A couple of years ago I visited a zoo in southern China.
In this video you’ll get a peek into the zoo and hear three random people talk about their favourite animals!
And… If you've read my post on Southern Accented Mandarin, here’s a great opportunity to practice spotting some of the sound changes you learnt about in that post! (e.g. “sh” pronounced as “s”)Interview Dialogue Breakdown
Angel:
你看到什么动物呢？
nǐ kàn dào shén me dòng wù ne？
What animals have you seen?
Interviewee 1:
长颈鹿。
cháng jǐng lù.
Giraffe.
Angel:
还有呢？
hái yǒu ne？
What else have you seen?
Interviewee 1:
还有…
hái yǒu…
And...
还有蚂蚁。
hái yǒu mǎ yǐ.
And ants.
Angel:
蚂蚁啊。
mǎ yǐ a.
Ants.
Interviewee 1:
还有小苍蝇。
hái yǒu xiǎo cāng yíng.
And little flies.
Interviewee 2:
看到就是那个...有那个...海豚，
kàn dào jiù shì nà gè... yǒu nà gè... hǎi tún，
I have seen... dolphins,
还有那个海豹，
hái yǒu nà gè hǎi bào，
and seals,
还有就是那些海龟啊，
hái yǒu jiù shì nà xiē hǎi guī a，
and turtles,
还有那个鲨鱼吧。
hái yǒu nà gè shā yú ba.
and sharks.
Angel:
鲨鱼。
shā yú.
Sharks.
Interviewee 2's Friend:
美人鱼。
měi rén yú.
Mermaids.
对啊！你还看到美人鱼啊！
duì a！ nǐ hái kàn dào měi rén yú a！
Right! You have also have seen mermaids!
Interviewee 2:
对啊！美人鱼！
duì！ měi rén yú！
Right! Mermaids!
Interviewee 3:
这里面的动物，有骆驼，有马，
zhè lǐ miàn de dòng wù， yǒu luò tuó， yǒu mǎ，
The animals we have in here are camels, horses,
有孔雀，山羊，绵羊。
yǒu kǒng què， shān yáng， mián yáng.
and peacocks, goats & sheep.
羊驼可以喂，可以摸，可以玩。
yáng tuó kě yǐ wèi， kě yǐ mō， kě yǐ wán.
You can feed, touch and play with the alpacas.
还有那个梅花鹿，鹅苗。
hái yǒu nà gè méi huā lù， é miáo.
We also have sika deers and baby geese.
小白兔，小白鸽，小朋友可以喂的。
xiǎo bái tù， xiǎo bái gē， xiǎo péng yǒu kě yǐ wèi de.
Little white rabbits, little white pigeons -- kids can feed them.
Angel:
你最喜欢哪个动物呢？
nǐ zuì xǐ huān nǎ gè dòng wù ne？
What's your favourite animal?
Interviewee 1:
蚂蚁。
mǎ yǐ.
Ants.
Interviewee 2:
那个老虎，还有狮子，还有那个河马。
nà gè lǎo hǔ， hái yǒu shī zi， hái yǒu nà gè hé mǎ.
Tigers, lions and hippos.
对，还有那个猴子。
duì，hái yǒu nà gè hóu zi.
Right, the monkeys too.
Angel:
猴子。
hóu zi.
Monkeys.
Interviewee 2:
对！还有浣熊。
duì！ hái yǒu wǎn xióng.
Right! And raccoons.
Angel:
那...最热闹的时候是什么时候？
nà... zuì rè nào de shí hòu shì shén me shí hòu？
Well... When is the busiest time/peak season?
人最多的时候？
rén zuì duō de shí hòu？
When do most people come here?
Interviewee 3:
人最多的,人最多的时候就是国...
rén zuì duō de, rén zuì duō de shí hòu jiù shì guó...
Most people... The time when most people visit is...
国家规定的那个假...节假日最多。
guó jiā guī dìng de nà gè jià... jié jià rì zuì duō.
Statutory holidays. Statutory holidays are the peak times.
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