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🇨🇳 Mandarin Chinese · Fluency Level 1

PART 2 · LESSON 18 OF 30 · 30 MINUTES

Fifty Years in One Cup

Sit with Grandma Deng after closing and hear her story: ask what it was like before, hear she was twenty-eight back then, ask what a cup cost, hear five cents, ask what came afterwards, hear she married and had children, hear that fifty years passed in a flash, and say they are all in this one cup.

Audio instruction: English

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THE STORY

Grandma Deng's teahouse after the last regular has gone, the chairs stacked, one lamp lit, and three lidded bowls on a table by the stage.

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Words and phrases

The lesson is for your ears. Open this afterwards, to see what you learned.
奶奶， 以前 是 什么 样？nǎinai, yǐqián shì shénme yàngGrandma, what was it like before?
那 时候。nà shíhouback then, word for word that time
那 时候， 我 二十八 岁。nà shíhou, wǒ èrshíbā suìBack then, I was twenty-eight.
那 时候 一 杯 多少 钱？nà shíhou yì bēi duōshao qiánHow much was a cup back then?
五 分 钱。wǔ fēn qiánfive cents, word for word five hundredths of money
五 分 钱 一 杯。wǔ fēn qián yì bēiFive cents a cup.
奶奶， 再 讲 一 个。nǎinai, zài jiǎng yí geGrandma, tell us another.
时间 过 得 真 快。shíjiān guò de zhēn kuàiTime really flies.
后来 呢？hòulái neAnd afterwards?
后来 结婚， 有 了 孩子。hòulái jiéhūn, yǒu le háiziAfterwards I married and had children.

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