Unit 7: Is Chinese Difficult?

Part I: Listen and Learn

1. 

W# sh= Zh!nggu@ r6n, sh= c@ng Sh4ngh3i l2i de.
I am Chinese and I am from Shanghai.
§Ú¬O¤¤°ê¤H¡A¬O±q¤W®ü¨Óªº¡C

W# hu= shu! Zh!ngw6n, y7 hu= shu! Y9ngy& h6 Éy&.
I can speak Chinese. I also can speak English and Russian.
§Ú·|»¡¤¤¤å¡A¤]·|»¡­^»y©M«X»y¡C

Y9ngy& b^ t4i n2n, Éy& b-ji4o n2n.
English is not very difficult. Russian is comparatively difficult.
­^»y¤£¤ÓÃø¡A«X»y¤ñ¸ûÃø¡C

2.

Zh8 sh= W2ng xi1nsheng h6 W2ng T4itai. 
This is Mr. and Mrs. Wang.
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T1men d!u sh= c@ng B7ij9ng l2i de.
They all came from Beijing.
¥L­Ì³£¬O±q¥_¨Ê¨Óªº¡C

Xi4nz4i z4i M7igu@ ni4n sh%.
Now they study in the U.S.
²{¦b¦b¬ü°ê°á®Ñ¡C

T1men zh* z4i Washington. 
They live in Washington.
¥L­Ì¦í¦b Washington.

T1men b^ t4i hu= shu! Y9ngy&, xi4nz4i z4i xu6 Y9ngw6n.
They cannot speak English well. They are learning English now.
¥L­Ì¤£¤Ó·|»¡­^»y¡A²{¦b¦b¾Ç­^¤å¡C

T1men ju6de Y9ngw6n h7n n2n.
They feel that English is very difficult.
¥L­ÌÄ±±o­^¤å«ÜÃø¡C

3. 

A: John, n- Zh!ngw6n shu! de b^cu$.
A: John, youe speak Chinese very well.
A:John, §A¤¤¤å»¡±o¤£¿ù¡C

B: N3l-, b* x0ng, b* x0ng. W# xi4nz4i z4i xu6 Zh!ngw6n.
B: Oh, no, not well yet. I am learning Chinese now.
B:­þ¸Ì¡A¤£¦æ¡A¤£¦æ¡C§Ú²{¦b¦b¾Ç¤¤¤å¡C

A: N- ju6de Zh!ngw6n n2n bu n2n?
A: Do you think that Chinese is difficult or not?
A:§AÄ±±o¤¤¤åÃø¤£Ãø¡H

B: W# ju6de Zh!ngw6n k#uy& b^ t4i n2n, xi7 z= b-ji4o n2n.
B: I feel that spoken Chinese is not that difficult, writing characters is relatively difficult.
B:§ÚÄ±±o¤¤¤å¤f»y¤£¤ÓÃø¡A¼g¦r¤ñ¸ûÃø¡C

A: N- h2i hu= shu! sh6nme w4iy&?
A: What other foreign languages can you speak?
A:§AÁÙ·|»¡¤°»ò¥~»y¡H

B: W# h2i hu= shu! F2y&.
B: I can also speak French.
B:§ÚÁÙ·|»¡ªk»y¡C

A: F2y& n2n bu n2n?
A: Is French difficult?
A:ªk»yÃø¤£Ãø¡H

B: B^ t4i n2n, m6iyou Zh!ngw6n n2n.
B: Not really, not as difficult as Chinese.
B:¤£¤ÓÃø¡A¨S¦³¤¤¤åÃø¡C

4. 

