Simplified Chinese course

Lesson 236 of 240

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Retelling the year in Simplified Chinese

Neighbors at Banyan Breakfast give you two minutes to tell the year. Yi-Jun will jump in with a few corrections, and A-Li is still at the back table.

Learn openers that move from arrival to what you found out, what surprised you, and the one thing you would keep.

Finish with a point: in the end, people matter more than the events. Do not explain the fortune slip; A-Li's soy milk stays unfinished.

By the end of this lesson

Tell the story of your year with a point, from first arrival to what still matters.

  • 这一年发生了很多事A lot has happened this year.
  • 刚来的时候，我什么都不懂When I first got here, I knew nothing.
  • 后来才发现___Later I found out ___.
  • 最让我意外的是___What surprised me most was ___.
  • 如果要说一件事，那就是___If I had to pick one thing, it's ___.
  • 说到底，重点是人In the end, what matters is people.

Scene — a two-minute year

Saturday afternoon at Banyan Breakfast in Da'an. Auntie Lin has pushed two tables together, and Yi-Jun sets a two-minute timer on her phone.

Maya is asked to tell the year with a point. A-Li sits on two stools with his soy milk still unfinished. Yi-Jun will offer three small corrections, nothing more.

Saturday afternoon inside Banyan Breakfast, two steel tables sit pushed flush, Maya seated ready to tell her year, Yi-Jun holding a glowing phone, and Auntie Lin checking the table join.

Learn — telling the year with a point

These six lines help you retell a year and land on a point. Listen, then say each one aloud.

Notice 才 in the third line: it means the discovery came later, not at the start.

  1. From high above, Maya opens both arms wide at the pushed-together tables as if measuring a huge year, while Yi-Jun and A-Li the yak listen.

    这一年发生了很多事

    A lot has happened this year.

    When to use it: Use this to open a year-in-review before the details.

    了 here marks a finished change: many things have already taken place this year.

    Say it: The 一 in 一年 is fourth tone before the second-tone 年.

  2. In profile, Maya hunches with empty open palms, remembering how little she knew when she first arrived, while Yi-Jun listens beside her.

    刚来的时候，我什么都不懂

    When I first got here, I knew nothing.

    When to use it: Use this to look back at your first days in a new place.

    什么都 plus a negative means none of it at all.

    Say it: 懂 is a third tone, so 不 stays fourth.

  3. From low beside the table, Maya sits taller and lifts one finger from the tabletop as she names a later discovery, while Auntie Lin watches from across the join.

    后来才发现___

    Later I found out ___.

    When to use it: Use this when a fact only became clear later.

    才 here means only then: you did not see it at first.

    Say it: 才 is second tone in this line.

  4. Maya leans back in surprise at the joined breakfast tables, fingertips at her collarbone.

    最让我意外的是___

    What surprised me most was ___.

    When to use it: Use this to name the part of the story that surprised you.

    最…的是 names what surprised you most, then you fill the blank.

  5. Maya's hand on the tabletop holds up one finger, choosing a single thing from the year.

    如果要说一件事，那就是___

    If I had to pick one thing, it's ___.

    When to use it: Use this when you must pick one event and leave the rest.

    件 is the measure word for a matter or event in 一件事.

    Say it: The 一 in 一件 is second tone before a fourth tone.

  6. From over Maya's shoulder, she turns with open hands toward Auntie Lin and Yi-Jun at the joined tables, making the people there the center.

    说到底，重点是人

    In the end, what matters is people.

    When to use it: Use this to close a retelling with the real point.

    说到底 means after all the details, this is what actually matters.

Story — two minutes at breakfast

Listen as Maya tries to tell the year in two minutes at Banyan Breakfast. Yi-Jun keeps her honest with three small corrections.

A-Li is at the back table. His soy milk is still not finished.

