Intermediate - Ballet Lessons

Right-Wingnut

John: Hey guys, I'm John. This is an Intermediate lesson on ChinesePod.

Vera: 大家好，我是 Vera。

John: Today's lesson is about ballet.

Vera: 芭蕾舞。

John: 芭蕾舞。芭 is 1st tone, 蕾 is 3rd tone.

Vera: 是的。舞，第三声。

John: 舞 meaning 'dance' is 3rd tone. You can tack that on the end if you want, its optional. So all of you guys who are thinking 'Oh no, ballet, its going to be full of really hard words', actually this is a pretty simple dialog. its about parents discussing whether or not they want their daughters to learn ballet.

Right-Wingnut

0:36

Vera: 对。

John: So one of these kids has an interesting name. We'll tip you off to it before we listen. What's the name?

Vera: 小橙子。

John: 'Little orange'.

Vera: 是的。

John: That's a little girl, right?

Vera: 对的。很可爱。

John: So don't be turned off by that. Let's listen to the dialog now.

0:51 - Dialog

Right-Wingnut

Dialog

Right-Wingnut

1:50

John: So 小橙子, what is she wearing?

Vera: 公主裙。

John: 公主，1st tone - 3rd tone, is 'princess'.

Right-Wingnut

Vera: 是。

John: So this is a princess dress or princess skirt.

Vera: Dress.

John: But 裙 can be both.

Vera: 对的。但是公主裙都是 dress。

John: So what is a 'princess dress'?

Vera: 公主。你看那个 Disney 的那个电影里。公主的裙子。

John: Like a dress that Snow White or Cinderella would wear.

Vera: 白雪公主。

John: Snow White. So little girls look pretty in these 公主裙。

Vera: 是的。

Right-Wingnut

2:29

John: And what does the mother say to 小橙子 when they run into another lady?

Vera: That's pretty common in China. 快叫阿姨好。

John: So quickly say Hello 阿姨。

Vera: 是的。

John: 快叫。So this is being really impatient, like 'Do it!".

Vera: 没有没有没有。真的很耐心的，很 nice 的。

John: This is just something about Chinese culture. When you tell someone to do something, you often add a 快。

Vera: 对。

John: But its not being impatient. But it is saying 'Do it now'.

Right-Wingnut

3:03

Vera: 是的。

John: OK.

Vera: 会很nice得跟他说。Do it now.

John: OK. And then we run into another little kid named 丁丁, and she tells her daughter to go play. What does she say?

Vera: 快去玩吧。

John: So again we have this 快。

Vera: 对的。一样的。

John: Its not being impatient. Its just, go and do that.

Vera: 是。

John: Then they start talking about how often they come to the park.

Right-Wingnut

3:29

Vera: 对的。最近很少看见你带小橙子来公园。

John: So [unless?] we use this 很少， literally 'very few', but here what's the opposite of 很少？

Vera: 经常。

John: 经常 meaning 'often'.

Vera: 是的。

John: 很少 meaning 'seldom', 'rarely'.

Vera: ［最］不是［few]。

John: Its not 'a few'. And you can't say 很多 to mean 'often'. You have to use 经常。

Vera: 是。

John: So you just have to get used to this. So 'I rarely see you ...' what?

Right-Wingnut

4:03

Vera: 带小橙子来公园。

John: Bring 小橙子 to the park. So you can 带 a person 来 a 地方。

Vera: 是的。或者：带一个人去一个地方。

John: So pretty straight forward. And the reason 小橙子 doesn't come to the park very often these days is

Vera: 她要跳芭蕾。

John: So 'dance ballet', and the verb again is ...

Right-Wingnut

4:31

Vera: 跳。

John: Same a 'jump', but here it means 'dance'.

Vera: 跳舞。

John: That's just 'dance' in general. 跳舞。So what are the advantages of 跳芭蕾？

Vera: 跳芭蕾舞的女孩子都很有气质，身材也很好。

John: So two benefits here. 有气质。What are the tones here?

Vera: 气质 - 第四声，第四声。