Poddie Collaboration on Intermediate - License Plate Characters
cinnamonfern
March 05, 2011 at 04:00 AM posted in Transcripts with TalI figured that since I finished the last slot in the previous intermediate poddie transcript collaboration, I could set up the new one so baba doesn't have to (and he can continue to spend his time commenting prolifically on all the other posts on CPod). :)
So, as before, please feel free to jump in at any slot you wish to, and anyone from Newbie to Advanced can get involved! The 30 second slots are kind of arbitrary based on the way the dialogue works out, so if you put in the time that you started and finished, the next person can figure out where to start from.
加油！
bababardwan
March 05, 2011 at 04:24 AM
Hey this is great stuff cinnamonfern. You're powering! Yeah, I'm looking forward to catching up with the sensational effort on the last Intermediate collaboration. Jiayou! :)
watyamacallit
March 06, 2011 at 07:47 AM
9:02
John: Well because we've had Americans and Canadians and kinds of different foreigners in our dialogs, but I thought it was time to represent other nationalities, and I know a lot of Koreans that speak really good Chinese like this guy.
Dilu: So you just assumed this guy's Korean.
John: He is Korean.
Dilu: 我觉得我们的poddies可能 [***] 的问题，所以 thanks for your explanation John.
John: No problems. So if you guys have questions, please come to ChinesePod.com and ask away.
Dilu: 那今天的课就到这里。再见。
John: 再见。
cinnamonfern
March 06, 2011 at 01:23 PM
Maybe the middle of Dilu's second sentence is: ...历史上的文印，所以...？
watyamacallit
March 06, 2011 at 07:36 AM
8:29
John: So sometimes on the news. And again to fully appreciate these I recommend that you look at the characters themselves. Its a lot more interesting that way.
Dilu: 但是很多的简称都跟这个城市的名字没有太多关系。还是因为一些历史 [****] 所以才找这个名字。
John: A lot of the characters come from certain historical usages.
Dilu: 那我，我可以问我的那个问题了吗？
John: OK, ask your question.
Dilu: 在我们今天这个podcast刚开始的时候，你说这个男的是一个韩国人。为什么呢？
9:02
bababardwan
March 06, 2011 at 01:10 PM
yeah: "Wikipedia for that, us English speakers"
also agree "title"
cinnamonfern
March 06, 2011 at 01:04 PM
"for us English speakers" - I think. And yeah, I think she says "title". So they're used in some of the news headlines?
watyamacallit
March 06, 2011 at 07:20 AM
7:58
Dilu: 对。其实很多的中国人也记不住这么多的简称。
John: A bunch of Chinese people can't remember them all either. So its a good thing we have Wikipedia for that (??for English speakers??).
Dilu: For lazy people, of course.
John: So I guess the question is are these abbreviations for provinces and stuff, are they only for licence plates, or do they have any other uses?
Dilu: 我们有的时候会在证件上面会看到一些简称。
John: So, on some official documents.
Dilu: 或者呢在新闻的一些title里面。
8:29
[Not sure if that last line is 'title' or if its in Chinese]
watyamacallit
March 06, 2011 at 06:53 AM
7:27
John: These provinces that are mentioned - and then we didn't hear the abbreviation, could we just hear them all quickly. So for example 湖北 what is the actual character?
Dilu: 湖北的简称是＇鄂＇。
John: 鄂。
Dilu: 对。
John: So again, a completely different character.
Dilu: 完全不一样。
John: You really have to look at these characters to appreciate how completely different they are.
Dilu: 是的。那么河南的简称呢是＇豫＇。
John: 河南 is 豫。
Dilu: 对。
John: Alright, what about 河北?
Dilu: 河北是＇冀＇。
John: So there are quite a few that have totally different characters.
7:58
watyamacallit
March 06, 2011 at 06:42 AM
[Dialog]
7:23
John: So Dilu, before your questions I have a few questions.
Dilu: 好。
7:27
watyamacallit
March 06, 2011 at 06:39 AM
6:30
Dilu: 对。
John: Stop asking these licence plate questions, its so annoying.
Dilu: 好，我们再来听一边对话，然后我有一些问题。
John: Alright, here we go.
6:38 [Dialog]
watyamacallit
March 06, 2011 at 06:36 AM
6:00
Dilu: 是的。是的。想不起来了。
John: So "I'm thinking, but it's just not coming to me". 想不起来了。
Dilu: 但是肯定不是'湖'。
John: It's definitely not 湖.
Dilu: 然后那个男的又问'河南河北呢？'
John: And she gets a little impatient, right.
Dilu: 对。女孩子说：哎呀，你别问我了，我也不知道。
John: 别问我了 - stop asking me.
Dilu: 别问我了。
John: So if you see this 别 and then a verb and then 了, it's like 'stop doing that'.
6:30
watyamacallit
March 06, 2011 at 06:28 AM
5:28
John: 湖南, two second tones, 湖北, 2nd-3rd. So the question is - if they both have 湖 as the first character, then which one gets it as the abbreviation? So that's a good question.
