Previous Counseling

Hi Fred,

I made some small corrections for you:

Wǒ yī kāishì shū, wǒ de péngyǒu jiù yào wǒ jiègěi tā  (as soon as I started reading the book, my friend wanted me to lend it to him)——wǒ yī kāishǐ kàn zhèběnshū, wǒ de péngyou jiùyǎo wǒ jiègěi tā.

Wǒ yī kāishì zhōngguó fángdiàn, wǒ de dùzi jiù è (As soon as I saw the Chinese restaurant, my stomach was hungry)——wǒ yī kànjiàn zhōngguó fàndiàn, wǒde dùzi jiù è.

Wǒ yī guān mén,  wǒ jiù jìde wǒ de yàoshi zài zhuōzi shàng (As soon as I closed the door, I remembered my keys on the table)——wǒ yī guānmén, jiù xiǎngqǐlái yàoshi zài zhuōzi shàng.

 Tiānqì yī shì hǎo, wǒ jiù yào qù hǎitān (As soon as the weather is good, I want to go to the beach)——tiānqì yī hǎo, wǒ jiù yào qù hǎitān.

Wǒ yī mǎi chē, chē biǎn báifēnzhǐ wǔ (As soon as I bought the car, the car depreciated 5%).——wǒ yī mǎi chē, chē jiù biǎnzhí le bǎifēnzhīwǔ.

 Wǒ yī zài chūzūchē shàng, wǒ de yàoshi, qiánbāo jiù diào zai dì shàng (As soon as I got in the taxi, my keys and wallet fell on the ground.)——wǒ yī shàng chūzūchē, yàoshi hé qiánbāo jiù diàozài le dìshàng.

Hi Grace,

So I was working on the sentences for yī...jiù.  Let me know if they're correct.  Thanks!

Bísài yī kāishì, yīngguó jiù défēn le  (As soon as the game started, England scored)

Wǒ yī kāishì shū, wǒ de péngyǒu jiù yào wǒ jiègěi tā  (as soon as I started reading the book, my friend wanted me to lend it to him)

Wǒ yī kāishì zhōngguó fángdiàn, wǒ de dùzi jiù è (As soon as I saw the Chinese restaurant, my stomach was hungry)

Wǒ yī guān mén,  wǒ jiù jìde wǒ de yàoshi zài zhuōzi shàng (As soon as I closed the door, I remembered my keys on the table)

 Tiānqì yī shì hǎo, wǒ jiù yào qù hǎitān (As soon as the weather is good, I want to go to the beach)

Wǒ yī mǎi chē, chē biǎn báifēnzhǐ wǔ (As soon as I bought the car, the car depreciated 5%).

 Wǒ yī zài chūzūchē shàng, wǒ de yàoshi, qiánbāo jiù diào zai dì shàng (As soon as I got in the taxi, my keys and wallet fell on the ground.)

yes, Fred. You're right.

Hi Grace,

On the Business Style lesson, i'm not sure what word means "point".  In the sentence, "ni3 li3jie3 na4 yi1dian3 hen3 zhong4yao4", is it yi1dian3? Is the sentence more saying, "it is very important that you understand this"? Thanks.

Hi Grace,

I tried making a vocabulary set for the some of the lessons, yet vocabulary manager doesn't work well.   Is this something you can help with?

Hi Fred, the connection is terrible here. So can we switch the class to 12:15 this Thursday? Sorry for that.

13:15 on  wednesday should work.  i'll need to send myself a reminder. Thanks.

Hi Fred,

I have no other time slot on Tuesday. Can we do it at 13:15 Wednesday?

Hi Grace,

I've mistimed my return to China.  I'm actually returning to China around 3pm Beijing time on monday, March 1.  Can we reschedule for anytime on tuesday March 2?

yes, not a problem.

Hi Fred, 

That's ok. Enjoy your trip! Talk to you on March 1st. By the way, we should do the lessons of M3-W2.

Hi Grace,

I am traveling back to the US on Feb 20.  It looks like I will miss our lesson on February 22, so the next time we talk will be on March 1st, ok?

Hi Fred,

You can say"wo3 yao4 qu3 bao1guo3."

