Adam: It’s the measure word for “scheduled public transportation.”
Raphael: 你们记得 公车 是什么意思吗?
Adam: That means “bus.”
Raphael: 然后 百货公司 是什意思?
Adam: That means “department store.” Here the lady is referring to a particular brand of department stores that is popular in Asia, called “Sogo.”
Kirin: 请问一下，这班公车是到 Sogo 百货公司吗?
Adam: “Excuse me, does this bus go to the Sogo department store?”
Raphael: 然后这个男生回答
Kirin: 这班吗? 不是.
Adam: “This bus? No it doesn’t.” Note how by just using the measure word, the item we are talking about, in this case a bus, is implied.
Raphael: 然后他继续说
Kirin: 你应该要坐七十五号的公车.
Raphael: 这些单字我们都学过了. 你们知道这个句子是什么意思吗?
Kirin: 你应该要坐七十五号的公车.
Adam: “You should take bus number 75.”
Raphael: 然后这个女生问
Kirin: 好，那你知道哪里卖车票吗?
Raphael: 你们记得 车票 是什么意思吗?
Adam: The literal meaning is “vehicle ticket.” In the past, it was referring to a “train ticket.” Here it’s referring to a “bus ticket.”
Kirin: 好，那你知道哪里卖车票吗?
Raphael: 然后在这个句子里，我们有今天的下一个生字
Kirin: 卖.
Adam: And that’s the verb “to sell.” So that gives us a literal meaning of this sentence of: “Ok, that you know where sell ticket?” Which becomes “Ok, in that case do you know where they sell tickets?”
Kirin: 好，那你知道哪里卖车票吗?
Raphael: 然后这个男生说
Kirin: 上车买票就可以了.
Adam: So here we have a new concept to teach you. We’ve seen 上 used in many instances in the past. The literal meaning is “up.” So here,
Kirin: 上车
Adam: can be thought of as meaning “getting on a vehicle.”
Kirin: 上车买票就可以了.
Adam: “You can buy it when you get on the bus.”
Raphael: 然后这个女生问
Kirin: 那我应该在哪一站下车?
Raphael: 我们今天的下一个生字是
Kirin: 站
Adam: And that means “station” or in this case “stop.”
Kirin: 那我应该在哪一站下车?
Adam: “So which stop should I get off at?” Note the use here of
Kirin: 下车
Adam: which means “to get off.”
Raphael: 然后这个男生说
Kirin: Sogo 不太远.
Raphael: 你们知道 不太远 是什么意思吗?
Adam: That means “not too far.” So he’s saying “Sogo isn’t very far.”
Kirin: Sogo 不太远.
Raphael: 然后他继续说
Kirin: 大概再过五站左右就到了.
Raphael: 你们觉得这个句子是什么意思?
Adam: “Pass 5 more stops or so and you should reach.”
Adam: Previously, we have defined the verb 做 as meaning “to do.” It can also mean “to make.”
Kirin: 是谁做的?
Adam: So literally that’s “Is who made” meaning “Who made it?”
Kirin: 是谁做的?
Raphael: 然后这个女生回答
Kirin: 是我老公煮的.
Raphael: 你们记得老公是什么意思吗?
Adam: That means “husband.”
Raphael: 很久以前, 这个 煮 在第一课我们就已经教过了. 你们还记得是什么意思吗?
Adam: It’s the verb “to cook.”
Kirin: 煮.
Adam: So to ask someone “Can you cook?” you can ask
Kirin: 你会煮饭吗?
Adam: Notice how the 饭 meaning “meal” is added here since you have to specify what it is you are cooking. Back to our dialogue, we have
Kirin: 是我老公煮的.
Adam: “My husband cooked it.” Here, the 饭 is not required since we have already talked about the food in context.
Raphael: 然后这个男生问
Kirin: 真的吗? 你的老公这么厉害啊?
Raphael: 你们记得厉害是什么意思吗?
Adam: That means “talented.”
Raphael: 所以你们知道这个句子是什么意思吗?
Kirin: 真的吗? 你的老公这么厉害啊?
Adam: “Really? Is your husband really this talented?”
Raphael: 然后这个女生回答
Kirin: 对啊. 他之前是一个厨师.
Raphael: 之前是什么意思吗?
Adam: That means “in the past.”
Raphael: 然后在这个句子的后面我们有一个生字
Kirin: 厨师.
Raphael: 这是一个跟煮饭有关係的工作.
Adam: And that means “chef.”
Kirin: 对啊. 他之前是一个厨师.
Adam: “Yes, he was a chef before.”
Raphael: 然后这个男生说
Kirin: 喔, 难怪!
Raphael: 这里，我们还有一个生字.
Kirin: 难怪.
Adam: The two characters here refer to “difficult”, which we’ve seen before and “strange”; so together “difficult strange” means “it’s not suprising that” or “no wonder.”
Kirin: 喔, 难怪!
Raphael: 然后这个女生说
Kirin: 来, 多吃一点吧.
Raphael: 这些单字我们也都学过了. 你们知道这个句子是什么意思吗?
Kirin: 来, 多吃一点吧.
Adam: The literal meaning here is “Come more eat a little.” Note the 吧 particle added to the end of suggestions.
Kirin: 来, 多吃一点吧.
Adam: “Here, eat some more.”
Raphael: 然后这个男生回答
Kirin: 我真的很想吃, 但是我已经吃饱了.
Raphael: 在这个句子的后面我们看到今天的最后一个生字
Kirin: 吃饱.
Adam: And together this means “to eat until satisfied” or “to be full from eating.”
