Dialogue

Vocabulary (Review)

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
Dave: Hi and welcome to chineseclass101.com, the fastest, easiest and most fun way to learn Chinese.
Echo: 嗨,大家好,我是Echo. (Hāi, dàjiā hǎo, wǒ shì Echo.) And thanks again for being here with us for this elementary series, season 2 lesson.
Dave: And I am Dave and this is the 23rd lesson in the second season of our Elementary series.
Echo: The title of this lesson is, The New Chinese Apartment.
Dave: In this lesson, you will learn about moving into a new house or apartment.
Echo: This conversation takes place in a living room.
Dave: The conversation is between two friends and one of them has found a new apartment to move into.
Echo: But unfortunately, there are still some problems before the person can move in.
Dave: Okay we will go to the dialogue in a moment but just a reminder, in just a few seconds, you can sign on to chineseclass101.com
Echo: Right.
Dave: And register for a free lifetime account. Okay let’s go on to the dialogue.
DIALOGUE
A:我今天签了租房合同了!还交了押金。 (wǒ jīntiān qiān le zūfáng hétong le! hái jiāo le yājīn.)
B:是吗?你什么时候搬家? (shì ma? nǐ shénme shíhòu bānjiā?)
A:房东说这个星期就可以,但是…… (fángdōng shuō zhège xīngqī jiù kěyǐ, dànshì ......)
B:但是什么? (dànshì shénme?)
A:现在还没有电,也没有水。 (xiànzài hái méiyǒu diàn, yě méiyǒu shuǐ.)
B:家具呢? (jiājù ne?)
A:只有一个睡袋。 (zhǐyǒu yī ge shuìdài.)
B:那你还是等等吧。 (nà nǐ hái shì děngděng ba.)
Dave: One more time, a bit slower.
A:我今天签了租房合同了!还交了押金。 (wǒ jīntiān qiān le zūfáng hétong le! hái jiāo le yājīn.)
B:是吗?你什么时候搬家? (shì ma? nǐ shénme shíhòu bānjiā?)
A:房东说这个星期就可以,但是…… (fángdōng shuō zhège xīngqī jiù kěyǐ, dànshì ......)
B:但是什么? (dànshì shénme?)
A:现在还没有电,也没有水。 (xiànzài hái méiyǒu diàn, yě méiyǒu shuǐ.)
B:家具呢? (jiājù ne?)
A:只有一个睡袋。 (zhǐyǒu yī ge shuìdài.)
B:那你还是等等吧。 (nà nǐ hái shì děngděng ba.)
Dave: One more time, with English.
Echo: 我今天签了租房合同了!还交了押金。 (wǒ jīntiān qiān le zūfáng hétong le! hái jiāo le yājīn.)
Dave: I signed the apartment lease today and paid the deposit.
Echo: 是吗?你什么时候搬家? (shì ma? nǐ shénme shíhòu bānjiā?)
Dave: Really? When are you going to move in?
Echo: 房东说这个星期就可以,但是…… (fángdōng shuō zhège xīngqī jiù kěyǐ, dànshì ......)
Dave: The landlord says, this week is fine but…
Echo: 但是什么? (dànshì shénme?)
Dave: But what?
Echo: 现在还没有电,也没有水。 (xiànzài hái méiyǒu diàn, yě méiyǒu shuǐ.)
B:家具呢? (jiājù ne?)
Dave: Right now, there is no electricity or running water.
Echo: 家具呢? (jiājù ne?)
Dave: Any furniture.
Echo: 只有一个睡袋。 (zhǐyǒu yī ge shuìdài.)
Dave: Only one sleeping bag.
Echo: 那你还是等等吧。 (nà nǐ hái shì děngděng ba.)
Dave: Then you should probably wait a bit to move in.
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
Dave: Echo, you live in an apartment, right?
Echo: Yeah I do.
Dave: Did you think it’s easy or difficult to find an apartment in Beijing?
Echo: Well to find a suitable apartment to buy in Beijing is quite difficult but I think renting an apartment is definitely easier and cheaper.
Dave: Yes cheaper for sure. Right now, housing prices in Beijing and most of China are becoming very expensive.
