Standard Chinese, a modular approach.
Orientation Module Unit 4, Comprehension Tape 1.
This unit is set in the People's Republic of China, or PRC.
On this tape, you'll learn to understand a variety of polite questions and answers
about the location of places and people
and about where you and other people are from.
The Andersons are at a reception,
welcoming newly-arrived diplomatic personnel to the PRC.
Mr.Anderson has just been introduced to Comrade Liu,
who politely asks him where he's from.
Listen to the exchange.
May I ask, where are you from?
请问你是哪个人?
I'm from Texas.
我是德州人.
Here's the expression meaning, may I ask.
请问.请问.请问.
The expression,请问, may I ask,
is used to open a conversation asking for information.
The phrase may I ask sounds rather formal in English.
We'd be more likely to use the phrase, excuse me.
But remember that 请问 is used to bring up a question.
It's not the word to use for saying excuse me after stepping on someone's foot.
Here's the Chinese phonetic equivalent for Texas.
德可撒斯
The abbreviated version goes like this.
德州
Now listen to the original exchange live.
Listen for 请问, may I ask, and 德州, Texas.
请问你是哪个人?
我是德州人.
Again,请问你是哪个人?
我是德州人.
Check your comprehension.
请问你是哪个人?
May I ask, where are you from?
我是德州人.
I'm from Texas.
Listen as the conversation continues.
May I ask, where is Mrs. Anderson from?
请问安德森夫人是哪个人?
She's from Texas too.
她也是德州人.
Listen to the Chinese phonetic equivalent for Anderson.
安德森
In the PRC, foreign names have standard phonetic equivalents.
The equivalent for Mr. David Anderson is 带位安德森先生.
Here's the word used for Mrs. in the exchange.
Listen 夫人
Notice the tone sequence, high tone, neutral tone.
The word 夫人 is sometimes translated as Madam,
as in Madam Sonia Tseng.
It's the normal term of address for a married foreign woman in the PRC.
The word for two in the exchange is 也.
Listen 也.
Yeah.
Notice that the word 也 comes right before the verb,
just as also would if we translated the sentence.
She also is from Texas.
Here's the exchange live.
请问安德森夫人是哪个人?
她也是德州人.
Again,请问安德森夫人是哪个人?
她也是德州人.
Check your comprehension.
请问安德森夫人是哪个人?
May I ask, where is Mrs. Anderson from?
她也是德州人.
She's from Texas, too.
Conrad Liu, who is interested in England,
has heard that one of the foreigners at the reception is English.
Indicating a man across the room,
she raises a new topic for discussion.
Listen to the exchange.
Is he English?
他是英国人吗?
No, he's not English.
不是,他不是英国人。
And his wife?
他爱人呢?
She isn't English, either.
他也不是英国人。
In the People's Republic, the same word,
Iron, is used for both husband and wife.
Here's the word for husband or wife,
that is, for spouse.
爱人。
Notice that the phrase, his wife,
is formed simply by putting the words for he and wife together.
Listen,他爱人。
There's nothing in this phrase
that corresponds to the English possessive marker,
apostrophe s.
Chinese does have a possessive marker,
which you've seen in phrases like,
刘敏珍的Iron,刘敏珍's husband.
This marker is usually not used, however,
if the phrase is short and the relationship in question
is felt to be very close.
In the affirmative, we translate it
yeah as also or to.
In the negative, we translate it as either.
The word yeah itself has only one meaning,also.
But in English, it often sounds better
to use to for the affirmative
and either for the negative.
Here's the exchange again, live.
Listen,他是英國人嗎?
不是,他不是英國人。
他愛人呢?
他也不是英國人。
Again,他是英國人嗎?
不是,他不是英國人。
他愛人呢?
他也不是英國人。
Check your comprehension.
他是英國人嗎?
Is he English?
不是,他不是英國人。
No, he's not English.
他愛人呢?
And his wife?
他也不是英國人。
He's not English either.
In another part of the room,
Mr. Martin, a Canadian representative,
is talking to Comrade Zhao.
Listen to their exchange live.
赵同志,你是哪儿的人?
我是青島人。Again.
赵同志,你是哪儿的人?
我是青島人。
青島,a coastal city,is one of China's
major seaports and resorts.
