Learn about what it takes to immigrate to Hong Kong and a phrase that can help you explain to your family how you are doing when you decide to move there
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| INTRODUCTION |
| David: Welcome to cantoneseclass101.com. I am David. |
| Melody: 大家好, 又見面, 我係Melody。(daai6 gaa1 hou2 , jau6 gin3 min6 , ngo5 hai6 Melody 。) |
| David: And we are here today with intermediate season 1, Lesson 6. Running From Your Problems in Hong Kong. |
| Melody: 我諗應該係兩個好耐冇見嘅朋友討論緊大家嘅近況? (ngo5 lam2 jing1 goi1 hai6 loeng5 go3 hou2 noi6 mou5 gin3 ge3 pang4 jau5 tou2 leon6 gan2 daai6 gaa1 ge3 gan6 fong3 ?) |
| David: Right and we are going to find out in the dialogue between them that one of them has big plans that might involve a move. |
| Melody: 係喎！一齊嚟聽下佢哋講咩! (hai6 wo3 ！jat1 cai4 lei4 teng1 haa5 keoi5 dei6 gong2 me1 !) |
| David: Right and this is casual Cantonese as always. So you shouldn’t have too many problems. Let’s get to the dialogue. |
| DIALOGUE |
| A: 好耐冇見，近排幾好嗎？ (A: hou2 noi6 mou5 gin3, gan6 paai2 gei2 hou2 maa3 ?) |
| B: 幾好，有心，你呢？ (B: gei2 hou2, jau5 sam1, nei5 ne1 ?) |
| A: 都係咁上下啦。聽講你要移民？ (A: dou1 hai6 gam3 soeng6 haa5 laa1. teng1 gong2 nei5 jiu3 ji4 man4 ?) |
| B: 係啊，諗住過美國囉。 (B: hai6 aa3, lam2 zyu6 gwo3 mei5 gwok3 lo1.) |
| A: 點解咁突然？ (A: dim2 gaai2 gam3 dat6 jin4 ?) |
| B: 爭人錢，要著草。 (B: zaang1 jan4 cin2, jiu3 zoek3 cou2.) |
| David: Once more, a bit slower. |
| A: 好耐冇見，近排幾好嗎？ (A: hou2 noi6 mou5 gin3, gan6 paai2 gei2 hou2 maa3 ?) |
| B: 幾好，有心，你呢？ (B: gei2 hou2, jau5 sam1, nei5 ne1 ?) |
| A: 都係咁上下啦。聽講你要移民？ (A: dou1 hai6 gam3 soeng6 haa5 laa1. teng1 gong2 nei5 jiu3 ji4 man4 ?) |
| B: 係啊，諗住過美國囉。 (B: hai6 aa3, lam2 zyu6 gwo3 mei5 gwok3 lo1.) |
| A: 點解咁突然？ (A: dim2 gaai2 gam3 dat6 jin4 ?) |
| B: 爭人錢，要著草。(B: zaang1 jan4 cin2, jiu3 zoek3 cou2.) |
| David: And now, with the English translation. |
| A: 好耐冇見，近排幾好嗎？ (A: hou2 noi6 mou5 gin3, gan6 paai2 gei2 hou2 maa3 ?) |
| A: Haven't seen you for a while, how have you been lately? |
| B: 幾好，有心，你呢？ (B: gei2 hou2, jau5 sam1, nei5 ne1 ?) |
| B: I'm okay, thanks, how about you? |
| A: 都係咁上下啦。聽講你要移民？ (A: dou1 hai6 gam3 soeng6 haa5 laa1. teng1 gong2 nei5 jiu3 ji4 man4 ?) |
| A: About the same. I hear that you're going to emigrate? |
| B: 係啊，諗住過美國囉。 (B: hai6 aa3, lam2 zyu6 gwo3 mei5 gwok3 lo1.) |
| B: Yes, I'm thinking of living in the states. |
| A: 點解咁突然？ (A: dim2 gaai2 gam3 dat6 jin4 ?) |
| A: Why so suddenly? |
| B: 爭人錢，要著草。 (B: zaang1 jan4 cin2, jiu3 zoek3 cou2.) |
| B: I owe money. I need to run away. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Melody: 唔知大家有冇聽錯呢, 呢個對話係好地道, 咁有香港人專用嘅口語 專用詞,可能有少少難度。 (m4 zi1 daai6 gaa1 jau5 mou5 teng1 co3 ne1 , ni1 go3 deoi3 waa6 hai6 hou2 dei6 dou6 , gam2 jau5 hoeng1 gong2 jan4 zyun1 jung6 ge3 hau2 jyu5 zyun1 jung6 ci4 ,ho2 nang4 jau5 siu2 siu2 naan4 dou6 。) |
