R: Hello. And welcome to Chinese Studio. Wo shi Raymond.
Y: And wo shi Yajie. We’re here trying to fix things again!
R: And we’re going to find more things to fix, so lets go over some more key words of the day.

Key words of the day
I  need a cleaning lady 得找个清洁工. Fix the doorknob 修一下门把手Call a handy man 叫个维修工 All in today’s Chinese Studio.

Y: Its still a mess around here.
R: Yea this apartment could use some good old cleaning.
Y: Why don’t you clean it Raymond? I mean some good old hard work may be good for you.
R: Ok sounds good! I’ll get a cleaning lady.
Y: Oh brother, this is how you say “I need a cleaning lady” in Chinese “dei2 zhao3 ge4 qing1 jie2 gong1”
R: “dei2 zhao3 ge4 qing1 jie2 gong1”
Y:  dei2 means need,
R: dei2,
Y:  zhao3 is to look for someone,
R: zhao3,
Y: ge4 is short for yi2 ge4, which means one,
R: ge4, 
Y:  qing1 jie2 gong1, a cleaning lady,
R: qing1 jie2 gong1,
Y: dei2 zhao3 ge4 qing1 jie2 gong1
R: dei2 zhao3 ge4 qing1 jie2 gong1 I need a cleaning lady. 

Conversation 1
A:  这儿太脏了！
B: 是啊，得找个清洁工。

R: Now what’s the problem?
Y: I can’t get out of the door.
R: C’mon use more force, the door is pretty heavy.
Y: You try it.
R: Hey you’re right, we need to fix the doorknob. Oh my gosh! We’re trapped in
Y: Quick let me tell you how to say “fix the doorknob”: xiu1 yi2 xia4 men2 ba2 shou3.
R:  xiu1 yi2 xia4 men2 ba2 shou3.
Y: xiu1 is to fix,
R:  xiu1,
Y: yi2 xia4 are used after a verb, indicating an act or an attempt,
R:  yi2 xia4,
Y: men2 is door,
R:  men2,
Y: ba2 shou3 is the knob,
R:  ba2 shou3,
Y: xiu1 yi2 xia4 men2 ba2 shou3.
R:  xiu1 yi2 xia4 men2 ba2 shou3. Fix the doorknob.

Conversation 2
A: 修一下门把手。
B: 门把手怎么了？
A:  门把手坏了。

Y: Well I don’t think we can fix the doorknob without a handyman.
R: Ya, sounds good. Although I don’t think I’m as dumb as a doorknob.
Y: Ya well its best we call a handyman.
R: Yea, after what happened to the stove and the toilet I think a handy man would be great. How do you say “Call a handyman”.
Y: jiao4 ge4 wei2 xiu1 gong1,
R:  jiao4 ge4 wei2 xiu1 gong1,
Y: jiao4 is to call,
R:  jiao4,
Y: ge4 is the measure word for handyman, it means one,
R:  ge4,
Y: wei2 xiu1 gong1, a handyman,
R:  wei2 xiu1 gong1,
Y: jiao4 ge4 wei2 xiu1 gong1,  
R:  jiao4 ge4 wei2 xiu1 gong1, Call a handyman.

Conversation 3 
A: 找个人来修一下门把手吧 。
B: 好的，我去叫个维修工。

Y: Fun fun fun. Everything is going great. And handyman actually turned out to be the handy woman.
R: How perfect! I heard that handywoman is quite the human tool that we need.
Y: Gosh, I wish I was a human tool too sometimes. But oh well, so much for that.
R: So lets do the quiz of the day. How do you say “I need a cleaning lady” in Chinese.
Y: Send your answer to Chinese@crifm.com and stay tuned if you won the prize.