S02, Episode 11: You’ve got to remind me! (Part 2)

The importance of curiosity

What happens when we start to feel burnt out?

It can be tempting to ignore the problem, to try and push past the burnout with positive self-talk and motivational slogans. Unfortunately, in my experience, this only ever works in the short term. When I start to feel my motivation failing me, when I start to find excuses to skip practices, or even start thinking about giving up — that’s when I know that I’ve pushed myself too much.

Trying too hard and giving up are two sides of the same coin. How do we break free of this vicious cycle?

It starts with realizing there are other options — that there’s no one right way to learn a language. Just as there’s no one right way to live a life.

If you can learn to trust in your curiosity and let it guide you, you won’t need to push so hard. Building a trusting connection with your inner curiosity can take practice, but the more you do so, the more you will find this inner voice taking you in directions you might not have even considered before, showing you doors that had previous been invisible.

Language learning can be a slog if you let it. Or it can be the exciting adventure of a lifetime. It’s your choice.

Lesson Outline:

• [00:21] Talking about curiosity

• [04:52] Dialogue (normal speed) 

• [06:28] Complete translation

• [12:56] Explanation of the word 乖 (guāi)

• [14:07] Repeat the dialogue 

Dialogue transcript (Chinese characters only)

康太太：這個是我兒子，他去年帶我去日本玩！

小李：是哦... 你有幾個孩子？

康太太：兩個，一個兒子一個女兒

小李：那...這個小朋友是誰呢？

康太太：這是我的孫子，他每天都來我這裡吃晚餐，很乖！

小李：很乖？

康太太：對啊，很乖！他每天吃三碗白飯！啊你結婚了嗎？

小李：還沒，我才27歲

康太太：27歲差不多了，你趕快去找個女朋友！不然我介紹我女兒給你，她才大你幾歲而已

小李：哦，好啊... 

阿明：哈囉，我車子停好了，小李在嗎？

康太太：我們在這裡

阿明：小李，你喝到水了嗎？

小李：還沒

康太太：啊我都忘了！你要提醒我啦！我們一直在聊天！聊得太開心！哈哈！

阿明：沒關係，小李，我們還是去便利商店買吧，比較快

康太太：不用啦，便利商店很遠

阿明：也還好吧...

康太太：你等一下！冰水馬上來！ 

阿明：那，好吧... 欸？小李，你在看什麼？

小李：哦，沒有，只是，這個是... 康太太的女兒

阿明：是喔！很可愛。

Dialogue transcript (w/ pinyin and translation):

• 康太太：這個是我兒子，他去年帶我去日本玩！

  • Kāng tàitài: Zhège shì wǒ érzi, tā qùnián dài wǒ qù rìběn wán! 

  • Mrs. Kang: This is my son. Last year he took me to Japan (lit. 玩 wán = to play)!

• 小李：是哦... 你有幾個孩子？

  • Xiǎo lǐ: Shì ó... Nǐ yǒu jǐ gè háizi?

  • Xiao-Li: Oh... How many kids do you have? 

• 康太太：兩個，一個兒子一個女兒

  • Kāng tàitài: Liǎng gè, yīgè érzi yīgè nǚ'ér

  • Mrs. Kang: Two, one son and one daughter. 

• 小李：那...這個小朋友是誰呢？

  • Xiǎo lǐ: Nà... Zhège xiǎopéngyǒu shì sheí ne?

  • Xiao-Li: Then... who’s this little kid? 

• 康太太：這是我的孫子，他每天都來我這裡吃晚餐，很乖！

  • Kāng tàitài: Zhè shì wǒ de sūnzi, tā měitiān dōu lái wǒ zhèlǐ chī wǎncān, hěn guāi!

  • Mrs. Kang: This is my grandson, every day he comes to my place for dinner, he’s very 乖! 

• 小李：很乖？

  • Xiǎo lǐ: Hěn guāi?

  • Xiao-Li: Very 乖? 