A: Xi8 l3osh9, n- Y9ngy& shu! de zh5n h3o.
A: Prof. Xie, you speak real good English.
A:ÁÂ¦Ñ®v¡A§A­^»y»¡±o¯u¦n¡C

B: N3l-, m2mah%h%.
B: Oh, just so-so.
B:­þ¸Ì¡A°¨°¨ªêªê¡C

A: N- Y9ngy& sh= z4i n3l- xu6 de?
A: Where did you learn your English?
A:§A­^»y¬O¦b­þ¸Ì¾Çªº¡H

B: W# sh= z4i Sh4ngh3i xu6 de.
B: I learned it in Shanghai.
B:§Ú¬O¦b¤W®ü¾Çªº¡C

A: N- de l3osh9 sh= M7igu@ r6n ba?
A: I guess your instructors are American.
A:§Aªº¦Ñ®v¬O¬ü°ê¤H§a¡H

B: Bú sh=. Y#ude sh= M7igu@ r6n, y#ude sh= Zh!nggu@ r6n.
B: No. Some are Americans, some are Chinese.
B:¤£¬O¡C¦³ªº¬O¬ü°ê¤H¡A¦³ªº¬O¤¤°ê¤H¡C

A: M7igu@ l3osh9 sh= c@ng n3l- l2i de?
A: Where are American instructors from?
A:¬ü°ê¦Ñ®v¬O±q­þ¸Ì¨Óªº¡H

B: Y#u de sh= c@ng Pittsburgh l2i de, y#ude sh= c@ng Seattle l2i de. W#men h2i y#u 
     Y9nggu@ l2ide l3osh9.
B: Some came from Pittsburgh. Some came from Seatlle. We also have professors who 
    came from England.
B:¦³ªº¬O±q Pittsburgh ¨Óªº¡A¦³ªº¬O±q Seattle ¨Óªº¡C
  §Ú­ÌÁÙ¦³­^°ê ¨Óªº¦Ñ®v¡C

5. 

A: John, n- xi4nz4i Zh!ngw6n shu! de h7n h3o.
A: John, you speak very good Chinese now.
A:John,§A²{¦b¤¤¤å»¡±o«Ü¦n¡C

B: N3l-, h2i b* x0ng. W# zh- hu= shu! y=di3r Zh!ngw6n.
B: No, not good yet. I can only speak a little Chinese.
B:­þ¸Ì¡AÁÙ¤£¦æ¡C§Ú¥u·|»¡¤@ÂI¨à¤¤¤å¡C

A: R8nshi bu r8nshi Zh!nggu@ z=?
A: Do you read Chinese characters?
A:»{ÃÑ¤£»{ÃÑ¤¤°ê¦r¡H

B: Bú r8nshi, w# zh- hu= shu!. W# hu= xi7 P9ny9n.
B: No, I don't. I can speak only. I can write Pinyin.
B:¤£»{ÃÑ¡A§Ú¥u·|»¡¡C§Ú·|¼g«÷­µ¡C

A: N- de l3osh9 sh= bu sh= Zh!nggu@ r6n?
A: Is your teacher Chinese?
A:§Aªº¦Ñ®v¬O¤£¬O¤¤°ê¤H¡H

B: Sh=de, t1 sh= Zh!nggu@ r6n, sh= c@ng Sh4ngh3i l2i de.
B: Yes, he is Chinese and he came from Shanghai.
B:¬Oªº¡A¥L¬O¤¤°ê¤H¡A¬O±q¤W®ü¨Óªº¡C

A: T1 ji1o de h3o bu h3o?
A: How does he teach?
A:¥L±Ð±o¦n¤£¦n¡H

B: T1 ji1o de h7n h3o.
B: He teaches very well. 
B:¥L±Ð±o«Ü¦n¡C

Part II. Utterances and Notes

	'h6' means 'and'. Pay attention: 'h6' in Chinese joins two noun phrases only. It is not like English which can join two sentences.

	't4i' means 'too'. 'bú t4i n2n' means 'not too difficult'. In the sentence 't1men bú t4i hu= shu! Y9ngy&', 'bú t4i hu=' means that they can speak, but not that well.

	'ni4n sh%' literally means 'to read books'. 

	'b* x0ng' is also a response to the compliment. Literal meaning is 'it doesn't work'.

	'm6iyou Zh!ngw6n n2n' means 'not difficult compared to Chinese'. 

