How to get your Chinese tutor to tell you a good story
As I was driving my Chinese tutor out to lunch a few weeks ago, a squirrel ran by. She proceeded to tell me about a Secret Society of the Squirrels meeting she had accidentally witnessed. Okay, I made up the part about the secret society, except we have all been suspicious of such a thing, right?
Regardless, it was an unusual scene that she came upon. She wrote it down so I could share it with you! But, first, some of the vocabulary. This list is a bit longer than usual, as she tells the story in a very naturally Chinese fashion.
開會 ㄎㄞ ㄏㄨㄟˋ (kāi huì) to hold a meeting, to attend a meeting
晴朗 ㄑㄧㄥˊ ㄌㄤˇ (qíng lǎng) sunny and cloudless
初夏 ㄔㄨ ㄒㄧㄚˋ (chū xià) early summer
早晨 ㄗㄠˇ ㄔㄣˊ (zǎo chén) early morning
漫步 ㄇㄢˋ ㄅㄨˋ (màn bù) at a slow pace, strolling
安靜 ㄢ ㄐㄧㄥˋ (ān jìng) quiet, peaceful
佈滿 ㄅㄨˋ ㄇㄢˇ (bù mǎn) fully spreading
林蔭 ㄌㄧㄣˊ ㄧㄣˋ (lín yìn) shade of a grove of trees
鄰近 ㄌㄧㄣˊ ㄐㄧㄣˋ (lín jìn) neighboring, adjacent
住家 ㄓㄨˋ ㄐㄧㄚ (zhù jiā) residence, household
步道 ㄅㄨˋ ㄉㄠˋ (bù dào) walking path, sidewalk
社區 ㄕㄜˋ ㄑㄩ (shè qū) community
合作社 ㄏㄜˊ ㄗㄨㄛˋ ㄕㄜˋ (hé zuò shè) cooperative (worker’s or producer’s)
接近 ㄐㄧㄝ ㄐㄧㄣˋ (jiē jìn) to get close to
街區 ㄐㄧㄝ ㄑㄩ (jiē qū) a block (between streets)
角落 ㄐㄧㄠˇ ㄌㄨㄛˋ (jiǎo luò) nook, corner
樹蔭 ㄕㄨˋ ㄧㄣˋ (shù yìn) shade of a tree
濃密 ㄋㄨㄥˊ ㄇㄧˋ (nóng mì) thick, dense
愕然 ㄜˋ ㄖㄢˊ (è rán) stunned, amazed
樹幹 ㄕㄨˋ ㄍㄢˋ (shù gàn) tree trunk
旁邊 ㄆㄤˊ ㄅㄧㄢ (páng biān) beside, next to
站立著 ㄓㄢˋ ㄌㄧˋ ㄓㄜ˙ (zhàn lì zhe.) standing on one’s feet
好像 ㄏㄠˇ ㄒㄧㄤˋ (hǎo xiàng) as if
立刻 ㄌㄧˋ ㄎㄜˋ (lì kè) at once, immediate
停下 ㄊㄧㄥˊ ㄒㄧㄚˋ (tíng xià) to come to a stop
腳步 ㄐㄧㄠˇ ㄅㄨˋ (jiǎo bù) foot step, my steps
驚嚇 ㄐㄧㄥ ㄒㄧㄚˋ (jīng xià) to frighten, to terrify
幾秒鐘 ㄐㄧˇ ㄇㄧㄠˇ ㄓㄨㄥ (jǐ miǎo zhōng) few seconds
似乎 ㄙˋ ㄏㄨ (sì hū) as if, apparently
注視著 ㄓㄨˋ ㄕˋ ㄓㄜ˙ (zhù shì zhe.) to watch attentively
模樣 ㄇㄛˊ ㄧㄤˋ (mó yàng) look, appearance
實在 ㄕˊ ㄗㄞˋ (shí zài) really, indeed
可愛極了 ㄎㄜˇ ㄞˋ ㄐㄧˊ ㄌㄜ˙ (kě ài jí le.) extremely cute
警覺 ㄐㄧㄥ ㄐㄩㄝˊ (jīng jué) to be on guard, alert
存在 ㄘㄨㄣˊ ㄗㄞˋ (cún zài) existence
一哄而散 ㄧˋ ㄏㄨㄥ ㄦˊ ㄙㄢˋ (yì hōng ér sàn) to disperse in confusion
