Learn how to pick between two choices, whether it be two movies, two shirts, or two meals
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| INTRODUCTION |
| David: Welcome to Cantoneseclass101.com. I’m David. |
| Nicole: 大家好，我係 (daai6 gaa1 hou2 , ngo5 hai6) Nicole. |
| David: And after Nicole failed to give us any television secrets last week, we’ve got a lesson that’s about getting away from the TV set. |
| Nicole: Yeah, we’re going to watch movies. |
| David: Yes, or maybe go to a show or a concert. |
| Nicole: That’s right. |
| David: So, this is Absolute Beginner, Season 2, Lesson 9. |
| Nicole: Hong Kong movies. |
| David: Right. In this lesson, we’ve got a dialogue between two friends who are talking about what they’re going to get out and do this evening. |
| Nicole: Right. They have choices. |
| David: Yeah. So, we’ve got a lot of great vocab and because they’re friends, they’re going to speak casual Cantonese as always. |
| Nicole: That’s right. |
| David: Okay. So, we’re going to get you to the dialogue in a sec. Before we do, we want to remind you there’s a lot of new words that we’re throwing at you, movies and television and shows and concerts. One of the easiest ways to really remember these is to use the flashcards we’ve got at Cantoneseclass101.com. |
| Nicole: They’re right in the premium Learning Center. |
| David: Right. So, be sure to go check them out. For now though, let’s get on to the dialogue. So, if our last lesson was about TV, this lesson is about getting out of the house. |
| DIALOGUE |
| A: 一齊睇電影吖？ (jat1 cai4 tai2 din6 jing2 aa1?) |
| B: 好。不如睇話劇吖？(hou2. bat1 jyu4 tai2 waa2 kek6 aa1?) |
| A: 電影定話劇？ (din6 jing2 ding6 waa2 kek6?) |
| B: 是但。(si6 daan6.) |
| A: Let's watch a movie? |
| B: Okay. How about a play instead? |
| A: Movie or play? |
| B: Whatever. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Nicole: Yeah, there’re tons of things you can do. |
| David: Yeah, like go to a movie. |
| Nicole: Or a play. |
| David: Yes, or a concert. And there are different kinds of these. |
| Nicole: Yeah. |
| David: So, that’s what our vocab in this lesson is all about. Let’s get to it. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Nicole: 不如 。(bat1 jyu4.) |
| David: “How about?” |
| Nicole: 不如, 不如, 定。(bat1 jyu4, bat1 jyu4, ding6.) |
| David: “Or” |
| Nicole: 定, 定, 電影。 (ding6, ding6, din6 jing2.) |
| David: “Movie” |
| Nicole: 電影, 電影, 戲。(din6 jing2, din6 jing2, hei3.) |
| David: “Film” |
| Nicole: 戲, 戲, 話劇。(hei3, hei3, waa2 kek6.) |
| David: “Play” |
| Nicole: 話劇, 話劇, 音樂會。(waa2 kek6, waa2 kek6, jam1 ngok6 wui5.) |
| David: “Symphony” |
| Nicole: 音樂 會, 音樂會, 演唱會。(jam1 ngok6 wui5, jam1 ngok6 wui5, jin2 coeng3 wui5.) |
| David: “Concert” |
| Nicole:演唱會, 演唱會, 是但。(jin2 coeng3 wui5, jin2 coeng3 wui5, si6 daan6.) |
| David: “Whatever” |
| Nicole: 是但, 是但。(si6 daan6, si6 daan6.) |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| David: So, our vocab section today is all about things you can get out and do. Let’s start with that word for “movie”. |
| Nicole: 電影。(din6 jing2.) |
| David: Or maybe I should say those words for movie. We’ve got two. |
| Nicole: 電影。(din6 jing2.) |
| David: And? |
| Nicole: 戲。(hei3.) |
| David: Once more. |
| Nicole: 電影, 戲。(din6 jing2 , hei3.) |
