S02, Episode 16: You’re so kind.

Full Episode

Feb 15

About this lesson

In this lesson, we get to hear the last dialogue in Season 2! Mrs. Kang (康太太) goes to get dinner ready, leaving Xiao Li, A-Ming, and Lili to talk. What do they talk about?

Request for support

I started this podcast three years ago to share my passion for learning languages. I wanted to share the ways that I found most effective for learning a difficult language like Mandarin, and to talk about the challenges that I faced and how I got through them.

MFTGU has been totally self-funded since day one. Which made total sense when I was starting out. Now, however, the podcast has grown a bit. I am about to complete a second season of lessons. The show is reaching more and more listeners. And this presents me with an opportunity to finally put more of my time and energy into developing this project.

To do this, I need your support. Your contribution will enable me to:

Keep paying for podcast hosting (which gets more expensive as the number of listeners goes up) and web hosting.
Afford to spend the hours of work each day required to make new lessons. This includes lesson development, recording, audio editing, and maintaining the podcast's online presence. A lot for one person!
Save up for better equipment, website hosting, maybe even hiring extra help someday.

In short, your contribution will help ensure that Mandarin From the Ground Up not only continues, but keeps getting better and better!

To become a supporter, you can click here and select monthly. Choose any amount you could feel good about contributing to this project. If everyone pitches in even a small amount, the future of Mandarin From the Ground Up will be secured.

Thank you so much for being a part of this project.

- Isaac

Lesson Outline:

[00:22] Introduction: Request for support
[01:50] Preview of future lessons, tools, and resources
[06:44] Dialogue
[08:19] Useful vocabulary and phrases from the dialogue
[15:50] Dialogue (repeat)

Lesson notes

In the introduction, I mention the Echo Method, a technique designed by my friend, NTU Professor Karen Chung, to help students train their listening and pronunciation skills. I have benefited from this technique personally, and have seen it help students become more sensitive to the sounds of foreign language. If you would like to know more about this technique, I highly recommend watching Professor Chung's TEDx Talk on the Echo Method.

“When we first start learning a new language, we literally can't hear some of the sounds -- the ones that don't exist in our native language.” Actually, it would be more precise to say we can't distinguish the sounds. Of course we can physically hear them, we just can't tell them apart because our brains automatically interpret them as being the same. A famous example of this is most Japanese speakers' inability to distinguish between the \l\ and \r\ sounds in English, but this phenomenon is universal and applies to speakers of any language.

Daily Practice Session

Words and phrases with examples (Chinese characters only)

[scroll further down for pinyin and the translation]

租（租房）
1. 租房
2. 我需要租車
3. 這個房子是我租的
陪
1. 你可以陪我嗎？
2. 謝謝你陪我去看她。
3. 你不用陪我，我自己去
畢業
1. 你什麼時候畢業？
2. 你有大學畢業嗎？
3. 恭喜你畢業了！
留
1. 我留在這
2. 你要留著嗎？
3. 你為什麼留下來？
部落格
1. 你有部落格嗎？
酷
1. 哇！這個很酷！
拍照
1. 我可以拍照嗎？
2. 這裡不能拍照
3. 你可以幫我拍照嗎？
寫
1. 你會寫中文嗎？
2. 我寫很慢
3. 記得寫給我！
採訪
1. 我喜歡聽採訪
2. 記者採訪了他
3. 我要採訪我的老師
負責
1. 你負責拍照
2. 我今天負責開車
3. 他一定會負責

Words and phrases with examples (w/ pinyin and translation):

租 :: zū :: to rent
1. 租房
  1. To rent a house or room
  2. zūfáng
2. 我需要租車
  1. I need to rent a car.
  2. wǒ xūyào zūchē
3. 這個房子是我租的
  1. This house is rented (by me). I rented this room.
  2. zhège fángzi shì wǒ zū de
陪 :: péi :: to accompany, to keep someone company.
1. 你可以陪我嗎？
  1. Can you keep me company?
  2. nǐ kěyǐ péi wǒ ma?
2. 謝謝你陪我去看她。
  1. Thank you for accompanying me to go see her.
  2. xièxiè nǐ péi wǒ qù kàn tā
3. 你不用陪我，我自己去
  1. You don’t have to accompany me, I’ll go myself.
  2. nǐ bùyòng péi wǒ, wǒ zìjǐ qù
畢業 :: bìyè :: to graduate, graduation
1. 你什麼時候畢業？
  1. When are you graduating? (Or: When did you graduate?)
  2. nǐ shénme shíhòu bìyè?
2. 你有大學畢業嗎？
  1. Did you graduate from college?
  2. nǐ yǒu dàxué bìyè ma?
3. 恭喜你畢業了！
  1. Congratulations on graduating!
  2. gōngxǐ nǐ bìyèle!
留 :: liú :: to stay, to remain
1. 我留在這
  1. I’m staying here.
  2. wǒ liú zài zhè
2. 你要留著嗎？
  1. Do you want to keep it?
  2. nǐ yào liúzhe ma?
  3. Note: This 著 (zhe) character indicates an action in progress. If it's new to you, don't worry about using it just yet. Just know that that's what it's doing in this phrase.
3. 你為什麼留下來？
  1. Why are you staying?
  2. nǐ wèishéme liú xiàlái?
部落格 :: bùluò gé :: blog
1. 你有部落格嗎？
  1. Do you have a blog?
  2. nǐ yǒu bùluò gé ma?
酷 :: kù :: cool
1. 哇！這個很酷！
  1. Wow! This is really cool!
  2. wa! zhège hěn kù!
拍照 :: pāizhào :: to take a picture
1. 我可以拍照嗎？
  1. Can I take a photo?
  2. wǒ kěyǐ pāizhào ma?
2. 這裡不能拍照
  1. You can’t take pictures here.
  2. zhèlǐ bùnéng pāizhào
3. 你可以幫我拍照嗎？
  1. Can you take a picture for me?
  2. nǐ kěyǐ bāng wǒ pāizhào ma?
寫 :: xiě :: to write
1. 你會寫中文嗎？
  1. Can you write Chinese?
  2. nǐ huì xiě zhōngwén ma?
2. 我寫很慢
  1. I write really slowly.
  2. wǒ xiě hěn màn
3. 記得寫給我！
  1. Remember to write to me!
  2. jìdé xiě gěi wǒ!
採訪 :: cǎifǎng :: to interview
1. 我喜歡聽採訪
  1. I like to listen to interviews.
  2. wǒ xǐhuān tīng cǎifǎng
2. 記者採訪了他
  1. Journalists interviewed him.
  2. jìzhě cǎifǎngle tā
3. 我要採訪我的老師
  1. I’m going to interview my teacher.
  2. wǒ yào cǎifǎng wǒ de lǎoshī
負責 :: fùzé :: to be in charge of, to take responsibility for
1. 你負責拍照
  1. You’re in charge of taking pictures.
  2. nǐ fùzé pāizhào
2. 我今天負責開車
  1. Today I’m responsible for driving.
  2. wǒ jīntiān fùzé kāichē
3. 他一定會負責
  1. He will definitely take responsibility.
  2. tā yīdìng huì fùzé

Thank you for listening!

Season 2Support this podcastWords and phrasesHaving a conversation in Mandarin

Isaac Myers