Episode 0037
Summary
A child is excitedly discussing Chinese New Year with their father, anticipating grandma's dumplings, fireworks, and the dragon dance. The child also plans how to spend money from red envelopes on toys like Transformers and a PSP game. The father expresses caution regarding firecrackers and playfully teases the child about their priorities.
Transcript (Click timestamp to jump)
I'm so excited about Chinese New Year. When do I get to visit grandma? Grandma makes the best dumplings in the world!
Right. Sounds to me like you're more excited about dumplings than seeing your grandma.
Of course I miss grandma too. I bet she's gonna teach me how to play Mahjong. Hey, Dad, are you gonna buy me firecrackers this year? We're gonna have the best fireworks. I'm really looking forward to lighting them.
Son, firecrackers aren't toys. They are dangerous.
No, fireworks are awesome!
Wow. Don't you remember? Last year when I set off the firecrackers, you covered both your ears and hid behind your mother.
Dad, I was scared because I saw a bug, that's all.
Really?
Oh, and I can't wait to watch the dragon dance. Dad, can I sit on your shoulders this time?
Hey, I offered last year.
Well, anyway, I was just thinking of the red envelopes. I want to make a list of all the things I'm gonna buy with my red envelope money. I can't wait. I'm gonna have so much money. Mom, can I get a pen and a piece of paper? I want a new Transformer. No, two Transformers. Apple Sprite, Wheeljack. I'll get a PSP game.
Summary
This audio is an EnglishPod podcast episode about Chinese New Year, featuring hosts Marco and Erika, and guest Dainy. They discuss various aspects of the celebration, including traditional foods like dumplings, the use of firecrackers and fireworks to scare away evil spirits, and the custom of giving red envelopes (Hongbao) filled with money to children. The episode includes an illustrative dialogue between a father and his excited son looking forward to New Year festivities, as well as a vocabulary and fluency builder section. The dialogue highlights the son's excitement for dumplings, firecrackers, dragon dances, and the money he expects to receive. Dainy provides cultural insights, explaining the significance of these traditions and sharing personal anecdotes. The hosts emphasize phrases to express excitement and anticipation.
Transcript (Click timestamp to jump)
Hello English learners, welcome to EnglishPod. My name is Marco.
And I'm Erica.
And today we have a very special guest in our studio, Danny.
Hi everyone. I'm Dainy.
Dainy is part of our EnglishPod team and today she's gonna help us with this Chinese New Year's lesson.
It's an intermediate lesson but it has a lot of cultural aspects about Chinese New Year. So that's what Dainy's gonna help us out with today.
Yes, today we're going to learn a little bit about Chinese New Year in English. And we're also going to learn some language for describing things that we're excited about.
Okay, yeah, I'm excited to hear the show.
Okay, so let's listen to the dialogue now and then when we come back, we'll explain everything.
I'm so excited about Chinese New Year. When do I get to visit Grandma? Grandma makes the best dumplings in the world.
Haha. Right. Sounds to me like you're more excited about dumplings than seeing your grandma.
Of course I miss Grandma too. I bet she's gonna teach me how to play Mahjong. Hey, Dad, are you gonna buy me firecrackers this year? We're gonna have the best fireworks. I'm really looking forward to lighting them.
Son, firecrackers aren't toys. They're dangerous.
No, fireworks are awesome.
Whoa. Don't you remember? Last year when I set off the firecrackers, you covered both your ears and hid behind your mother.
Dad, I was scared because I saw a bug, that's all.
Haha. Really?
Oh, and I can't wait to watch the dragon dance. Dad, can I sit on your shoulders this time?
Hey, I offered last year.
Well, I, anyways, I was just thinking of the red envelopes. I want to make a list of all the things I'm gonna buy with my red envelope money. I can't wait. I'm gonna have so much money. Mom, can I get a pen and a piece of paper? I want a new Transformer. No, two Transformers. Optimus Prime, Wheeljack. I'll get a PSP game.
