LESSON
TRANSCRIPT

Absolute
Beginner
S1
#4
Meeting
-
Studying
Chinese

CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
DIALOGUES
POST
CONVERSATION
BANTER
VOCAB
LIST
KEY
VOCAB
AND
PHRASES
GRAMMAR
POINT
OUTRO

# 4
CHINESECLASS101.COM ABSOLUTE BEGINNER S1 #4 1
INTRODUCTION
Amber:
Hey
everybody,
welcome
to
ChineseClass101.com.
I’m
Amber.
Victor:
I’m
Victor.
Amber:
This
is
our
Absolute
Beginner
Series,
and
this
is
Season
1
Lesson
4.
Victor:
Yeah.
Amber:
Which
is
also
about
meeting
people,
and
today’s
lesson
is
about
studying
Chinese.
Victor:
Studying
Chinese
is
what
everyone
is
doing
right
now.
Amber:
Yes.
All
the
cool
kids
are
doing
it.
Like
us.
Yeah.
Today’s
dialogue
is
for
students
everywhere.
Victor:
Yeah.
That’s
the
essential
student
language.
Amber:
Yeah.
So
let’s
listen
in.
In
this
lesson
you’re
going
to
learn
how
to
talk
about
being
a
student.
Victor:
This
conversation
takes
place
in
the
school.
Amber:
Yeah,
and
it’s
between
the
student
and
the
teacher.
Okay.
Let’s
listen
to
the
conversation.
DIALOGUES
Victor:
你是学⽣吗？(Nǐ
shì
xuéshēng
ma?)
Amber:
对。
我学中⽂。你呢？(Duì.
Wǒ
xué
Zhōngwén.
Nǐ
ne?)
Victor:
我是⽼师。(Wǒ
shì
lǎoshī.)
Amber:
你可以教我中⽂！(Nǐ
kěyǐ
jiāo
wǒ
Zhōngwén!)
Amber:
One
more
time,
a
little
slower.
Victor:
你是学⽣吗？(Nǐ
shì
xuéshēng
ma?)
Amber:
对。
我学中⽂。你呢？(Duì.
Wǒ
xué
Zhōngwén.
Nǐ
ne?)
Victor:
我是⽼师。(Wǒ
shì
lǎoshī.)
Amber:
你可以教我中⽂！(Nǐ
kěyǐ
jiāo
wǒ
Zhōngwén!)
Amber:
One
more
time
with
the
English.
Victor:
你是学⽣吗？(Nǐ
shì
xuéshēng
ma?)
Amber:
Are
you
a
student?
Amber:
对。
我学中⽂。你呢？(Duì.
Wǒ
xué
Zhōngwén.
Nǐ
ne?)

CHINESECLASS101.COM ABSOLUTE BEGINNER S1 #4 2

Amber:
Yes.
I
study
Chinese.
How
about
you?
Victor:
我是⽼师。(Wǒ
shì
lǎoshī.)
Amber:
I
am
a
teacher.
Amber:
你可以教我中⽂！(Nǐ
kěyǐ
jiāo
wǒ
Zhōngwén!)
Amber:
You
can
teach
me
Chinese.
POST
CONVERSATION
BANTER
Amber:Okay.
Well,
I
think
Victor
that
there
is
no
better
Chinese
lesson
than
going
out
there
and
making
conversation.
No
matter
how
little
Chinese
you
know,
don’t
you
think?
Victor:
Yeah,
definitely.
You
never
know
who
you’re
going
to
run
into,
right?
Amber:
A
Chinese
teacher
maybe
like
our
dialogue.
Victor:
Maybe.
Amber:
I
happened
to
meet
one
in
a
bookstore.
Victor:
That’s
great.
Amber:
So
it
doesn’t
hurt
to
try.
Victor:
So
let’s
learn
some
of
these
words
about
studying
Chinese.
Amber:
Yeah.
VOCAB
LIST
Amber:
Yeah.
Let’s
look
at
the
vocabulary
for
this
lesson.
Victor:
And
now,
the
vocab
section.
Victor:
學⽣
(xuéshēng)
Amber:
Student.
Victor:
對
(duì)
Amber:
Correct.
Right.
Victor:
學
(xué)
Amber:
To
study.
Victor:
中⽂
(Zhōngwén)
Amber:
Chinese
language.

