The Pickup Artist
Tal
February 13, 2010, 12:19 PM posted in Transcripts with Tal
Here's a blast from the past to see in the Year of the Tiger. The Pickup Artist was actually the very first lesson I ever studied on Chinesepod, (not because I'm an incurable skirt-chaser, it just happened to be 'lesson of the day' the day I discovered the Pod. 
)
I'm still rather fond of it though, there's much to be learned here. I enjoy the humor of the cheesy lines and the performance of the feisty 小妹 who just will not give 面子 to the desperate guy looking for a girlfriend. There's also the suggestion of possible real love at the end as he finds at least one 女孩儿 willing to give him a chance as long as he's sincere. Can he do it? Well... if you can fake sincerity, you've got it made.
Bound to be a few mistakes in there, so I welcome feedback and correction from fellow transcribers.
新年快乐！
Tal
Hey baba, thanks for the feedback. The words highlighted in blue are actually links to dictionary definitions of those words at nciku, I choose certain words to do this for which I think are worth getting to know better. Maybe I should add a vocab list at the end of the transcript as well, (haven't done so before but perhaps it's a good idea.)
It's the bits highlighted in yellow that I'm currently not sure of, but there may well be other mistakes as well! I'm open to nitpicking!
bababardwan
Oh right,thanks tal. hehe,泡妞 is a classic new term. It reminds me of another activity fraught with danger,namely 跑牛。。which is my Chinglish way of saying running with the bulls.
bababardwan
February 14, 2010, 04:25 AM"I love how you explain why this was the first ever CPod lesson you studied."
..呵呵，我同意
“P.S. also love how the title of this thread is
Transcripts with Tal--the Pickup Artist”
。。哈哈大笑 ：）
Tal
February 13, 2010, 01:59 PMHey baba, thanks for the feedback. The words highlighted in blue are actually links to dictionary definitions of those words at nciku, I choose certain words to do this for which I think are worth getting to know better. Maybe I should add a vocab list at the end of the transcript as well, (haven't done so before but perhaps it's a good idea.)
It's the bits highlighted in yellow that I'm currently not sure of, but there may well be other mistakes as well! I'm open to nitpicking!
Tal
February 13, 2010, 02:20 PMYou have a point, I'm changing that.
bababardwan
February 13, 2010, 02:27 PMok the section you had highlighted at 4m40s,I heard as:
意思就是人家以前景我好多好多变了
..but I don't think I've captured it either.Particularly unsure about the bit I have as :
人家以前景我
..esp 景
I would translate that as:
..meaning is precisely:other peoples [or families] former circumstances I have changed quite a lot [? many times,or much better].hehe,yep I definitely haven't quite captured it either but I hope there's something there that may help.
bababardwan
February 13, 2010, 02:37 PMso you went with 有。Yeah,well I was going to add that I wondered whether it sounded a bit fourth tone-ish because of the way that Jenny emphasised it or because it was followed by a fourth tone.I couldn't quite tease that out and decide so it's nice to see what you went with.
bababardwan
February 13, 2010, 01:28 PMJenny's 5th line:
我又不用泡妞
or
我有不用泡妞
。..to me it sounded like the first [4th tone] but the second [third tone] makes more sense to me.
Tal
You have a point, I'm changing that.
bababardwan
ok the section you had highlighted at 4m40s,I heard as:
意思就是人家以前景我好多好多变了
..but I don't think I've captured it either.Particularly unsure about the bit I have as :
人家以前景我
..esp 景
I would translate that as:
..meaning is precisely:other peoples [or families] former circumstances I have changed quite a lot [? many times,or much better].hehe,yep I definitely haven't quite captured it either but I hope there's something there that may help.
bababardwan
so you went with 有。Yeah,well I was going to add that I wondered whether it sounded a bit fourth tone-ish because of the way that Jenny emphasised it or because it was followed by a fourth tone.I couldn't quite tease that out and decide so it's nice to see what you went with.
bababardwan
ok,just done a google search:
"我又不用"..773,000
"我有不用"...328,000
"我又不用泡妞"...6
"我有不用泡妞"...0
...so I'm going to trust my ears and go with 又
...further,it makes more sense to me to stress a word like 又 which is often used for emphasis [I think] and not as much sense to stress 有
。。and maybe the 又[in this case meaning also] is kinda following on from John's laughing and incredulousness in his confirmatory questioning which kinda implied that he wasn't up for going off to pick up chicks.
changye
意思就是人家以前已经用过好多好多遍了
Tal
changye, 太谢谢你了！
bababardwan
多谢长夜
我的妈呀；no matter how many times I listen to that line,I still can't make out the 用过 part.It still sounds like 我 to me.Is it plain as daylight to you? It makes me wonder whether I'll ever be able to catch the really quick stuff...the little words in between...words I know but just not quick enough to catch.Until now I've resisted the temptation to adopt xiaophil's clever suggestion of using something like audacity to slow it down,only because I want to practice my listening to speed skills,but I agree it's an excellent idea for putting out a good and more reliable transcript.Oh well,onward and upward.大家加油吧，呵呵。
changye
Hi bababardwan
I have "a confession" to make. To tell you the truth, I couldn't make out the "用过" either. Fortunately, I had a welcome-new-year party with a few Chinese friends at my home last night...... So, you don't need to feel down, hehe.
