How to talk to a coworker
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| INTRODUCTION |
| John: Hi everyone, and welcome back to CantoneseClass101.com. This is Business Cantonese for Beginners Season 1 Lesson 4 - Talking About Your Job in Cantonese. John here. |
| Siuling: 大家好！(daai6 gaa1 hou2!) I'm Siuling. |
| John: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to talk to a coworker. The conversation takes place at an office. |
| Siuling: It's between Linda and Mark. |
| John: The speakers are co-workers, therefore, they will speak informal Cantonese. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| 馬家輝: 同個客開會開成點呀？ |
| (maa5 gaa1 fai1: tung4 go3 haak3 hoi1 wui2 hoi1 seng4 dim2 aa3?) |
| 張麗珊: 佢對我哋公司嘅服務好有興趣。 |
| (zoeng1 lai6 saan1: keoi5 deoi3 ngo5 dei6 gung1 si1 ge3 fuk6 mou6 hou2 jau5 hing3 ceoi3.) |
| 馬家輝: 你鍾唔鍾意你嘅工作？ |
| (maa5 gaa1 fai1: nei5 zung1 m4 zung1 ji3 nei5 ge3 gung1 zok3?) |
| 張麗珊: OK㗎！我都鍾意同人接觸嘅，加上人工都唔錯。 |
| (zoeng1 lai6 saan1: OK gaa3! ngo5 dou1 zung1 ji3 tung4 jan4 zip3 zuk1 ge2, gaa1 soeng5 jan4 gung1 dou1 m4 co3.) |
| 馬家輝: 我就比較鍾意自己做自己嘢。 |
| (maa5 gaa1 fai1: ngo5 zau6 bei2 gaau3 zung1 ji3 zi6 gei2 zou6 zi6 gei2 je5.) |
| John: Listen to the conversation one time slowly. |
| 馬家輝: 同個客開會開成點呀？ |
| (maa5 gaa1 fai1: tung4 go3 haak3 hoi1 wui2 hoi1 seng4 dim2 aa3?) |
| 張麗珊: 佢對我哋公司嘅服務好有興趣。 |
| (zoeng1 lai6 saan1: keoi5 deoi3 ngo5 dei6 gung1 si1 ge3 fuk6 mou6 hou2 jau5 hing3 ceoi3.) |
| 馬家輝: 你鍾唔鍾意你嘅工作？ |
| (maa5 gaa1 fai1: nei5 zung1 m4 zung1 ji3 nei5 ge3 gung1 zok3?) |
| 張麗珊: OK㗎！我都鍾意同人接觸嘅，加上人工都唔錯。 |
| (zoeng1 lai6 saan1: OK gaa3! ngo5 dou1 zung1 ji3 tung4 jan4 zip3 zuk1 ge2, gaa1 soeng5 jan4 gung1 dou1 m4 co3.) |
| 馬家輝: 我就比較鍾意自己做自己嘢。 |
| (maa5 gaa1 fai1: ngo5 zau6 bei2 gaau3 zung1 ji3 zi6 gei2 zou6 zi6 gei2 je5.) |
| John: Listen to the conversation with the English translation. |
| 馬家輝: 同個客開會開成點呀？ |
| (maa5 gaa1 fai1: tung4 go3 haak3 hoi1 wui2 hoi1 seng4 dim2 aa3?) |
| Mark: And how did the meeting with the client go? |
| 張麗珊: 佢對我哋公司嘅服務好有興趣。 |
| (zoeng1 lai6 saan1: keoi5 deoi3 ngo5 dei6 gung1 si1 ge3 fuk6 mou6 hou2 jau5 hing3 ceoi3.) |
| Linda: He is interested in our services. |
| 馬家輝: 你鍾唔鍾意你嘅工作？ |
| (maa5 gaa1 fai1: nei5 zung1 m4 zung1 ji3 nei5 ge3 gung1 zok3?) |
| Mark: You like your work, don't you? |
| 張麗珊: OK㗎！我都鍾意同人接觸嘅，加上人工都唔錯。 |
| (zoeng1 lai6 saan1: OK gaa3! ngo5 dou1 zung1 ji3 tung4 jan4 zip3 zuk1 ge2, gaa1 soeng5 jan4 gung1 dou1 m4 co3.) |
| Linda: Yes, I like meeting people. And the salary is nothing to complain about. |
| 馬家輝: 我就比較鍾意自己做自己嘢。 |
| (maa5 gaa1 fai1: ngo5 zau6 bei2 gaau3 zung1 ji3 zi6 gei2 zou6 zi6 gei2 je5.) |
| Mark: I prefer to work by myself. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| John: Do you prefer working by yourself, or as part of a big company? |
| Siuling: I like working for a big company. In fact, lots of people in Hong Kong prefer this. |
| John: Is there any reason for that? |
| Siuling: Company benefits, job security, and company reputation are big factors in this. |
| John: Many well respected and big companies are in Hong Kong of course. |
| Siuling: Google, MTR, Apple and Cathay Pacific are some of the most preferred companies, according to the jobsDB report. |
| John: It’s not surprising as they’re some of the most well known and respected technology companies in the world. And MTR is a well respected local company. |
