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 (Dàjiā hǎo, wǒ shì) Echo.
David: And we are here today with upper intermediate, season 1, Lesson 25. Sticking to A Diet is Tough in China.
Echo: 唔,我完全同意这个观点,因为中国的好吃的太多了。(Wú, wǒ wánquán tóngyì zhège guāndiǎn, yīn wéi zhōngguó de hào chī de tài duōle.)
David: Right. There is a lot of good stuff to eat in China.
Echo: 对。(Duì.)
David: Right and a lot of it is actually fried too.
Echo: 唔,所以也不太利于减肥。 (Wú, suǒyǐ yě bù tài lìyú jiǎnféi.)
David: Yes. Anyway, we’ve got a dialogue today that’s taking place between two friends.
Echo: 唔,对,其中一个朋友正在给另外一个人说他的减肥计划。 (Wú, duì, qízhōng yīgè péngyǒu zhèngzài gěi lìngwài yīgè rén shuō tā de jiǎnféi jìhuà.)
David: Right. He’s planned for taking off those pounds.
Echo: Right.
David: Starting tomorrow.
Echo: 对。(Duì.)
David: So let’s go to the dialogue now. I think Chinese food is worth breaking a diet for.
DIALOGUE
A: 我宣布从现在开始实施我的健身减肥计划。 (Wǒ xuānbù cóng xiànzài kāishǐ shíshī wǒde jiànshēn jiǎnféi jìhuà.)
B: 我都听你说了不下十遍了。 (Wǒ dōu tīng nǐ shuō le bùxià shíbiàn le.)
A: 这次我绝对是认真的。我所有的裤子都穿不下了,太受打击了。 (Zhècì wǒ juéduì shì rènzhēn de. Wǒ suǒyǒu de kùzi dōu chuānbuxià le, tài shòu dǎjī le.)
B: 不光是锻炼,你还要注意饮食,少吃垃圾食品。 (Bùguāng shì duànliàn, nǐ hái yào zhùyì yǐnshí, shǎochī lājī shípǐn.)
A: 知道了,别啰嗦了,咱们去吃点儿东西吧。 (Zhīdao le, bié luōsuo le, zánmen qù chīdiǎnr dōngxi ba.)
B: 好,你想吃点儿什么? (Hǎo, nǐ xiǎng chī diǎnr shénme?)
A: 肯德基怎么样?我听说他们新推出了一款果酱鱼汉堡。 (Kěndéjī zěnmeyàng? Wǒ tīngshuō tāmen xīntuīchū le yīkuǎn guǒjiàngyú hànbǎo.)
B: 你不是刚说过要减肥吗? (Nǐ bù shì gāng shuō guò yào jiǎnféi ma?)
A: 我说的是从明天开始,我保证。 (Wǒ shuō de shì cóng míngtiān kāishǐ, wǒ bǎozhèng.)
A: I'm announcing the start of my plan to get fit and lose weight now!
B: I've heard you say this more than ten times.
A: This time I'm really serious. None of my trousers fit me any more. It is such a blow.
B: Don't just do exercise. You also need to pay attention to what you eat. Try to avoid junk food.
A: I know. Stop going on about it. Let's go and get something to eat.
B: Ok, what would you like to eat?
A: How about KFC? I hear they just started to advertise a new fish burger.
B: Didn't you just say you are going to lose some weight?
A: I said starting from tomorrow. I promise.
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
David: I think Chinese food is worth breaking the diet for.
Echo: 对,比如说火锅。 (Duì, bǐrú shuō huǒguō.)
David: Yes, yes hotpot. My favorite is of course 宫保鸡丁 (Gōng bǎo jī dīng) but I am not sure if I break a diet for the KFC Fish burger.
