SLOW SPEED VERSION

After listening to Season 3, Lesson 06, start reinforcing what you've learned by taking ten minutes a day to practice listening and imitating the material. Repetition makes progress.

How to practice
This episode's daily practice session doesn't include spoken instructions, but the process is the same as previous episodes of this season:

In the first part, you'll hear a short snippet of the dialogue, followed by a pause of 2-4 seconds. During the pause, try to echo aloud exactly what you heard. In the second part, the dialogue plays again without pauses. Try to shadow the dialogue by repeating it aloud simultaneously with the recording.

Note that in both parts, speaking aloud is important, as this practice helps you gain confidence making the sounds of Mandarin, increasing your speaking fluency over time. It also gives you invaluable feedback, as you hear the sounds coming out of your mouth, and can compare them to the sounds you just heard. If only done once or twice, this might not seem to have much effect; repeated on a daily basis, however, this is a powerful mechanism for bootstrapping your pronunciation and speaking ability.

Magic Phrase (4-3)
This phrase is composed entirely of words that use the 4-3 tone pair. We use it to practice identifying and then pronouncing the tones, hearing how they interact with each other in context. 

下午下雨，地鐵漏水
Xiàwǔ xiàyǔ, dìtiě lòushuǐ

下午 / xiàwǔ / afternoon
下雨 / xiàyǔ / to rain
地鐵 / dìtiě / subway, subway system
漏水 / lòushuǐ / to leak water

Transcript of the dialogue (Chinese characters only)

小李：好，我們開始。可以錄影嗎？
麗麗：可以。
小李：謝謝。阿明，你準備好了嗎？
阿明：可以了！
小李：好。可以先講一下你的背景嗎？你小時候喜歡做什麼？
麗麗：我從小就很愛看電影。我的夢想是寫電影的劇本。
小李：很酷的夢想！
麗麗：對啊。但我媽媽禁止我念電影系，她說太冒險。
小李：所以你念了什麼系？
麗麗：我念電腦科學。畢業後我在大公司上班。我們買賣進口的電腦系統。
小李：聽起來很有趣！
麗麗：很無聊！我賺了很多錢，但每天都覺得很痛苦。不知道到底活著是為了什麼。而且身體還出了一些狀況。因為沒有胃口，所以變得很瘦。
小李：好可憐！
麗麗：當時我很後悔放棄自己的夢想，但我也沒有勇氣改變。
小李：那然後呢？
麗麗：後來我發現了，害怕失敗只是一個藉口。或許寫劇本只是一個幻想啊，但至少要試試看才知道。
小李：沒錯！
麗麗：我現在的看法是，不管怎麼樣，自己的人生要自己負責。
小李：有道理。
麗麗：所以我離職了。
小李：哇！那你媽媽有支持你了嗎？
麗麗：沒有。她很憤怒，她說我會後悔，還說最好不要再看到我了。
小李：你一定很難過。
麗麗：讓媽媽生氣是不可避免的啊！重點是，我現在的工作是寫劇本。我成功了！
小李：恭喜！那你媽媽呢？
麗麗：她早就忘記了。
康太太：哈囉，你們在說我的壞話嗎？
小李：呃，沒有，我們在，呃，採訪…
阿明：麗麗在跟我們說她現在的工作。
康太太：哦！對，我女兒很厲害！她寫電影的劇本！很厲害吧！
小李：真的。真的很厲害。

Transcript of the dialogue (w/ pinyin and translation)
Use this as a visual listening guide, or if you want to check your tone comprehension. Tones are indicated by marks above the letters in the pinyin transliteration, as follows: (1)  ā  (2)  á  (3)  ǎ  (4)  à