CHINESECLASS101.COM ABSOLUTE BEGINNER S1 #4 3

Victor:
⽼師
(lǎoshī)
Amber:
Teacher.
Victor:
可以
(kěyǐ)
Amber:
May,
can.
Victor:
教
(jiāo)
Amber:
To
teach.
KEY
VOCAB
AND
PHRASES
Amber:
Okay.
Let’s
have
a
closer
look
at
the
usage
for
some
of
these
words
and
phrases
that
we
heard
into
this
dialogue.
Victor:
Yeah.
Well
today,
we
got
to
learn
the
word
for
“yes”
in
Chinese
because
there
really
isn’t
a
word
for
yes
in
Chinese.
Amber:
Okay.
Let’s
take
a
closer
look
at
the
usage
for
some
of
the
words
and
phrases
we
heard.
Well,
first
off,
today
we
get
to
learn
another
word
for
yes
in
Chinese
because
as
we
talked
about
before,
there
isn’t
really
a
blanket
word
“yes”
or
“no”
in
Chinese.
Victor:
Right.
Amber:
But
there’s
a
few
ways
to
do
it.
Victor:
And
in
this
case,
it’s
对(duì).Fourth
tone,
对(duì),
which
means
correct.
Amber:
Yeah.
Now
in
the
dialogue,
what
were
they
saying
yes
to?
Well,
it’s
a
question
that
we
can
all
answer
with
a
yes
if
we
are
listening
to
ChineseClass101.
The
question
was
Victor:
你是学⽣吗？(Nǐ
shì
xuéshēng
ma?)
Amber:
Yeah.
That’s
right.
So
let’s
break
this
down.
The
key
word
here
is
学⽣(Xuéshēng).,which
is
the
word
for
“student”.
Victor:
Right.
学⽣(xuéshēng)..
学(xué)
is
second
tone,
and
⽣(Shēng)
is
first
tone.
Amber:
Good.
And
the
rest
of
the
sentence
luckily
is
vocabulary
that
we
already
learned.
Can
you
repeat
the
sentence
for
us,
Victor?
Victor:
你是学⽣吗？(Nǐ
shì
xuéshēng
ma?)
Amber:
The
first
word
你,
then
the
verb
to
be
是(Shì).
Then
we
learned
student
and
then
吗
which
is
of
course
our
verbal
question
mark.
It
tells
us
it’s
a
question
that
we
can
answer
with
yes
or
no.
Victor:
Right.
Amber:
So
the
question
was
are
you
a
student?
Victor:
So
if
someone
asks
you,
you
know
what
to
say.
‘对！(Duì!)’
CHINESECLASS101.COM ABSOLUTE BEGINNER S1 #4 4
Amber:
Yes.
Correct,
I
am.
Victor:
Right.
Amber:
Now,
what
kind
of
students
are
we?
What
do
we
study?
Let’s
hear
it,
Victor.
Victor:
It’s
中⽂(Zhōngwén),
which
is
one
way
of
saying
Chinese
as
in
the
language.
中⽂(Zhōngwén).
中
(Zhōng)
is
first
tone,
⽂(Wén)
is
second
tone.
Amber:
Yeah.
And
actually,
just
as
a
side
point,
you
may
hear
other
terms
for
referring
to
the
Chinese
language.
This
is
just
one
of
the
ways.
What
are
some
other
ways
that
people
sometimes
refer
to
Chinese
languages?
Victor:
Yeah.
Sometimes
you
hear
中⽂(Zhōngwén)
and
sometimes
you
will
hear
普通话(Pǔtōnghuà),or
even
汉语(Hànyǔ).
Amber:
Yeah,
sort
of
all
different
names
for
the
same
thing.
Victor:
Right.
Amber:
A
lot
of
people
speak
the
language
so
they
have
a
few
names
for
it.
So
there
is
普通话(Pǔtōnghuà).
What’s
the
tones
on
that?
Victor:
普(Pǔ)
is
a
third
tone.
通(Tōng)
is
a
first
tone
and
话(Huà)
is
fourth
tone.
Amber:
Which
basically
means
like
the
common
language.
Victor:
Right,
普通话(Pǔtōnghuà).
Exactly.
Like
the
standard
Mandarin.
Amber:
Yeah.
Victor:
As
opposed
to
Cantonese
or
other
dialect.
Amber:
Yeah,
or
a
dialect.
Victor:
So
汉语(Hànyǔ).
汉(Hàn)
is
fourth
tone
and
语(Yǔ)
is
a
third
tone.
Amber:
Yeah,
and
you
hear
that
quite
a
bit
as
well.
So
that
was
just
a
little
heads
up.
Now,
we
also
heard
the
word
for,
“to
study”
or
“to
learn,”
in
that
sentence.
It
was...
Victor:
学(Xué).
second
tone.
And
the
sentence
was
our
simple
sentence
structure
we
learned
about
which
is
subject,
verb
and
object,
as
in
我学中⽂。(Wǒ
xué
zhōngwén.)
Amber:
Right.
I
study
Chinese.
Okay,
so
that
was
just
a
little
heads
up
because
you
probably
going
to
run
into
that.
It’s
different
words
for
the
Chinese
language.
Victor:
Yeah.
Amber:
Okay.
Now
the
next
sentence
we
heard
was
talking
about
what
we
study.
Victor:
And
it
was
我学中⽂。(Wǒ
xué
zhōngwén.)
Amber:
That’s
right.
And
in
this
sentence
we
heard
the
word
for
to
study
or
to
learn
which
was...
CHINESECLASS101.COM ABSOLUTE BEGINNER S1 #4 5
Victor:
学,学(Xué,
xué)
is
second
tone.
Amber:
Yeah.
And
this
sentence
is
also
giving
an
example
of
our
very
basic
sentence
structure
in
Chinese
which
we
learned
before,
which
is
subject,
verb,
object.
Victor:
Right.
As
in
我学中⽂。(Wǒ
xué
zhōngwén.)
Amber:
So
我(Wǒ)
is
the
subject,
学
(Xué)
is
the
verb,
to
study...
Victor:
Right.
Amber:
And
then
中⽂(Zhōngwén)
the
language
is
the
object.
Victor:
Yeah.
Amber:
Now,
right
after
that,
we
hear
something
else
we
know
as
a
little
review.
Now
remember
when
someone
makes
a
statement
and
then
we
want
to
ask
a
follow
up
question.
There’s
a
little
tiny
