June 12th, 2010
June 8 — Buying bread
Today’s Phonetic Sounds:
zhu ㄓㄨ
zhua ㄓㄨㄚ
zhuo ㄓㄨㄛ
zhui ㄓㄨㄟ
zhuai ㄓㄨㄞ
zhun ㄓㄨㄣ
zhuan ㄓㄨㄢ
zhuang ㄓㄨㄤ
Today’s Dialogue:
A: 你好，我要买面包。
nǐ hǎo, wǒ yào mǎi miàn bāo.
Hello, I’d like to buy some bread.
B: 好的。
hǎo de.
Okay.
A: 多少钱？
duō shao qián ?
How much is it?
B: 五块钱。
wǔ kuài qián.
5 Dollars.
NOTE: Different parts of the Greater China Region use different currencies.
Some of the currencies in use are:
- Mainland China: Renminbi (literally: “the peoples’ money”) （人民币）
- Taiwan: New Taiwan Dollars （新台幣）
- Hong Kong: Hong Kong Dollars （港幣）
- Macau: Patacas （澳 門幣）
Traditional/Simplified Character Comparison:
你好，我要买面包。
你好，我要買麵包。
五块钱。
五塊錢 。
Dialogue Audio File:
Here is the MP3 file for the lesson: Chinesepod lesson 6 MP3: “I want to buy this one”
May 28th, 2010
May 25 — Asking for a Menu
Today’s Phonetic Sounds:
- lī ㄌㄧ
- liā ㄌㄧㄚ
- liāo ㄌㄧㄠ
- liē ㄌㄧㄝ
- liū ㄌㄧㄡ
- liān ㄌㄧㄢ
- liāng ㄌㄧㄤ
- līn ㄌㄧㄣ
- līng ㄌㄧㄥ
Today’s Dialogue:
A: 请问你有菜单吗？
qǐng wèn nǐ yǒu cài dān ma ?
Excuse me, do you have a menu?
B: 有的。请稍等。
Yǒu de. Qǐng shāo děng.
Yes. Please wait a moment.
A: 好的。
hǎo de.
Okay.
Vocabulary:
请
qǐng
Please
请问
qǐng wèn
Excuse me, I have a question
菜单
cài dān
Menu (literally: “food/dish list”)
稍等。
shāo děng.
Wait (formally spoken)
等一下
děng yī xià
Wait (informally spoken)
Traditional/Simplified Character Comparison:
请问你有菜单吗？
請問你有菜單嗎 ？
May 10th, 2010
May 4 — Counting 1-5, and the Trinity
Today’s Phonetic Sounds:
- dū ㄉㄨ
- dūo ㄉㄨㄛ
- dūi ㄉㄨㄟ
- dūan ㄉㄨㄢ
- dūn ㄉㄨㄣ
Counting to Five in Chinese:
- 一 yī
- 二 èr
- 三 sān
- 四 sì
- 五 wǔ
The Word “Trinity” in Chinese:
三位一体
sān wèi yī tǐ
位 wèi — The Chinese measure word for a person or individual
体 tǐ — Form, body or substance
So the Chinese word for “Trinity” literally means “three persons in one form/substance.” This is similar to the language we see in the Nicene Creed describing the Trinity:
“…one Lord Jesus Christ…being of one substance with the Father （与圣父同体 yǔ shèng fù tòng tǐ ）.” (See full text: English / Chinese)
Simplified/Traditional Character Comparison:
Simplified: 三位一体
Traditional: 三位一體