Kirin: 我真的很想吃, 但是我已经吃饱了.
Adam: The literal meaning here is “I really want eat but I already eat full.” In other words, “I’d really like to eat more, but I’m already full.”
Adam: That you may remember means “money.” The 包 here means “bag” so together
Kirin: 钱包.
Adam: literally means “money bag” which in this case is “a wallet.”
Kirin: 咦，我的钱包不见了.
Luise: 在这个句子的后面我们看到
Kirin: 不见了.
Luise: 这个不见是 好久不见 的不见. 你们记得 不见 是什么意思吗?
Adam: That means “don’t see” from the expression “long time no see.” The 了 particle at the end indicates a change in situation – so before she could see it, now she can’t, which means it has disappeared.
Kirin: 咦，我的钱包不见了.
Adam: “My wallet has disappeared.”
Luise: 然后Luise说
Kirin: 真的吗?
Adam: “Really?”
Kirin: 你最后一次看到它是在什么地方?
Luise: 这些单字我们都学过了. 你们知道这个句子的意思吗?
Kirin: 你最后一次看到它是在什么地方?
Adam: The literal meaning here is “You last time saw it is at what place?” As in “Where did you see it last?”
Kirin: 你最后一次看到它是在什么地方?
Luise: 然后Kirin说
Kirin: 它今天一直都在我外套的口袋里面.
Luise: 外套 是一种衣服的名字. 你们记得 外套 是那一种衣服吗?
Adam: That means “jacket.”
Luise: 然后在这个句子里面，我们有另外一个生字
Kirin: 口袋.
Adam: The literal meaning here is “mouth pouch” and that means “pocket.”
Kirin: 口袋.
Luise: 所以你们知道这个句子意思吗?
Kirin: 它今天一直都在我外套的口袋里面.
Adam: The literal meaning here is “It today continuously all in my jacket’s pocket inside.” In other words “It was in my jacket pocket all day.”
Kirin: 它今天一直都在我外套的口袋里面.
Luise: 然后她继续说
Kirin:怎么会这样?
Adam: “How could that be?”
Luise: 然后Luise说
Kirin: 不用担心.
Luise: 我们今天的下一个生字是
Kirin: 担心.
Adam: And that means “to be worried.” So
Kirin: 不用担心
Adam: means “No need to be worried.”
Luise: 然后她继续说
Kirin: 我们先去找警察，再想想别的办法.
Luise: 这里，我们有今天的最后一个生字
Kirin: 警察.
Adam: And that means “policeman.”
Luise: 所以你们知道这个句子是什么意思吗?
Kirin: 我们先去找警察，再想想别的办法.
Adam: This sentence uses a popular construct of 先 followed by 再. The 先 means “first” while the 再 here means “then.” So she’s saying “We’ll first go look for a policeman then think about a different solution.”
Kirin: 我们先去找警察，再想想别的办法.
Luise: 然后Kirin说
Kirin: 我真希望能快点找到我的钱包.
Luise: 这些单字我们也都学过了. 所以你们觉得这个句子是什么意思?
Kirin: 我真希望能快点找到我的钱包.
Adam: “I really hope I can quickly find my wallet.”
Luise: 然后她继续说
Kirin: 因为里面有很多钱跟信用卡.
Luise: 你们记得 信用卡 是什么意思吗?
Adam: It’s what is commonly found in wallets. Credit cards.
Kirin: 因为里面有很多钱跟信用卡.
Adam: “Since there is a lot of money and credit cards inside.”
Adam: “Today is my first time meeting my boyfriend’s parents.”
Luise: 然后 Luise继续说
Kirin: 你可以给我一些建议吗?
Luise: 在这个问题的后面，我们看到今天的第一个生字
Kirin: 建议.
Adam: And that means “suggestion” or “recommendation.”
Kirin: 你可以给我一些建议吗?
Adam: “Can you give me any suggestions?”
Luise: 然后 Kirin 回答
Kirin: 可以啊. 你应该要带一个礼物去送给他们.
Luise: 这些单字，我们也都学过了. 你们记得礼物是什么意思吗?
Adam: That means “gift.”
Luise: 所以你们觉得这个句子是什么意思?
Kirin: 可以啊. 你应该要带一个礼物去送给他们.
Adam: “Yes I can. You should take a gift to give to them.”
Luise: 然后Luise说
Kirin: 好主意.
Adam: “Good idea.”
Luise: 然后她继续说
Kirin: 还有别的吗?
Luise: 这里，我们有今天的第二个生字
Kirin: 别的.
Adam: And that means “other.” Compare that with
Kirin: 另外
Adam: which can mean “another” or “additionally”.
Kirin: 还有别的吗?
Adam: “Do you have any others?” By context we know that the others here is referring to other suggestions.
Luise: 然后 Kirin 回答
Kirin: 嗯 – 你一定要有礼貌.
Luise: 你们记得一定要是什么意思吗?
Adam: That means “to definitely have to.”
Luise: 然后，我们今天的下一个生字是
Kirin: 礼貌.
Adam: And that means “manners.” So
Kirin: 有礼貌.
Adam: means “to have manners.”
Luise: 对，然后有礼貌的相反是
Kirin: 没礼貌.
Adam: So back to our sentence, we have
Kirin: 嗯 – 你一定要有礼貌.
Adam: “Hmm – you definitely have to be polite.”
Luise: 然后她继续说
Kirin: 还有不能迟到.
Luise: 你们还记得迟到是什么意思吗?