word
we
can
use
in
Chinese...
Victor:
Right.
Amber:
That
will
indicate
that
we’re
asking
someone,
“What
about
you?”
Victor:
And
you
say,
你呢？(Nǐ
ne?)
Amber:
Yeah.
So
你(Nǐ)
is
“you”
and
the
呢(Ne)
just
basically
indicates
that
you’re
asking
them
the
same
basic
question.
Victor:
Right.
Amber:
So
in
our
sentence
it
was,
“I
study
Chinese.”
你呢？(Nǐ
ne?)
it’s
“and
you”.
So
what
about
the
other
person
in
our
dialogue?
What
did
they
do?
Were
they
studying
Chinese?
Victor:
⽼师(Lǎoshī)
Amber:
Yes.
Bonus
of
all
bonuses,
they
were
not
a
student
but
rather
⽼师(Lǎoshī)
which
is
a
teacher.
Victor:
Right.
⽼(Lǎo)
is
a
third
tone,师(Shī)
is
first
tone.
Amber:
Which
is
a
very
important
word
to
learn
in
Chinese.
Victor:
Yeah.
You
know,
actually
literate
means
old
master.
Amber:
Teachers
are
very
revered
in
Chinese
society.
Victor:
Right.
Education
is
very,
very
important.
Amber:
Yeah.
And
teachers
are
treated
with
a
lot
of
respect.
For
example,
in
the
West,
maybe
we
call
our
teacher
Mr.
Smith...
Victor:
Right.
Amber:
But
you
actually
use
this
title
teacher
when
you’re
addressing
your
teacher.
CHINESECLASS101.COM ABSOLUTE BEGINNER S1 #4 6
Victor:
Right.
Amber:
So
for
example,
Victor,
your
last
name
is
Ling.
Victor:
Yes.
Amber:
If
I
want
to
call
you
Teacher
Ling
in
Chinese,
how
would
I
say
it?
Victor:
Well,
you
say
the
last
name
first
and
then
the
title.
So
in
this
case,
it
will
be
Ling⽼师(Lǎoshī)
I
guess.
Amber:
Now
I’ll
call
you
that
from
now
on,
Ling⽼师(Lǎoshī)
Victor:
You
don’t
have
to
call
me.
No.
Amber:
Respect.
Victor:
That’s
quite
all
right.
But
you
know
you
should
do
this
when
in
China.
Amber:
It’s
a
good
one...
Victor:
Right.
That’s
the
proper
way
to
do
that.
Amber:
Yeah.
You
should
address
your
teacher
that
way.
Victor:
Right.
Amber:
Okay.
So
this
person
has
encountered
a
teacher,
lucky
them.
So
it
naturally
leads
to
the
next
sentence
which
was,
“You
can
teach
me
Chinese.”
Victor:
Yes.
Amber:
How
do
we
say
that
in
Chinese?
Victor:
你可以教我中⽂！(Nǐ
kěyǐ
jiāo
wǒ
zhōngwén!)
Amber:
Right.
Victor:
So
可以(Kěyǐ)
is
a
key
word
to
learn
in
this
sentence.
It
means
can.
可(Kě)
is
a
third
tone,
以(Yǐ)
is
also
third
tone.
Amber:
And
when
you
put
it
together,
it’s
actually
pronounced
second
tone
and
third
tone
because
of
the
tone
change
rule.
If
there’s
two
third
tones
in
a
row,
the
first
one
will
change
to
second.
Victor:
Correct.
Amber:
So
it’s
可以(Kěyǐ)
Victor:
可以(Kěyǐ)
Amber:
And
what
can
the
teacher
do?
Victor:
教我中⽂(Jiāo
wǒ
zhōngwén)
CHINESECLASS101.COM ABSOLUTE BEGINNER S1 #4 7
Amber:
Right.
教(Jiāo)
first
tone
is
the
verb
for
to
teach.
Victor:
Yes.
Amber:
So
what
can
the
teacher
do?
The
teacher
can
teach
me
Chinese.
Victor:
Yes.
As
in
教我中⽂.(Jiāo
wǒ
zhōngwén.)
GRAMMAR
POINT
Amber:
I’m
sure
the
teacher
is
very
happy
to
hear
this.
Okay.
So
now
we
have
a
few
grammar
points
too.
Today
is
a
really
light
lesson
on
grammar.
Just
a
little
bit
more
on
word
order
to
point
out.
Victor:
Yes,
if
you
look
at
the
sentence
we
were
just
looking
at
你可以教我中⽂!(Nǐ
kěyǐ
jiāo
wǒ
zhōngwén!)
,
actually
the
word
order
for
this
is
just
like
in
English.
Amber:
Yeah.
It’s
literally,
“You
can
teach
me
Chinese.”
Victor:
你可以教我中⽂！(Nǐ
kěyǐ
jiāo
wǒ
zhōngwén!)
Amber:
Yeah.
See,
Chinese
is
not
as
hard
as
you
think.
Victor:
Right.
Amber:
It
gets
a
bad
rap
but
it’s
really
not
that
hard.
Victor:
A
lot
of
common
ground
with
English.
Amber:
Yeah.
We
see
another
basic
sentence
order
that
we
learn
before
too
using
the
verb
“this”
quite
similar
to
the
verb
for
“to
be”
in
English,
and
that
is
是(Shì).
So
we
see
it
used
again
here
and
this
is
when
you
talk
about
what
your
profession
is.
Victor:
Yes.
And
our
teacher
said
我是⽼师
.(Wǒ
shì
lǎoshī.)
Amber:
I
am
teacher.
Victor:
Yes.
Amber:
So
just
like
before
we
learned
that
basic
sentence
order
with
a
subject,
verb,
object,
we
see
it
again
here.
我(Wǒ)
is
a
subject
“I”
是(Shì)
is
the
verb
“to
be”
and
⽼师(Lǎoshī)
teacher
is
the
object.
Victor:
Right.
And
also
the
teacher
asks
our
students
using
the
same
word
order
but
this
time
in
a
question
你是学⽣吗？(Nǐ
shì
xuéshēng
ma?)
Remember
吗(Ma)
is
our
question
article
that
turns
a
statement
into
a
question.
Amber:
Yeah.
So
she
basically
said,
are
you
a
student?
Victor:
So
‘wo
shi
______’
is
just
how
you
state
your
profession.
Amber:
Like
for
example,
if
I
want
to
say,
Victor,
我是(Wǒ
shì)
podcast
Star.
Victor:
Yes.
There
you
go.

