Congratulations on finishing level 6. Expect to see new changes in level 7. We will follow a new format for every 4 lessons as follows:

1. Dialogue
2. Article
3. Lines or announcements you may hear in different situations
4. Introduction of a country

See you in level 7!

1. This article provides a good review of the vocabulary learned in the lessons about office technology (printers, fax machines, photocopiers) as well as computer usage (editing files, spreadsheets) terms.

2. Notice how typing in English and Chinese requires different skills. We define these as being able to type in “Chinese characters” and “English characters.” 并且会打字 – 中文字和英文字

3. The character 弄 is used in situations where the actual action required isn’t clear. We see it used in 把公司的收入和费用弄成表格给老板看, where it refers to compiling the profits and expenses into a statement.

As mentioned in the last lesson, use these articles to check your understanding of all the vocabulary and grammar / sentence patterns used. Use the transcripts where necessary to confirm your understanding. If you feel confident that you can understand the majority of the material without any additional aides, you should be ready for level 7! 加油！

From this lesson on, none of the lessons left in this level introduce any new words. So use the next 4 lessons as review of vocabulary, sentence and grammar patterns.

We are going to finish off level 6 with a series of articles that review vocabulary that has been studied in this level. Use them to check your understanding of vocabulary, grammar and sentence patterns.

Note that 都 is used more frequently in Chinese than “all” is in English. You can think of it as referring to all of the part being described.

a. 目前媒体报导的新闻很多都是负面的.
b. 大部分的报导都是一些负面的事情.

1. Notice how the translations of some sentences are different from their literal meaning:
a. In 像我觉得媒体的发展让很多名人变得没有自由了 the literal translation is “For example I feel media’s development let many celebrities become no freedom”.
b. In 要是人们都不看媒体转播的报导, the literal translation is “If people all don’t watch media broadcast reports”.

2. We see more examples of the 着 particle in this lesson:
a. 因为有很多小报的记者 想知道那些名人过着什么样的生活. Here it used to show that the living is a continuous action.
b. 像去外面吃饭的时候，有些记者也会跟着你. Here it shows that the following action is continuous.

1. We used a slightly different approach in this lesson of not giving you the English translation of some of the new words up front, but rather a translation into Chinese. The English translations were added to the end summary so you could check if you understood them correctly or not.

2. Note how 运动 can refer to exercise or sports:

a. 那当然运动对身体很好.

b. 可是有些人只是对一些体育很有兴趣.

3. Note the use of the verb 害 in 所以有时候可能会因为这样害自己的球队输掉比赛. In Chinese, you can distinguish between a regular cause and a harmful cause using this verb.

1. Note how the following adverbs are used:

a. 有一位八十岁的老人哭着说. 有一个农夫对记者抱怨说. This can be thought of as “said complaining”.

b. 投资人都开心地笑了. This one is easier to grasp as “laughed excitedly”.

2. In today’s article you will see a couple of uses of the 着. It is used to indicate an action takes place over an extended period.

a. 有一位八十岁的老人哭着说. Here the crying takes place longer than the saying.

b. 要是观众们有空的话，可以带着全家人到那里去看看. Here the “taking” isn’t a single event but prolonged over the duration of the performance.

3. Many businesses prefer to use “rest” instead of “closing for the day”, as seen in 股票市场休息一天.

1. 订 is used differently than we’ve seen it in the past in the sentence 或是当地政府定了哪些新的规定.

2. Note how 最近 can refer to both the recent past and the upcoming future:
a. 他们也会告诉你最近买哪些股票可能会让你赚钱.
b. 应该也会比较了解最近投资的趋势是什么.

1. Note that 欧洲 and 澳洲 sound quite similar but can be distinguished from their tones (4th tone versus 1st tone).

2. Notice how Kirin uses 行 to express her ability in geography in 可是我地理方面不太行.

3. Notice how southwest is literally “west south” in Chinese in 而且是在日本的西南边. Similarly, one could say 西北, 东南 and 东北.

1. You can see a couple of examples of the 先 / 再 construct in this lesson:

a. 为什么麦克不先告诉小李再去买戒指呢？

b. 嗯，所以他们应该先到别的地方旅行，再考虑要不要搬到那边住.