Suppose Mr. Martin didn't know
where Qingdao was.
Here's how he would find out.
May I ask, where is Qingdao?
请问,青岛在哪儿?
青岛在山东。
It's the word for to be in the sense of to be somewhere.
在。在。在。
Listen for zai in the exchange live.
请问,青岛在哪儿?
青岛在山东。Again.
请问,青岛在哪儿?
青岛在山东。
Check your comprehension.
请问青岛在哪儿?
May I ask, where is Qingdao?
青岛在山东
青岛 is in Shandong
English uses the same verb to be
both for talking about identity
as in the question
who is she
and for talking about location
as in the question
where is she?
Chinese uses two different verbs
sure for identity
and zai for location
compare these two questions
who is she?
她是谁?
where is she?
她在哪儿?
In English, we usually use prepositions
such as in, at, and on
along with the verb to be
in its location sense
for example, we say
he lives in New York
he lives on 42nd street
or he lives at number 37
in Chinese, only zai is needed
we can say that zai by itself
means to be in, at, or on
now Kamrat Zhao asks Mr. Martin
where his family is from
or more literally
where his original home is
listen
may I ask
where is your family from?
请问你老家在哪儿?
my family is from Ontario
我老家在安大略
here is the word for original home
老家
notice that
老家
original home
like iron
spouse
is considered closely related
to its possessor
and forms the possessive
without the marker 德
here is the Chinese
vanetic equivalent
or Ontario
安大略
notice the u sound
in the last syllable
listen again
安大略
listen to the exchange again
live
请问你老家在哪儿?
我老家在安大略
again
请问你老家在哪儿?
我老家在安大略
check your comprehension
请问你老家在哪儿?
may I ask
where is your family from?
我老家在安大略
my family is from Ontario
when a Chinese asks you about your老家
it probably wants to know about your hometown
the place where you grew up
when you ask a Chinese about his老家
he will tell you where his family came from originally
a Chinese whose grandparents came from Guangdong
will give that as his老家
even if he and his parents
have spent all of their lives in Sichuan
the question
你老家在哪儿?
ask where your family is from
and is answered with the name of a province or state
for instance
我老家在山东
my original home
is in shandong
the question
你老家是哪儿?
ask what your original hometown is
and is answered with the name of a city or town
as in
我老家是青岛
my original hometown is Qingdao
how would you say someone's original home
isnt in some particular place?
predictably
the negative of 在 is 不在
notice the rising tone on 不
不在
listen as karmad zhao
ask mr.martin about another Canadian couple
at the reception
here's the exchange live
他老家也在安大略吗?
他老家不在安大略
他爱人呢?
他老家也不在安大略
again
is his family from Ontario too?
他老家不在安大略
他爱人呢?
他老家也不在安大略
check your comprehension
他老家也在安大略吗?
is his family from Ontario too?
他老家不在安大略
his family isn't from Ontario
他爱人呢?
how about his wife's family?
他老家也不在安大略
her family isn't from Ontario either
a little later at the reception
mr.martin asks to have karmad chan shumin
pointed out to him
for the answer you'll need the word for there
listen
nar
notice that the word for there
nar
is just like the word for where
nar
except that it has the falling tone instead of the low tone
listen to the exchange
where's karmad chan shumin?
chan shumin通知在哪?
he's there
他在那
listen to the name chan shumin
chan shumin
here's the exchange again live
chan shumin通知在哪?
他在那
again
chan shumin通知在哪?
他在那
here's the word for here
这
notice that both here and there have the falling tone
这
are
now let's suppose that earlier
when karmad zhao said he was from Qingdao
Mr.Martin had asked to have Qingdao pointed out to him on a map of China on the wall
here's the exchange
where is Qingdao?
青岛在哪?
it's here
在这
literally of course
在这 is simply is here
listen to the exchange live
青岛在哪?
在这
again
青岛在哪?
在这
check your comprehension
青岛在哪?
where is Qingdao?
在这
it's here
now listen as Mr.Martin asks the map locations of some other places live
请问上海在这吗?
上海不在那上海在这
香港在哪?
在这
again
请问上海在这吗?
上海不在那上海在这
香港在哪?
在这
check your comprehension
请问上海在这吗?
may I ask is Shanghai here?
