Dialogue

Vocabulary

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
DAVID: Welcome to ChineseClass101.com. I’m David.
Amber: 大家好,我是安伯。(Dàjiā hǎo, wǒ shì ān bó.)
DAVID: And we’re here today with Upper Beginner, Season 1, Lesson 1 - Chinese traffic chaos.
Amber: 中国交通乱像。(Zhōngguó jiāotōng luàn xiàng.)
DAVID: Right. So we have a lesson all about the chaos there’s out there on the roads.
Amber: 对。(Duì.)
DAVID: Amber, where does this lesson take place?
Amber: 唔,发生在出租车里。(Wú, fāshēng zài chūzū chē lǐ.)
DAVID: Right. So it’s in a cab and our dialogue is between a passenger and a taxi driver.
Amber: 對。(Duì.)
DAVID: And they are speaking causal Chinese as always.
Amber: 没错,我们一起来听对话吧!(Méi cuò, wǒmen yī qǐlái tīng duìhuà ba!)
DIALOGUE
A: 往前走3个路口。(Wǎng qián zǒu sān gè lùkǒu.)
B: 左转还是右转?(Zuǒzhuǎn háishì yòuzhuǎn?)
A: 右转。(Yòuzhuǎn.)
B: 到红绿灯吗?(Dào hónglǜdēng ma?)
A: 不不,到天桥。(Bù bù, dào tiānqiáo.)
A: Go straight for three intersections.
B: Turn left or turn right?
A: Turn right.
B: (walk) To the traffic light?
A: No, to the overpass.
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
DAVID: So, this lesson is about chaos in traffic in china.
Amber: 没错, 混乱的中国交通。(Méi cuò, hǔnluàn de zhōngguó jiāotōng.)
DAVID: Yes. Well, more precisely, it’s about how to avoid it by telling the cabbie where you want to go.
Amber: 没错, 打车的时候可以用。(Méi cuò, dǎchē de shíhòu kěyǐ yòng.)
DAVID: Yeah. Or you could use it when you’re just walking around.
Amber: 当然,走路也可以用。(Dāngrán, zǒulù yě kěyǐ yòng.)
DAVID: Right. It’s giving instructions, giving directions or getting them.
Amber: 对。(Duì.)
DAVID: Anyway, let’s get on to our vocab for today.
Amber: Uhmm, 不太难。(Bù tài nán.)
VOCAB LIST
Amber:往前。(wǎngqián.)
DAVID: Forward.
Amber: 往 前, 往前, 往后。(wǎngqián, wǎngqián, wǎnghòu.)
DAVID: Backward.
Amber: 往 后, 往后, 左转。(wǎnghòu, wǎnghòu, zuǒzhuǎn.)
DAVID: To turn left.
Amber: 左 转, 左转, 右转。(zuǒzhuǎn, zuǒzhuǎn, yòuzhuǎn.)
DAVID: To turn right.
Amber: 右 转, 右转, 目的地。(yòuzhuǎn, yòuzhuǎn, mùdìdì.)
DAVID: Destination.
Amber: 目 的 地, 目的地, 路口。(mùdìdì, mùdìdì, lùkǒu.)
DAVID: Intersection.
Amber: 路 口, 路口, 红绿灯。(lùkǒu, lùkǒu, hónglǜdēng.)
DAVID: Traffic light.
Amber: 红 绿 灯, 红绿灯, 天桥。(hónglǜdēng, hónglǜdēng, tiānqiáo.)
DAVID: Overpass.
Amber: 天 桥, 天桥。(tiānqiáo, tiānqiáo.)
VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE
DAVID: Let’s have a closer look at some of these words. First let’s talk about directions. Like…
Amber: 往前。(wǎngqián.)
DAVID: Forward.
Amber: 往前。(wǎngqián.)
DAVID: Forward.
Amber: 这个词的反义词是往后。(Zhège cí de fǎnyìcí shì wǎng hòu.)
DAVID: Backwards.
Amber: 往后。(wǎnghòu.)
DAVID: Literally, “towards the rear”.
Amber: Right.
DAVID: So we have “towards to front”.
Amber: 往前。 (wǎngqián.)
DAVID: And “towards the rear”.
Amber: 往后, 你可以往前走,或者往后走。(wǎnghòu, Nǐ kěyǐ wǎng qián zǒu, Huòzhě wǎng hòu zǒu.)
DAVID: Right. You can “walk forward”.
Amber: 往前走。(Wǎng qián zǒu.)
DAVID: Or “walk backwards”.
Amber: 往后走。(Wǎng hòu zǒu.)
DAVID: In addition to “forwards’ and “backwards”, we also have…
Amber: 左转。(Zuǒ zhuǎn.)
DAVID: To turn left.
Amber:左转。(Zuǒ zhuǎn.)
DAVID: And…
Amber: 右转。(yòuzhuǎn.)
DAVID: To turn right.
Amber: 右转。(yòuzhuǎn.)
DAVID: Right.
Amber: 左转 , 右转。(zuǒzhuǎn, yòuzhuǎn.)
DAVID: That's “turn left”, “turn right”. And if you are in a cab, you can give directions this way.
Amber: 师傅,路口 左转。(Shīfù, Lùkǒu zuǒ zhuǎn.)
DAVID: That’s telling the driver to turn left at the intersection.
Amber: 对, 你也可以说 师傅路口右转。(Duì, nǐ yě kěyǐ shuō shīfù lùkǒu yòu zhuǎn.)
DAVID: If you wanted to turn right. So here are four directions.
Amber: 往前, 往后, 左转, 右转。(wǎngqián, wǎnghòu, zuǒzhuǎn, yòuzhuǎn.)
DAVID: Now, this isn’t just left and right. This is when you’re giving directions to someone and you’re saying you need to move in a certain direction.
Amber: 对。(Duì.)
DAVID: Ok, in addition to directions, we also need to talk about destinations.
Amber: 你的目的地。(Nǐ de mùdì de.)
DAVID: Right. That’s the word for “destination”.
Amber: 目的地。(mùdìdì.)
DAVID: And we have a few words you can use to point out your destination.
Amber: 第一个 路口。(Dì yī gè lùkǒu.)
DAVID: Intersection.
Amber: 路口。(Lùkǒu.)
DAVID: As in “Driver, turn right at the intersection”.
DAVID: 师傅, 路口右转。(Shīfù, Lùkǒu yòu zhuǎn.)
DAVID: Right. We also have “red light”.
Amber: 红绿灯。 (hónglǜdēng.)
DAVID: It’s literally “red-green light”.
Amber: 对,红绿灯 。(Duì, hónglǜdēng.)
DAVID: Right. And that’s pretty much the same as an intersection. The next one is different though, it’s an “overhead bridge”.
Amber: 天桥。(tiānqiáo.)
DAVID: “A bridge” or “an overpass”.
Amber: 天桥。(tiānqiáo.)
DAVID: And these are pedestrian bridges that cross major roads in China.
Amber: 啊!对,没错。(A! Duì, méicuò.)
DAVID: So you can say to the driver, “Driver, stop off at the overpass.”
Amber: 师傅,天桥停车。(Shīfù, Tiānqiáo tíngchē.)
DAVID: Right or “My destination is that bridge”.
Amber: 我的目的地是 哪个天桥。(Wǒ de mùdì de shì nǎge tiānqiáo.)
DAVID: Right. So that’s our vocab section for directions.
Amber: 往前, 往后, 左转, 右转。(wǎngqián, wǎnghòu, zuǒzhuǎn, yòuzhuǎn.)
DAVID: And three destinations.
Amber: 路口, 红绿灯 , 天桥。(lùkǒu, hónglǜdēng, tiānqiáo.)
DAVID: Ok, and with that, let’s get to our grammar section.

