If you’ve ever ridden on a gōngjiāo chē 公交车 in China, you’ve heard some variation on these announcements. Even though the audio quality of my cheapo, shānzhài 山寨 MP3 recorder is horrendous, the idea here is:
One way to improve listening is to understand every word being said.
In this case, that involves listening to the “recording” and reading the transcript.
I’d like to apologize for the terrible audio quality and promise that I’ll hopefully have a chance to get a better recording in the future (although this one is from Changsha when we were doing our ridiculous challenge 14 and I don’t know when I’ll be back there again). If anyone else has an audio recording of the local bus announcement, please tell me and we’ll add it here.
Recording 1: Bus Starting
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Bus Starting (2,373 hits)
Full Transcript for Both Audio Files:
Bus Transcript (2,495 hits)
chēliàng qǐbù.
The vehicle has started moving.
qǐng nín zuò hǎo, zhàn wěn, zhuā hǎo fúshǒu.
Please sit properly, stand stably, (or) grab the handrail firmly
qǐng nín zhǔdòng wèi shēnbiān de lǎo, ruò, bìng, cán, yùn, jí dài xiǎoháir de chéngkè ràng gè zuò
请您主动为身边的老，弱，病，残，孕，及带小孩儿的乘客让个座。
Please take the initiative to give your seat to the old, weak, sick, disabled, pregnant, and passengers with children
xià yí zhàn: Yáolǐng Běi
Next stop: Yaoling North
Recording 2: Bus Stopping
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Bus Stopping (2,351 hits)
Full Transcript for Both Audio Files:
Bus Transcript (2,495 hits)
? ? ? ? ? ? tíxǐng nín: Yáolǐng Běi dào le
(? the name of the bus company ?) would like to remind you: We’re arriving at Yaoling Bei.
qǐng dài hǎo suíshēn xiédài de wùpǐn zhǔnbèi xià chē
Please take all your carry-on things and get ready to get off the bus.
chéngkèmen, shàng chē hòu, qǐng wǎng chēxiāng nèi zǒu yǐ zhàogù hòumian de chéngkè shàng chē.
Passengers, after you get on the bus, please move to the middle of the compartment to help the passengers behind you get on the bus.
xièxiè
Thank you.
Things to Point Out
- I’m also not happy that they used “chēliàng” 车辆 and “chēxiāng” 车厢 instead of just “chē” 车. But that’s kind of the point of this exercise: to see the formal words used so we can understand them next time we hear them.
- That list of “lǎo, ruò, bìng, cán, yùn, jí dài xiǎoháir” 老，弱，病，残，孕，及带小孩儿 passengers is pretty common on most buses in most cities I’ve been in (the order might even be the same)
- That “jí” 及 is just a formal word for “hé” 和.
- “suíshēn xiédài de wùpǐn” 随身携带的物品 seems to me to be a very wordy way to say “your things.” Can anyone explain why the “suíshēn” 随身 and “xiédài” 携带 are both necessary or is it just a frozen form?
- I translated “yǐ zhàogù” 以照顾 as “to help” because “yǐ” 以 here means “in order to” and “zhàogù” 照顾 means “to take care of / show consideration for”. Better translations welcome.
You are very talented.
By the way, in “? ? ? ? ? ? tíxǐng nín: Yáolǐng Běi dào le”, the ? should be a name of a advertiser. Some local company will pay for this kind advertising.
caii,
Ok thanks! Can you figure out the name of the advertiser?
I wouldn’t say 及 is particularly formal, and it’s closer to “as well as” than “and”.
awesome!! just need the stuff. thanks albert!
Yes,”随身”and”携带” are usually written together,you’ll notice it on subway as well.But “随身物品”is OK,people will understand it.Perhaps “随身携带”has become a frozen word after being used for a long time.
“以照顾”could be translated as “convenient”.That would be easier and more convenient for passengers behind you get on the bus if former ones have got on and stand in or inside the compartment.
The first two words of the advertiser’s name are 长城 “Great Wall”, I think, but neither my wife nor I could get the rest.
When I was just starting to learn Chinese, I always misheard the 随身 as 学生 and couldn’t never figure out why the buses and subways in China were always addressing students in their announcements.
wow! 真详细啊！
the ” yao ling bei” actrally is a bus station in the city of 长沙（changsha），hunan province.
it’s not a advertisement.
the bus say that you need carry all the your things just for make people pay attention that don’t left and forgot anything in the bus when they leave it .
随身is in regards to personal/body items an example being a watch/wallet. 携带 would be refering to things that you carry such as bags/luggage.
Yes, I agree with you if we want to be great listener we should first properly understand what they are trying to say. Their way of talking is little bit different but few words are just adopted to attract passenger attention.
以照顾 “yǐ zhàogù” does not necessarily be translated literally.It is ok to say
(Passengers,) after you board the bus, please move to the middle of the compartment to allow/let the passengers behind you board the bus (conveniently)