| David: Yes it’s very colloquial, it’s the way people speak and maybe it is connected to the triads. |
| Melody: 冇錯。 (mou5 co3 。) |
| David: Don’t borrow money in Hong Kong unless it’s from a bank. |
| Melody: 尤其是係最後一句話, 係真係好地道嘅一句話。(jau4 kei4 si6 hai6 zeoi3 hau6 jat1 geoi3 waa6 , hai6 zan1 hai6 hou2 dei6 dou6 ge3 jat1 geoi3 waa6 。) |
| VOCAB LIST |
| David: Okay so there is a lot of useful vocab in here and we are going to get to this in our vocab section now. |
| Melody: 好耐冇見。 (hou2 noi6 mou5 gin3。) |
| David: Not to have met for a while. |
| Melody: 好 耐 冇 見, 好耐冇見, 近排。 (hou2 noi6 mou5 gin3, hou2 noi6 mou5 gin3, gan6 paai2。) |
| David: Recently. |
| Melody: 近 排, 近排, 有心。 (gan6 paai2, gan6 paai2, jau5 sam1。) |
| David: To be considerate. |
| Melody: 有 心, 有心, 聽講。 (jau5 sam1, jau5 sam1, teng1 gong2。) |
| David: To have heard. |
| Melody: 聽 講, 聽講, 移民。 (teng1 gong2, teng1 gong2, ji4 man4。) |
| David: To immigrate. |
| Melody: 移 民, 移民, 諗。(ji4 man4, ji4 man4, lam2。) |
| David: To think. |
| Melody: 諗, 諗, 美國。 (lam2, lam2, mei5 gwok3。) |
| David: United States. |
| Melody: 美 國, 美國, 突然。(mei5 gwok3, mei5 gwok3, dat6 jin4。) |
| David: Suddenly. |
| Melody: 突 然, 突然, 爭。 (dat6 jin4, dat6 jin4, zaang1。) |
| David: To owe. |
| Melody: 爭, 爭, 着草。 (zaang1, zaang1, zoek3 cou2) |
| David: To run away. |
| Melody: 着 草, 着草。(zoek3 cou2, zoek3 cou2。) |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| David: Let’s take a closer look at some of these words and phrases. Our first is actually a phrase. |
| Melody: 好耐冇見。 (hou2 noi6 mou5 gin3 。) |
| David: Not to have met for a while. |
| Melody: 好耐冇見。 (hou2 noi6 mou5 gin3 。) |
| David: So this is – it’s a casual greeting. It’s like “hey I haven’t seen you in a long time”. |
| Melody: Hey, 好耐冇見, 近排好嗎？ (hou2 noi6 mou5 gin3 , gan6 paai4 hou2 maa3 ？) |
| David: Yeah. You can use this with friends. |
| Melody: 譬如如果係熟啲嘅朋友嘅話呢, 就可以話好耐冇見, 近排點呀？ (pei3 jyu4 jyu4 gwo2 hai6 suk6 di1 ge3 pang4 jau5 ge3 waa2 ne1 , zau6 ho2 ji5 waa6 hou2 noi6 mou5 gin3 , gan6 paai4 dim2 aa3 ？) |
| David: Right. So you don’t want to use this in a business meeting, right but if you see someone you haven’t seen in a while, it’s very friendly. |
| Melody: 冇錯, 好耐冇見, 最近點呀？ (mou5 co3 , hou2 noi6 mou5 gin3 , zeoi3 gan6 dim2 aa3 ？) |
| David: And our next word is tucked into that sentence. |
| Melody: 近排。(gan6 paai4 。) |
| David: It means recently. |
| Melody: 近排。 (gan6 paai4 。) |
| David: Recently. |
| Melody: 意思同最近係一樣，最近。 (ji3 si1 tung4 zeoi3 gan6 hai6 jat1 joeng6 ，zeoi3 gan6 。) |
| David: Right. So these two words are actually interchangeable. |
| Melody: 冇錯, 近排同埋最近, 或者我哋可以話 呢排。 (mou5 co3 , gan6 paai4 tung4 maai4 zeoi3 gan6 , waak6 ze2 ngo5 dei6 ho2 ji5 waa6 ni1 paai4 。) |
