ChinesePod
aChinesePod
@ 51520 蟻族
A: 哎，哥們兒跟你商量個事兒。
āi, gēmenr gēn nǐ shāngliang gè shìr.
Hey man, I'd like to discuss something with you.
B: 啥事兒？跟我還客氣什麼？不是借錢就行。
shá shìr? gēn wǒ hái kèqi shénme? bùshì jièqián jiù xíng.
What's up? What's with the formalities? As long as it's not money, it's cool.
A: 不是借錢，是借地方。我女朋友這週末過來，你能不能去隔壁你老鄉那兒擠擠？
bùshì jièqián, shì jiè dìfang. wǒ nǚpéngyou zhè zhōumò guòlai, nǐ néng bùnéng qù gébì nǐ lǎoxiāng nàr jǐ ji?
Not money, a place. My girlfriend is coming over this weekend. Do you think you could go stay with that guy from your hometown next door?
B: 這事兒啊！行！為了維護哥們兒的愛情果實，我就是睡大街上也願意。
zhè shìr5 a! xíng! wèile wéihù gēmenr de àiqíng guǒshi, wǒ jiùshì shuì dàjiē shang yě yuànyì.
Oh, that? No problem! For the well-being of my bro's relationship, I'd even sleep outside on the street.
A: 兄弟，謝了！
xiōngdì, xiè le!
Thanks bro!
B: 呵呵，不過你們可別太折騰啊，咱們這群租房，一套房子隔成五六個小房間，隔音效果太差了！
hēhē, bùguò nǐmen kě bié tài zhēteng a, zánmen zhè qúnzū fáng, yī tào fángzi gé chéng wǔ liù gè xiǎo fángjiān, géyīn xiàoguǒ tài chà le!
Heh-heh. But keep the noise down all right? We all live here as a group. One apartment is divided into 5 or 6 little rooms. The sound insulation is terrible!
A: 知道了！等明年我安定一些，女朋友也畢業了，就去租個一室一廳的。
zhīdao le! děng míngnián wǒ āndìng yīxiē, nǚpéngyou yě bìyè le, jiù qù zū gè yī shì yī tīng de.
OK, I got it! Once I get a little settled down next year and my girlfriend has graduated, I'll go rent a one bedroom apartment.
B: 挺好，你還挺有規劃的。不像我，前途，愛情都很渺茫。
tǐng hǎo, nǐ hái tǐng yǒu guīhuà de. bù xiàng wǒ, qiántú, àiqíng dōu hěn miǎománg.
Not bad. You've got your stuff pretty planned out. Not like me – my future , my relationships – they're all so up in the air.
A: 咱們既不是富二代，也不是官二代，父母都是老實巴交的農民。想在大城市立足，流血流汗是肯定的。像咱們這樣的“蟻族”，全國少說也有幾百萬。
zánmen jì bù shì fù'èrdài, yě bù shì guān'èrdài, fùmǔ dōu shì lǎoshibājiāo de nóngmín. xiǎng zài dàchéngshì lìzú, liúxiě liúhàn shì kěndìng de. xiàng zánmen zhèyàng de" yǐzú”, quánguó shǎoshuō yě yǒu jǐbǎi wàn.
Our parents aren't wealthy, let alone government officials. Our parents are just honest and good-natured peasants. Coming to the big city and shedding blood, sweat and tears is a must. There's more than a few million people like us - apart of this 'ant tribe'.
B: 住群租房，擠公交車，我都不怕，主要是沒個穩定工作，心裡老是沒底。我好像不太適合做銷售，這個月任務又完不成。
zhù qúnzū fáng, jǐ gōngjiāochē, wǒ dōu bù pà, zhǔyào shì méi ge wěndìng gōngzuò, xīnli lǎoshi méidǐ. wǒ hǎoxiàng bùtài shìhé zuò xiāoshòu, zhè ge yuè rènwu yòu wán bù chéng.
Living with a bunch of people, squeezing onto the bus - I'm fine with all of that. It's mostly just not having a stable job that makes me feel so unsure all the time. I feel like sales doesn't really fit me. I won't be able to finish all my stuff again this month.