Dilu: 对。但是呢没有湖，因为湖南是"湘"。
John: 湘 - 1st tone. That's a completely different character.
Dilu: 是的。然后"湖北是...我也想不起来了。
John: 想不起来了。This is a phrase which means "can't remember", "can't recall".
6:00
cinnamonfern
March 06, 2011 at 12:24 PM
I think you're right - I heard them both as well. No idea about why there are two of them though.
watyamacallit
March 05, 2011 at 11:38 PM
4:59
Dilu: 上海简称沪。
John: OK, 4th tone.
Dilu: 对。
John: And then they start talking about other provinces, so don't be confused that as soon as you hear 沪, they start talking about 湖.
Dilu: 对。这是其实是两个词。发音是不一样的。
John: So 沪, 4th tone, and then they change the topic and he talks about a different one - he talks about ...
Dilu: 湖。第二声。
John: 2nd tone. And he asks about 2 provinces, right.
Dilu: 一个是湖南，还有一个是湖北。
5:28
[Dilu (3) - 这是其实是 - have I got that right? - what is the purpose of the two 是?]
watyamacallit
March 05, 2011 at 11:25 PM
4:28
John: And those ones are pretty obvious, because the character comes right out of the name of the province.
Dilu: 是的。是的。那，还有一些城市也是有简称的。
John: In the dialog we see this 有些, and this is just ... what?
Dilu: 有一些城市。
John: There are some cities that have their own abbreviations.
Dilu: 对。[ I have no idea after this.]
John: Who are they?
Dilu: 北京，上海，崇信，和天津。
John: OK. So 上海 - what is the 简称?
4:59
watyamacallit
March 05, 2011 at 11:08 PM
4:02
John: And later we see it as a noun. What does he say?
Dilu: 他说："每个省都有一个简称？"。 每个省都有一个简称？
John: So every province has an abbreviation. So the word for province, or course, is ...
Dilu: 省。第三声。
John: OK, 省, 3rd tone. And then the girl launches into some more examples, right.
Dilu: 比如浙是浙江，黑是黑龙江。
4:28
bababardwan
March 06, 2011 at 12:29 AM
yeah, you could well be right. I'm often not sure which ta it is ...same pronunciation and tone, so we only have context.
"写着"...my problem was not with the word itself, but whether it fit into the context [ I mean here...whether it fit into the sentence....obviously it fits into the overall context here] and it was something I found a little harder to catch with confidence.
watyamacallit
March 06, 2011 at 12:21 AM
Yes, but John's previous comment was explaining Dilu's line 广东的车. That is, it refers only to the car, not the plates.
Now that we are talking about the plates again, and what is written on them, I assume that we are referring back further to how 'she' points out that the car is from Guangdong.
But, in the end, its not a big deal.
Re 写着 - it actually appears as a vocabulary item in Nciku. Its meaning is 'read, say'. I guess that could be 'The paper says ...', 'On the wall it says ...'. The first sample sentence is
信封上写着“刘缄"
Xìnfěng shàng xiězhe "Liú jiān"
bababardwan
March 05, 2011 at 11:45 PM
re 它指/她指...you could be right....I think both fit in reasonably well, but following on from John's preceding comment, he was talking about what "it" means, so I though 它 followed on better from that.
I agree about the meaning of the line...which is one of the main reasons I queried the 写着。..particularly the 着。 My translation would be something like:
it indicates, actually, what's written on the license plate is that it's a car from Guangdong.
watyamacallit
March 05, 2011 at 11:01 PM
That first line sounds right, but I can't quite get my head around its full meaning. But shouldn't the first character be 她. Wouldn't 她指的 be 'what she is referring to ...'
bababardwan
March 05, 2011 at 02:23 PM
3：27
Dilu： 它指的其实是这个车牌上【写着】是广东的车
John: ok, so anyway you see 粤 you know the car is from Guangdong
Dilu: 嗯，那么粤语就是广东话
John: alright, got it. So then she explains about the abbreviation, right? What is that word?
Dilu: 简称，简称
John： ok 3rd tone, 4th tone
Dilu: 没错
John: 简称。So first we see it as a verb. What does she say?
Dilu: 广东简称粤，广东简称粤
John： so Guangdong is abbreviated as 粤
Dilu： 啊，是的
4:02
cinnamonfern
March 05, 2011 at 02:04 PM
I think I'll let someone else take the next section. That first sentence is trippy. :)
cinnamonfern
March 05, 2011 at 02:02 PM
3:00
John: Ok, and which 字 is it?
Dilu: 是“粤”。第四声。
John: Ok, 4th tone – 粤. And this is the same “yuè” as in another word, right?
Dilu: 啊，就是粤语的粤。
John: And “粤语” is the word for “Cantonese”.
Dilu: 对，粤呢就是广东。
John: Okay, so she says the car is from Guangdong, but how does she say it? This is kind of interesting.