| David: Okay so all three of these are interchangeable and we can swap them in in that last sentence we gave. |
| Melody: 冇錯, 譬如我哋可以話 好耐冇見, 你最近忙咩嘢呀? (mou5 co3 , pei3 jyu4 ngo5 dei6 ho2 ji5 waa6 hou2 noi6 mou5 gin3 , nei5 zeoi3 gan6 mong4 me1 je5 aa3 ?) |
| David: Or |
| Melody: 好耐冇見, 你呢排忙咩嘢呀? (hou2 noi6 mou5 gin3 , nei5 ni1 paai4 mong4 me1 je5 aa3 ?) |
| David: Or |
| Melody: 好耐冇見, 你近排忙咩嘢呀? (hou2 noi6 mou5 gin3 , nei5 gan6 paai4 mong4 me1 je5 aa3 ?) |
| David: And these are all relatively colloquial and casual too… |
| Melody: 係呀！ (hai6 aa3 ！) |
| David: Okay so remember these three words. |
| Melody: 近排, 最近, 呢排。 (gan6 paai4 , zeoi3 gan6 , ni1 paai4 。) |
| David: They all mean recently. |
| Melody: 完全一樣嘅意思。 (jyun4 cyun4 jat1 joeng6 ge3 ji3 si1 。) |
| David: Yeah. The next word we want to focus on is |
| Melody: 移民。(ji4 man4 。) |
| David: To immigrate. |
| Melody:移民。 (ji4 man4 。) |
| David: Or in this context, its immigrate. |
| Melody: 係呀！冇錯。 (hai6 aa3 ！mou5 co3 。) |
| David: Yeah because they are going to the United States. So… |
| Melody: 移民 美國 (ji4 man4 mei5 gwok3) |
| David: Right. So immigrate or emigrate, it depends on where the speaker is. In Chinese, it’s the same. |
| Melody: 係, 冇錯。 (hai6 , mou5 co3 。) |
| David: Right. Last word is |
| Melody: 着草。(zoek3 cou2 。) |
| David: To run away. |
| Melody: 着草。 (zoek3 cou2 。) |
| David: And this is very, very colloquial. |
| Melody: 係呀！好地道。(hai6 aa3 ！hou2 dei6 dou6 。) |
| David: Right? It means to flee or to get out of some place. |
| Melody: 係, 其實聽起嚟有少少搞笑，喺呢個對話入面佢係話 着草去美國。(hai6 , kei4 sat6 teng1 hei2 lei4 jau5 siu2 siu2 gaau2 siu3 ，hai2 ni1 go3 deoi3 waa6 jap6 min6 keoi5 hai6 waa6 zoek3 cou2 heoi3 mei5 gwok3 。) |
| David: To flee to the United States. |
| Melody: 我希望冇人會要用到呢個詞喇！(ngo5 hei1 mong6 mou5 jan4 wui2 jiu3 jung6 dou3 ni1 go3 ci4 laa1 ！) |
| David: Right. It’s a really native expression. We hope you don’t need to use it and if you do need to use it, you shouldn’t be telling people about it either. |
| Melody: 我都覺得係。(ngo5 dou1 gok3 dak1 hai6 。) |
| David: But it’s useful to know especially for slang, especially for movies. So the English equivalent is probably to get out of town in a hurry. |
| Melody: 着草。(zoek3 cou2 。) |
| David: Another way you can say this is |
| Melody: 走佬。(zau2 lou2 。) |
| David: To get out of town in a hurry. |
| Melody: 走佬去越南。(zau2 lou2 heoi3 jyut6 naam4 。) |
| David: Right. To go to Vietnam in a hurry. The reason being of course that you probably… |
| Melody: 爭人錢。(zaang1 jan4 cin2 。) |
| David: You probably owe someone money. |
| Melody: 冇錯, 爭人錢。(mou5 co3 , zaang1 jan4 cin2 。) |
| David: And this one is really straightforward. |
