ALLEN: Excuse me. Do you study Chinese at the university here?
SUZY: Yes, I do. But my characters are very bad.
ALLEN: It takes a long time to learn Chinese writing.
SUZY: Are you Chinese?
ALLEN: Yes, I am. I am from Taiwan. I came here to study political science.
SUZY: How do you like it?
ALLEN: I like it so far. But my English still needs work.
SUZY: I want to study Mandarin and international relations.
ALLEN: Does the Chinese department here teach regular characters or simplified characters?
SUZY: They teach regular characters.
ALLEN: I see. I'm from Taiwan, so I know regular characters better than simplified.
SUZY: You just said your English needs work, yes?
ALLEN: Yes, that's true. Especially my writing.I think my papers aren't good enough. I make too many grammatical mistakes.
SUZY: Well, I am very serious about learning Chinese.But for me the hard part now is pronunciation.You have the four tones in Chinese. It is very hard. Maybe, if you have time, maybe we could do a language exchange.
ALLEN: You mean you and I?
SUZY: Yes, why not?I mean, if you come to this cafe often,maybe we could meet here and practice Chinese and English.
ALLEN: That sounds like a good idea. How often would you like to do it?
SUZY: Let's see... My schedule right now is quite busy.But I think I could spend 90 minutes a week in language exchange.
ALLEN: How would we manage it though? How would we spend the 90 minutes?
SUZY: First, we could spend 45 minutes working on your English writing.If you want, I could help you edit your papers.Or we could do English conversation. Whatever you want.And then the next 45 minutes you would help me with my Chinese.
ALLEN: Would I help you with writing?
SUZY: No. For me right now, the important thing is spoken Chinese.I need practice. So you could tutor me in speaking.We could use my textbook, and you could ask me questions.Then you could correct my mistakes.
ALLEN: I think it sounds like a good system. But when is it convenient to meet?
SUZY: Well, today is Monday.Actually, for me Monday at this time would be the best.I am free from now until 11:30 every Monday morning.
ALLEN: Me too. In fact, I'm free until 1:20 on Mondays.
SUZY: So if you want to meet at 10:00 here next Monday, we could start.
ALLEN: It sounds good. I will bring the papers I'm working on.
SUZY: And I will bring my textbook and a tape recorder.I would like to record some things so I can practice on my own.
ALLEN: Let me give you my phone number.
SUZY: Sure. I'll give you mine too. Then we can call if we have to cancel for some reason.
艾伦：很抱歉。你在这个学校念中文吗？
苏西：是的，我是。但我的中文字很差。
艾伦：要学写中文需要一段时间。
苏西：你是中国人吗？
艾伦：是的，我是。我从台湾来。我来这里是念政治学的。
苏西：你喜欢吗？
艾伦：目前为止喜欢，但我的英文还需要加强。
苏西：我想要念中文及国际关系。
艾伦：这里的中文系是教繁体字或是简体字？
苏西：他们教繁体字。
艾伦：我知道了。我是从台湾来的，所以我对繁体字比简体字了解。
苏西：你刚才说你的英文需要加强，是吗？
艾伦：是的，没错。特别是我的写作。我认为我的报告并不够好。我犯了很多语法的错误。
苏西：嗯，我很认真地学习中文。但对我最难的部份是读法。中文有四声。很难。可能的话，如果你有时间，或许我们可以做一个语言交流。
艾伦：你的意思是你跟我？
苏西：是呀，为什么不？我的意思是，如果你常来这间餐饮店或许我们可以在这儿碰面练习中文及英文。
艾伦：那听起来是一个好主意。你要多久碰一次面？
苏西：我看看……我现在的时间表都排得很满。但我想一个星期花九十分钟来做语言交流。
艾伦：那你要如何分配呢？我们要怎么分配这九十分钟呢？
苏西：首先，我们可以用四十五分钟来加强你的英文写作。如果你愿意，我可以帮助你校对你的报告。或许我们可以练习英文会话。你想怎么做都可以。
然后在下一个四十五分钟你可以帮我学中文。
艾伦：需要我帮助你的写作吗？
苏西：不用。现在对我来说，最重要的是说中文。我需要练习，所以你可以在说的方面指导我。们可以用我的课本，你可以问我问题，你可以改正我的错误。
艾伦：我觉得这是一个很好的方式，但什么时候碰面比较好呢?
苏西：嗯，今天是星期一。实际上，对我来讲星期一这个时候是最好的。每个星期一早上从现在到11:30我都有空。
艾伦：我也是。事实上，我星期一下午1:20分以前我都有时间。
苏西：如果你想要在下个星期一的十点与我碰面，我们可以开始。
艾伦：这不错。我会把我现在正在做的报告带来。
苏西：我会带我的课本及录音机。我想录点东西来自我练习。
艾伦：让我把我的电话号码留给妳。
苏西：好呀。我也留我的给你，这样我们就可以在有事情的时候打电话取消碰面。 |