 M: Péngyǒumen. Nǐmen háo! Huānyíng shōutīng Xiànzài Xué Hànyǔ. Wǒ shì ML.
S: Dà jiā hǎo. Wǒ shì Stuart.
M: Stuart, now you have to go to the bank. 现在你得去银行 xiàn zài nǐ děi qù yínháng.
S: 去银行! 为什么？ Qù yínháng! Wèishénme?
M: Because you need a million US dollars. 因为你需要一百万美元 yīnwéi nǐ xūyào yì bǎi wàn měiyuán.
S: 一百万美元 yì bǎi wàn měiyuán! Will British pounds do? 英镑行吗 yīngbàng xíng ma?
M: Pounds will do, Euros will also do 英镑行，欧元也行. Yīngbàng xíng, ōuyuán yě xíng.
S: I'll go and get my travelers cheques, then go to the bank 我去拿我的旅行支票, 然后去银行 wǒ qùná wǒ de lǚxíng zhīpiào, ránhòu qù yínháng.
M: Ok, go. Hǎo, zǒu ba!
S: That was a short chat, but plenty of things to learn. ML told me.
M: 现在你得去银行. 得 DEI děi means ‘must' ‘have to' děi.
S: And 银行 YIN HANG yínháng, both second tone, is ‘bank', yínháng.
M: So what does this mean? 现在你得去银行. Duìle. Now you must go to the bank. Say it with me, 现在你得去银行 xiàn zài nǐ děi qù yīnháng.
S: I said, Go to the bank! Why? 去银行! 为什么？Qù yīnháng! Wèishénme?
M: 因为你需要一百万美元 需要 XU YAO xūyào, 1st tone 4th tone, means ‘to need' xūyào.
S: So how do we say, I need your help. ‘Help', remember, is 帮助bāngzhù
.
M: Méi cuò. 我需要你的帮助 wǒ xūyào nǐ de bāngzhù.
S: And, I need one million dollars. 我需要一百万美元.
M: Yì bǎi wàn měiyuán. Now let's test your arithmetic. 一百 we know is ‘one hundred'. 万 WAN wàn, is a unit we don't have in English. Instead of saying ‘ten thousand', we say 一万 yì wàn.
S: So how much is 一百万 yì bǎi wàn?
M: Duìle. One million, 一百万 yì bǎi wàn.
S: Now, how do we say ‘America'? Hěn hǎo, 美国 měiguó.
M: And ‘American dollar' is 美元 MEI YUAN měiyuán.
S: So now say, I need one million US dollars.
M: Fēicháng hǎo. 我需要一百万美元 wǒ xūyào yì bǎi wàn měiyuán.
S: That calls for a break!
S: Back again! Now, how do we say ‘Britain' in Pǔtōnghuà? Duìle. 英国 yīngguó. So guess what 英镑 YING BANG, yīngbàng is? Méi cuò. Pound, yīngbàng. The money and the weight unit both sound the same, although the two characters for bàng （镑 and 磅）are different.
M：And of course, we must learn to say ‘Euro'. If 欧洲 OU ZHOU ōuzhōu is Europe, guess what a 欧元 ōuyuán is? Méi cuò. Euro 欧元.
S: That brings us to the end of this lesson. See you next time.
M: Zàijiàn! |
About Us 