"the international post office is at the corner of 2nd ring road and jianguomen road"is "guo2ji4 you2ju2 zai4 er4huan2 he2 jian4guo2men2 lu4 jiao1cha4kou3."

Hi Grace,

a couple of quick questions:

 how would you say, "I want to pick up a package"?

and, "the international post office is at the corner of 2nd ring road and jianguomen road"?

Hi Grace,

If i'm not on skype, please call me on my cell phone:

1369-910-5592

Hi Fred, you're right. gan3mao4 means to catch a cold. "rong2yi4"means "easily".

She slept for 1 hour and 20 minutes.

Ta1 shui4 le yi1 ge4 xiao3shi2  er4shi2 fen1zhong1.

Hi Grace,

does gan3mao4 mean to catch a cold? it seems that's how it's being used in the sentence, "er4qie3 chi1 de dong1xi, rong2yi4 gan3mao4".

Also, how would you say, "she slept for 1 hour and 20 minutes? Ta1 yi1 ge er4shi2 fen1zhong1 ge xiao2shi2 shui1jiao4?  Thanks.

Ok. I will send the new plan soon.

Hi Grace,

Just some additional thoughts on the 3 lessons per week idea:

I'm thinking that if with the next lesson plan that i'm not able to keep up with 3 lessons per week, then we should cut it back to 2 lessons per week on the next lesson plan.  I just want  to keep pushing myself to learn Chinese this year.  Thanks.

Oh, and in the lesson, "antiperspirant in China" I don't understand how the word zong3 is used in the sentence "bu4guo4 zong3 bi3 shen1shang4 chou4 hao4".  Maybe we can cover that during the lesson.

Hi Grace,

In addition to "Drinking Game", I'm also going over "antiperspirant in China", and "Up and Comer in the Office".

Hi Fred,

Sometimes you will come across such little words, like"shang4上"、"xia4下"、"kai1开;open"、"chu1出;out"、"jin4进;in" after the verb. The function of them is to indicate the direction or result of the action. E.g. da3 kai1 shu1. (Open the book.) guan1 shang4 men2.（Close the door.)

"pu1tong1 yi1sheng1 tiao4xia4 shui3", here "xia4" also tells us the direction of the "tiao4". But you cannot say"tiao4 shang4 shui3", we would say"tiao4 shang4 an4"(an4 岸means the bank of a river).

Hope it's helpful.

Hi Grace,

One of the lessons i'm going over is the Drinking Game (C1208), and I have a question:

At first, it totally seemed nonsensical to use "xia" in the line, 'putong wu shen tiao xia shui'. I guess using xia only makes sense if you were going with the meaning, "to go down" which would imply, "going down into the water".

But wouldn't it be better/more logical/more consistent with other meanings to say "shang shui"?

Hi Grace,

I've gone over the "Going to the Gym" and "Lost Cell Phone" lessons for our call today.

By the way, i'm set for our call at 12pm on monday.  I've gone over the Buying Batteries lesson.

Hi Fred,

"I'll have two of each" is 各要两个("ge4 yao4 liang3 jie2"). 各isn't a measure word which means "each of", e.g. 各国ge4guo4(each of the countries).

Hi Grace,

So i'm back in China, and back in Chinese study mode!

I'm studying the "Buying Batteries" lesson, and I have a question.

1)in the pdf, the sentence "i'll have 2 of each" is translated from "ge4 yao4 liang3 jie2". But i don't understand what the ge4 is doing. is it a measure word? the character for ge isn't the same as for "yi ge ren" (one person), so i'm confused as to why the sentence should read, I'll have two of each.

Hi Fred, we can just postpone our lesson for this week.

Well Grace, after a number of challenges associated with my family's return, i'm back in China.  I didn't study any lessons at all while I was back in the US.  So we can either have a call today (Jan 11), or we can have a call starting next monday, Jan 18, where I will have started studying lessons.  What do you think?

Dear Fred,

Next call should be 12:00 on Jan 4(20:00 Jan 3 Your time?). We can make it at 13:00(21:00?), is it ok with you?

Hi Grace,

I'm in the US for the next 2 weeks, and its looking like i'll be unable to do our next call on Jan 3.  if we would reschedule for sometime later in the week of Jan 3, that would be helpful.  I'll return to Beijing on Jan 4. Thanks!

ok, mei2wen4ti2.

