Dialogue

Vocabulary (Review)

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
David: Welcome to CantoneseClass101.com. I’m David.
Gimmy: 大家好, 我係 Gimmy。(daai6 gaa1 hou2, ngo5 hai6 Gimmy.)
David: And we’re here today with Beginner Season 1, Lesson 12.
Gimmy: Asking for Directions in Cantonese.
David: Right. So today, we’re going to learn how to turn left, how to turn right, how to go straight ahead.
Gimmy: Yup.
David: Right.
Gimmy: Go towards or how to find the place...
David: Destination, yeah.
Gimmy: …you want to go.
David: So you’re not going to get lost.
Gimmy: Yeah.
David: We’ve got a conversation here that takes place on the street between strangers. One is asking for directions. And of course, they’re speaking casual Cantonese as always.
Gimmy: Right. Let’s get to the dialogue.

Lesson conversation

邊度有銀行?(bin1 dou6 jau5 ngan4 hong4?)
前面直行,然後轉左。(cin4 min6 zik6 haang4, jin4 hau6 zyun3 zo2.)
行幾耐?(haang4 gei2 noi6?)
十分鐘度。(sap6 fan1 zung1 dou2.)
David: Once again, a bit slower.
邊度有銀行?(bin1 dou6 jau5 ngan4 hong4?)
前面直行,然後轉左。(cin4 min6 zik6 haang4, jin4 hau6 zyun3 zo2.)
行幾耐?(haang4 gei2 noi6?)
十分鐘度。(sap6 fan1 zung1 dou2.)
David: And now, with the English translation.
邊度有銀行?(bin1 dou6 jau5 ngan4 hong4?)
Where is the bank?
前面直行,然後轉左。(cin4 min6 zik6 haang4, jin4 hau6 zyun3 zo2.)
Go straight, then turn left.
行幾耐?(haang4 gei2 noi6?)
How long is the walk?
十分鐘度。(sap6 fan1 zung1 dou2.)
About ten minutes.
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
David: This is a great dialogue for reviewing.
Gimmy: Yes.
David: There’s a lot of stuff that we’ve covered previously that’s coming back, like about 10 minutes.
Gimmy: Yes, 十分鐘度 (sap6 fan1 zung1 dou2).
David: Right. But our vocab today, we’re skipping all of these to focus on some new things.
Gimmy: Right.
David: Directions.
Gimmy: Mostly directions.
David: Right. So let’s get to our vocab section.
VOCAB LIST
Gimmy: 邊度 (bin1 dou6) [natural native speed]
David: Where.
Gimmy: 邊度 (bin1 dou6) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 邊度 (bin1 dou6) [natural native speed].
Gimmy: 銀行 (ngan4 hong4) [natural native speed]
David: Bank
Gimmy: 銀行 (ngan4 hong4) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 銀行 (ngan4 hong4) [natural native speed].
Gimmy: 前 (cin4) [natural native speed].
David: Front.
Gimmy: 前 (cin4) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 前 (cin4) [natural native speed].
Gimmy: 後 (hau6) [natural native speed]
David: Back.
Gimmy: 後 (hau6) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 後 (hau6) [natural native speed].
Gimmy: 左 (zo2) [natural native speed]
David: Left.
Gimmy: 左 (zo2) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 左 (zo2) [natural native speed].
Gimmy: 右 (jau6) [natural native speed]
David: Right.
Gimmy: 右 (jau6) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 右 (jau6) [natural native speed].
Gimmy: 轉 (zyun3) [natural native speed]
David: To turn.
Gimmy: 轉 (zyun3) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 轉 (zyun3) [natural native speed].
Gimmy: 直行 (zik6 haang4) [natural native speed].
David: To go straight.
Gimmy: 直行 (zik6 haang4) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 直行 (zik6 haang4) [natural native speed].
KEY VOCABULARY AND PHRASES
David: Let’s take a closer look at some of these words and phrases. Our focus today is obviously on directions.
Gimmy: Yes.
David: So the two most important are turning left and turning right.
Gimmy: Right, David. Left is 左. (zo2.)
David: “Left.”
Gimmy: 左. (zo2.)
David: And we have the word for “right” as well.
Gimmy: 右. (jau6.)
David: Right.
Gimmy: 右. (jau6.)
David: Now, let’s say you’re in a cab. You can tell the cab driver, “Go left.”
Gimmy: 轉左. (zyun3 zo2.)
David: “Go left.”
Gimmy: 轉左. (zyun3 zo2.)
David: Or “Go right.”
Gimmy: 轉右. (zyun3 jau6.)
David: “Go right.”
Gimmy: 轉右. (zyun3 jau6.)
David: But this is necessarily the most native way of giving directions.
Gimmy: Right. People from Hong Kong, they say “turn left, and then turn right.”
David: Right. So it’s a bit different. Let’s say you’re in a cab and you want to give directions to the cabbie. Gimmy, what should you do?
Gimmy: Okay. Say you want the cab to turn left, you say 轉左. (zyun3 zo2.)
David: “Turn left.”
Gimmy: 轉左. (zyun3 zo2.)
David: “Turn left.”
Gimmy: Now we need to make a right turn, 轉右. (zyun3 jau6.)
David: Turn right.
Gimmy: 轉右. (zyun3 jau6.)
David: So Cantonese is very straight forward. It’s literally the verb for turn and then the direction.
Gimmy: Yes.
David: What if we don’t want to turn left or right but we want to go straight ahead?
Gimmy: Okay, that’s 直行. (zik6 haang4.)
David: “Go straight ahead.”
Gimmy: 直行 (zik6 haang4)
David: And that literally means “continue to go.”
Gimmy: Straight.
David: Yeah.
Gimmy: Yes.
David: So if you don’t want the cabbie to turn, you can say…
Gimmy: 唔該直行. (m4 goi1 zik6 haang4.)
David: “Please go straight ahead.”
Gimmy: 唔該直行. (m4 goi1 zik6 haang4.)
David: What about “go straight ahead, and then stop”
Gimmy: 前面直行, 然後停車. (cin4 min6 zik6 haang4, jin4 hau6 ting4 ce1)
David: “First go straight ahead.”
Gimmy: 前面直行. (cin4 min6 zik6 haang4.)
David: “And then stop.”
Gimmy: 然後停車. (jin4 hau6 ting4 ce1)
David: So three really important things today. We now know how to say “left”…
Gimmy: 左. (zo2.)
David: …right…
Gimmy: 右. (jau6.)
David: And straight ahead.
Gimmy: 直行. (zik6 haang4.)
David: In our grammar section, we’ll then learn how to chain these together into longer instructions.
Gimmy: Right.