Adam: We saw that recently meaning “to be late.”
Luise: 所以你们觉得这个句子是什么意思?
Kirin: 还有不能迟到.
Adam: “As well, you can’t be late.”
Luise: 然后Luise说
Kirin: 喔，那我最好现在开始准备.
Luise: 你们记得最好是什么意思吗?
Adam: That means “best.”
Luise: 然后在这个句子的后面, 我们有另外一个生字
Kirin: 准备.
Adam: And that means “to prepare” or “to get ready.”
Kirin: 喔，那我最好现在开始准备.
Adam: “So it would be best if I started to get ready now.”
Luise: 然后她继续说
Kirin: 因为我通常都会迟到.
Luise: 这里，我们也有一个生字
Kirin: 通常.
Adam: And this is yet another way to say “usually”.
Kirin: 因为我通常都会迟到.
Adam: “Because I am usually late.”
Luise: 然后Kirin说
Kirin: 那真是一个坏习惯.
Luise: 坏，我们已经教过了.
Adam: Previously, we described it as meaning “to break down.” That meaning also extends to mean “bad.” So if something “坏了”, that means it is now bad or broken down. So here she’s saying
Kirin: 那真是一个坏习惯.
Luise: 在这个句子的后面我们有今天的最后一个生字
Kirin: 习惯.
Adam: And that means “to get used to” or in this case “habit.”
Adam: We’ve seen the second character before 到 meaning arrive. The first character here means “late” so together
Kirin: 迟到.
Adam: means “late arrive.”
Kirin: 你最近为什么常迟到? 今天也是!
Adam: “How come your’re often late recently? Including today!”
Raphael: 然后这个男生回答
Kirin: 真不好意思, 我睡过头了.
Raphael: 这个睡是睡觉的睡. 然后，在后面我们看到
Kirin: 过头.
Adam: And that means “to overdo”, so together
Kirin: 睡过头了.
Adam: Means “to oversleep.”
Kirin: 真不好意思, 我睡过头了.
Adam: “I’m sorry, I overslept.”
Raphael: 然后他继续说
Kirin: 我应该是七点起床的.
Raphael: 你们记得起床是什么意思吗? 是睡觉的相反.
Adam: And that means “to wake up.”
Kirin: 我应该是七点起床的.
Adam: “I should have woken up at 7 o’clock.”
Raphael: 然后他继续说
Kirin: 可是我的闹钟没有叫.
Raphael: 今天的下一个生字是
Kirin: 闹钟.
Adam: And that means “alarm clock.” The first character means “to make a noise” or “disturb”, while the second character refers to “clock.” So together
Kirin: 闹钟.
Adam: means “alarm clock.”
Kirin: 可是我的闹钟没有叫.
Raphael: 这个叫是 你叫什么名字 的叫. 你们记得叫是什么意思吗?
Adam: It’s the verb “to call.” So together this sentence is literally saying “But my alarm clock didn’t call me.”
Kirin: 可是我的闹钟没有叫.
Adam: In English, this would be “But my alarm clock didn’t ring.”
Raphael: 然后这个女生说
Kirin: 这个藉口太烂了.
Raphael: 这个句子里,有两个生字. 第一个是
Kirin: 藉口.
Adam: And that means “excuse.”
Raphael: 然后第二个生字是
Kirin: 烂.
Adam: While the literal meaning of this character means “rotten” or “overcooked”, it is being used in this context to mean “poor” as in “terrible.”
Kirin: 这个藉口太烂了.
Adam: “That’s a very poor excuse.”
Raphael: 然后这个女生继续说
Kirin: 你对你的工作应该要再认真一点.
Raphael: 这个句子也有一个生字
Kirin: 认真.
Adam: And this is a verb meaning “to take seriously.”
Raphael: 所以你们觉得这个句子的意思是什么?
Kirin: 你对你的工作应该要再认真一点.
Adam: The literal meaning here is “You for your job should have to again serious a little.”
Kirin: 你对你的工作应该要再认真一点.
Adam: Which translates to “You should be more serious about your job.” We’ve seen the 再 character here used in different ways in different lessons. Here it’s being used in a “more” capacity. Compare the following.
Kirin: 你可以做快一点吗?
Adam: “Can you do it a little faster?”
Kirin: 你可以再做快一点吗?
Adam: “Can you do it more faster?”
Raphael: 然后这个男生说
Kirin: 对不起. 下次不会再这样了.
Raphael: 这些单字我们也都学过了. 你觉得这个句子是什么意思?
Adam: The literal meaning here is “I’m sorry, next time won’t again this way.”
Adam: “Which part of your body isn’t comfortable?” In Chinese, being “uncomfortable” is a common way to state that you aren’t feeling well. So
Kirin: 我不舒服.
Adam: means “I’m not feeling well.”
Raphael: 然后这个女生回答
Kirin: 头痛，喉咙痛，还有咳嗽.
Raphael: 你们记得头是什么意思吗?
Adam: That we’ve learned before means “head.”
Raphael: 这个人的头有一个问题.她头痛.
Adam: And there we have the verb for “ache”
Kirin: 痛.
Raphael: 接下来，在这个句子里，我们有另外一个也是身体的一部分.
Kirin: 喉咙.
Adam: And that means “throat.”
Raphael: 那她的喉咙怎么了?
Kirin: 喉咙痛.
Adam: And that means “sore throat.”
Kirin: 头痛，喉咙痛，还有咳嗽.
Raphael: 接下来，在这个句子的后面，我们看到另外一个生病的问题
Kirin: 咳嗽.