	'N- Y9ngy& sh= z4i n2l- xu6 de' means 'Where did you learn ...?' 'sh=...de' construction is often used to indicate what happened when and where. In the similar way you can say: 
	'W# sh= z4i Sh4ngh3i ch%sh5ng de.' (I was born in Shanghai)
	'W# sh= c@ng Sh4ngh3i l2i de.' (I came from Shanghai)

	'Y9nggu@ l2i de l3osh9' -- the teachers who came from England. This construction is similar to English relative clause. In English the clause is attached to the right of a noun. In Chinese it is always attached to the left of a noun. This is an important feature in Chinese.

	'de' in 't1 ji1o de h3o bu h3o?' is a grammatical particle. This pattern is used to express the degree or extent. 

	The difference between 'y7' and 'h2i'. Study the following sentences and try to find out the difference:

	W# hu= shu! Y9ngy&, y7 hu= shu! Éy&.
	(I can speank English. I also speak Russian.)

	W# hu= shu! Y9ngy&, h2i hu= shu! Éy&.
	(I can speak English. In addition, I can also speak Russian.)

	W# hu= shu! Éy&. T1 y7 hu= shu! Éy&.
	(I can speak Russian. He can speak Russian, too.)
Part III: New Sentence Modules

1. ...is (very, relatively, not too, not as) difficult (as)...
Y9ngy&
Zh!ngw6n
D6y&
R=y&

n2n

h7n 
b-ji4o
b^t4i
m6iyou 6y& n4me

2.  It is ... that (where)...

W# Y9ngy&
T1 Zh!ngw6n
T1
T1
z4i n2l- xu6
z4i M7igu@ xu6
z4i Sh4ngh3i ch%sh5ng (to be born)
c@ng Sh4ngh3i l2i
de
sh=

Part IV: Practice Makes Perfect

How to say the following phrases? Please speak out!

to speak foreign language, to learn Russian, to learn a foreign language,
(am, is, are) learning Russian, a foreign langauge,
do not speak Chinese very well, 
to speak Chinese very well
very difficult, relatively difficult, not too difficult, not as diffucult as English,
spoken Chinese, spoken English, spoken Russian
to recognize Chinese characters, to write Chinese characters,
some are Chinese, some are Americans, 
to teach well, to speak well, to write well

Answer the following questions based on your own situation. Please be sure to give real answers.

N- hu= bu hu= shu! Zh!ngw6n?
N- hu= bu hu= xi7 Zh!nggu@ z=?
N- r8nshi bu r8nshi Zh!nggu@ z=?
N- h2i hu= shu! sh6nme w4iy&?
N- ju6de Zh!ngw6n n2n bu n2n?
N- ju6de Zh!ngw6n k@uy& n2n bu n2n?
N- ju6 de xi7 Zh!nggu@ z= nan2 bu n2n?
N- Zh!ngw6n sh= z4i n2l- xu6 de?
N- de l3osh9 sh= Zh!nggu@ r6n ma?
T1 sh= n2l- r6n?
T1 sh= c@ng n2l- l2i de?
T1 ji1o de h3o bu h3o?
N- Zh!ngw6n shu! de h6n h3o.

	If you need a word which you don't know how to say, please ask by saying: '... Zh!ngw6n z6nme shu!?' . For example: 'nurse' Zh!ngw6n z6nme shu!?' The answer would be:'nurse' Zh!ngw6n sh= 'h*shi'.

Now try to say something about your study of Chinese.

Please tell a Chinese friend that your are learning Chinese now. You can speak a little Chinese now. You don't read and write Chinese (use 'bú r8nshi..., y7 b^ hu= xi7...). You feel that spoken Chinese  is not that difficult. Writing characters are very difficult. You also feel (y7 ju6de) that Chinese is not as difficult as Russian. Tell your friend what foreign languages can you speak. Also tell him that your Chinese isntructor is a Chinese and he is from Shanghai. He lives in Davis now. His wife also works in Davis. She is also a teacher. He has a son and he works in Ohio. He teaches very well.