Daily Practice Session - S3 - Lesson 03

Mandarin From the Ground Up

After listening to Season 3, Lesson 03, start reinforcing what you've learned by taking five minutes a day to practice listening and imitating the material. Repetition makes progress.

Magic Phrase (2-3)
This phrase is composed entirely of words that use the 2-3 tone pair. We use it to practice identifying and then pronouncing the tones, hearing how they interact with each other in context.

還好男友沒有拿起啤酒騎馬，危險！
Háihǎo nányǒu méiyǒu náqǐ píjiǔ qímǎ, wéixiǎn!

Tone Pair Safari (2-3)
Once we are familiar with the 2-3 tone pair, we listen to a new dialogue that is filled with more words that use this tone pair. In doing so, we sharpen our listening skills by practicing paying attention to the tones we hear.

Transcript of the dialogue (Chinese characters only)

M：你還好嗎？
K：我兒子怎麼這麼殘忍？
M：怎麼了？
K：他被罰款了！
M：為什麼被罰款？
K：我是一個傳統的媽媽，可是他讓我很煩惱。
M：你很愛你的兒子。
K：我讓他每天吃蘋果，很營養。
M：很合理！
K：而且他的牙齒很完整！
M：...是嗎？
K：結果，他去游泳池賣牛奶，就被罰款！
M：所以...
K：我太愚蠢。一定是那個搖滾音樂讓他變成了魔鬼！
M：賣牛奶還好吧。
K：不合法！
M：沒有人是完美的。
K：很明顯，他在模仿他的爸爸。

Transcript of the dialogue (w/ pinyin and translation)
Use this as a visual listening guide, or if you want to check your tone comprehension. Tones are indicated by marks above the letters in the pinyin transliteration, as follows: (1) ā (2) á (3) ǎ (4) à

• M：你還好嗎？
  • Nǐ hái hǎo ma?
  • Are you okay?
• K：我兒子怎麼這麼殘忍？
  • Wǒ érzi zěnme zhème cánrěn?
  • How could my son be so cruel?
• M：怎麼了？
  • Zěnmele?
  • What's wrong? / What's up? / What happened?
• K：他被罰款了！
  • Tā bèi fákuǎnle!
  • He received a fine! / He was fined (monetary)!
• M：為什麼被罰款？
  • Wèishéme bèi fákuǎn?
  • Why was he fined?
• K：我是一個傳統的媽媽，可是他讓我很煩惱。
  • Wǒ shì yīgè chuántǒng de māmā, kěshì tā ràng wǒ hěn fánnǎo.
  • I'm a traditional mother, but he makes me worry a lot / gives me a lot of trouble.
• M：你很愛你的兒子。
  • Nǐ hěn ài nǐ de érzi.
  • You really love your son.
• K：我讓他每天吃蘋果，很營養。
  • Wǒ ràng tā měitiān chī píngguǒ, hěn yíngyǎng.
  • I make / let him eat an apple every day, it's very nutritious.
• M：很合理！
  • Hěn hélǐ!
  • That makes sense! / Very sensible!
• K：而且他的牙齒很完整！
  • Érqiě tā de yáchǐ hěn wánzhěng!
  • Furthermore, his teeth are all intact / very complete!
• M：...是嗎？
  • ... Shì ma?
  • Yeah? / Really?
• K：結果，他去游泳池賣牛奶，就被罰款！
  • Jiéguǒ, tā qù yóuyǒngchí mài niúnǎi, jiù bèi fákuǎn!
  • After all that / as a result / in the end, he goes to the swimming pool and sells milk, and receives a fine!
• M：所以...
  • Suǒyǐ...
  • So...
• K：我太愚蠢。一定是那個搖滾音樂讓他變成了魔鬼！
  • Wǒ tài yúchǔn. Yīdìng shì nàgè yáogǔn yīnyuè ràng tā biànchéngle móguǐ!
  • I'm so stupid. It must be that rock music, it made him turn into a devil / demon / monster!
• M：賣牛奶還好吧。
  • Mài niúnǎi hái hǎo ba.
  • Selling milk isn't so bad, right?
• K：不合法！
  • Bù héfǎ!
  • It's illegal / not legal!
• M：沒有人是完美的。
  • Méiyǒu rén shì wánměi de.
  • Nobody is perfect.
• K：很明顯，他在模仿他的爸爸。
  • Hěn míngxiǎn, tā zài mófǎng tā de bàba.
  • It's obvious, he's imitating his father.

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