Daily Practice (Normal Speed) - S3 - Lesson 07

Mandarin From the Ground Up

After listening to Season 3, Lesson 07, start reinforcing what you've learned by taking six minutes a day to practice listening and imitating the material. Repetition makes progress.

How to practice
This episode's daily practice session doesn't include spoken instructions, but the process is the same as previous episodes of this season:

In the first part, you'll hear a short snippet of the dialogue, followed by a pause of 2-4 seconds. During the pause, try to echo aloud exactly what you heard. In the second part, the dialogue plays again without pauses. Try to shadow the dialogue by repeating it aloud simultaneously with the recording.

Note that in both parts, speaking aloud is important, as this practice helps you gain confidence making the sounds of Mandarin, increasing your speaking fluency over time. It also gives you invaluable feedback, as you hear the sounds coming out of your mouth, and can compare them to the sounds you just heard. If only done once or twice, this might not seem to have much effect; repeated on a daily basis, however, this is a powerful mechanism for bootstrapping your pronunciation and speaking ability.

Magic Phrase (4-1)
This phrase is composed entirely of words that use the 4-1 tone pair. We use it to practice identifying and then pronouncing the tones, hearing how they interact with each other in context.

帥哥上班，外公退休
Shuàigē shàngbān, wàigōng tuìxiū

帥哥 / shuàigē / handsome man
上班 / shàngbān / to go to work
外公 / wàigōng / maternal grandfather
退休 / tuìxiū / retired, to retire

Transcript of the dialogue (Chinese characters only)

M：阿芬！你來了！
F：嘿！不好意思遲到了。我剛剛才下班。
M：沒事！趕快進來坐！
F：謝謝。
M：你看起來好喘！
F：唉，爬樓梯真的好喘！
M：對，我們沒有電梯。只好讓你運動一下。
F：我好久沒運動。
M：沒關係，現在可以放鬆。小李，這是我的朋友，慧芬，她是律師。
L：你好。
F：嗨。
M：來，慧芬，要不要吃麵包？小李做的！
F：好厲害！
M：你可以放心，他的麵包很健康！
F：好好吃！你開麵包店嗎？
L：沒有，其實，就是，呃… 我是一個… 呃… 作家。
M：小李很害羞，可是他是一個很認真的作家。
F：你寫小說嗎？
L：沒有。但那是我的目標。
M：來，我們先坐。正好要開始唱歌！
F：我最愛唱歌！
M：小李，你還沒點歌，對吧。
L：我不用了。
F：你真的很害羞。
M：小李，拜託，唱一首給大家聽。然後我就放過你。
L：可是，在很多陌生人的面前…
M：什麼陌生人？我們都是朋友，你放心！
L：還是我先去吃蛋糕…
M：你不要逃避了啦！不唱歌，你要吃辣椒！
L：什麼？
M：我家的規定。
L：OK，OK，好啦。我唱。
F：你要唱什麼？我幫你點。
L：呃… 夢中人？好嗎？
F：王菲的還是蔡琴的？
L：哦… 蔡琴的。
M：老靈魂。
L：哈哈，對啊。
F：好，點好了。
L：這麼快！好，請大家要有耐心…
M：不要害羞！
L：不能錄音哦。
M：沒有人會錄音！

Transcript of the dialogue (w/ pinyin and translation)
Use this as a visual listening guide, or if you want to check your tone comprehension. Tones are indicated by marks above the letters in the pinyin transliteration, as follows: (1) ā (2) á (3) ǎ (4) à

