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M: Péngyǒumen. Nǐmen hǎo! Wǒ shì ML.
S: Wǒ shì Stuart. Hear ML say － SHOU TING shōutīng? Remember, it means ‘to listen in to'. Huānyíng shōutīng Xiànzài Xué Hànyǔ.
M: Well, we've learnt to ask someone your age or younger their age. Now we'll learn how to ask someone who's definitely older than you.
S: We'll get a bit more formal, and use 您nín, the polite form of nǐ. Listen, tīng, and repeat, chóngfù. And try to guess what 年纪 niánji means.
M：白先生，您多大年纪了？Bái xiānsheng, nín duō dà niánji le?
S: 我六十七岁 wǒ lìu shí qī suì.
M: Mrs. Ma 马女士，您多大年纪了? Mǎ nǚshì, nín duō dà niánji le?
马：我五十九岁 wǒ wǔ shí jǐu suì.
M: Everybody now ask Mr. Li, who is older than you, his age.
S: Hěn hǎo. 李先生，您多大年纪了 Lǐ Xiānshēng, nín duō dà niánji le?
M: And answer, I'm 84.
S: Méi cuò. 我八十四岁 wǒ bā shí sì suì. bā shí sì suì
S: So, did you guess what 年纪 niánji, means? Yes, niánjì means ‘age', the age of a person, not the age in Information Age. So, 您多大年纪了?
M: It is like 你多大了, which we learnt in the previous lesson. We just add 年纪NIAN JI niánji.
S: Now, everybody ask me how old I am. Pretend I'm older than you.
M: Hěn hǎo. 白先生，您多大年纪了？Bái xiānshēng, nín duō dà niánjile?
S: 100. 一百岁 yì bǎi suì. Not really. Now ask old Ms. Zhao, that's Mànlì, how old she is. ……. Méi cuò. 赵女士，您多大年纪了? Zhào nǚshì, nín duōdà niánji le?
M: 99. 我九十九岁 wǒ jǐu shí jǐu suì.
S: Now guess the meaning of this: 九十九岁 jǐu shí jǐu suì, 她已经很老了。Tā yǐjīng hěn lǎole.
M: 对，我年纪很大 wǒ niánji hěndà, 我已经很老了 wǒ yǐjīng hěn lǎole.
S: 很老 hěn lǎo, very old. Tā yǐjīng hěn lǎo le, she's already very old. Tā yǐjīng hěn lǎo le.
M: Duì, wǒ niánjì hěndà. Wǒ yǐjīng hěn lǎole. What is niánji dà? Duìle, ‘age big', meaning, of course, ‘old', like lǎo.
S: But what about asking the age of kids under ten or so? Easy. Listen.
M: 你几岁了？nǐ jǐ suìle?
S: 我八岁 wǒ bā suì.
M: Nǐ jǐ suìle? Remember the jǐ in ‘What's the time now?' 现在几点了？ xiàn zài jǐ diǎn le, wher the jǐ means ‘how many'? Well, it means a similar thing here. Nǐ jǐ suìle? You how many years, how old are you?
S: And remember, nǐ jǐ suì? Is for people under ten or so.
M: So, Stuart, nǐ jǐ suìle?
S: Humph! ML, nǐ jīn nián jǐ suìle?
M: I think it's time to xià kè. Zài jiàn.