{"id":108,"date":"2016-05-14T13:17:54","date_gmt":"2016-05-14T11:17:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.duchinese.net\/blog-wp\/2016\/05\/14\/29-watch-chinese-dramas-learn-chinese\/"},"modified":"2016-05-14T13:17:54","modified_gmt":"2016-05-14T11:17:53","slug":"29-watch-chinese-dramas-learn-chinese","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/duchinese.net\/blog\/2016\/05\/14\/29-watch-chinese-dramas-learn-chinese\/","title":{"rendered":"Watch Chinese dramas, Learn Chinese"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Do you like Chinese TV dramas? I believe watching TV is a good way to practice Chinese, because not only is it fun, but you can also learn a lot about the culture.<br>\nIn this blog, I give my recommendation for a Chinese TV drama high in popularity right now.<\/p>\n<p>The drama I want to recommend is called \u201c <ruby>\u6b22<rt>hu\u0101n<\/rt>\u4e50<rt>l\u00e8<\/rt>\u9882<rt>s\u00f2ng<\/rt><\/ruby> (Ode to Joy)\u201d, and is the most popular drama in China at the moment. A lot of foreigners have asked me what the show is about, so let&#8217;s learn more about the show and take a look at some of the dialogue!<\/p>\n<h3>Introduction<\/h3>\n<p>The story in \u201cOde to Joy\u201d revolves around five women who live in Shanghai in an apartment complex called \u201cOde to Joy\u201d. The series is a realistic depiction of modern life in China, and shows the lives of these five women as they struggle with love and work as independent modern women.<\/p>\n<h3>Character Profiles<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li> <ruby>\u5b89<rt>\u0100n<\/rt>\u8fea<rt>d\u00ed<\/rt><\/ruby> (An Di) is a successful business woman who has returned to China to find her younger brother after studying in New York <\/li>\n<li> <ruby>\u66f2<rt>Q\u01d4<\/rt>\u7b71<rt>xi\u01ceo<\/rt>\u7ee1<rt>xi\u0101o<\/rt><\/ruby> (Qu Xiao Xiao) comes from a rich family. She is only 25 but already owns her own small business. <\/li>\n<li> <ruby>\u6a0a<rt>F\u00e1n<\/rt>\u80dc<rt>sh\u00e8ng<\/rt>\u7f8e<rt>m\u011bi<\/rt><\/ruby> (Fang Sheng Mei) grew up in poverty but has shed her \u201cPrincess of the Streets\u201d background to work for a multinational company. <\/li>\n<li> <ruby>\u90b1<rt>Qi\u016b<\/rt>\u83b9<rt>y\u00edng<\/rt>\u83b9<rt>y\u00edng<\/rt><\/ruby> (Qiu Ying Ying) is a 20-year-old small-town girl who is trying to make it in the big city. <\/li>\n<li> <ruby>\u5173<rt>Gu\u0101n<\/rt>\u96ce<rt>j\u016b<\/rt>\u5c14<rt>\u011br<\/rt><\/ruby> (Guan Ju Er) is a 20-year-old from a highly educated family, but she must discover what she wants out of life when she enters the workforce for the first time.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Reasons for Recommendation<\/h3>\n<p>I highly recommend this drama as a resource for learning Chinese. It is a modern drama with everyday language, helping you practice authentic Chinese which you won&#8217;t find in textbooks. It also depicts real life in the modern Chinese society, helping you understand Chinese life and culture.<br>\nYou can find versions with both English and Chinese subtitles online, making it suitable to watch for learners of different levels.<\/p>\n<p>Let&#8217;s watch the first episode!<\/p>\n<div class=\"video-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"video-container\"><iframe width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/4wGpu56WQGQ?list=PLkvG4EWPDB0lfkMGmz15BSt3I6O_8Dmki\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h3>How to address someone in Chinese<\/h3>\n<p>Let\u2019s take a look at the dialogue which appears at 02:27~03:37 in the video above. The three girls  <ruby>\u6a0a<rt>F\u00e1n<\/rt>\u80dc<rt>sh\u00e8ng<\/rt>\u7f8e<rt>m\u011bi<\/rt><\/ruby> (F),  <ruby>\u90b1<rt>Qi\u016b<\/rt>\u83b9<rt>y\u00edng<\/rt>\u83b9<rt>y\u00edng<\/rt><\/ruby> (Q) and  <ruby>\u5173<rt>Gu\u0101n<\/rt>\u96ce<rt>j\u016b<\/rt>\u5c14<rt>\u011br<\/rt><\/ruby> (G) are talking about their new next door neighbor. The dialogue has three different ways of calling someone by their name. Can you tell what they are?