Dialogue

Vocabulary (Review)

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
David: Welcome to ChineseClass101.com. I am David.
Echo: Hi, 大家好,我是Echo. (Dàjiā hǎo, wǒ shì Echo.)
David: And we are here with upper intermediate, season 1, Lesson 2
Echo: Resorting to Desperate Measures at the Chinese Car Yard.
David: Right and that’s all the English you’re gonna hear from Echo today.
Echo: 差不多。 (Chàbùduō.)
David: Right because this is upper intermediate, so it’s getting--
Echo: 对。(Duì)
David: It’s getting up there.
Echo: Mmm.
David: We have a lesson that is largely based on real life.
Echo: 没错,有一点儿夸张,不过很有意思。 (Méi cuò, yǒu yīdiǎn er kuāzhāng, bùguò hěn yǒuyìsi.)
David: Right. It’s about the lottery system here in Beijing for buying cars.
Echo: 没错。(Méi cuò.)
David: So, we’ve got a dialogue between two friends; one of whom is a proud new owner of an automobile.
Echo: 他刚买了一辆新车,所以他正在跟他的朋友讲他买车的经历。 (Tā gāng mǎile yī liàng xīnchē, suǒyǐ tā zhèngzài gēn tā de péngyǒu jiǎng tā mǎi chē de jīnglì.)
David: Yes and, as always, this conversation is casual Mandarin.
Echo: Mm-hmm.
David: Let's get to the dialogue.
Echo: 好。(Hǎo.)
DIALOGUE
A: 我昨天买了一辆车。
B: 哟,恭喜。听说从下月起就要摇号购车了。
A: 可不是嘛。你没看见这两天车行里的人呢,乌泱乌泱的。
B: 都跟你一样,生怕以后买不上了呗。
A: 你不知道,当时还有两个人和我抢。我一狠心,二话不说,掏出钥匙就在车身上划了一下。
B: 你这是跟谁过不去呀?
A: 我问,这车还有人要吗?结果他们都不出声儿了。
B: 算你狠!
David: Once more, a bit slower.
A: 我昨天买了一辆车。 (Wǒ zuótiān mǎi le yī liàng chē.)
B: 哟,恭喜。听说从下月起就要摇号购车了。 (Yo, gōngxǐ. tīngshuō cóng xiàyuè qǐ jiù yào yáo hào gòu chē le.)
A: 可不是嘛。你没看见这两天车行里的人呢,乌泱乌泱的。 (Kěbushì ma. Nǐ méi kànjiàn zhè liǎng tiān chēháng lǐ de rén ne, wū yāng wū yāng de.)
B: 都跟你一样,生怕以后买不上了呗。(Dōu gēn nǐ yīyàng, shēngpà yǐhòu mǎi bù shàng le bei.)
A: 你不知道,当时还有两个人和我抢。我一狠心,二话不说,掏出钥匙就在车身上划了一下。(Nǐ bù zhīdào, dāngshí hái yǒu liǎng ge rén hé wǒ qiǎng. Wǒ yī hěnxīn, èrhuàbùshuō, tāochūyàoshi jiù zài chē shēn shàng huá le yīxià.)
B: 你这是跟谁过不去呀? (Nǐ zhè shì gēn shéi guòbuqù yā?)
A: 我问,这车还有人要吗?结果他们都不出声儿了。 (Wǒ wèn, zhè chē hái yǒu rén yào ma? Jiéguǒ tāmen dōu bù chūshēng ér le.)
B: 算你狠!(Suàn nǐ hěn!)
David: Now let’s hear it with the English translation.
A: 我昨天买了一辆车。 (Wǒ zuótiān mǎi le yī liàng chē.)
David: I bought a car yesterday.
B: 哟,恭喜。听说从下月起就要摇号购车了。 (Yo, gōngxǐ. tīngshuō cóng xiàyuè qǐ jiù yào yáo hào gòu chē le.)
David: Congratulations! I hear that starting next month a lottery system will limit the number of cars sold.
A: 可不是嘛。你没看见这两天车行里的人呢,乌泱乌泱的。 (Kěbushì ma. Nǐ méi kànjiàn zhè liǎng tiān chēháng lǐ de rén ne, wū yāng wū yāng de.)
David: That's right. Haven't you seen all those people at the dealerships lately? What a crowd!
B: 都跟你一样,生怕以后买不上了呗。(Dōu gēn nǐ yīyàng, shēngpà yǐhòu mǎi bù shàng le bei.)
David: They're just like you—worried they won't be able to buy one later.