Adam: And that means “cough.”
Kirin: 头痛，喉咙痛，还有咳嗽.
Adam: “My head aches, my throat is sore, and I have a cough.”
Raphael: 然后这个男生说
Kirin: 你大概是感冒了.
Raphael: 这里，我们有今天的下一个生字
Kirin: 感冒.
Adam: And that means “to catch a cold.”
Kirin: 你大概是感冒了.
Adam: “You have probably caught a cold.”
Raphael: 然后他继续说
Kirin: 你要去看医生吗?
Raphael: 你们记得医生是什么意思吗?
Adam: That means “doctor.”
Kirin: 你要去看医生吗?
Adam: “Do you want to see a doctor?”
Raphael: 然后这个女生回答
Kirin: 不用看.
Adam: “There’s no need to see one.”
Kirin: 我想吃药跟睡觉应该就会好了.
Raphael: 我们今天的最后一个生字是
Kirin: 药.
Adam: And that means “medicine.”
Raphael: 你们记得睡觉是什么意思吗?
Adam: We saw that recently meaning “to fall asleep”
Raphael: 所以你们觉得这个句子是什么意思?
Kirin: 我想吃药跟睡觉应该就会好了.
Adam: A more literal meaning of the sentence is “I want eat medicine with fall asleep will be good enough.” This extends to “I’ll just eat some medicine and go to sleep, and that’ll be good enough.” Note how the 应该, which we’ve previously described as meaning “should” can be extended in meaning to this context.
Adam: Adding the 了 particle to the end of this sentence indicates a change in situation. Now he is almost finished.
Kirin: 差不多了.
Raphael: 然后他继续说
Kirin: 可是还有一些地方不清楚该怎么写.
Raphael: 你们记得地方是什么意思吗?
Adam: That means “place.”
Raphael: 在这个句子里面，我们有一个生字.
Kirin: 清楚.
Adam: And that means “clear.”
Raphael: 然后，在清楚的后面， 该 是应该的该. 所以你们觉得这句子是什么意思?
Kirin: 可是还有一些地方不清楚该怎么写.
Adam: The literally translation here is “But additionally have some places not clear should how write.”
Kirin: 可是还有一些地方不清楚该怎么写.
Adam: “But there are some places that aren’t clear what to write.”
Raphael: 然后这个女生回答
Kirin: 没关係.
Adam: “That’s okay.”
Kirin: 你慢慢写.
Adam: The literal meaning here is “you slow slow write.” Repeating a verb like this is a common way of emphasizing the action involved here. So she’s saying “You can write slowly.”
Kirin: 你慢慢写.
Raphael: 然后她继续说
Kirin: 你写好的时候，再告诉我.
Adam: Earlier in this lesson we taught you:
Kirin: 写完了.
Adam: which means “to finish writing.” Here, we have another way to say this.
Kirin: 写好了.
Adam: The literal meaning here is “write good”, as in, “I’m done writing.”
Kirin: 你写好的时候，再告诉我.
Raphael: 你们记得告诉是什么意思吗?
Adam: That means “to tell”; so the meaning here is “When you are finished writing, you can tell me.”
Kirin: 你写好的时候，再告诉我.
Adam: The 再 character here has been taught to you as meaning “again.” In this sentence it means “then.” It is used in this context in situations where an initial action is required before the second action can be completed. So in this case, the man first has to finish writing, then he can tell the woman.
Kirin: 你写好的时候，再告诉我.
Raphael: 然后这个男生说
Kirin: 好，如果我需要你的帮忙，再请你过来.
Raphael: 这些单字我们已经都学过了. 你们知道这个句子是什么意思吗?
Adam: The literal meaning here is “Ok, if I need your help, then please you across come.”
Kirin: 好，如果我需要你的帮忙，再请你过来.
Adam: The 过来, at the end, is a common way to say “come over here.” Note how the 再 character here is being used in the same fashion it was explained earlier.
Kirin: 好，如果我需要你的帮忙，再请你过来.
Adam: “Ok, if I need your help, I’ll ask you to come over.” The qing at the end here can mean “please” as we’ve seen in the past or “invite” as we see here.
Adam: The literal meaning is “You today are going to continuously stay here?” which can be thought of as meaning “Are you going to stay here all day today?”
Raphael: 然后这个男生回答
Kirin: 你要出去吗?
Adam: “Are you going out?”
Raphael: 然后这个女生回答
Kirin: 明天是我朋友的生日.
Raphael: 这些单字我们已经都学过了. 你们觉得这个句子是什么意思?
Kirin: 明天是我朋友的生日.
Adam: “Tomorrow is my friend’s birthday.”
Raphael: 然后她继续说
Kirin: 所以我现在要去买一个礼物送给他.
Raphael: 这个女生要买的东西是我们今天的第一个生字.
Kirin: 礼物.
Adam: And that means “gift” or “present.”
Raphael: 然后，这个句子的后面，我们有另外一个生字.
Kirin: 送.
Adam: This verb means “to delivery” or “to freely give”, as in the case of a present. It often combines with the 给 character as shown here.
Kirin: 所以我现在要去买一个礼物送给他.
Adam: “So I now have to go buy a present to give to him.”
Raphael: 然后这个男生说
Kirin: 那你想要买什么东西给他?
Raphael: 我觉得你们应该了解这个句子的意思.
Kirin: 那你想要买什么东西给他?
Adam: “So what would you like to buy for him?”
Raphael: 然后这个女生回答
Kirin: 我还没确定.
Raphael: 你们记得 确定 是什么意思吗?
