Lesson 137 I Want to Go Out Travelling.

M: 朋友们好！欢迎你们收听"现在学汉语"，我是曼丽。

S: 大家好！我是Stuart. Today we'll learn the four seasons, plus a few other things. Suppose we've just gone through the summer. Now listen carefully to the following dialogue. Try to repeat everything. Don't worry about meaning. Get used to the sounds first. 夏天终于过去了，今天的天气真凉快，对不对，曼丽？

M: 是啊，秋天的确很凉快。我真想出去旅游。

S: 我也想。我听说过很多风景名胜，但是一直没有机会去。

M: 我和你一起去，我可以做你的导游。

S: 真的吗？太好了！

M: And what was that all about? Let's find out after a short break.

S: Now for the new words and stuff.

M: Stuart said, "夏天终于过去了，" literally "summer at last is over." 夏天终于过去了.

S: Xiàtiān, XIA TIAN, fourth tone and first tone, xiàtiān, means ‘summer'.

M: zhōngyú, ZHONG YU, means "finally, at last". Zhōngyú.

S: And guòqùle, GUO QU LE, guòqùle, means ‘has passed', ‘is over'. The little ‘le' is often found at the end of a sentence to signify completion.

M: 今天的天气真凉快, the weather today is really cool and comfortable. Jīntiān, we know is "today". So can you figure out what "jīntiānde" means?

S: Right, it means ‘today's'. Just like ‘tā' is ‘he' or ‘she' or ‘it', and tāde means ‘his' or ‘hers' or ‘its'.

M: And ‘tiānqì zhēnliángkuài'. ‘tianqi', TIAN QI means ‘weather'. Zhen means ‘real', ‘really'. And liángkuài, LIANG KUAI, second tone and fourth tone, means ‘nice and cool'.

S: 对不对, "isn't it?" Duìbúduì.

M: So the whole sentence ‘今天的天气真凉快，对不对?' Today's weather is nice and cool, isn't it?

S: And Manli replied, ‘是啊，秋天的确很凉快.' Shì a, qīutiān díquè hěn liángkuài. Just now we learned that ‘xiàtiān' is summer. So can you guess the meaning of this sentence? Right! It means ‘yes, autumn is indeed cool.'

M: So ‘qīutiān', QIU TIAN, qīutiān, is ‘autumn'. And ‘díquè', DI QUE, díquè means ‘indeed', a very useful word.
S: Ok, so what did ML say then?

M: 我真想出去旅游。Wǒ zhénxiǎng chūqù lǚyóu.

S: xiǎng, we've learnt, can mean ‘think'. But here it means ‘want' or ‘desire'.

M: 出去旅游, go out travelling. 出去旅游. Here chūqù, CHU QU, chūqù means ‘go out', and ‘lǚyóu', LV YOU, lǚyóu, means ‘travel', usually to places of interest or scenic spots. Say it, chūqù lǚyóu, wǒ zhēn xiǎng chūqù lǚyóu. wǒ zhēn xiǎng chūqù lǚyóu.

S: Me too. Wǒ yě xiǎng. Wǒ yě xiǎng, which literally means ‘I also want to.' 我听说过很多风景名胜，但是一直没有机会去。I've heard about many scenic spots and places of interest, but never got a chance to visit them. Wǒ tīngshuōguò hěnduō fēngjǐng míngshèng, dànshì yìzhí méiyǒu jīhuì qù.

M: To that I answered我和你一起去，我可以做你的导游。I'll go with you, and I can serve as your guide. Wǒ hé nǐ yìqǐqù, wǒ kěyǐ zuò nǐde dǎoyóu.

S: 真的吗？太好了！Really? Wonderful! I'll go right now and find a map. Sorry guys, teaching finished today – I'm sure you can understand, travelling, lǚyóu, lǚyóu is irresistible temptation to me.

M: Guess it's impossible to stop Stuart…so see you next time!

S: Zàijiàn!