Published by: Chinese080808
Companion grammar guide found here.

汉字 Pinyin English
(Edward) (Google Translate) (Edward)
小燕子，我有个朋友要来中国旅游，他问我，什么季节来比较好。中国这么大，气候一定很复杂吧？ Xiǎo Yànzi, wǒ yǒu gè péngyǒu yào lái Zhōngguó lǚyóu, tā wèn wǒ, shénme jìjié lái bǐjiào hǎo. Zhōngguó zhème dà, qìhòu yīdìng hěn fùzá ba? Xiao Yanzi, I have a friend who wants to come to China to travel, he asked me, which season is better. China is so big, the climate is surely complicated, right?
没错儿。从热带到寒带，各种气候中国差不多都有。 Méi cuòr. Cóng rèdài dào hándài, gè zhǒng qìhòu Zhōngguó chàbùduō dōu yǒu. That’s right. From the tropical to the freezing, China has almost all types of climates.
北京的气候有什么特点？ Běijīng de qìhòu yǒu shénme tèdiǎn? Is there anything special about Beijing’s climate?
一年有春、夏、秋、冬四个季节，非常清楚。 Yī nián yǒu chūn, xià, qiū, dōng sì gè jìjié, fēicháng qīngchu. The year very clearly has the four seasons of spring, summer, autumn, and winter.
可是我觉得这儿只有冬天，好像没有春天。 Kěshì wǒ juéde zhèr zhǐyǒu dōngtiān, hǎoxiàng méiyǒu chūntiān. But I feel like here only has winter, it seems like there no spring.
北京有春天。应该说：这儿的春天很短，冬天很长。 Běijīng yǒu chūntiān. Yīnggāi shuō: Zhèr de chūntiān hěn duǎn, dōngtiān hěn cháng. Beijing has spring. Should say: Spring here is very short, winter is very long.
三月房子里的暖气还没停，现在都四月了，气温才十一度，我还穿着羽绒服呢。 Sān yuè fángzi lǐ de nuǎnqì hái méi tíng, xiànzài dōu sì yuèle, qìwēn cái shíyī dù, wǒ hái chuānzhuó yǔróngfú ne. In March the heating inside homes had still not stopped, now it’s April, and the temperature is only eleven degrees, I still have to wear a down jacket.
是啊！从十一月到第二年四月，北京天气都很冷，常常刮大风，有时候还下雪。三四月南方各种花都开了，可是北京还比较冷，有时候人们还得穿着冬天的衣服。 Shì a! Cóng shíyī yuè dào dì èr nián sì yuè, Běijīng tiānqì dōu hěn lěng, chángcháng guā dàfēng, yǒu shíhou hái xià xuě. Sānsì yuè nánfāng gè zhòng huā dōu kāile, kěshì Běijīng hái bǐjiào lěng, yǒu shíhou rénmen hái děi chuānzhuó dōngtiān de yīfú. Yes! From November until April next year, Beijing’s weather is very cold, often big winds, and sometimes it snows. In March-April, in the south all sorts of plants are blooming, but Beijing is still relatively cold, sometime people are still wearing winter clothes.
就是。你看我就穿得这么多，连路也走不动了。 Jiùshì. Nǐ kàn wǒ jiù chuān de zhème duō, lián lù yě zǒu bù dòngle. Exactly. You can see I’m wearing a lot, can’t even walk.
可是北京一到五月，天气就热起来了。姑娘们也开始穿裙子过夏天了。 Kěshì Běijīng yī dào wǔ yuè, tiānqì jiù rè qǐláile. Gūniángmen yě kāishǐ chuān qúnziguò xiàtiānle. But Beijing January to May, the weather gets hot. The girls are also starting to wear skirts over the summer.
我很喜欢北京的夏天。当然，最好秋天来北京旅游。 Wǒ hěn xǐhuan Běijīng de xiàtiān. Dāngrán, zuì hǎo qiūtiān lái Běijīng lǚyóu. I really like Beijing’s summer. Of course, autumn is the best time to come for travelling.