| Melody: 冇錯, 呢個詞好有用, 譬如話佢爭人好多錢, 所以着草去菲律賓。 (mou5 co3 , ni1 go3 ci4 hou2 jau5 jung6 , pei3 jyu4 waa6 keoi5 zaang1 jan4 hou2 do1 cin2 , so2 ji5 zoek3 cou2 heoi3 fei1 leot6 ban1 。) |
| David: He owed someone a lot of money and left for the Philippines. |
| Melody: 冇錯, 佢爭人好多錢, 所以着草去菲律賓。 (mou5 co3 , keoi5 zaang1 jan4 hou2 do1 cin2 , so2 ji5 zoek3 cou2 heoi3 fei1 leot6 ban1 。) |
| David: Right. So that’s our vocab for today. Language you can use when you are fleeing the country or you owe people money. Okay and with that, let’s get to our grammar section. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| David: Our grammar section today is about... |
| Melody: 咁上下。(gam3 soeng6 haa5 。) |
| David: We hear this in the following line. |
| Melody: 都係咁上下啦！(dou1 hai6 gam3 soeng6 haa5 laa1 ！) |
| David: And someone is answering a question and they are saying, it’s about the same as always. |
| Melody: 係呀！咁上下嘅意思係 唔好唔壞, 過得去嘅意思。 (hai6 aa3 ！gam3 soeng6 haa5 ge3 ji3 si1 hai6 m4 hou2 m4 waai6 , gwo3 dak1 heoi3 ge3 ji3 si1 。) |
| David: Right. So it means just passingly or I am doing okay. |
| Melody: 係, 啱啱好咁樣樣。 (hai6 , ngaam1 ngaam1 hou2 gam3 joeng2 joeng2 。) |
| David: Yeah so there are two situations in which we are going to use this. Two emotions that are involved here. The first is when you are talking about something that’s not good. It is not bad either. |
| Melody: 冇錯, 即係大概係差唔多, 過得去咁樣嘅意思, 譬如話我奶奶情況都係咁上下啦。(mou5 co3 , zik1 hai6 daai6 koi3 hai6 caa1 m4 do1 , gwo3 dak1 heoi3 gam2 joeng2 ge3 ji3 si1 , pei3 jyu4 waa6 ngo5 naai5 naai5 cing4 fong3 dou1 hai6 gam3 soeng6 haa5 laa1 。) |
| David: Right. So you are talking about your grandmother there. Someone has asked after her and you’ve answered. |
| Melody: 我奶奶情況都係咁上下啦。(ngo5 naai5 naai5 cing4 fong3 dou1 hai6 gam3 soeng6 haa5 laa1 。) |
| David: So maybe she is sick and someone asked after her and you said, well you know, she is not doing well but she is not doing badly. |
| Melody: 啱啦！完全就係咁嘅意思, 我奶奶情況都係咁上下啦! (ngaam1 laa3 ！jyun4 cyun4 zau6 hai6 gam2 ge3 ji3 si1 , ngo5 naai5 naai5 cing4 fong3 dou1 hai6 gam3 soeng6 haa5 laa1 !) |
| David: Right. Her situation is neither good nor bad. |
| Melody: 唔, 即係仲過得去咁嘅意思。 (m4 , zik1 hai6 zung6 gwo3 dak1 heoi3 gam2 ge3 ji3 si1 。) |
| David: Right. So that’s the first usage. Something – it’s not good, it’s not bad. It is - ehh its okay. The second usage is when you are talking about a range and you are implying that something should be in a particular range. |
| Melody: 係。(hai6 。) |
| David: For instance |
| Melody: 老爺車開唔快, 係咁上下㗎啦！ (lou5 je4 ce1 hoi1 m4 faai3 , hai6 gam3 soeng6 haa5 gaa3 laa1 ！) |
| David: Maybe you are in a really old cab or your car, you bought it 15 years ago and someone tells you to speed up and you… |
| Melody: 但係我會話 老爺車開唔快, 係咁上下㗎啦！ (daan6 hai6 ngo5 wui2 waa6 lou5 je4 ce1 hoi1 m4 faai3 , hai6 gam3 soeng6 haa5 gaa3 laa1 ！) |
