Let's hear a line-by-line translation of the dialogue from lesson 16.
This is the final lesson of Season 2 -- a milestone for both of us. Congratulations! Every minute you spent listening is a minute you invested in yourself and your Mandarin learning. Learning a language is challenging, it takes time, and there are bound to have been moments when you felt frustrated or felt that you had hit a plateau. Whenever this happens, I find it helpful to zoom out and consider how far I've come in the past months or years. I encourage you to do the same. And remember that often it's those very moments of doubt that signal a breakthrough is about to happen.
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I would like to invite you to give me your feedback on the lessons so far. Here are some questions I'm particularly curious about:
- Did you listen to the whole series, or just part of it? If just part, how did you choose which lessons to listen to?
- How helpful have you found the Daily Practice Sessions? Is there anything that made them hard to use?
- How was the step up in difficulty between Season 1 and Season 2?
- In Season 2, we spread one dialogue over two lessons, hearing the translation in the second part. What was that like for you?
- Anything else you'd like to share about your experience with the podcast, or with learning Mandarin.
Thank you for taking a few minutes to answer these questions. Your feedback will influence the design of Season 3 and beyond. You can send me your answers by email, or via my new MFTGU Facebook page. Whether you're reading this roughly now-ish, or months or years after this lesson was published, I would love to hear from you.
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Lesson Outline:
- [00:21] Introduction
- [01:42] Dialogue
- [03:12] Translation
- [10:07] Dialogue (full picture)
- [11:35] Questions for you, the listener!
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。
- 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!
Thanks for listening!
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