Lesson focus

M2: It’s grammar time!
DAVID: Our grammar point today is talking about this preposition.
Amber: 往。(Wǎng.)
DAVID: Towards.
Amber: 往。(Wǎng.)
DAVID: Towards.
Amber:在中文中,置词在动词之前。(Zài zhōngwén zhōng, Zhì cí zài dòngcí zhīqián.)
DAVID: Right. Prepositions come before verbs. So we say, “towards the left to go”.
Amber: 往左走。(Wǎng zuǒ zǒu.)
DAVID: Towards.
Amber: 往。(Wǎng.)
DAVID: The left.
Amber: 左。(Zuǒ.)
DAVID: To go.
Amber: 走, 往左走。你也可以说 往他那走。(Zǒu, wǎng zuǒ zǒu. Nǐ yě kěyǐ shuō wǎng tā nà zǒu.)
DAVID: Which will be “towards him to go”.
Amber: 往他那走。(Wǎng tā nà zǒu.)
DAVID: Right. You can use this to give directions in a cab. For instance…
Amber: 往天桥走。(Wǎng tiānqiáo zǒu.)
DAVID: “Go towards the overpass.” Or…
Amber: 往路口走。(Wǎng lùkǒu zǒu.)
DAVID: “Go towards the intersection.”
Amber: 对。(Duì.)
DAVID: Right. So once again, the preposition…
Amber: 往。(Wǎng.)
DAVID: Really means “towards”.
Amber: 对。(Duì.)
Amber: And we put there in front of the direction we move.
Amber: 唔,在我们要去的方向之前。(Wú, zài wǒmen yào qù de fāngxiàng zhīqián.)
DAVID: And also before the verb.
Amber: 还有在动词之前。(Hái yǒu zài dòngcí zhīqián.)
DAVID: Right. So this is the big difference between...
Amber: 往左 (Wǎng zuǒ) and 左。(Zuǒ.)
DAVID: When we have 往 (Wǎng) we also have a verb that comes later.
Amber: 我们说往前走,或者 往后走,往后跑,往后去。(Wǒmen shuō wǎng qián zǒu, Huòzhě wǎng hòu zǒu, Wǎng hòu pǎo, wǎng hòu qù.)
DAVID: Right. This always comes in front of a verb. And if you don’t have the verb, don’t say…
Amber: 往。(Wǎng.)
DAVID: Right. Just put the direction.
Amber: 没错。(Méi cuò.)
DAVID: So that’s our grammar point for today. Remember, when you use…
Amber: 往。(Wǎng.)
DAVID: Follow it with a verb, just like in our dialogue.
Amber: 往前走3个路口。(Wǎng qián zǒu sān gè lùkǒu.)

Outro

DAVID: Right. For now, though, that’s all the time we have.
Amber: 对。(Duì.)
DAVID: From Beijing, I’m David.
Amber: 我是安伯。(Wǒ shì ān bó.)
DAVID: Thanks for listening, and we’ll see you on the site.
Amber: 下次见吧!(Xià cì jiàn ba!)

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