M: Dajia hao. Huan ying dao Xianzai Xue Hanyu. Wo shi ML.

S: Nimen hao, wo shi S. Now to study hard, haohao xuexi. Repeat everything.

M: Stuart, what lesson do we learn today? 今天我们学第几课, jin tian women xue di ji ke?

S: 今天我们学第四十六课xue di si shi liu ke.

M: 没错, not wrong, mei cuo! Lesson 46, di si shi liu ke.

S: Hey, this is a good time so learn to say ‘yesterday’ and ‘tomorrow’.

M: Hao zhuyi.

S: Try to pick out ‘yesterday’ and ‘tomorrow’. Remember, the little le after a verb makes it past tense.

M: 昨天我们学了第四十五课, zuo tian women xue le di si shi wu ke.

S: 今天我们学第四十六课, jin tian women xue di si shi liu ke.

M: 明天我们学第四十七课, ming tian women xue di si shi qi ke.

S: 你们听见了吗? Did you hear it? Nimen ting jian le ma?

M: Heard it! Ting jian le. ‘Yesterday’ is 昨天 ZUO TIAN zuo tian, 2nd tone, 1st tone, zuo tian.

S: Now say, ‘yesterday we learnt’, …… Dui le. Zuo tian women xue le.

M: Now say, ‘lesson 45’. …. Dui le. Di si shi wu ke. Di si shi wu ke.

S: Now try, ‘yesterday we learnt lesson 45’.

M: Dui le. Zuo tian women xue le di si shi wu ke. Zuo tian women xue le di si shi wu ke.

S: Now say, ‘today we learn lesson 46’ ….. Dui le, jin tian women xue di si shi liu ke.

M: And ‘tomorrow’, 明天 MING TIAN ming tian, 2nd tone 1st tone, ming tian. Try it, ming tian, ming tian.

S: Now say, ‘tomorrow we learn lesson 47’. …..

M: Feichang hao! 明天我们学第四十七课, ming tian women xue di si shi qi ke.

S: Wow, that was a lot of work! Breaktime.

S: Now, where were we? Time to check if you did your gongke.

M: We asked you to say out loud all the variations you can think of, ta, tamen, wo, women, ‘like’ and don’t like’, and zhongcan and xican.

S: For example, 我们喜欢中餐, women xihuan zhongcan.

M: Or, 他不喜欢西餐, ta bu xihuan xican.

S: We also asked you to practice, ‘what restaurant are we/you/ they etc. going to?’

M: Like, 我们去哪个餐馆, women qu nei ge canguan?

S: Or, 你去什么餐馆? Ni qu shenme canguan?

M: The shenme is the same shenme as in 什么意思？ What meaning? Shenme yisi?

S: By the way, it’s very important that you make up and say these homework sentences. You’ll learn and remember much better than if you don’t.

M: Dui le. We must hao hao xue xi.

S: And, before we go, ‘yesterday’?

M: zuo tian.

S: Today.

M: jin tian.

S: Tomorrow.

M: ming tian.

S: And “Ming Tian Jian”! See you tomorrow.