Learn Cantonese numbers from one to one hundred
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Matt: Welcome back to Basic Boot Camp. This five-part series will help you ease your way into Cantonese. We'll go over all the basics that will really help you understand Cantonese more quickly, and with less pain! |
| Nicole: Yeah, it's fun. |
| Matt: We promise! |
| Nicole: In this lesson, you will learn one of the essentials in Cantonese…numbers. |
| Matt: So, everybody, pull out your abacus. |
| Nicole: Ha, ha, ha. You won't even need an abacus, Cantonese numbers are so simple. |
| Matt: Yes, they just invented abacus to show off. |
| Nicole: But yes, Cantonese people love their numbers. |
| Matt: So much so that they even have number sign language!! |
| Nicole: That's true! |
| Matt: But that's a lesson for another day. Let's start with the basics. |
| Nicole: Yes, in this lesson we will count from one to ten. |
| Matt: And maybe a little beyond that. |
| DIALOGUE |
| 一， 二， 三， 四， 五，六， 七， 八， 九，十 |
| (jat1, ji6, saam1, sei3, ng5, luk6, cat1, baat3, gau2, sap6) |
| one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten |
| 二十，三十，四十，五十，六十，七十，八十，九十，一百 |
| (ji6 sap6, saam1 sap6, sei3 sap6, ng5 sap6, luk6 sap6, cat1 sap6, baat3 sap6, gau2 sap6, jat1 baak3) |
| twenty, thirty, forty, fifty, sixty, seventy, eighty, ninety, one hundred |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Matt: Now with a nation of brainy math people, we would expect nothing less than such good sounding numbers! |
| Nicole: And easy to learn. |
| Matt: Yes, I am the poster child for Cantonese numbers. Because I hate numbers and I learned them relatively painlessly. |
| Nicole: So you will share with us today how to! |
| Matt: No problem, Nicole. Let's start with the vocabulary session. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Nicole 一 (jat1) [natural native speed] |
| Matt one (1) |
| Nicole 一 (jat1) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nicole 一 (jat1) [natural native speed] |
| Nicole 二 (ji6) [natural native speed] |
| Matt two (2) |
| Nicole 二 (ji6) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nicole 二 (ji6) [natural native speed] |
| Nicole 三 (saam1) [natural native speed] |
| Matt three (3) |
| Nicole 三 (saam1) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nicole 三 (saam1) [natural native speed] |
| Nicole 四 (sei3) [natural native speed] |
| Matt four (4) |
| Nicole 四 (sei3) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nicole 四 (sei3) [natural native speed] |
| Nicole 五 (ng5) [natural native speed] |
| Matt five (5) |
| Nicole 五 (ng5) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nicole 五 (ng5) [natural native speed] |
| Nicole 六 (luk6) [natural native speed] |
| Matt six (6) |
| Nicole 六 (luk6) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nicole 六 (luk6) [natural native speed] |
| Nicole 七 (cat1) [natural native speed] |
| Matt seven (7) |
| Nicole 七 (cat1) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nicole 七 (cat1) [natural native speed] |
| Nicole 八 (baat3) [natural native speed] |
| Matt eight (8) |
| Nicole 八 (baat3) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nicole 八 (baat3) [natural native speed] |
| Nicole 九 (gau2) [natural native speed] |
| Matt nine (9) |
| Nicole 九 (gau2) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nicole 九 (gau2) [natural native speed] |
| Nicole 十 (sap6) [natural native speed] |
| Matt ten (10) |
| Nicole 十 (sap6) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nicole 十 (sap6) [natural native speed] |
| Nicole 二十 (ji6 sap6) [natural native speed] |
| Matt twenty (20) |
| Nicole 二十 (ji6 sap6) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nicole 二十 (ji6 sap6) [natural native speed] |
| Nicole 三十 (saam1 sap6) [natural native speed] |
| Matt thirty (30) |
| Nicole 三十 (saam1 sap6) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nicole 三十 (saam1 sap6) [natural native speed] |
| Nicole 四十 (sei3 sap6) [natural native speed] |
| Matt forty (40) |
| Nicole 四十 (sei3 sap6) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nicole 四十 (sei3 sap6) [natural native speed] |
| Nicole 五十 (ng5 sap6) [natural native speed] |
| Matt fifty (50) |
| Nicole 五十 (ng5 sap6) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nicole 五十 (ng5 sap6) [natural native speed] |
| Nicole 六十 (luk6 sap6) [natural native speed] |
| Matt sixty (60) |
| Nicole 六十 (luk6 sap6) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nicole 六十 (luk6 sap6) [natural native speed] |
| Nicole 七十 (cat1 sap6) [natural native speed] |
| Matt seventy (70) |
| Nicole 七十 (cat1 sap6) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nicole 七十 (cat1 sap6) [natural native speed] |
| Nicole 八十 (baat3 sap6) [natural native speed] |
| Matt eighty (80) |
| Nicole 八十 (baat3 sap6) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nicole 八十 (baat3 sap6) [natural native speed] |
| Nicole 九十 (gau2 sap6) [natural native speed] |
| Matt ninety (90) |
