Upper Intermediate - We're going to miss the plane!

I like the longer dialogues of the upper intermediate lessons. Can ChinesePod do a few Elementary and Intermediate lessons with longer dialogues?

他们俩不用那么着急，反正飞机经常晚点，延误，或者被取消！

I am often in danger of missing the flight for a totally different reason.

longer elementary lessons would be great for those of us at intermediate level, to refresh our memories, but would be disastrous for those who are studying at elementary level. I think CP has it just right.

I edit the Elementary lessons together into longer dialogues, although the subjects are disjointed, it's a great study aid. I have 3 hours commuting each day, so plenty of time to listen!

我在中国坐车的时候每次都感觉司机参加了跑车比赛，很恐怖。

在台湾，我们用“飞机晚点”。

Grammar related question.

In the sentence:

你看，就剩几分钟了！

I was surprised to find a 就 rather than a 才.

Would

你看，才剩几分钟了！

also be correct to express that "ok, we only have a few minutes left to get there!"?

出租车司机往往是这样的，我很急，怕赶不上火车或误飞机，但司机会说“放心，没问题”等。他的(她的)话安慰不了我.

By the way, in the Vocabulary there is a minor mistake.  The tones for 绕来绕去 seem wrong - I think 绕 should be fourth, not third tone.

飛機晚點.是指班機沒準時起飛..

跟誤飛機好像不太一樣...

TO: henning

就 and 才 is different!

example:"才"剛過五分。

             "才"剛到!

        現在"才"7點

"才"用在時間上表示你還有充裕的時間或與某人約定的時間未到!

"才" useing on time mean you have much time or you have date with someone but the time still early or just a  moment ago...

"就"在這對話裡有點強調的口氣

example: "就"是他!

              我"就"是!

             "就"只有你了

"就" to emphasize your note

小弟淺見..有錯誤請指正  謝謝!

Hi henning,

The character 就 basically has a meaning "only", for example, 我就有这个(I only have this) or 就我一个人去(Only I go) etc. You can also say 只剩几分钟, but it seems to me that 就剩 connotes more "hurry" than 只剩.

As for 才, it means "barely, just now", so 才剩几分钟 is not appropriate in this case. Their friends, who are waiting at an airport, might say "他们才来了！" when the taxi arrives. Confusingly, 现在才十点 is translated as "It's only ten o'clock now".

thriple, changye,

thanks.The 就 for "only" was new to me.

Actually my mistake was that I thought I could use a 才 to emphasize that there are "barely" or "just" a few minutes left. As I understand it now, however, it would turn the meaning into something awkward like "only now there are just a few minutes left".

1  才+时间\数量，表示”早“、”少“：

才10点，他就睡了。（睡得早）

他才学了三个月，就学会了。（时间短）

时间\数量+才，表示”晚“、”多“

他10点才睡。（睡得晚）

他三个月才学会。（时间长）

2  用”才“的时候，句末常常不用”了“，

   用”就“的时候，句末常常用”了“。

This lessons reminds me of an earlier lesson "When the taxi takes the long way", which introduced to me the word 绕路

Im surprised it didnt make the related link list

http://chinesepod.com/lessons/when-the-taxi-takes-the-long-way/discussion

Just to clarify, 摄像头 is both webcam and speed camera?

Telling taxi drivers and waiting staff to hurry up all the time seems to be the second national sport after ping pong. I could never cope working either of those jobs in China ...

Oh, and can you 误 the bus or the 地铁？ Or does it have to be something that you have arranged in advance? How is it different from 错过？

If I were that taxi driver I would be tempted to make those passengers get out.

Jenny,

Your new avatar is beautiful!  You look very stoic!

jennyzhu says
2 days ago

I am often in danger of missing the flight for a totally different reason.

Care to elaborate on that Jenny?

thanks, i like it

I'm new to Chinesepod.com. I was told this was a free site but whenever I try to download sth, whether pdf or sound file, it turns out to be a paid feature. Am I doing sth wrong?

mtudino, the Radio Quality dialogue is (currently) free: red text in the downloads box up top. Apparently all content is about to become premium apart from Newbie lessons though ...

