Yajie: 今天的天气预报你听了吗？Did you hear today’s weather report?
Cam: 今天的天气预报你听了吗？(jīntiān de tiānqì yùbào nǐ tīng le ma?)
Yajie: 今天 means today. J-i-n, 今, the first tone; t-i-a-n, 天, also the first tone. Together it’s今天jīntiān.
Cam: 今天jīntiān. And tomorrow is 明天, right?
Yajie: Yes. 天气 means weather. T-i-an, the first tone, 气, qi, the fourth tone.
Cam: 天气 (tiānqì).
Yajie: 预报, forecast. 预, y-u, the fourth tone; and 报, b-a-o, also the fourth tone. 预报.
Cam: 预报(yùbào).
Yajie: 听, t-i-n-g, the first tone. 听.
Cam: 听(tīng).
Yajie: As we mentioned before, 了 suggests the completion of an action and 吗 is a question mark. The answer to the question could be yes or no. If it’s positive, you could say 听了.
Cam: 听了. Today’s high is 30 degrees, actually.
Yajie: Good. In Chinese it means: 今天最高气温三十度.
Cam: 今天最高气温三十度.

Conversations (1)

Yajie: 热, hot. R-e, the fourth tone.
Cam: 热 (rè).
Yajie: 比is similar to the English word “than”.
Cam: 比 (bǐ).
Yajie:今天比昨天热. Today is hotter than yesterday.
Cam: 今天比昨天热. (jīntiān bǐ zuótiān rè).
Yajie: 冷, l-ě-n-g, the third tone, cold.
Cam: 冷 (lěng).
Yajie: Cool in Chinese is 凉快.
Cam: 凉快(liángkuai). 凉快(liángkuai) is normally used to describe the weather in autumn.
Yajie: For example,这儿的秋天真凉快！It's cool here in autumn.
Cam: 这儿的秋天真凉快！(zhèr de qiūtiān zhēn liángkuai).

Conversations (2)

Yajie: 刮, g-u-a, the first tone, means to blow
Cam: 刮(guā).
Yajie: 风, feng, the first tone, wind.
Cam: 风 (fēng).
Yajie: 刮风.
Cam: 刮风(guā fēng).
Yajie: So in Chinese “Today it’s windy” is 今天刮风。
Cam: 今天刮风 (jīntiān guāfēng)..
Yajie: Then how do you say “It’s often windy during the spring in Beijing?”
Cam: 春天北京经常刮风 (chūntiān Běijīng jīngcháng guāfēng).
Yajie: very good. And also we learned “It rains a lot during the summer in Shanghai” it’s 夏天上海经常下雨。
Cam: 夏天上海经常下雨 (xiàtiān Shànghǎi jīngchaáng xià yǔ)。
Yajie: 哈尔滨冬天下很大的雪。It snows heavily in Harbin in the winter.
Cam: 哈尔滨冬天下很大的雪 (Hāérbīn de dōngtiān xià hěn dà de xuě)。

*************** Sentences in the week
This week we’ve talked about the weather. 刮风, to blow. 春天北京经常刮风。It's often windy during the spring in Beijing. 下雨, to rain. 夏天上海经常下雨。It rains a lot during the summer in Shanghai. 下雪, to snow. 哈尔滨的冬天下很大的雪。It snows heavily in Harbin in the winter. 
****************

Yajie: Well, with that we come to the end of today’s program. You may find it’s a little bit difficult to remember all the information, but you can keep practicing. At least, you can try to remember one sentence at a time. Thus comes our question of the day is: In Chinese, how do you say “It's often windy during the spring in Beijing”? Please tell us in an email.
Cam: You can e-mail us at chinese@crifm.com. That’s chinese@crifm.com. Also you are welcome to visit our website at en.chinabroadcast.cn. Click “Learn Chinese”. You can enjoy other free Chinese-learning programs, and review what we have learned at any time you want.
Yajie: Ok, we have to say goodbye now. Have a nice weekend! 周末愉快!
Cam: 周末愉快(zhōumò yúkuài)!

(Written by Zhao Pingping)