| David: Right. The car is really old and can’t drive quickly. This is more or less the speed it goes. |
| Melody: 係咁上下㗎啦！唔好再抱怨啦！ (hai6 gam3 soeng6 haa5 gaa3 laa1 ！m4 hou2 zoi3 pou5 jyun3 laa3 ！) |
| David: Right and this is a good example because it’s really hard to translate into English. Right, you are saying that the range or the speed, it’s more or less in this area. |
| Melody: 係呀! 佢係表示一種程度或者一個範圍之內咁上下差唔多, 譬如我哋會話 佢嘅粵語水平係咁上下㗎啦！ (hai6 aa3 ! keoi5 hai6 biu2 si6 jat1 zung2 cing4 dou6 waak6 ze2 jat1 go3 faan6 wai4 zi1 noi6 gam3 soeng6 haa5 caa1 m4 do1 , pei3 jyu4 ngo5 dei6 wui2 waa6 keoi5 ge3 jyut6 jyu5 seoi2 ping4 hai6 gam3 soeng6 haa5 gaa3 laa1 ！) |
| David: Right. Now here the range is not speed but it’s a degree of fluency. In this case, fluency in Cantonese. |
| Melody: 佢嘅粵語水平係咁上下㗎啦！ (keoi5 ge3 jyut6 jyu5 seoi2 ping4 hai6 gam3 soeng6 haa5 gaa3 laa1 ！) |
| David: His Cantonese level is – it’s just about this. |
| Melody: 唔, 唔會太差, 但係都唔係好好。 (m4 , m4 wui2 taai3 caa1 , daan6 hai6 dou1 m4 hai6 hou2 hou2 。) |
| David: Right. So you’ve heard him speak. It doesn’t sound like he speaks that well but it’s not that bad. |
| Melody: 唔，啱啱好，可能差唔多可以對話。 (m4 ，ngaam1 ngaam1 hou2 ，ho2 nang4 caa1 m4 do1 ho2 ji5 deoi3 waa6 。) |
| David: Right. So if someone says this about you, it’s not actually bad… |
| Melody: 冇錯。 (mou5 co3 。) |
| David: Unless you’ve been living in Hong Kong for 20 years. |
| Melody: 哦！ (ngo4 ！) |
| David: In which case, maybe it’s… |
| Melody: 咁就太渣啦！ (gam3 zau6 taai3 zaa2 laa1 ！) |
| David: Right. So we have two uses for this phrase. |
| Melody: 咁上下。 (gam3 soeng6 haa5 。) |
| David: The first is when things are just okay. They are not good and they are not bad. |
| Melody: 可能唔會變得更好亦都冇變更壞。(ho2 nang4 m4 wui2 bin3 dak1 gang3 hou2 jik6 dou1 mou5 bin3 gang3 waai6 。) |
| David: Right and the sentence we gave you for that was about the grandmother. |
| Melody: 我奶奶情況都係咁上下啦! (ngo5 naai5 naai5 cing4 fong3 dou1 hai6 gam3 soeng6 haa5 laa1 !) |
| David: The second example is when you want to talk about a range or degree of something. |
| Melody: 老爺車開唔快，係咁上下㗎喇！ (lou5 je4 ce1 hoi1 m4 faai3 ，hai6 gam3 soeng6 haa5 gaa3 laa1 ！) |
| David: And what you are implying is that this is about where it is. |
| Melody: 佢嘅粵語水平係咁上下㗎啦！ (keoi5 ge3 jyut6 jyu5 seoi2 ping4 hai6 gam3 soeng6 haa5 gaa3 laa1 ！) |
Outro |
| David: Right. So that’s our podcast for today. Thank you very much for listening. I am David. |
| Melody: I am Melody. |
| David: Be sure to visit us at the site and leave a comment if you have any questions. We hope to hear from you. |
| Melody: 希望下次仲可以再見。(hei1 mong6 haa6 ci3 zung6 ho2 ji5 zoi3 gin3 。) |
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