<\/p>\n\n\n<div data-du-interactive=\"dbc67c6cb\" class=\"wp-block-du-interactive-example\"><\/div>\n\n\n<h4>Surname + <ruby>\u59d0<rt>ji\u011b<\/rt><\/ruby><\/h4>\n<p>In the dialogue, <ruby>\u90b1<rt>Qi\u016b<\/rt>\u83b9<rt>y\u00edng<\/rt>\u83b9<rt>y\u00edng<\/rt><\/ruby> (Q) and <ruby>\u5173<rt>Gu\u0101n<\/rt>\u96ce<rt>j\u016b<\/rt>\u5c14<rt>\u011br<\/rt><\/ruby> (G) use <ruby>\u6a0a<rt>F\u00e1n<\/rt>\u59d0<rt>ji\u011b<\/rt><\/ruby> to address <ruby>\u6a0a<rt>F\u00e1n<\/rt>\u80dc<rt>sh\u00e8ng<\/rt>\u7f8e<rt>m\u011bi<\/rt><\/ruby> (F).<br \/><ruby>\u59d0<rt>ji\u011b<\/rt><\/ruby> is term of endearment meaning older sister, and we often hear Chinese use \u201csurname + <ruby>\u59d0<rt>ji\u011b<\/rt><\/ruby>\u201d to address a female older than them. The male counterpart is \u201csurname + <ruby>\u54e5<rt>g\u0113<\/rt><\/ruby>\u201d.<\/p>\n<dl class=\"glossary\">\n<dt>Sister Wang<\/dt>\n<dd><em>w\u00e1ng ji\u011b<\/em> \u738b\u59d0<\/dd>\n<dt>Brother Zhang<\/dt>\n<dd><em>zh\u0101ng g\u0113<\/em> \u5f20\u54e5<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<h4><ruby>\u5c0f<rt>xi\u01ceo<\/rt><\/ruby> + surname<\/h4>\n<p>On the fifth line of the dialogue, <ruby>\u5173<rt>Gu\u0101n<\/rt>\u96ce<rt>j\u016b<\/rt>\u5c14<rt>\u011br<\/rt><\/ruby> (G) says \u201c\u6211\u542c\u5c0f\u90d1\u8bf4\u201d, \u201c <ruby>\u5c0f<rt>xi\u01ceo<\/rt><\/ruby> + surname\u201d is the way to address someone who is younger than you, and can be used for both females and males.<\/p>\n<p>Sometimes we also see the same structure using <ruby>\u8001<rt>l\u01ceo<\/rt><\/ruby> instead of <ruby>\u5c0f<rt>xi\u01ceo<\/rt><\/ruby>. <br \/>\u201c <ruby>\u8001<rt>l\u01ceo<\/rt><\/ruby> + surname\u201d is often used to address a male acquaintance (usually of similar age). Be careful though, as you should not use it towards a person who is much older than you, as in that case it would be impolite. In that case, you can instead use <ruby>\u59d0<rt>ji\u011b<\/rt><\/ruby> or <ruby>\u54e5<rt>g\u0113<\/rt><\/ruby> which we studied above.<\/p>\n<dl class=\"glossary\">\n<dt>Mr\/Miss Wang<\/dt>\n<dd><em>xi\u01ceo w\u00e1ng<\/em> \u5c0f\u738b<\/dd>\n<dt>Mr Zhang<\/dt>\n<dd><em>l\u01ceo zh\u0101ng<\/em> \u8001\u5f20<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<h4><ruby>\u7f8e<rt>m\u011bi<\/rt>\u7709<rt>m\u00e9i<\/rt><\/ruby><\/h4>\n<p>In the last part of the dialogue, <ruby>\u6a0a<rt>F\u00e1n<\/rt>\u80dc<rt>sh\u00e8ng<\/rt>\u7f8e<rt>m\u011bi<\/rt><\/ruby> (F) says \u201cDon\u2019t call me Fan-jie\u201d. As we just learned, <ruby>\u59d0<rt>ji\u011b<\/rt><\/ruby> is used to address someone who older than yourself, and <ruby>\u6a0a<rt>F\u00e1n<\/rt>\u80dc<rt>sh\u00e8ng<\/rt>\u7f8e<rt>m\u011bi<\/rt><\/ruby> (F) doesn\u2019t like to be reminded of her age. Instead, <ruby>\u90b1<rt>Qi\u016b<\/rt>\u83b9<rt>y\u00edng<\/rt>\u83b9<rt>y\u00edng<\/rt><\/ruby> (Q) and <ruby>\u5173<rt>Gu\u0101n<\/rt>\u96ce<rt>j\u016b<\/rt>\u5c14<rt>\u011br<\/rt><\/ruby> (G) refer to her as <ruby>\u5c0f<rt>xi\u01ceo<\/rt>\u7f8e<rt>m\u011bi<\/rt>\u7f8e<rt>m\u011bi<\/rt>\u7709<rt>m\u00e9i<\/rt><\/ruby>.<\/p>\n<p><ruby>\u5c0f<rt>xi\u01ceo<\/rt>\u7f8e<rt>m\u011bi<\/rt><\/ruby> is the same basic structure as \u201c <ruby>\u5c0f<rt>xi\u01ceo<\/rt><\/ruby> + surname\u201d, but since they are close friends they don\u2019t use the surname <ruby>\u6a0a<rt>F\u00e1n<\/rt><\/ruby>, but use a character from her given name <ruby>\u7f8e<rt>m\u011bi<\/rt><\/ruby> instead.