Okay, so Chinese New Year, a lot of exciting vocabulary here.
Before we get into describing it, let's look at the vocabulary that we saw in language takeaway.
The first word on language takeaway, dumplings.
Dumplings.
Dumplings.
Dumplings.
Well, in Chinese, we call it shuǐjiǎo. Um, and it's a very traditional Chinese food and it's getting very famous now.
Well, in Chinese, we call it shuǐjiǎo. Um, and it's a very traditional Chinese food and it's getting very famous now.
Yes, so it's basically small pieces of dough with maybe some meat or some vegetables inside.
And then they are boiled.
Usually in a soup.
In a soup. But you can also have fried dumplings.
Yeah, yeah, that's right. Which are really good.
So, if you know Italian food, they're really similar to a tortellini.
Ah, exactly.
Or in Latin America, it's very similar to maybe an empanada.
Alright.
It's like a small little empanada.
Marco, what's our next word?
Alright, our next word, firecrackers.
Firecrackers.
Firecrackers.
Firecrackers.
This is a firecracker.
Firecrackers are so common in China. We use it all the time in all occasions. And especially on the New Year's Eve, traditionally people use it to scare off the evil evil spirits.
Evil spirits.
The evil spirits.
So they, oh, okay.
So on Chinese New Year, there are millions of firecrackers.
Millions of firecrackers.
Now, there are also a lot of fireworks.
Fireworks.
Fireworks.
Fireworks.
So fireworks are similar to firecrackers.
But they have lots of light.
Light. They they go up in the air and explode and you see lots of nice colors.
Beautiful colors. Yeah.
Very popular in Fourth of July in the United States.
Or New Year's Eve.
New Year's Eve. Hmm, hmm. Fireworks.
Okay, now let's look at our last word, set off.
Set off.
Set off.
Set off.
So this is the verb you would use with firecrackers.
Yeah, it means like explode the firecracker.
Right, set off the firecracker.
Set off the bomb.
Set off fireworks.
Well, let's listen to our dialogue a second time and this time, it'll be a little bit slower so that you can understand the language a bit better.
I'm so excited about Chinese New Year. When do I get to visit Grandma? Grandma makes the best dumplings in the world.
Haha. Right. Sounds to me like you are more excited about dumplings than seeing your grandma.
Of course I miss Grandma too. I bet she's gonna teach me how to play Mahjong. Hey, Dad, are you gonna buy me firecrackers this year? We're gonna have the best fireworks. I'm really looking forward to lighting them.
Son, firecrackers aren't toys. They're dangerous.
No, fireworks are awesome.
Whoa. Don't you remember? Last year, when I set off the firecrackers, you covered both your ears and hid behind your mother.
Dad, I was scared because, because I saw a bug, that's all.
Haha. Really?
Oh, and I can't wait to watch the dragon dance. Dad, can I sit on your shoulders this time?
Hey, I offered last year.
Well, I, anyways, I was just thinking of the red envelopes. I want to make a list of all the things I'm gonna buy with my red envelope money. I can't wait. I'm gonna have so much money. Mom, can I get a pen and a piece of paper? I want a new Transformer. No, two Transformers, the Optimus Prime, and maybe the Wheeljack. I'll get a PSP game. And I'll buy the entire class lunch at McDonald's.
Okay, so we saw some really great phrases of describing excitement. Right?
So let's start with fluency builder.
We have four phrases for you today. And the first one is, I'm so excited about.
I'm so excited about.
I'm so excited about.
So when you say, I'm so excited, it means that you are
Like really happy.
That something is gonna happen.
Yeah, so happy you can't relax.
Right? So you could say, I'm so excited about our vacation next month.
I'm so excited about opening all my presents.
Exactly. So excited. Now, we also saw another really great word, very similar to I'm so excited.
I'm really looking forward to.
I'm really looking forward to.
I'm really looking forward to.
I'm really looking forward to.
So this is a little bit less than excited, right?
