Chinese Studio 汉语对话 Lesson 013 Usages of the Numbers (1)

C: Perfect Chinese your way, in only five minutes a day. Welcome to Chinese Studio. I’m Cam.
Y: Hi, everyone, I’m Yajie. 早上好. Last week we learned the numbers from 1 to 100. It’s very useful for communicating and getting around China.  This week we’ll mainly focus on how to use the numbers in sentences. Let’s check our key words of the day!
************Key words of the day
Today we’ll put the numbers into their usages. For example, 2003年, the year 2003; 2005年, the year 2005. 一月, January; 二月, February. 三月，March. All in today’s Chinese Studio.　
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Y: In Chinese, the four figures making up the year are read out as four individual numbers and “年” is put at the end. For example, this year, 2005年 (èr líng líng wǔ nián), the year 2005.
C: 2005年 (èr líng líng wǔ nián).
Y: 2003年(èr líng líng sān nián), the year 2003.
C: 2003年 (èr líng líng sān nián). Then how do you say the year 2000?
Y: It’s 两千年 (liǎng qiān nián).
C: 两千年 (liǎng qiān nián).
Y: Or you can say 2000年 (èr líng líng nián). What year were you born, Cam?
C: 1979 (yi jiu qi jiu nian).
Y:  Very good!  You were born in 1979.

Y:  Now let’s learn the months. Month in Chinese is 月(yuè).  一月，二月，…，
C: Wait, wait. Slow down…. So it’s一月 (yī yuè)，　二月 (èr yuè). Right?
Y: Yes. Exactly. Well, let me explain a little bit more. The name of the months are produced by combining the numbers 1 to 12 with “月”.
C: Ok. So March is 三月(sān yuè), and April is四月 (sì yuè).
Y: You are right.
C: In which month do you think Beijing is most beautiful?
Y: I think it’s during May, 五月(wǔyuè).
C: Yes, wu yue is very beautiful.
Y: Yep. I’m waiting for五月(wǔyuè) when we can enjoy a long national holiday.
C: Yes, I love holidays!  But there are also major holidays in shi yue and er yue.
Y: Yes, very good.  The summers are very hot.  And during六月, the temperature rises here in Beijing. But the hottest days are in the七月 (qiyue).
C: Well, after七月 (qīyuè) it’s 八月 (bāyuè), right?
Y: Exactly. And九月 (jiuyue) is my favorite month. After a long hot summer, the weather becomes cool, and we enjoy beautiful scenery.
C: But I heard in十月 (shiyue) people in Beijing would like to go to Fragrant Hills in the west of Beijing to see the red leaves, right?
Y: Yes. That’s fantastic.
C: I will go and have a look this year.

**********Key words reminder
2003年, the year 2003; 2005年, the year 2005. 一月, January; 二月, February. All in today’s Chinese Studio.　
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Y: Cam, what’s your favorite month?
C: I think it’s qi yue. I love the hot weather. What about you?
Y: I like 八月(bāyuè), August. I also like the hot weather in summer.  After a winter hibernation, the hot air of summer gets me feeling well again! Well, that’s it for today. Don’t forget you can win a gift by answering the question of the day in Chinese: what’s your favorite month?
C: You can send us questions or comments to [email protected].  That’s [email protected].  Or you can visit us on our website at en.chinabroadcast.cn. Click learn Chinese, where you can enjoy other free Chinese-learning programs.
Y: Make sure you practice what you have learned today.  See you tomorrow! 再见!
C: 再见!