Dialogue

Vocabulary

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
David: Welcome to chineseclass101.com. I am David.
Echo: Hi, 大家好,我是Echo. (Hi, dàjiā hǎo, wǒ shì Echo.)
David: And we are here with intermediate, season 2, Lesson 8. Do You Trust Chinese Milk Powder?
Echo: 这个回答是: No. (Zhège huídá shì: No.)
David: Yes we don’t trust the milk powder. We don’t trust the milk, right..
Echo: 很多东西都不能相信。(Hěnduō dōngxī dū bùnéng xiāngxìn.)
David: Yeah food safety is not a – it’s not a Chinese specialty but we have a dialogue with two friends who are talking about this.
Echo: 对,有一个朋友刚从香港回来,他正在告诉另外一个朋友他的经历。(Duì, yǒu yīgè péngyǒu gāng cóng xiānggǎng huílái, tā zhèngzài gàosù lìngwài yīgè péngyǒu tā de jīnglì.)
David: Yes he is a smuggler and we will learn this in our dialogue which is casual Mandarin as always. Let’s get to it.
DIALOGUE
A:又去香港背奶粉了?
(A: Yòu qù xiānggǎng bèi nǎifěn le?)
B:别提了,这次只背回来两罐,老婆直骂我没能耐。
(B: Biétí le, zhè cì zhǐ bèi huí lái liǎngguàn, lǎopó zhí mà wǒ méi néngnài.)
A:现在不是法律限制从香港出境最多只能带两罐奶粉吗?
(A: Xiànzài bùshì fǎlǜ xiànzhì cóng xiānggǎng chūjìng zuìduō zhǐ néng dài liǎngguàn nǎifěn ma?)
B:对呀,可是自从断奶以后,我家宝宝实在不够吃呀,国产奶粉又太不放心。
(B: Duì ya, kěshì zìcóng duànnǎi yǐhòu, wǒjiā bǎobǎo shízài bùgòu chī ya, guóchǎn nǎifěn yòu tài bù fàngxīn.)
A:其实我听说后来行业整顿得还不错。
(A: Qíshí wǒ tīngshuō hòulái hángyè zhěngdùn de hái bùcuò.)
B:我们是一朝被蛇咬,十年怕井绳啊,再说谁敢拿自己的孩子做实验呢。
(B: Wǒmen shì yīzhāobèishéyǎo, shíniánpàjǐngshéng a, zàishuō shuí gǎn ná zìjǐ de háizi zuò shíyàn ne.)
David: Once more, a little bit slower.
A:又去香港背奶粉了?
(A: Yòu qù xiānggǎng bèi nǎifěn le?)
B:别提了,这次只背回来两罐,老婆直骂我没能耐。
(B: Biétí le, zhè cì zhǐ bèi huí lái liǎngguàn, lǎopó zhí mà wǒ méi néngnài.)
A:现在不是法律限制从香港出境最多只能带两罐奶粉吗?
(A: Xiànzài bùshì fǎlǜ xiànzhì cóng xiānggǎng chūjìng zuìduō zhǐ néng dài liǎngguàn nǎifěn ma?)
B:对呀,可是自从断奶以后,我家宝宝实在不够吃呀,国产奶粉又太不放心。
(B: Duì ya, kěshì zìcóng duànnǎi yǐhòu, wǒjiā bǎobǎo shízài bùgòu chī ya, guóchǎn nǎifěn yòu tài bù fàngxīn.)
A:其实我听说后来行业整顿得还不错。
(A: Qíshí wǒ tīngshuō hòulái hángyè zhěngdùn de hái bùcuò.)
B:我们是一朝被蛇咬,十年怕井绳啊,再说谁敢拿自己的孩子做实验呢。
(B: Wǒmen shì yīzhāobèishéyǎo, shíniánpàjǐngshéng a, zàishuō shuí gǎn ná zìjǐ de háizi zuò shíyàn ne.)
David: And now, with English translation.
A:又去香港背奶粉了?
(A: Yòu qù xiānggǎng bèi nǎifěn le?)
A: You went to Hong Kong to buy milk powder again?
B:别提了,这次只背回来两罐,老婆直骂我没能耐。
(B: Biétí le, zhè cì zhǐ bèi huí lái liǎngguàn, lǎopó zhí mà wǒ méi néngnài.)
B: Don't mention it. I was only able to buy two cans this time. My wife said I was so incapable.
A:现在不是法律限制从香港出境最多只能带两罐奶粉吗?