| Siuling: That’s right. |
| John: What about for those that want to be self-employed, though? Is Hong Kong a good place for freelancers? |
| Siuling: It’s an excellent place for freelancers due to the excellent public transportation and excellent internet services. |
| John: What about the financial side of things? Is it easy to access credit? |
| Siuling: Yes, it is. The tax rates are low too. |
| John: Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| John: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is... |
| Siuling: 客(haak3) [natural native speed] |
| John: "customer; client" |
| Siuling: 客(haak3)[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Siuling: 客(haak3) [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Siuling: 開會(hoi1 wui5) [natural native speed] |
| John: "meeting" |
| Siuling: 開會(hoi1 wui5)[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Siuling: 開會(hoi1 wui5) [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Siuling: 興趣(hing3 ceoi3) [natural native speed] |
| John: "interest" |
| Siuling: 興趣(hing3 ceoi3)[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Siuling: 興趣(hing3 ceoi3) [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Siuling: 鍾意(zung1 ji3 ) [natural native speed] |
| John: "to like" |
| Siuling: 鍾意(zung1 ji3 )[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Siuling: 鍾意(zung1 ji3 ) [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Siuling: 接觸(zip3 zuk1) [natural native speed] |
| John: "to contact; contact" |
| Siuling: 接觸(zip3 zuk1)[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Siuling: 接觸(zip3 zuk1) [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Siuling: 人工(jan4 gung1) [natural native speed] |
| John: "salary" |
| Siuling: 人工(jan4 gung1)[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Siuling: 人工(jan4 gung1) [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Siuling: 唔錯(m4 co3) [natural native speed] |
| John: "not bad" |
| Siuling: 唔錯(m4 co3)[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Siuling: 唔錯(m4 co3) [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Siuling: 比較(bei2 gaau3) [natural native speed] |
| John: "comparatively" |
| Siuling: 比較(bei2 gaau3)[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Siuling: 比較(bei2 gaau3) [natural native speed] |
| John: And lastly... |
| Siuling: 自己(zi6 gei2) [natural native speed] |
| John: "myself, own" |
| Siuling: 自己(zi6 gei2)[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Siuling: 自己(zi6 gei2) [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| John: Let's have a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first word is... |
| Siuling: ...成點呀？(...seng4 dim2 aa3?) |
| John: meaning "How does the...(verb) go?" |
| John: Let’s break this phrase down. |
| Siuling: First is 成(seng4), which means "accomplish, turn into." Next is 點(dim2). |
| John: This means "how." At the end of the phrase is an ending particle that can be used for statements or questions. |
| Siuling: That is 呀(aa3). |
| John: When you want to know how something is going, you can add a verb into this phrase. Remember, sometimes verbs in Cantonese aren’t always verbs in English. |
| Siuling: You can also say 做成(zou6 sing4) and it sounds more formal. |
| John: Can you give us an example using this phrase? |
