Dialogue

Vocabulary

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
Frank: Hey, everyone.
Echo: Da jia hao!
Frank: Welcome back to ChineseClass101.com, Season 1, Lesson 18 in our Beginner series. I’m your host, Frank Fradella, and I’m joined in the studio today by my outrageously awesome co-host, Echo.
Echo: 谢谢(Xièxiè),我是(Wǒ shì) Echo.
Frank: Today’s lesson is about our good friends going out to dinner and somebody’s treating somebody else.
Echo: Finally.
Frank: Today’s lesson is a dialogue between our old friends…
Echo: Zhang Fei and Ma Li.
Frank: That’s right. They’re at home and they’re getting ready to go out.
Echo: Yes. They are speaking casually for sure.
Frank: Absolutely. Let’s go ahead and listen to the dialogue.
Echo: But before we do….
Frank: But before we do, we do want to remind you to head up, sign up for your premium subscription. There’s a whole bunch of great stuff that comes with that – tests and quizzes and downloadable PDFs and the voice recording tool.
Echo: Yeah.
Frank: Just all kinds of great stuff. You’re going to love it.
Echo: Right.
Frank: We’ll see you up there. But for now, let’s go ahead and listen to today’s dialogue.
Echo: 我们去吧。(Wǒmen qù ba.)

Lesson conversation

张飞:我们吃什么?(ZHĀNG FĒI: Wǒmen chī shénme?)
马丽:中国菜?(MǍ LÌ: Zhōngguó cài?)
张飞:火锅怎么样?(ZHĀNG FĒI: Huǒguō zěnmeyàng?)
马丽:太贵了!(MǍ LÌ: Tài guì le!)
张飞:没关系,我请客。(ZHĀNG FĒI: Méi guānxi, wǒ qǐngkè.)
马丽:太好了!(MǍ LÌ: Tài hǎo le!)
Frank: Now one more time, just a little slower.
张飞:我们吃什么?(ZHĀNG FĒI: Wǒmen chī shénme?)
马丽:中国菜?(MǍ LÌ: Zhōngguó cài?)
张飞:火锅怎么样?(ZHĀNG FĒI: Huǒguō zěnmeyàng?)
马丽:太贵了!(MǍ LÌ: Tài guì le!)
张飞:没关系,我请客。(ZHĀNG FĒI: Méi guānxi, wǒ qǐngkè.)
马丽:太好了!(MǍ LÌ: Tài hǎo le!)
Frank: Okay, we’re back. Now Echo, this time our boy is treating.
Echo: Yes, Ma Li.
Frank: That’s right.
Echo: Finally.
Frank: Yeah. Finally, he’s taking her out, going to show her a nice time. Last time, there was a third wheel. I think they’re on their own this time.
Echo: Hopefully.
Frank: Pretty cool. Let’s go ahead and translate this dialogue line-by-line.
张飞:我们吃什么?(ZHĀNG FĒI: Wǒmen chī shénme?)
Frank: What shall we eat?
马丽:中国菜?(MǍ LÌ: Zhōngguó cài?)
Frank: Chinese food?
张飞:火锅怎么样?(ZHĀNG FĒI: Huǒguō zěnmeyàng?)
Frank: How about hot pot?
马丽:太贵了!(MǍ LÌ: Tài guì le!)
Frank: It's too expensive!
张飞:没关系,我请客。(ZHĀNG FĒI: Méi guānxi, wǒ qǐngkè.)
Frank: No worries, I'll treat.
马丽:太好了!(MǍ LÌ: Tài hǎo le!)
Frank: Awesome!
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
Frank: Okay, we’re back. They’re going out for hot pot. Are you a fan of hot pot?
Echo: 我最喜欢(Wǒ zuì xǐhuān)hot pot了。(Le.)
Frank: It’s your favorite, huh?
Echo: Very. Yes.
Frank: I like it too. I’ve actually only had it here in China. We’ll talk more about that in a minute. For now, we’re going to go through the vocab word-by-word.
Echo: Okay.
VOCAB LIST
Male: Now the vocab section.
Echo: 中国菜(zhōngguó cài) [natural native speed].
Frank: Chinese food.
Echo: 中国菜(zhōngguó cài)[slowly - broken down by syllable]. 中国菜(zhōngguó cài)[natural native speed].
Echo: 火锅(huǒguō) [natural native speed].
Frank: Hot pot.
Echo: 火锅(huǒguō)[slowly - broken down by syllable]. 火锅(huǒguō)[natural native speed].
Echo: 贵。(Guì.)
Frank: Expensive.
Echo: 贵。(Guì.)
Echo: 没关系(méi guānxi) [na​​tural native speed].
Frank: No problem.
Echo: 没关系(méi guānxi)[slowzy - broken down by syllable]. 没关系(méi guānxi)[natural native speed].
Echo: 请客(qǐngkè) [natural native speed].
Frank: To treat.
Echo: 请客(qǐngkè)[slowly - broken down by syllable]. 请客(qǐngkè)[natural native speed].
KEY VOCABULARY AND PHRASES
Frank: Okay. Now we translated that last word as “to treat” but it could also be to pick up the tab or to pay the bill. In today’s lesson, we learn the word for Chinese food.
Echo: 中国菜。(zhōngguó cài.)
Frank: I love it. It’s one of the reasons why I came here. You may have recognized the first part of that from previous lessons.
Echo: 中国。(Zhōngguó.)
Frank: The word for China. But now, we’ve got this new sound at the end of it.
Echo: 菜。(cài)
Frank: Literally translated, that doesn’t mean food; it means “dish”.
Echo: Right.
Frank: You can swap out China for the nation of your choice.
Echo: Of course.
Frank: Like American food.
Echo: 美国菜。(Měiguó cài.)
Frank: French food.
Echo: 法国菜。(Fàguó cài.)
Frank: Thai food.
Echo: 泰国菜。(Tàiguó cài.)
Frank: Japanese food.
Echo: 日本菜。(Rìběn cài.)
Frank: Also sample sentences. Do you want Chinese food?
Echo: 你想吃中国菜吗?(Nǐ xiǎng chī zhōngguó cài ma?)
Frank: Thai food is really spicy.
Echo: 泰国菜很辣。(Tàiguó cài hěn là)
Frank: American food is very good.
Echo: 美国菜很好。(Měiguó cài hěn hǎo)
Frank: So the pattern is place name plus…
Echo: 菜。(Cài.)
Frank: …equals cuisine of that place. One of the most unique and popular dishes in China?
Echo: 火锅。(Huǒguō.)
Frank: Hot pot. Now if you’ve never had this before and you’ve never been to China, hot pot is kind of fondue in America. It’s basically a big boiling pot of soup…
Echo: Yeah.
Frank: …and you dip meat and vegetables in it until they’re cook and then you eat them. It’s all kinds of delicious.
Echo: Yeah. Some of them can be very 辣.(Là.)
Frank: Very spicy. This is true. That’s because they come from where?
Echo: It comes from Sichuan region.
Frank: That’s right. In America, we call that Sichuan food. Now would you say that in Chinese?
Echo: 四川菜。(Sìchuān cài.) Sichuan food.
Frank: So again, that’s place name…
Echo: 四川。(Sìchuān.)
Frank: Plus…
Echo: 菜(Cài)
Frank: Equals…
Echo: 四川菜。(Sìchuān cài.)
Frank: Food of Sichuan.
Echo: Very simple
Frank: Exactly. Now Beijing food would be what?
Echo: 北京菜。(Běijīng cài.)
Frank: Just famous for Peking duck.
Echo: 北京烤鸭。(Běijīng kǎoyā.)
Frank: One of my personal favorites. If you head down south…
Echo: You have Guangdong 广东菜.(Guǎngdōng cài.)
Frank: Famous for their dimsum.
Echo: 点心。(Diǎnxīn)
Frank: Great stuff. Our next vocabulary word, Echo?
Echo: 没关系(Méiguānxì)
Frank: It’s a great phrase. It means “it doesn’t matter”.
Echo: Or “no problem”.
Frank: It’s not relevant. Use it as a set phrase or use it if someone apologizes to you. You can say, “It’s no problem. I’m not busy.”
Echo: 没关系(Méiguānxì),我不忙。(Wǒ bù máng.)
Frank: Or if someone says “sorry”…
Echo: 对不起。(Duìbùqǐ.)
Frank: You can say..
Echo: 没关系。(Méiguānxì.)
Frank: Someone says “I’m late”…
Echo: 我迟到了。(Wǒ chídàole.)
Frank: …then you can be very gracious and say..
Echo: 没关系。(Méiguānxì.)
Frank: That was great. Can we go over that word for “sorry” one more time? That’s really useful.
Echo: 对不起。(Duìbùqǐ.)
Frank: Awesome.
Echo: You owe me one 没关系.(Méiguānxì.)
Frank: I do. I’ll pay you later after we have some hot pot.
Echo: Okay.

