Episode 05: Can you hear me?
About this lesson
It's tempting to focus on all the things you don't know how to say yet. But really, why do that? If you consider what you already do know how to say, even after just a handful of lessons, you might be surprised. It's all about combinatorics -- at this stage, everything you learn increases what you're able to say many times over. By the end of this lesson, your range of competency will have increased by an order of magnitude.
Of course, what you know is only useful if you can recall it at will, which is why repetition is so important. Come back tomorrow (and scroll down) for the dialogue-only Daily Practice Session!
Lesson notes
A note about pronunciation: The vocabulary list below includes the Chinese characters and the pinyin romanization system. The advantage of pinyin for English speakers is that it uses the familiar symbols of the Latin alphabet. The disadvantage is that English speakers are easily deceived into thinking these familiar symbols represent the same sounds they do in English. They don't. That said, pinyin can be a useful system to learn, but you must rely on your ears first, eyes second.
Don't expect to be able to pronounce anything just by reading the pinyin; the romanization is just a reference to jog your memory. It will only start to make sense once you have become familiar with the sounds themselves. You can achieve this through a daily practice of listening and imitating what you hear.
Dialogue vocabulary
看 :: kàn :: to see, to look, to watch
得到 :: dédào :: to gain, to successfully do sth, e.g. 看得到 to be able to see
開始 :: kāishǐ :: to start
在 :: zài :: currently doing sth, e.g. 在看 currently watching
什麼 :: shénme :: what
喝 :: hē :: to drink
東西 :: dōngxī :: thing, something
咖啡 :: kāfēi :: coffee
喜歡 :: xǐhuān :: to like
茶 :: chá :: tea
的 :: de :: [possessive]
這 :: zhè :: this
現在 :: xiànzài :: now
A note about learning Chinese characters
Teaching Chinese characters is outside the scope of this podcast, but if you are learning Chinese characters through another course or method, you can use the transcript below to follow along.
Learning characters can be a fulfilling project, and can help you to remember and differentiate similar-sounding words. And, of course, it opens up more avenues for practicing your Mandarin, such as reading (books, children's books, comic books) and corresponding with Chinese speakers via email and other messaging apps. I highly encourage you to give it a try!
However, if the thought of memorizing all those characters now gives you a headache, rest assured: you can start speaking Mandarin without being able to read or write. Millions of preliterate children speak Mandarin fluently, and so can you. If and when you are ready to start learning the characters, speaking some Mandarin already will make it that much easier.
The bottom line is this: Don't let anything stop you or discourage you. The best method is the method you actually use, and any method you choose is better than no method at all. Find a way to move forward. You can always make adjustments later. And most important of all, enjoy!
Daily Practice Session
Dialogue text (Chinese characters)
M: 喂？你聽得到嗎？
L: 我聽得到！你呢？你聽得到嗎？
M: 有，我聽得到
L: 那，我們開始說中文吧！
M: 呃。。。我們在說中文啊
L: 喔，對了，哈哈。嘿，你在喝東西嗎？
M: 有啊，我在喝東西
L: 你在喝什麼？
M: 我在喝咖啡。你喜歡咖啡嗎？
L: 我還好，我喜歡喝茶
M: 你現在在喝茶嗎？
L: 有！你看，這是我的茶
M：那是什麼茶？
L：這是烏龍茶
Dialogue text (Pinyin)
M: Wèi? Nǐ tīng dédào ma?
L: Wǒ tīng dédào! Nǐ ne? Nǐ tīng dédào ma?
M: Yǒu, wǒ tīng dédào
L: Nà, wǒmen kāishǐ shuō zhōngwén ba!
M: È... Wǒmen zài shuō zhōngwén a
L: Ō, duìle, hāhā. Hēi, nǐ zài hē dōngxī ma?
M: Yǒu a, wǒ zài hē dōngxī
L: Nǐ zài hē shénme?
M: Wǒ zài hē kāfēi. Nǐ xǐhuān kāfēi ma?
L: Wǒ hái hǎo, wǒ xǐhuān hē chá
M: Nǐ xiànzài zài hē chá ma?
L: Yǒu! Nǐ kàn, zhè shì wǒ de chá
M: Nà shì shénme chá?
L: Zhè shì wūlóngchá
Thank you for listening!
