B: Dajia hao, perfect your Chinese every day, right here in the Chinese Studio. Wo shi B.
Y: da jia hao, wo shi Y. We’re dedicated bookworms pair of us, so come and join us in the library.

Key words of the day
Catalogue 目录 Where are the catalogues? 目录在哪儿？Bookshelves 书架  Reading room 阅览室  Where is the reading room? 阅览室在哪儿？  Do you have any foreign books and newspapers? 这儿有外文书刊报纸吗？All in today’s Chinese Studio.

B: Wow, it’s pretty confusing in here, everything is written in hanzi, Chinese characters, and it’s so quiet I’m afraid to ask anyone.
Y: Hey, don’t be so shy B. What do you want to know anyway?
B: I want to look at the catalogue.
Y: Ah, simple, that’s mu4 lu4.
B: mu4 lu4. and where are they?
Y: Where are the catalogues? You can ask: mu4 lu4 zai4 na3er?
B: mu4 lu4 zai4 na3er?
Y: remember we learned how to where in Chinese is zai4 na3er
B: yes, zai4 na3er.
Y: mu4 lu4 zai4 na3er?
B: mu4 lu4 zai4 na3er?  Where are the catalogues?
Y: But you can search the catalogues online in most libraries of China… it’s very convenient….

Conversation 1
A: 怎么查询图书馆目录？
B:  到主页上看看吧。

B: Ok, great I’ve found the catalogue, but on second thoughts it just might be easier to look on the shelves. Bookshelves, what do we call those?
Y: You mean, shu1 jia4.
B: shu1 jia4,
Y: shu1 is  books, and jia4 is shelves, shu1 jia4,
B: shu1 jia4.   bookshelves.  Let’s check out the reading room, where is it?
Y: Reading room, that’s:  yue4 lan3 shi4,
B: yue4 lan3 shi4,
Y: yue4 lan3 means reading,
B: yue4 lan3,
Y: and shi4 means the room,
B: shi4,
Y: yue4 lan3 shi4,
B: yue4 lan3 shi4,  reading room, …..So, where is the reading room must be yue4 lan3 shi4 zai4 na3er.?
Y: Yes. yue4 lan3 shi4 zai4 na3er? Where’s the reading room?

Conversation 2
A: 阅览室在哪儿？
B: 就在隔壁。

B: Let’s catch up on a bit of news, so do you have any foreign books and newspapers?
Y: I guess so… But let’s ask the librarian…zhe4er you3 wai4 wen2 shu1 kan1 bao4 zhi4 ma? 
B: zhe4er you3 wai4 wen2 shu1 bao4 za2 zhi4 ma? 
Y: zhe4er means here, at this library, 
B: zhe4er,
Y: you3 means have,
B:  you3,
Y: wai4 wen2 means foreign,
B: wai4 wen2, 
Y: shu1 kan1 means books and periodicals,
B:  shu1 kan1,
Y: and bao4 zhi3 means newspapers,
B: bao4 zhi3,
Y: zhe4er you3 wai4 wen2 shu1 kan1 bao4 zhi4 ma?
B: zhe4er you3 wai4 wen2 shu1 bao4 za2 zhi4 ma?  Do you have any foreign books and newspapers?

Conversation3
A: 这儿有外文书刊报纸吗？
B:  当然有了。就在二楼阅览室。

B: This is great, there’s enough books and newspapers to keep us busy for a while. And Y, you’ll have to remind me cos I’ve forgotten, magazines, what are they again?
Y:  It’s zazhi.
B: Zazhi.
Y: And let me guess, you want to ask, (where are the magazines)?
B: You can read my mind like a book, actually like a zazhi.
Y: haha, let’s practice the sentence: na2er you3 za2 zhi4,
B: na2er you3 za2 zhi4
Y: na2er you3 literally means where have,
B: na2er you3
Y: and za2 zhi4 means magazines,
B: za2 zhi4
Y: na2er you3 za2 zhi4
B: na2er you3 za2 zhi4 Where are the magazines?
Conversation 4
A: 哪有杂志？
B: 期刊阅览室就有。

B: I just spotted my favourite magazine, and I’m gonna grab it before some else does. Quickly though, what’s our question of the day Y?
Y: Remind us how to say, “Where’s the reading room?”
B: And send your email answer to Chinese@crifm.com. Hurry along and you could win yourself a prize. Mingtian jian.