(A: Xiànzài bùshì fǎlǜ xiànzhì cóng xiānggǎng chūjìng zuìduō zhǐ néng dài liǎngguàn nǎifěn ma?)
A: Isn't there a legal restriction against people who leave Hong Kong taking more than two tins of powder?
B:对呀,可是自从断奶以后,我家宝宝实在不够吃呀,国产奶粉又太不放心。
(B: Duì ya, kěshì zìcóng duànnǎi yǐhòu, wǒjiā bǎobǎo shízài bùgòu chī ya, guóchǎn nǎifěn yòu tài bù fàngxīn.)
B: That's right. But my baby really doesn't have enough to eat since weaning. And we are so worried about the milk powder in China.
A:其实我听说后来行业整顿得还不错。
(A: Qíshí wǒ tīngshuō hòulái hángyè zhěngdùn de hái bùcuò.)
A: Actually, I heard the industry is much better now.
B:我们是一朝被蛇咬,十年怕井绳啊,再说谁敢拿自己的孩子做实验呢。
(B: Wǒmen shì yīzhāobèishéyǎo, shíniánpàjǐngshéng a, zàishuō shuí gǎn ná zìjǐ de háizi zuò shíyàn ne.)
B: Once bitten, twice shy. And who does experiments on their own children?
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
David: I don’t know about baby powder now but there are always problems with milk. Anyway, we have a lot of vocab about this problem.
VOCAB LIST
Echo: 奶粉 (nǎifěn)
David: Milk powder.
Echo: 罐 (guàn)
David: Can.
Echo: 直 (zhí)
David: Already.
Echo: 能耐 (néngnài)
David: Ability.
Echo: 限制 (xiànzhì)
David: Restriction.
Echo: 出境 (chūjìng)
David: To leave the country.
Echo: 断奶 (duànnǎi)
David: To wean.
Echo: 国产 (guóchǎn)
David: Domestically produced product.
Echo: 整顿 (zhěngdùn)
David: To reorganize.
Echo: 整顿 (zhěngdùn)
VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE
David: So we have two milk related words today.
Echo: 第一个是:奶粉。(Dì yī gè shì: Nǎifěn.)
David: Which is very literal, it’s milk powder.
Echo: 奶粉。(Nǎifěn.)
David: Right. There are other kinds of powders as well.
Echo: 比如说:面粉。(Bǐrú shuō: Miànfěn.)
David: Yeah that’s a rice powder which is flower.
Echo: 面粉,洗衣粉。(Miànfěn, xǐyī fěn.)
David: Washing powder.
Echo: 嗯,洗衣粉。(Ń, xǐyī fěn.)
David: Right. So anything that’s a powder is 粉。(Fěn.)
Echo: 对。(Duì.)
David: Unless it’s 剂 (Jì) which is the detergents, liquid detergents. So that’s milk powder.
Echo: 奶粉 (Nǎifěn)
David: We also have the verb to wean.
Echo: 断奶 (Duànnǎi)
David: Literally to cut off the milk.
Echo: 断奶 (Duànnǎi)
David: Right. So you could say Chinese parents cut off the milk to their children.
Echo: 中国父母给孩子断奶,每一个父母都应该给孩子断奶。(Zhōngguó fùmǔ gěi háizi duànnǎi, měi yīgè fùmǔ dōu yīnggāi gěi háizi duànnǎi.)
David: Yeah. The most difficult word here I think is to reorganize.
Echo: 整顿 (Zhěngdùn)
David: To reorganize.
Echo: 整顿 (Zhěngdùn)
David: And literally it’s not just reorganization, it means to kind of, to make something more regular or to make it proper.