Adam: That means “to decide.”
Raphael: 所以你们觉得这个句子是什么意思?
Kirin: 我还没确定.
Adam: “I haven’t yet decided.”
Raphael: 然后她继续说
Kirin: 可是我必须再买一个蛋糕.
Raphael: 在这个句子里面，我们有两个生字. 第一个是.
Kirin: 必须.
Adam: And that’s another way to say “to have to.”
Raphael: 然后在这个句子的后面，我们看到
Kirin: 蛋糕.
Raphael: 这个生字是一个食物的名字.
Adam: The literal meaning here is “egg” and “cake,” but they are often combined to form the word for cake.
Raphael: 所以你们觉得这个句子是什么意思?
Kirin: 可是我必须再买一个蛋糕.
Adam: Note the use of the 再 character, which we’ve taught before as meaning “again.” Here it’s being used in an “also” context, giving us: “But I also have to buy a cake.”
Kirin: 可是我必须再买一个蛋糕.
Raphael: 然后这个男生说
Kirin: 祝你好运!
Raphael: 我希望你们还记得这个句子的意思.
Adam: “I wish you good luck.”
Kirin: 祝你好运!
Raphael: 然后这个女生回答
Kirin: 谢谢你. 我马上就回来了.
Raphael: 这个 马 是一个动物的名字.
Adam: It’s the character for “horse.” So
Kirin: 马上.
Adam: means “on a horse.” This is a very common expression you’ll hear.
Kirin: 我马上回来.
Adam: The literal meaning is “I’ll be back on a horse.” Once upon a time, using a horse to get around, was the quicker way to get things done, so this expression means “I’ll be right back.”
Adam: That’s a common expression meaning “wait a moment.”
Raphael: 然后，开门 是什么意思?
Adam: That means “open door.”
Raphael: 所以你们觉得这个句子是什么意思?
Kirin: 先等一下，让我来帮你开门.
Adam: “Wait a moment, let me open the door for you.”
Raphael: 然后这个女生回答
Kirin: 喔，谢谢. 你真体贴.
Raphael: 在这个问题的后面，我们有今天的第一个生字.
Kirin: 体贴.
Adam: And that means “considerate.”
Kirin: 喔，谢谢. 你真体贴.
Adam: “Thank you, you are really considerate.”
Raphael: 然后这个男生说
Kirin: 咦，这个门怎么拉不开?
Raphael: 在这个句子的后面我们有一个生字.
Kirin: 拉.
Adam: And that means “to pull”. The literal meaning here is “This door how pull not open”, so he’s asking “How come I can’t pull this door open?”
Kirin: 咦，这个门怎么拉不开?
Raphael: 然后这个女生回答
Kirin: 你怎么那么笨?
Raphael: 这里我们有一个常用的字.
Kirin: 笨.
Adam: And that means “stupid” or “silly.”
Kirin: 你怎么那么笨?
Adam: “How come you’re so silly?”
Raphael: 然后她继续说
Kirin: 这个门是要用推的才打得开.
Raphael: 这里，我们有另外一个生字.
Kirin: 推.
Adam: And that’s the verb “to push”.
Kirin: 要用推的.
Adam: This literally means “Have to use push.” In other words, you have to push to open the door.
Kirin: 这个门是要用推的才打得开.
Adam: “You need to push this door before you can open it.” The 才 particle here is used to show that the second part of this sentence “can open” depends on the first part “pushing the door” occurring first.
Raphael: 然后这个男生说
Kirin: 喔，我常常搞不懂推跟拉.
Raphael: 你们知道 常常 是什么意思吗?
Adam: In the past we’ve seen
Kirin: 平常，经常，正常.
Adam: Here’s another version
Kirin: 常常.
Adam: which is another way to say “often.”
Kirin: 喔，我常常搞不懂推跟拉.
Raphael: 在这个句子的中间，我们看到
Kirin: 搞不懂.
Adam: The 搞 here has many meanings on its own. In this context, it means “to figure out” and combines with the 不懂 or “don’t understand” to mean “Can’t figure out” or, in this case, “to mix up.”
Kirin: 喔，我常常搞不懂推跟拉.
Adam: “Oh, I often mix up push and pull.”
Raphael: 然后这个女生回答
Kirin: 那不重要.
Raphael: 你们记得 重要 是什么意思吗?
Adam: That means “important.” So she’s saying “that’s not important.”
Kirin: 那不重要.
Raphael: 然后她继续说
Kirin: 快一点进去吧.
Raphael: 这里，我们有今天的最后一个生字是.
Kirin: 快.
Raphael: 快 是 慢 的相反.
Adam: And that means ‘fast.” So the literal translation of this sentence is: “Fast a little enter go.” In other words, “Quick – go in”
Adam: This character has a couple of different meanings. It can mean “to read out aloud” or in this case “to study.”
Kirin: 你现在还在念大学吗?
Adam: “Are you still studying at university?”
Raphael: 然后这个男生回答
Kirin: 是的.
Raphael: 这是很常用的方法来回答 Yes.
Kirin: 是的.
Raphael: 然后这个女生问
Kirin: 你想过你以后要做什么吗?
Raphael: 这些单字我们都学过了. 以后 是什么意思?
Adam: That means “after” or, in this case, “the future.”
Raphael: 然后 你想过吗 是什么意思?
Adam: That’s asking “Have you ever thought about?”
Raphael: 所以这个问题是什么意思?
Kirin: 你想过你以后要做什么吗?
Adam: “Have you thought about what you want to do in the future?”
