Learn Chinese from watching Chinese movies

By 娜奥米Blog, Chinese TV Shows / Chinese Movies

Watching Movie is a great way to improve your Mandarin Chinese listening and speaking skills

Do you like watching movies or TV shows? I love watching TV series especially those from Korea, Japan and Hong Kong. As a matter of fact,I learned how to speak Cantonese by watching Hong Kong series. I would always listened to the conversation in the original Cantonese form rather than the ones dubbed in Mandarin Chinese or English. As I watched, I picked up sentences in Cantonese and practice them with my friends. I was very happy when I could actually communicate in Cantonese when I went holidaying in Hong Kong. 

Learning a language through watching movies or TV shows is a very relaxing and fun way to learn a language. You can enjoy your learning in the comfort of your own home. You can have popcorn in one hand and a cola in another. Watching movies or TV shows improves your listening skills and speaking skills. Whatever sentences you have picked up from watching the movie or TV shows, practice them with your school friends or with anybody who is also learning the language. You will be surprise at how many words or sentences you can actually learn by watching the movies and TV shows.

Media sources

You can find many Mandarin Chinese movies or TV shows in youtube, dailymotion and many others. Some of of the sites provide English subtitles for viewers. However, I strongly recommend that you to watch the movies or TV shows with Chinese subtitles. This is because, if you are watching the show with English subtitles, you will most probably be occupied with reading the subtitles rather than paying attention to the conversations. 

Showtime

The Chinese movie we have planned for you is called "This is not what I expected" in English. The Chinese movie title is actually 喜欢你 (I like you). It is a 2017 Hong Kong-Chinese romantic comedy film. It is adapted from the novel Finally I Get You written by Lan Bai Se. The main male lead is Takeshi Kaneshiro, a Taiwanese-Japanese actor and singer. The lead actress is Zhōu Dōngyǔ from China. 

 

Plot

This is a love story between a 29-year-old girl called Gu Sheng Nan (Zhou Dongyu) and a picky and arrogant man named Lu Jin ( Takeshi Kaneshiro). Ms. Gu is a talented chef in a hotel that is about to be taken over by Mr. Lu. Mr. Lu is a foodie and he is extremely impressed with Ms. Gu's cooking skill. The two became close despite different personalities through the love for food. 

难道你觉得自己比日本兵库县的但马牛肉还重要吗？(難道你覺得自己比日本兵庫縣的但馬牛肉還重要嗎)

Nán dào nǐ jué dé zì jǐ bǐ rì běn bīng kù xiàn de dàn mǎ niú ròu hái zhòng yào ma?

Do you think you are more important than the Tajima Beef in Hyogo Prefecture in Japan? 

When you want to stress the differences between 2 things in Chinese, you can use this structure.
A + 比 + B + 还 + Adjective 
 
Sentences:

你认为彼得比大伟还帅吗 (你認為彼得比大偉還帥嗎) ? Nǐ rèn wéi bǐdé bǐ dà wěi hái shuài ma？

Do you think David is more handsome than Peter?

咖啡比茶还贵(咖啡比茶還貴)。Kā fēi bǐ chá hái yào guì. 

Coffee is more expensive than tea.

他不光爱吃我的菜, 还懂我的菜 (他不光愛吃我的菜, 還懂我的菜). Tā bù guāng ài chī wǒ de cài, hái dǒng wǒ de cài
He not only loves my food, but he also understands my food.
光 in this sentence means merely or 只 in Mandarin Chinese.
Instead of using this grammar structure, you can also change it to
不光....而且 
不但.....而且/还
不仅....而且/还

 

Sentences :

明天的晚会, 不光我自己去,还会带个朋友去 (明天的晚會, 不光我自己去,還會帶個朋友去).

Míng tiān de wǎn huì, bù guāng wǒ zì jǐ qù, hái huì dài gè péng yǒu qù. 

As for tomorrow's party, not only myself but a friend will be going as well.

我不光学习汉语,还学习日语 (我不光學習漢語,還學習日語).

Wǒ bù guāng xué xí hàn yǔ, hái xué xí rì yǔ. 

I not only learning Mandarin Chinese, but I am also learning Japanese.

我好像说过不跟人一起吃饭 (我好像說過不跟人一起吃飯). Wǒ hǎo xiàng shuō guò bu gēn rén yī qǐ chī fàn
I seemed to have told you that I do not like to eat with others  
Subject + 好像 ⋯⋯
To express "as if or to seem like", the phrase  好像 can be used.
 
Sentences :

老李好像很怕他老婆. Lǎo  lǐ  hǎo xiàng hěn pà tā lǎo pó.

Mr. Lee seems to fear his wife a lot.

你好像迷路了. Nǐ hǎo xiàng mí lù le

You look as if you are lost.

你不是说你讨厌我吗 (你不是說你討厭我嗎)?  Nǐ bù shì shuō nǐ tǎo yàn wǒ ma?
Didn't you say you hate me?
你不是说我很特别吗 (你不是說我很特別嗎)?  Nǐ bù shì shuō wǒ hěn tè bié ma?
Didn't you say I am very special?
你不是说 ...... is a very useful Chinese phrase for use in daily conversation 
 
Sentences :

你不是说要和我结婚吗 (你不是說要和我結婚嗎) ? Nǐ bù shì shuō yào hé wǒ jié hūn ma?

Didn't you say you want to marry me?

你不是说没有钱吗 (你不是說沒有錢嗎)? Nǐ bù shì shuō méi yǒu qián ma?

Didn't you say you have no money?

我一直以为我喜欢一个人吃饭 (我一直以為我喜歡一個人吃飯). Wǒ yī zhí yǐ wéi wǒ xǐ huān yī gè rén chī fàn
I always thought I like to eat alone.
You can use this expression when you want to express something you always thought it to be a certain way, but in actual fact it is not.
 

Sentences :

我一直以为你会到美国留学 (我一直以為你會到美國留學). Wǒ yī zhí yǐwéi nǐ huì dào měi guó liú xué. 

I always thought that you will study in the States.

玛丽一直以为这汉字是这么写的 (瑪麗一直以為這漢字是這麼寫的) . Mǎlì yī zhí yǐwéi zhè hàn zì shì zhè me xiě de. 

Mary always thought this Chinese character is written this way.

Chinese Movie Review

Do let us know what you think about this Chinese movie in the comment section. It will be awesome if you can post the Chinese phrases you have picked up after watching the movie. If you have any questions concerning any Chinese phrases in the Chinese movie, you can post in the comment section as well. 

 

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