Y: Improve your Chinese every day, right here in the Chinese Studio. Welcome in, wo shi Yajie.
B: And wo shi B.  You know Y, in just a few days we’ve got the greatest show on earth, the soccer World Cup of course, and I need to do some serious preparation. How about it?
Y: A goal in one, I might be mixing my sports there, anyway it’s a great topic. Let’s check our key words of the day.

Key words of the day
Soccer,足球soccer fans 球迷Goal 球门the score 比分Who’s your favorite team? 你最喜欢哪支球队？Who’s your favorite player?  你最喜欢哪个球星？All in today’s Chinese Studio.

B: Let’s get the ball into play. First up, it’s known throughout the world as football, or soccer, what about here in China Y?
Y:  We call it zu2 qiu2.
B: zu2 qiu2.
Y: zu2 is foot,
B: zu2
Y: qiu2 is ball,
B: qiu2,
Y: so soccer is:  zu2 qiu2.
B:  zu2 qiu2. And how about soccer fans?
Y: it’s qiu2 mi2.
B: qiu2 mi2.
Y: as mi2 means fans in Chinese,
B:  mi2.
Y: qiu2 mi2.
B: qiu2 mi2. Soccer fans.

Conversation 1
A: 你是球迷吗？
B: 当然了。我尤其喜欢足球。

B:  For me, football is all about goals, you know Y, when the ball hits the back of the net, what we call those?
Y: That would be qiu2 men2.
B:  qiu2 men2.
Y: men2 literally means door,   qiu2 men2.
B:  qiu2 men2. goal. So, what’s the score?
Y: You mean bi3 fen1.
B:  bi3 fen1.
Y: bi3 is short for bi3 sai4, which means soccer match,
B: bi3,
Y: fen1 means score,
B: fen1,
Y:   bi3 fen1
B:   bi3 fen1, the score.

Conversation 2
A: 现在场上比分多少？
B: 比分是二比一。

B: So, who’s your favorite team Y?
Y: How about asking me in Chinese, like this: 你最喜欢哪支球队？
B:  Let me try that….. ni3 zui4 xi3 huan1 na3 zhi1 qiu2 dui4?
Y: zui4 xi3 huan1 means like something or someone the best,
B: zui4 xi3 huan1,
Y: na3 zhi1 means which one, as zhi1 is the measure word for team,
B:  na3 zhi1,
Y: qiu2 dui4, soccer team,
B: qiu2 dui4,
Y: ni3 zui4 xi3 huan1 na3 zhi1 qiu2 dui4?
B: ni3 zui4 xi3 huan1 na3 zhi1 qiu2 dui4? Who’s your favorite team?

Conversation 3
A: 你最喜欢哪支球队？
B: 我最喜欢巴西队。你呢？你最喜欢哪支球队？
A: 我最喜欢中国队。

B:  I wonder how can I ask you:  who your favorite player is, Y?
Y:  That’s easy, just change some words: qiu2 xing1 for players, especially for those famous players.
B: Yes, I remember that xing1 means stars…qiu2 xing1.
Y: and ge4 is the measure word for player,
B: ge4.
Y: so who’s your favorite player? In Chinese it’s ni3 zui4 xi3 huan1 na3 ge4 qiu2 xing1.
B: ni3 zui4 xi3 huan1 na3 ge4 qiu2 xing1. Who’s your favorite player?

Conversation 4
A: 你最喜欢哪个球星？
B: 我最喜欢贝克汉姆。

Key words reminder
Soccer,足球soccer fans 球迷Goal 球门the score 比分Who’s your favorite team? 你最喜欢哪支球队？Who’s your favorite player?  你最喜欢哪个球星？All in today’s Chinese Studio.

B: Let’s go and play, I’ll be Beijing and you can be Shanghai, how’s that?
Y: Sounds like fun, but first our question though. How do you say, “soccer”
in Chinese?
B: And you can send us the correct answer in an email to Chinese@crifm.com Don’t forget, there’s a prize at stake as well. Mingtian jian