22 Weather 1 谈天气(一)
大家好, 欢迎收看成长汉语. Thanks for joining us for another episode of Growing up with Chinese.
Now I know you can tell from looking at me in the studio but outside the weather today is absolutely gorgeous. 我今天想请假, 出去玩儿. I’d love to ask for some time off today and go somewhere to play. But, that’s not possible because I have a date with all of you.
So the next best thing I can think of is to actually talk about the weather. And Mike and 小明 are in total agreement with me. So let’s check in with them right now and see just what kind of weather talk we have lined up for today.
兰兰：麦克，你看。这道题这么做……
小明：呀，我求求你们了。别学了，明天就是周末了，咱们休息休息吧。唉，兰兰。一块儿出去玩儿，怎么样？
小明：好了好了，您别说话了。我错了，行了吧，你们学吧，你们学。
兰兰：我和麦克也正想休息休息。你说吧，你明天想去哪儿玩儿？
小明：我们明天去天坛吧。不是我想去啊，是麦克没去过。
兰兰：好啊，我们可以给麦克当向导。麦克，怎么样？ 你想去吗？
Mike：太好了，我早就想去了。
兰兰：小明，明天天气怎么样？
小明：我打12121，听听天气预报吧。＊＊：明天，晴转阴。最高气温20摄氏度。局部地区有小雨。
Mike：小明，怎么样？
小明：天气预报说明天晴转阴。最高20度。局部地区有小雨。
Mike：“局部”地区有小雨？ 那天坛不在“局部”吧？
兰兰：麦克，“局部”是“一部分、一些地区”的意思。不是一个地名。好了好了，小明。明天要下雨，别忘了带伞。
小明：放心，放心。
That certainly looks like they’re ready to take on the town, doesn’t it. Planning ahead of time is always a good idea because you never know what the weather has in store. Did all of you catch the mistake Mike made when 小明 repeated the weather report aloud. It’s OK if you didn’t. We’ll take a look at what they said.
我求求你们了, 别学了, 明天就是周末了, 咱们休息休息吧. 唉, 兰兰, 一块儿出去玩儿, 怎么样? I beg you guys stop studying, it’s the weekend tomorrow, let’s take a break. 兰兰 let’s go out and play OK? 求求 is to beg, 我求求你们 I beg you all. You can also say 我求你们. Adding an extra 求 as in 求求 hmm, basically gives it more emphasis. 怎么样. 怎么样 is the fabulous expression that can be used in all kinds of situations to mean “what do you think?” or “OK?” or “how about it?”
兰兰：麦克，你看。这道题这么做……
小明：呀，我求求你们了。别学了，明天就是周末了，咱们休息休息吧。唉，兰兰。一块儿出去玩儿，怎么样？
我们明天去天坛吧. 不是我想去, 是麦克没去过. Let’s go to the Temple of Heaven tomorrow, it’s not that I want to go, but Mike has never been before. 天坛 is the Temple of Heaven and I have to say, it’s a great spot to visit if you’re ever in 北京. My favorite place to take people.
太好了, 我早就想去了. Great, I’ve wanted to go for a while now. The keyword to make a note of in this sentence is 早. 早 on its own means early. Mike could have said 我想去 which means I want to go, right? 我早就想去了 is the way to say I’ve been wanting to go for a while or I’ve wanted to go for a while.
兰兰：你说吧，你明天想去哪儿玩儿？
小明：我们明天去天坛吧。不是我想去啊，是麦克没去过。
兰兰：好啊，我们可以给麦克当向导。麦克，怎么样？ 你想去吗？
Mike：太好了，我早就想去了。
天气预报说, 明天晴转阴. 最高20度. 局部地区有小雨. The weather report says, 天气预报说, 明天晴转阴. Tomorrow will be sunny and then turn cloudy. 最高 the highest. 20度 twenty degrees referring to Celsius because that’s what China uses. Tomorrow’s high is twenty degrees. 局部地区 is certain areas, 有小雨 will have light rain.
Now in Chinese they don’t use the words heavy and light to refer to a rain. They use big and small so 大雨 is big rain or heavy rain. 小雨 is small rain or light rain.
Mike：小明，怎么样？
小明：天气预报说明天晴转阴。最高20度。局部地区有小雨。
Mike：“局部”地区有小雨？ 那天坛不在“局部”吧？
And here is where Mike gets a little confused. 地区 is the proper term for area. 北京地区 is 北京 and its surrounding areas. But 局部 means part or some, certain. So 局部地区 is referring to some or certain areas. But Mike thinks 局部 is an actual place.