Raphael: 然后这个男生回答
Kirin: 因为我们现在学的课程都跟电脑有关系.
Raphael: 这个 关系 是 没关系 的关系. 你们记得 关系 是什么意思吗?
Adam: 没关系, you may remember, is used in the context of “that’s okay.” However, 关系 on its own means “relationship.” So here he’s literally saying “because what we are studying now is related to.” And that leads us to our next new word.
Adam: The 脑 character on its own means “brain.” So can you figure out what an “electric brain” is referring to? It’s a “computer.”
Raphael: 电脑.
Kirin: 因为我们现在学的课程都跟电脑有关系.
Adam: “Because the course we are studying now is related to computers.”
Raphael: 然后他继续说
Kirin: 所以我大部分的朋友想要当电脑工程师.
Raphael: 这个句子里面，有两个生字. 第一个是
Kirin: 大部分.
Adam: The literal meaning here is “big part.” This term is commonly used to mean “most of.”
Raphael: 接下来是 当. 你们记得 当是什么意思吗?
Adam: And that on its own is the verb “to become.”
Raphael: 然后在这个句子的后面是一个工作.
Kirin: 电脑工程师.
Adam: And that you may figure out is a “computer engineer.”
Kirin: 所以我大部分的朋友想要当电脑工程师.
Adam: “So most of my friends would like to become computer engineers.”
Raphael: 然后这个女生问
Kirin: 那你呢?
Adam: What about you?”
Raphael: 然后那个男生回答
Kirin: 其实我想要做一个我自己的网站用来做生意.
Raphael: 你们记得 其实 是什么意思吗?
Adam: That you may remember means “Actually.”
Raphael: 这个句子里面，我们看到两个一样的 做，可是， 是不一样的意思.
Adam: Previously, we taught you that 做 means “to do.” Depending on context, it can also mean “to make.” So in this sentence, the first 做 means “to make”, while the second means “to do.”
Raphael: 然后，我自己的 是什么意思?
Adam: That means “my own.”
Raphael: 接下来，今天的最后一个生字是 网站. 是 网路 的网，而且跟网路有关系.
Adam: And that means “website.”
Raphael: 接下来，你们记得 做生意 是什么意思吗?
Adam: And that means “to do business.” So putting it all together we get.
Kirin: 其实我想要做一个我自己的网站用来做生意.
Adam: “Actually, I would like to make my own website to do business.”
Kirin: 喔，他跟 Adam 一样.
Raphael: 对. 然后这个女生回答
Kirin: 这主意很不错.
Raphael: 你们记得 主意 是什么意思吗?
Adam: We saw that in the expression “好主意”, meaning “good idea.”
Adam: The first two characters literally mean “100 products.” The latter two characters refer to company. So here we have a company that sells a lot of different products. And that’s the term used for department store.
Kirin: 百货公司.
Adam: So what about the department store?
Kirin: 这家百货公司最近有很多新的东西.
Raphael: 逛是逛街的逛. 你们记得 逛街是什么意思吗?
Adam: We saw that in lesson 115, meaning “to window shop.” So the meaning here is “This department store recently has a lot of new things to look at.”
Raphael: 然后，她继续说
Kirin: 我们去逛逛吧.
Adam: “Let’s go window shopping.”
Raphael: 接下来，这个男生问.
Kirin: 好啊，你想要逛哪一区?
Raphael: 这些单字我们已经都学过了. 你们觉得它的意思是什么呢?
Adam: “Ok, which area would you like to shop at?”
Kirin: 好啊，你想要逛哪一区?
Raphael: 然后，这个女生回答.
Kirin: 我想要去看看化妆品.
Raphael: 这里，我们有另外一个生字，化妆.
Adam: That refers to the act of putting on make-up.
Raphael: 然后，在这个句子的后面，我们有食品的品.
Adam: That you may remember refers to “products.” So together
Kirin: 化妆品
Adam: means “make-up products.” So she wants to go look at make-up.
Kirin: 我想要去看看化妆品.
Raphael: 然后，这个男生说.
Kirin: 那对我很无聊.
Raphael: 这些单字我们也都学过了. 你们觉得这个句子是什么意思呢?
Adam: The literal meaning here is “That for me very boring.” In other words, “I’d find that quite boring.”
Kirin: 那对我很无聊.
Raphael: 然后，他继续说.
Kirin: 不然，你逛那边的时候.
Raphael: 我们下一个生字是
Kirin: 不然.
Raphael: 这个生字，我们很常用.
Adam: This word has a few different meanings, depending on context along the lines of “else” or “otherwise.” In this context, it means “alternatively.”
Kirin: 不然，你逛那边的时候.
Adam: “Alternatively, while you are shopping there.”
Raphael: 然后，他继续说.
Kirin: 我去逛电子商品区，好不好?
Raphael: 你们记得电是什么意思吗?
Adam: That means “electric.” The 子 added to it here changes it to “electronic.”
Raphael: 然后，我们有商店的商，跟食品的品.
Adam: and together
Kirin: 电子商品
Adam: refers to “electronic products.” So in this case he is suggesting that he go shop at the electronics section.
Kirin: 我去逛电子商品区，好不好?
Raphael: 然后，这个女人回答.
Kirin: 好，我们三点在一楼的服务台见.
Raphael: 你们记得一楼是什么意思吗?
Adam: That means “1st floor.”
Raphael: 那服务员的服务是什么意思?
Adam: And that means “service.”
Raphael: 在后面我们有一个新的字.
Kirin: 台.
