Y: It’s not fun when you don’t have a place to live. In fact that’s the case with Raymond here; he’s homeless. Dajia Hao, come on in, wo shi Y.
R: And wo shi R. Learning Chinese is great. How else am I going to find an apartment to live in?
Y: That’s right and we’re going to help you learn the ways to do it. Here are some homegrown key words.

Key Words of the Day
Agent 中介I would like to rent an apartment. 我要租房。What’s the price per month? 月租是多少？Bedroom卧室, dining room餐厅. All in today’s Chinese Studio.

R: I guess the next step for me is to ask the agent for an apartment. First of all, what’s an agent in Chinese?
Y: you can call an agent: zhong1 jie4.
R: zhong1 jie4.
Y: zhong1 means intermediate, 
R: zhong1,
Y: and jie4 literally is to introduce,
R: jie4, 
Y: zhong1 jie4, an agent,
R: zhong1 jie4. So then how do you say this in Chinese: I would like to rent an apartment?
Y: here it is: wo3 yao4 zu1 fang2.
R: wo3 yao4 zu1 fang2.
Y: wo3 means I,
R: wo3,
Y: yao4, would like to do something,
R: yao4,
Y: zu1 is to rent,
R: zu1,
Y: fang2 is an apartment,
R: fang2,
Y: wo3 yao4 zu1 fang2
R: wo3 yao4 zu1 fang2 I would like to rent an apartment.

Conversation 1
A: 我要租房。
B: 你可以找找中介。

Y: Good, now don’t you want to know how to say how much it is?
R: I think I know how, but it may be different for apartments. How do you say how much is it for one month?
Y: you can say: yue4 zu1 shi4 duo1 shao3 ?
R: yue4 zu1 shi4 duo1 shao3 ?  
Y: yue4 is monthly,
R: yue4,
Y: zu1 is short for zu1 jin1, and it’s rent,
R: zu1,
Y: shi4 duo1 shao3, literally it means is how much, as shi4 means is, and duo1 shao3 means how much,
R: shi4 duo1 shao3
Y: yue4 zu1 shi4 duo1 shao3 ?
R: yue4 zu1 shi4 duo1 shao3 ?  How much is it per month?

Conversation 2
A:月租是多少？
B: 2千一个月。

R: You know I got to the agent and I told them I wanted an apartment. That was easy. But now I have to figure out how to say the rooms.
Y: Oh you mean like bedrooms,
R: Yes and also dining rooms.
Y: Actually we learned how to say rooms before, but I guess we can review it again. Bedroom is wo4 shi4,
R: wo4 shi4,
Y: wo4 to sleep,
R: wo4,
Y: shi4 is the room,
R: shi4,
Y: so a wo4 shi4 is a room for sleeping, a bedroom,
R: wo4 shi4, and how about a dining room?
Y: it’s can1 ting1.
R: can1 ting1.
Y: can1 means dining, and ting1 is the room,
R: Got it. So can1 ting1, dining room.
 
Conversation 3
A: 你看这套房子怎么样？
B: 嗯，卧室不错，餐厅有点小了。

Y: I think now you may find a suitable place to live.
R: I’ve seen too many bedrooms and dining rooms, that’s enough… Well before we have our quiz, how do you say “I want to rent an apartment” in Chinese.
Y: Send us your answer in an email to Chinese@crifm.com. Don’t forget there’s a prize you can win. Thanks for listening. Mingtian jian.
R: Mingtian jian.