四處竄逃 ㄙˋ ㄔㄨˋ ㄘㄨㄢˋ ㄊㄠˊ (sì chù cuàn táo) all over the place, to escape like rats
恍神過來 ㄏㄨㄤˇ ㄕㄣˊ ㄍㄨㄛˋ ㄌㄞˊ (huǎng shén guò lái) recover from being off in another world
只嘆 ㄓˇ ㄊㄢˋ (zhǐ tàn) only sigh
那一幕 ㄋㄚˋ ㄧˊ ㄇㄨˋ (nà yí mù) that scene
拍攝下來 ㄆㄞ ㄕㄜˋ ㄒㄧㄚˋ ㄌㄞˊ (pāi shè xià lái) capture in a photograph
What squirrels do when you aren’t watching
在一個晴朗初夏的早晨，
(在)(一)(個)(晴朗)(初夏)(的)(早晨)
(ㄗㄞˋ)(ㄧˊ)(ㄍㄜ˙)(ㄑㄧㄥˊ ㄌㄤˇ)(ㄔㄨ ㄒㄧㄚˋ)(ㄉㄜ˙)(ㄗㄠˇ ㄔㄣˊ)
(zài)(yī)(ge.)(qíng lǎng)(chū xià)(de.)(zǎo chén)
(at, on)(one)(MW)(sunny, cloudless)(early summer)(adjective marker)(early morning)
On an sunny early summer’s break of day,
我漫步在安靜而佈滿林蔭的鄰近住家旁的步道上，
(我)(漫步)(在)(安靜)(而)(佈滿)(林蔭)(的)
(ㄨㄛˇ)(ㄇㄢˋㄅㄨˋ)(ㄗㄞˋ)(ㄢㄐㄧㄥˋ)(ㄦˊ)(ㄅㄨˋㄇㄢˇ)(ㄌㄧㄣˊ ㄧㄣˋ)(ㄉㄜ˙)
(wǒ)(màn bù)(zài)(ān jìng)(ér)(bù mǎn)(lín yìn)(de.)
(I)(at a slow pace, strolling)(at, on)(peaceful, quiet)(and, as well)(fully spreading)(shade of a grove of trees)(adjective marker)
…..(鄰近)(住家)(旁)❶(的)(步道)(上)
……(ㄌㄧㄣˊㄐㄧㄣˋ)(ㄓㄨˋㄐㄧㄚ)(ㄆㄤˊ)(ㄉㄜ˙)(ㄅㄨˋㄉㄠˋ)(ㄕㄤˋ)
……(lín jìn)(zhù jiā)(pàng)(de.)(bù dào)(shàng)
……(neighboring)(residence)(beside)(adjective maker)(foot path, sidewalk)(on)
I was strolling on the peaceful and densely shaded sidewalk in the nearby neighborhood,
要去社區合作社買東西。
(要)(去)(社區)❷(合作社)❸(買)(東西)
(ㄧㄠˋ)(ㄑㄩˋ)(ㄕㄜˋ ㄑㄩ)(ㄏㄜˊ ㄗㄨㄛˋ ㄕㄜˋ)(ㄇㄞˇ)(ㄉㄨㄥ ㄒㄧ)
(yào)(qù)(shè qū)(hé zuò shè)(mǎi)(dōng xī)
(to want)(to go)(community)(agricultural or producers cooperative
(I) wanted to go to the community coop to buy some things.
走著！走著！
(走)(著)(走)(著)
(ㄗㄡˇ)(ㄓㄜ˙)(ㄗㄡˇ)(ㄓㄜ˙)
(zǒu)(zhe.)(zǒu)(zhe.)
(to walk)(particle indicating action in progress)(to walk)(particle indicating action in progress)
Just walking along, walking along…
走到了接近街區角落一棵樹蔭濃密的大樹下，
(走)(到了)(接近)(街區)(角落)
(ㄗㄡˇ)(ㄉㄠˋㄌㄜ˙)(ㄐㄧㄝㄐㄧㄣˋ)(ㄐㄧㄝ ㄑㄩ)(ㄐㄧㄠˇㄌㄨㄛˋ)
(zǒu)(dào le.)(jiē jìn)(jiē qū)(jiǎo luò)
(to walk)(to arrive)(to get close to)(block)(nook, corner)
…..(一)(棵)(樹蔭)(濃密)(的)(大)(樹)(下)
……(ㄧˋ)(ㄎㄜ)(ㄕㄨˋㄧㄣˋ)(ㄋㄨㄥˊㄇㄧˋ)(ㄉㄜ˙)(ㄉㄚˋ)(ㄕㄨˋ)(ㄒㄧㄚˋ)
……(yì)(kē)(shù yìn)(nóng mì)(de.)(dà)(shù)(xià)
……(one)(MW for trees)(shade of a tree)(thick, dense)(adjective marker)(big)(tree)(under)
(I) arrived close to the dense shade under a big tree near the corner,