A bit less strong.
Yeah. So you would say, oh, I'm really looking forward to meeting your new girlfriend.
Or you can say, I'm really looking forward to seeing that movie.
Exactly. So it means you're a little bit excited but not so excited.
Yeah, you're happy about something that's going to happen in the future.
Now let's look at our next phrase and it's very similar to excited. I can't wait.
I can't wait.
I can't wait.
I can't wait.
So this is very, very similar to I'm so excited.
Yes, when you're so excited for something, you can't wait for it.
Right. Let's listen to some more examples of I can't wait.
I'm so excited. I can't wait to see you.
Mmm, smells delicious. I can't wait for dinner.
I can't wait to open my presents.
So we can use it again the same way, I can't wait to go on vacation next month.
I can't wait to open all my presents.
Exactly. Now our last phrase, I bet.
I bet.
I bet.
I bet, B-E-T, bet.
Bet.
So when you say, I bet, it means that you're pretty sure about something.
You predict it will happen.
Right. So, let's listen to some more examples of I bet.
I bet I'm going to get so much money for Chinese New Year.
Robert's late. Where do you think he is?
I bet he's stuck in traffic.
I bet the boss is gonna give us a big bonus this year.
Well, I guess we're ready to listen to our dialogue for the third time and then when we come back, Dainy's gonna tell us all about Chinese New Year.
I'm so excited about Chinese New Year. When do I get to visit Grandma? Grandma makes the best dumplings in the world.
Right. Sounds to me like you're more excited about dumplings than seeing your grandma.
Of course I miss Grandma too. I bet she's gonna teach me how to play Mahjong. Hey, Dad, are you gonna buy me firecrackers this year? We're gonna have the best fireworks. I'm really looking forward to lighting them.
Son, firecrackers aren't toys. They're dangerous.
No, fireworks are awesome.
Whoa. Don't you remember? Last year when I set off the firecrackers, you covered both your ears and hid behind your mother.
Dad, I was scared because I saw a bug, that's all.
Haha. Really?
Oh, and I can't wait to watch the dragon dance. Dad, can I sit on your shoulders this time?
Hey, I offered last year.
Well, I, anyways, I was just thinking of the red envelopes. I want to make a list of all the things I'm gonna buy with my red envelope money. I can't wait. I'm gonna have so much money. Mom, can I get a pen and a piece of paper? I want a new Transformer. No, two Transformers, Optimus Prime, Wheeljack. I'll get a PSP game. And I'll buy the entire class lunch at McDonald's.
So, Dainy, what are these red packets of money about?
So in Chinese, we call it Hongbao, and it's basically a bag full of money.
Wow. Why do you get money?
As a gift.
As a gift. Wow.
The children get it though.
Only children get it. If you're a university student and you haven't got a job yet, then you can still ask for Hongbao from your parents or your relatives.
Really?
So, is there some meaning to this gift of money?
Well, it is believed that children have to put these red envelopes under their pillow on New Year's Eve to scare away the evil spirits.
Again, like the firecrackers.
Again, evil. A lot of evil spirits in China.
So, Dainy, how much money would a kid get for Chinese New Year?
Well, when I was little, the best year I got was 3,000 RMB.
Which is like almost $500.
$500. Wow.
Almost. Wow.
Yeah, I was so rich at that time.
Wow, amazing.
Uh huh.
What about this game Mahjong?
Mahjong.
Mahjong.
Have you played it?
No.
No. Um, again, again, it's very traditional Chinese game and you will see senior people always gathering along the table.
So old people.
So it's like a board game, kind of like chess?
It's kind of like chess but they have like special, specially made chess. It's very different.
Okay.
So I want to know more about these uh the fireworks and firecrackers on Chinese New Year.
Okay, usually we buy firecrackers. I believe firework, fireworks are more expensive. So we play firecrackers, paojang. Uh and usually we do it uh right after the midnight. So 12 o'clock. And it's very loud and um, say for example, I personally don't even dare to stay close when they set off the firecrackers because it's just way too loud.
