she 爱了他， she wouldn’t be crying！ 希望, hope, also has a future quality that think, 想， doesn’t. 我明白了！ It is also good to see how to turn adjectives into adverbs with the 地 de particle!
卫力
卫力
你好。
Give you 90 points.
因为她太爱张飞了。
The action 'love' is not finished, so we don't put 了 after 爱.
The reason for why she cried was past tense, so we put 了 at the end of the sentence.
我希望张飞明天(能)开始爱她，那（么）他们就能高兴地在一起了。
希望 is better than 想: 希望 means 'hope', 想 is just for 'think'.
能: be able to , will
那＝那么: and then
他们一起很高兴 means they are certainly be happy together, but here, it's just a wish, so we need to add something as 就能 to give a suppose.
在一起: to be together
高兴地: happily. adj＋地→adv.
Thank you.
Cho
Team ChineseClass101.com