CHINESECLASS101.COM ABSOLUTE BEGINNER S1 #4 8

Amber:
That’s
how
you
do
it.
So
everyone
can
use
this.
If
you
don’t
know
what
your
profession
is
you
know
what
to
do,
look
in
the
dictionary
or
if
you
can’t
find
it,
come
to
the
website.
You
can
always
ask
us
and
we’ll
help
you
find
out
and
you
can
tell
everyone
我是(Wǒ
shì)
..
whatever
it
is,
rock
star
you
are.
Okay.
Well,
that
does
it
for
today’s
lesson.
Amber:
One
more
thing
before
we
go,
Victor
is
going
to
tell
you
how
to
improve
your
pronunciation.
Number
one
is
listen
to
Victor
and
copy
him
but
there’s
another
tool
on
the
site.
Victor:
All
right.
We
do
have
a
voice
recording
tool
on
our
website,
which
is
really
helpful.
Amber:
Yeah.
You
just
click
a
button
and
you’ll
find
it
in
the
premium
learning
center.
Victor:
Yeah.
Amber:
And
you
can
record
yourself,
your
pronunciation
and
then
compare
it
with
the
pronunciation
in
the
line
by
line
audio
or
that
sort
of
thing.
Or
you
can
just
use
it
to
practice
karaoke,
I
was
thinking.
You
can
hear
how
out
of
tune
you
really
sound.
Well,
either
way,
your
pronunciation
will
improve.
Victor:
Right.
Amber:
Karaoke
or
using
it
for
real.
Victor:
Whatever
you
can
do.
Amber:
Yeah.
So
we’ll
see
you
next
time
on
ChineseClass101.
And
that’s
it
for
now.
OUTRO
Amber:再⻅!(Zàijiàn!)
Victor:再⻅!(Zàijiàn!)

CHINESECLASS101.COM ABSOLUTE BEGINNER S1 #4 9