Learn how to communicate resignation or reluctance
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Echo: Welcome to cantoneseclass101.com. I am Echo. |
| Oscar: 大家好! 我係 (daai6 gaa1 hou2 ! ngo5 hai6) Oscar. |
| Echo: And we are here today with lower intermediate, season 1, lesson 6. Avoiding Complexity in China. |
| Oscar: 教你點樣避免麻煩. (gaau3 nei5 dim2 joeng2 bei6 min5 maa4 faan4.) |
| Echo: That’s right. Today we are learning how to ask for directions in Cantonese. |
| Oscar: 冇錯! 唔識問路真係好麻煩㗎! (mou5 co3 ! m4 sik1 man6 lou6 zan1 hai6 hou2 maa4 faan4 gaa3!) |
| Echo: Our dialogue is between two strangers, one of whom is asking for directions and they are both speaking casual Cantonese as always. |
| Oscar: 咁我哋而家去聽下. (gam2 ngo5 dei6 ji4 gaa1 heoi3 teng1 haa5.) |
| DIALOGUE |
| A: 你知唔知附近有冇郵局？ (A: nei5 zi1 m4 zi1 fu6 gan6 jau5 mou5 jau4 guk2?) |
| B: 有，隔兩條街就有。 (B: jau5, gaak3 loeng5 tiu4 gaai1 zau6 jau5.) |
| A: 咁即係點行？ (A: gam2 zik1 hai6 dim2 haang4?) |
| B: 直行，然後轉左，再轉右就到。 (B: zik6 haang4, jin4 hau6 zyun3 zo2, zoi3 zyun3 jau6 zau6 dou3.) |
| A: 咁複雜嘅! 你講多次？ (A: gam3 fuk1 zaap6 ge2! nei5 gong2 do1 ci3?) |
| B: 我都係帶你去喇！ (B: ngo5 dou1 hai6 daai3 nei5 heoi3 laa6!) |
| David: One more time, a bit slower. |
| A: 你知唔知附近有冇郵局？ (A: nei5 zi1 m4 zi1 fu6 gan6 jau5 mou5 jau4 guk2?) |
| B: 有，隔兩條街就有。 (B: jau5, gaak3 loeng5 tiu4 gaai1 zau6 jau5.) |
| A: 咁即係點行？ (A: gam2 zik1 hai6 dim2 haang4?) |
| B: 直行，然後轉左，再轉右就到。 (B: zik6 haang4, jin4 hau6 zyun3 zo2, zoi3 zyun3 jau6 zau6 dou3.) |
| A: 咁複雜嘅! 你講多次？ (A: gam3 fuk1 zaap6 ge2! nei5 gong2 do1 ci3?) |
| B: 我都係帶你去喇！(B: ngo5 dou1 hai6 daai3 nei5 heoi3 laa6!) |
| David: And now with the English translation. |
| A: 你知唔知附近有冇郵局？ (A: nei5 zi1 m4 zi1 fu6 gan6 jau5 mou5 jau4 guk2?) |
| A: Is there a post office around? |
| B: 有，隔兩條街就有。(B: jau5, gaak3 loeng5 tiu4 gaai1 zau6 jau5.) |
| B: Yes, there's one just two street away from here. |
| A: 咁即係點行？ (A: gam2 zik1 hai6 dim2 haang4?) |
| A: How to get there? |
| B: 直行，然後轉左，再轉右就到。 (B: zik6 haang4, jin4 hau6 zyun3 zo2, zoi3 zyun3 jau6 zau6 dou3.) |
| B: Go straight, then turn left, and then turn right. |
| A: 咁複雜嘅! 你講多次？ (A: gam3 fuk1 zaap6 ge2! nei5 gong2 do1 ci3?) |
| A: It's complicated! Can you repeat it? |
| B: 我都係帶你去喇！(B: ngo5 dou1 hai6 daai3 nei5 heoi3 laa6!) |
| B: I better take you there! |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Echo: So Oscar, do you get asked for directions a lot? |
| Oscar: 經常有呀! (ging1 soeng4 jau5 aa3!) |
| Echo: Hmm I guess it helps to be from Hong Kong right? |
| Oscar: 係呀! 香港有好多相似嘅街道, 所以好容易蕩失路。 (hai6 aa3 ! hoeng1 gong2 jau5 hou2 do1 soeng1 ci5 ge3 gaai1 dou6, so2 ji3 hou2 jung4 ji6 dong6 sat1 lou6.) |
| Echo: Yes exactly. I get lost a lot walking around the studio. Anyway, let’s go to the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Oscar: 郵局 (jau4 guk2) |
| Echo: Post office. |
| Oscar: 郵 局, 郵局。附近 (jau4 guk2, jau4 guk2. fu6 gan6) |
| Echo: Around. |
| Oscar: 附 近, 附近。隔 (fu6 gan6, fu6 gan6. gaak3) |
| Echo: Away from. |
| Oscar: 隔，隔。直行 (gaak3, gaak3. zik6 haang4) |
| Echo: To go straight. |
| Oscar: 直 行, 直行。轉左 (zik6 haang4, zik6 haang4. zyun3 zo2) |