• M：阿芬！你來了！
  • Ā fēn! Nǐ láile!
  • A-Fen, you’re here!
• F：嘿！不好意思遲到了。我剛剛才下班。
  • Hēi! Bù hǎoyìsi chídàole. Wǒ gānggāng cái xiàbān.
  • Hey! Sorry, I’m late. I just got off work.
• M：沒事！趕快進來坐！
  • Méishì! Gǎnkuài jìnlái zuò!
  • No worries! Hurry up and come in!
• F：謝謝。
  • Xièxie.
  • Thank you.
• M：你看起來很喘。
  • Nǐ kàn qǐlái hǎo chuǎn!
  • You look really out of breath.
• F：唉，爬樓梯好喘！
  • Yeah, climbing the stairs is really tiring (makes one out of breath)!
  • Āi, pá lóutī zhēn de hěn chuǎn!
• M：對，我們沒有電梯。只好讓你運動一下。
  • Duì, wǒmen méiyǒu diàntī. Zhǐhǎo ràng nǐ yùndòng yīxià.
  • Yeah, we don’t have an elevator. No other choice but to make you exercise a bit.
• F：我好久沒運動。
  • Wǒ hǎojiǔ méi yùndòng.
  • I haven’t exercised in a long time.
• M：沒關係，這裡可以放鬆。小李，這是我的朋友，慧芬，她是律師。
  • Méiguānxì, xiànzài kěyǐ fàngsōng. Xiǎo lǐ, zhè shì wǒ de péngyǒu, huì fēn, tā shì lǜshī.
  • It’s ok, you can relax here. Xiao Li, this is my friend, Hui Fen. She’s a lawyer.
• L：你好。
  • Nǐ hǎo.
  • Hi.
• F：嗨。
  • Hāi.
  • Hi.
• M：來，慧芬，要不要吃**麵包？**小李做的！
  • Lái, huì fēn, yào bùyào chī miànbāo? Xiǎo lǐ zuò de!
  • Here, Hui-Fen, do you want to eat some bread? Xiao Li made it!
• F：好厲害！
  • Hǎo lìhài!
  • That’s amazing!
• M：你可以放心，他的麵包很健康！
  • Nǐ kěyǐ fàngxīn, tā de miànbāo hěn jiànkāng!
  • You don’t have to worry, his bread is really healthy.
• F：好好吃！你開麵包店嗎？
  • Hǎohǎo chī! Nǐ kāi miànbāo diàn ma?
  • It's so good! Do you have a bakery?
• L：沒有，其實，就是，呃… 我是一個… 呃… 作家。
  • Méiyǒu, qíshí, jiùshì, è… wǒ shì yīgè… è… zuòjiā.
  • No, actually, I mean, uh, I’m a, uh… writer.
• M：小李很害羞，可是他是一個很認真的作家。
  • Xiǎo lǐ hěn hàixiū, kěshì tā shì yīgè hěn rènzhēn de zuòjiā.
  • Xiao Li is really shy, but he’s a very serious writer.
• F：你寫小說嗎？
  • Nǐ xiě xiǎoshuō ma?
  • Do you write novels?
• L：沒有，但那是我的目標。
  • Méiyǒu. Dàn nà shì wǒ de mùbiāo.
  • No, but that’s my goal.
• M：來，我們先坐。正好要開始唱歌！
  • Lái, wǒmen xiān zuò. Zhènghǎo yào kāishǐ chànggē!
  • Come one, let's sit down first. We’re just about to start singing!
• F：我最愛唱歌！
  • Wǒ zuì'ài chànggē!
  • I love singing!
• M：小李，你還沒點歌，對吧。
  • Xiǎo lǐ, nǐ hái méi diǎn gē, duì ba.
  • Xiao Li, you haven’t ordered yet.
• L：我不用了。
  • Wǒ bùyòngle.
  • I’m alright. (No need.)
• F：你真的很害羞。
  • Nǐ zhēn de hěn hàixiū.
  • You're really shy.
• M：小李，拜託，唱一首給大家聽。然後我就放過你。
  • Xiǎo lǐ, bàituō, chàng yī shǒu gěi dàjiā tīng. Ránhòu wǒ jiù fàngguò nǐ.
  • Xiao Li, please, sing one song for everyone, then I’ll let you off the hook.
• L：可是，在很多陌生人的面前…
  • Kěshì, zài hěnduō mòshēng rén de miànqián…
  • But, in front of strangers…
• M：什麼陌生人？我們都是朋友，你放心！
  • Shénme mòshēng rén? Wǒmen dōu shì péngyǒu, nǐ fàngxīn!
  • What strangers? We’re all friends! Don’t worry!
• L：還是我先去吃蛋糕…
  • Háishì wǒ xiān qù chī dàngāo…
  • Or maybe I’ll go have some cake first…
• M：你不要逃避啦！不唱歌，你要吃辣椒！
  • Nǐ bùyào táobìle la! Bù chànggē, nǐ yào chī làjiāo!
  • Don’t run away! If you don’t sing, you have to eat chili peppers.
• L：什麼？
  • Shénme?
  • What?
• M：我家的規定。
  • Wǒjiā de guīdìng.
  • House rules.
• L：OK，OK，好啦。我唱。
  • OK,OK, hǎo la. Wǒ chàng.
  • Ok, ok, fine. I’ll sing.
• F：你要唱什麼？我幫你點。
  • Nǐ yào chàng shénme? Wǒ bāng nǐ diǎn.
  • What do you want to sing? I’ll help you order.
• L：呃… 夢中人？好嗎？
  • È… mèngzhōngrén? Hǎo ma?
  • Uh… dream lover? Ok?
• F：王菲的還是蔡琴的？
  • Wángfēi de háishì càiqín de?
  • Wang Fei’s or Cai Qin’s? (Referring to two songs with the same title)
• L：哦… 蔡琴的。
  • Ó… càiqín de.
  • Oh, Cai Qin’s...