Daily Practice Session - S2 - Lesson 10

Mandarin From the Ground Up

After listening to S02 Lesson 10, start reinforcing what you've learned by taking five minutes a day to practice listening and imitating the dialogue. Repetition makes it stick.

README: How to use this recording

You'll hear the dialogue from Lesson 10 twice.

The first time, there will be a short pause after each line. During the pause, try to repeat aloud exactly what you hear.

Repeating aloud is important, partly because you'll be training your speech muscles to make the sounds of Mandarin, and partly because you'll be getting feedback about how you sound (if you're listening with earbuds, I recommend practicing with one earbud out and one in, or else with both partially in, so that you can hear yourself better).

The second time, there won't be any pauses -- try to "shadow" the sounds simultaneously as they are spoken, again aloud.

This will help you practice stringing the sounds together and further reinforce the muscle memory speech patterns of Mandarin. If it feels way too fast, you can try shadowing only one of the characters each time you listen. However, even then, don't expect to be able to keep up with everything at first. It takes regular daily practice to start training your ears to have a more nuanced perception of the sounds, and to train your speech muscles to speak at natural speed.

A transcript of the dialogue is available below. First, it is written out in only Chinese characters for those who are learning characters and want to practice reading along. Then it is written out with the translation and pinyin.

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!

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