55 Xiao Ming recovering from injury 小明养伤
Hi everyone, thanks for tuning into today’s episode of Growing up with Chinese. 欢迎大家收看我们今天的成长汉语.
So poor 小明 is stuck at home right now nursing his sprained ankle. I have to say, for someone who is as active as he is, he’s holding out*1 pretty well. Now today he’s fortunate enough to have his parents with him distracting him from his injury. So now let’s check in with the 王 family and see how things are going.
小明爸：小明的伤怎么样了？ 什么时候可以去上学啊？
小明妈妈：大夫说最少休息两周呢。看样子，恐怕还得休息七八天。
小明爸爸：可是他下个月就期末考试了。他的功课怎么办啊？
小明妈妈：你别着急。昨天小明的同学们来看他了，还给他带来了上课的笔记。
爸爸：真要感谢这些同学啊，这么关心小明。
妈妈：是啊，再说了，还有麦克呢。
妈妈：哎，小明，你怎么下床啦？小明：妈妈，我在床上都躺了一个星期了。
妈妈：快点儿回去，再躺几天吧。你这么早下床，万一再受伤就更麻烦了。
小明：妈妈，您放心吧。我这个篮球健将会保护好自己的。
爸爸：会保护自己？ 那你还把脚扭伤了？
妈妈：你就别再说他了。孩子已经够烦的了。
爸爸：你呀，总护着儿子。
妈妈：不过，小明，你的脚还没全好。就在家好好儿休息吧。
爸爸：就是，儿子。听大夫的话。欲速则不达。
妈妈：爸爸说的对，小明。如果再受伤，那你还要再躺两周呢。
小明：好吧。但我有个条件。
妈妈：什么条件？
小明：我想买个新的笔记本电脑。
妈妈：为什么啊？
小明：我现在的电脑上网速度太慢了。和同学联系不方便。
爸爸：我看没有什么必要。兰兰不是经常来看你，给你讲课吗？ 而且麦克也在家。
小明：哎呀，算了算了。你们太不理解我了。我好孤独啊！
我这个篮球健将会保护好自己的. I know how to protect myself being the top-notch*2 basket ball player that I am. 健将 means master sportsman or top-notch player. So 篮球健将 is top-notch basket ball player. 保护 means to protect or safe guard. 保护好自己 to protect myself well.
孩子已经够烦的了. The kids fed up enough as it is. Now 够 if you all remember means enough or adequate. 烦 is a fabulous, fabulous word, but in this context mean to be fed up with or annoyed with or vexed*3 with. 够烦的 annoying enough or fed up enough.
你呀, 总护着儿子. You, you’re always protecting your son. 总 in this sentence functions as 总是, which means always are always. 护着 is protecting. Remember 着 after a verb makes the action continuous. 儿子, in case you didn’t know, means son.
小明：妈妈，我在床上都躺了一个星期了。
妈妈：快点儿回去，再躺几天吧。你这么早下床，万一再受伤就更麻烦了。
小明：妈妈，您放心吧。我这个篮球健将会保护好自己的。
爸爸：会保护自己？ 那你还把脚扭伤了？
妈妈：你就别再说他了。孩子已经够烦的了。
爸爸：你呀，总护着儿子。
你的脚还没全好. Your foot isn’t completely better. 全 means complete or whole. So 全好 is completely better. 还没全好 isn’t completely better.
但我有个条件. But I have a condition. 条件 means term or condition as in I only do this, if you agree to my conditions or terms so here 小明 is getting savvy*4.
我想买个新的笔记本电脑. I want to buy a new laptop computer. 笔记本 actually means notebook, 电脑 if you guys remember, means electric brain or computer. So a 笔记本 notebook 电脑 computer is a laptop.
妈妈：不过，小明，你的脚还没全好。就在家好好儿休息吧。
爸爸：就是，儿子。听大夫的话。欲速则不达。
妈妈：爸爸说的对，小明。如果再受伤，那你还要再躺两周呢。
小明：好吧。但我有个条件。
妈妈：什么条件？
小明：我想买个新的笔记本电脑。
我现在的电脑上网速度太慢了, 和同学联系不方便. My current computer’s internet connection is too slow. It’s inconvenient to get in touch with my classmates. 上网 means to go online and 速度 is the word for speed. 上网速度 internet connection speed. 慢 means slow and 联系 is to contact or getting touch with. 方便 means convenient so 不方便 is inconvenient.
算了算了, 我好孤独. Forget it forget it, I’m awfully lonely. 算了 is a set term that means forget it or don’t worry about it. 孤独 means lonely.
妈妈：为什么啊？
小明：我现在的电脑上网速度太慢了。和同学联系不方便。
爸爸：我看没有什么必要。兰兰不是经常来看你，给你讲课吗？ 而且麦克也在家。
小明：哎呀，算了算了。你们太不理解我了。我好孤独啊！
OK, so let’s take a look at our vocabulary for the day.
