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At the Bookstore I

B: Dajia hao, hello everyone, improve your Chinese every day, right here in the Chinese
Studio. Welcome in, I’m Brendan.
Y: And wo shi Y

B: You know Y, it’s fun learning Chinese here in the Chinese Studio, but I think I need to do
a bit more study. I want to go to a decent bookstore and stock up on some language learning
books, and some good novels too of course.

Y: Good idea, to the bookstore we shall go. Let’s check our key words of the day.

Key words of the day

Book 书 bookstore, 书店Novels 小说tapes 磁带 Where’s a good bookstore? 哪儿有好的书
店？Where are the English language novels? 英文小说在几层？On the fourth floor 在四层 All in
today’s Chinese Studio.

B: First up, what’s a book, I should know how to say that in Chinese, but I’ve forgotten. Help
me out Yaj.
Y: Mei wenti, it’s shu1,
B: shu1. that’s easy. And what about a bookstore?
Y: it’s shu1 dian4. as dian4, here it means a shop selling books,
B: I see… shu1 dian4. Then where’s a good bookstore?
Y: I know there are some good ones in downtown Beijing. If you want to ask it in Chinese, you
may say 哪儿有好的书店？
B: na2er you3 hao3 de shu1 dian4.
Y: na2er means where,
B: na2er,
Y: you3 literally means have,
B: you3,
Y: hao3 de means good,
B: hao3 de,
Y: shu1 dian4 is bookstore,
B: shu1 dian4,
Y: na2er you3 hao3 de shu1 dian4.
B: na2er you3 hao3 de shu1 dian4. Where is a good bookstore?

  Coryright 2007 cchello.com 
                                                                                   www.cchello.com
Conversation 1
A: 哪儿有好的书店？
B: 去王府井看看. 那儿有个不错的书店。.

B: Hey while I’m here Y, I might have a look at the novels too.
Y: I’d like to find something to read as well. We’re looking for 小说。
B: xiao3 shuo1. And I bet in the big bookstores, the English language novels are probably
upstairs somewhere. How do I ask them where are the English language novels?
Y: you may ask: 英文小说在几层？
B: ying1 wen2 xiao3 shuo1 zai4 ji3 ceng2?
Y: ying1 wen2 means English language,
B: ying1 wen2,
Y: xiao3 shuo1, novels,
B: xiao3 shuo1,
Y: zai4 means on which floor,
B: zai4,
Y: ji3 ceng2 means which floor,
B: ji3 ceng2.
Y: ying1 wen2 xiao3 shuo1 zai4 ji3 ceng2?
B: ying1 wen2 xiao3 shuo1 zai4 ji3 ceng2? Where are the English language novels? Let’s
say they’re on the fourth floor, what will the shop assistant tell me?
Y: He or she may tell you: 在四层。
B: Let me try that, zai4 si4 ceng2.
Y: zai4 means on,
B: zai4,
Y: si4 means the fourth,
B: si4,
Y: ceng2 means floor,
B: ceng2.
Y: zai4 si4 ceng2
B: zai4 si4 ceng2 on the fourth floor.

Conversation 2
A: 英文小说在几层？
B: 在四层。

B: I’ve found a swag of good novels, but I better get back to looking for some Chinese
learning material. I like listening to things, what you call language tapes, as they’re very
useful for learning.
Y: … type in Chinese is 磁带。
B: ci2 dai4. Great, but sometimes types are not so convenient. Let’s also look for some CDs,
ok?

  Coryright 2007 cchello.com 
                                                                                   www.cchello.com
Y: Xing, we call those CD too in Chinese
B: Great… Now it’s much easier to listen to CDs through my mp3 player when I’m out walking
or riding my zixingche, my bike.

Conversation 3
A: 我想买一套学中文的教材。
B: 您是要磁带还是 CD？
A: 最好是 CD。

Key words reminder

Book 书 bookstore, 书店Novels 小说tapes 磁带 Where’s a good bookstore? 哪儿有好的书
店？Where are the English language novels? 英文小说在几层？On the fourth floor 在四层 All in
today’s Chinese Studio.

B: I’m itching to get into these new books.

Y: Before we go, here’s our question. How do you say, “bookstore” in Chinese of course.

  Coryright 2007 cchello.com