Almost everyone in Chine seems to have a Smartphone. Not only that, but they seem to change them frequently. As soon as a new model comes out, people will buy it and discard their old one. Know how to talk about the latest phones and related gadgets and you’ll be able to converse well with others!
In this Podcast, you will learn:
(i) How to discuss buying a new phone
(ii) To talk about some of the phone’s new features
Dialogue:
A colleague has just bought a new phone:
（在公园）
(zài gōng yuán)
(in the park)
新信息提示音响……
xīn xìn xī tí shì yīn xiǎng…
New text tone rings…
A:呦，你换新手机啦？
Yōu, nǐ huàn xīn shǒu jī la?
Hey, you switched to a new phone.
B:啊，今天刚拿到的。怎么样不错吧？
A, jīn tiān gāng ná dào de. Zěn me yàng bù cuò ba?
Yes, I just got it today. How does it look? Nice, huh?
A：嗯不错，超薄，超轻。有什么新功能么？
En bù cuò, chāo báo, chāo qīng. Yǒu shén me xīn gōng néng me?
Very nice, ultra-slim, ultra-light. Are there any new functions?
B:有很多新功能，但我得回家慢慢研究一下。对了，这款还防水，而且带无线耳机。
Yǒu hěn duō xīn gōng néng, dàn wǒ děi huí jiā màn màn yán jiū yī xià. Duì le, zhè kuǎn hái fáng shuǐ, ér qiě dài wú xiàn ěr jī.
There are lots of new functions. But I need to spend some time to play around with it after I get home. Ah…, wow, this model is even waterproof—and it comes with wireless headphones.
A:唉，就是价钱太贵，我想要就得去卖肾啦。哈哈
Ai, jiù shì jià qián tài guì, wǒ xiǎng yào jiù děi qù mài shèn la. Haha.
The only thing is that it is very expensive. If I want to buy one, I’ll have to sell one of my kidneys. Haha.
Chinese words and phrases mentioned in this Podcast:
公园：park
新信息：new text message
提示音：tone
手机：phone
不错：nice
超薄：ultra-slim
超轻：ultra-light
功能：function
慢慢：slowly
研究：research, play around with
防水：waterproof
这款：this model
带：comes with
无线耳机：wireless headphones
价钱：price
太贵：expensive
Cultural/Grammar note:
‘卖肾’ (sell my kidney) is a popular internet phrase. Originally, there was some news saying that someone really wanted to buy an iPhone or iPad, but he didn’t have enough money, so he sold one of his kidneys. So the internet community started to comment on this news and ‘卖肾’ becomes popular in a light-hearted way. It is a joking way to say ‘I need a lot of money in order to get it’ or ‘this item is way too expensive for me’.
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