bababardwan
thanks changye ,but I can't say I feel any better as I'd still like to be able to hear it,and am not interested comparing myself to anyone else [I always think one has one's own journey...it's just nice there are other travellers on the same path].I'm wondering if each syllable of 用过 was clearly enunciated or whether it was kind of like contractions we have in English where it has been shortened into one syllable like "y'all" for "you all",though I can't say I've really noticed that in Chinese before.Does that kind of thing happen at native level and if so,how oft'?
zhenlijiang
Baba I'm not Changye but I've noticed it quite a bit, for instance in the banter in the old Advanced lessons (in the recent ones the hosts enunciate very clearly). In the old Advanced lesson 中西方幽默 I transcribed, Jenny seems to say 觉 (jue) a lot but she is of course saying 觉得 (I had to ask Jiaojie about that to be sure).
But also I think it happens often in the dialogues, newer ones as well as older ones, in the Intermediate level too, not just Advanced (no specific examples on hand though, sorry).
changye
Hi bababardwan
Probably it happens very often, unfortunately, in any language. I guess that actually even native speakers don't catch all the sounds and syllables used in conversation, but they can make out what other guys are saying from context and "experience". As for me, I've already given up the idea of improving my English/Chinese listening comprehension. At my age, the time-to-benefit ratio of "listening skills training" is too low, hehe. Reading skills are more important for me and much easier to improve, thankfully. Of course, it's a different story for young guys like you. 加油！
changye
February 13, 2010, 03:53 PM意思就是人家以前已经用过好多好多遍了
Tal
February 14, 2010, 03:32 AMIt's discouraging but there do seem to be many moments like that in podcasts (and in life too I guess) when what is actually said is very clear to another native speaker, but remains stubbornly unintelligible to us foreign learners.
The same must apply to any language no doubt. My own students (who are Chinese learners of English) often despairingly comment on how they find 60% or more of the dialogue in English language movies and news programmes impossible to catch, even though they have been learning English for 10 years or more.
Not long ago I happened to be watching a TV show about the Apollo moon landings with a couple of Chinese friends. They were astonished that I could understand the words spoken by the astronauts and mission controllers as they communicated, (you may remember these exchanges were not crystal clear, with a tinny sound and punctuated by bursts of static. Any native English speaker though I'd say would have no trouble following, but my Chinese friends found it impossible.)
zhenlijiang
I often read subtitles while watching English-speaking movies (part of it is probably compulsive criticism). I almost never need subtitles to know what's going on or get the gist of what's being said but very often won't be able to hear exactly what the words were. But with movies, unlike audio-only speeches, the picture always brings you so much information.
We "understand" so much in our native language through familiarity with the culture, and experience (being able to anticipate what will be said), right? Therefore, by the same token once we have the sufficient background (yeah that takes time) we'll be able to do the same in the foreign language we're trying to acquire, then we'll be able to hear like Changye does I guess.
I do want to become able to hear each word distinctly though, some day.
zhenlijiang
February 14, 2010, 03:44 AMI often read subtitles while watching English-speaking movies (part of it is probably compulsive criticism). I almost never need subtitles to know what's going on or get the gist of what's being said but very often won't be able to hear exactly what the words were. But with movies, unlike audio-only speeches, the picture always brings you so much information.
We "understand" so much in our native language through familiarity with the culture, and experience (being able to anticipate what will be said), right? Therefore, by the same token once we have the sufficient background (yeah that takes time) we'll be able to do the same in the foreign language we're trying to acquire, then we'll be able to hear like Changye does I guess.
I do want to become able to hear each word distinctly though, some day.
zhenlijiang
February 14, 2010, 04:03 AM虎年快乐！
Haven't had time to look at the transcript yet but good choice of lesson Tal! I love how you explain why this was the first ever CPod lesson you studied.
Hopefully no one around here is spending Valentine's Day paoing any niu, that would be too sad ...
P.S. also love how the title of this thread is
Transcripts with Tal--the Pickup Artist （＾ｖ＾）
bababardwan
"I love how you explain why this was the first ever CPod lesson you studied."
..呵呵，我同意
“P.S. also love how the title of this thread is
Transcripts with Tal--the Pickup Artist”
。。哈哈大笑 ：）
bababardwan
February 13, 2010, 02:58 PMok,just done a google search:
"我又不用"..773,000
"我有不用"...328,000
"我又不用泡妞"...6
"我有不用泡妞"...0
...so I'm going to trust my ears and go with 又
...further,it makes more sense to me to stress a word like 又 which is often used for emphasis [I think] and not as much sense to stress 有
。。and maybe the 又[in this case meaning also] is kinda following on from John's laughing and incredulousness in his confirmatory questioning which kinda implied that he wasn't up for going off to pick up chicks.
bababardwan
February 13, 2010, 01:16 PMSo tal what's the deal here? At first glance of your transcript I thought maybe the bits highlighted in blue were going to be words you weren't sure of,but as I looked at the first one 泡妞 which you obviously had right I thought perhaps you were thus highlighting in blue vocab words [and the yellow section was the only section you weren't too sure of],but the next 类似 doesn't seem to be listed with the vocab words.Any which way,first glance looks like you've done a superb job.Well done mate and thanks. :)