day 18neighbours

neighbours

Give practical advice with 我会建议他……, push it with 尽量 and 亲自, warn with ……，不然……, retell a short explainer about queues, and advise a friend in a quarrel with a neighbour.

words to say

• 纠纷 jiūfēn · dispute
• 矛盾 máodùn · conflict; contradiction
• 沟通 gōutōng · to communicate
• 冲突 chōngtū · conflict; to clash
• 争吵 zhēngchǎo · to argue, quarrel
• 隔壁 gébì · next door
• 噪声 zàoshēng · noise
• 和谐 héxié · harmonious
• 楼道 lóudào · stairwell, corridor (in a block of flats)
• 邻居 línjū · neighbour

sentences

• 邻居之间难免会有矛盾。 · Neighbours are bound to disagree sometimes.
• 有问题尽量当面沟通，不然误会会越来越深。 · Talk problems over face to face as far as you can; otherwise the misunderstanding only deepens.
• 隔壁装修的噪声让他一个星期没睡好。 · The noise of the renovation next door kept him from sleeping well for a week.
• 这种事最好亲自去说，别贴纸条。 · With this kind of thing it’s best to go and say it in person, not stick up a note.
• 一次小小的争吵，可能变成很大的纠纷。 · One small quarrel can turn into a big dispute.

say it after the voice

• 邻居之间有了矛盾，最好尽量当面沟通，不然只会越来越严重。 · When neighbours fall out, it’s best to talk face to face as far as possible; otherwise it only gets worse.
• 楼上的噪声让他一个星期都没睡好，可是他一直不好意思去说。 · The noise upstairs kept him from sleeping well all week, but he felt too awkward to say anything.
• 这种事最好亲自去敲门，而不是在楼道里贴一张纸条。 · With this kind of thing, it’s best to knock on the door in person rather than stick a note in the stairwell.
• 与其在网上和邻居互相争吵，不如坐下来一起找个办法。 · Rather than quarrelling with your neighbours online, sit down together and find a way out.

questions to answer

• 晚上十点以后，该不该在家练钢琴？ · Should you practise the piano at home after ten at night?
• 你喜欢跟邻居很熟，还是互相不打扰？ · Do you like being close to your neighbours, or leaving each other alone?
• 如果隔壁的狗每天晚上叫，你会怎么办？ · If the dog next door barked every night, what would you do?

a passage to retell

• When queuing, many people feel time passes especially slowly. That’s because when we have nothing to do, we keep paying attention to the time. Also, the queue next to ours always seems to be faster. Actually that’s because as soon as the other queue moves, we notice at once. So when you queue, it’s best to find yourself something to do, like listening to a song.

a passage to read aloud

傍晚的小区，是一天里最热闹、最温暖的时候。下班的人提着菜走进楼道，隔壁的厨房里传来炒菜的声音，窗户一个接一个地亮起了灯。楼下，几位老人坐在一起聊天，孩子们在旁边跑来跑去，时不时传来一阵笑声。邻居之间也会有矛盾，比如谁家的声音太大，谁把东西放在了楼道里。可是在这样的傍晚，大家见面笑着问一句“吃了吗”，很多不愉快就慢慢过去了。和谐并不是没有冲突，而是大家愿意互相理解。家，不只是门后面的房间，也是门外这些熟悉的声音。