A: 慢慢來，別洩氣。誰叫咱趕上了擴招呢，大學生一年比一年多，一年比一年不值錢，找個好工作比登天還難。不過等有一些工作經驗就好了，畢竟大城市機會多，發展空間也大。
mànmān lái, bié xièqì. shéi jiào zán gǎnshàng le kuòzhāo ne, dàxuéshēng yī nián bǐ yīnián duō, yī nián bǐ yī nián bù zhíqián, zhǎo gè hǎo gōngzuò bǐ dēngtiān hái nán. bùguò děng yǒu yīxiē gōngzuò jīngyàn jiù hǎo le, bìjìng dàchéngshì jīhuì duō, fāzhǎn kōngjiān yě dà.
Take your time and don't lose heart. It's not our fault we were just in time for the admissions increase. There are more university students every year, and every year they're worth less and less. Finding a good job is close to impossible. But after we get some work experience we'll be fine. After all, there's a lot of opportunity in the big city and a lot of room to develop.
B: 是啊。父母砸鍋賣鐵供我們讀完大學，好不容易畢業了，別說報答父母了，養活自己也成問題。我學的又是這種華而不實的破專業，哎！
shì a. fùmǔ záguōmàitiě gōng wǒmen dú wán dàxué, hǎobùróngyì bìyè le, bié shuō bàodá fùmǔ le, yǎnghuó zìjǐ yě chéng wèntí. wǒ xué de yòu shì zhèzhǒng huá'érbùshí de pò zhuānyè, ài!
Yeah. Our parents sacrificed everything so that we could finish university, and graduating isn't easy. Not to mention that repaying our parents and supporting ourselves have become problems too. And, I chose this nice-sounding yet useless major of mine. Agh!
A: 不管怎麼說，我們有知識，有學歷，有青春，有夢想，以後一定會越來越好的。
bùguǎnzěnmeshuō, wǒmen yǒu zhīshi, yǒu xuélì, yǒu qīngchūn, yǒu mèngxiǎng, yǐhòu yīdìng huì yuèláiyuè hǎo de.
Anyway, no matter how you put it, we have knowledge, academic experience, our youth, and dreams – things will definitely get better over time.
B: 嗯，麵包會有的，愛情也會有的。我就是偶爾發發牢騷。不說了，我上網打會兒遊戲。
ng4, miànbāo huì yǒu de, àiqíng yě huì yǒu de. wǒ jiùshì ǒu'ěr fā fa láosāo. bù shuō le, wǒ shàngwǎng dǎ huǐr yóuxì.
Yeah, there'll be food on the table and love will come too. I just like to complain from time to time. Anyway, I'm going to go online and play games for a while.
Key Vocabulary
維護 wéihù to maintain and protect
折騰 zhēteng to toss and turn
群租 qúnzū communal living
隔 gé to separate
隔音 géyīn sound proofing
安定 āndìng stable, settled
規劃 guīhuà plan, program
前途 qiántú future prospects
渺茫 miǎománg uncertain
富二代 fù'èrdài children of wealthy parents
官二代 guān'èrdài children of government officials
老實巴交 lǎoshibājiāo honest and good-natured
立足 lìzú to base oneself
蟻族 yǐzú 'ant tribe'
擴招 kuòzhāo to expand student enrollment numbers
值錢 zhíqián to be not worth money
比登天還難 bǐ dēngtiān hái nán 'more difficult than climbing to heaven'
砸鍋賣鐵 záguōmàitiě to sacrifice everything
華而不實 huá'érbùshí flashy but without substance, showy
學歷 xuélì academic experience
發牢騷 fāláosāo to complain, to grumble
Supplementary Vocabulary
聚居 jùjū to inhabit
《蝸居》 wōjū “Dwelling Narrowness"
膠囊旅館 jiāonáng lǚguǎn capsule hotel
貧二代 pín'èrdài children of low-income families
就業形勢 jiùyè xíngshì forms of employment
------
======