8 Lesson 11 Dialogue 2: 一封电邮

Narration:

发件人：春明
收件人：秋雨
主题：春假快到了
秋雨：
很高兴收到你的电子邮件！好久不见，你现在怎么样？
今天是二月五号， 我们这儿现在是冬天。天气冷极了，常常下雪。冬天冷是冷，可是我觉得很好玩儿，因为可以堆雪人。不过，比堆雪人更好玩的是滑冰。前天我跟同学们一起到公园去滑冰了，昨天我们又去了。明天我还想跟他们去。如果你冬天来我这儿，我会带你去这儿的山上滑雪，因为我觉得滑雪比滑冰更有意思。
下个月就是春天了。我最喜欢春天，天气不但暖和，而且很舒服。我们这儿的夏天非常热，不过挺短的。秋天一到，天气就凉快了。
下个月十五号我们就要放春假了。我想约你一起去上海玩儿，你有时间吗？
现在我得去上课了。有空给我回信。
祝好！
春明

Vocabulary:

Grammar Notes:

1. The expression 极了 in the sentence “天气冷极了”
   The expression 极了 means “extremely”, often used after adjectives to indicate a degree. The structure is “Subject + adj. + 极了“. For example:
   夏天热极了。(Summer is extremely hot.)
   秋天凉快极了。(Autumn is extremely cool.)
2. adj.是adj.，可是…
   The first part “adj.是adj.” implies that the speaker accepts the validity of a certain point of view, and the second part introduced by 可是/但是/不过 offers an alternative perspective or emphasizes a different aspect of the matter. Let’s take a look at this example:
   滑冰难是难，可是很有意思。(Although skating is hard, it is interesting.) In this sentence, the speaker confirms that skating is hard, but he thinks it is interesting.
   工作忙是忙，可是我不觉得累。(Although the work is busy, I don’t feel tired.)
3. The adverb 又 in the sentence “昨天我们又去了”
   The adverb 又 is used before verbs to express “again” in the past, i.e., an action that happened in the past occurred again for the second time. In the sentence above, the action 去 happened again yesterday. Here is one more example:
   昨天我听了录音，今天我又听了录音。In this sentence, the action 听录音 happened yesterday. Today it happened again, so 又 is used to indicate “again”.
4. 不但…，而且… in the sentence “天气不但暖和，而且很舒服”
   This pattern means “not only…, but also…” If there is only one subject, the structure is “Subject + 不但…，而且…”. For example:
   这个菜不但好看，而且好吃。(This dish is not only attractive, but also yummy.)
   If there are two different subjects, the structure is “不但 + Subject 1 …，而且 + Subject 2…“. For example:
   不但男人找工作难，(而且)女人(找工作)也不容易。(Not only it is hard for men to find jobs, but also it is hard for women.) In this pattern, 而且 can be omitted, and 也 is used instead.
5. 了 indicating “change of status”
   In the sentence 下个月是春天了, the particle 了 indicates the change of status from winter to spring. Another example:
   我累了。This sentence implies that my status changes from not being tired to being tired.

Culture Notes:

Ice and snow sports began to attract more and more attention in China after 2002. As 2022 Winter Olympics was successfully held in Beijing, China has been witnessing a boom in winter sports and activities, especially skiing and snowboarding. As of 2021, China has over 770 ski resorts, many of which are newly built or renovated with updated, modern facilities. Most of them are located in northern China, such as Heilongjiang Province, Jilin Province, Liaoning Province, and Beijing City. Some can also be found in the northwestern and central areas. Apart from skiing and snowboarding, you can also find places to enjoy other winter sports and activities in China, including sledding, ice hockey, etc. You can also find hot springs and theme parks in/around the ski resorts to enrich your recreational experience. To know more about the recommended skiing places in China, please visit this website.

In addition to skiing, ice skating has always been a popular activity for people of all ages in China, especially in the northern regions during the winter months when people can either skate indoors or outdoors. According to the data from the International Ice Hockey Federation in 2021, China has 537 indoor and 285 outdoor rinks for a total of 822. Beijing alone has a large number of year-round indoor ice rinks. In the winter months (January and February), you can also go ice skating in the outdoor ice rinks. As the temperature drops, lakes in Beijing start to freeze and turn into natural outdoor ice rinks. They are usually open for visitors from late December to early February, depending on the weather and ice conditions on the lakes.