对，秋天是北京最好的季节，天气很凉快，不刮风，不下雨，不冷也不热，非常舒服。你朋友秋天来得了吗？ Duì, qiūtiān shì Běijīng zuì hǎo de jìjié, tiānqì hěn liángkuai, bù guā fēng, bùxià yǔ, bù lěng yě bù rè, fēicháng shūfú. Nǐ péngyǒu qiūtiān láidéliǎo ma? Correct, autumn is Beijing’s best season, the weather is cool and comfortable, no wind, no rain, not cold and also not hot, extremely comfortable. Can your friend come in autumn?
我想他来得了，不过还得问问他。 Wǒ xiǎng tā láidéliǎo, bùguò hái děi wèn wèn tā. I think he can come, but I still have to ask him.
除了秋天以外，别的季节也可以来中国旅游。因为各个地方的特点不同，一年四季都有很好的旅游路线。比如春天可以欣赏江南山水，秋天可以游览内蒙草原，夏天去东北， 冬天到海南岛。我这儿有一些旅游介绍，你可以寄给他。 Chúle qiūtiān yǐwài, bié de jìjié yě kěyǐ lái Zhōngguó lǚyóu. Yīnwèi gège dìfāng de tèdiǎn bùtóng, yī nián sìjì dōu yǒu hěn hǎo de lǚyóu lùxiàn. Bǐrú chūntiān kěyǐ xīnshǎng jiāngnán shānshuǐ, qiūtiān kěyǐ yóulǎn nèiméng cǎoyuán, xiàtiān qù dōngběi, dōngtiān dào hǎinán dǎo. Wǒ zhèr yǒu yīxiē lǚyóu jièshào, nǐ kěyǐ jì gěi tā. Aside from autumn, can also come travelling in China in other seasons. Because the characteristics of every place is different, all four seasons of the year are good for travelling. For example, in spring can admire the landscape south of the Yangtze river, in autumn can visit the Inner Mongolia grasslands, in summer go the north-east, in the winter go to Hainan island. These are my travelling introductions, you can send them to him.
太好了！我一回去就给他打电话，让他秋天来。就是秋天来不了，也没关系，还可以有很多别的选择。 Tài hǎole! Wǒ yī huíqù jiù gěi tā dǎ diànhuà, ràng tā qiūtiān lái. Jiùshì qiūtiān lái bu le, yě méiguānxì, hái kěyǐ yǒu hěnduō bié de xuǎnzé. Great! As soon as I get back I’ll give him a call, ask him to come in autumn. Even if can’t come in autumn, still has many other options to choose.
对，什么时候能来就什么时候来，想去哪儿就去哪儿。 Duì, shénme shíhou néng lái jiù shénme shíhou lái, xiǎng qù nǎr jiù qù nǎr. Correct, whenever can come just come, wherever want to go just go.
好。 Hǎo. Yes.
（重复） (Chóngfù) (Repeat)
小云，你在读什么书呢？ Xiǎo Yún, nǐ zàidú shénme shū ne? Xiao Yun, what book are you reading?
《唐诗选》，以前我现代诗看得比较多，现在我也喜欢起古诗来了，特别是唐诗。 “Tángshī Xuǎn”, yǐqián wǒ xiàndài shī kàn de bǐjiào duō, xiànzài wǒ yě xǐhuan qǐ gǔshī láile, tèbié shì Tángshī. “Selected Tang Poems”, before I was reading lots of modern poetry, now I’ve also come to like classic poetry, especially Tang poetry.
唐诗在中国文学史上非常重要，是不是？ Tángshī zài Zhōngguó wénxué shǐshàng fēicháng zhòngyào, shì bùshì? Tang poetry is very important in Chinese literary history, right?
是啊，像李白、杜甫都是中国最伟大的诗人。 Shì a, xiàng Lǐ Bái, Dù Fǔ dōu shì Zhōngguó zuì wěidà de shīrén. Yes, like Li Bai, Du Fu is a great Chinese poet.
