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Nǐ hǎo Lesson 12 on Basic Mandarin!

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Revision

English Mandarin

How many/a few Jǐ

Measure word for number of

family membersKǒu

Person/ people Rén

And Hé

One/ one item Yí ge

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Let’s revise!

English Mandarin

How many people are there in your

family?Nǐ jiā yǒu jǐ kǒu rén?

There are four people in my family Wǒ jīa yǒu sì kǒu rén

My dad, mom, an elder brother and meWǒ bàba māma yí ge gēge hé

wǒ

What about your family? Nǐ jiā yǒu jǐ kǒu rén?

There are five people in my family Wǒ jīa yǒu wǔ kǒu rén

My dad, mum, older brother, older

sister

and me

Wǒ bàba, māma, gēge, jiějie hé

wǒ

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Lesson objectives

1 Occupations

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What's in store today?

Today we will learn a few more occupations and ask people about their work!

So let's get started!

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Today's conversation

English

Mark How are you?

Lisa Not bad! How are you?

Mark I am also very good!

Lisa This is my father

Mark What does your father do?

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Today's conversation

English

Lisa My father is a lawyer,and you?

Mark I am an engineer

Lisa What does your mother do?

Mark My mother is a housewife

Lisa What do you do?

Mark I am a doctor

Lisa Wonderful!

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Today's conversation

You will notice,that some of the sentences mentioned have been covered before, while

others are new!

Let's go through the sentences we already know!

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Today's conversation

English Mandarin

Mark How are you? Nǐ hǎo ma?

Lisa Not bad! How are you? Bú cuò! Nǐ hǎo ma?

Mark I am also very good! Wǒ Yě hěn hǎo!

Lisa This is my father Tā shì wǒ bàba

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Occupational conversation

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Occupational conversation

What (work) does your father do?

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Occupational conversation

What (work) does your father do

↓ ↓ ↓ ↓

shénme gōngzuò nǐ bàba zuò

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Grammar tip

What we really ask is 'Your father does what work?'

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Occupational conversation

Literally, 'Your fatherdoes what work?'

What does your father do?

Nǐ bàba zuò shénme gōngzuò?

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Occupational conversation

My father is a lawyer

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Occupational conversation

My father is a lawyer

↓ ↓ ↓ ↓

Wǒ bàba shì lǜshī

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Occupational conversation

Literally, ‘My father is lawyer’ Note that articles are not translated

My father is a lawyer

Wǒ bàba shì lǜshī

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Occupational conversation

What (work) do you do?

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Occupational conversation

What work do you do?

↓ ↓ ↓ ↓

Shénme gōngzuò nǐ zuò

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Occupational conversation

Literally,‘ You do what work?’

What do you do?

Nǐ zuò shénme gōngzuò?

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Occupational conversation

I am an engineer

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Occupational conversation

Note that ‘an’ is not translated as Mandarin has no articles

I am an engineer

Wǒ shì gōng chéng shī

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Tonal tip

Gōng is pronounced using a high level tone, like Gōng

Chéng is pronounced using a mid rising tone,likeChéng

We already know how to say Shī, so let’s try and say it all together! It's ‘Gōng chéng shī’

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Let’s see if you remember…

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Pick the right option

How do you say ‘My father is a lawyer’?

1

Wǒ bàba shì lǜshī

2

Bàba zuò shénme gōngzuò

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Solution

How do you say ‘My father is a lawyer’?

1

Wǒ bàba shì lǜshī

2

Bàba zuò shénme gōngzuò

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Pick the right option

What does ‘Gōngzuò’ mean?

1

Work

2

Doctor

3

To do

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Solution

What does ‘Gōngzuò’ mean?

1

Work

2

Doctor

3

To do

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Let’s revise!

English Mandarin

What does your father do? Nǐ bàba zuò shénme gōngzuò

My father is a lawyer Wǒ bàba shì lǜshī

What do you do? Nǐ zuò shénme gōngzuò

I am an engineer Wǒ shì gōng chéng shī

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Moving on...

The sentence 'I am a ...' can be filled in using a lot of different professions!

Let's learn a few of them now!

