Learn how to explain why--why you chose this or that, why you did this or that, why you said this or that
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| INTRODUCTION |
| David: Welcome to Cantoneseclass101.com. I’m David. |
| Nicole: 大家好, 我係 (daai6 gaa1 hou2, ngo5 hai6) Nicole. |
| David: And we’ve got Absolute Beginner, Season 2, Lesson 24. |
| Nicole: “Because it’s Cantonese” |
| David: Right. We were trying to come up with a better title, we swear, but we couldn’t. So, when you guys listen to the dialogue you’ll know where this is coming from. |
| Nicole: Right. |
| David: If you’ve got better suggestions, of course, send them to Nicole. |
| Nicole: Yeah. |
| David: You can leave a comment on the site. |
| Nicole: Mm-hmm. |
| David: We’re going to take you right to the dialogue today. And the conversation, Nicole, what’s going on here? |
| Nicole: It’s between two friends. One is complaining about something. |
| David: Yeah, it’s a negative dialogue. |
| Nicole: Negative. |
| David: Negativity. But they are still speaking casual Cantonese, as always. |
| Nicole: Right. |
| David: Okay. So, again, if you’ve got a better title, send it to us, otherwise let’s get to the dialogue. So this is apparently what happens when you have one deaf roommate. Nothing remain would normal here. |
| DIALOGUE |
| A: 唔該電視細聲啲吖。(m4 goi1 din6 si6 sai3 seng1 di1 aa1.) |
| B: 點解? (dim2 gaai2?) |
| A: 因為太大聲。(jan1 wai6 taai3 daai6 seng1.) |
| A: Please turn the TV down a bit. |
| B: Why? |
| A: Because it's too loud! |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Nicole: True. |
| David: Right? So, when you’re looking for a flatmate in Hong Kong the lesson is find someone whose hearing ability is more or less the same as your own. |
| Nicole: Yeah. |
| David: Yeah. So… |
| Nicole: Could be a problem. |
| David: It could be. So our vocab today actually is about home appliances. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Nicole: Right. |
| David: Okay? So, we’ve got a bunch of them and then we’ve got a great grammar point. But let’s do the vocab first. |
| Nicole: 電視。(din6 si6.) |
| David: “Television” |
| Nicole: 電視, 電視, 因為。(din6 si6, din6 si6, jan1 wai6.) |
| David: “Because” |
| Nicole: 因為, 因為, 音響。(jan1 wai6, jan1 wai6, jam1 hoeng2.) |
| David: “Stereo” |
| Nicole: 音響, 音響, 收音機。(jam1 hoeng2, jam1 hoeng2, sau1 jam1 gei1.) |
| David: “Radio” |
| Nicole: 收音機, 收音機, 雪櫃。(sau1 jam1 gei1, sau1 jam1 gei1, syut3 gwai6.) |
| David: “Fridge” |
| Nicole: 雪櫃, 雪櫃, 微波爐。(syut3 gwai6, syut3 gwai6, mei4 bo1 lou4.) |
| David: “Microwave” |
| Nicole: 微波爐, 微波爐, 所以。(mei4 bo1 lou4, mei4 bo1 lou4, so2 ji5.) |
| David: “Therefore” |
| Nicole: 所以, 所以。(so2 ji5, so2 ji5.) |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| David: Let’s have a closer look at the usage for some of these words and phrases. Our theme today is about appliances in the home. |
| Nicole: Right. |
| David: So, in the dialogue we were talking about the television. |
| Nicole: 電視。(din6 si6.) |
| David: “Television” |
| Nicole: 電視。(din6 si6.) |
| David: This is review. You should remember we’ve already taught you how to say “to watch television”. |
| Nicole: 睇電視。(tai2 din6 si6.) |
| David: As in the sentence “I like to watch television.” |
| Nicole: 我鍾意睇電視。(ngo5 zung1 ji3 tai2 din6 si6.) |
| David: If you’re sharing an apartment or renting a furnished apartment you’re going to want to make sure that it has a television, so when you’re asking, ask “Is there a television?” |
| Nicole: 有冇電視？(jau5 mou5 din6 si6?) |
| David: This is the same question we can use with our other appliances today. |
| Nicole: Right. |
| David: For instance, “Is there a stereo?”. |
| Nicole: 有冇音響？(jau5 mou5 jam1 hoeng2?) |
| David: “Is there a stereo?” |
| Nicole: 有冇音響？(jau5 mou5 jam1 hoeng2?) |
| David: And the word for stereo is? |
| Nicole: 音響。(jam1 hoeng2.) |
| David: “Stereo” |
| Nicole: 音響。(jam1 hoeng2.) |
| David: Another necessity in the house is a fridge. |
| Nicole: 雪櫃。(syut3 gwai6.) |
| David: “Fridge” |
| Nicole: 雪櫃。(syut3 gwai6.) |
| David: That’s literally a snow casing. |
| Nicole: Right. And there’s another way of saying “fridge” 冰箱. (bing1 soeng1.) |
| David: “Fridge” |
| Nicole: 冰箱. (bing1 soeng1.) That’s ice box. |
| David: Right. So, you could say “Is there a fridge?” |
| Nicole: 有冇雪櫃？(jau5 mou5 syut3 gwai6?) |
| David: Or? |
| Nicole: 有冇冰箱？(jau5 mou5 bing1 soeng1?) |
| David: In our vocab section we also introduced the word for microwave. |
| Nicole: 微波爐。(mei4 bo1 lou4.) |
| David: “Microwave” |
| Nicole: 微波爐。(mei4 bo1 lou4.) |
