URLLesson Introduction
Whether you're making tables or making babies, you've come to the right place. Not for the faint of heart, this lesson teaches you all the Chinese vocabulary you're going to need to know to be able to ask for your hammer... or your scalpel. Listen in and find out what the heck is going on here. (Disclaimer: the dialogue is a leeetle bit graphic, so if you're squeamish, be forewarned.)
Related Links:
- Dear amber - Insect Market and Having a Baby
- Folks (scroll down for the semi-relevant content)
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sfrrr says
July 30, 2008
Ah, a subject after my own heart. Hardware stores and stationery stores are my second most favorite types of stores. Book stores are my zui hao de.
john says
July 30, 2008
This was a fun lesson to do.
A new classic...? :)
tezuk says
July 30, 2008
yea, this one was a good laugh and I didn't see the punchline coming! Well done. 笑死我了！
klgardensong says
July 30, 2008
It must have been fun to do!
What I want to know is who did the woman-in-labor sound effects. They were so beautifully timed with the tool sounds.
perle2 says
July 30, 2008
You are funny! What is the measure word for "sick puppies". The sound effects timing makes it perfect.
jennyzhu says
July 30, 2008
Part of the screaming was done by Esti from Spanishpod. What a performance!
johns says
July 30, 2008
When Esti came in with the saw it was great but now we know Jenny is good at sound effects, too! The most clever lesson to date!
changye says
July 30, 2008
The title of today's lesson is also hilarious. Good job. By the way, I have a hammer (锤子, chui2 zi), a saw (锯子, ju4 zi), pliers (钳子, qian2 zi), drivers (螺丝刀, luo2 si1 dao1), a wrench (板子, ban1 zi), and even an ax (斧子, fu3 zi) at home. They are indispensible if you live here in a local city in China. My neighbors often come to borrow them. In particular, my wrench is very "popular" among them in winter since the steam pipes in our apartments often leak.
andrew_c says
July 30, 2008
disturbing
strillop says
July 30, 2008
You guys have some serious creative freedom! Awesome... Anyone know how to say creative freedom in Mandarin?
misterjess says
July 30, 2008
Finally, My tool lesson. 谢谢你们。
I love how pliers are 老虎钳。Tiger claws.
How would one say "Table saw" and "Band saw"?
How about "Framing square" and "Crowbar" ?
amber says
July 30, 2008
hi stillop,
Creative freedom is:
创造的自由
Chuàngzào de zìyóu
lostinasia says
July 30, 2008
Other tools, taken from an Illustrated Chinese-English Dictionary:
amber says
July 30, 2008
hi misterjess,
Table saw: 台锯 (táijù)
Band saw: 带锯 (dàijù)
Framing square: 木工角尺 (mùgōng jiǎochǐ)
Crowbar: 铁撬 (tiěqiào)
jillybterp says
July 30, 2008
这门课好棒啊！锤子和榔头是不是一样的工具？谢谢你们的努力！Great lesson! Are 锤子 (chui2 zi) and 榔头 (lang2 tou) the same tool? Thanks for your hard work! :)
amber says
July 31, 2008
hi jillybterp,
榔头 (lángtou) is also a hammer, but bigger than a 锤子 (chuízi)
jennyzhu says
July 31, 2008
You can find more about hammer from the ChinesePod series- A Canadian's hammer sourcing adventure in China.
http://chinesepod.com/lessons/arriving-in-china-on-business
wenhailin says
July 31, 2008
lostinasia, there is an easier way to convert from traditional to simplified: Tong Wen Tang is a firefox addon that can immediately flip any page between the 2 scripts.
eyux says
July 31, 2008
很好笑！Thank you. I loved this lesson! Your best yet? The Monty Python approach to language learning.
Jenny, sounds like it's time to recharge your batteries!
rjberki says
July 31, 2008
Now I know why they call it labor. Great vocabulary. Fun lesson.
penben says
July 31, 2008
What an extremely useful (and funny) lesson! Now I can more easily do projects with my father in law.
chiongzibide says
July 31, 2008
The link to "Related Groups" - Medicine does not work. (on the left hand pane, at the bottom)
matthiask says
July 31, 2008
interesting lesson, sadly I know too many jokes already, so I knew also this one. Happy to learn how to tell it in chinese :)
suburbanite says
July 31, 2008
好极了！ Great sound work as well.
