Dialogue

Vocabulary

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Lesson Transcript

Intro

Nicole: 大家好 (daai6 gaa1 hou2). I'm Nicole and welcome to CantoneseClass101.
Matt: Matt: here! And welcome back to our Absolute Beginner Season 1, Lesson 4. With us, you'll learn to speak Cantonese with fun and effective lessons.
Nicole: We also provide you with cultural insights...
Matt: ...and tips you won't find in a textbook.
Nicole: So what are we learning today?
Matt: In this lesson you will learn how to order my favorite, beer.
Nicole: This conversation takes place of course in a bar.
Matt: The conversation is between a waitress and a customer.
Nicole: Right. And they're speaking casually as always.
Matt: Okay. Let's take a look at our dialogue, Nicole.

Lesson conversation

小姐,唔該!(siu2 ze2, m4 goi1!)
唔? (m2?)
我要一支啤酒。(ngo5 jiu3 jat1 zi1 be1 zau2.)
冇問題。(mou5 man6 tai4.)
English Host: One more time, a bit slower.
小姐,唔該!(siu2 ze2, m4 goi1!)
唔? (m2?)
我要一支啤酒。(ngo5 jiu3 jat1 zi1 be1 zau2.)
冇問題。(mou5 man6 tai4.)
English Host: And now with the English translation.
小姐,唔該!(siu2 ze2, m4 goi1!)
Matt: Excuse me, Miss?
唔? (m2?)
Matt: Hmm?
我要一支啤酒。(ngo5 jiu3 jat1 zi1 be1 zau2.)
Matt: I want one beer.
冇問題。(mou5 man6 tai4.)
Matt: No problem.
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
Matt: Now, this is really important stuff.
Nicole: It's your favorite conversation, ordering beer.
Matt: Well, Hong Kong is very hot. Sometimes you just got to cool off, Nicole.
Nicole: Hmmmm.
Matt: And there's no better way to cool off than a nice cold beer.
Nicole: So, what do you think of Sam Miguel?
Matt: I like it. It's all right, but it's definitely is a local Hong Kong favorite. So for all you, listeners, make sure you order a San Miguel.
Nicole: Yeah. Their slogan of their advertisement says 新鮮 (san1 sin1), which means, "it is fresh".
Matt: Well, it's mostly fresh.
Nicole: Anyway, this is an important lesson.
Matt: Of course it is as with all our lessons. And we're going to learn the language in order to order and more in our vocabulary section.
Nicole: Yeah.
VOCAB LIST
Matt: So let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. The first word is:
Nicole: 小姐 (siu2 ze2) [natural native speed]
Matt: Miss.
Nicole: 小姐 (siu2 ze2) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 小姐 (siu2 ze2) [natural native speed]
Matt: Next, we have.
Nicole: 要 (jiu3) [natural native speed]
Matt: To want or to need.
Nicole: 要 (jiu3) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 要 (jiu3) [natural native speed]
Matt: After that, we have.
Nicole: 一 (jat1) [natural native speed]
Matt: One.
Nicole: 一 (jat1) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 一 (jat1) [natural native speed]. 支 (zi1) [natural native speed]
Matt: This is the measure word for bottle.
Nicole: 支 (zi1) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 支 (zi1) [natural native speed]
Matt: Next, we have.
Nicole: 啤酒 (be1 zau2) [natural native speed]
Matt: Beer.
Nicole: 啤酒 (be1 zau2) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 啤酒 (be1 zau2) [natural native speed]
Matt: Followed by.
Nicole: 冇問題 (mou5 man6 tai4) [natural native speed]
Matt: No problem.
Nicole: 冇問題 (mou5 man6 tai4) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 冇問題 (mou5 man6 tai4) [natural native speed]
Nicole: 先生 (sin1 saang1) [natural native speed]
Matt: Mister.
Nicole: 先生 (sin1 saang1) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 先生 (sin1 saang1) [natural native speed]
Matt: Next, we have.
Nicole: 靚女 (leng3 neoi5) [natural native speed]
Matt: Pretty girl.
Nicole: 靚女 (leng3 neoi5) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 靚女 (leng3 neoi5) [natural native speed]
Matt: Of course followed by.
Nicole: 靚仔 (leng3 zai2) [natural native speed]
Matt: Pretty boy.
Nicole: 靚仔 (leng3 zai2) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 靚仔 (leng3 zai2) [natural native speed]
Matt: Next, we have the number.
Nicole: 兩 (loeng5) [natural native speed]
Matt: Two (2).
Nicole: 兩 (loeng5) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 兩 (loeng5) [natural native speed]
Matt: Followed by another measure word.
Nicole: 個 (go3) [natural native speed]. 個 (go3) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 個 (go3) [natural native speed]
Matt: Next, we have.
Nicole: 啤酒 (be1 zau2) [natural native speed]
Matt: Beer.
Nicole: 啤酒 (be1 zau2) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 啤酒 (be1 zau2) [natural native speed]
Matt: Next, we have.
Nicole: 水(seoi2) [natural native speed]
Matt: Water.
Nicole: 水 (seoi2) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 水 (seoi2) [natural native speed]
Matt: And lastly, we have.
Nicole: 果汁 (gwo2 zap1) [natural native speed]
Matt: Juice.
Nicole: 果汁 (gwo2 zap1) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 果汁 (gwo2 zap1) [natural native speed]
KEY VOCABULARY AND PHRASES
Matt: All right, Nicole, now that we've gone over the vocabulary, let's have a closer look at the usage for some of these words.
Nicole: Okay. The first phrase is 小姐 (siu2 ze2).
Matt: That means "miss" or young girl.
Nicole: 小姐 (siu2 ze2).
Matt: Miss.
Nicole: This is a pretty formal word, maybe in a bar you don't want to say that. You want to say 靚女 (leng3 neoi5).
Matt: Now, this means "pretty lady"
Nicole: Yeah 靚女 (leng3 neoi5).
Matt: So is that a little bit more laid back to say that then?
Nicole: Yeah. Maybe you'll get better service.
Matt: Okay, so very important.
Nicole: Yeah, remember 小姐 (siu2 ze2) is formal. 靚女 (leng3 neoi5). is informal and better service.
Matt: What if your waitress is actually a man?
Nicole: Waitress, being a man, well you can use the formal word 先生 (sin1 saang1).
Matt: Which means "Mister."
Nicole: 先生 (sin1 saang1).
Matt: Now is this too formal to be used in a bar?
Nicole: 先生? (sin1 saang1). Definitely.
Matt: So we would say?
Nicole: 靚仔 (leng3 zai2).
Matt: Which means "handsome guy" or pretty boy.
Nicole: 靚仔 (leng3 zai2).
Matt: I hear 靚仔 (leng3 zai2). all the time, especially when I'm out on the street.
Nicole: Really. Yup, you can hear this 靚仔 (leng3 zai2). a lot when you're walking in the market or something. They'll call you 靚仔 (leng3 zai2)., "come take a look"! 靚仔 (leng3 zai2)., come buy my cabbage.
Matt: So pretty boy, come take a look or handsome guy, come here and look at my cabbage.
Nicole: Yeah.
Matt: Now, I'm a sucker for that.
Nicole: I can see you, you buy a lot of I love Hong Kong t-shirt.
Matt: Yeah, you're right. I do love Hong Kong. So we have four things that you can call somebody or four different ways that you can call somebody over. Let's review them.
Nicole: 小姐 (siu2 ze2).
Matt: Miss
Nicole: 先生 (sin1 saang1).
Matt: Mister
Nicole: 靚女 (leng3 neoi5).
Matt: Pretty girl.
Nicole: 靚仔 (leng3 zai2).
Matt: Pretty guy.
Nicole: These are four ways to call people's attention and you'll hear them a lot.

