Now and then, most people like to play sports—helps them get some exercise and keep fit! Of course, there are team sports and individual sports but it’s not always practical just to play certain sports if there are not enough people available! Learn how to choose a sport to play with your friends…
In this Podcast, you will learn:
(i) To suggest playing some sports
(ii) How to discuss which sport to play and mention some pros and cons
Dialogue:
Two friends plan to play a sport:
（在街上）
(zài jiē shàng)
(on the street)
A:大伟，咱们好久都没踢球了。
Dà wěi, zán men hǎo jiǔ dōu méi tī qiú le.
Da Wei, we haven’t played soccer for a long time.
B:是啊。我脚都生了。
Shì a. Wǒ jiǎo dōu shēng le.
Yes, I’m a little rusty already.
A:我也是。关键是大家都忙，总约不到人。
Wǒ yě shì. Guān jiàn shì dā jiā dōu máng, zǒng yuē bù dào rén.
Me, too. The thing is that everyone is busy, and you can’t always find people to play together.
B:要不咱俩还是打网球去吧。
Yào bù zán liǎ hái shì dǎ wǎng qiú qù ba.
How about we play tennis?
A:好吧，不过，这次我可不会让着你喽！
Hǎo ba, bù guò, zhè cì wǒ kě bù huì ràng zhe nǐ lou!
Okay, but this time I will play with you for real!
Chinese words and phrases mentioned in this Podcast:
足球：soccer
踢球：play soccer
踢：kick
脚都生了：my feet are rusty
生：short for ‘生疏’, which means you have not done something for a long time and you get rusty
关键：the key is that/ the thing is that
忙：busy
要不……还是：what about
打网球：play tennis
让着你：let you win
Cultural/Grammar note:
In the conversation, because playing soccer is associated with ‘feet’, we say ‘脚生了’ to express the fact that we have not played it for a long time and have become rusty. ‘生了’ is a very common expression in Chinese. E.g. 我好久都没有弹钢琴了，手都生了。 (wǒ hǎo jiǔ dōu méi yǒu tán gāng qín le, shǒu dōu shēng le.) (I have not played the piano for a long time, and have become rusty.)
‘还是’ is a very common and useful expression in Chinese daily conversation, which means ‘how about’ doing something or ‘had better’ do something.