愕然看見五隻松鼠在那棵大樹下樹幹旁邊站立著圍在一起好像正在開會聊天，
(愕然)(看見)(五)(隻)(松鼠)
(ㄜˋㄖㄢˊ)(ㄎㄢˋ ㄐㄧㄢˋ)(ㄨˇ)(ㄓ)(ㄙㄨㄥ ㄕㄨˇ)
(è rán)(kàn jiàn)(wǔ)(zhī)(sōng shǔ)
(stunned, amazed)(to catch sight of)(five)(MW for squirrels)(squirrel)
…..(在)(那)(棵)(大)(樹)(下)(樹幹)(旁邊)(站立)(著)(圍)
……(ㄗㄞˋ)(ㄋㄚˋ)(ㄎㄜ)(ㄉㄚˋ)(ㄕㄨˋ)(ㄒㄧㄚˋ)(ㄕㄨˋ ㄍㄢˋ)(ㄆㄤˊ ㄅㄧㄢ)(ㄓㄢˋ ㄌㄧˋ)(ㄓㄜ˙)(ㄨㄟˊ)
……(zài)(nà)(kē)(dà)(shù)(xià)(shù gàn)(páng biān)(zhàn lì)(zhe.)(wéi)
……(at)(that)(MW for tree)(big)(tree)(under)(tree trunk)(next to, beside)(standing on one’s feet)(particle indicating action in progress)(to encircle, to surround)
……….(在)(一起)(好像)(正在)(開會)(聊天)
…………(ㄗㄞˋ)(ㄧˋ ㄑㄧˇ)(ㄏㄠˇ ㄒㄧㄤˋ)(ㄓㄥˋ ㄗㄞˋ)(ㄎㄞ ㄏㄨㄟˋ)(ㄌㄧㄠˊ ㄊㄧㄢ)
…………(zài)(yì qǐ)(hǎo xiàng)(zhèng zài)(kāi huì)(liáo tiān)
…………(on, at)(together)(as if)(just at that time, right in the middle of)(to hold a meeting)(to chat)
(and) was stunned to see five squirrels gathered around under the tree beside the tree trunk standing on their feet like they were having a meeting and chatting.
我立刻停下腳步，不想驚嚇到牠們。
(我)(立刻)(停下)❹(腳步)，
(ㄨˇ)(ㄌㄧˋ ㄎㄜˋ)(ㄊㄧㄥˊ ㄒㄧㄚˋ)(ㄐㄧㄠˋ ㄅㄨˋ),
(wǒ)(lì kè)(tíng xià)(jiǎo bù),
(I)(at once, straightaway)(to stop)(footstep)
…..(不)(想)(驚嚇)(到)[(牠)(們)]
……(ㄅㄨˋ)(ㄒㄧㄤˇ)(ㄐㄧㄥ ㄒㄧㄚˋ)(ㄉㄠˋ)[(ㄊㄚ)(ㄇㄣ˙)]
……(bù)(xiǎng)(jīng xià)(dào)[(tā)(men.)]
……(not)(to think, to want)(to frighten, to terrify)(to arrive)[(it {used for animals})(plural marker)]
I stopped walking at once so as not to frighten them,
有幾秒鐘的時間牠們似乎沒有注意到我，
(有)(幾)(秒鐘)❺(的)(時間)
(ㄧㄡˇ)(ㄐㄧˇ)(ㄇㄧㄠˇ ㄓㄨㄥ)(ㄉㄜ˙)(ㄕˊ ㄐㄧㄢ)
(yǒu)(jǐ)(miǎo zhōng)(de.)(shí jiān)
(to have)(a few)(second)(adjective marker)(time)
…..(牠們)(似乎)(沒)(有)(注意)(到)(我)
……(ㄊㄚ ㄇㄣ˙)(ㄙˋ ㄏㄨ)(ㄇㄟˊ)(ㄧㄡˇ)(ㄓㄨˋ ㄧˋ)(ㄉㄠˋ)(ㄨˇ)
……(tā men.)(sì hū)(méi)(yǒu)(zhù yì)(dào)(wǒ)
……(they)(as if, apparently)(not)(to have)(to pay attention to)(indicated completion or result of action)(me)
For a few seconds of time they apparently didn’t notice me,
我注視著牠們的模樣，實在可愛極了！
(我)(注視)❻(著)❼(牠們)(的)(模樣)❽，
(ㄨˇ)(ㄓㄨˋ ㄕˋ)(ㄓㄜ˙)(ㄊㄚ ㄇㄣ˙)(ㄉㄜ˙)(ㄇㄛˊ ㄧㄤˋ)
(wǒ)(zhù shì)(zhe.)(tā men.)(de.)(mó yàng)
(I)(to watch attentively)(indicates action in progress)(they)(adjective marker)(look appearance)
…..(實在)(可愛)(極)(了)
……(ㄕˊ ㄗㄞˋ)(ㄎㄜˇ ㄞˋ)(ㄐㄧˊ)(ㄌㄜ˙)
……(shí zài)(kě ài)(jí)(le.)