A: 你不知道,当时还有两个人和我抢。我一狠心,二话不说,掏出钥匙就在车身上划了一下。 (Nǐ bù zhīdào, dāngshí hái yǒu liǎng ge rén hé wǒ qiǎng. Wǒ yī hěnxīn, èrhuàbùshuō, tāochūyàoshi jiù zài chē shēn shàng huá le yīxià.)
David: There were two other people who were competing for my car. So I thought for a moment then took out my keys and scratched the body of the car.
B: 你这是跟谁过不去呀? (Nǐ zhè shì gēn shéi guòbuqù yā?)
David: What did you do that for?
A: 我问,这车还有人要吗?结果他们都不出声儿了。 (Wǒ wèn, zhè chē hái yǒu rén yào ma? Jiéguǒ tāmen dōu bù chūshēng ér le.)
David: I asked, anyone else still want this car? They all went quiet.
B: 算你狠! (Suàn nǐ hěn!)
David: You're tough!
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
David: I don’t think that’s legal.
Echo: 如果你要买这个车的话,我觉得还可以吧。 (Rúguǒ nǐ yāomǎi zhège chē dehuà, wǒ juédé hái kěyǐ ba.)
David: And, and the limit is not on the number of cars available, it’s on the license plate.
Echo: 对。(Duì.)
David: Anyway, thi is a new system in Beijing.
Echo: Mm-hmm. 就是摇号购车。 (Jiùshì yáohào gòuchē.)
David: Yes. You have to, you have to apply for the lottery system for license plates.
Echo: 对,没错。 (Duì, méi cuò.)
David: Interestingly, the first month after the system was in place...
Echo: Mm-hmm.
David: There were nearly 200,000 applications for only 20,000 licenses.
Echo: 天呀,二十万的申请人。哎哟! (Tiān ya, èrshí wàn de shēnqǐng rén. Āiyō!)
David: It wasn’t that bad though, because if you wanted a car, you’d get all of your friends and your family to apply too, so you had a better chance of getting it.
Echo: 所以可能一个人要买车,十个人去摇号。 (Suǒyǐ kěnéng yīgèrén yāo mǎi chē, shí gè rén qù yáohào.)
David: Yeah, anyway, our, our vocab today is all about the lottery system.
Echo: 没错。 (Méi cuò.)
David: So, let’s get to that.
VOCAB LIST
David: Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson.
Echo: 摇号 (yáo hào) [natural native speed]
David: lottery system
Echo: 摇号 (yáo hào) [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Echo: 摇号 (yáo hào) [natural native speed]: Next:
Echo: 车险 (chē xiǎn) [natural native speed]
David: car insurance
Echo: 车险 (chē xiǎn) [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Echo: 车险 (chē xiǎn) [natural native speed]: Next:
Echo: 一狠心 (yī hěn xīn) [natural native speed]
David: to be determined
Echo: 一狠心 (yī hěn xīn) [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Echo: 一狠心 (yī hěn xīn) [natural native speed]: Next:
Echo: 划 (huá) [natural native speed]
David: to scratch
Echo: 划 (huá) [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Echo: 划 (huá) [natural native speed]: Next:
Echo: 出声 (chūshēng) [natural native speed]
David: to make noise
Echo: 出声 (chūshēng) [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Echo: 出声 (chūshēng) [natural native speed]: Next:
Echo: 乌泱乌泱 (wū yāng wūyāng) [natural native speed]
David: crowded
Echo: 乌泱乌泱 (wū yāng wūyāng) [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Echo: 乌泱乌泱 (wū yāng wūyāng) [natural native speed]: Next:
Echo: 生怕 (shēngpà) [natural native speed]
David: to be worried (about something)
Echo: 生怕 (shēngpà) [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Echo: 生怕 (shēngpà) [natural native speed]: Next:
Echo: 二话不说 (èrhuàbùshuō) [natural native speed]
David: without a word
Echo: 二话不说 (èrhuàbùshuō) [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Echo: 二话不说 (èrhuàbùshuō) [natural native speed]: Next:
Echo: 过不去 (guòbuqù) [natural native speed]
David: to be unable to get along
Echo: 过不去 (guòbuqù) [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Echo: 过不去 (guòbuqù) [natural native speed]
VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE
David: Let's take a closer look at some of these words and phrases.
Echo: 我们今天要看的第一个词是 (Wǒmen jīntiān yào kàn de dì yī gè cí shì)... 摇号 (yáo hào)。
David: Lottery system
Echo: 摇号 (yáo hào)。其实你可以更具体的说 (Qíshí nǐ kěyǐ gèng jùtǐ de shuō)... 摇号购车。(Yáohào gòuchē.)
David: Yeah, and it literally means to shake the number.
Echo: Yes. 摇号 (yáo hào)
David: Right.
Echo: 摇号购车 (Yáohào gòuchē)
David: Our next word is “car insurance”.
Echo: 车险 (Chēxiǎn)
David: Auto insurance.
Echo: 车险 (Chēxiǎn)
David: Which is a contraction.
Echo: 对,其实应该是 (Duì, qíshí yīnggāi shì)... 汽车保险。 (Qìchē bǎoxiǎn.)
David: Yes.
Echo: 汽车保险。 (Qìchē bǎoxiǎn.)
David: Right, and the verb to go with this is…
Echo: 上(Shàng)。上保险,上车险 (Shàng bǎoxiǎn, shàng chēxiǎn)。
David: Right, so when buying a new car, you'd need to buy insurance too.
Echo: 对。购买新车的时候必须同时购买车险。 (Duì. Gòumǎi xīnchē de shíhòu bìxū tóngshí gòumǎi chēxiǎn.)
David: When buying a new car, you'd have to buy insurance too.
Echo: 购买新车的时候必须同时购买车险。(Gòumǎi xīnchē de shíhòu bìxū tóngshí gòumǎi chēxiǎn.)
David: Or you can do what we do and just take cabs everywhere.
Echo: 对,但是现在在北京找出租车越来越难了。 (Duì, dànshì xiànzài zài běijīng zhǎo chūzū chē yuè lái yuè nánle.)
David: True.
David: If you want to get a cab, you are going to need to be determined.
Echo: 要一狠心,就把别人的车抢了。(Yào yī hěnxīn, jiù bǎ biérén de chē qiǎngle.)
David: Yes, and it’s not just determined, it’s also, you know, certain ruthlessness.
Echo: 对,有一点。 (Duì, yǒu yīdiǎn.)
Echo: 一狠心 (Yī hěnxīn)
David: And that literally means “one violent heart.”
Echo: 一狠心 (Yī hěnxīn)
David: Right. So when you see the opportunity, you gotta leap at it.
Echo: 没错,特别在坐出租车的时候,抢出租车的时候。 (Méi cuò, tèbié zài zuò chūzū chē de shíhòu, qiǎng chūzū chē de shíhòu.)
David: Yes and with that, let’s go to our grammar section.