How do you say hardware store? Like, "Where is the hardware store?"
channa says
July 31, 2008
The slamming and the woman's pained screams make this dialogue very difficult for me to listen to.
Bad taste, Chinesepod.
agentchuck says
July 31, 2008
So, would a Robertson head screwdriver be a 四字螺丝刀？
How about air tools? Like an impact wrench or an air compressor?
kencarroll says
July 31, 2008
channa,
I actually felt the same way when I heard the dialog first, but it is the childbirth that is causing her pain - and emphatically not anything inflicted upon her. Nor does the humor (if it is humorous) lie in her pain, but in the fact that her husband completely misunderstood the situation. And, of course, it's fiction. I'd also note that there are women involved in the lesson production, and each of them can flag inappropriate content if they wish.
However, I guess in some ways it could still sound a bit cruel, though???
channa says
July 31, 2008
Hi Ken,
I understood the joke and the point of the lesson, but I think the punchline would still come through with half the screaming. I'm a big fan of Chinesepod but I won't be listening to this one over and over again on the ipod, that's all. --Channa
bazza says
July 31, 2008
At first I thought this either was magic trick gone badly wrong or an extreme S&M session. haha
calkins says
July 31, 2008
Great job CPod! It sounds like a clip from a real movie.
It's creative lessons like this that display the real beauty of ChinesePod.
jimkahl says
July 31, 2008
I could have used this lesson a couple weeks ago when I was in Wuxi. With my limited knowledge of Chinese at this point, it was rather interesting trying to make motions to someone that I needed a Phillips Screwdriver. Now I will probably never forget it. Thanks
wolson says
July 31, 2008
Outstanding Lesson! I could have used this when I was at Qinhuangdao: I had a chair that kept coming apart. I had a hard time describing what tools I needed to fix it... Apparently, most academics in China (and probably in the US) are not familiar common hand tools.
ronk says
July 31, 2008
Haven't looked but is there a general measure word for all tools. If not is there a general rule to sharp tools, long tools, etc.?
bazza says
July 31, 2008
Anyone know the Chinese name for Mole Grips? That's one of the few tools not in my visual dictionary.
weibwo says
July 31, 2008
Great dialog. Where were you when I needed the names for these tools. I was in Beijing working on a project with a company and I needed a phillips screwdriver and I looked and looked in my dictionary and couldn't find the word. I can't find the Chinese word for "spirit level" or "laser level". Anyone know the Chinese word for these two?
wolson says
July 31, 2008
Bazza,
In the US, we call these "vise grips." The Chinese called these
大力钳 （da4 li4 qian2)
32 minutes ago
Anyone know the Chinese name for Mole Grips? That's one of the few tools not in my visual dictionary.
urbandweller says
July 31, 2008
WOW...the sound effects were...umm...interesting...ha ha
:)
amber says
July 31, 2008
agentchuck,
内四角螺丝刀 (Nèi sìjiǎo luósīdāo) Robertson head screwdriver
weibwo,
水平仪 (Shuǐpíngyí) spirit level
激光水准仪 (Jīguāng shuǐzhǔnyí) laser level
amber says
July 31, 2008
user14047,
把 (bǎ) is a general measure word for all tools. For long tools, you can also use 根 (gēn)
poopzilla says
July 31, 2008
rating does not work:
I gave this lesson a "1", after reloading it says: "You have rated this lesson a '4'."
Nice way to keep ratings high ...
amber says
July 31, 2008
hi poopzilla,
Oops, sorry. I will have the tech team fix that!
daizi says
August 2, 2008
Funny & sick. Caesarean psycho.
