Episode 06: I’m still waiting
About this lesson
Learning how to say familiar words in another language, it's easy to get the impression that a foreign language is simply another way of saying the same things, using different sounds. The truth, however, is that each language is a unique system for dividing up all the meaning and concepts that the human mind is capable of representing. There's no one-to-one mapping between languages, which is what makes translation so difficult in the first place. It's also one of the things that makes learning another language so fascinating.
While we use translation to help you understand what you're hearing, the English translation is merely a stepping stone. Your goal should be to connect the Mandarin sounds you hear to the meaningful context, not to the English sounds themselves. When you're listening to this dialogue and you hear an English translation, let it conjure a picture in your mind, and then try your best to banish the English you just heard, and hold on to that picture as you hear the Mandarin version.
Super easy? Well, not quite. Natural, intuitive, and effective? Why, yes!
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
今天 :: jīntiān :: today
沒 :: méi :: not
沒有 :: méiyǒu :: not have
還 :: hái :: yet, still; pretty, rather
等 :: děng :: to wait
一下 :: yīxià :: "one sec", a moment, a bit
還在 :: hái zài :: [still ongoing]
來 :: lái :: to come
漂亮 :: piàoliang :: beautiful
店 :: diàn :: a shop, a store
一個 :: yīgè :: one [of something]
要 :: yào :: to want; important; to ask for; will, going to; may, must; probably; if
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: 嘿，你今天好嗎？
L: 我今天還OK啊，你呢？你在哪裡啊？
M: 我在咖啡店，你看
L: 喔！很漂亮！
M: 對啊
L: 你在喝咖啡嗎？
M: 還沒，等一下
L: 你在等咖啡？
M: 對啊，我還在等
L: 欸！有東西來了！
M：喔對！（謝謝）我的咖啡來了！
L: 好喝嗎？
M: 等一下！我還沒喝... 喔！好喝！
L: 我也要一個！
Dialogue text (Pinyin)
M: Hēi, nǐ jīntiān hǎo ma?
L: Wǒ jīntiān hái OK a, nǐ ne? Nǐ zài nǎlǐ a?
M: Wǒ zài kāfēi diàn, nǐ kàn
L: Ō! Hěn piàoliang!
M: Duì a
L: Nǐ zài hē kāfēi ma?
M: Hái méi, děng yīxià
L: Nǐ zài děng kāfēi?
M: Duì a, wǒ hái zài děng
L: Éi! Yǒu dōngxī láile!
M: Ō duì!(Xièxiè) wǒ de kāfēi láile!
L: Hǎo hē ma?
M: Děng yīxià! Wǒ hái méi hē... Ō! Hǎo hē!
L: Wǒ yě yào yīgè!
Thank you for listening!
