Intermediate - Signing up for Art Class (C0865)

A 你想学什么?
nǐ xiǎng xué shénme?
What do you want to study?
B 我也不知道。选择太多了!国画、油画、水彩、素描......
wǒ yě bù zhīdào. xuǎnzé tài duō le! guóhuà, yóuhuà, shuǐcǎi, sùmiáo......
I don't know. There is so much to choose from! Traditional Chinese painting, oil painting, watercolor, drawing...
A 我们一点基础都没有,还是学个简单的吧。
wǒmen yīdiǎn jīchǔ dōu méiyǒu, háishì xué ge jiǎndān de ba.
We don't even know the basics, we had better study something simple.
B 有道理。那,你说哪种好学?
yǒu dàolǐ. nà, nǐ shuō nǎ zhǒng hǎoxué?
That makes sense. Tell me which one is easy to learn.
A 国画,因为我小时候学过书法。
guóhuà, yīnwèi wǒ xiǎo shíhou xué guo shūfǎ.
Chinese traditional painting, because when I was young I studied calligraphy.
B 你没搞错吧?这有什么关系?
nǐ méi gǎocuò ba? zhè yǒu shénme guānxi?
Are you sure about that? What does that have to do with anything?
A 都是用毛笔啊。那,你想学什么?
dōu shì yòng máobǐ a. nà, nǐ xiǎng xué shénme?
They both use a writing brush. Now, what do you want to study?
B 嗯......油画。
ng......yóuhuà.
Hmm... oil painting.
A 很难的。而且颜料很臭。
hěn nán de. érqiě yánliào hěn chòu.
It's difficult, plus the paints are smelly.
B 没关系,为艺术牺牲嘛!
méiguānxi, wèi yìshù xīshēng ma!
So what? I'll suffer for art's sake!

Key Vocabulary

选择 xuǎnzé choice
国画 guóhuà traditional Chinese painting
油画 yóuhuà oil painting
水彩 shuǐcǎi watercolor
素描 sùmiáo to sketch
基础 jīchǔ foundation
简单 jiǎndān simple
道理 dàolǐ reason
zhǒng type
书法 shūfǎ calligraphy
搞错 gǎocuò mistaken
毛笔 máobǐ writing brush
颜料 yánliào paint
chòu smelly
牺牲 xīshēng to sacrifice

Supplementary Vocabulary

美术 měishù painting; drawing
画儿 huàr picture
墨汁 mòzhī ink
画笔 huàbǐ paintbrush
复杂 fùzá complicated
xiāng fragrant