Echo: 我觉得这个垃圾食品比如说肯德基麦当劳有一个很大的, it's hard to say, 是优点还是缺点,就是你很长时间不吃,会想吃, 对不对?比如说你一个月不吃,你会想吃一次。 (Wǒ juédé zhège lèsè shípǐn bǐrú shuō kěndéjī mài dāng nú yǒu yīgè hěn dà de How to say? Shì yōudiǎn háishì quēdiǎn, jiùshì nǐ hěn cháng shíjiān bù chī, huì xiǎng chī, duì bùduì? Bǐrú shuō nǐ yīgè yuè bù chī, nǐ huì xiǎng chī yīcì.)
David: Yeah maybe. I think it depends how much people ate as a child too. Anyway, our vocab here is relatively general. There is no specific theme but it’s all useful stuff. So let’s get to it.
VOCAB LIST
Echo: 宣布。 (xuānbù.)
David: To announce.
Echo: 宣 布, 宣布, 实施。 (xuān bù, xuānbù, shíshī.)
David: To carry out.
Echo: 实 施, 实施, 健身。 (shí shī, shíshī, jiànshēn.)
David: To get fit.
Echo: 健 身, 健身, 打击。 (jiàn shēn, jiànshēn, dǎjī.)
David: Blow.
Echo: 打 击, 打击, 饮食。 (dǎ jī, dǎjī, yǐnshí.)
David: Diet.
Echo: 饮 食, 饮食, 垃圾食品。 (yǐn shí, yǐnshí, lājī shípǐn.)
David: Junk food.
Echo: 垃 圾 食 品, 垃圾食品, 啰嗦。 (lājī shí pǐn, lājī shípǐn, luōsuo.)
David: To talk too much.
Echo: 啰 嗦, 啰嗦, 保证。 (luō suo, luōsuo, bǎozhèng.)
David: To promise.
Echo: 保 证, 保证。 (bǎozhèng, bǎozhèng.)
VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE
David: Let’s have a closer look at some of the words and phrases in this lesson. Our first word is
Echo: 健身。 (Jiànshēn.)
David: To get fit.
Echo: 健身。 (Jiànshēn.)
David: To get fit.
Echo: 对,这个你也可以说 锻炼。 (Duì, zhège nǐ yě kěyǐ shuō duànliàn.)
David: Right. To exercise.
Echo: 锻炼。 (Duànliàn.)
David: Right.
Echo: 或者也可以说做运动。 (Huòzhě yě kěyǐ shuō zuò yùndòng.)
David: Right. Chinese has so many ways to express this idea.
Echo: 对,但是就是因为大家可能都不做,所以经常说。 (Duì, dànshì jiùshì yīn wéi dàjiā kěnéng dōu bù zuò, suǒyǐ jīngcháng shuō.)
David: Anyway, it can be rough in China because of air pollution, environmental pollution. Try to get some in. You do only half an hour a day to do some simple exercises.
Echo: 对,你只要每天花上半小时,简单健健身就可以。 (Duì, nǐ zhǐyào měitiān huā shàng bàn xiǎoshí, jiǎndān jiàn jiànshēn jiù kěyǐ.)
David: Right. Now in addition to exercising, you also need to pay attention to your diet.
Echo: 饮食。 (Yǐnshí.)
David: Diet.
Echo: 饮食, 这个词非常好,其实它就是把它分开来看,饮就是喝的东思。 (Yǐnshí, zhège cí fēicháng hǎo, qíshí tā jiùshì bǎ tā fēnkāi lái kàn, yǐn jiùshì hē de dōng sī.)
David: Yes.
Echo: 食是吃的东西。 (Shí shì chī de dōngxī.)
David: It is beverage and food right together.
Echo: 对, 饮食。 (Duì, yǐnshí.)
David: Everything you need.
Echo: Um-hmm.
David: So we’ve got that. We’ve also got the word for junk food here.
Echo: 垃圾食品。 (lājī shípǐn.)
David: Junk food.
Echo: 垃圾食品。 (lājī shípǐn.)
David: Which is literally trash food product.
Echo: 对。 (Duì.)
David: Right. Now some of the most useful words in this dialogue are actually the verbs. For instance,
Echo: 实施。(Shíshī.)