Yeah. It's and everyone starts to light them, so it's like
No, it's amazing. I um, I've, I've seen Chinese New Year three times in China and each time I've just been amazed. Like it's so, so cool and so noisy and so awesome. I mean, you gotta visit China to see this.
Yeah, yeah, it's a really cool festival. And definitely playing with firecrackers is always fun, so.
Yeah, maybe a little bit dangerous.
Yeah.
Well, everyone, uh, we've just learned about how New Year's is celebrated in China and we wanna know how do you celebrate New Year's in your country?
Exactly. How do you welcome the New Year? How do you scare away evil spirits? Right?
Yeah. So come to our website at Englishpod.com and leave us your comments.
That's right. Dainy, Erica and I will be there to answer all your questions, so be sure to send us some comments.
Well, everyone, thanks for listening and until next time. Bye.
Bye. Bye.
Summary
The audio is an English vocabulary lesson from 'The English Pod Audio Review'. It teaches several vocabulary words related to excitement, anticipation, and Chinese New Year traditions. For each word, a male speaker provides a definition, a female speaker states the word, and then another female speaker offers example sentences to demonstrate its usage in context.
Transcript (Click timestamp to jump)
The English Pod Audio Review.
Listen to the meaning, then say the vocabulary word.
Very happy about something.
Excited.
Small lump of dough that is steamed or boiled. Traditional Chinese New Year food.
Dumpling.
A cylinder filled with explosive substance that makes loud noise when it explodes.
Firecracker.
Excited and happy about something that will happen in the future.
Look forward to.
Eager or excited about doing something or for something to begin.
Can't wait.
Cause something to explode.
Set off.
Chinese New Year based on the cycles of the moon.
Lunar New Year.
Chinese New Year.
Spring Festival.
A calendar based on the cycles and phases of the moon.
Lunar calendar.
Very excited about something that will happen in the future.
Can hardly wait.
Not happy or willing to wait for something.
Impatient.
Let's try that faster.
Small lump of dough that is steamed or boiled. Traditional Chinese New Year food.
Dumpling.
Excited and happy about something that will happen in the future.
Look forward to.
A cylinder filled with explosive substance that makes loud noise when it explodes.
Firecracker.
Chinese New Year based on the cycles of the moon.
Lunar New Year.
Very happy about something.
Excited.
Very excited about something that will happen in the future.
Can hardly wait.
Not happy or willing to wait for something.
Impatient.
Eager or excited about doing something or for something to begin.
Can't wait.
Chinese New Year.
Spring Festival.
A calendar based on the cycles and phases of the moon.
Lunar calendar.
Cause something to explode.
Set off.
Now say the word and hear it in a sentence.
Excited.
I'm so excited about my trip to Europe next month.
Excited.
Johnny is going to be so excited when he receives this gift.
Excited.
Chelsea's so excited about her first baby.
I bet I'm gonna get so much money for Chinese New Year.
I bet the boss is going to give us a big bonus this year.
I bet I'm gonna have a great time tonight.
Dumpling.
My grandma taught me how to make dumplings.
Dumpling.
Have you tried the dumplings? They're amazing.
Dumpling.
Do you want to have some dumplings for lunch?
Firecracker.
Are you going to buy firecrackers for Chinese New Year?
Firecracker.
There are firecrackers everywhere on New Year's Eve.
Firecracker.
I don't like firecrackers, they're too loud.
I'm so excited! I can't wait to see you.
Mm, smells delicious. I can't wait for dinner.
I can't wait to open my presents.
Look forward to.
I'm really looking forward to Spring Festival.
Look forward to.
I'm looking forward to meeting with you tonight.
Look forward to.
I have been looking forward to hearing from you.
Set off.
Be careful while I set off the firecrackers.
Set off.
The police are searching for the person who set off the explosion last night.
Set off.
The smoke set off the building's fire alarm.
The English Pod.