Fun With Radio Commercials (Update: No. 5)

[Flying Pigeon]

Hi,

Anyone interested in studying them? I'm thinking of recording some, posting them to my blog on the forums and discussing them. Kind of like Signese, First Episode, and Book of the Month but with, you guessed it, commercials.

Admin, is this copacetic? Or are there copyright issues?

Update: Decided to merge all of the threads and will update here when I upload new content. Also changed the title of the thread.

You can find the audio files, questions, transcripts and translations below:

No. 1: Page 1, post #6

No. 2: Page 1, post #17

No. 3: Page 2, post #30

No. 4: Page 2, post #36

No. 5: Page 2, post #37

[imron]

I say knock yourself out. Fair use provisions allow for educational usage and commentary anyway, and in any case I don't see too many advertisers complaining that their ads will be heard by even more people.

You'll probably get more participation if you start a thread that you update regularly, rather than just posting on your blog.

[Flying Pigeon]

Hi imron,

Thanks for the reply. I'll get cracking and then start a new thread.

[HedgePig]

I think this is a great idea - looking forward to your postings.

[Flying Pigeon]

Hi HedgePig,

Thanks. Hope to have one up by tomorrow.

[Flying Pigeon]

No. 1

Okay. I think I’m good to go. I’ve uploaded a 15 second audio clip. Here are some questions to ponder while listening – and to answer when finished. The answers and the transcript are in the spoiler.

What is this commercial advertising?

What is the name of the company?

What is their phone number?

What kind of insect do they mention?

Why do they mention this insect?

What is this commercial advertising? Car insurance What is the name of the company? Tai Ping Yang Insurance, or Pacific Ocean Insurance What is their phone number? 10108888 What kind of insect do they mention? Ants Why do they mention this insect? Anxious like ants on a hot pan after a fender bender (car accident) 上次车出险心里急得就像热锅上的蚂蚁。多亏太平洋电话车险。 礼赔报案24小时在线。查勘来得快，款也赔得快。 服务好就该是这样。10108888。 太平洋保险再你身边。

I listened to this quite a few times, and then asked a rather tired and cranky native speaker to help me out. If you spot any mistakes, please let me know and I will correct them. Also let me know how the sound quality is. I used my iPad to record it off a small transistor radio.

I’ll post another one next week. Stay tuned.

commercial_1.mp3

[prateeksha]

This is great. I am certainly looking forward to this thread.

[yeut]

What is 茶开?

[Ludens]

This is great stuff, although its discouraging how much trouble I have with understanding a commercial, even with the transcript. Looking forward to the next one! Also, if anyone is confident enough to provide a translation, that would be great too.

One minor issue: the file didn't play in my main audioplayer, Audacious.

[Flying Pigeon]

Hi yeut,

Update: Please look at semantic nuance's post below.

Hi Ludens,

Yes! It's very humbling. Listening to this was a blow to my 听力 ego. Not sure I can withstand a bruised 翻译 ego at this point. I might give it a shot this evening.

Sorry to hear about the problem playing the file in Audacious. I wasn't able to open it in Audacity. Were you able to listen to it in a different player? I used QuickTime.

Thanks, prateeksha. Nice profile photo, BTW. One of my hometown heroes.

[semantic nuance]

What is 茶开?

I guess it should be 查勘 (inspector). By the way, 熱線 should be 在線。

Sorry! I don't know how to use Spoiler to hide this.

[Flying Pigeon]

Hi semantic nuance,

Thanks for your help! I made the appropriate changes.

You can create a spoiler by clicking on the "More Reply Options" button and using the Special BBCode button, located to the left of the font window.

Thanks again for your help with the transcript.

[semantic nuance]

@ Dean A. Swanson: You're most welcome. Thank you for instructing me how to use spoiler. I was just learning how to make it. I'll use it next time if I can still be of help! Good job!

[imron]

You can create a spoiler by clicking on the "More Reply Options" button and using the Special BBCode button, located to the right of the font window.

Left

Alternatively, you might find it quicker just to type:

[ spoiler ]Some text[ /spoiler ] (but without the spaces) to get:

Some text

[semantic nuance]

EDIT: I deleted what I earlier posted because I already knew how to do it.

[imron]

Looks like it's working just fine

[Flying Pigeon]

No. 2

Hi,

I'm shooting for at least one commercial a week. But since I don't have a social life . . . er . . . I mean, since I'm not too busy at the moment, I thought I'd post another one. This is actually a PSA (public service announcement).

Update: Decided I need to cultivate a social life. I think posting a new commercial once a month is more doable.

Some questions:

1. What is this PSA about?

2. How did the parents help the children?

3. How are the adult children helping the parents?

4. What is the narrator encouraging the listeners to do?

5. What are the lyrics at the end?

Answers:

1. Filial piety. 2. Lead the boy by the hand; taught the girl to read; always accompanied the boy. 3. Helped the father across the street; taught the mom how to surf the net; taking the mom for a walk. 4. Take care of your parents (and elderly family members); carry on China's (traditional) virtue of filial piety. 5. Take care of your parents, show respect for your elders, filial piety.

Transcript:

Man 1: 小时候您牵着我的手，长大了就让我牵着您。"爸，把手给我，路上车多，我牵您过去。"

Woman: 小时候您教我识字，长大了就让我教您上网。"妈，如果这个输入法您不会，您还可以这样直接手写输入。"

Man 2: 小时候您陪伴我左右，长大了我也会一直在您左右。"妈，饭后我陪您散散步吧，对身体好。"

Narrator: 长大了我能照顾您。孝老爱亲，传承中华美德。

Singer: "孝敬父母，孝敬父母。"

Rough translation:

Man 1: You lead me by the hand when I was young, now that I'm older allow me to lead you (by the hand). "Dad, give me your hand, there are lots of cars on the streets, I'll lead you across (the street)."

Woman: When I was young, you taught me how to read, now that I'm an adult, allow me to teach you how to surf the internet. "Mom, if you can't input it like this, you can input it directly by writing it."

I'm thinking iPad and wireless keyboard, so this might be a more natural way to say it: "Mom, if you can't write using the keyboard, you can use your finger (to write)." abcdefg suggested that the mom is using a tablet to write the words. What do you think?

Man 2: When I was young you accompanied me everywhere, now that I'm older I will also always be by your side. "Mom, let's go for a walk after we eat, it's good for our health."

(This might be a better way of saying it: When I was young you were always by my side, now that I'm older, I will also always be by your side.)

Narrator: I will take care of you when I'm older (when I'm an adult, when I grow up). Filial piety, carry on China's virtues.

(Had difficulty with this line.)

Singer: Show filial respect, respect your parents (elders), take care of your parents (elders).

Please let me know if you have problems downloading or playing the audio, notice mistakes in the transcript or have suggestions for a better translation. Thanks!

Happy listening!

psa_2.mp3

[li3wei1]

I was not able to open either this one or the last one. I was using Windows Media Player, and it first told me that the file had an extension (mp3) that didn't match the format, then it told me that it couldn't play it. Anyone else having these problems?

[Flying Pigeon]

Hi li3wei1,

Sorry to hear that. The original file is a .m4a, but I'm not able to upload it. I've converted it to an .aiff and .wav, but it exceeds the 1.95mb limit. I'm away from my computer right now; I will try uploading a different file format tomorrow. Again, sorry for the technical glitch.

[roddy]

I can have a look at the formats and limits, but have you tried using Audacity to reduce file size and save as mp3? Speech doesn't need very high quality.