Adam: The 台 there refers to a counter; so together
Kirin: 服务台.
Adam: means “service counter,” which in the context of a department store is “the information desk.”
Kirin: 好，我们三点在一楼的服务台见.
Adam: So, the literal meaning here is “Ok, we 3 o’ clock at 1st floor service counter meet.” In other words, “Ok, we’ll meet at the first floor information desk at 3 o’clock.”
Adam: It’s, of course, “a red book.” Note that we have taught you three different “nas” with three different tones and three different meanings. Kirin, maybe you can give us a sentence using all three.
Kirin: 那里 哪有书可以拿？
Adam: So can you figure the meaning there? The literal meaning is: There which have book can take?, which translates to “What book can I take from there?”
Raphael: 所以你们觉得这个句子是什么意思?
Kirin: 你可以到那个桌子那边去帮我拿一本红色的书吗?
Adam: “Can you go to the table and get the red book for me?”
Kirin: 你可以到那个桌子那边去帮我拿一本红色的书吗?
Raphael: 然后这个男生回答.
Kirin: 哇，怎么那么乱!
Raphael: 这里我们也有一个生字， 乱.
Adam: And that means “messy”.
Kirin: 哇，怎么那么乱!
Adam: The literal translation here is “Wow, how so messy!” This construction is similar to how we might say “How messy this is” in English.
Kirin: 哇，怎么那么乱!
Raphael: 然后他继续说.
Kirin: 你的书在哪里? 我怎么找不到?
Raphael: 你们记得找是什么意思吗?
Adam: That’s the verb “to find.” Since in Chinese, verbs don’t change forms, additional characters are used to indicate tenses. Let’s take a moment to look at how this is done with a few examples.
I want to look for.
Kirin: 我要找.
Adam: I will look for.
Kirin: 我会找.
Adam: I am looking for.
Kirin: 我在找.
Adam: I found what I’m looking for.
Kirin: 我找到了.
Adam: And in the example in our conversation here we have, I can’t find what I’m looking for.
Kirin: 我找不到.
Adam: So back to our conversation, the man says:
Kirin: 你的书在哪里? 我怎么找不到?
Adam: “Where’s your book? How am I supposed to find it?”
Kirin: 你的书在哪里? 我怎么找不到?
Raphael: 然后，这个女生回答.
Kirin: 就在报纸的旁边.
Raphael: 你记得’报纸’是什么吗 ?
Adam: That, of course, is “a newspaper.”
Kirin: 就在报纸的旁边.
Adam: It’s right next to the newspaper.
Raphael: 然后，这个男生说
Kirin: 报纸的旁边只有笔.
Raphael: 这里，我们看到另外一个生字.
Kirin: 笔.
Adam: And that can mean pen or pencil depending on context. It could also refer to a single item or multiple items. That’s the beauty of Chinese.
Kirin: 报纸的旁边只有笔.
Adam: “Next to the newspaper, there are only some pens.”
Adam: Now before we begin, do you remember what 服务员 means? Previously, we defined it as a waiter. But obviously a restaurant is not the best place to catch a train, so that term also functions as a service person. In this case, it represents the person selling train tickets at the train station.
Adam: That means “address”; so we’re going to teach you the words you might see when looking at an address, which is always nice to know when traveling in Chinese communities.
Kirin: 我们先来看一个地址. 等一下我们在一个一个帮你们解释.
台中市，北区，五权西路，192号，7楼 – 12号.
Adam: Now a few comments about this address first. Unlike in western countries, Chinese addresses start off from the biggest areas and move down to the smallest. So in this sample address, we are starting off with the name of the city, Taichung, which happens to be the name of the city we’re in at the moment, in Taiwan. Now do you remember how to say “city” in Chinese?
Kirin: 城市
Adam: So you can see the first item of our address is
Kirin: 台中市
Adam: which means “Taichung city.” Similarly, if you wanted to say Shanghai city you could say:
Kirin: 上海市.
Adam: The next part of the address is:
Kirin: 北区. 第二个字我们最近才教过. 你们还记得吸烟区是什么意思吗?
Adam: That means “smoking area.” So the 区 character refers to “area.” In the case of addresses though, it expands to mean “district.” So in this case it’s the North district. So here’s a good time to learn the four directions on a map.
Kirin: 北
Adam: North
Kirin: 南
Adam: South
Kirin: 东
Adam: East
Kirin: 西
Adam: West. Great, so make sure you remember those, as there will be a test later. So getting back to our address, so far we have Taichung city, North district. What’s next?
Kirin: 五权西路. 你们记得路是什么意思吗?
Adam: That means “road.” The first two characters here represent the name of the road, which in this case is
Kirin: 五权
Adam: We then have
Kirin: 西
Adam: which hopefully you remember is “West.” So that gives us “Wu chuan West road.”
Kirin: 五权西路.
Adam: The next part is:
Kirin: 192号. 你们还记得这个号是什么意思吗?
Adam: We learned it way back in lesson 6 as the character for “number.” So that gives us number 192.
Kirin: 192号.
Adam: We then have
Kirin: 7 楼.
Adam: This is sometimes written as 7F, with the F standing for floor. In Chinese that’s
Kirin: 楼
Adam: You will see this often in Asia as there tend to be a lot more buildings per capita than you see out west, so it’s important to know what floor of the building you want to go to. So in this case it’s
Kirin: 7 楼
Adam: And the last part of the address is:
Kirin: 12 号
Adam: which should be easy enough to figure out as number 12.