| David: Nicole, what’s the difference between these two? |
| Nicole: They’re almost the same, but in oral Cantonese you hear 戲 (hei3) a lot more, and 戲 (hei3) has a wider concept. It can refer to both movies and dramas. |
| David: Okay, so: |
| Nicole: 戲。(hei3.) |
| David: Is probably what you want to use in conversation. |
| Nicole: Yeah. 戲。(hei3.) |
| David: “What movies do you recommend?” |
| Nicole: 有咩戲好睇？ (jau5 me1 hei3 hou2 tai2?) |
| David: “What movies do you recommend?” |
| Nicole: 有咩戲好睇？(jau5 me1 hei3 hou2 tai2?) it’s literally “What movies is good to watch?” |
| David: Yeah. Hope you guys remember that from last lesson. |
| Nicole: Yeah, that was our grammar point. |
| David: Yes. In our vocab section we translated this as “Movies and films”. |
| Nicole: Mm-hmm. |
| David: But really they’re the same thing. |
| Nicole: Yeah. 電影, 戲。(din6 jing2 , hei3.) |
| David: Other things you can do if you get out of the house are go to a play. |
| Nicole: 話劇 (waa2 kek6) |
| David: “Play” |
| Nicole: 話劇, 有咩話劇好睇？(waa2 kek6, jau5 me1 waa2 kek6 hou2 tai2?) |
| David: “What plays do you recommend?” |
| Nicole:有咩話劇好睇？(jau5 me1 waa2 kek6 hou2 tai2?) |
| David: And, Nicole, as you were saying, you can just get away with saying: |
| Nicole: 有咩戲好睇？ (jau5 me1 hei3 hou2 tai2?) |
| David: Right. So, this word is may be a bit formal. |
| Nicole: Yeah. 話劇 (waa2 kek6) refers to a very specific kind. |
| David: Yeah, what kind? |
| Nicole: Like the people acting on stage. |
| David: So, this word is really formal. Remember: |
| Nicole: 話劇。(waa2 kek6.) |
| David: You can say: |
| Nicole: 戲。(hei3.) |
| David: Instead. |
| Nicole: That’s right. |
| David: Okay. Our next two words are easy to mix-up because they both mean “concert”. |
| Nicole: 音樂會。(jam1 ngok6 wui5.) |
| David: And: |
| Nicole: 演唱會。(jin2 coeng3 wui5.) |
| David: The first one: |
| Nicole: 音樂會。(jam1 ngok6 wui5) |
| David: Is really a concert of musical instruments. |
| Nicole: Exactly. That’s what it literally means. |
| David: Yeah. So we translate this as “symphony”, but it’s not exactly correct. |
| Nicole: No. |
| David: But it’s close. |
| Nicole: It’s very close. |
| David: Right. And the other one? |
| Nicole: Because 音樂會 (jam1 ngok6 wui5) literally translates as “music gathering”. |
| David: Mm-hmm. |
| Nicole: 音樂會。(jam1 ngok6 wui5.) |
| David: “Music” |
| Nicole: 音樂。(jam1 ngok6.) |
| David: “Gathering” |
| Nicole: 會。(wui5.) |
| David: And the other one is a singing gathering. |
| Nicole: 演唱會。(jin2 coeng3 wui5.) |
| David: “To sing and perform” |
| Nicole: 演唱。(jin2 coeng3.) |
| David: “Gathering” |
| Nicole: 會。(wui5.) |
| David: And we just translated this as “concert”. |
| Nicole: Yeah, like Faye Wong concerts. 王菲演唱會 (wong4 fei1 jin2 coeng3 wui5) |
| David: Right, and that’s just the name of the singer and then the word for concert. |
| Nicole: That’s right. She’s a very famous singer by the way. |
| David: She’s fantastic. |
| Nicole: Fantastic. |
| David: Yeah. When I was in Hong Kong last time, they also had a 周杰倫 (zau1 git6 leon4) concert. |
| Nicole: Jay Chou. |
| David: Yeah, although I think he was speaking in Mandarin. |
| Nicole: Aha, that’s right. |
| David: So, anyway, that’s our vocab section for you. Quick review. We’ve got two words for movies: |
