Lesson 154 Oranges, Grapes, Peaches and Pears

M: Péngyǒumen hǎo! Huānyíng shōutīng xiànzài xuéhànyǔ, wǒshì ML.

S: Dàjiāhǎo! Wǒshì Stuart. Today we'll continue to learn the name of those fresh fruits on ML's table, plus a few new things.

M: Stuart, why are you so greedily looking at my table?

S: Yīnwéi, zài nǐde zhuōzi shàng wǒ kàndàole chéngzi, pútao, táozi, hé yālí. 在你的桌子上我看到了橙子、葡萄、桃子和鸭梨。

M: Oh, 橙子、葡萄、桃子和鸭梨, they are all my favorites! Chéngzi, CHENG ZI, 橙子，is orange. Pútao, PU TAO, 葡萄，grapes.

S: Táozi, TAO ZI, 桃子is peach; and the last one, yālí, YA LI, first tone second tone, 鸭梨，is pear. Out of interest, lí itself also means pear, but ‘yā' itself means ‘duck'. How come these two words came together? Perhaps nobody knows.

M: Just bear in mind that yālí and lí both mean ‘pear', and that will be good enough.

M: Stuart, 你喜欢吃哪几种水果？What kinds of fruits do you like to eat? Nǐ xǐhuān chī nǎjǐzhǒng shuǐguǒ?

S: Mm, wǒ xǐhuān chī bōluó, míhóutáo, xiāngjiāo, hé cǎoméi. I like eating pineapple, kiwi fruit, banana, and strawberry. What else? Wait, wait, I'm sure I still have many kinds to list…

M: Stuart, your tummy is no smaller than mine!

S: Perhaps it's because I was born in the Year of the Monkey!

S: ML asked me what kinds of fruit I like to eat. Kind is ‘zhǒng', ZHONG, third tone, 种。For instance, a kind of fruit, 一种水果，yìzhǒng shuǐguǒ.

M: Or, twelve kinds of animals, 十二种动物，shí’èr zhǒng dòngwu. So, Stuart, 你喜欢吃哪几种水果？You like eating what kinds of fruit?

S: I like eating pineapple, kiwi fruit, banana, and strawberry. Wǒ xǐhuān chī bōluó, míhóutáo, xiāngjiāo, hé cǎoméi.

M: 菠萝，BO LUO, bōluó, first tone second tone, bōluó, pineapple. And 猕猴桃，MI HOU TAO, míhóutáo, all in second tone, is kiwi fruit.

S: By the way, míhóu means ‘macaque', those nice monkey like animals, and ‘táo', we've learnt in last lesson, means peach. Maybe the Chinese believe macaques really like kiwi fruit, so they give the fruit such a name.

M: The following two kinds of fruit are really delicious – 好吃。They are banana, xiāngjiāo, XIANG JIAO, 香蕉，and strawberry, cǎoméi, CAO MEI, 草莓。

M: Wow, we really taught our listeners a lot of fruit names, let's quickly go through them.

S: ML, on your table I saw oranges, grapes, peaches and pears. 在你的桌子上我看到了橙子、葡萄、桃子和鸭梨。
M: Oh, chéngzi, pútao, táozi, he yālí. They are all my favorites!

S: En, wǒ xǐhuān chī bōluó, míhóutáo, xiāngjiāo, hé cǎoméi. Wǒ xǐhuān chī bōluó, míhóutáo, xiāngjiāo, hé cǎoméi.

M: Let's call it a day here and have some fruit right now.

S: Hǎozhúyì! See you tomorrow!

M: Zàijiàn!