Today's Lesson: How Many?

Amy Li Yan, the assistant manager at the Yihe helped with this Quiz.

Chou yan
Bu (keyi,neng} chou yan
Ni bixu chou yan
Xiao {{nv}haizi, nanhair} bu yao chou yan

yi dianr bu dong
shenme dou bu dong
shenme dou bu ming bei!
{mei ren, mei ge ren, ge ren}
{shenme dou mei you}
{mei tian}
{shang ci, zhe ci, xia ci zai dian}
{ji ge xiong di, ji ge jie mei, ji zhi gou, ji dou hua, ji kuai qian=duo shao qian,
{wo bu qing chu}
{wo xiang niao = I am like a bird}
{wo xiang xiang niao yi yang feixiang = I want to fly like a bird}

Today's Lesson: How Many?

There are two ways to say how many in Chinese. Duo shao qian = How much money? Duo shao ren = How many people. That's the first way I learned. 'duo' means little, few; 'shao' means lots, many. Little or lot money? Little or lot people? That's how the Chinese ask questions, they give you the answers, like a multiple choice question. That's how you ask, how much does it cost? You answer, hen duo qian = a lot of money, or si shi jiu kuai qian, 49 pieces of money. Hen duo ren is a lot of people. Can anybody tell me? si shi jiu ge ren? 49 people?

For smaller quantities (my Micro Oxford says 10 or less) use the word 'ji'

'ji sui le?' = How old are you. 'Wo wushisan sui,' I am 53, which already violates the rule.
'xianzai ji dian?' = What time is it now? a 'dian' is a measure of time, like an 'o'clock.' 'Xianzai qi dian ban,' It is 7:30.
'jintian ji hao?' = Today's date? Today is the 1st, the 15th, the 31st. 'Jintian shi'er yue yi hao' Today is the first of December.
'ji ge jijie?' = How many seasons? 'si ge' four.
'zhe shi shenme jijie?' = What season is this. 'Dongtian' Winter.
jijie = {dongtian, chuntian, xiatian, quotian}
'Zhe shi ni zui xihuan de jijie ma?' Which is your favorite season?
'Ji lu che?' = Which bus (number).
'Ji jie?' = Which street?
'Ji lou' = Which floor
'Nage lou ceng'...what floor? This is where good teaching shows.

My phone beeps.

Nessa: are you feel better today?

Joe: I am cold and in bed dreaming of the park and warmer weather.

Nessa: i think more exercize is useful!but most of us are too lazy!

Joe: Today I have a cough, Yesterday I was sneezing.

Joe: For me, having a cold marks the passage of time.

Joe: I will be reborn stronger than ever.

(Nietzche, "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger")

Joe: ...until the next cold :-/

(Feichanghao, "... until it finally kills you" :-)

Joe: My next lesson will be "tense."

Joe: Why do we call ganmao a "cold?"

Nessa: Maybe cold is the reason of ganmao!

Joe: You are so warm I am keeping the phone in bed with me :-)

Joe: Once I told a Chinese girl, "I want to sleep with you."

My phone beeps.

+8613821835772: Hello joe. this is my new number.rita

Rita? Which Rita. I have six Rita's in my phone book!

Joe: Hi Rita. Where are you now?

+8613758160768: I am in hangzhou. how are you these days? what do you do?

Joe: Wo e si le. Wo feichang, feichang wuliao.

+8613821835772: Ni you e si le :-D

Rita was tempted to sleep with me, but her good consciounce got in the way. I quit the job after three days saying "Wo e si le" and returned to Yiwu heartbroken. I am happy she has remembered me. Maybe she likes me. Maybe she has no boyfriend. Rita said she was getting married during the Spring Break, I assumed she was living with her boyfriend in Hangzhou because she is originally from Harbin. It must be frozen hard as a rock up there.

Nessa: oh.i think it is not polite to talk about that to someone!

good-girls = {sissi, rita, nessa}. bad-girls = {kenny, mickey, alisha...}

Joe: She said, "No!"

Joe: She looked so warm.

Joe: Maybe I should move further south...to Guangzhou.

Nessa: oh.i stayed in guangdong 4 years.because my universtiy is in there! after my graduation i worded [sp, worked] there for one year.and this year go to yiwu

Joe: No kidding! :-)

Nessa: i am no kidding!:-) i swear

Joe: :-) Your English is very good, Nessa. Why are you still going to Harson?

Nessa: not very well. i still need to improve it.

Joe: We should meet for dinner every night and you can study with me.

No reply.

Joe: Ok?

Nessa: it is wonderful. school is over on the Dec. 4 after there i needn't to go to school. and we can haver dinner together. thanks for teaching me!

Joe: Perfect. See you in a couple days.

PS

My date with Sissi was idyllic. We went to a donut shop called Posh donuts across from the Jingdu(=Kingdom) Hotel. Coffee was expensive, as you would expect, 20 rmb, no refills. I bought mine at the McDonald's for 7.5 and saved the cup for refills later. Sissi payed for the dounts which were old and stale, and got us a cup of ice cream too, green sherbert with jelly beans inside. The Chinese like ice cream more than we do. Temperature was 45 degrees outside, a bit cold. The donut shop has a free wireless, so it might pay to go there in the morning with the coffee from McDonald's when the donuts are fresh. We are alone. Sissi looks wonderful, better than I have ever seen her. Her dyed brown hair is growing back, returned to its natural color, almost black. She is wearing a short but feminine hair style. She looks ravishing. She is wearing a brown leather jacket and jeans. Under tha jacket she is wearing a turtle neck sweater with an oversized neck. Under the sweater is a T-shirt I remember from the summer. Under the T-shirt, smooth, pink skin... Around her bare neck she is wearing a small buddha on a string. The buddha is green and no bigger than my turtle. Sissi is very quiet but I think she enjoyed our time together. She told me she was reading My Country and My People, translated from the original English, 1935, by "THE AUTHOR." Is his name Lin Yutang?  For the life of me, I can't find his name in the book. It is mentioned indirectly in the preface by his daughter and written prominantly on the front cover in hanzi. I hated the book. The author is way too proud of his people, especially considering what was about to happen to them... She keeps referring to him as "Father." ... Sissi tells me about her trip. The weather is still great down ther, a 17 hour train ride from Yiwu. She came home on the plane in 1 hr and 45 minutes. I ask, "What are you doing tomorrow?" Sissi says, "Nothing," then compares herself to a kite again. She is talking just like me. She says she can do what ever she wants. I have decided to let her make all the moves. After three hours of hand holding, hugs and kisses we say goodbye. Sun is down at 6:00. Sissi walks home and I cross the street to the Yimei hotel and refills at McDonald's.