| Siuling: Sure. For example, you can say... 見工見成點呀？(gin3 gung1 gin3 seng4 dim2 aa3?) |
| John: ...which means "How did your job interview go?" |
| John: Okay, what's the next word? |
| Siuling: 自己做自己嘢(zi6 gei2 zou6 zi6 gei2 je5) |
| John: meaning "to work by oneself; to work on one's own tasks" |
| John: Siuling, what can you tell us about this? |
| Siuling: First is 自己(zi6 gei2), which means "self, my." This is followed by 做(zou6). |
| John: This means "do, act, make." At the end of the phrase is "my own thing." |
| Siuling: That is 自己嘢(zi6 gei2 je5). |
| John: You can use this phrase when you want to talk about working by yourself or managing your own time. |
| Siuling: You can also say 自己搞掂(zi6 gei2 gaau2 dim6). |
| John: This means "to get something done by yourself." Can you give us an example using this phrase? |
| Siuling: Sure. For example, you can say... 唔好自己做自己嘢，要同人分工合作。(m4 hou2 zi6 gei2 zou6 zi6 gei2 je5, jiu3 tung4 jan4 fan1 gung1 hap6 zok3.) |
| John: ... which means "Don't just work on your own stuff, you should cooperate with the team." |
| John: Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| John: In this lesson, you'll learn about chatting with coworkers about your job. |
| John: A common thing to speak about with your coworkers are your preferences. |
| Siuling: There’s several ways to do that in Cantonese. The most simple is with the verb 鍾意 (zung1 ji3) |
| John: "I like…" |
| Siuling: And you can use 唔鍾意 (m4 zung1 ji3). |
| John: "I don’t like…" How do we use those in a sentence? |
| Siuling: 我鍾意 (ngo5 zung1 ji3) followed by a noun or verb phrase. |
| John: "I like…. noun or verb phrase." Let’s hear an example sentence. |
| Siuling: 我鍾意藍色 (ngo5 zung1 ji3 laam4 sik1) |
| John: "I like the color blue." How do we say that we prefer something? |
| Siuling: We can use the adverb 比較 (bei2 gau3). |
| John: Which means "comparatively, relatively." You put that in front of the verb "to like." |
| Siuling: The sentence pattern is 我比較鍾意 (ngo5 bei2 gau3 zung1 ji3)... |
| John: "I prefer…" followed by a noun or verb phrase. Let’s see this in action. |
| Siuling: 我比較鍾意藍色。 (ngo5 bei2 gau3 zung1 ji3 laam4 sik1) |
| John: "I prefer the color blue." |
| Siuling: 我比較鍾意自己做自己嘢。(ngo5 bei2 gau3 zung1 ji3 zi6 gei2 zou6 zi6 gei2 je5.) |
| John: "I prefer to work by myself." Next, we’re going to look at how to use a certain word in Cantonese. What is the word, Siuling? |
| Siuling: 加上 (gaa1 soeng5) |
| John: This can be translated as "moreover, in addition to, and." We can use this to list things. |
| Siuling: You can list as many things as you want, and we put 加上 (gaa1 soeng5) in front of the last point. |
| John: It’ll be best to hear some examples of this. |
| Siuling: 呢間公司福利好，人工高，加上離屋企好近。(ni1 gaan1 gung1 si1 fuk1 lei6 hou2, jan4 gung1 gou1, gaa1 soeng5 lei4 uk1 kei2 hou2 kan5.) |
| John: "This company offers good benefits and high salary; moreover, it’s close to home." |
| Siuling: 佢識用電腦，有好多工作經驗，加上佢要求嘅人工唔高。(keoi5 sik1 jung6 din6 nou5, jau5 hou2 do1 gung1 zok6 ging1 jim6, gaa1 soeng5 keoi5 jiu1 kau4 ge3 jan4 gung1 m4 gou1.) |
| John: "He is computer literate, has a lot of work experience, and his expected salary is not high." |
Outro |
| John: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye! |
| Siuling: 拜拜！(baai1 baai3!) |
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