| Nicole: 電影 。(din6 jing2.) |
| David: And? |
| Nicole: 戲 。(hei3.) |
| David: Two words for plays: |
| Nicole: 話劇, 戲 。 (waa2 kek6, hei3.) |
| David: And we’ve got two different kinds of concerts. |
| Nicole: 音樂會, 演唱會 。(jam1 ngok6 wui5, jin2 coeng3 wui5 .) |
| David: In our grammar section, we’re going to learn how to pick between these choices. |
| C: It’s grammar time! |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| David: Our focus in today’s grammar section is learning to choose between a movie or a play. |
| Nicole: That’s right. In the dialogue we heard 電影定話劇？ (din6 jing2 ding6 waa2 kek6?) |
| David: Let’s slow that down. |
| Nicole: 電 影 定 話 劇？(din6 jing2 ding6 waa2 kek6?) |
| David: Now, we already know the word for “movie”. |
| Nicole: 電影 。(din6 jing2.) |
| David: And in our vocab section we covered the word for “play”. |
| Nicole: 話劇 。(waa2 kek6.) |
| David: There’s only one extra character here. |
| Nicole: 定 。(ding6.) |
| David: This means “or”. |
| Nicole: 定 。(ding6.) |
| David: So, “Movie or play?” |
| Nicole: 電影定話劇？ (din6 jing2 ding6 waa2 kek6?) |
| David: And we can slot anything into this. |
| Nicole: Anything. |
| David: Right? So, we could say “A movie or a concert?” |
| Nicole: 電影定演唱會？ (din6 jing2 ding6 jin2 coeng3 wui5?) |
| David: Or “A concert or a play?” |
| Nicole: 演唱會定話劇？ (jin2 coeng3 wui5 ding6 waa2 kek6?) |
| David: And even if you’re set on the concert you can choose between different kinds. You can choose between a Wong Faye concert or Jay Chou concert. |
| Nicole: 王菲演唱會定周杰倫演唱會? (wong4 fei1 jin2 coeng3 wui5 ding6 zau1 git6 leon4 jin2 coeng3 wui5?) |
| David: Yeah. Now, all of the examples we’re giving you are choosing between two nouns. |
| Nicole: That’s right. |
| David: Can we do this with verbs, too? |
| Nicole: Sure. Let’s give an example of “watching movies or watching TV”. |
| David: Okay. |
| Nicole: 睇電影定睇電視? (tai2 din6 jing2 ding6 tai2 din6 si6?) |
| David: “Watching movies or watching TV” |
| Nicole: 睇電影定睇電視? (tai2 din6 jing2 ding6 tai2 din6 si6?) |
| David: How about “having dinner or watching a movie”? |
| Nicole: 食飯定睇戲？ (sik6 faan6 ding6 tai2 hei3?) |
| David: Right. |
| Nicole: 食飯定睇戲？(sik6 faan6 ding6 tai2 hei3?) |
| David: So, if you meet someone and you don’t want to spend the evening watching TV with them, you can invite them out. |
| Nicole: That’s right. |
| David: “Do you want to go to a movie or have dinner?” |
| Nicole: 睇戲定食飯? (tai2 hei3 ding6 sik6 faan6?) |
| David: And hopefully they’ll say both. |
| Nicole: Yeah, or whatever 是但. (si6 daan6.) |
| David: Yeah. So, that’s our grammar point for today. Remember, you can put nouns or verbs together with: |
| Nicole: 定 。(ding6.) |
| David: To ask a question. |
| Nicole: That’s right. |
Outro |
| David: As always, we encourage you to visit Cantoneseclass101.com and grab our lesson PDF. It has a copy of the transcript as well as all of the key vocab for this lesson. |
| Nicole: Mm-hmm. And if you have a question about the lesson or about Cantonese, write us an email or leave a comment on the site. |
| David: Right. Our email address is contactus@CantoneseClass101.com. With that ,thanks for joining us and we will see you next week. |
| Nicole: See you! |
| David: Bye Bye. |
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