ALESN Monday night Mandarin I Class Summary and Notes 4/8/19

Hi Everyone,

Finally, a week when I am sending out this email with a more reasonable timeframe for you all to consider and review.

This past Monday, we reviewed Lesson 3 Dialogue 2's vocabulary and dialogue. Following this, we covered the grammar points, then you all broke into small groups and did the Language Practice exercises. I had hoped to preview Lesson 4 Dialogue 1 Hobbies, but we will instead begin class next week with the next dialogue.

Of particular note regarding the material that we covered this past Monday:

• Please make sure you memorize the new "time phrases:" NOW, TODAY, TOMORROW, etc. Very important. Please also remember where they go (word order-wise or SYNTAX-WISE) in a proper Chinese sentence. We have covered this concept multiple times this year, but please ask me if you have any questions, because it is fundamental to your ability to make correct Mandarin sentences with correct word order.
• The concepts of WHY? and BECAUSE..., both of which share the word or "root" WEI4, for [the purpose of]
• Again, this idea that Chinese as a family of languages is great at making up new words using basic "Lego" building block concepts: TONG2XUE2 = [literally] "WITH STUDY" = "SOMEONE YOU STUDY WITH" = "CLASSMATE."
• We reviewed the dialogue again. Please make sure you understand what is going on here with Bai2 Ying1 Ai4 asking Wang2 Peng2 if he is free and then inviting him to Gao1 Wen2 Zhong1's birthday dinner the following evening.
• GRAMMAR POINTS THAT WE COVERED:
• Affirmative+Negative A NOT A questions: VERB BU4 VERB or ADJECTIVE BU4 ADJECTIVE questions. We discussed that the meaning of these questions is the same as the equivalent VERB MA? or ADJECTIVE MA? question. I gave the example that the standard Mandarin set phrase, "Ni3 hao3 ma?" can also be worded (and has the same meaning as) "Ni3 hao3 bu4 hao3?" -- but, please remember that "Ni3 hao3 ma?" is the set phrase to ask someone how they are doing -- and that "Ni3 hao3 bu4 hao3?", while carrying the same meaning, does not also function as a set phrase greeting in Mandarin.
• Please remember that the exception to the above VERB BU VERB? or ADJ BU4 ADJ? format is YOU3 MEI2 YOU3 for "have not have" questions. For YOU3, you always use MEI2 to negate --  you never use BU4 to negate YOU3, EXCEPT IN THE VERY SPECIFIC EXCEPTION GIVEN ON PAGE 54 INVOLVING THE USE OF DOU1 FOR INCLUSIVENESS WHEN ASKING IF SOME MEMBERS OF A CERTAIN GROUP DON'T HAVE SOMETHING.
• Use of HAI2 when constructing "afterthought" statements meaning that someone or something ALSO does something, in addition to the people or things doing it in the beginning of the sentence. Remember that using HAI2 in this situation is different from using HE2 to rattle off a list of nouns, because when we use HAI2 to construct a "So and so [or such and such] is ALSO VERB'ing [whatever the verb is]," WE NEED TO REPEAT THE VERB IN THE HAI2 PORTION AT THE END OF THE SENTENCE IN ORDER FOR HAI2 TO BE USED PROPERLY. OTHERWISE, YOU WOULD REWORD THE SENTENCE, INCLUDE THE LAST PERSON OR THING AS PART OF THE ORIGINAL LIST, AND JUST USE HE2. Got it? Good.
• I was encouraged that some groups finished the entire Language Practice section and then made up additional practice exercises on their own using the lesson material and vocabulary. Way to go, guys and gals! For those of you who struggled with the material or didn't finish the Language Practice exercises during the last 15-20 minutes of class, keep at it -- you are doing great and will get it soon enough.

FINALLY, before I go, I want to suggest that you all check out the remaining screenings from this great new NYC Chinese film festival going on right now -- as sent to me by our new student, Jose Payamps:

CineCina Film Festival

https://cine-cina.co

CineCina Film Festival (CineCina) is the only New York-based film festival dedicated to promoting excellent Chinese films. Founded in 2018, it was organized and planned by a group of young film scholars and filmmakers active in New York.

CCFF aims to bring the best Chinese films to New York. Starting from the exhibition of wonderful Chinese films, the committee of CineCina is committed to making CCFF a platform for the export of Chinese culture, and increasing opportunities for the development and distribution of Chinese films in North America. Meanwhile, CineCina is going to put the rapid development of Chinese film under more diversified exposure, and extends the influence of Chinese cultural industry in North America.

Best wishes to Everyone, and see you next week!
Brendan