Level 30 Complete, Phase 4 Complete!

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Phase 4搞定了！

搞定 isn’t a high-frequency word (although it’s pretty close). Betcha can figure out what it means, though. After all, 搞 is a verb you just learned, and we know that 定 can be a result. You ‘took care of’ (搞) until it was ‘confirmed’ (定). In short, it means “Check! Done!”

Phase 5 Coming Up

天哪！OMG! Now that you’ve finished Phase 4, you’re ready to enter into what is effectively the final broad phase of learning Chinese. Phase 5 is all about stories, and everything from newspaper articles to novels is (at least in some way) trying to convey a story. The reason that this is such a huge step is that you’re exiting the “fundamentals” stage and entering into the “getting good” stage.

You’re Reaching the Point Where Chinese is Not the Focus, But Rather The Avenue

Up until now, the vast majority of what you’ve been learning is about the Chinese language in and of itself. However, once you start reading stories, you open up the possibility for Chinese to merely be the avenue by which you acquire new knowledge. Holy heck.

When the two of us started listening to the 罗辑思维 luóji sīwéi (‘Logical Thinking’ with the 逻 in 逻辑 luóji changed to the host’s surname 罗) podcast, we started learning about philosophy, economics, history, and much more via the avenue called 'Chinese.' Any Chinese acquisition was incidental (although massively sped up). You’re so close to reaching that level. Just keep showing up every day.

Some Level 30 Awesomeness - 车 & Word Structure

First of all, 车 means “vehicle” more than it means “car.” 汽车 is an automobile, whereas 车 by itself is a catch-all word for vehicles that travel along the ground with wheels. You find out which type of vehicle it is either through context (e.g., you’re looking at the 电动车 in front of you and a repairman, so he knows you don’t mean “car” when you say ‘我的车坏了‘), or by using one of the many biased words that specify the type of vehicle.

自行车 ‘self’ - ’to go’ - ‘vehicle.’ Heck, a vehicle you power forward by yourself? Duh, a bicycle.
火车 - ‘fire’ - ‘vehicle.’ OK, so it’s a legacy word because *trains* don’t run on fire-burning engines anymore, but they did when the word was invented!
电动车 ‘electric’ - ‘move’ - ‘vehicle’ - *eBikes* sure do use electricity to make the vehicle move!

Isn’t Chinese easy? Now let’s look at a few of the ‘Verb-What’ structures that 车 gave us:

打车 - Verb: ’to hail’ Hail What? A 车.
开车 - Verb: ‘to drive.’ Drive What? A 车.
上车 - Verb: ‘to get on or in.’ Get in What? A 车.
下车 - Verb: ‘to get off or out.’ Get out of what? A 车.

Legacy Words

Unsurprisingly, 上 & 下 are used with when referring to getting in or out of cars as opposed to 外 & 里. Why? Because the earliest cars were much like carriages. They didn’t have an “inside” as much as a seat on wheels that was above (上) the ground. That’s even how you refer to things that are in your car. For example, if your “bag is in the car,” you’d say “我的包在车上.”

Sure, this can be frustrating sometimes when you are trying to be intuitive (i.e., the bag is “in” the car, so shouldn’t it be 里?), but it also exemplifies just how beautifully efficient the Chinese language is. When there is a new invention, the process of inventing a new word must get at the crux of the invention’s nature.

For example, after drones became a ubiquitous way to shoot videos (and, sigh, practice warfare), someone in China said, “Heck, what should we call this thing? Well, it’s definitely a machine (机), but there aren’t (无 wú) any people (人 rén). How about a 无人机？" Sure, that doesn’t tell you everything about it, but it gives you a quick overview. Chinese is wicked!

You’re Going to Win

You’ve been stepping up to the challenge every day for a while now. Did any part of you think you couldn’t do it? Did anyone you know look askance when you told them what you were up to? You’re not finished learning, but the doubt is gone. Victory isn’t a moment; it’s something you’ve been doing every day and will continue to do for years to come.

Not that it’s important, but we unabashedly & unreservedly admire you. Thank you for believing in our course and contributing to a better connection between the West and China. Absolute hero.

保重，

Luke & Phil

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