2. Notice the use of 掉 in 你会觉得他们之前在一起的时间都浪费掉了吗? You can think of its use here as meaning “losing wasted time”.

1. Note how 大概 is used differently from English in the following sentences:

a. 那目前故事大概的内容是什么?

b. 我想你们大概猜得出来今天的故事会发生什么事情.

2. 完全 is used to emphasize the “complete non expectation” in 她完全没想到麦克会有这个计划.

3. Notice how, like in English, proposals can be accepted or agreed to: 因为他以为小李一定会接受他的求婚. 没想到到最后小李却不答应他的求婚

1. You can use 很会 to emphasize your ability to do something, as seen in 麦克可能很会讲故事.

2. Notice how “if” is assumed and not explicitly specified in the question 为什么小李已经知道麦克要离开，她还是很惊讶呢？

1. Notice how the use of tense is developed from context. By itself, the sentence 小李会带麦克到处去玩 translates to the future. However, in the context of this story, it translates into the past 然后周末的时候，小李会带麦克到处去玩. We have a similar contrast in 麦克也会带小李到西方餐厅去吃饭 and 麦克也会带小李到西方餐厅去吃饭.

2. The sentence 小李会带麦克到处去玩 literally translates to “Xiaoli will take Mike everywhere go fun” which is slightly different from the English translation of taking him to many different places.

3. Notice the construction of how something is introduced to someone else – literally it’s “introduce object give subject to know” in 小李会带麦克到处去玩，而且介绍一些中国文化给麦克认识 and “introduce food give subject to eat” in 麦克也会带小李到西方餐厅去吃饭，介绍一些小李从来没吃过的西方食物给她吃.

4. Compare the use of relationship in these two sentences: 过了几个月后，小李跟麦克的关系越来越好 and 过没多久，他们果然谈恋爱了. 而且他们的感情变得更好了. The first example talks about a general relationship while the second one refers to a romantic one.

Note how people can be referred to in different ways than in English:

1. “Teacher” is a title in Chinese, just like “Doctor” is in English: 现在请杨老师先给我们上一课故事的简介.

2. Mike is referred to as “Mr Mike” in the story, since we don’t know his last name. 小李发现麦克先生要在他的学校上班.

1. Note how 当地 is used as a noun, rather than an adjective in the sentence 他本来住在美国，后来搬到中国，并且在当地教英文.

2. Note how to help someone, we can say “to help his busy”: 后来校长问老师们，有没有人愿意 在麦克先生上课的时候帮他的忙.

1. Compare the construction of the following sentences:

a. 他对中国的历史非常着迷.
b. 他被西方的文化给吸引.

While both of them talk about subjects being influenced by other entities, the first uses the 他对X非常着迷 construction while the second uses 他被X给吸引.

2. When using 不管，you need to follow its usage with a question, such as in 我认为不管住在哪里, where 住在哪里 is the question.

我认为不管住在哪里，人们都会对不同的文化有好奇的感觉.

3. Note the user of emphatic particles 却 and 并 emphasizing that the statement isn’t what one might otherwise imagine:

a. 他比较想要体验中国当地的文化，却不是西方的文化.

b. 有的时候，你可能会觉得你在美国，并不是你去旅游的那个国家.

Use the story and article lessons to practice your listening skills. The approach we recommend is to first listen to the normal speed version and see how much of it you understand. Then listen to the slowed down version to practice your pronunciation and give you more time to think what each sentence is saying. If there are still parts that you don’t understand, then refer to the translations provided in the complete transcripts. Once you are familiar with the new vocabulary and sentence patterns taught, then try your hand at the different exercises such as the typing test and sentence builders. For an added challenge, try reading the entire transcript yourself in Chinese characters. Following these steps for each lesson should insure constant improvement on your part.

