Learn Mandarin with I TOLD SUNSET ABOUT YOU
This time we will be looking at the dialogue spoken in Mandarin in I TOLD SUNSET ABOUT YOU. Bear with me ‘cause it’s gonna be pretty long.
In episode 1, after going on an exam, Teh called his mom and said, “不过，我觉得自己做得还可以哦。” (however, I think I did great.)
自己 means self (myself, yourself)
This dialogue of Yongjian and Yuexin is being repeated a couple times: on tv, written on script, and on Oh-aew Chinese new year performance.
“慢着！勇健！” (Yongjian, wait!)
“月欣！让开，我无法原谅你父亲所做之事。背叛者只有一个下场，那就是死！” (Yuexin, move. I can’t forgive what your father did. Traitor only deserve one end, which is death.)
“若你对我父亲下手，便如同你也杀了我一样。” (if you kill my father, it would means that you killed me too.)
On this scene here, Teh’s mom doesn’t speak Mandarin, but I just want to point out that she calls the customers as “ko, cik” which, I assume, is the Thai people’s way to say 哥哥 (older brother)and 姐姐 (older sister). This kind of pronunciation comes from the original Mandarin language, but the pronunciation evolve with the local language. As far as I know, ko and cik is also widely used in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore.
When Teh and Ko Hoon arrived home, mom said “妈妈的两个小英终于来了。” (Mama’s two little heroes finally come home.)
Ma called his two boys 两个小英 which means two little heroes ><
Student will call the teacher 老师 regardless of their gender. 老师 simply means teacher. On the first meeting, I heard laoshi said few sentences in Chinese, but I can’t catch it clearly since it’s smashed with the music. He said “做好”(sit down） and “今天是第一堂课高考补习班的。。” (Today is the first class of admission exam preparation class)
高考 means university admission examination
补习班 means class that you attend after school or cram school
Here there’s a little dialogue between Teh and his mom.
“怕考不上吗？不用着急。反正考都考完了。” (are you afraid you won’t get admitted? Don’t worry. The exam is over afterall)
I have a hard time to translate this sentence. It literally means not pleasing to the eyes, not pleasing to the ear either. In this context, it is used to describe something that doesn’t sit right with your heart.
When Oh-aew came for tutoring, Ma said to Teh “教了朋友书。自己也要预习多。”(now you already teach your friend.(Don’t forget) You yourself (still) have to study.”
预习 literally means preview. There are many ways to say study: 学习、读书、预习、复习. This particular word that Ma used means that she told Teh to study more, study to prepare for future classes.
What’s interesting about this scene is that they’re guessing flashcards for words that contain 心 (heart). We know that this scene is when Teh is feeling confused and sad because Oh-aew consider him the same as other friends. His heart felt so many emotions just like written on the flashcards, and lastly he feels ‘伤心’ sad right now.
The tips that he gave about memorizing this word is also interesting because it connects so much with the emotion that he’s feeling right at that moment. “Just think about these two character, their roots are from human (人). Plus 力 means force. And this word 心 which means heart. When these two combine, it’s like two people using force against each other’s hearts, which means ‘sad’.”
That’s such a beautiful way to remember 伤心 :）
