Chinese Studio 汉语对话 Lesson 035 How Far Is It?

Yajie: Perfect Chinese your way in only five minutes a day. 大家好. Welcome to Chinese Studio. This is Yajie.
Cam: 大家好, and this is Cam. We learned how to ask the location of something last time.  But when I say yin hang zai nar, which means “where is the bank”, what would the answer be?
Yajie: Good question.  Let’s check today’s Key Words of the Day.

***********Key words of the day
Today we’ll learn more about directions. 离, away from; 这儿, here; 多远, how far; 医院离这儿多远？How far is the hospital from here? “往前走两百米” Walk straight two hundred meters. All in today’s Chinese Studio.　
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Yajie: 离 means away from.
Cam: 离 (li).
Yajie: 离, l-i, the second tone.
Cam: 离 (lí). This is confusing because li, in the second tone, also means pear,right?
Yajie: Yes, but they are different characters.
Cam: I see.  So how do I say “here” in Chinese?
Yajie:  It’s这儿. and 那儿 means there.
Cam:  jar - nar
Yajie: Right. 多远,  means how far is …?
Cam: 多, d-u-o, the first tone; 远, y-u-a-n, the third tone.
Yajie: Right. 多远, how far is …?
Cam: 多远 (duō yuǎn).
Yajie: 离这儿多远?
Cam: 离这儿多远？(li zher duo yuan) means how far from here?  So I could say chao shi li zher duo yuan, right?  That means How far is the supermarket from here?
Yajie:  Right!

Conversations (1)
(1)---- 医院离这儿多远？（男）
----往前走一百米。(女)
(2) ---- 医院离这儿多远？（女）
----不远，就在前面。(男)
(3) ---- 医院离这儿多远？（男）
----走路五分钟就到了。(女)

Yajie: So if you want to ask how far is a hospital from here, you may say it in this way “医院离这儿多远？”
Cam: Right. Just put the location at the beginning of the sentence, then add  “离这儿多远?”.
Yajie: 医院离这儿多远？How far is the hospital from here?
Cam: 医院离这儿多远？(yiyuan li zher duo yuan?)
Yajie: And Cam, how would you say:  How far is the post office from here?
Cam: “邮局离这儿多远？” (youju li zher duo yuan?) Am I right?
Yajie: Yes，and the answer could be the general distance. For example you may say “往前走两百米” which means 200 meters ahead.
Cam: 往前走两百米 (wang qian zou liang bai mi.) What does wang mean?
Yajie:  Wang qian means forward.  Wang is third tone.  Wang.  Qian is second tone.  Qian.  Wang Qian.
Cam:  Wang Qian.  Go forward.  And zou means walk, right?
Yajie:  Yes, zou.  Third tone.  And mi means meters.  Mi, the third tone.  Together, it is wang qian zou liang bai mi.  Walk forward 200 meters.
Yajie: Or you may tell the person how long it will take them to get there.. For instance, you may say “走路十分钟”, ten minutes by walk.
Cam: 走路十分钟 (zou lu shi fenzhong)
Yajie.  Zou means walk, and lu means road.
Cam:  And shi is 10, fenzhong is minutes.  Zou lu shi fenzhong.  It’s a 10 minute walk.

Conversations (2)
(1)----请问，邮局离这儿多远？（男）
----往前走两百米。(女)
(2) ----您好，请问邮局离这儿多远？（男）
----走路十分钟。(女)

Yajie: And to ask how far the supermarket is from here, you can say “超市离这儿多远？”
Cam: 超市离这儿多远？(chaoshi li zher duo yuan?) Last time we also learned the word for bank, which is “银行(yinhang)”.
Yajie: Yes, 银行(yinhang), all in the second tone, bank.
Cam: So how far is the bank from here should be “银行离这儿多远?”, right?
Yajie: Yes. 银行离这儿多远? How far is the bank from here?

Conversations (3)
(1)----请问，超市离这儿多远？（男）
----往前走一百米，邮局附近。(女)
(2) ----您好，请问超市离这儿多远？（男）
----走路五分钟就到了。(女)

**********Key words Reminder
Today we learned more about asking for directions. 离, away from; 这儿, here; 多远, how far; 医院离这儿多远？How far is the hospital from here? “往前走两百米” two hundred meters ahead. “走路十分钟”, ten minutes on foot.
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Yajie: As we mentioned before, to be more polite you can add “您好，请问” to the sentences we taught you.
Cam: 您好，请问 (nin hao, qing wen), hello, please may I ask….?
Yajie: Exactly. 您好，请问超市离这儿多远？
Cam: 您好，请问超市离这儿多远？(nin hao, qing wen chaoshi li zher duo yuan?)
Cam: With that we come to the end of this edition of Chinese Studio. Last time we brought up a question of “Where is the post office” The right answer should be “邮局在哪儿？”. Now question for this time:
Yajie: How do the Chinese people say “How far is the hospital from here?”
Cam: You can send us your answer along with questions or comments to [email protected].  That’s [email protected].  Or you can visit us on our website at en.chinabroadcast.cn.
Yajie: Click “Learn Chinese”. You can enjoy other free Chinese-learning programs there.
Cam: Well class is over. 再见！
Yajie: 明天见!