Echo: 对对。(Duì duì.)
David: Right.
Echo: 就是让它变得更有秩序,调整。
David: Yeah so the industry is going off the rails, you have to reorganize it.
Echo: 对,要整顿这个行业。(Jiùshì ràng tā biàn dé gèng yǒu zhìxù, tiáozhěng.)
David: So if you read the Chinese press, you will read that the Chinese government has solved the issues in the dairy industry.
Echo: 对,在这个整顿了奶制品市场以后,我们这个行业好像好一点。不知道,还是不敢喝。(Duì, zài zhège zhěngdùnle nǎi zhìpǐn shìchǎng yǐhòu, wǒmen zhège hángyè hǎoxiàng hǎo yīdiǎn. Bù zhīdào, háishì bù gǎn hē.)
David: It seems to me every 3 to 4 months, there is still an issue that comes out with some kind of dairy product.
Echo: 对,因为这些很大的国企都是跟这个官员有联系的。(Duì, yīnwèi zhèxiē hěn dà de guóqǐ dōu shì gēn zhège guānyuán yǒu liánxì de.)
David: Yeah.
Echo: 嗯,所以很难真正整顿。(Ń, suǒyǐ hěn nán zhēnzhèng zhěngdùn.)
David: Yeah. So the officials poison the milk and then they make a lot of money and leave the country.
Echo: 出境 (Chūjìng)
David: To leave the country.
Echo: 出境 (Chūjìng)
David: And you will see that when you are coming into the country or leaving it in the customs.
Echo: 对,有一个出境的海关。(Duì, yǒu yīgè chūjìng dì hǎiguān.)
David: Yeah and the opposite of leaving the country is
Echo: 入境 (Rùjìng)
David: Right.
Echo: 对,在北京有一个机构,可能很多的这个外国朋友来了以后都会都会需要通过这个机构叫“出入境管理局” (Duì, zài běijīng yǒu yīgè jīgòu, kěnéng hěnduō de zhège wàiguó péngyǒu láile yǐhòu dūhuì dūhuì xūyào tōngguò zhège jīgòu jiào “chū rùjìng guǎnlǐ jú”)
David: Yes. Shortened to
Echo: 出入境。(Chū rùjìng.)
David: Right. The entry and exit bureau in Beijing is where you get visas and all the associated paperwork for any foreigner in China. I think Shanghai has one too.
Echo: 应该是吧。(Yīnggāi shì ba.)
David: So it’s in Pudong. Last word is, is the word for can.
Echo: 罐 (Guàn)
David: Is the word for can.
Echo: 罐 (Guàn)
David: Here it’s a measure word.
Echo: 一罐奶粉 (Yī guàn nǎifěn)
David: Right. The full noun is
Echo: 罐头,比如说“猫吃的罐头”。(Guàntóu, bǐrú shuō “māo chī de guàntóu”.)
David: Right. So for cats and dogs, you’ve got tins of pet food.
Echo: 对 (Duì)
David: Everyone just calls them tins.
Echo: 罐头 (Guàntóu)
David: Yeah the cat is hungry, I need to go get some cat food.
Echo: 猫饿了,我需要去给它买点罐头。你也可以说“猫罐头”,“狗罐头”。(Māo èle, wǒ xūyào qù gěi tā mǎidiǎn guàntóu. Nǐ yě kěyǐ shuō “māo guàntóu”,“gǒu guàntóu”.)
David: You could but people don’t 罐头 (Guàntóu) is enough and if you say that you know, you are talking about the wet food, it’s not the dry food. So that’s our vocab. We have an absolutely phenomenal adverb we are going to talk about in our grammar point today.
Echo: 没错。(Méi cuò.)