Hi Grace,

I was studying lessons 1094-Simple Electrical Stuff, and 1071-Will You Marry Me. Can we go over those for our call? Thanks.

Hi Grace,

I was studying lessons 1094-Simple Electrical Stuff, and 1071-Will You Marry Me. Can we go over those for our call? Thanks.

Ok, mei2wen4ti2 :)

Hi Grace,

I don't think we formally discussed which of the lessons I should go over for our next call on monday.  I was thinking between the two lesson plans you gave me, that I could go over the following:

1) Washing Dishes

2)Business Dinner with a Supplier

3)Watching a DVD

Is that ok with you? 

Thanks.

Ok, Fred. Talk to you then!

Hi Grace,

i'll still be in the US on thursday, so at 1pm Beijing time is 12 am thursday morning in the US.  I'm starting to think that maybe we should just plan on going back to having our call next monday, November 23 at 12pm Beijing time.  I should be back in Beijing by that time. 

Hi Fred，

I can call you at 1pm on Thursday or Friday(Beijing time). ke3yi3 ma?

wow, 12am-9pm BJ time. hmmmm... in that case, when are you free on thursday or friday afternoon around 1pm eastern US time or thereafter?

Hi Fred,

I'm sorry but I cannot call you on Thursday morning. Because my working hour is 12am-9pm(beijing time). But I can call you on Saturday morning China time. Is it ok for you?

Hi Grace,

2 things:

1) I'm traveling to the US starting today.  I'll need to reschedule our 12pm call on monday to another time.  I will be on the east coast of the US during the week, is there time on thursday morning China time that you're available?

2)thanks for the sentence clarification.  That's what I thought about ban1dao4 and qu4

Fred

Hi Fred,

You cannot say like that. Because "qu4"and"dao4" have the same meaning in your sentence.

Hi Grace,

Thanks for that. I know there's a qing wen on "qilai", but i'll have to go back to it at a later time.

Another question. I was looking over the Intermediate lesson for shopping, and I saw the sentence, "if I move to Shanghai.....",

"ru2guo3 wo3 ban1dao4 shang4hai3....."

I was wondering if you could also say,

"ru2guo3 wo3 ban1dao4 qu4 shang4hai3.....

Hi Fred,

You're right. "chūzūchē zhēn nán dǎ" means The taxi was hard to catch. So you also can say "chūzūche dǎ qílái zhēn nán".

Hi Grace,

Quick question on one of the sentences in a lesson. In the lesson, Excuses for Being Late

http://chinesepod.com/lessons/excuses-for-being-late

So shouldn't the sentence,"chūzūchē zhēn nán dǎ" really be, "chūzūche dǎ qílái zhēn nán"?  I thought Jenny and John in the Dry cleaner or Interviewing an Ayi lesson were very hyper about this.  Doesn't ,"chūzūchē zhēn nán dǎ" mean "the taxi was hard to ride"? 

Hi Grace,

FYI, The lessons i'm studying this week are:

Sneezing

Going to the Dentist

Buying a Drink

Hi Grace,

FYI, i'm behind in my studies this week. I've gone through Baby Care, and Business Card Gone Wrong, but I probably won't get to Excuses for Being Late until tonight.

Dear Fred，
 
I tried calling you at the appointed class time----Monday12:00 just now, but your Chinese A yi said you were not at home. And you were also not on Skype.
So I will call you next Monday.

Hi Fred, This is your first month plan. Hope you enjoy your studies！

 
 
Week Commencing: 10/17/2009
Week 1 
1. Intermediate - Family Life

2. Intermediate - Introducing Oneself to the Family

3. Intermediate - Baby Care

 
Week 2 
1. Intermediate - Sneezing

2. Intermediate - Going to the Dentist

3. Intermediate - Getting Your Hair Done

 
Week 3 
1. Intermediate - Shopping

2. Intermediate - My New MP3 Player

3. Intermediate - A Trip to the Dry Cleaner's

 
Week 4 
1. Intermediate - Washing Dishes

2. Intermediate - Simple Electrical Stuff

3. Intermediate - Buying Batteries