He says, “局部”地区有小雨? 那天坛不在“局部”吧? This sentence would translate into something like: some areas would have rain? Well, the Temple of Heaven isn’t in “some” is it? And that’s why his question got such a laugh at 小明 and 兰兰.
明天要下雨, 别忘了带伞. It’s going to rain tomorrow, don’t forget to bring an umbrella. 别忘了 means don’t forget, 雨伞 is how you say umbrella but you can also just say 伞 if you want.
OK, let’s watch our clip again.
Mike：“局部”地区有小雨？ 那天坛不在“局部”吧？
兰兰：麦克，“局部”是“一部分、一些地区”的意思。不是一个地名。好了好了，小明。明天要下雨，别忘了带伞。
小明：放心，放心。
OK, that concludes our general overview of today’s content, and now it’s time to get into some specifics.
First off, let’s take a look at today’s vocabulary list.
- 周末 weekend. zhōu mò
- 天气 weather. tiān qì
- 预报 forecast. yù bào
- 向导 tour guide. xiàng dǎo
- 休息 rest, have a rest, take a rest. xiū xi
- 局部 part, locality. jú bù
- 地区 area, district, region. dì qū
Guess what. Our radical for the day is the right earlobe*1. Yes, there is a left earlobe, too, but we’ll cover that another time. So, let’s look at 部 of 局部 OK? Our earlobe radical 部 is written like this … (humming) … Now, this is our radical, doesn’t it look like an ear?
When you see this radical on the right side of the character, please note, you can be pretty sure that the character will somehow be related to area. Now 部 on its own means part or section. Definitely relating to area, no? Here’re some more characters that use the right earlobe radical. 都 capital, 邻 neighbor, 那 that.
Spotlight
Seeing as we’re on the topic of weather today, we thought it would be a good idea to spotlight China’s climate.
Now we all know China is quite a big country. For those of you who familiar with the physical size of the Unites States, China is actually slightly larger. And this means that depending on where you live here, the climate can be extremely different.
For the most part, northern China is very dry and has four quite definite seasons. Southern China is much more temperate. The winters aren’t nearly as cold as that in north. But it’s quite damp*2 throughout the year.
Now obviously, I’m generalizing quite drastically. If any of you want to know about the specific climate of a specific area here, the internet is a wonderful place to find that information. For example, did you know that 云南 is said to have four seasons of spring? Sounds lovely, doesn’t it.
Anyway, what I want to focus on today is how climate in China influences architecture, food and even culture.
Chinese traditional architecture changes quite a bit according to where you are in the country. Sloping roofs are quite a common sight among traditional buildings in southern China because of how much rain they get.
In many areas of northern China, southern exposure windows are a must. Southern exposure receives the most sunlight throughout the day. It can be a good source of heating during cold winter months.
Also, historically speaking courtyard houses were extremely popular in the north, as they had thick walls around them they would help keep out the wind and dust blowing in from the far north.
Primer
It’s time for our language points. Now I touched on 怎么样 earlier when we went to today’s clip. But it’s a great phrase to use when asking about a situation as in “How did it something go?” “What do you think?” “How about it?” 怎么样 it can also be used to ask about how someone is doing. 你怎么样 how are you doing, 他怎么样 how is he doing or 你最近怎么样 how have you been lately?
- 周末天气怎么样？／天气预报说有雨。
- 你觉得这件衣服怎么样？／不错，很好看。
度 in today’s context is referring to temperature degree. Now in China, Celsius is used. So if it’s twenty degrees outside 二十度, the temperature is really nice and very comfortable. Now the adjectives used for temperature are just like in English, high and low. 高 和 低. 最高 highest, 最低 lowest. Now we’ve seen 最 used with other words to imply the highest degree, right? Like 最好 the best, 最大 the biggest, 最多 the most.
别. 别 means don’t, plain and simple. 别忘了带伞. 别忘了 don’t forget, 别想了 don’t think about it, 别笑 don’t laugh, 别哭 don’t cry. 所以啊, 你们别忘了“别.” And therefore everyone, don’t forget “don’t.” Let’s look at some more examples.
- 我钥匙找不着了。／别着急！ 我和你一起找。
- 小心，别动，你头发上有条虫子。／啊，快帮我拿下来！
好了, that’s all we have time for today we certainly covered a lot of ground, didn’t we. 你们感觉怎么样? How are you all feeling? 别忘了复习. Don’t forget to review.
And also please do not forget that you can always visit our website if you have any questions. And while you are at it, you can leave us a comment or two, on our comments page.
And next time we’ll be going over some more weather vocabulary. And let’s hope that the sun is still shining. Now thanks for joining us today on Growing up with Chinese. 大家, 加油, see you all next time, 再见. Bye for now.
