M: Péngyǒumen. Nǐmen hǎo! Huānyíng shōutīng Xiànzài Xué Hànyǔ. Wǒ shì ML.

S: Wǒ shì Stuart. ML, last lesson you said you like horse riding. 在上一课你说你很喜欢骑马，zài shàng yí kè, nǐ shuō nǐ hěn xǐhuān qí mǎ.

M: Duì, wǒ hěn xǐhuān qí mǎ.

S: Remember this 骑 QI qí? Duìle. Ride a bike, 骑自行车 qí zìxíngchē, or, simply, 骑车 qíchē. Ride a horse, qí mǎ.

M: Now, more of our 12 lunar calendar dòngwù.

S: Guess what the next one is. And try to pick out the word for ‘hill’. ML will now say, On the hill are ten something something. (baa baa sound)

M: 山上有十只羊　shān shàng yǒu shí zhī yáng.

S: So what is a hill? Duì le! 山 SHAN shān. It also means ‘mountain’. Listen for the measure word when ML says, On that hill, or mountain.

M: 在那座山上 zài nà zuò shān shàng.

S: Hear it? It’s 座 ZUO zuò, and it’s used for big things, like hills, mountains and bridges. Now, back to our animals.

M: 在那座山上有十只羊　zài nà zuò shān shàng yǒu shí zhī yáng.

S: shí zhī yáng. Guessed it? Yes, shí zhī yáng is ten sheep. 羊 YANG yáng, sheep. The measure word is again zhī.

M: Now say with me, 在那座山上有七只羊　zài nà zuò shān shàng yǒu qī zhī yáng.

S: Tian a! We’ve lost three sheep. Sān zhī yáng dīu le!

S: That was a nice break! By the way, this is a good time to learn ‘goat’. Since you’ve learnt shān and yáng, you’ve learnt ‘goat’. ML will now say, on the hill are six goats.

M: 山上有六只山羊 shān shàng yǒu lìu zhī shānyáng.

S: ‘Goat’, easy, shānyáng, literally, mountain, or hill, sheep. Shānyáng. And, as with yáng, we use zhī, so five goats, wǔ zhī shānyáng.

M: Xiàn zài, dì jǐu ge dòngwù.

S: The most important, because I was born in the year of this animal. ML will now say, On, or in, the tree are eight something something.

M: 树上有八只猴子 shù shàng yǒu bā zhī hóuzi.

S: bā zhī hóuzi. What is a hóuzi? Duìle. Monkey! 猴子 HOU ZI hóuzi. So everybody say, I like monkeys. Méi cuò. 我喜欢猴子 wǒ xǐhuān hóuzi.

S: To finish, listen and repeat….

M: 在那座山上有十只羊, zài nà zuò shān shàng yǒu shí zhī yáng.

S: 树上有八只猴子 shù shàng yǒu bā zhī hóuzi.

M: Very cute monkeys. Hěn kě'ài de hóuzi.

S: Let’s go see them. Zàijiàn.