Note: The text is pasted here in case you want to copy/paste one of the words into a dictionary app, but the above video and zip file download are best inputting the content as they have audio and text-tracking.
外国人学中文不能太心急。某些人才开始学,一共学了不到一百个词,就想和中国人用中文交流了。比如,有的人会去中国饭店,然后想自己点菜。结果发现自己什么都看不懂,菜单上的字也差不多不认识。然后他们又想用中文说话,发现自己什么都说不出来。这时,他们会觉得受不了,然后问自己,为什么自己的中文没有进步呢?是不是因为汉语太难了?答案是:汉语不难,也不是你学得不好,而是不够好。所以,请不要急,好好学,给自己多一点时间和信心,你一定能学好!
Top-Down Words
急 jí - be anxious
就 jiù - then (conditional)
交流 jiāoliú - communicate
结果 jiéguǒ - as a result
懂 dǒng - to understand
呢 ne - (particle emphasizing inquisitiveness)
难 nán - difficult
答案 dáàn - answer
而是 érshì - but instead…
所以 suóyǐ - so
信心 xìnxīn - confidence
Step One
Watch the video here on the course platform. Feel free to take as much time as you'd like to understand the content, but don't feel obligated to understand the text right now fully. You'll download the video and return to it later.
Step Two
Download the zip file from the sidebar (desktop/laptop) or below this description (Mobile APP). That zip file contains the following:
Dialogues contain one text-tracking video file at 80% speed followed by native speed.
Opinions & Short Stories contain two text tracking video files, one female voice, and one male voice. Both start at 80% speed, followed by native speed.
Step Three
At a time of your choosing, use the video files to practice shadowing. If you need a reminder, this lesson explains how to shadow. These video files are ideal for shadowing, especially if you download them to your phone because you can walk around while doing it.
Click Here to Navigate to All Phase 4 Dialogues, Opinions & Stories
Member Comments from 2019-mid-2020
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William Beeman
Is the translation of 某些人才开始学 supposed to be "Some talented people start studying . . ." I'm trying to get my head around 人才 meaning "talented." Is that right? If so, 才 functions (in Western grammatical nomenclature) as a noun, a verb, an adjective and a preposition. A lot of work for a little word.
Mandarin Blueprint
人才 is indeed a compound word and 才 does carry this "genius/talent" meaning, which is cool. However, in this sentence the characters are separate, which is more obvious when you look at the entire sentence in context. It carries the meaning of "only just" i.e. "some people have only just started studying..."
MB Team
This is where Luke and Phil talked about your question in the Mandarin Blueprint Podcast:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnVp_b_LlqY&t=3907s
Micaela Ellison
A question about the use of 急 in this piece. Is it actually part of a compound word in the first sentence? 心急, which Pleco translates as "impatient". Then is 急 used as a stand-alone word in the last sentence? So the translation would be "please don't be anxious."
Mandarin Blueprint
That's right, yes. 心急 is basically the same meaning as just 急 (anxious, to worry)
Matt Shubert
I was a bit startled by this sentence:
答案是:汉语不难,也不是你学得不好,而是不够好
Particularly the last little clause. Is this saying something like:
"The answer is that Chinese isn't hard, nor are you studying wrong, but rather you're not good enough."
I suspect that's not the intended translation given the overall optimistic tone of the piece and that's quite a negative sentiment... but I'm not sure how else to translate 不够好...is it supposed to be more "you don't know enough well"?
That one bit aside - this particularly piece of content resonates with me a lot, I was feeling pretty good until the paragraph content of lesson 27, which is really testing my confidence and making me wonder if I really am just not good enough. My reading out loud is painfully slow on these and I mess up my tone sandhi changes constantly. In terms of comprehension, reading is ok, but I feel like when I do blind listening, it only makes sense because I've begun to memorize the sentences unconsciously from so much replaying. Only thing to do is swallow the anxiety and power through I suppose.
Mandarin Blueprint
Hey Matt, here's a reply for you: https://www.loom.com/share/902575c805c141ad84b722ad60ca4f13
MB Team
This is where Luke and Phil talked about your question in the Mandarin Blueprint Podcast:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHvBcfn-WtY&t=770s
Micaela Ellison
I watched your response and was happy to see I had understood this sentence. But it got me wondering about changing the meaning slightly to be "it's not that you haven't studied well, it's that you haven't studied enough." I think I could simply delete the final 好 and say 而是不够. Or is something more complex needed to convey that meaning?
Mandarin Blueprint
It would be a different meaning if you removed the 好. 不够 means "not enough" and 不够好 means "not good enough".