Daily Practice Session - S2 - Lesson 16

After listening to Season 2, Lesson 16, start reinforcing what you've learned by taking five minutes a day to practice listening to and imitating the dialogue. Repetition makes it stick.

README: How to use this recording

You'll hear the dialogue from Lesson 16 twice.

The first time, there will be a short pause after each line. During the pause, try to repeat aloud exactly what you just heard.

Repeating aloud is important, partly because you'll be training your speech muscles to make the sounds of Mandarin, and partly because you'll be getting feedback about how you sound (if you're listening with earbuds, I recommend practicing with one earbud out and one in, or else with both partially in, so that you can hear yourself better).

The second time, there won't be any pauses. Try to "shadow" the sounds simultaneously as they are spoken, also aloud.

This will help you practice stringing the sounds together and further reinforce the muscle memory speech patterns of Mandarin. If it feels way too fast, you can try shadowing only one of the characters each time you listen. However, even then, don't expect to be able to keep up with everything at first.  It takes regular daily practice to start training your ears to have a more nuanced perception of the sounds, and to train your speech muscles to speak at natural speed.

Dialogue transcript (Chinese characters only):

• 莉莉：不好意思，我媽一直都這樣。
• 小李：沒事！她人超好。
• 阿明：你也住在這裡嗎？
• 莉莉：沒有，我在外面租房。但是，因為媽媽現在一個人，所以我常常回家陪她吃飯。
• 阿明：你人真好！
• 莉莉：應該的。你們會喝酒嗎？
• 小李：這是什麼？
• 阿明：小李，你沒有喝過高粱？
• 小李：好辣！
• 阿明：慢慢喝。
• 莉莉：我很好奇。你怎麼會來到台灣呢？
• 小李：喔，我一開始來學中文。畢業後我就留在這裡工作。
• 莉莉：哦！你做什麼工作？
• 阿明：小李是記者！
• 小李：啊，對啦，可以這樣說。我在寫部落格。
• 莉莉：部落格？什麼樣的部落格？
• 小李：就是我去很多地方，然後問那裡的人很多問題。
• 莉莉：聽起來很酷！
• 小李：阿明也會幫我。他是攝影師。
• 阿明：小李負責採訪，我負責拍照。
• 莉莉：那你的中文已經超好的！
• 小李：還好，還好。
• 阿明：小李很謙虛。
• 莉莉：那你… 要不要採訪我？
• 阿明：小李，你慢慢喝！

Dialogue transcript (w/ pinyin and translation): 

• 莉莉：不好意思，我媽一直都這樣。
  • Sorry, my mom is always like this.
  • Bù hǎoyìsi, wǒ mā yīzhí dōu zhèyàng.
• 小李：沒事！她人超好。
  • No problem. She’s super nice.
  • Méishì! Tā rén chāo hǎo
• 阿明：你也住在這裡嗎？
  • Do you also live here?
  • Nǐ yě zhù zài zhèlǐ ma?
• 莉莉：沒有，我在外面租房。但是，因為媽媽現在一個人，所以我常常回家陪她吃飯。
  • No, I rent a place. But since my mom is alone now, I come home often to eat with her.
  • Méiyǒu, wǒ zài wàimiàn zūfáng. Dànshì, yīnwèi māmā xiànzài yīgèrén, suǒyǐ wǒ chángcháng huí jiā péi tā chīfàn
• 阿明：你人真好！
  • You’re so kind!
  • Nǐ rén zhēn hǎo!
• 莉莉：應該的。你們會喝酒嗎？
  • It’s the right thing to do. Do you drink alcohol?
  • Yīnggāi de. Nǐmen huì hējiǔ ma?
• 小李：這是什麼？
  • What’s this?
  • Zhè shì shénme?
• 阿明：小李，你沒有喝過高粱？
  • Xiao Li, you’ve never tried Kaoliang?
  • Xiǎo lǐ, nǐ méiyǒu hēguò gāoliang?
• 小李：好辣！
  • It’s so strong! (lit. spicy)
  • Hǎo là!
• 阿明：慢慢喝。
  • Drink slowly.
  • Màn man hē.
• 莉莉：我很好奇。你怎麼會來到台灣呢？
  • I’m curious. How did you end up coming to Taiwan?
  • Wǒ hěn hàoqí. Nǐ zěnme huì lái dào táiwān ne?
• 小李：喔，我一開始來學中文。畢業後我就留在這裡工作。
  • Oh, at first I came to study Chinese. After graduating, I stayed here to work.
  • Ō, wǒ yī kāishǐ lái xué zhōngwén. Bìyè hòu wǒ jiù liú zài zhèlǐ gōngzuò.
• 莉莉：哦！你做什麼工作？
  • Oh! What work do you do?
  • Ó! Nǐ zuò shénme gōngzuò?
• 阿明：小李是記者！
  • Xiao Li is a journalist!
  • Xiǎo lǐ shì jìzhě!
• 小李：啊，對啦，可以這樣說。我在寫部落格。
  • Ah, yeah, you could say that. I’m writing a blog.
  • A, duì la, kěyǐ zhèyàng shuō. Wǒ zài xiě bùluògé.
• 莉莉：部落格？什麼樣的部落格？
  • A blog? What kind of blog?
  • Bùluògé? Shénme yàng de bùluògé?
• 小李：就是我去很多地方，然後問那裡的人很多問題。
  • It’s just like, I go to a lot of places, and then I ask the people there a lot of questions.
  • Jiùshì wǒ qù hěnduō dìfāng, ránhòu wèn nàlǐ de rén hěnduō wèntí.
• 莉莉：聽起來很酷！
  • Sounds cool!
  • Tīng qǐlái hěn kù!
• 小李：阿明也會幫我。他是攝影師。
  • A-Ming also helps me. He’s a photographer.
  • Ā míng yě huì bāng wǒ. Tā shì shèyǐng shī. 
• 阿明：小李負責採訪，我負責拍照。
  • Xiao Li takes care of the interviewing. I’m in charge of taking pictures.
  • Xiǎo lǐ fùzé cǎifǎng, wǒ fùzé pāizhào. 
• 莉莉：那你的中文已經超好的！
  • Then your Chinese is already super great!
  • Nà nǐ de zhōngwén yǐjīng chāo hǎo de!
• 小李：還好，還好。
  • It’s alright, it’s alright.
  • Hái hǎo, hái hǎo.
• 阿明：小李很謙虛。
  • Xiao Li is really modest.
  • Xiǎo lǐ hěn qiānxū.
• 莉莉：那你… 要不要採訪我？
  • Well then… do you want to interview me?
  • Nà nǐ… yào bùyào cǎifǎng wǒ?
• 阿明：小李，你慢慢喝！
  • Xiao Li, drink slowly!
  • Xiǎo lǐ, nǐ màn man hē!

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