• 小李：好，我們開始。可以錄影嗎？
  • Ok, let’s start. Can we take a video?
  • Hǎo, wǒmen kāishǐ. Kěyǐ lùyǐng ma?
• 麗麗：可以。
  • Sure.
  • Kěyǐ.
• 小李：謝謝。阿明，你準備好了嗎？
  • Thanks. A-Ming, are you ready?
  • Xièxie. Ā míng, nǐ zhǔnbèi hǎole ma?
• 阿明：可以了！
  • Ready!
  • Kěyǐle!
• 小李：好。可以先講一下你的背景嗎？你小時候喜歡做什麼？
  • Ok. Can you first talk a little about your background? What did you like to do when you were a kid?
  • Hǎo. Kěyǐ xiān jiǎng yīxià nǐ de bèijǐng ma? Nǐ xiǎoshíhòu xǐhuān zuò shénme?
• 麗麗：我從小就很愛看電影。我的夢想是寫電影的劇本。
  • I’ve loved watching movies since I was small. My dream was to write screenplays.
  • Wǒ cóngxiǎo jiù hěn ài kàn diànyǐng. Wǒ de mèngxiǎng shì xiě diànyǐng de jùběn.
• 小李：很酷的夢想！
  • That’s a really cool dream!
  • Hěn kù de mèngxiǎng!
• 麗麗：對啊。但我媽媽禁止我念電影系，她說太冒險。
  • Yeah. But my mom forbade me from studying film. She said it was too risky.
  • Duì a. Dàn wǒ māmā jìnzhǐ wǒ niàn diànyǐng xì, tā shuō tài màoxiǎn.
• 小李：所以你念了什麼系？
  • So what did you major in?
  • Suǒyǐ nǐ niànle shénme xì?
• 麗麗：我念電腦科學。畢業後我在大公司上班。我們買賣進口的電腦系統。
  • I majored in computer science. After graduating, I worked at a big company. We were buying and selling imported computer systems.
  • Wǒ niàn diànnǎo kēxué. Bìyè hòu wǒ zài dà gōngsī shàngbān. Wǒmen mǎimài jìnkǒu de diànnǎo xìtǒng.
• 小李：聽起來很有趣！
  • That sounds really interesting!
  • Tīng qǐlái hěn yǒuqù!
• 麗麗：很無聊！我賺了很多錢，但每天都覺得很痛苦。不知道到底活著是為了什麼。而且身體還出了一些狀況。因為沒有胃口，所以變得很瘦。
  • It was so boring! I made a lot of money, but every day was suffering. I didn’t know what I was even living for. And my body even started having problems. Because I didn’t have any appetite, I became really thin.
  • Hěn wúliáo! Wǒ zhuànle hěnduō qián, dàn měitiān dū juédé hěn tòngkǔ. Bù zhīdào dàodǐ huózhe shì wèile shénme. Érqiě shēntǐ hái chūle yīxiē zhuàngkuàng. Yīnwèi méiyǒu wèikǒu, suǒyǐ biàn dé hěn shòu.
• 小李：好可憐！
  • That’s so sad! (lit. poor, pathetic, pitiful)
  • Hǎo kělián!
• 麗麗：當時我很後悔放棄自己的夢想，但我也沒有勇氣改變。
  • At the time I really regretted giving up on my own dreams, but I didn’t have the courage to change.
  • Dāngshí wǒ hěn hòuhuǐ fàngqì zìjǐ de mèngxiǎng, dàn wǒ yě méiyǒu yǒngqì gǎibiàn.
• 小李：那然後呢？
  • And then?
  • Nà ránhòu ne?
• 麗麗：後來我發現了，害怕失敗只是一個藉口。或許寫劇本只是一個幻想啊，但至少要試試看才知道。
  • Later I realized, fear of failure was just an excuse. Maybe writing scripts was only a fantasy, but you have to at least try it to know for sure.
  • Hòulái wǒ fāxiànle, hàipà shībài zhǐshì yīgè jíkǒu. Huòxǔ xiě jùběn zhǐshì yīgè huànxiǎng a, dàn zhìshǎo yào shìshìkàn cái zhīdào.
• 小李：沒錯！
  • That’s right!
  • Méicuò!
• 麗麗：我現在的看法是，不管怎麼樣，自己的人生要自己負責。
  • Now my view is, no matter what, you have to take responsibility for your own life.
  • Wǒ xiànzài de kànfǎ shì, bùguǎn zěnme yàng, zìjǐ de rénshēng yào zìjǐ fùzé.
• 小李：有道理。
  • That makes sense.
  • Yǒu dàolǐ.
• 麗麗：所以我離職了。
  • So I quit my job.
  • Suǒyǐ wǒ lízhíle.
• 小李：哇！那你媽媽有支持你了嗎？
  • Wow! Did your mom support you?
  • Wa! Nà nǐ māmā yǒu zhīchí nǐle ma?
• 麗麗：沒有。她很憤怒，她說我會後悔，還說最好不要再看到我了。
  • No. She was furious, she said I would regret it. She even said it would be better if she never saw me again.
  • Méiyǒu. Tā hěn fènnù, tā shuō wǒ huì hòuhuǐ, hái shuō zuìhǎo bùyào zài kàn dào wǒle. 
• 小李：你一定很難過。
  • You must have been really upset.
  • Nǐ yīdìng hěn nánguò.
• 麗麗：讓媽媽生氣是不可避免的啊！重點是，我現在的工作是寫劇本。我成功了！
  • Making mom angry was unavoidable! The main point is, now my job is writing screenplays. I succeeded!
  • Ràng māmā shēngqì shì bùkě bìmiǎn de a! Zhòngdiǎn shì, wǒ xiànzài de gōngzuò shì xiě jùběn. Wǒ chénggōngle!
• 小李：恭喜！那你媽媽呢？
  • Congratulations! And… what about your mother?
  • Gōngxǐ! Nà nǐ māmā ne?
• 麗麗：她早就忘記了。
  • She forgot a long time ago.
  • Tā zǎo jiù wàngjìle.
• 康太太：哈囉，你們在說我的壞話嗎？
  • Hello, are you saying something bad about me?
  • Hā luō, nǐmen zài shuō wǒ de huàihuà ma?
• 小李：呃，沒有，我們在，呃，採訪…
  • Uh, no, we’re uh… interviewing…
  • E, méiyǒu, wǒmen zài, e, cǎifǎng…
• 阿明：麗麗在跟我們說她現在的工作。
  • Lili is telling us about her current work!
  • Lìlì zài gēn wǒmen shuō tā xiànzài de gōngzuò.
• 康太太：哦！對，我女兒很厲害！她寫電影的劇本！很厲害吧！
  • Oh! Yeah, my daughter is amazing! She writes screenplays. Awesome, right?
  • O! Duì, wǒ nǚ'ér hěn lìhài! Tā xiě diànyǐng de jùběn! Hěn lìhài ba!
• 小李：真的。真的很厲害。
  • Truly. Truly awesome.
  • Zhēn de. Zhēn de hěn lìhài.

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