| David: And, Nicole, honestly, this is a funny sounding word. |
| Nicole: Does it? |
| David: Listen to it, listen to it. |
| Nicole: 微波爐。(mei4 bo1 lou4.) |
| David: Yeah. |
| Nicole: I think it sounds okay to me. |
| David: I think it sounds funny, but, that’s apparently how we ask for a microwave “Is there a microwave?”. |
| Nicole: 有冇微波爐？(jau5 mou5 mei4 bo1 lou4?) |
| David: Our last word is “radio”. |
| Nicole: 收音機。(sau1 jam1 gei1.) |
| David: “Radio” |
| Nicole: 收音機。(sau1 jam1 gei1.) |
| David: Now, you’re not necessarily going to need this in the house anymore. |
| Nicole: No. |
| David: But, if you take a cab, you might get stuck in the cab where the guy is listening to the radio really loudly. |
| Nicole: Right. |
| David: And in this case you’re probably going want to say “Please, turn down the radio.” |
| Nicole: 唔該，熄細收音機。(m4 goi1, sik1 sai3 sau1 jam1 gei1.) |
| David: Do you remember the verb “turn down”? |
| Nicole: 熄細。(sik1 sai3.) |
| David: “Please, turn down the radio.” |
| Nicole: 唔該，熄細收音機。(m4 goi1, sik1 sai3 sau1 jam1 gei1.) |
| David: Or maybe even “turn off”. |
| Nicole: 唔該，熄細收音機。(m4 goi1, sik1 sai3 sau1 jam1 gei1) |
| David: “Excuse me, please, turn off the radio.” |
| Nicole: 唔好意思, 唔該, 熄收音機。(m4 hou2 ji3 si1, m4 goi1, sik1 sau1 jam1 gei1.) |
| David: Every now and then when you ask these sorts of questions, people are going to ask you for a reason. And that’s what we are going to cover in our grammar point today. |
| Nicole: Right. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| David: There was a study earlier last year which showed if you give people a reason, even a bad one, they are more likely to do what you ask. |
| Nicole: Right, yeah. I’ve heard of that. |
| David: Right. So, in today’s lesson we’re going to focus on giving people reasons, whether they’re good or bad, well that’s up to you. |
| Nicole: Mm-hmm. |
| David: But the keyword here is: |
| Nicole: 因為。(jan1 wai6.) |
| David: “Because” |
| Nicole: 因為。(jan1 wai6.) |
| David: In the dialogue we heard this in the following line: |
| Nicole: 因為太大聲。(jan1 wai6 taai3 daai6 seng1.) |
| David: “Because it’s too loud.” |
| Nicole: 因為太大聲。(jan1 wai6 taai3 daai6 seng1.) |
| David: “Because it’s too loud.” This is really the second part of the request “Turn down the television.” |
| Nicole: 唔該電視細聲啲吖。(m4 goi1 din6 si6 sai3 seng1 di1 aa1.) |
| David: Right. So really what we’ve got is a request and then the word: |
| Nicole: 電視。(din6 si6.) |
| David: And then a reason. Let’s practice this with a few simple sentences. “I eat because I’m hungry.” |
| Nicole: 我食飯因為我肚餓。(ngo5 sik6 faan6 jan1 wai6 ngo5 tou5 ngo6.) |
| David: “I eat because I’m hungry.” |
| Nicole: 我食飯因為我肚餓。(ngo5 sik6 faan6 jan1 wai6 ngo5 tou5 ngo6.) |
| David: How about “I go because I’m tired.” |
| Nicole: 我走因為我攰。(ngo5 zau2 jan1 wai6 ngo5 gui6.) |
| David: “I go because I’m tired.” |
| Nicole: 我走因為我攰。(ngo5 zau2 jan1 wai6 ngo5 gui6.) |
| David: So this is a simple sentence pattern. |
| Nicole: Right. |
| David: We introduced another word in our vocab list as well. |
| Nicole: 所以。(so2 ji5.) |
| David: This means “so” or “therefore”. |
| Nicole: 所以。(so2 ji5.) |
| David: We can combine this with: |
| Nicole: 因為。(jan1 wai6.) |
| David: To make a more complicated sentence that has a bit more punch. If our original sentence was “I eat because I’m hungry.”: |
| Nicole: 我食飯因為我肚餓。(ngo5 sik6 faan6 jan1 wai6 ngo5 tou5 ngo6.) |
| David: We can reverse the order and say “Because I’m hungry therefore I eat.” |
| Nicole: 因為我肚餓, 所以我食飯。(jan1 wai6 ngo5 tou5 ngo6, so2 ji5 ngo5 sik6 faan6.) |
| David: “Because I’m thirsty therefore I drink.” |
| Nicole: 因為我口渴, 所以我飲水。(jan1 wai6 ngo5 hau2 hot3, so2 ji5 ngo5 jam2 seoi2.) |
| David: “Because I’m tired therefore I go.” |
| Nicole: 因為我攰, 所以我走。 (jan1 wai6 ngo5 gui6, so2 ji5 ngo5 zau2.) |
Outro |
| David: This sentence structure is a bit more complex. If you’re having trouble with it, we recommend you drop by Cantoneseclass101.com and pick up our… |
| Nicole: PDF in the premium Learning Center. |
| David: Right. We’ve got the grammar point written down for you along with a lot of sample sentences. Read it over and you’re going to understand. |
| Nicole: Right. |
| David: It’s a lot easier to learn Cantonese when you’ve got this written reference. |
| Nicole: Mm-hmm. |
| David: That being said, that’s all the time we have today. I am David. |
| Nicole: 我係 (ngo5 hai6) Nicole. |
| David: Thanks a lot for listening. We will see you on the site. |
| Nicole: See you. |
| David: Bye Bye. |
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