Lesson 018 Expressions of the Directions in Chinese

Yajie: Perfect Chinese your way, in only five minutes a day. Welcome to Chinese Studio. Glad to have you with us again. I’m Yajie. 早上好.
Cam: And I’m Cam. 早上好(zǎoshang hǎo). What shall we learn today?
Yajie: Well, today we’ll continue learning directions. First let’s check keywords of the day!
***************Key words of the day
Today we’ll learn four words of directions, and they are: 前面，后面, 左边 右边。All in today’s Chinese Studio.
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Yajie: First let’s take a look at “前面” qiánmian, front. 前, the second tone. It means front or ahead. 面, the neutral tone. We can say: 在前面 which means “in the front ” or “in front of”.
Cam: 在前面 (zài qiánmian). 
Yajie: 在 means “at”. Let’s look at an example. “老师在前面”, The teacher is in front.
Cam: 老师在前面 (lǎoshī zài qiánmian)
Yajie: Sometimes we can say 在something 的前面。For example: 我在你的前面, I’m in front of you.
Cam: 我在你的前面 (wǒ zài nǐ de qiánmian).
Yajie: And the opposite of 前面is 后面 hòumian. We can say 在后面 which means at the back.
Cam: hòumian. 
Yajie: We also say 在something 的后面。For example: 我在你的后面, I’m behind you.
C: 我在你的后面 (wǒ zài nǐ de hòumian.)
Yajie: We already have 前面and后面, now let’s see the other two words: 左边 and右边. They are quite easy. 
Cam: 左边(zuǒbian), 右边(yòubian).
Yajie: 左边 means the left side, zuǒbian. 左, third tone. 边has the neutral tone. So it’s左边(zuǒbian).
Cam: 左边(zuǒbian).
Yajie: 右边 means the right side, yòubian. 右, the forth tone.
Cam:  yòubian. 
Yajie: We can also say: 在左边means on the left; 
Cam: 在左边(zài zuǒbian).
Yajie: 在右边 means on the right. 
Cam:在右边. (zài yòubian.) Yajie在我的左边 (zài wǒ de zuǒbian.), yajie is on my left side. 
Yajie: Well done, Cam. I think you’ve made great progress in learning Chinese! 
Cam:  Xie xie.
***************Key words reminder 
Today we’ve learned four words of directions, and they are: 前面, 后面,  左边, 右边. All in today’s Chinese Studio.
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Yajie: OK, Maybe it’s confusing for you to learn so many new words a day.  Now let’s take a quick review of what we’ve learned today: 前面 the front, 后面the back, 
Cam: 前面(qianmian), 后面 (houmian).
Yajie: 左边 left side,  and 右边 right side。
Cam: 左边 (zuobian),  and 右边 (youbian).
Yajie: And also 在前面，in the front. 在后面，at the back.
Cam: 在前面(zai qianmian)，在后面(zai houmian). 
Yajie: 在左边, on the left side; 在右边on the right side。
Cam: 在左边(zai zuobian)，在右边(zai youbian)。
Yajie:我在你的右边 (wǒ zài nǐ de yòoubian.), 
Cam: And你在我的左边 (nǐ zài wǒ de zuǒbian.), yajie is on my left side. 
Yajie: Right! Well, that’s it for today. Don’t forget you can win a gift by answering the question of the day in Chinese: wher is Beihai Park? Is it somewher behind the Forbidden City, or in front of the Forbidden City?