Lesson focus

David: So our focus today is on giving chained instructions.
Gimmy: Right.
David: We have something close to this in the second line in our dialogue.
Gimmy: 前面直行,然後轉左。 (cin4 min6 zik6 haang4, jin4 hau6 zyun3 zo2.)
David: Right. Literally this means “right here.”
Gimmy: 前面... (cin4 min6...)
David: “Go straight.”
Gimmy: 直行... (zik6 haang4...)
David: “And then turn left.”
Gimmy: 然後轉左. (jin4 hau6 zyun3 zo2.)
David: Right. So if you’re talking on the street, you can always use this “right here”.
Gimmy: Yes.
David: But it’s more important to know how to generalize instructions.
Gimmy: Right.
David: So today, we’re going to teach you how to say, “First do something and then…
Gimmy: And then…
David: …do something else.”
Gimmy: Right.
David: The pattern for this is...
Gimmy: 首先...然後... (sau2 sin1... jin4 hau6...)
David: “First.”
Gimmy: 首先... (sau2 sin1…)
David: “Then”
Gimmy: 然後. (jin4 hau6.)
David: For instance, let’s say you need to ask your friend to do you a favor.
Gimmy: You’re asking him “First go to the bank, and then buy a drink.”
David: Right.
Gimmy: 首先去銀行, 然後買飲品. (sau2 sin1 heoi3 ngan4 hong4, jin4 hau6 maai5 jam2 ban2.)
David: Right. “First, go to the bank.”
Gimmy: 首先去銀行... (sau2 sin1 heoi3 ngan4 hong4...)
David: “Then buy a drink.”
Gimmy: 然後買飲品. (jin4 hau6 maai5 jam2 ban2.)
David: Or maybe you’re asking someone on a date. You can say, “First a movie, then a bar.”
Gimmy: 首先睇戲, 然後飲嘢. (sau2 sin1 tai2 hei3, jin4 hau6 jam2 je5.)
David: “First a movie, then a bar.”
Gimmy: 首先睇戲, 然後飲嘢. (sau2 sin1 tai2 hei3, jin4 hau6 jam2 je5.)
David: Which is literally, “First we’re going to watch a movie, and then we’re going to drink.”
Gimmy: Yes.
David: Right. So this is a really powerful structure.
Gimmy: 首先... 然後... (sau2 sin1... jin4 hau6...)
David: We can use this in giving directions to.
Gimmy: Right.
David: For instance, “First go straight ahead, then turn left.”
Gimmy: 首先直行, 然後轉左. (sau2 sin1 zik6 haang4, jin4 hau6 zyun3 zo2.)
David: How about, “First turn left, then turn right.”
Gimmy: 首先轉左, 然後轉右. (sau2 sin1 zyun3 zo2, jin4 hau6 zyun3 jau6.)
David: And there’s no reason we need to stop at two.
Gimmy: All right David, you can say “First turn left, then turn right, then go straight, then do whatever.”
David: Right. And to do this, you just keep adding “and then” or “afterwards.”
Gimmy: Yes. Let me give you an example, 首先轉左, 然後轉右, 然後直行, 然後再轉左. (sau2 sin1 zyun3 zo2, jin4 hau6 zyun3 jau6, jin4 hau6 zik6 haang4, jin4 hau6 zoi3 zyun3 zo2 .)
David: Okay. So that’s “First turn left, then turn right, then go straight ahead, and then turn left again.”
Gimmy: Right.
David: Right. So you can change many of these together as you want.
Gimmy: Of course.
David: Okay? Once again, the grammar pattern is…
Gimmy: 首先... 然後... (sau2 sin1... jin4 hau6... )
David: In our dialogue, we replaced “first”…
Gimmy:首先. (sau2 sin1.)
David: …with “right here”…
Gimmy: 前面. (cin4 min6.)
David: …which means “right in front of you.”
Gimmy: Right.
David: But it’s the same pattern. And with that, we’re done our lesson for today.

Outro

David: Thanks for listening. I’m David.
Gimmy: I’m Gimmy.
David: And we’ll see you on the site.
Gimmy: 下次見. (haa6 ci3 gin3.)

Grammar

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