Lesson 20: I am going to Beijing next week

我下星期去北京      Wǒ xià xīngqí qù běijīng

 

Have you been to China? Have you seen the Forbidden City in Beijing or The Great Wall of China? These are the must see places in China if you ever go there for a visit. Today, we shall talk about travelling and the mode of transport one can use when travelling to another country.

 

As usual, we will list out the types of transportation available before we go on to our dialogue for this lesson. Modes of transport in Chinese is called 交通工具 Jiāotōng gōngjù. Below are the modes of transport in Chinese, pinyin and English.

 

Simplified Chinese

Pinyin

English

飞机

Fēijī

Airplane

火车

Huǒchē

Train

Chuán

Ship

汽车

chē

Car

公共汽车

巴士

Gōnggòng qìchē

Bāshì

Bus

地铁

Dìtiě

Subway

出租车

计程车

的士

德士

Chūzū chē

Jìchéngchē

Dí shì

Dé shì

Taxi

自行车

脚踏车

单车

Zìxíngchē

Jiǎotàchē

Dānchē

Bicycle

 

Wang Li will be flying to Beijing and she is talking to Zhang Yun about her coming trip. She is scared about the flight because it is her first time taking the plane. Zhang Yun is trying to calm her and at the same time looking for other alternatives.

 

王丽:               张云,怎么办

张云:               怎么了?

王丽:               我老板要我飞去北京公干

张云:               那很好啊!你不是一直想去北京看看吗?

王丽:               好是好,但是我很怕坐飞机。

张云:               你什么时候去?

王丽:               下个星期一。你说我该怎么办?

张云:               你不能坐火车去吗?

王丽:               老板说坐火车太花时间了。飞机比较快。

张云:                           其实,坐飞机没什么好怕的。你不用太担心。你可以在飞机上听音乐或看电影来放松你自己。你还可以喝任何你想要喝的饮料呢。

王丽:               既然这样,我就喝红酒然后睡个大觉

张云:               好主意。哈 哈 哈!

 

Wáng lì:                       Zhāng yún, zěnme bàn?

Zhāng Yún:     Zěnme le?

Wáng lì:                       Wǒ lǎobǎn yào wǒ fēi qù běijīng gōnggàn.

Zhāng Yún:     Nà hěn hǎo ah! Nǐ bùshì yīzhí xiǎng qù běijīng kàn kàn ma?

Wáng lì:                       Hǎo shì hǎo, dànshì wǒ hěn pà zuò fēijī.

Zhāng Yún:     Nǐ shénme shíhou qù?

Wáng lì:                       Xià gè xīngqí yī. Nǐ shuō wǒ gāi zěnme bàn?

Zhāng Yún      Nǐ bùnéng zuò huǒchē qù ma?

Wáng lì:                       Lǎobǎn shuō zuò huǒchē tài huā shíjiānle. Fēijī bǐjiào kuài.

Zhāng Yún:         Qíshí, zuò fēijī méishénme hǎo pà de. Nǐ bùyòng tài dānxīn. Nǐ kěyǐ zài fēijī shàng tīng yīnyuè huò kàn diànyǐng lái fàngsōng nǐ zìjǐ.

Nǐ hái kěyǐ hē rènhé nǐ xiǎng yào hē de yǐnliào ne.

Wáng lì            Jìrán zhèyàng, wǒ jiù hē hóngjiǔ ránhòu shuì gè dà jué.

Zhāng yún       Hǎo zhǔyì. Hāhāhā!

 

Wang Li:         What am I to do, Zhang Yun?

Zhang Yun:      What happened?

Wang Li:         My boss asked me to fly to Beijing for business.

Zhang Yun:      That is great. You always wanted to go to Beijing to have a look.

Wang Li:         It is great, but I am afraid to take the plane.

Zhang Yun:      When are you flying?

Wang Li:         Next Monday. What should I do?

Zhang Yun:      Can’t you take the train instead?

Wang Li:         My boss said train is too time-consuming. Plane is faster.

Zhang Yun:          Actually, there isn’t anything frightening about taking the plane. Don’t worry too much. You can listen to the music or watch a movie on the plane to relax. You can even order whatever beverages you want.

Wang Li:             If that is the case, I shall order red wine and then sleep.

Zhang Yun:          Not a bad idea. Ha ha ha!

 

The phrases we would like to highlight in this lesson are: 怎么办, 公干, 一直, 其实 and 睡个大觉.

As you may have already known, 怎么(Zěnme) can mean how, what or why depending on the context. In that case, what does怎么办 mean? 办(bàn) is a verb meaning to do or to handle and 怎么 is an adverb. When you put them together, the phrase literally means what to do? How to do? It is a question and the person asking is seeking for an advice from the listener.

 

公干(gōnggàn) refers to doing work related to the office and not something personal. If it is a personal matter, you can say私事sīshì. If someone ask you why are you going to Beijing, if it is personal, you can say 我到北京办点私事Wǒ dào běijīng bàn diǎn sīshì.If it is business, you can say 我到北京公干Wǒ dào běijīng gōnggàn.

 

一直(Yīzhí) is used to express something you always wanted to do. For example, if you always wanted to learn how to play the piano, you can say 我一直都想学弹钢琴Wǒ yīzhí dōu xiǎng xué dàn gāngqín. 一直Yīzhí can also mean straight and all the way. For example, 从这里一直走,你就能看到一座山Cóng zhèlǐ yīzhí zǒu, nǐ jiù néng kàn dào yīzuò shān. ( Go all the way from here, you will be able to see a mountain).

 

其实(Qíshí) is an adverb and is used when you want to express a fact or a reality. There are a few Chinese songs that use this phrase. For example, 其实你不懂我的心Qíshí nǐ bù dǒng wǒ de xīn (Actually, you do not know my heart/how I feel) and 其实我很在乎你Qíshí wǒ hěn zàihū nǐ (Actually, you matter a lot to me).

 

睡个大觉 (shuì gè dà jué) literally means to have a long sleep. It means to do nothing and just sleep. The expression has a negative meaning rather than a positive one. Don’t let anybody see you睡大觉 rather than working.

 

That is all for today. Try making some sentences using those words with have gone through in this lesson. See you again!

2 thoughts on “Lesson 20: I am going to Beijing next week”

  1. hi,I am a Chinese person. My English name is Hubert.I come from JiangSu(江苏) province of Chinese。Chinese is my native language.I am interesting in English,and I have learn English for a long time.But my English is poor. I want to find a person whose native language is English.we can learn from each other.I teach you Chinese and you teach me English.
    There is a message in your article.in Chinese,Taxi means:出租车、计程车、的士,but didnot means:德士。德士 is a wrong word in Chinese.
    My email is:quelongshun@gmail.com。You can send me email.Wait for you reply.

    best regards.
    Hubert.

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