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Occupational conversation

Yīsheng is pronounced usingthe first tone

I am a doctor

Wǒ shì Yīsheng

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Occupational conversation

Jīng = first tone, high levellǐ = third tone, falling rising

She is a manager

Tā shì Jīng lǐ

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Occupations

Aggregate = KuàiTo compute/calculate = Jì

He is an accountant

Tā shì kuài jì

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Pronunciation tip

Kuài and Jì are both pronounced with a falling tone, also known as the fourth tone

Let’s hear you say, ‘Kuài Jì ’

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Occupations

I am retired

Wǒ shì tuì xiū le

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Tonal tip

Tuì carries the falling tone (4th tone) Xiū carries the high level tone (1st tone)

Le carries the neutral tone (5th tone)

Let’s hear you say ‘Tuì xiū le’

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Let’s revise!

English Mandarin

I am a doctor Wǒ shì Yīsheng

She is a manager Tā shì Jīng lǐ

He is an accountant Tā shì kuài jì

I am retired Wǒ shì tuì xiū le

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Pronunciation tip

Now let's look at the last part of our conversation!

'What does your mother do?'

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Occupations

What does your mother do?

Nǐ māma zuò shénme gōng zuò?

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Occupations

Family member = Jiā tíngWife = Zhǔ fù

My mother is a housewife

Wǒ māma shì jiā tíng zhǔ fù

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Tonal tip

Jiā tíng uses the high level tone on ‘a’ and a mid rising tone on ‘i’

Zhǔ fù uses the rising falling tone on the first ‘u’and

a falling tone on the second ‘u’

Let’s hear you say ‘Jiā tíng zhǔ fù’

Did you notice? ‘Jiā tíng zhǔ fù’ is the first word we've learnt that uses all four tones!

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Let's see if you remember…

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Pick the right option

How do we say 'Manager'?

1

Jīng lǐ

2

Yīsheng

3

Lǜshī

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Solution

How do we say 'Manager'?

1

Jīng lǐ

2

Yīsheng

3

Lǜshī

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Pick the right option

How do we say, ‘Housewife’?

1

Jiā tíng zhǔ fù

2

Gōng chéng shī

3

Tuì xiū le

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Solution

How do we say, ‘Housewife’?

1

Jiā tíng zhǔ fù

2

Gōng chéng shī

3

Tuì xiū le

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Pick the right option

How do we say 'I am an accountant’ ?

1

Wǒ shì kuài jì

2

Wǒ shì Jīng lǐ

3

Wǒ shì yīsheng

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Solution

How do we say 'I am an accountant’ ?

1

Wǒ shì kuài jì

2

Wǒ shì Jīng lǐ

3

Wǒ shì yīsheng

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Here is what we learnt today!

English Mandarin

Mark How are you? Nǐ hǎo ma?

Lisa Not bad! How are you? Bú cuò! Nǐ hǎo ma?

Mark I am also very good! Wǒ Yě hěn hǎo!

Lisa This is my father Tā shì wǒ bàba

Mark What does your father do? Nǐ bàba zuò shénme gōng zuò?

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Here is what we learnt today!

English Mandarin

Lisa My father is a lawyer,and you? Wǒ bàba shì lǜshī,nǐ ne?

Mark I am an engineer Wǒ shì Gōng chéng shī

Lisa What does your mother do? Nǐ māma zuò shénme gōng zuò?

Mark My mother is a housewife Wǒ māma shì jiā tíng zhǔ fù

Lisa What do you do? Nǐ zuò shénme gōngzuò ?

Mark I am a doctor Wǒ shì Yīsheng

Lisa Wonderful! Taì hǎo le!

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Revision-Occupations

English Mandarin

Teacher Lǎo shī

Lawyer Lǜshī

Doctor Yīsheng

Engineer Gōng chéng shī

Manager Jīng lǐ

Accountant Kuài Jì

Housewife Jiā tíng zhǔ fù

Retired Tuì xiū le

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Culture leaf

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Culture leaf

Tetraphobia, or aversion to the number four, is common in China

The Chinese word for four (pinyin = sì), sounds quite similar to the

word for death (pinyin = sǐ), in many varieties of Chinese

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Culture leaf

Special care may be taken to avoid occurrences or reminders of the

number 4 during festive holidays, or when a family member is sick

Similarly, 14, 24, 42, etc… are also to be avoided due to the presence of the digit

4 in these numbers

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What's next?

In the next lesson we will learn about measure words!

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Credits

Content Team CultureAlley, Sunny Dang

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetraphobia

Images http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d4/Shang

haiMissingFloors.jpg

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See you at the Alley!

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