Lesson focus

Male: It’s grammar time.
Frank: We’ve come a long way, baby, so we’re giving you a break on new grammar. But this is a good time for us to look back on what we’ve learned.
Echo: Yeah.
Frank: Twice in today’s lesson you heard used the…
Echo: 太(Tài)
Frank: Something.
Echo: 了(Le)
Frank: Sentence structure we taught you before.
Echo: 太贵了。(Tài guìle.)
Frank: Too expensive.
Echo: 太好了。(Tài hǎole.)
Frank: Awesome. Now let’s tackle a few more complex sentences so we can really put the structure through the spaces.
Echo: Yes.
Frank: Is hot pot too expensive?
Echo: 火锅太贵了吗?(Huǒguō tài guìle ma?)
Frank: Zhang Fei is too busy right now.
Echo: Zhang Fei 现在太忙了。(Xiànzài tài mángle.)
Frank: Chinese food is awesome.
Echo: 中国菜太好了。(Zhōngguó cài tài hǎole.)
Frank: I don’t want to go, I’m too tired.
Echo: 我不想去(Wǒ bùxiǎng qù),我太累了。(Wǒ tài lèile.)
Frank: But we hope you’re not too tired to head up to ChineseClass101.com. If you’ve got a question…
Echo: 没关系。(Méiguānxì.)
Frank: If you’ve got a suggestion…
Echo: 没关系。(Méiguānxì.)
Frank: We’re there to answer them. We’ve got professional teachers ready to answer any question you’ve got, so come see us there.
Echo: Just come and make comments.
Frank: We love to see you. But for now from Beijing, I’m Frank Fradella.
Echo: 我是(Wǒ shì) Echo.
Frank: We’ll see you next time. 再见。(Zàijiàn.)
Echo: 下次见。(Xià cì jiàn.)

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