Echo: Yeah some wealthy people are buying multiple houses yet the average worker can never afford to buy a house on their own.
Dave: That’s why I rent too.
Echo: And if our listeners out there want to rent their own apartment in China, the vocabulary section coming up is essential.
Dave: That’s absolutely right. So let’s go on to the vocab section. And now the vocab section.
VOCAB LIST
Echo: 签 (qiān)
Dave: To sign.
Echo: 租房 (zūfáng)
Dave: To rent a house.
Echo: 合同 (hétong)
Dave: Contract.
Echo: 押金 (yājīn)
Dave: Deposit.
Echo: 房租 (fángzū)
Dave: Rent.
Echo: 搬家 (bānjiā)
Dave: To move house.
Echo: 房东 (fángdōng)
Dave: Landlord.
Echo: 家具 (jiājù)
Dave: Furniture.
Echo: 睡袋 (shuìdài)
Dave: Sleeping bag.
Echo: 睡袋 (shuìdài)
VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE
Dave: Let’s dig into the usage of some of the words and phrases found in this lesson.
Echo: Okay the first word is 签 (qiān)
Dave: To sign.
Echo: 签。我没和那家公司签合同。 (Qiān. Wǒ méi hé nà jiā gōngsī qiān hétóng.)
Dave: I didn’t sign a contract with that company.
Echo: 我没和那家公司签合同。 (Wǒ méi hé nà jiā gōngsī qiān hétóng.)
Dave: Okay. Let’s go on to the next one.
Echo: 租房。 (zūfáng)
Dave: To rent a house or apartment.
Echo: 租房。租房有的时候不太方便。 (Zūfáng. Zūfáng yǒu de shíhòu bù tài fāngbiàn.)
Dave: Sometimes renting a house is not convenient.
Echo: 租房有的时候不太方便。 (Zūfáng yǒu de shíhòu bù tài fāngbiàn.)
Dave: Sometimes renting a house is not convenient. In those times, I guess it’s better to buy. Okay next one Echo.
Echo: 合同。 (hétong)
Dave: Contract.
Echo: 合同。你要仔细看看合同再签字。 (Hétóng. Nǐ yào zǐxì kàn kàn hétóng zài qiānzì.)
Dave: You should carefully look over the contract before you sign it.
Echo: 你要仔细看看合同再签字。 (Nǐ yào zǐxì kàn kàn hétóng zài qiānzì. )
Dave: Next word Echo?
Echo: 押金。 (yājīn)
Dave: Deposit.
Echo: 押金。这套房子的押金是五千。 (Yājīn. Zhè tào fángzi de yājīn shì wǔqiān.)
Dave: The deposit for this house is 5000.
Echo: 这套房子的押金是五千。 (Zhè tào fángzi de yājīn shì wǔqiān.)
Dave: And the next word.
Echo: 房租。 (fángzū)
Dave: Rent.
Echo: 房租。 (fángzū)
Dave: This is the noun as opposed to the verb that we heard before.
Echo: Right 这个房间的房租太贵了。 (Zhège fángjiān de fángzū tài guìle.)
Dave: The rent for this room is too expensive.
Echo: 这个房间的房租太贵了。 (Zhège fángjiān de fángzū tài guìle.)
Dave: The rent for this room is too expensive. Next one.
Echo: 搬家。(bānjiā)
Dave: To move house.
Echo: Yeah that’s what you should do when your rent is too expensive.
Dave: That’s right.
Echo: 搬家。我想下个星期搬家。 (Bānjiā. Wǒ xiǎng xià gè xīngqí bānjiā.)
Dave: I am going to move next week.
Echo: 我想下个星期搬家。房东。 (Wǒ xiǎng xià gè xīngqí bānjiā. Fángdōng.)
Dave: Landlord.
Echo: 房东真讨厌。 (Fángdōng zhēn tǎoyàn.)
Dave: The landlord is really annoying.
Echo: 房东真讨厌。家具。 (Fángdōng zhēn tǎoyàn. Jiājù.)
Dave: Furniture.
Echo: 家具。这里的家具都很旧了。 (Jiājù. Zhèlǐ de jiājù dōu hěn jiùle.)
Dave: All the furniture here is really old.
Echo: 这里的家具都很旧了。睡袋。 (Zhèlǐ de jiājù dōu hěn jiùle. Shuìdài.)
Dave: Sleeping bag.
Echo: 睡袋。我不想一直用睡袋。 (Shuìdài. Wǒ bùxiǎng yīzhí yòng shuìdài.)
Dave: I don’t want to continue using this sleeping bag.
Echo: 我不想一直用睡袋。 (Wǒ bùxiǎng yīzhí yòng shuìdài.)
Dave: Okay. That does it for the vocab section. Let’s move on to grammar.
It’s grammar time.

