EP1 你好！Hello

 Part I: Chinese 101

 

Dialogue

 

A:你好,我是山姆。

 

Nǐ hǎo,wǒ shì Sam.

 

Hello, I’m Sam.

 

B:你好,我是牛翃琳。

 

Nǐ hǎo,wǒ shì Niu Honglin.

 

Hello, I’m Niu Honglin.

 

Words & expressions

 

你【nǐ】(you)

 

好【hǎo】(nice, good)

 

我【wǒ】I

 

是【shì】(am/is/are)  - to judge to be

 

This use of 是 (shì) expresses a judgment or categorization on the part of the speaker. We normally just think of it as the Chinese equivalent of the English verb "to be." Simple statements like "I am XXX / My name is XXX" are of this type.

 

我叫 【wǒ jiào】 my name is…I’m…

 

Part II: Language Tips

 

l  How many ways of “Chinese Greetings” do you know?

 

l  What’s the difference between “你好(ni hao)” and “您好(nin hao)”?

 

l  Things you need to know about “您(nin)” in Chinese

 

Part III: Story of The Day

 

半途而废 Give up Halfway

 

Explanation:

 

途,是指道路;废,就是停止。半途而废是说走到一半就停下来,不再往前走,形容事情还没有做完就停下来。

 

 “途” means the road, 道路;“废”means “stop”, stop during the halfway on the road is 半途而废 (ban4 tu2 er2 fei4), literally means give up before the job is done, or someone abandans a job they are doing half way; wasted.

 

So we use it to describe a person who carries something but can’t through to the end, or leave it unfinished.