Dilu: 广东的车。
John: So that doesn’t mean it’s a car made in Guangdong.
Dilu: 不是。不是。
John: It means a car from Guangdong, right?
3:28
cinnamonfern
March 05, 2011 at 01:48 PM
2:30
Dilu: 啊，就是比较明显。"噢，是一辆好车，当然好了。"
John: Right, so this 嘛 you see it after a phrase that is obvious to the speaker. So she’s saying, “Well, yeah, it’s a BMW…of course it’s cool.”
Dilu: 嗯，是的。宝马嘛…当然好。
John: Ok, but then the guy starts noticing the characters on the plates, right?
Dilu: 嗯. License plate is “车牌”. So he said, “车牌上那个字是什么?” 车牌上那个字是什么？
John: Ok, and which “zì” is it?
3:00
cinnamonfern
March 05, 2011 at 01:38 PM
I think you missed a 对 in front of Dilu's last line: "就是中文名"
bababardwan
March 05, 2011 at 06:58 AM
2:00
Dilu: 啊，对，这个“酷”跟英文的那个“cool”很像
John： ok, “酷” 4th tone
Dilu: 对
John： and it is what kind of car?
Dilu: 啊，这是一辆宝马，宝马
John： alright, “宝马” , that's two third tones..it means BMW, right?
Dilu: 那它的中文名就叫“宝马”
John： so do you guys ever say BMW?
Dilu: 啊，有的时候也会说BMW
John： but 宝马 is more common, right?
Dilu: 嗯，就是中文名
John： ok so here we have 宝马嘛
2m30s
cinnamonfern
March 05, 2011 at 05:01 AM
1:43
John: So at the beginning of the dialogue, the guy sees a cool car, right?
Dilu:嗯，他说：这辆车真酷。这辆车真酷。
John: Ok, so the measure word for car is of course...
Dilu: 辆。 L-I-A-N-G. 第四声。
John: Ok, 4th tone, liàng. And he says it’s cool, right?
2:00
bababardwan
March 05, 2011 at 12:50 PM
Dilu (1) ..“还学先”.....还是先...it would be better to first [listen to the dialogue]
can't spot anything else in this 30s slot
cinnamonfern
March 05, 2011 at 04:51 AM
0:30
John: Right, do you know what that one character on every Chinese license plate stands for?
Dilu: 那我们还学先来听一下对话。
John: Ok, but let’s set the context. We have a foreigner, he is a male Korean.
Dilu: 哈哈. Why Korean?
John: Because he’s Korean. His Chinese is very good. And then we have a Chinese woman.
Dilu: 那他们在哪里呢？
John: I think they’re in a parking lot or something? And they’re looking at Chinese license plates.
Dilu: 嗯，好吧。 那我们赶紧来听对话。
John: Alright, here we go.
1:00
watyamacallit
March 05, 2011 at 01:01 PM
The 吗 goes with the 知道:
Do you know (what it stands for)?
你知道(那个代表的是什么)吗?
你知道吗?
bababardwan
March 05, 2011 at 12:46 PM
I agree it's 每一块 and also agree the final syllable is "ma" ...I wonder if the ending of that line might be:
....是什么嘛？
..but that could be really wrong.
cinnamonfern
March 05, 2011 at 11:59 AM
Can you add a 吗 after 什么？ It sounded to me like she mis-spoke and switched the 么 and 呢。 “shen-ne-ma"
watyamacallit
March 05, 2011 at 10:12 AM
I listened again too. I now think the line ends with 吗 rather than 呢.
cinnamonfern
March 05, 2011 at 10:01 AM
Ok - I listened it to again, and yep, I can hear the ”一“ in there. :)
watyamacallit
March 05, 2011 at 09:03 AM
Every person can also be 每一个人.
I guess its the same as English 'every one'.
Check here:
http://www.yellowbridge.com/chinese/wordsearch.php?searchMode=P&word=mei+yi+ge&search=Search
cinnamonfern
March 05, 2011 at 06:22 AM
That doesn't make sense to me though. Because "every person" is 每个人, so wouldn't "every license plate" be 每块车牌? (With 块 being the measure word for license plate.)
cinnamonfern
March 05, 2011 at 04:35 AM
0:00
John: Hi ChinesePod users. This is an Intermediate lesson. My name is John.
Dilu: Hello everyone, I’m Dilu.
John: Alright, so today we’re talking about license plates in China.
Dilu: 嗯，中国的车牌。车牌。
John: Ok, so 车牌 - 1st tone, 2nd tone. That means a license plate. But what we’re talking about is not the plate itself but the characters you see on the plates in China.
Dilu: 是的。每块车牌上面都有一个汉字，你知道那个代表的是什么呢？
0:30
cinnamonfern
March 07, 2011 at 01:02 AMHey guys, I think this one is finished - at least all the corrections seem to make sense now. So I've posted the final version with a PDF here:
http://chinesepod.com/community/conversations/post/11416