Learn Mandarin Chinese – How to say – May I please ask who do you predict will win American Idol 2012?
[audio:http://www.chinesetolearn.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/listen-to-2012.mp3|titles=listen to 2012]
请问你预测谁会赢得二零一二年美国偶像？
qǐngwèn nǐ yùcè shéi huì yíngdé èr líng yī èr nián Měiguó ǒuxiàng ?
qǐngwèn ( 请 qǐng means please, 问 wèn means ask, qǐngwèn means may I please ask) nǐ (你 pronoun, you) yùcè (预测 verb, predict) shéi (谁 question pronoun, who) huì (会auxiliary verb, will) yíng (赢 verb, win) dé (得 particle usually put after a verb) èr líng yī èr (2012) nián (年 noun, year) Měiguó (美国 proper noun, American) ǒuxiàng (偶像 noun, idol) ?
American Idol is a reality television singing competition. It started in June 2002 and has became one of the most popular television shows in American history.
The lucky winner of the show will have the opportunity to produce new solo recording, and the winner is determined by the viewers. From the start, the show has been hosted by radio DJ Ryan Seacrest. The past American Idol winners are Kelly Clarkson, Ruben Studdard, Fantasia Barrino, Carrie Underwood, Taylor Hicks, Jordin Sparks, David Cook, Kris Allen, Lee DeWyze, and Scotty McCreery.
This year is Idol’s season 11, with Joshua Ledet, Jessica Sanchez and Phillip Phillips as the top 3 contestants. Tonight, Joshua Ledet got eliminated. Let’s see what the viewers said about the elimination and the coming finale.
Viewers’ reaction 观众的反映 guānzhòng de fǎnyìng :
Viewer number 1: Completely stunned. How does someone with a voice like Joshua get eliminated from ANY singing competition！！！
In Chinese, we have an idiom called 大吃一惊 which means got shocked or startled or gob-smacked. If this viewer knew Chinese, he might say
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Joshua 被淘汰真使我大吃一惊啊。
Joshua bèi táotài zhēn shǐ Wǒ dàchīyījīng ā .
Joshua bèi （被 passive action marker = Ved) táotài (淘汰 verb, eliminate) zhēn (真 adverb, really) shǐ (使 verb, make) Wǒ (我 pronoun, I or me) dàchīyījīng (大 dà means adverb greatly, 吃 chī means verb eat, 一 yī means number one, 惊 jīng means surprise or shock) ā (啊 particle to show exclamation).
Viewer number 2: I can not believe America is so blind ！！！
For a person who is blind, in Chinese we called the person 瞎子 xiāzi 。瞎 xiā has two radicals, 目 mù means eyes, and 害 hài means damage. So, if we put the two together it means eyes got damaged. When a person is blind, his or her eyes got damaged.
I can not believe that person is so blind. In Chinese we say:
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我真不敢相信那个人这么盲目。
Wǒ zhēn bù gǎn xiāngxìn nà gè rén zhème mángmù .
Wǒ (我 pronoun, I) zhēn (真 adverb, really) bù (不 negate word, not) gǎn (敢verb, dare) xiāngxìn (相信 verb, believe) nà (那 pronoun, that) gè (个 measure word for person) rén (人 noun, person) zhème (这么 adverb, such) mángmù (盲目 adjective, blind) .
盲目 mángmù means blind. 盲 máng consists two radicals, the top 亡 wáng means die, and the 目 mù means eyes; so two radicals together means eyes died.
Viewer number 3: Philip is just a redundancy. We don’t need another David Cook. It’s high time we need to put an end to the WGWG phenomenon? By the way WGWG means white guy with guitar.
For redundancy, in Chinese we can say it as
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多馀的东西
duōyú de dōngxi 。
duōyú ( 多馀 adjective, extra) de (的 connecting particle to put after the attributive and before the noun it modifies) dōngxi ( 东西 noun, things) 。
东西 dōngxi originally means east and west, however, in this phrase it means stuff, things.
Viewer number 4: If America votes for the most handsome guy….Philip will win…but if they vote for someone who has exceptional talent…..then obviously Jessica will win.
Handsome guy in Chinese we say
英俊的男子
yīngjùn de nánzǐ。
yīngjùn ( 英俊 adjective, handsome) de ( 的 particle that got put after the attributive and before the noun) nánzǐ ( 男子 noun, men or guy)。
Normally we don’t use 美丽 (měilì，beautiful) or 漂亮 ( piàoliang pretty) to describe the beauty of male gender.
Viewer number 5: People are obviously voting for who they think is sexy and NOT who is talented!!! I am totally disappointed. Are you kidding me? America….Wise up!!!
Are you kidding me? In Chinese we say:
[audio:http://www.chinesetolearn.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/listen-to-20124.mp3|titles=listen to 2012]
你跟我开玩笑吗？
nǐ gēn Wǒ kāi wánxiào ma ?
nǐ (你 pronoun, you) gēn (跟 conjunction, with) Wǒ (我 pronoun, I or me) kāi (开verb, originally means open, here means play or have) wánxiào ( 玩笑 noun, joke) ma (吗 question particle) ?
Wise up! In Chinese we say
变聪明一点！
biàn cōngming yī diǎn !
biàn （变 verb, to become) cōngming (聪明 adjective, smart) yī diǎn ( 一点 adverb, a bit) !
It is interesting to see viewers’ different opinion about the contestants. Some even got totally disappointed and refused to watch the show again.
Since majority of voters of the shower are teenager girls, so, it is very likely that Philip will win.
Dear reader, what do you think? You are welcome to write your comment to let us know who do you predict will be the winner of 2012 American Idol.
Jessica Sanchez: I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing – Top 3 – AMERICAN IDOL SEASON 11
Joshua Ledet: No More Drama – Top 3 – AMERICAN IDOL SEASON 11
Phillip Phillips: Beggin’ – Top 3 – AMERICAN IDOL SEASON 11