The contents of this episode are pretty standard fare for a language learner, or anyone else for that matter: What's your name? Nice to meet you. Do you have an English name? But hidden in the sentences are a handful of other extremely useful expressions.

A note about pronunciation: The vocabulary list below includes the Chinese characters and the pinyin romanization system. The advantage of pinyin for English speakers is that it uses the familiar symbols of the Latin alphabet. The disadvantage is that English speakers are easily deceived into thinking these familiar symbols represent the same sounds they do in English. They don't. That said, pinyin can be a useful system to learn, but you must rely on your ears first, eyes second. 

Don't expect to be able to pronounce anything just by reading the pinyin; the romanization is just a reference to jog your memory. the language exists primarily in its sounds, which is why daily listening and imitation practice is so important. 

Episode vocabulary:

• 叫 :: jiào :: to call, to be called
• 什麼 :: shénme :: what
• 名字 :: míngzì :: name
• 高興 :: gāoxìng :: happy
• 認識 :: rènshí :: to know (someone)
• 有 :: yǒu :: to have
• 英文 :: yīngwén :: English
• 中文  :: zhōngwén :: Mandarin
• 跟 :: gēn :: with/and
• 和 :: hé :: and/with
• 一樣 :: yīyàng :: the same ("one kind")
• 很像 :: hěn xiàng :: similar

About learning Chinese characters

Teaching Chinese characters is outside the scope of this podcast, but if you are learning Chinese characters with another course or method, you can use the transcript below to follow along.

Learning characters can be a fulfilling project, and can help you to remember and differentiate similar-sounding words. And, of course, it opens up more avenues for practicing your Mandarin, such as reading (books, children's books, comic books) and corresponding with Chinese speakers via email and other messaging apps. I highly encourage you to give it a try!

However, if the thought of memorizing all those characters now gives you a headache, rest assured: you can start speaking Mandarin without being able to read or write. Millions of preliterate children learn to speak Mandarin fluently, and so can you! If and when you are ready to start learning the characters, already speaking some Mandarin will also make it that much easier. 

The bottom line is this: Don't let anything stop you or discourage you. The best method is the method you actually use, and any method you choose is better than no method at all! Find a way to move forward. You can always make adjustments later. And most of all, enjoy! 

Episode text:

• M：對了，你叫什麼名字？
• L：我叫小李，你呢？
• M：我叫阿明
• L：很高興認識你！
• M：我也是
• L：你有英文名字嗎？
• M：有，我有
• L：那，你的英文名字是什麼？
• M：我的英文名字叫Mike，你呢？你也有英文名字嗎？
• L：有啊！我的英文名字叫Lee
• M：跟你的中文名字一樣！
• L：對，我的英文名字和中文名字很像

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