<\/p>\n<p><ruby>\u7f8e<rt>m\u011bi<\/rt>\u7709<rt>m\u00e9i<\/rt><\/ruby> is an internet buzzword meaning pretty girl. <ruby>\u7f8e<rt>m\u011bi<\/rt>\u7709<rt>m\u00e9i<\/rt><\/ruby>\u2019s pronunciation is similar to \u201c <ruby>\u59b9<rt>m\u00e8i<\/rt>\u59b9<rt>mei<\/rt><\/ruby>\u201d (little sister), and the literal meaning of <ruby>\u7f8e<rt>m\u011bi<\/rt>\u7709<rt>m\u00e9i<\/rt><\/ruby> is beautiful eyebrow. The Chinese think the eyebrow shows a girl&#8217;s beauty, so \u201cbeautiful eyebrow\u201d lets people imagine a beauty girl. You may also come across the shortened version of <ruby>\u7f8e<rt>m\u011bi<\/rt>\u7709<rt>m\u00e9i<\/rt><\/ruby>: MM.<\/p>\n<p>Those are our three ways of addressing someone. Let&#8217;s learn some keywords from the dialogue.<\/p>\n<div class=\"blog-split\">\n<div class=\"blog-split-2\"><header>Date words<\/header>\n<dl class=\"glossary\">\n<dt>date<\/dt>\n<dd><em>yu\u0113 hu\u00ec<\/em> \u7ea6\u4f1a<\/dd>\n<dt>blind date<\/dt>\n<dd><em>xi\u0101ng q\u012bn<\/em> \u76f8\u4eb2<\/dd>\n<dt>tall, rich and handsome man<\/dt>\n<dd><em>g\u0101o f\u00f9 shu\u00e0i<\/em> \u9ad8\u5bcc\u5e05<br \/>(see our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.duchinese.net\/blog\/24-buzzword-about-rich-in-chinese\">previous blog post<\/a>)<\/dd>\n<dt>come on<\/dt>\n<dd><em>ji\u0101 y\u00f3u<\/em> \u52a0\u6cb9<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"blog-split-2\"><header>keywords<\/header>\n<dl class=\"glossary\">\n<dt>surveillance camera<\/dt>\n<dd><em>sh\u00e8 xi\u00e0ng t\u00f3u<\/em> \u6444\u50cf\u5934<\/dd>\n<dt>shadow of a human figure<\/dt>\n<dd><em>r\u00e9n y\u01d0ng<\/em> \u4eba\u5f71<\/dd>\n<dt>move in<\/dt>\n<dd><em>r\u00f9 zh\u00f9<\/em> \u5165\u4f4f \uff0f <em>b\u0101n l\u00e1i<\/em> \u642c\u6765<\/dd>\n<dt>who cares<\/dt>\n<dd><em>gu\u01cen t\u0101 ne<\/em> \u7ba1\u4ed6\u5462<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Did you enjoy \u201cOde to Joy\u201d?<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left has-small-font-size\">This is the accompanying blog post for our advanced course <a href=\"https:\/\/duchinese.net\/lessons\/courses\/63-watch-movies-and-learn-chinese\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Watch Movies and Learn Chinese<\/a> and advanced lesson &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.duchinese.net\/lessons\/135-watch-chinese-dramas-learn-chinese\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Watch Chinese Dramas, Learn Chinese<\/a>&#8220;. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Do you like Chinese TV dramas? I believe watching TV is a good way to practice Chinese, because not only is it fun, but you can also learn a lot about the culture. In this blog, I give my recommendation for a Chinese TV drama high in popularity right now. The drama I want to&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":107,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/duchinese.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/35543d9b43c47c4de0d89acde804e41274575201-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/duchinese.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/duchinese.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/duchinese.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/duchinese.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/duchinese.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=108"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/duchinese.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/duchinese.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/107"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/duchinese.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=108"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/duchinese.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=108"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/duchinese.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=108"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}