Lesson focus

Dave:Okay so today’s grammar point is very simple. It’s one word. Echo, what is it?
Echo: 还是。 (Háishì.)
Dave: This word has a few meanings and you’ve probably seen it before as or..
Echo: 还是 (Háishì.) In this lesson, 还是 (Háishì.) means there is a better alternative.
Dave: Right. So let’s hear the line from the dialogue.
Echo: 那你还是等等吧。 (Nà nǐ háishì děng děng ba.)
Dave: Then how about you wait for a bit longer?
Echo: 那你还是等等吧。 (Nà nǐ háishì děng děng ba.)
Dave: So in the dialogue, the first option was to move into a vacant apartment with no water or electricity.
Echo: Right.
Dave: And of course, the more satisfactory option would be to wait a little bit longer.
Echo: Right, right 还是 (Háishì) generally used as a suggestion.
Dave: So what we are going to do now is to take you through some examples to give you a good feel for the word.
Echo: 你还是再等等吧。 (Nǐ háishì zài děng děng ba.)
Dave: How about you wait a little longer?
Echo: 你还是再等等吧。 (Nǐ háishì zài děng děng ba.)
Dave: Yes you don’t want to jump the gun and a little patience won’t hurt. So the speaker suggests to wait a little longer. Our next example.
Echo: 你现在很忙,我还是一会儿再来吧。 (Nǐ xiànzài hěn máng, wǒ háishì yīhuǐ'er zàilái ba.)
Dave: You are busy right now. How about I come back in a bit?
Echo: 你现在很忙,我还是一会儿再来吧。 (Nǐ xiànzài hěn máng, wǒ háishì yīhuǐ'er zàilái ba.)
Dave: Yes the better option is to come back when the person isn’t so busy.
Echo: 你还是再考虑考虑吧。 (Nǐ háishì zài kǎolǜ kǎolǜ ba.)
Dave: How about you think it over again.
Echo: 你还是再考虑考虑吧。 (Nǐ háishì zài kǎolǜ kǎolǜ ba.)
Dave: How about you think it over again. Maybe this is a big decision and they weren’t weighing the options.
Echo: Right.
Dave: The better solution is to think about it more.
Echo: 签合同的时候还是要小心。 (Qiān hétóng de shíhòu háishì yào xiǎoxīn.)
Dave: When signing a contract, you should be careful.
Echo: 签合同的时候还是要小心。 (Qiān hétóng de shíhòu háishì yào xiǎoxīn.)
Dave: This is good advice. Always look over a contract carefully before you sign it.
Echo: Right. 搬家的时候你还是找人帮忙吧。 (Bānjiā de shíhòu nǐ háishì zhǎo rén bāngmáng ba.)
Dave: When moving, how about you find some people to help you out.
Echo: 搬家的时候你还是找人帮忙吧。 (Bānjiā de shíhòu nǐ háishì zhǎo rén bāngmáng ba.)
Dave: Actually in China, it is really cheap to hire some guys to move your stuff for you.
Echo: Yeah 太晚了,你还是回家吧。 (Tài wǎnle, nǐ háishì huí jiā ba.)
Dave: It’s really late. It’s best if you head home.
Echo: 太晚了,你还是回家吧。 (Tài wǎnle, nǐ háishì huí jiā ba.)
Dave: And notice we heard the suggestive particle in that last example.
Echo: 吧 (Ba) So we have both 还是 (Háishì) and 吧 (Ba) in the same sentence which is fine.
Dave: This person is really suggesting, go home now.
Echo: In our last example, 晚上不安全,我还是送你回去吧。 (Wǎnshàng bù ānquán, wǒ háishì sòng nǐ huíqù ba.)
Dave: In the evening, it’s not safe. How about I accompany you home?
Echo: 晚上不安全,我还是送你回去吧。 (Wǎnshàng bù ānquán, wǒ háishì sòng nǐ huíqù ba.)
Dave: So to review, we went over one word.
Echo: 还是。 (Háishì)
Dave: And this is used to suggest a better option.
Echo: Right 你还是用CC101学中文吧。 (Nǐ háishì yòng CC101 xué zhōngwén ba.)
Dave: You better use chineseclass101 to study Chinese.
Echo: Right.
Dave: Okay that just about does it for today but we want to let our listeners know about our powerful tool.
Echo: Our most powerful tool.
Dave: Our most powerful tool.
Echo: Line by line audio.
Dave: The perfect tool for rapidly improving listening comprehension.
Echo: Right. By listening to lines of the conversation again and again.
Dave: Listen until every word and syllable becomes clear. Basically we break down the dialogue into comprehensible bite size sentences.
Echo: You can try the line by line audio in the premium learning center at chineseclass101.com

Outro

Dave: Okay that does it for this week. From Beijing, I am Dave.
Echo: 我是Echo. (Wǒ shì Echo.)
Dave: And we will see you next time.
Echo: 下次见 (Xià cì jiàn) Bye bye.
Dave: See you then.

Grammar

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