Adam: This is the start of level 3 of our course and as such we are going to be increasing the amount of Chinese used within the lesson. We will continue to teach new words in each lesson, while re-using vocabulary we’ve previously taught in the past during the chatter portions.
Kirin: 我们今天要学的是什么呢?
Coco: 我们要来复习之前学过的.
Kirin: “复习“，这是我们今天第一个生字.
Adam: And that means “review.”
Coco: 对，复习.
Kirin: 那我们今天要复习什么呢?
Coco: 今天我们要复习打招呼的部分.
Kirin: 这里我们有两个生字. 第一个是打招呼.
Adam: And that refers to “greetings.”
Kirin: 然后在后面我们有另一个生字，”部分.”
Adam: And that means “section.” So when you put the two together you get:
Kirin: 打招呼的部分.
Adam: which means “Greetings section.” So what are we doing again today?
Coco: 今天我们要复习打招呼的部分.
Adam: “We are going to review our section on Greetings.”
Kirin: 好，在第一级，我们已经教过 “你好“，”你们好“，”大家好.”
Coco: 对，那是最基本的打招呼方法.
Kirin: 咦,基本是什么意思?
Adam: That’s another good word to know – it means “basic.”
Adam: Hello, and welcome to the first lesson for level 3 of our course. I’m your host, Adam, along with Kirin.
In today’s lesson we will try and describe our course, using Chinese. This is important since, as you may have noticed in recent lessons, we have been moving towards using more Chinese to explain the content of new lessons.
So to begin with, how would you say “course” in Chinese?
Kirin: 课程.
Adam: This is made up of two characters. The first, we’ve seen before, means “class” while the second refers to “journey” or “procedure” so together
Kirin: 课程.
Adam: means “course.” But this isn’t any normal course we have here, is it?
Kirin: 不是，是一个更进一步的课程.
Adam: So let’s look at what she just said. There’s the character 更, which we’ve seen before in
Kirin: 更好.
Adam: which means “better.” The 更 on its own refers to “change” and here it combines with another term.
Kirin: 进一步.
Adam: The first character we’ve also seen before. We in fact saw it way back in lesson 16 in the term.
Kirin: 请进
Adam: which means “Please enter.” The 进 means “to enter” or “advance.” That’s followed by
Kirin: 一步
Adam: which means “one step.” So together
Kirin: 更进一步的课程.
Adam: literally means “to progress one step at a time course,” in other words “a progressive course.”
Kirin: 更进一步的课程.
Adam: So knowing this, we can now change the intro to our lesson to:
Kirin: 欢迎来到我们更进一步的中文学习课程.
Adam: So that literally translates to “Welcome arrive we progressive Chinese study course.”
Kirin: 欢迎来到我们更进一步的中文学习课程.
Adam: which means I can now retire my previous intro of “Welcome to our progressive course teaching Chinese.” (sigh) Alright, so what can you tell us about this course, Kirin?
Kirin: 现在有三级.
Adam: Ah yes. Right now there are three
Kirin: 级.
Adam: And that means “level.” What else can you tell us?
Kirin: 一级有六十课.
Adam: So can you figure out what she said there? “One level has 60 lessons.”
Kirin: 一级有六十课.
Adam: Now in most lessons, we try to teach you some new vocabulary items. Previously, we taught you the term used for “word.” There are two similar terms we’ve been using. Our friends in Mainland China used the word
Kirin: 单词.
Adam: while in our most recent lessons we’ve been using
Kirin: 单字.
Adam: Similarly, there is a term used to describe a “new word” which is
Kirin: 生词
Adam: or
Kirin: 生字.
Adam: So Kirin, what can you tell us about the 生字 in our course?
Kirin: 我们在第一二级已经教了很多生字.
Adam: Yes, that’s right. Let’s look at some examples of some of the 生字 we have taught you in the past. First though, let’s look at how we say “example.”
Kirin: 比如.
Adam: So to say “for example” we could say
Kirin: 比如说.
Adam: which means she’s going to tell us some examples. Now before we do that, let’s look at a few categories of 生字 we have taught you.
Kirin: 国家.
Adam: Ah, can you figure out what that is? It’s made up of two characters we’ve seen before. The first refers to “country,” but you may remember that on its own, concepts are usually described using two characters, so here there is a second character added, which in this case refers to “home.” And when you put the two together you get the word meaning “country.”
Kirin: 国家.
Adam: So what can you tell us about the 国家 we have taught here?
Kirin: 我们已经教你们很多国家的名字. 比如说台湾，美国，日本，加拿大，澳洲等等.
Adam: Great, you can… sorry what did you say at the end there?
Kirin: 等等.
Adam: I’m sorry what country is that? I don’t have that on my list.
Kirin: 那不是国家. 是 etcetera 的意思.
Adam: Ah, I knew that （ahem）. The literal meaning is “wait wait” but it’s commonly used in this context to mean “etc.” You can find the whole list of countries and more in lesson 3.
Kirin: 还有我们也教了你们不一样的食物.
Adam: So there’s another 生字 for us.
Kirin: 食物. 是食品的食跟动物的物.
Adam: So that’s the character from “food products” and “animal”, which together forms the word for “food” in general.
Kirin: 对，我们也教了你们很多食物的名字. 比如说汉堡，薯条，炒面，米饭，汤等等.
Adam: For the entire list, premium subscribers can access the word bank, and type in “food” under the “type” field.
Kirin: 我们也教了你们很多饮料的名字. 比如说咖啡，茶，可乐，啤酒等等.
Adam: To see that list, type in “drink” in the “type” category of the Word Bank.