Lesson focus

David: It’s grammar time. Okay Echo, what are we talking about today?
Echo: 今天我们要说这个词:直,一直的直。(Jīntiān wǒmen yào shuō zhège cí: Zhí, yīzhí de zhí.)
David: Yes.
Echo: 但是在这里边它跟一直关系不是特别大。(Jīntiān wǒmen yào shuō zhège cí: Zhí, yīzhí de zhí.)
David: It’s an adverb. In our dialogue, we see it in this line.
Echo: 老婆直骂我没能耐。(Lǎopó zhí mà wǒ méi néngnài.)
David: Yeah let’s hear that again.
Echo: 老婆直骂我没能耐。(Lǎopó zhí mà wǒ méi néngnài.)
David: You might think this is
Echo: 一直 (Yīzhí)
David: Continuously like my wife has been continuously telling me, I am just not capable.
Echo: 但是不完全是,这个“直”在这里边意思很难说,这个更多的是一个语气。(Dànshì bù wánquán shì, zhège “zhí” zài zhè lǐbian yìsi hěn nánshuō, zhège gèng duō de shì yīgè yǔqì.)
David: It has a bit of that feeling, yes. So it does carry bit of the sense that it has happened repeatedly in the past but not continuously. You know, his wife is not all the time continuously telling him he is incapable. It also has a secondary meaning of something that’s happened in the past.
Echo: 对,就是已经的意思。(Duì, jiùshì yǐjīng de yìsi.)
David: Right. So here it’s a combination of
Echo: 一直 (Yīzhí)
David: And
Echo: 已经 (Yǐjīng)
David: So something has happened in the past and it’s maybe happened a couple of times. Okay we have some examples for you.
Echo: 比如说:孩子直哭,你没听见吗?(Bǐrú shuō: Háizi zhí kū, nǐ méi tīngjiàn ma?)
David: Yeah. That’s a bit ambiguous. It feels like the child is always crying but…
Echo: 就是说他已经哭了,你怎么没听见。(Jiùshì shuō tā yǐjīng kūle, nǐ zěnme méi tīngjiàn.)
David: Yeah I mean he has been crying for 20 minutes and you are still here in the kitchen. How about the second example which is a bit more clear.
Echo: 他直说自己不喜欢吃香菜,你怎么还放。(Tā zhí shuō zìjǐ bù xǐhuān chī xiāngcài, nǐ zěnme hái fàng.)
David: Right. She’s already told you she doesn’t like parsley, why are you still putting it into the dish?
Echo: 他直说自己不喜欢吃香菜,你怎么还放。(Tā zhí shuō zìjǐ bù xǐhuān chī xiāngcài, nǐ zěnme hái fàng.)
David: And that’s a bit clear because you wouldn’t continuously do this but it’s something that you’ve already done and maybe you’ve said it two or three times.
Echo: 对。(Duì.)
David: Another example.
Echo: 你累得直打瞌睡,赶快去休息吧。(Nǐ lèi dé zhí dǎ kēshuì, gǎnkuài qù xiūxí ba.)
David: You are so tired. You’ve always started nodding off. You better go to bed.
Echo: 你累得直打瞌睡,赶快去休息吧。(Nǐ lèi dé zhí dǎ kēshuì, gǎnkuài qù xiūxí ba.)
David: Right. So it has a sense that something has already happened and also a sense of it happening a couple of times or repeatedly happening.
Echo: 嗯,他很累。(Ń, tā hěn lèi.)
David: Yeah it’s a combination of
Echo: 一直 (Yīzhí)
David: And
Echo: 已经 (Yǐjīng)

Outro

David: And with that, that’s our show for today. If you have any questions, as always, the place to put them is on the site.
Echo: 对,你们可以把你们的问题写在网上,然后我都去回答。(Duì, nǐmen kěyǐ bǎ nǐmen de wèntí xiě zài wǎngshàng, ránhòu wǒ dū qù huídá.)
David: Right and if you are learning to write Chinese characters as well, be sure to check out our PDF for this lesson because everyone forgets how to write the word for can.
Echo: 罐,对,很多中国人也不会。(Guàn, duì, hěnduō zhōngguó rén yě bù huì.)
David: Yeah. So you know how to do that and you are going to upstage pretty much anyone in China. Okay, with that though, that’s our show. Thanks for listening and we will see you on the site.
Echo: 好,我们网上见吧。 bye bye. (Hǎo, wǒmen wǎngshàng jiàn ba. Bye bye.)

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