| Echo: To turn left. |
| Oscar: 轉 左, 轉左。轉右 (zyun3 zo2, zyun3 zo2. zyun3 jau6) |
| Echo: To turn right. |
| Oscar: 轉 右, 轉右。複雜 (zyun3 jau6, zyun3 jau6. fuk1 zaap6) |
| Echo: Complicated. |
| Oscar: 複 雜, 複雜。帶 (fuk1 zaap6, fuk1 zaap6. daai3) |
| Echo: To bring. |
| Oscar: 帶，帶。多次 (daai3, daai3. do1 ci3) |
| Echo: Again |
| Oscar: 多 次, 多次 (do1 ci3, do1 ci3) |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Echo: Let’s have a closer look at some of the words from this lesson. The first word is |
| Oscar: 附近 (fu6 gan6) |
| Echo: Around. |
| Oscar: 附近 (fu6 gan6) |
| Echo: Around. We can use this to ask directions. For instance, |
| Oscar: 呢度附近有冇郵局呀? (ni1 dou6 fu6 gan6 jau5 mou5 jau4 guk2 aa3 ?) |
| Echo: Is there a post office around here? |
| Oscar: 呢度附近有冇郵局呀? (ni1 dou6 fu6 gan6 jau5 mou5 jau4 guk2 aa3 ?) |
| Echo: Is there a post office around here? |
| Oscar: 嗰度附近有冇銀行? (go2 dou6 fu6 gan6 jau5 mou5 ngan4 hong4 ?) |
| Echo: Is there a bank around. |
| Oscar: 嗰度附近有冇銀行? (go2 dou6 fu6 gan6 jau5 mou5 ngan4 hong4 ?) |
| Echo: Is there a bank around here. So it means around as in around here. |
| Oscar: 隔離 (gaak3 lei4) |
| Echo: Right. In the neighborhood. |
| Oscar: 跟住係三個指明方向嘅詞。 (gan1 zyu6 hai6 saam1 go3 zi2 ming4 fong1 hoeng3 ge3 ci4.) |
| Echo: You can use these to give directions. |
| Oscar: 直行, 轉左 (zik6 haang4 , zyun3 zo2) |
| Echo: And |
| Oscar: 轉右 (zyun3 jau6) |
| Echo: First is |
| Oscar: 直行 (zik6 haang4 ) |
| Echo: Go straight. |
| Oscar: 直行 (zik6 haang4) |
| Echo: Turn left. |
| Oscar: 轉左 (zyun3 zo2) |
| Echo: Turn left. |
| Oscar: 轉左 (zyun3 zo2) |
| Echo: Turn right. |
| Oscar: 轉右 (zyun3 jau6) |
| Echo: Turn right. |
| Oscar: 轉右 (zyun3 jau6) |
| Echo: We can use these to give directions like this. |
| Oscar: 喺彌敦道直行。(hai2 nei4 deon1 dou6 zik6 haang4.) |
| Echo: At Nathan Road, go straight. |
| Oscar: 喺彌敦道直行。 (hai2 nei4 deon1 dou6 zik6 haang4.) |
| Echo: At Nathan Road, go straight or |
| Oscar: 轉左 (zyun3 zo2) |
| Echo: Turn left. |
| Oscar: 喺第一個路口轉左。 (hai2 dai6 jat1 go3 lou6 hau2 zyun3 zo2.) |
| Echo: At the first corner, turn left. |
| Oscar: 喺第一個路口轉左。 (hai2 dai6 jat1 go3 lou6 hau2 zyun3 zo2.) |
| Echo: At the first corner, turn left. |
| Oscar: 係喇! (hai6 laa3!) |
| Echo: In English, we say turn left at the first corner. In Cantonese, the word order is different. |
| Oscar: 喺第一個路口轉左。 (hai2 dai6 jat1 go3 lou6 hau2 zyun3 zo2.) |
| Echo: Right. And we can put these together right? |
| Oscar: 當然可以啦! (dong1 jin4 ho2 ji5 laa1!) |
| Echo: For instance |
| Oscar: 直行 跟住 轉左。 (zik6 haang4 gan1 zyu6 zyun3 zo2.) |
| Echo: Go straight, then turn left. |
| Oscar: 直行 跟住 轉左。 (zik6 haang4 gan1 zyu6 zyun3 zo2.) |
| Echo: Go straight, then turn left. And if you want to turn right, that’s |
| Oscar: 轉右. (zyun3 jau6.) |
| Echo: Turn right. |
| Oscar: 轉右. (zyun3 jau6.) |
| Echo: Turn right at HSBC. |
| Oscar: 喺滙豐銀行 轉右。 (hai2 wui6 fung1 ngan4 hong4 zyun3 jau6.) |
| Echo: Turn right at HSBC. |
| Oscar: 喺滙豐銀行轉右。(hai2 wui6 fung1 ngan4 hong4 zyun3 jau6.) 我哋而家已經學識點樣指明方向喇！ (ngo5 dei6 ji4 gaa1 ji5 ging1 hok6 sik1 dim2 joeng6 zi2 ming4 fong1 hoeng3 laa3!) |