1. Although 好奇 uses the character 好, the pronunciation of the first character changes to the fourth tone.

2. Note how 大概 is used as a noun in 故事的大概是…

3. This lesson features many instances of the 就 and 才 particles emphasizing cause and effect:

就:

a. 可是要是人们看到别的国家的文化和生活 跟他们当地的差很多，当然就会觉得好奇. If the first clause occurs (people seeing different culture and life), then the second one (they will feel curious) will definitely occur.

b. 可以到那边旅游就行了. The second clause (their satisfaction) will occur if the first (going there for travel) occurs.

c. 在亚洲，大部分的父母认为孩子的责任就是把书念好. Studying well is directly related to children’s responsibilities.

d. 可是她没有因为这样就觉得失望. She didn’t feel disappointed as a direct result of this.

才:

a. 成绩好，小孩成功的机会才会比较多. Children’s opportunities for success will only increase if they have good grades.

b. 因为在小李申请当空姐的时候，才发现自己太矮了. She only found out she was too short after applying to become a flight attendant.

1. Note that 梦想 is a noun, as seen in 她的梦想是希望未来有一天 能到国外旅行. However 做梦 is a verb, as seen in 但是她的妈妈总是叫她别再做梦了，好好地念书就行了.

2. We can see a sentence pattern 别再…了 in 但是她的妈妈总是叫她别再做梦了.

请用中文回答下面的问题.

1. Notice how a clerk is described as a “service person” in 那你订房间的时候，服务员会问你要住什么样的房间.

2. The literal meaning of the sentence 所以住在豪华型的房间比较舒服吧 is “So living in a deluxe model room is (probably) more comfortable.” Note how in Chinese you can “live” in a hotel, rather than “stay” and also how we add “model” to deluxe room.

3. Note how the sentence 然后还什么其他的费用是需要付钱的，像服务费或是停车费 is ordered as a question (what other expenses are there…), however in this context is a statement.

4. In Chinese you take something “on your body” rather than “with you” as in English. 而且如果你要自己开车，应该带一些当地的地图跟资料在身上，才不会迷路.

请用中文回答下面的问题.

1. The 好好 in 你应该先好好地休息一下 has a meaning of “very”.

2. Note how we don’t need to use “or” in the following sentences:
a. 放假的意思就是你不用上班上课.
b. 要是只有一两天而已，我应该会待在家里.
c. 可是要是我有一两个礼拜的假期，我应该会计划到远一点的地方去度假.

3. The 后面 refers to “next” or “the following” in 所以我们会再利用后面的几课来讨论.

4. The 走走看看 in 我应该会待在家里，或是去附近的地方走走看看 suggests going somewhere without a specific purpose.

5. Note how 放假 can also become 放暑假 or 放寒假, as seen in因为大部分的学校放暑假 或是寒假的时间都是差不多的.

请回答下面的问题.

In level 6 of our course, we venture into more specific topics, such as economic terms, globalization etc. Spend more time on the topics that interest you, while you can skip over words from topics that you don’t plan to use at this stage. However, don’t skip over lessons entirely, since some of the words taught are generic and can be used within other contexts. For example, in this lesson, although the topic is about managing profits, words like “according to”, “increase” and “decrease” are pretty general and can be used in other topics as well.

1. Like many words in Chinese, although 全球化 sounds like a noun, it can be used in verb forms as well, as seen in 目前，世界上有许多国家的贸易公司都全球化了 and 这就是为什么 有很多贸易公司全球化的其中一个原因了.

2. 竞争 is often used together with 激烈 as seen in 市场上的竞争非常激烈.

3. 差不多 can also mean “similar”, as seen in 可是他们卖的产品却跟其它的公司差不多.

4. Note that 费用 is a noun while 支出 is a verb. So in the sentence 所以他们得找出一个新的方法来让公司的支出变少, the action of paying out is being described. You can also combine the two together, as seen in 所以工厂支出的费用就少了很多.

5. In the past, we’ve seen 情况 paired with 发生. Here we see it 情况 paired with 见 in 由于这种情况越来越常见.

Note how we say 签契约, as we see in 那为什么两个人合作的时候，需要签契约呢？

请用中文回答下面的问题.