- 笔记 notes. bǐ jì
- 必要 necessary, essential. bì yào
- 欲速则不达 haste makes waste. yù sù zé bù dá
- 条件 condition, terms. tiáo jiàn
- 理解 understand, comprehend. lǐ jiě
Our radical today is pretty cool if I do say so myself, it’s the 谷子旁 or valley radical. Now, 谷 as the character valley looks like this. We will look at the character first… OK so this is the character for valley 谷.
And we see it in radical form in the character 欲 from 欲速则不达. OK, so 欲 looks like this… Here’s our character 欲. Now, 欲 on its own means wish, want or desire.
And there are too too many characters we see commonly that use the valley radical, but here is an example. 豁 to give up or sacrifice.
Spotlight
Onward we go in our cultural spotlight series on the Chinese zodiac. Now today’s zodiac animal is getting its very own spotlight because of all twelve animals in the Chinese zodiac, this is the only mythical animal or legendary creature. We’re on to the dragon.
Now in many Asian traditions especially Chinese tradition, dragons are good. They are seen as the masters of all the elements of nature. Fierce and powerful but equally benevolent*5. And bring us of wealth and good fortune. So it might not come as a surprise that the dragon in China is a symbol of the Chinese emperor.
Now according to Chinese legend, the very first emperor of China was a close relative of the dragon. And when he died, he was immortalized in dragon form and ascended into heaven. Now as the descendants of the emperor, the Chinese people will sometimes refer to themselves as 龙的传人 or descendants of the dragon. Pretty cool huh?
Now recent years of the dragon include nineteen fifty-two, sixty-four, seventy-six, eighty-eight and two thousand. So of all twelve Chinese zodiac animal signs, the dragon is the most powerful and vital. People with this sign are said to be enthusiastic, confident, quick, vibrant and full of energy.
So dragons go directly after what they want with extreme focus, which oftentimes can feel overbearing*6 to the people around them. They’re very popular, and might seem hard. But dragons do have a soft and sensitive side. It’s just that not too many people get to see it.
Now of all the twelve animal signs, the year of the dragon is the most popular time for people to have children. So you see a lot of babies getting born when the year of the dragon rolls around*7. Joan of Arc, Sigmund Freud, and Bruce Lee were all born in the year of the dragon, and compatible signs with the dragon include the tiger, rat, snake, monkey and rooster.
Primer
It’s language point time, 接下来我们来看一下今天的言点. To start with let’s take a look at 看样子.
看样子 means it looks like or it appears that. You can use 看样子 at the beginning of a sentence, or in the middle of a sentence. Now in today’s dialogue it came at the beginning. 看样子, 恐怕还得休息七八天. It looks like you’re probably going to have to rest another seven to eight days. 看样子我今天去不了了. It looks like I won’t be able to go today. Not too hard to grasp right? OK, let’s look at some more examples, just make sure you guys get it.
- 还在下雨吗？／是啊，看样子，今天这雨是停不了了。
- 看样子我们迷路了。／你带地图了吗？
万一. I love this one. It literally means the one in ten thousand or what if, if by any chance or just in case. There is a great saying in Chinese that goes “不怕一万, 就怕万一.” We’re not afraid of the ten thousand, we’re simply afraid of the one in ten thousand. Great saying, no? Now in today’s context, 万一 functions as a conjunction. 你这么早下床, 万一再受伤就更麻烦了. What if you get hurt again from getting out of bed this early, that would be even more complicated.
- 万一明天下雨，我们还去爬山吗？／下雨就不去了。
- 把这些药带上，万一生病就麻烦了。／好的。
好好儿. This is the fun one too. 好好儿 is used before a verb to imply a fullness or completeness of an action. Kind of like how we use the word well, in the context of sleep well, or eat well, or rest well. 好好儿 also carries with it a certain amount of patience. 好好儿休息 means rest well. But again it carries with it an effort of patience. Rest well and make sure your patient about it. Now this sentence from today’s dialogue that uses 好好儿 is 你的脚还没全好, 就在家好好儿休息吧. Your foot isn’t completely better yet, you should just stay at home and get a good rest.
- 小明不在家，你找他有事儿吗？／他帮了我个大忙，我要好好儿谢谢他。
- 这句话用英语怎么说？／我们以前学过了，你再好好儿想想。
Hopefully the next time we see each other 小明 will be back in tip-top shape*8. For those of you who’ve ever had a sports related injury or any injury for that matter, healing does take time, doesn’t it. 就是要好好儿休息. It’s important to get a good rest.
And it’s now time for all of us to have a rest and break. We’re out of time for today. But please don’t forget, when you have the time, to check out our website. And send us any questions or comments you might have about the show or our content. It’s alway great to hear from you. 好了. 大家, 一定要加油. Have fun with your Chinese studies, I’ll see you all next time. 下次见.