Suburbanite:
Hardware store=五金店 wǔjīndiàn and it's measure word is 家 jiā
chris1 says
August 4, 2008
What a great lesson. Jenny and John are really a scream on this one especially their attempts at sound effects. Goofy lessons like this tend to stick in my brain a lot better than the more mundane ones. Keep up the great work!!
john says
August 4, 2008
chris1,
Thanks! I don't think I've ever been called "a scream" before, but I guess I have mostly the dialogue content and my co-hostess to thank for that... :)
aryeh says
August 5, 2008
I really enjoyed this lesson...however, my wife was a little less taken by my amusement.
that aside, although the lesson explained that the dao1, as in luo2 si1 dao1, means knife, I wondered about the other two characters. seems that lou2
means snail, hence the screw shape. si1 is silk which I have a hard time seeing, but can grasp with respect to a thread on the screw..neat.
great lesson, thanks!
timmyjshishei says
August 6, 2008
很好！ 我觉得我会记得我的工具的名字，因为你们的创造力是很厉害。
我一听见这门课我觉得有一点恐怖，然后我再听一边觉得很好笑！
谢谢你们， 我现在会去把我的电钻，浪头，螺丝刀，锯子和工具箱拿出来开始工作！
liang2yuan2 says
August 14, 2008
Haha...a little dramatic, yes...but a memorable lesson to what would have been an otherwise not-so-exciting topic!
tommymao says
August 16, 2008
螺丝= luo +si = snail(spiral) + silk (thread)
So put that together with knife 刀 = dao, and then add the flat head or phillips head...
How can you say that tools are wuliao!
Great lesson,
poopzilla says
August 18, 2008
Hey everyone,
I can't seem to make out of the lines in the dialog. It sounds like "再过 找 把 锯子。" Can someone help?
Thanks.
mattwhyndham says
August 18, 2008
I think you've heard the rapidly uttered "gei wo" as "guo"
Robert says
August 21, 2008
I have my computer setup to automatically play ChinesePod as my alarm clock. This one certainly got me out of bed scrambling to turn off my volume and wondering what my roommates think.
Later I got the joke. I really like all the joke lessons, and I think the lesson is great on that level. A bit embarrasing though, I wouldn't want to play it driving with my windows down.
pinkjeans says
September 4, 2008
I know I'm a bit late on this one, but gee, I loved the lesson.
ewong says
September 18, 2008
Just finished studying this lesson! great screaming, sounded real!
I learned that doctors are also called 大夫 （dàifu）
on the pdf, I think the sentence should be
你到底在干嘛？instead of 你到底想干吗？
ewong says
September 18, 2008
你到底想干嘛？instead of 你到底想干吗？
amber says
September 18, 2008
hi ewong,
干嘛 (gànmá) or 干吗 (gànmá)-- both are acceptable.
su1xiao3ya3 says
November 7, 2008
This is still one of my favourite CPod lessons!
When I first listened to it, I thought the word 'gong1 ju4' would be fairly redundant in my list of saved vocabulary (I don't spend much time using tools, as a general rule!).
However, I was just listening to the below lesson and, after reading the comments on the board, I changed my mind:
http://chinesepod.com/lessons/finding-a-supermarket/discussion
'jiao tong gong ju', was mentioned, meaning 'means of transport'. So 'tools' and 'means' is used as one word, as Jenny explained. Not dissimilar to the English, then.
Hen you yong de!
hwangd01 says
November 8, 2008
A basic question about measure words: When you see a sentence such as 给我把螺丝刀, is this the same as 给我一把螺丝刀? And if this is true, is there a subtle difference in what they mean? Can you use any measure word this way, such as 给我讲件故事?
tvan says
November 8, 2008
hwangd01, I'll let the bigger guns answer your specific question on grammar. However, on the sentences you wrote, I think the first two are technically correct. If you don't put a number in front of a measure word, "one" is generally assumed. However, without any context, I find first sentence unclear. Of course, you could also write, "把那把螺丝刀给我."
I do not think the second sentence is correct. Did you mean, "给我讲这件事?"
pearltowerpete says
November 9, 2008
Hi hwangd01,
tvan's reply was very good. And to clarify, the 量词 (measure word) for 故事 is 个, and for 事儿 is 件.
helandou says
November 12, 2008
Nice lesson! I am wondering if chinese men in general are like Jennies father (not having his own drill-machine and saw) or that they are as crazy about tools as most western men (still don't understand how a new dremel can be exciting, but ok). I would have thought chinese people would have even more tools because they are more inclined to repair things than by new ones...right?