***********Sentences in the Week
他做什么工作？What’s his job? 他是医生。He’s a doctor. 医院在哪儿？Where is the hospital? 医院离这儿多远？How far is the hospital from here? “往前走两百米” Walk straight two hundred meters. All in today’s Sentences in the Week.
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Yajie: 他做什么工作？What’s his job?
Cam: 他做什么工作？(tā zuò shénme gōngzuò?)
Yajie: 他  T-a is the word used to mean him or her. So this could also mean what’s her job?
Cam: 他 (tā).
Yajie: 做, to do. Z-u-o, the fourth tone. 做.
Cam: 做 (zuò).
Yajie: 什么,
Cam: 什么(shénme). We learned that earlier. It means what?
Yajie: Right. And now we come to the word job, which means工作, . 工, g-o-n-g, the first tone, and 作, z-u-o, the fourth tone.
Cam: 工作 (gōngzuò).
Yajie: 他做什么工作？What’s his job?
Cam: And the answer is “ta shi laoshi”. There is “是”  in this sentence, “是”. The usage of “是 ” is similar to the verb “be” in English.
Yajie: 医生, is doctor.
Cam: 医生 (yisheng).

Conversations (1) :

Yajie: 邮局(yóujú), post office.
Cam: 邮局(yóujú)
Yajie: 邮, y-o-u, the second tone.
Cam: 邮(yóu)
Yajie: 局,j-u, also the second tone.
Cam: 局(jú)
Yajie: Togethere it’s邮局(yóujú) , post office.
Cam: 邮局(yóujú).
Yajie: 在哪儿？
Cam: 在哪儿？(zài nǎr?) I remember we learned it before. It means “where is” in English.
Yajie: Yes. 邮局在哪儿？Where is the post office?
Cam: 邮局在哪儿？(yóujú zài nǎr?)

Conversations (2):

Yajie: So if you want to ask how far is the hospital is from here, you may say it in this way “医院离这儿多远？” 
Cam: Right. Just put the location at the beginning of the sentence, then add  “离这儿多远?”.
Yajie: 医院离这儿多远？How far is the hospital from here?
Cam: 医院离这儿多远？(yiyuan li zher duo yuan?)
Yajie: And Cam, how would you say:  How far is the post office from here? 
Cam: “邮局离这儿多远？” (youju li zher duo yuan?) Am I right?
Yajie: Yes. The answer could be the general distance. For example you may say “往前走两百米” which means 200 meters ahead.
Cam: 往前走两百米 (wang qian zou liang bai mi.) What does wang mean?
Yajie:  Wang qian means forward.  Wang is third tone.  Wang.  Qian is second tone.  Qian.  Wang Qian.
Cam:  Wang Qian.  Go forward.  And zou means walk, right?
Yajie:  Yes, zou.  the third tone.  And mi means meters.  Mi, the third tone.  Together, it is wang qian zou liang bai mi.  Walk forward 200 meters.Or you may tell the person how long it will take them to get there.. For instance, you may say “走路十分钟”, ten minutes by walk.
Cam: 走路十分钟 (zou lu shi fenzhong)
Yajie.  Zou means walk, and lu means road.
Cam:  And shi is 10, fenzhong is minutes.  Zou lu shi fenzhong.  It’s a 10 minute walk.

Conversations (3)

***********Sentences in the Week
Today we’ll review what we’ve learned this week. 他做什么工作？What’s his job? 医生, doctor. 他是医生。He’s a doctor. 他是老师。He’s a teacher. 邮局在哪儿？Where is the post office? 医院在哪儿？Where is the hospital? 医院离这儿多远？How far is the hospital from here? “往前走两百米” Walk straight two hundred meters. ***********

Cam: With that we come to the end of this edition of Chinese Studio. Time for us to bring up question of the day: How do you say “Walk straight ahead 200 meters?”
Yajie: You can send us your answer along with questions or comments to Chinese@crifm.com.  That’s Chinese@crifm.com.  Or you can visit us on our website at en.chinabroadcast.cn. Click “Learn Chinese”. You can enjoy other free Chinese-learning programs there.
Cam: Well class is over. 再见！
Yajie: 再见！

(Written by Zhao Pingping)