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(mms://media.chinabroadcast.cn/eng/language/studio/lesson211.wma)

Y: It’s our manners week on Chinese Studio… welcome everyone. Wo shi yajie.
B: da jia hao. Wo shi Brendan. We human beings need to know about good manners… it’s very important wherever you are.
Y: Right, so let’s continue our lessons.

Key words of the day

Do you mind if I smoke? 你介意我抽烟吗？No, I don’t mind. 不介意。
Could you please pass me the ketchup? 请把番茄酱递给我，好吗？All in today’s Chinese Studio

B: Yajie, do you mind if I smoke?
Y: no… I don’t mind… but Brendan, I don’t know you smoke.
B: hehe I don’t… I just want to know how to say it in Chinese.
Y: I see. You can say “ni3 jie4 yi4 wo3 chou1 yan1 ma?”
B: ni3 jie4 yi4 wo3 chou1 yan1 ma?
Y: ni3 means you,
B: ni3,
Y: jie4 yi4 means mind,
B: jie4 yi4,
Y: wo3 means I,
B: wo3,
Y: chou1 yan1 means smoke,
B: chou1 yan1,
Y: ma is often put at the end of a question.
B: ma.
Y: ni3 jie4 yi4 wo3 chou1 yan1 ma?
B: ni3 jie4 yi4 wo3 chou1 yan1 ma? Do you mind if I smoke. 

Conversation 1:
A:你介意我抽烟吗？
B: 不介意。您随便。

B: Yajie, what if a Chinese asks me this question and I want to say “I don’t mind”.
Y: you can say “bu2 jie4 yi4.”
B: bu2 jie4 yi4.
Y: bu2 means not,
B: bu2,
Y: jie4 yi4 means mind,
B: jie4 yi4,
Y: bu2 jie4 yi4
B: bu2 jie4 yi4 I don’t mind. 

Conversation 2:
A: 你介意我抽烟吗？
B: 不介意。

B: Yajie, Could you please pass me the ketchup?
Y: Sure… here you are.
B: thanks. What if the person I ask don’t understand English?
Y: then you can say it in Chinese, like this : 请把番茄酱递给我，好吗？
B: qing3 ba3 fan1 qie2 jiang4 di4 gei3 wo3, hao3ma?
Y: qing3 means please,
B: qing3,
Y: fan1 qie2 means tomato,
B: fan1 qie2.
Y: jiang4 means something paste like jam,
B: jiang4.
Y: fan1 qie2 jiang4, ketchup, 
B: fan1 qie2 jiang4
Y: di4 means pass,
B: di4,
Y: gei3 wo3 means give something to me,
B: gei3 wo3.
Y:  hao3ma, is it okay?
B:  hao3ma
Y: qing3 ba3 fan1 qie2 jiang4 di4 gei3 wo3, hao3ma
B: qing3 ba3 fan1 qie2 jiang4 di4 gei3 wo3,hao3ma Could you please pass me the ketchup?

Conversation3:
A: 请把番茄酱递给我，好吗？
B: 好的。给你，
A：谢谢，
B：不客气。

Key words reminder

Do you mind if I smoke? 你介意我抽烟吗？No, I don’t mind. 不介意。
Could you please pass me the ketchup? 请把番茄酱递给我，好吗？All in today’s Chinese Studio

B: We’ve run out of time already. Let’s get to our question of the day.
Y: Today’s question is, how do you say “Do you mind if I smoke?” in Chinese?
B: Send your answer to Chinese@crifm.com.  And you might win a prize from us. Ming tian jian!
Y: Ming tian jian!

(Source:english.cri.cn)

Construction work on what will be the world’s tallest building will start this year in Shanghai.

Media reports say the Shanghai Development and Reform Commission has ratified the project proposal for Shanghai Center which will be located in the city’s Pudong district.

The 580-meter-tall edifice will have 118 stories and will be 25 meters higher than the 555-meter-tall Burj Dubai skyscraper, which is still under construction.

 

Archaeological site of the Mid Paleolithic Age

 

Location: Xiangfen County, Shanxi Province

 

Period: 120,000-100,000 BP

 

Excavated in 1954

 

Significance: It has offered significant material objects for the study of cultural remains of the Mid Paleolithic Age in China.

 

 Introduction

 

The famous “Dingcun Man” of the Stone Age used to live here. In the autumn of 1954 a large scale excavation was conducted in Dingcun Site. Over 2,000 artifacts belonging to the Dingcun Man were unearthed in the Site, including human and animal fossils, as well as stone tools. Studies made on the Dingcun Culture show that in the middle of the Paleolithic Age about a hundred thousand years ago, the Dingcun Men were already actively engaged in hunting and gathering seeds and other eatables from wild plants and primitive tribes were formed on such a basis. 

Heavy angular pointed implement: tool (up-left, length 17 cm); Heavy angular pointed implement: tool (up-right, length 17 cm); Human fossil teeth: (bottom)

 

 Dingcun Dwellings

 

In the vicinity of the site are scattered over 40 well-preserved dwellings, built in the traditional style of the Ming and Qing dynasties between the 17th and 19th centuries. All the dwellings in the village are laid out in a quadrangle pattern facing south, and consist of main halls, flanks, archways, ceremonial archways, memorial archways, viewing towers and embroidery workshops. The total area is 480,000 square meters. The oldest houses were built in 1593, during the Ming Dynasty, and the most recent, during the Republic of China (1912-1949).

 

Generally, the buildings are arranged in three groups, that is, the north courtyard, middle courtyard and south courtyard, arranged in a compact and symmetrical way. The layout of the courtyards, placement of doors, slope of roofs, and ornaments and carvings on doors and windows vary from the Ming to the Qing dynasties. Each dwelling is exquisitely decorated with ancient architectural carvings of flowers, animals and theatrical figures. Woodcuts and stone carvings are rich in content and intricate in design. Materials like brick, wood and stone make the buildings not only beautiful but also practical and highly resistant to earth tremors.

（Source: chinaculture.org）