Lesson focus

David: Echo, what are we talking about today?
Echo: 今天我们讲的这个,在中文里是有一点难度的 (Jīntiān wǒmen jiǎng de zhège, zài zhōngwén lǐ shì yǒu yīdiǎn nándù de) - 象声词 (Xiàngshēngcí)。
David: The word itself sounds difficult. What’s that?
Echo: 象声词 (Xiàngshēngcí)
David: So it’s like a sound word.
Echo: 对,好像的象,声音的声,词汇的词。 (Duì, hǎoxiàng de xiàng, shēngyīn de shēng, cíhuì de cí.)
David: Well, the English word there is onomatopoeia.
Echo: 对。 (Duì.)
David: So, I think, I think English is more difficult.
Echo: 对。我觉得在英文里也有象声词,对不对。 (Duì. Wǒ juédé zài yīngwén lǐ yěyǒu xiàngshēngcí, duì bùduì.)
David: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Echo: 不同语言的象声词不一样。(Bùtóng yǔyán de xiàngshēngcí bù yīyàng.)
David: And Chinese ones are a bit more fun when they make four characters like the one we heard in our dialogue.
Echo: 没错。乌泱乌泱。(Méi cuò. Wū yāng wū yāng.)
David: Which means “crowded.”
Echo: 对,就人很多。(Duì, jiù rén hěnduō.) 乌泱乌泱。(Wū yāng wū yāng.)
David: Like a big crowd.
Echo: Mmm.
David: So it’s like the sound of, sound of people bustling about.
Echo: 差不多。还有那个气。(Chàbùduō. Hái yǒu nàgè qì.)
David: It’s the sound of Chinese people bustling back and forth. I don’t think I’ve heard this back home.
Echo: 我们举个例子,国庆节的时候广场上的人乌泱乌泱的。 (Guóqìng jié de shíhòu guǎngchǎng shàng de rén wū yāng wū yāng de.)
David: Right. On the national holidays, the people in the square are 乌泱乌泱的 (wū yāng wū yāng de).
David: There’s another one which is the sound of thunder.
Echo: 雷声是轰隆轰隆的。 (Léi shēng shì hōnglóng hōnglóng de.)
David: Mmm.
Echo: 轰隆轰隆的。 (Hōnglóng hōnglóng de.)
Echo: 轰隆轰隆,打雷了。 (Hōnglóng hōnglóng, dǎléile.)
David: I don’t think it sounds like thunder. It’s 轰隆 (Hōnglóng)?
Echo: 对,我们中文来说是的,中国人就很像,轰隆轰隆。 (Duì, wǒmen zhōngwén lái shuō shì de, zhōngguó rén jiù hěn xiàng, hōnglóng hōnglóng.)
David: Okay, it’s the crushing sounds of thunder. We’ve also got another one for the sound of fireworks.
Echo: 对,鞭炮的声音是噼里啪啦的。 (Duì, biānpào de shēngyīn shì pīlipālā de.)
David: Yes.
Echo: 噼里啪啦 (pīlipālā)
Echo: 好像什么都在爆炸一样,噼里啪啦。但又不是那种炸弹的爆炸,就是鞭炮的爆炸。 (Hǎoxiàng shénme dōu zài bàozhà yīyàng, pīlipālā. Dàn yòu bùshì nà zhǒng zhàdàn de bàozhà, jiùshì biānpào de bàozhà.)
David: Okay. So, we have three advanced onomatopoeia to date. First…
Echo: 乌泱乌泱。(Wū yāng wū yāng.)
David: Then…
Echo: 轰隆轰隆。 (Hōnglóng hōnglóng.)
David: And…
Echo: 噼里啪啦 (pīlipālā)
David: And if you throw this in the conversation, it’s gonna sound really good.
Echo: 肯定的。(Kěndìng de.)
David: Yes, Echo is gonna be like, “That’s my student.”
Echo: 没错。(Méi cuò.) 而且是我的好学生。(Érqiě shì wǒ de hào xuéshēng.)
David: Yes and when they ask where you learned Chinese, you tell them ChineseClass101.com.
Echo: 没错。(Méi cuò.)
David: We’re almost done, but we’re gonna give you one more and that is the sound of things crashing into water.
Echo: 对,这个只有两个字,容易点儿 (Duì, zhège zhǐyǒu liǎng gè zì, róngyì diǎn er) - 扑通 (Pūtōng)
David: The sound of something crashing into the water.
Echo: 扑通 (Pūtōng)
David: I think it makes sense. It does sound like you’ve dropped something in the water.
Echo: 对呀,扑通 (Duì ya, pūtōng)。
Echo: 比如说,他扑通一下跳进水里去了。(Bǐrú shuō, Tā pūtōng yīxià tiào jìn shuǐ lǐ qùle.)
David: He 扑通 (Pūtōng) a bit and jumped into the water. There’s another one, though, too.
Echo: 也是这个扑通,你可以把它用在你的心跳上。(Yěshì zhège pūtōng, nǐ kěyǐ bǎ tā yòng zài nǐ de xīntiào shàng.)
Echo: 比如说,他的心在扑通扑通地跳。(Bǐrú shuō, tā de xīn zài pūtōng pūtōng de tiào.)
David: Yes. It means someone’s heart is beating loudly.
Echo: 对,扑通扑通地跳。(Duì, pūtōng pūtōng de tiào)
David: So, for onomatopoeia, and, Echo, the word for onomatopoeia again?
Echo: 象声词 (Xiàngshēngcí)
David: So, armed with these, you can now go out into the world and cause chaos, or at least, adequately describe the strange sounds of China.
Echo: 对,如果你们有什么问题,或者有什么象声词你们想知道,想了解的,都可以给我们在网上上留言。(Duì, rúguǒ nǐmen yǒu shé me wèntí, huòzhě yǒu shé me xiàngshēngcí nǐmen xiǎng zhīdào, xiǎng liǎojiě de, dōu kěyǐ gěi wǒmen zài wǎngshàng shàng liúyán.)
David: Yes. Our email address is also contactus@ChineseClass101.com.
Echo: 没错。(Méi cuò.)
David: And if you have any questions about the content, we really do encourage you to check out the PDFs because we prepared them for you to answer your questions.

Outro

David: That’s it. We are done for today. So, come check us out and we look forward to hearing from you.
Echo: 我们下次见吧。(Wǒmen xià cì jiàn ba.) Bye-bye!

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