Lesson focus

Matt: The Focus of This Lesson is ordering drinks or possibly food in a bar or restaurant.
Nicole: That's right. In the dialogue we heard 我要一支啤酒 (ngo5 jiu3 jat1 zi1 be1 zau2).
Matt: I want a beer.
Nicole: 我要一支啤酒 (ngo5 jiu3 jat1 zi1 be1 zau2).
Matt: I want a beer. So when we ask for something we say?
Nicole: 我要 (ngo5 jiu3).
Matt: I want.
Nicole: 我要 (ngo5 jiu3).
Matt: I want. So whenever you want something, put the noun after…
Nicole: 我要 (ngo5 jiu3).
Matt: So it would be I want beer.
Nicole: 我要啤酒 (ngo5 jiu3 be1 zau2).
Matt: I want water.
Nicole: 我要水 (ngo5 jiu3 seoi2).
Matt: I want juice.
Nicole: 我要果汁 (ngo5 jiu3 gwo2 zap1).
Matt: But in the dialog we heard something before the word for beer.
Nicole: 一支 (jat1 zi1)
Matt: This means one bottle, the number one followed by a measure word for bottle.
Nicole: 一支 (jat1 zi1)
Matt: One bottle.
Nicole: 一支啤酒 (jat1 zi1 be1 zau2)
Matt: One bottle of beer.
Nicole: So if we break this down we hear the first sound is 一.
Matt: One.
Nicole: And then followed by 支 (zi1).
Matt: Which again is the measure word for bottle.
Nicole: Right. You can say 一支水 (jat1 zi1 seoi2).
Matt: One bottle of water.
Nicole: 一支果汁 (jat1 zi1 gwo2 zap1).
Matt: One bottle of juice. But don't worry about the measure words for now. You can leave that out unless you need to specify the exact quantity.
Nicole: That's right. Also there's a very, very common measure word that you can use when you forget other measure word. It's 個 (go3).
Matt: That's right. It can be used to describe the number of persons, food, or companies even.
Nicole: It's for everything. For instance you can say 兩個 (loeng5 go3) pizza.
Matt: Two pizzas.
Nicole: 我要兩個 (ngo5 jiu3 loeng5 go3) pizza.
Matt: I want two pizzas. So Nicole, let me ask you, when you said pizzas, is that the Cantonese way to say pizza?
Nicole: Yeah, just say it louder. That's the Cantonese way, pizza.
Matt: Okay, so it sounds exactly the same.
Nicole: Cantonese is easy. You can say 我要兩個飯 (ngo5 jiu3 loeng5 go3 faan6).
Matt: Which means I want two bowls of rice.
Nicole: Yup, 我要兩個菜 (ngo5 jiu3 loeng5 go3 coi3).
Matt: I would like two dishes. So this…
Nicole: 個… (go3)
Matt: …is really common and useful when you want to specify the quantity of something.
Nicole: Yep. 一個, 兩個 (jat1 go3 , loeng5 go3). One, two.
Matt: If you want to know more about numbers in Cantonese, we have coming a lesson to tell you all about it.
Nicole: Yeah, 冇問題!(mou5 man6 tai4!)
Matt: Oh my favorite phrase, no problem!
Nicole: 冇問題 (mou5 man6 tai4).
Matt: No problem.

Outro

Matt: And that's our lessons for today, no problem. If you have any…
Nicole: 問題 (man6 tai4)
Matt: or questions, remember to stop by our website.
Nicole: CantoneseClass101.com.
Matt: When you do stop by, make sure to leave us a comment or send us an email.
Nicole: So thanks for tuning in. I'm Nicole.
Matt: And I am Matt. We'll see you next time.
Nicole: See you.

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