……(really)(cute)(extremely)(emphasizes preceding clause)
I watched their apparent proceedings intently, they were extremely cute,
可惜！牠們很快就驚覺我的存在，
(可惜)！(牠們)(很)(快)(就)(驚覺)(我)(的)(存在)
(ㄎㄜˇ ㄒㄧ)! (ㄊㄚ ㄇㄣ˙)(ㄏㄣˇ)(ㄎㄨㄞˋ)(ㄐㄧㄡˋ)(ㄐㄧㄥ ㄐㄩㄝˊ)(ㄨㄛˇ)(ㄉㄜ˙)(ㄘㄨㄣˊ ㄗㄞˋ)
(kě xī)! (tā men.)(hěn)(kuài)(jiù)(jīng jué)(wǒ)(de)(cún zài)
(what a pity)! (they)(very)(fast)(right away)(alert)(my)(adjective marker)(existence)
Sadly, they were quick to become alert to my existence,
馬上一哄而散，四處竄逃
(馬上)(一哄而散)，(四處竄逃)
(ㄇㄚˇ ㄕㄤˋ)(ㄧˋ ㄏㄨㄥˊ ㄦˊ ㄙㄢˋ), (ㄙˋ ㄔㄨˋ ㄘㄨㄢˋ ㄊㄠˊ)
(mǎ shàng)(yì hóng ér sàn), (sì chù cuàn táo)
(immediately)(to disperse in confusion), (to scatter like rats)
They immediately dispersed in confusion.
我也突然地恍神過來，
(我)(也)(突然)(地)(恍神)(過來)
(ㄨㄛˇ)(ㄧㄝˇ)(ㄊㄨ ㄖㄢˊ)(ㄉㄜ˙)(ㄏㄨㄤˇ ㄕㄣˊ)(ㄍㄨㄛˋ ㄌㄞˊ)
(wǒ)(yě)(tū rán)(de.)(huǎng shén)(guò lái)
(I)(also)(abrupt, sudden)(-ly)(to be off in another world)(to come over)
I also suddenly came back to reality.
只嘆太可惜沒能把那一幕拍攝下來！
(只)(嘆)(太)(可惜)(沒)(能)
(ㄓˇ)(ㄊㄢˋ)(ㄊㄞˋ)(ㄎㄜˇ ㄒㄧ)(ㄇㄟˊ)(ㄋㄥˊ)
(zhǐ)(tàn)(tài)(kě xī)(méi)(néng)
(only)(sigh)(too)(what a pity)(not)(able)
…..(把)(那一幕)(拍攝)(下來)
……(ㄅㄚˇ)(ㄋㄚˋ ㄧˊ ㄇㄨˋ)(ㄆㄞ ㄕㄜˋ)(ㄒㄧㄚˋ ㄌㄞˊ)
……(bǎ)(nà yí mù)(pāi shè)(xià lái)
……(particle indicating direct object of sentence will follow)(that one scene)(to film, to photograph)(to come down)
I could only sigh that it was too sad that I wasn’t able to capture the scene in a photograph.
Notes:
❶ The full word is 旁邊 ㄆㄤˊ ㄅㄧㄢ (páng biān), but you will find that native speakers often shorten these common words in conversation.
❷ I found it helpful to look at the individual characters in this word. One of the meanings of 社 is group of families or society. 區 is a picture of its meaning, which is area or region. Thus, the group of people in a given area are a community.
❸ Breaking this 3 character word down helps, too. Notice the character 社 meaning group is at the end this time. The first character, 合, means combine or unite. Next, 作 means to work. So to work combined in a group. A coop.
❹ Without the 下 after it, 停 is more of a instruction or command to stop. Putting the two characters together means the stopping has happened.
❺ You have to have fun with Chinese words that sound like the English version of a cat sound! But beyond that, 秒 means second and by adding 鐘 it makes it clear we are talking about a few seconds of time.
❻ 注視 reminds me of the word for television, which is 電視 ㄉㄧㄢˋ ㄕˋ (diàn shì). 電 means electric and 視 means to look at. The comparison helps me remember the meaning of 注視.
❼ There are two characters commonly used to indicate action in progress, 著 and 在. Using either of these characters is basically like adding -ing to a verb in English. One difference between the usage of 著 and 在 is that 在 is used before the verb it modifies and 著 is used after the verb so as to connect it to a further description. In this sentence, the further description is about what she is watching.
❽ 模樣 shows up in my dictionary with the pronunciation of ㄇㄨˊ ㄧㄤˋ (mú yàng) even though my tutor has heard it as ㄇㄛˊ ㄧㄤˋ (mó yàng) her whole life. If you consider words like the English either, you realize such variations are a normal part of language and we just need to become familiar with them.