David: To implement.
Echo: 实施, 一般我们都说实施什么计划。 (Shíshī, yībān wǒmen dōu shuō shíshī shénme jìhuà.)
David: Right or to carry out a plan.
Echo: 对,比如说 为了实施这个计划,他准备了很长时间。 (Duì, bǐrú shuō wèile shíshī zhège jìhuà, tā zhǔnbèile hěn cháng shíjiān.)
David: He prepared a long time in order to
Echo: 实施这个计划。(Shíshī zhège jìhuà.)
David: Carry out the plan and you see this a lot in the news.
Echo: 对。 (Duì.)
David: Right. The government is always announcing 5-year plans and implementing things.
Echo: 对,这个比如说政府刚刚实施了五年计划。 (Duì, zhège bǐrú shuō zhèngfǔ gānggāng shíshīle wǔ nián jìhuà.)
David: Yeah.
Echo: 然后计划的结果怎么样等等。 (Ránhòu jìhuà de jiéguǒ zěnme yàng děng děng.)
David: Right. In addition to carrying things out though, you have the process of preparing them and then announcing them.
Echo: 宣布。 (Xuānbù.)
David: To announce.
Echo: 宣布。 (Xuānbù.)
David: And a lot of the time what’s being announced is a crackdown of some kind.
Echo: 对,一般打击什么,比如打击犯罪行为。 (Duì, yībān dǎjí shénme, bǐrú dǎjí fànzuì xíngwéi.)
David: Right. To attack criminal behavior.
Echo: 唔, 打击犯罪行为。 (Wú, dǎjí fànzuì xíngwéi.)
David: And that’s a word we see in our dialogue too.
Echo: 打击。 (Dǎjí.)
David: To attack.
Echo: 打击。 (Dǎjí.)
David: Or it can be a noun referring to the attack to the blow.
Echo: 对,比如说他受到了很大的打击。 (Duì, bǐrú shuō tā shòudàole hěn dà de dǎjí.)
David: He received a hard blow.
Echo: 他受到了很大的打击。 (Tā shòudàole hěn dà de dǎjí.)
David: So our vocab for today, words for food and exercise.
Echo: 对。 (Duì.)
David: And relatively official nouns for getting things done.
Echo: 没错。 (Méi cuò.)
David: It’s grammar time. Okay Echo, what’s our grammar point today?

Lesson focus

Echo: 唔,今天我们的语法点是 “不下”。 (Wú, jīntiān wǒmen de yǔfǎ diǎn shì “bùxià”.)
David: Yes. This is tricky and advanced. Let’s take a look at where we see this in our dialogue.
Echo: 我都听你说了不下十遍了。 (Wǒ dū tīng nǐ shuō liǎo bùxià shí biànle.)
David: I’ve heard you say this more than 10 times.
Echo: 不下。 (Bùxià.)
David: More than
Echo: 对,中文有很多让人很困惑的地方,就是这个什么时候用 “上”,什么时候用 “下”。 (Duì, zhōngwén yǒu hěnduō ràng rén hěn kùnhuò dì dìfāng, jiùshì zhège shénme shíhòu yòng “shàng”, shénme shíhòu yòng “xià”.)
David: Right.
Echo: 唔,今天就是一个很典型的用 “下” 的例子。 (Wú, jīntiān jiùshì yīgè hěn diǎnxíng de yòng “xià” de lìzi.)
David: Right.
Echo: 这个 “不下”,其实它的意思就是不少于什么什么东西。 (Zhège “bùxià”, qíshí tā de yìsi jiùshì bù shǎo yú shénme shénme dōngxī.)
David: Right. Not fewer than.
Echo: 对,不比什么什么少,在它们的后面一般都是加一个数量词。 (Duì, bùbǐ shénme shénme shǎo, zài tāmen de hòumiàn yībān dōu shì jiā yīgè shùliàngcí.)
David: Right. So this is a pattern that we see happening in front of numbers.
Echo: 对。 (Duì.)