他们跟莎士比亚一样有名吧？ Tāmen gēn Shāshìbǐyǎ yīyàng yǒumíng ba? They are just as famous as Shakespeare, right?
没错儿，他们都是世界有名的诗人。不过，他们比莎士比亚的岁数可大多了。 Méi cuòr, tāmen dōu shì shìjiè yǒumíng de shīrén. Bùguò, tāmen bǐ Shāshìbǐyǎ de suìshu kě dàduōle. That’s right, they are both world famous poets. However, they much older than Shakespeare.
莎士比亚是四百多年以前的人啊。 Shāshìbǐyǎ shì sìbǎi duō nián yǐqián de rén a. Shakespeare is a person from more than four hundred years ago.
李白如果活着，该有一千三百多岁了。 Libái rúguǒ huózhe, gāi yǒu yīqiān sānbǎi duō suìle. If Li Bai was alive, he would be more than one thousand three hundres years old.
比莎士比亚早那么多！中国文学的历史真长。这些古诗我们现在恐怕还读不了。我记得小时候，我妈妈教过我一首李白的诗。 Bǐ Shāshìbǐyǎ zǎo nàme duō! Zhōngguó wénxué de lìshǐ zhēn cháng. Zhèxiē gǔshī wǒmen xiànzài kǒngpà hái dú bùliǎo. Wǒ jìde xiǎoshíhou, wǒ māmā jiàoguò wǒ yī shǒu Lǐ Bái de shī. So much earlier than Shakespeare! China’s literary history is really long. These classical poems now we perhaps cannot read. I remember when I was small, my mother read me a Li Bai poem.
哪一首诗，你还背得出来吗？ Nǎ yī shǒu shī, nǐ hái bèi dé chūlái ma? That poem, can you still recite it?
我试试。床前明月光，疑是地上霜。举头望明月，低头思故乡。 Wǒ shì shì. Chuáng qián míngyuèguāng, yí shì dìshàng shuāng. Jǔ tóu wàng míng yuè, dītóu sī gùxiāng. I’ll try. Bright moonlight before my bed, I suppose it is frost on the ground. I raise my head to view the bright moon, then lower it, thinking of my home village.
你唐诗记得很熟啊！ Nǐ Tángshī jìde hěn shú a! You remember the Tang poem very clearly!
谢谢。可是除了这首诗以外，别的诗我都背不出来了。 Xièxiè. Kěshì chúle zhè shǒu shī yǐwài, bié de shī wǒ dōu bèi bu chūláile. Thanks. But except for this poem, I can’t recite any others.
你是不是想妈妈了？ Nǐ shì bùshì xiǎng māmāle? Do you miss you mother?
是，昨天我收到了妈妈的信。信写得很长，一共三页。 Shì, zuótiān wǒ shōu dàole māmā de xìn. Xìn xiě de hěn cháng, yīgòng sān yè. Yes, yesterday I received a  letter from my mother. The letter was very long, altogether three pages.
杜甫说过“家书抵万金”。“书”是“信”的意思，家里来的信是很珍贵的。 Dù Fǔ shuōguò “jiāshū dǐ wàn jīn”.“Shū” shì “xìn” de yìsi, jiālǐ lái de xìn shì hěn zhēnguì de. Du Fu said “a home book equals ten thousand gold”. “Book” means “letter”, a letter from home is very precious.
“家书抵万金”，说得多么好啊！我要给妈妈回一封长信，我有好多话想对她说。 “Jiāshū dǐ wàn jīn”, shuō de duōme hǎo a! Wǒ yào gěi māmā huí yī fēng cháng xìn, wǒ yǒu hǎoduō huà xiǎng duì tā shuō. “A home letter equals ten thousand hold”, said so well! I will give my mother a reply letter, I have so much that I want to tell her.
恐怕五页也写不下吧？ Kǒngpà wǔ yè yě xiě bùxià ba? Perhaps five pages won’t be enough, right?
（重复） (Chóngfù) (Repeat)