Nice lesson - very useful!

However, I have been a bit disappointed with the length of the expansions in some lessons lately.  It may just be my imagination but have they been shorter lately?

I remember doing past lessons with long expansions.  I really enjoy those as I learn a lot seeing the new words used in different contexts.  It also helps a lot with my listening and grammar skills.

If anyone would like some help understanding the chat between the Jenny and John, here are some words I have managed to pick out – I hope they are correct. English lookups courtesy of http://de.mdbg.net/chindict/chindict.php

耽误 dān wu delay / hold-up / to waste time / to interfere with
解决 jiě jué to settle (a dispute) / to resolve / to solve
办法 bàn fǎ means / method / way (of doing sth)
人身 rén shēn person / personal / human body
智慧 zhì huì wisdom / knowledge
道理 dào lǐ reason / argument / sense / principle / basis / justification
直线 zhí xiàn straight line
绕路   ràolù to make a detour
误事儿   wùshìr to hold things up – didn’t do something
由于 yóu yú due to / as a result of / thanks to / owing to / since / because
原因 yuán yīn cause / origin / root cause / reason
概括 gài kuò to summarize / to generalize / briefly
真格 zhēn gé true / real
路线 lù xiàn itinerary / route
特指 tè zhǐ to refer in particular to
面对面 miàn duì miàn face to face
体会 tǐ huì know (through learning or by experience)
乘客 chéng kè passenger
标明 biāo míng mark / indicate
相反 xiāng fǎn opposite / contrary
驾照 jià zhào driver's license
形象 xíng xiàng image / form / figure
手推车 shǒu tuī chē trolley / cart / barrow / handcart / wheelbarrow / baby buggy
抓紧时间 zhuā jǐn shí jiān to snatch time / to rush / to hurry (up) / to seize the moment
分享 fēn xiǎng to share (joys, benefits, privileges etc) with others / to get one's share / to divide out / to partake
电子警察   diànzǐ jǐngchá electronic policeman
警告 jǐng gào to warn / to admonish
驾驶 jià shǐ to pilot (ship, airplane etc) / to drive
合法 hé fǎ lawful / legitimate / legal
避免 bì miǎn to avert / to prevent / to avoid / to refrain from
疑问 yí wèn a question / sth not understood / to query / interrogative (gramm.)

誤" 跟"錯過"一樣用法嗎？可以說錯過飛機嗎？誤機會？what else can you 誤?

從那些車中見穿過去吧- great translation weave through, or worm your way through traffic.  經常看到用通過 for to pass through/via

上次還好我們很早坐車到飛機場，因我們北京到上海從虹橋機場來的，要回去的時候要到譜東-不知道酒店離譜東機場1個多小時。司機很友善，他幫我們拿行李的小車 ：）

In the lesson it translates 我去换登机牌 as I'll go check in。。。I was wondering if there are other expressions one could use to express the same thing。。。for example。。我去办登机手续。。？or 办登机牌？

thanks！

themainmanwithalotofannoyingquestions。。。

@themaiman, I'll say "我去拿登机牌” Wǒ qù ná dēngjīpái，or "我去办登机手续" Wǒ qù bàn dēngjī shǒuxù! Your questions are not annoying at all.

Cheers!

Hi all, another extremely obnoxious question if I may...(I'm afraid they will keep coming....)

我们是要赶飞机的！ 

       We need to catch a plane!

does gan3 have a different connotation other than just catch a plane?  could you just say zuo4 feiji instead of gan3 feiji?

does gan3 imply a sense of urgency?

thanks

themainmanwhodoesntlikesweetbread

themainman:

You are right. 赶 赶 gǎn imply a sense of urgency.

Thank you very much Liujiaojie..and also thank you for answering my question in the Harry Potter thread!

themainman