This is a short reading from a Chinese first grade language primer. The story teaches children to think about and figure out math problems correctly, to cross the “equal sign” bridge.
The wording has a lyrical feel to it, but there are good vocabularies worth learning.
The main reason I chose this text is because it is full of the “uo” and “ou” Pinyin Finals. Though they are both quite common in Mandarin, the “uo” pair appears to be quite rare in most other languages. Therefore, “uo” is easily misread as “ou.”
The reading is an excellent opportunity to practice consciously differentiating the two.
Story breakdown by paragraph with vocabulary and audio
过 = to cross, pass (time)
桥 = bridge
计算题 = math problems (计算 = to figure, calculate; 题 = a problem (needing solved)
道 = (the measure word for questions and problems)
一排等号 = an equal sign (排 = measure word; 等号 = equal sign)
像 = to be like, seems like
对 = correct, right
做 = to make, do
错 = wrong, incorrect (做错 = do it wrong.)
不了 = (following a verb, 不了 (bù liǎo) gives the sense of something cannot be done. I.e. 吃不了 = can’t eat it. 看不了= can’t see it.)
想 = to think (想一想 = think for a while, think about it. The “verb 一 verb” pattern is used frequently, it creates a friendly sounding suggestion. I.e 吃一吃 “Eat something.” “Try some food.”)
快快乐乐 = happy, happily (duplication in Chinese is common. Doing so creates different feels. Here it adds emphasis to the aspect of “happily.”
过了桥 = cross the bridge (“了” following a verb means the action was completed. I.e. 我吃了。I ate.)
Character Radical:
木 The wood radical is called 木字旁 mù zì páng. It frequently tells us that the meaning of the character it appears in is a kind of tree or has some connection to wood. Consider the character “桥” in the reading.
Yin-yang Character Groups:
对错 duì cuò = right-wrong, correct-incorrect
快慢 kuài màn = fast-slow
大小 dà xiǎo = big-little, large-small; size
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And the Master Mandarin YouTube channel!