Life is full of ups and downs and some people believe that for every piece of good news there is some bad or not so good news coming your way. However, often the bad news is not so serious and can easily be overcome—leaving you to focus on the good news such as passing an exam or gaining entry to a university course; in which case any disappointment or bad news is quickly forgotten!.
In this Podcast, you will learn:
1) How to tell somebody else your good news
2) To discuss some bad news you may hear and suggest how to overcome it
Dialogue:
Friends are talking about their studies:
（在校园）
(Zài xiào yuán)
(at the campus)
A: 告诉你一个好消息。我被香港大学的文化研究硕士项目录取了。
A: Gào sù nǐ yī gè hǎo xiāo xi. Wǒ bèi Xiāng Gǎng Dà Xué de wén huà yán jiū shuò shì xiàng mù lù qǔ le.
Let me tell you some good news. I have been admitted to the Master’s programme for Cultural Studies at the University of Hong Kong.
B: 太棒了！恭喜恭喜啊！你的努力真是没有白费！我申请了美国的三所学校，都还没消息呢！估计没戏了吧。
B: Tài bàng le! Gōng xǐ gōng xǐ a! Nǐ de nǔ lì zhēn shi méi yǒu bái fèi! Wǒ shēn qǐng le Měi Guó de sān suǒ xué xiào, dōu hái méi xiāo xī ne! Gū jì méi xì le ba.
Great! Congratulations! Your efforts have not been wasted! I applied for three universities in the United States, but still no results. Seems to be hopeless.
A: 别灰心啊。你这么优秀，很快就会有好消息的！
A: Bié huī xīn a. Nǐ zhè me yōu xiù, hěn kuài jiù huì yǒu hǎo xiāo xi de!
Don’t be discouraged. You are such an excellent student, and I’m sure there will be good news soon!
Chinese words and phrases mentioned in this Podcast:
香港大学：the University of Hong Kong
文化研究：Cultural Studies
硕士：Master
项目：programme
录取：admit
太棒了：great
努力：effort
白费：wasted
你的努力真是没有白费：your efforts have not been wasted, you deserve it
申请：apply for
学校：university, school
消息：news, information (here refers to the results of application)
估计：estimate, it seems that
没戏：hopeless
灰心：lose heart, discouraged
这么：refers to the degree, very
优秀：excellent, good
很快就会：soon
好消息：good news
Cultural/Grammar notes:
When you want to congratulate your friends on their success and express the opinion that they deserve it through hard work, you can say ‘你的努力真是没有白费’.
‘这么’ is a very common expression in Chinese to describe a degree. E.g.
你这么努力，一定能成功的。
Nǐ zhè me nǔ lì, yī dìng néng chéng gōng de.
You are such a hard worker/ you work that hard, you will achieve success.
Mandarin Chinese learning resources we recommend:
