M: Péngyoumen, nǐmen hǎo! Huānyíng shōutīng xiànzài xuéhànyǔ, wǒshì ML.

S: Wǒshì Stuart. Today it's a revision lesson. A lot of things to review. So, búyào làngfèi shíjiān. Don't waste time. Let's begin right now. Yīèrsān, kāishǐ!

M: Míngtiān shì wǒde shēngrì. Tomorrow is my birthday. 明天是我的生日。

S: So, how do we wish her a happy birthday in Chinese? Duìle, shēngrì kuàilè, ML! Remember, shēngrì is birthday, and kuàilè means happy.

M: I told Stuart, 我的家人寄来了漂亮的卡片。My family sent me beautiful cards. Wǒde jiārén jìláile piàoliangde kǎpiàn.

S: And my friends told me they would hold a birthday party for me tomorrow evening!

M: 而且我的朋友们说，他们明天晚上要为我举行生日宴会 érqiě wǒ de péngyǒumen shuō, tāmen míngtian wǎnshàng yào wèi wǒ jǔxíng shēngrì yànhuì！

S: Sounds wonderful!

M: I invited Stuart to my birthday party, but..

S: I'm afraid I can't join your birthday party, ML. ML, 我恐怕不能参加你的生日宴会了. wǒ kǒngpà bùnéng cānjiā nǐde shēngrìyànhuìle.

M: But why? Wèi shénme? 为什么？

S: Yīnwéi wǒde gūfu hé gūmā jīntiān dàoběijīng. My aunt and uncle are arriving in Beijing today. Yīnwéi wǒde gūfu hé gūmā jīntiān dàoběijīng.

M: Remember? gūmā is father's sister. Gūmā. And gūfu, is gūmā's husband. In English we simply call all relatives of this kind ‘aunt' and ‘uncle', but in Chinese we have specific terms for all the different relations.

S: Yes, that's really confusing, ML. I only know father's sisters are ‘gu1ma1', and mother's sisters are ‘yímā', YI MA, second tone first tone, yíma. What about the others?

M: Oh, this is a bit complicated. But, since you are so smart, Stuart…Listen carefully: your mother's brothers are your ‘jìujiu', your mother's sisters-in-law are your ‘jìumā', your father's elder brothers are your ‘bóbo', you call their wives ‘bómǔ', and your father's younger brothers are your ‘shūshu', you call their wives ‘shěnshen'…

S: Enough! Enough! Stop! Oh, dear, I give up!

M: Never mind. We'll learn some more relations in our following lessons.

S: That'll take years!

S: Ok, back to our text. I told ML, my uncle and aunt were coming from New York. Tāmen cóng nǐuyuē lái.

M: 他们从纽约来。Cóng somewhere lái, means to come from somewhere. Then I asked Stuart, 顺便问一下，你的姑父和姑妈要呆多久? 顺便问一下，你的姑父和姑妈要呆多久?

S: Still remember the very useful expression ‘shùnbiàn wènyíxià'? Duìle, it means ‘by the way may I ask…'

M: And the word ‘dài' means stay when it's a verb, and ‘dull' or ‘idiotic' as an adjective.

S: And before I went to the airport to meet my uncle and aunt, I gave ML a birthday gift, a ‘shēngrì lǐwù', a radio, shōuyīnjī, 收音机。

M: Ok, time's almost up. Guess we have to go, Stuart. So, see you next time!

S: Zàijiàn!