David: Right. No fewer than 10.
Echo: 不下十个。 (Bùxià shí gè.)
David: No fewer than 20.
Echo: 不下二十个。 (Bùxià èrshí gè.)
David: No fewer than 10,000.
Echo: 不下一万个。 (Bùxià yī wàn gè.)
David: Right. Now we can also reverse this and say no more than.
Echo: 对, 不多于。 (Duì, bù duō yú.)
David: Right.
Echo: 不多于。 (Bù duō yú.)
David: No more than 10.
Echo: 不多于十个。 (Bù duō yú shí gè.)
David: No more than 20.
Echo: 不多于二十个。 (Bù duō yú èrshí gè.)
David: Right. So this is actually an unbalanced pattern, right. You can say
Echo: 不下。 (Bùxià.)
David: But you can’t say
Echo: 不上。 (Bù shàng.)
David: Right. It doesn’t exist.
Echo: 对, 但是你可以说不少于,或者是不多于。 (Duì, dànshì nǐ kěyǐ shuō bu shǎo yú, huòzhě shì bù duō yú.)
David: Right.
Echo: 我们现在给大家举个例子, 你的减肥计划已经宣布了不下两年了, 比如说你的减肥计划已经宣布了不下两年了。 (Wǒmen xiànzài gěi dàjiā jǔ gè lìzi, nǐ de jiǎnféi jìhuà yǐjīng xuān bù liǎo bùxià liǎng niánle, bǐrú shuō nǐ de jiǎnféi jìhuà yǐjīng xuān bù liǎo bùxià liǎng niánle.)
David: You announced your weight loss plan more than 2 years ago.
Echo: 唔,对,比两年还长了。 (Wú, duì, bǐ liǎng nián hái zhǎngle.)
David: Right.
Echo: 好,另外一个例子,我已经保证过不下五次了,你怎么就不能相信呢? (Hǎo, lìngwài yīgè lìzi, wǒ yǐjīng bǎozhèngguò bu xià wǔ cìle, nǐ zěnme jiù bùnéng xiāngxìn ne?)
David: I’ve promised no fewer than 5 times. How can you not believe it?
Echo: 我已经保证过不下五次了,你怎么就不能相信呢? (Wǒ yǐjīng bǎozhèngguò bu xià wǔ cìle, nǐ zěnme jiù bùnéng xiāngxìn ne?)
David: Right. In China, it is like everywhere else. The more they promise, the less they are likely to do.
Echo: 对,可能他刚说我要减肥,然后就去吃了一个汉堡,像我们对话里的这个人。 (Duì, kěnéng tā gāng shuō wǒ yào jiǎnféi, ránhòu jiù qù chīle yīgè hànbǎo, xiàng wǒmen duìhuà li de zhège rén.)
David: Yeah. So that’s our grammar point for today.
Echo: 不下 。 (Bùxià.)
David: Which is the opposite not of
Echo: 不上。 (Bù shàng.)
David: But instead
Echo: 你可以说 不多于。 (Nǐ kěyǐ shuō bù duō yú.)

Outro

David: Right. And with that, we are done our first season of upper intermediate lessons. Congratulations on making it all the way through guys.
Echo: 对 。 (Duì.)
David: If you have any questions, as always, there is a place you can go.
Echo: 对,你可以到我们的网站上 (Duì, nǐ kěyǐ dào wǒmen de wǎngzhàn shàng), chineseclass101.com
David: Right. You can leave a comment in our lesson section or send us an email at contactus@chineseclass101.com
Echo: 对,我们很希望能够收到大家的来信。 (Duì, wǒmen hěn xīwàng nénggòu shōu dào dàjiā de láixìn.)
David: Right. So thanks for listening and we will see you on the site.
Echo: 对,我们在新一季再见吧! (Duì, wǒmenzàixīn yījì zàijiàn ba!)
David: From Beijing, I am David.
Echo: 我是 (Wǒ shì) Echo.
David: And take care.
Echo: Bye bye.

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