上海不在那上海在这
上海 isn't there
上海 is here
香港在哪?
where is Hong Kong?
在这
it's here
the following exercise will give you a chance to nail down the words for where, there and here
at the reception a meal is about to be served
and place cards have been put on the tables showing where everyone is to sit
here is what it sounds like as people meal around finding out where they and other people are sitting
try translating
你在哪?
where are you?
我在这吗?
am I here?
你在这
you're here
他不在那
he's not there
我在哪?
where am I?
他在那吗?
is he there?
我不在这
I'm not here
so far we've been talking about where places are
that is about fixed locations
and about where people are who are within sight
when you talk about the locations of movable things such as people
then are not in sight
you usually ask where they are now
here's the word for now
现在
let's go back to the reception
Mr. Martin has told Kamrat Zhao
that his wife is not in China yet
but will be coming soon
here's the Chinese for Canada
加拿大
now listen for现在 now
and加拿大
Canada in exchange
where is your wife now?
你爱人现在在哪?
my wife is in Canada now
我爱人现在在加拿大
don't be confused by the sequence 在 在
the first 在 belongs to the word 现在 now
and the second 在 is the verb to be somewhere
listen as the exchange is repeated live
你爱人现在在哪?
我爱人现在在加拿大
again
你爱人现在在哪?
我爱人现在在加拿大
check your comprehension
你爱人现在在哪?
where is your wife now?
我爱人现在在加拿大
my wife is in Canada now
at the reception Mr. Martin told Conrad Zhao
that his wife would be coming to Peking in a week or two
a week later Conrad Zhao meets Mr. Martin again
listen to them live
你爱人现在在这吗?
他现在在这
again
你爱人现在在这吗?
他现在在这
check your comprehension
你爱人现在在这吗?
is your wife here now?
她现在在这
she's here now
in this exchange the word 这
is used to refer to Peking
for large places such as provinces or countries
Chinese usually uses the place name
rather than the words for here and there
here's an example with the place name
listen
请问你爱人现在在中国吗?
他在中国
again
请问你爱人现在在中国吗?
他在中国
let's review what we've covered on this tape
in the following live dialogue
Conrad Huang and Mr. Anderson are standing in front of a map of China
Conrad Huang has heard that Mrs. Anderson will be joining her husband in China
but doesn't know that she's already arrived
listen
请问安德森先生你老家在哪?
我老家在德州
你爱人呢?
他老家也在德州
请问你老家在哪?
我老家在青岛
青岛不在那,在这
请问安德森夫人现在在哪?
在香港吗?
他现在不在香港,在北京
again
请问安德森先生你老家在哪?
我老家在德州
你爱人呢?
他老家也在德州
请问你老家在哪?
我老家在青岛
青岛在这吗?
青岛不在那,在这
请问安德森夫人现在在哪?
在香港吗?
他现在不在香港,在北京
请问安德森先生你老家在哪?
我老家在德州
My family is from Texas
你爱人呢?
And your wife?
他老家也在德州
Her family is from Texas too
请问你老家在哪?
May I ask where is your family from?
我老家在青岛
My family is from Qingdao
青岛在这吗?
Is Qingdao here?
Chingdao不在那,在这
Chingdao isn't there, it's here
请问安德森夫人现在在哪?
在香港吗?
May I ask where is Mrs. Anderson now?
In Hong Kong?
她现在不在香港,在北京
She isn't in Hong Kong now, she's in Beijing
The final review, try translating these random sentences and exchanges from the target list
Number one,请问你老家在哪?
May I ask where is your family from?
Number two,安德森先生你是哪的人?
Where are you from Mr. Anderson?
我是德州人
I'm from Texas, I'm from some foreign
And Mrs. Anderson?
她也是德州人
She's from Texas too
Number three,她现在在加拿大
She's in Canada now
Number four,我老家在安大乐
My family is from Ontario
Number five,她是英国人吗?
Is he English?
不是,他不是英国人
No, he's not English
他爱人呢?
And his wife?
他也不是英国人
She isn't English either
Number six,你爱人现在在哪?
Where is your husband now?
If you're satisfied with your understanding of these sentences
Go on to the P1 tape
If you're still having difficulties
Listen to this tape again or check your reference notes
This is the end of the tape
And of Orientation Module Unit 4
Comprehension Tape 1