| Echo: Right. It’s really easy. Just use these four words. |
| Oscar: 直行, 轉左, 轉右. (zik6 haang4 , zyun3 zo2 , zyun3 jau6.) |
| Echo: And |
| Oscar: 附近. (fu6 gan6.) |
| Echo: And now our grammar section. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Oscar: It’s grammar time. |
| Echo: In previous lessons, we taught you how to say all. |
| Oscar: 都 (dou1) |
| Echo: All. |
| Oscar: 都 (dou1) |
| Echo: We taught you that this is normally followed by the verb to be. |
| Oscar: 我哋都係學生. (ngo5 dei6 dou1 hai6 hok6 sang1.) |
| Echo: We all are students. |
| Oscar: 我哋都係學生. (ngo5 dei6 dou1 hai6 hok6 sang1.) |
| Echo: We all are students. |
| Oscar: 我哋都係學生 (ngo5 dei6 dou1 hai6 hok6 sang1) |
| 我哋都係老師 (ngo5 dei6 dou1 hai6 lou5 si1) |
| 我哋都係男人 (ngo5 dei6 dou1 hai6 naam4 jan2) |
| Echo: Right but today we are going to teach you another meaning of |
| Oscar: 都係 (dou1 hai6) |
| Echo: This is hard to explain. So let’s take a look at a sample sentence first. |
| Oscar: 我都係帶你去喇! (ngo5 dou1 hai6 daai3 nei5 heoi3 laa3!) |
| Echo: I will take you there. |
| Oscar: 我都係帶你去喇! (ngo5 dou1 hai6 daai3 nei5 heoi3 laa3!) |
| Echo: I will take you there. It’s actually pretty easy. This means I will take you because there is no better option. |
| Oscar: 我都係帶你去喇！ (ngo5 dou1 hai6 daai3 nei5 heoi3 laa3!) |
| Echo: If you are doing something because you have to, then you can use this. |
| Oscar: 我都係唔去喇! (ngo5 dou1 hai6 m4 heoi3 laa3!) |
| Echo: I won’t go after all. |
| Oscar: 我都係唔去喇! (ngo5 dou1 hai6 m4 heoi3 laa3!) |
| Echo: In this case, someone had the choice of going or not going. |
| Oscar: 唔去會比較好。 (m4 heoi3 wui2 bei2 gaau3 hou2.) |
| Echo: Yeah but it wasn’t an easy choice. |
| Oscar: 我都係唔去喇! (ngo5 dou1 hai6 m4 heoi3 laa3!) |
| Echo: I won’t go after all. |
| Oscar: 佢都係唔買呢個喇! (keoi5 dou1 hai6 m4 maai5 ni1 go3 laa3!) |
| Echo: He won’t buy this. |
| Oscar: 佢都係唔買呢個喇! (keoi5 dou1 hai6 m4 maai5 ni1 go3 laa3!) |
| Echo: So in that sentence, he was thinking about buying it. |
| Oscar: 係喇! (hai6 laa3!) |
| Echo: And he finally decided, I better not buy this. |
| Oscar: 啱哂! (ngaam1 saai3!) |
| Echo: It’s not a good choice because maybe he needs it but it’s still better not to buy it than to buy it. |
| Oscar: 佢都係唔買呢個喇! (keoi5 dou1 hai6 m4 maai5 ni1 go3 laa3 ! ) |
| Echo: So remember, if you have choice but there are no good options, you can use |
| Oscar: 都係. (dou1 hai6.) |
| Echo: To let people know that you are doing something even though it isn’t the best choice. We hope you enjoyed our podcast for today. |
| Oscar: 有冇攪到頭暈呀? (jau5 mou5 gaau2 dou3 tau4 wan4 aa3?) |
Outro |
| Echo: Right. As always, if you have any questions, take a look at our PDF for this lesson. |
| Oscar: 好有用㗎! (hou2 jau5 jung6 gaa3!) |
| Echo: We’ve written down an explanation of our grammar point along with a transcript of our dialogue. |
| Oscar: 係呀, 冇錯. (hai6 aa3 , mou5 co3.) |
| Echo: For now though, thanks for listening and let us know what you think on the website. |
| Oscar: 記得啦! (gei3 dak1 laa3!) |
| Echo: I am Echo. |
| Oscar: 多謝收聽. (do1 ze6 sau1 teng1.) |
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