Intermediate - Volunteering in China (C1884)

A: 姐妹们,不好意思,我来晚了。哎,怎么还少一个?小悦呢?
jiěmèi men, bùhǎoyìsi, wǒ lái wǎn le. āi, zěnme hái shǎo yī ge? Xiǎoyuè ne?
Hey girls, sorry I'm late. Hey, aren't we short one person? Where's Xiao Yue?
B: 她去西部的一个农村当志愿者了。
tā qù xībù de yī ge nóngcūn dāng zhìyuànzhě le.
She went to volunteer at a village out west.
A: 啊?她怎么不跟我说啊?她要去多久?
ǎ? tā zěnme bù gēn wǒ shuō a? tā yào qù duō jiǔ?
What? Why didn't she tell me? How long will she be there?
B: 大概两个月吧。
dàgài liǎng ge yuè ba.
Around two months.
A: 她是怎么找到这个机会的?
tā shì zěnme zhǎodào zhè ge jīhuì de?
How did she find this opportunity?
B: 好像是在论坛里聊天,几个网友都有同样的想法,大家一商量,就去了。
hǎoxiàng shì zài lùntán lǐ liáotiān, jǐ ge wǎngyǒu dōu yǒu tóngyàng de xiǎngfǎ, dàjiā yī shāngliang, jiù qù le.
Apparently she was chatting on some online forums and a few other users had the same idea. They talked about it a bit and then just decided to go.
A: 这么简单啊!我还以为要去政府报名什么的。
zhème jiǎndān a! wǒ hái yǐwéi yào qù zhèngfǔ bàomíng shénme de.
It's that simple? I thought you had to go sign up with the government and stuff.
B: 怎么?你也想去啊?
zěnme? nǐ yě xiǎng qù a?
Why? You want to go, too?
A: 对啊!当志愿者多有意义啊!
duì a! dāng zhìyuànzhě duō yǒu yìyì a!
Yeah! Volunteering is so meaningful!
C: 那里条件那么苦,吃也吃不好,住也住不好。我才不去呢!
nàlǐ tiáojiàn nàme kǔ, chī yě chī bù hǎo, zhù yě zhù bù hǎo. wǒ cái bù qù ne!
Life there is so hard. You can't even eat well or have a nice place to stay. There's no way I'd go!
A: 志愿者是去帮助那里的人,又不是去旅游的。
zhìyuànzhě shì qù bāngzhù nàlǐ de rén, yòu bù shì qù lǚyóu de.
Volunteers go to help people, not to go travelling.
C: 好吧,你们都是活雷锋!
hǎo ba, nǐmen dōu shì huó Léi Fēng!
OK. You guys are all living Lei Fengs!

Key Vocabulary

姐妹们 jiěmèimen sisters
shǎo less
西部 xībù western part
农村 nóngcūn village
dāng to be, to work as
志愿者 zhìyuànzhě volunteer
机会 jīhuì opportunity
好像 hǎoxiàng to seem as if
论坛 lùntán forum
聊天 liáotiān to chat
网友 wǎngyǒu online friend
同样 tóngyàng same
想法 xiǎngfǎ idea
商量 shāngliang to discuss
一......就...... yī ... jiù ... as soon as...just...
以为 yǐwéi to think mistakenly
政府 zhèngfǔ government
报名 bàomíng to sign up
什么的 shénme de and so on
有意义 yǒu yìyì meaningful
条件 tiáojiàn condition
difficult
cái [adds emphasis]
帮助 bāngzhù to assist
旅游 lǚyóu to go travelling
huó to be alive
雷锋 Léi Fēng Lei Feng (name)

Supplementary Vocabulary

兄弟们 xiōngdìmen brothers
结构 jiégòu structure
强调 qiángdiào to emphasize
正式 zhèngshì formal
方式 fāngshì method
类似 lèisì to be similar to
有意思 yǒu yìsi interesting
意思 yìsi meaning
否定 fǒudìng negative

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