• 康太太：對啊，很乖！他每天吃三碗白飯！啊你結婚了嗎？

  • Kāng tàitài: Duì a, hěn guāi! Tā měitiān chī sān wǎn báifàn! A nǐ jié hūnle ma?

  • Mrs. Kang: Yeah, very 乖！ Every day he eats three bowls of rice! So are you married? 

• 小李：還沒，我才27歲

  • Xiǎo lǐ: Hái méi, wǒ cái èrshíqī suì

  • Xiao-Li: Not yet, I’m only 27 years old. 

• 康太太：27歲差不多了，你趕快去找個女朋友！不然我介紹我女兒給你，她才大你幾歲而已

  • Kāng tàitài: Èrshíqī suì chā bù duō le, nǐ gǎnkuài qù zhǎo gè nǚ péngyǒu! Bùrán wǒ jièshào wǒ nǚ'ér gěi nǐ, tā cái dà nǐ jǐ suì éryǐ

  • Mrs. Kang: 27 is about right, hurry up and find a girlfriend! Or else I can introduce my daughter to you, she’s only a few years older than you. 

• 小李：哦，好啊...

  • Xiǎo lǐ: Ó, hǎo a... 

  • Xiao-Li: Oh, okay... 

• 阿明：哈囉，我車子停好了，小李在嗎？

  • Ā míng: Hā luō, wǒ chēzi tíng hǎole, xiǎo lǐ zài ma?

  • A-Ming: Hello, my car is parked, is Xiao-Li here? 

• 康太太：我們在這裡

  • Kāng tàitài: Wǒmen zài zhèlǐ

  • Mrs. Kang: We’re over here!

• 阿明：小李，你喝到水了嗎？

  • Ā míng: Xiǎo lǐ, nǐ hē dào shuǐle ma?

  • A-Ming: Xiao-Li, did you drink some water? 

• 小李：還沒

  • Xiǎo lǐ: Hái méi 

  • Xiao-Li: Not yet. 

• 康太太：啊我都忘了！你要提醒我啦！我們一直在聊天！聊得太開心！哈哈！

  • Kāng tàitài: A wǒ dōu wàngle! Nǐ yào tíxǐng wǒ la! Wǒmen yīzhí zài liáotiān! Liáo dé tài kāixīn! Hāhā!

  • Mrs. Kang: Oh I totally forgot! You have to remind me! We were chatting all this time, chatting was too much fun. Haha!

• 阿明：沒關係，小李，我們還是去便利商店買吧，比較快

  • Ā míng: Méiguānxì, xiǎo lǐ, wǒmen háishì qù biànlì shāngdiàn mǎi ba, bǐjiào kuài

  • A-Ming: Never mind, Xiao-Li, let’s go to the convenience store after all, it’s faster. 

• 康太太：不用啦，便利商店很遠

  • Kāng tàitài: Bùyòng la, biànlì shāngdiàn hěn yuǎn

  • Mrs. Kang: Don’t bother! The convenience store is so far away. 

• 阿明：也還好吧...

  • Ā míng: Yě hái hǎo ba...

  • A-Ming: It’s not so bad... 

• 康太太：你等一下！冰水馬上來！

  • Kāng tàitài: Nǐ děng yīxià! Bīng shuǐ mǎshàng lái!

  • Mrs. Kang: You wait a second! The ice water is coming right up. 

• 阿明：那，好吧... 欸？小李，你在看什麼？

  • Ā míng: Nà, hǎo ba... Ēi? Xiǎo lǐ, nǐ zài kàn shénme?

  • A-Ming: Alright then... huh? Xiao-Li, what are you looking at? 

• 小李：哦，沒有，只是，這個是... 康太太的女兒

  • Xiǎo lǐ: Ó, méiyǒu, zhǐshì, zhège shì... Kāng tàitài de nǚ'ér

  • Xiao-Li: Oh, nothing, just... this is... Mrs. Kang’s daughter. 

• 阿明：是喔！很可愛。

  • Ā míng: Shì ō! Hěn kě'ài.

  • A-Ming: Oh! She’s cute!

Thank you for listening!