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Lesson Transcript

Hi everyone! I’m Alisha.
Welcome to Conversational Phrases!
We’ve found that the best way to learn a language is to speak it from day one! And the best way to start speaking is to learn phrases that you’ll use in real conversations.
Today, we’ll learn conversational phrases about occupations. After watching this video, you’ll be able to talk about your job and ask what somebody does for a living.
Now, let’s take a look at some conversational phrases!
Listen to the dialogue:
你是做什么的? (Nǐ shì zuò shénme de?)
我是艺术家。 (Wǒ shì yìshùjiā.)
Listen to it again. Now, with the English translation:
你是做什么的? (Nǐ shì zuò shénme de?)
“What do you do?”
我是艺术家。 (Wǒ shì yìshùjiā.)
“I’m an artist.”
First of all, you need to learn how to say “What do you do?”
That's: 你是做什么的? (Nǐ shì zuò shénme de?)
Listen to it again: 你是做什么的? (Nǐ shì zuò shénme de?), 你是做什么的? (Nǐ shì zuò shénme de?)
This Chinese sentence literally translates into “You do what?,” but it means “What do you do?” in English.
Now, how do you answer this question?
This is the pattern you’ll need:
我是 [your occupation]。 (Wǒ shì {occupation}.)
“I’m a/an [your occupation].”
For example:
“I’m an artist.”
我是艺术家。 (Wǒ shì yìshùjiā.), 我是艺术家。 (Wǒ shì yìshùjiā.)

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