At the Bookstore 书店（3）

B: There are so many different types of books Y. How about teaching me some of them.

Y: Dangran le, where shall we start?

B: Ok, I'd like a guide book for Beijing.

Y: Okay. that's 我想买本北京导游手册。

B: wo2 xiang3 mai2 ben3 bei jing dao3 you2 shou3 ce4.

Y:我想 wo2 xiang3 means I'd like to do something,

B: wo2 xiang3,

Y:买 mai3 means to buy,

B: mai3,

Y:本 ben3 is the measure word for book, here it's short for yi2 ge3, which means one,

B: ben3.

Y:导游 dao3 you2 means guide,

B: dao3 you2,

Y:手册 shou3 ce4 means a brochure,

B: shou3 ce4.

Y:我想买本北京导游手册。wo2 xiang3 mai2 ben3 bei jing dao3 you2 shou3 ce4.

B: wo2 xiang3 mai2 ben3 bei jing dao3 you2 shou3 ce4. I'd like a guide book for Beijing.

Conversation 1

A:您好。

B:您好。我想买本北京导游手册。

A:那您直接上二层,就在电梯左边。

B: While on the road it'll be a good idea to have a Chinese phrase book, that'll help with communication for sure.

Y: Good idea, phrase is called 成语。

B: cheng2 yu3.

Y:成 cheng2 means set,

B: cheng2,

Y:语 yu3 means phrase,

B: yu3,

Y:成语 cheng2 yu3.

B: cheng2 yu3. phrase. Phrase books are really useful, but when I'm back home I really need something more substantial, a dictionary

Y: Good thinking, that'll get your Chinese really up and running B. So, you want a 字典

B: zi4 dian3.

Y: and also you get a 成语字典 cheng2 yu3 zi4 dian3, that's a phrase dictionary,

B: cheng2 yu3 zi4 dian3. That's helpful… And I think an English- Chinese, Chinese-English zidian is best.

Y: That way you can look up words in both languages. So, make sure you get a 双向字典。

B: what does “shuang1 xiang4” mean?

Y:双向 shuang1 xiang4 literally means bidirectional; here it means you can look up words in both English and Chinese.

B: shuang1 xiang4

Y:双向字典 shuang1 xiang4 zi4 dian3,

B: shuang1 xiang4 zi4 dian3, an English-Chinese, Chinese-English dictionary.

Conversation 3

A:我要买本字典。

B:哪种的?

A:英汉,汉英双向字典。

B:还需要什么吗?

A:还要一本成语字典。

B: These days there are so many dictionaries to choose from, it's a little confusing. How can I ask for the best one?

Y: What's the best dictionary? Good question. And in Chinese it goes like this 哪种字典最好?

B: nei2 zhong3 zi4 dian3 zui4 hao3.

Y:哪种 nei2 zhong3 which kind,

B: nei2 zhong3

Y:字典 zi4 dian3 means dictionary,

B: zi4 dian3,

Y:最好 zui4 hao3 means is the best,

B: zui4 hao3.

Y:哪种字典最好? nei2 zhong3 zi4 dian3 zui4 hao3.

B: nei2 zhong3 zi4 dian3 zui4 hao3. What's the best dictionary?

Conversation 3

A:哪种字典最好?

B:每种都有自己的特点。就看你需要什么样的了。