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Y: It’s time to perfect Chinese your way in only five minutes a day. Wo shi Yajie. Cam, do you ever send letters back to Canada?
C: Well, Yajie, you see. I’d like to, but I’m not sure what to say to the clerk!
Y: Well, this week might help you then. Listen up!
Key words of the day
Post Office. 邮局 where is the post office? 邮局在哪？China Post. 中国邮政. I’d like to mail a letter. 我要寄封信。I want to send a package to Hongkong. 我要寄个包裹去香港。
C: Yajie, first of all, how do I say Post Office?
Y: it’s called you2 ju2.
C: you2 ju2.
Y: you2 means post,
C: you2.
Y: ju2 means a subdivision of a governmental department.
C: ju2.
Y: you2 ju2.
C: you2 ju2. So if I wanted to go to a post office, I could say you ju zai nar?
Y: exactly. You2 ju2 zai4 nar3?
C: zai4 nar3 means at where,
Y: and post office is you2 ju2, so where is the post office is you2 ju2 zai4 nar3?
C: right. you2 ju2 zai4 nar3
Conversation1:
A：请问 邮局在哪？
B：就在前面拐角处。
C: And in China, I see they are all called China Post, so do I pronounce that differently?
Y: It’s zhong1 guo2 you2 zheng4.
C: zhong1 guo2 you2 zheng4.
Y: zhong1 guo2 means China,
C: zhong1 guo2
Y: you2 zheng4 means postal service,
C: you2 zheng4.
Y: zhong1 guo2 you2 zheng4.
C: zhong1 guo2 you2 zheng4. China Post.
C: So once I’m inside, I’ll want to mail a letter.
Y: You can say wo3 yao4 ji4 feng1 xin4.
C: wo3 yao4 ji4 feng1 xin4.
Y: wo3 means I,
C: wo3,
Y: yao4 means need to do something,
C: yao4.
Y: ji4 means mail,
C: ji4.
Y: feng1 is a measure word of letter, it’s short for yi4 feng1, which means one,
C: right. In English we just say a letter. Yi4 feng1.
Y: and letter is xin4.
C: xin4.
Y: wo3 yao4 ji4 feng1 xin4.
C: wo3 yao4 ji4 feng1 xin4. I want to mail a letter.
Conversation2:
A：我要寄封信。你知道邮局在哪吗？
B: 看到中国邮政几个字了吗？就在前面。
C: Now what if I want to send a package to Hong Kong?
Y: you can say “wo3 yao4 ji4 ge4 bao1 guo3 qu4 xiang1 gang3.”
C: wo3 yao4 ji4 ge4 bao1 guo3 qu4 xiang1 gang3.
Y: wo3 means I
C: wo3.
Y: yao4 means want to,
C: yao4.
Y: ji4 means mail,
C: ji4.
Y: ge4 is short for yi2 ge4, which means one,
C: right, and is ge4 the measure word for package?
Y: yes. Package in Chinese is bao1 guo3,
C: bao1 guo3.
Y: qu4 means to,
C: qu4,
Y: xiang1 gang3. Hong Kong.
C: xiang1 gang3.
Y: wo3 yao4 ji4 ge4 bao1 guo3 qu4 xiang1 gang3
C: wo3 yao4 ji4 ge4 bao1 guo3 qu4 xiang1 gang3. I want to send a package to Hong Kong.
A：我要寄个包裹。
B：寄到哪？
A：寄到香港。
C: Instead of remembering all this, maybe I should just email my letter!
Y: But then you wouldn’t get any practice.