Bookmarks 

1）得 with a verb or adjective, to show the extent of an action or state

（例）他汉语说得很好。

He speaks Chinese very well.

（例）雨下得很大。

It's raining very heavily.

Sign Posts    

How to Mail Letters

The mail service in China is fairly quick and reliable. In today's lesson we learned 航空信 airmail and 挂号信 registered mail. Most letters will arrive in a day or two within the same city, a few days to other cities within China and a week or more for international letters. If that's not fast enough, you could consider 特快专递 express courier. These can provide same-day service within the city and one or two day service to most locations in China. Domestic courier service is relatively cheap, but international service is expensive and will probably still take a few days.

Your hotel can help you with most postal services. For parcels 包裹 you should go to a local post office. International parcels may have to be checked by a customs agent before they are sealed and sent.

Substitution and Extension

1）好 after a verb, indicating the action has been completed

（例）去上海的机票已经买好了。

The air ticket for Shanghai has already been bought.

2）着 after a verb or adjective, to show the action or state is continuing

（例）她穿着红色的毛衣。

She is wearing a red sweater.

Translation:

Huang： Hello！

Staff ： Hello！

Huang： I’d like to photocopy this document and my passport.

Staff 1：Do I copy the document on one side or both sides？

Huang：Both sides, please.

Staff 1：Which pages of the passport shall I photocopy？

Huang：The first page and the one with a visa on it.

Staff：It’s done, please have a look.

Huang： The photograph on the visa’s not that clear.

Staff 1： Maybe our photocopier’ s having problems. Sorry, we’ll redo one for you.

Staff 1：How’s this？

Huang：That’s a good copy.

Huang：You can send faxes here right? I’d like to send a fax .

Staff 1： The fax machine is here, please come over this side.

Huang： OK！

Staff 1： Domestic or international？

Huang： International.

Staff 1： What’s the fax number？

Huang： Here, the fax number is written on this piece of paper.

Staff 1： The fax has gone through.

Huang： Great，thanks！How much is it？

Staff ： 10 yuan.

Huang： OK， thank you！

（ Xuemei walks in）

Xuemei： Honey，here you are.

Huang：Xuemei，I came to send a fax，how about you？

Xuemei：I need to post a letter，why don’t you come with me?

Huang：OK, let’s go!

Is the letter for mom？

Xuemei：Yes, that’s why it has to go by airmail.

Huang：Airmail it is. It’s so heavy, this letter’s over the weight limit for sure.

Xuemei：There are about a dozen photos, all taken by Xiao Jie.

Huang： Then send it by registered mail, in case it gets lost.

Xuemei： Registered mail takes a little longer, about ten days.

Huang： Yeah, but it’s safe. Come on, I have to buy some postcards anyway.

Xuemei： Uh, honey，the post office is this way.