Dialogue and Translation for Exercise 3

An American (A) walks into the dining room of the Bāijlng Hotel in a
hurry and calls a waiter (B).

-   A: Duìbuqì, yìbēi rè kǎfěi, Jiù yào

niúnll, bú yào ting, yífèn huǒtuì sanminszhì. Yuè kuàl yuètlXŌ!

Excuse me, a cup of hot coffee, with cream only, no sugar, and a ham
sandwich. As fast as possible!

-   B: Měitiān dǒu shi "yuè kuàl yuè hāo," ni zhēn máng a!

A: Ni zhidao tāmen gěi wo ǎnpaile nàme duǒ yào flngwènde dìfang. Zhěn
shi yìtiSn yǒu sānshiliùge zhǒngtǒu cái bio.

Every day it's "as fast as possible." You're so busy!

You know, they arranged so many places for me to visit. I only wish that
there were thirty-six hours in a day.

B: Hlo, hlo. Wǒ mlshàng Jiù l£i.

(One minute later, the waiter comes

B: Hide sānmíngzhì, kāfěi, nlúnli.

-   A: Zhěn kuàl. Xièxie ni. Ài, líi-le sìtiān le, kěshi háishi bù
    zhl-dào zānme chěnghu ni, zhěn duìbuqi.

-   B: Ni Jiù Jiào wo Xilo Liú hlo le, bijilo rǒngyi Jì.

Okay. I'll be right back.

back with the lunch.)

Your sandwich, coffee, and milk.

That was really fast. Thank you. Gee, I've been here four days and I
still don't know how to address you I'm very sorry.

Just call me Xilo Liú. It's the easiest to remember.

-   A: Xiǎo Liú, ting níde kSuyín nl dàgài shi nánfǎng rén. Shi Shanghai
    rén, duì bu dui?

-   B: Nl zhěn shi yǔyánxué.1 iǎ. búdàn huì shuǒ Zhǒngguo huà, hái
    tlngde-chū nánfǎng, bèifǎng kSuyīnde bù tōng.

-   A: Náli, náli. W3 yánjiūde zhùyào

ahi pútōnghuà, duì fǎngyán méiyou shenme yánjiǔ, zhùyào shi w8 duì
Zhōngwén fēicháng y8u xìngqu. DSngbèi, Xlbèi, nánfǎng, bèifǎng, mèiyíge
dìfang, mèiyíge dìqū dōu y8u zìjíde y3yín xíguàn, zhēn shi fěichǎng y8u
yìsi.

-   B: Nl duì ZhSngwén zhèyang y8u xìngqu, zhèicì líi fǎngwèn y8u méiySu
    gēn Zhōngguóde yúyánxuéjiā tíntan?

-   A: Tin le. Zhèicì Zhōngguō fǎng-m1 an ānpai w8 gēn hǎn duō xuézhǎ
    jiànle miàn. Zhèixiē xuézhǎ zài guōwài dōu shi hǎn y8u míngde.

-   B: Nà hǎojíle. Nl kéyi y8u Jíhui duō liSoji? yidiǎn Zhōngguō
    yúyán-xuéde qíngkuàng.

-   A: Nl duì yúyán yōu xìngqu ma?

-   B: W8? W8 duì vénxué, lìshl dōu yōu yidiǎn xìngqu. Nl máng, wōmen
    xiàyícì zài tin.

-   A: Hǎo, hǎo. Gǎitiǎn zài liio. Hui tōu Jiàn, Xiǎo Liú.

-   B: Zàijiàn.

Xiǎo Liú, your accent sounds like you’re probably a southerner. You’re
from Shànghǎi, right?

You’re a real linguist. Not only can you speak Chinese, you can even
tell the difference between a northern and a southern accent.

Thank you. I mainly do research on Standard Chinese. I'm not well versed
in the dialects. The main thing is that I'm very interested in Chinese.
Manchuria, the northwest, the south, the north, every place, each
district, has its own ways of speech. It's really very interesting.

Since you have such an interest in Chinese, did you talk with some
Chinese linguists during this visit?

Yes. On this trip, the Chinese arranged for me to meet with a lot of
scholars who are very famous abroad.

That's great. You get the chance to find out more about linguistics in
China.

Are you interested in language?

Me? I have some interest in literature and history. You're busy, we'll
talk some other time.

Okay. We'll chat some other day. See you later, Xiǎo Liú.

Good-bye.