| Nicole 九十 (gau2 sap6) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nicole 九十 (gau2 sap6) [natural native speed] |
| Nicole 一百 (jat1 baak3) [natural native speed] |
| Matt one hundred (100) |
| Nicole 一百 (jat1 baak3) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nicole 一百 (jat1 baak3) [natural native speed] |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Matt: So here is what we're going to have you all do. No matter where you are, no matter if you're at home, on the subway, or in your car, we want you to talk to yourself. |
| Nicole: Yes, don't worry if people think you look like you're crazy. |
| Matt: It's for a good cause. Basically, Nicole is going to read out each number, and you have to repeat after her. |
| Nicole: Okay, here we go. I will read it out, and give you time to repeat aloud after me. |
| 一， 二， 三， 四， 五，六， 七， 八， 九，十 |
| (jat1, ji6, saam1, sei3, ng5, luk6, cat1, baat3, gau2, sap6) |
| Matt: Okay, that was 1 to 10, they aren't too hard. |
| Nicole: Now here we go, I'm going to just read in multiples of tens, up to one hundred. |
| Matt: Repeat after Nicole! |
| Nicole: 十，二十，三十，四十，五十，六十，七十，八十，九十，一百 |
| (sap6, ji6 sap6, saam1 sap6, sei3 sap6, ng5 sap6, luk6 sap6, cat1 sap6, baat3 sap6, gau2 sap6, jat1 baak3) |
| Matt: Okay, let's take a look at how to construct/use these numbers by putting them together. |
| Nicole: So one to ten are pretty easy. As we get past ten, you will notice a pattern developing. |
| Matt: Let's look at “eleven” in Cantonese. The way you say it is actually just "ten one." |
| Nicole: 十一 (sap6 jat1) |
| Matt: Then, twelve is just "ten two." |
| Nicole: 十二 (sap6 ji6) |
| Matt: And so on. When we move on to twenty, it becomes, literally, "two ten." |
| Nicole: 二十 (ji6 sap6) |
| Matt: All you are saying is "two, ten." So think of it like two times ten, and you have twenty. Thirty is the same, “three, ten” |
| Nicole: 三十 (saam1 sap6) |
| Matt: And the number "forty", Nicole? |
| Nicole: 四十 (sei3 sap6) |
| Matt: "Fifty." |
| Nicole: 五十 (ng5 sap6) |
| Matt: "Sixty." |
| Nicole: 六十 (luk6 sap6) |
| Matt: It’s a good way to re-practice your numbers one through ten. Because all they do is repeat! |
| Nicole: Yes, "seventy" 七十 (cat1 sap6), "eighty" 八十 (baat3 sap6), "ninety" 九十 (gau2 sap6). |
| Matt: Great. So, remember – the word for "ten" is… |
| Nicole: 十 (sap6). |
| Matt: All you are doing to make the numbers that are multiples of tens is put the amount in front of the ten. "2, 10" is "twenty." |
| Nicole: 二十 (ji6 sap6). |
| Matt: Easy. |
| Nicole: Okay, now we are going to get a little crazy here. |
| Matt: Uh oh. Don't say that. We don’t want to scare our listeners. |
| Nicole: Well, in a perfect world, every number would be a multiple of ten. |
| Matt: But alas, it’s not. |
| Nicole: So I'm going to venture into some other important number territory. But still, not higher than one hundred to start. |
| Matt: Yes. No number overloading. This may be boot camp, but there is no torture involved here. |
| Nicole: Okay, so how old are you Matt? |
| Matt: I see where you’re going with this. Actually, you may have to employ torture to get this information. Alright, listeners, I am in the double digits. 31. |
| Nicole: So, to make a number that isn't in a denomination of ten, here's all you do. "Thirty-one," “3, 10, 1”, 三十一 (saam1 sap6 jat1) |
| Matt: Great. So all you have to do is say "30" plus a number on the end. Or even simpler, just think of it as "three ten one." |
| Nicole: Right. 三十一 (saam1 sap6 jat1). So let’s try it with more numbers. |
| Matt: Well, how old are you, Nicole? |
| Nicole: Sixteen. |
| Matt: I thought you were older! Like seventeen or something. |
| Nicole: Almost. I'm now sixteen and a half. |
| Matt: It’s okay, they’ll believe whatever we say, they can’t see us! So, what is sixteen in Cantonese? |
| Nicole: 十六 (sap6 luk6). |
| Matt: "Ten six." Okay, okay. Nicole, let’s tell them our real age. We're actually sixty-five. How do we say that? |
| Nicole: Well, the number for "sixty," remember, is 六十 (luk6 sap6) "6, 10" So we just add the "five" at the end: 六十五 (luk6 sap6 ng5). |
| Matt: Yes, because the number for "five" is… |
| Nicole: 五 (ng5). |
| Matt: Now how about a number the Cantonese love, "eight." |
| Nicole: Oh, the lucky eight. |
| Matt: So how would you say "eighty-eight?" |
| Nicole: 八十八 (baat3 sap6 baat3) |
| Matt: "Eight ten eight." How about "thirty-nine?" |
| Nicole: "三十九 (saam1 sap6 gau2) |
| Matt: "Three ten nine." And say "forty-four?" |
| Nicole: Uh no, we don't like that number. |
| Matt: Oh, that’s right, the four is unlucky for Cantonese people. It sounds like "death" or "to die" in Cantonese. But for teaching purpose, what is it, Nicole? |
| Nicole: Fine. 四十四 (sei3 sap6 sei3). |
| Matt: Actually, the 'four' numbers are the most fun to say! Because they sound like "say..." |
| Nicole: Okay, one more…I'll test you Matt. My real age. "Nineteen." |
| Matt: 十九 (sap6 gau2). |
| Nicole: Perfect! |
Outro |
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