  1. Saturday afternoon, tables pulled together at Banyan Breakfast.
  2. Auntie Lin美女，你来讲这一年吧。Beautiful, come tell us about this year.
  3. Yi-Jun玛雅，你有两分钟，开始吧。Maya, you have two minutes, go ahead.
  4. Maya好喔，如果我说错，请纠正我。Okay, if I get it wrong, please correct me.
  5. Yi-Jun好，开始。Okay, start.
  6. Maya这一年发生了很多事。A lot has happened this year.
  7. Maya刚来的时候，我什么都不懂。When I first got here, I knew nothing.
  8. Yi-Jun才没有，你第一周就会点豆浆了。No way, you could already order soy milk in the first week.
  9. Maya后来才发现这条巷子里的人很照顾我。Later I found out the people on this lane look after me.
  10. Yi-Jun后来呢？And then?
  11. Maya最让我意外的是大家会记得我点什么。What surprised me most was that everyone remembers what I order.
  12. Yi-Jun林阿姨本来就记得每个客人啊。Auntie Lin already remembers every customer.
  13. Auntie Lin对啊，你几乎每天都来。Right, you come almost every day.
  14. A-Li豆浆还是没喝完。The soy milk still isn't finished.
  15. Maya如果要说一件事，那就是我交到了朋友。If I had to pick one thing, it's that I made friends.
  16. Yi-Jun是我们交到你这个朋友才对啦。It's that we made a friend in you, actually.
  17. Maya说到底，重点是人。In the end, what matters is people.
  18. A-Li我刚来的时候也一样。I was the same when I first arrived.
  19. Yi-Jun时间到了，讲得很好。Time's up, that was really good.

Practice — retell and land a point

Try eleven short exercises on opening a year-in-review and choosing a point. Match each line to the moment it fits.

Read why an answer is wrong, then say the right line once more.

0 of 11 done

  1. What does it mean?

    这一年发生了很多事

  2. What do you say?

    You start the year at the moment you arrived, when nothing made sense.

  3. Fill the gap

    In the end, what matters is people.

    说到底，重点是____

  4. Fill the gap

    What surprised me most was ___.

    最让我____的是___

  5. What did you hear?

  6. Match the pairs

    Simplified Chinese

    这一年发生了很多事Drop the English here
    后来才发现___Drop the English here
    如果要说一件事，那就是___Drop the English here
    说到底，重点是人Drop the English here

    English

    Drag an English line onto its Simplified Chinese, or tap one and then the other.

  7. Pick the reply

    Yi-Jun says:

    如果你说错了，希望我们怎么做？

    If you get it wrong, what do you want us to do?

    And you reply with:

  8. What did you hear?

  9. What do you say?

    Maya pauses after the first part of her year. Ask what happened next.

  10. Swap the word

    Looking back at arrival, you knew nothing, not everything.

    刚来的时候，我什么都____懂

  11. What do you say?

    A newer neighbor says she understands nothing yet. Tell her you were the same when you first arrived.

Say it — your two minutes

You play Maya at the gathering. Yi-Jun gives you two minutes; listen to each cue and tell the year with a point.

Tap the microphone to speak. You can replay the other person's line before your turn.

  1. Yi-Jun starts the two-minute timer at Banyan Breakfast.
  2. Maya (you)Open by saying a lot has happened this year.

    这一年发生了很多事

    A lot has happened this year.

0 of 6 said

Recap — what you can say now

Simplified ChineseEnglish
这一年发生了很多事A lot has happened this year.
刚来的时候，我什么都不懂When I first got here, I knew nothing.
后来才发现___Later I found out ___.
最让我意外的是___What surprised me most was ___.
如果要说一件事，那就是___If I had to pick one thing, it's ___.
说到底，重点是人In the end, what matters is people.
Next: lesson 237The Tainan story, told properly

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Keep practicing with Yak Cards

Today's year-in-review lines are in Yak Cards with more ways to tell a story with a point.

Replay the closer a few times so the point lands cleanly.

Open Yak Cards