First Episode 58: 白色巨塔 The Hospital

A part of the Grand First Episode Project -- See this thread for more info.

Taiwanese hospital drama and romance

tudou - youku

Summary - Vocabulary

I am watching this Taiwan drama series (not the Japanese series with a similar name) on the internet. I am watching episode 8 (there are 39 in total) and I think so far it is not bad. The leading male actor, 言承旭, who was also the male lead of 流星花園, is very attractive (養眼！ ), though he looks way too young for his role. The other male leading actor 戴立忍 is also good.

The Taiwan accent might require a little getting used to. ha ha.

Watch (in Mandarin with Chinese subtitles)

Thanks for the link! This is great, I haven't seen a romantic drama since 戰神, and I like listening to the Taiwan accents.

I've finished watching the series and I think it is good. But what a sad story (despite the effort in the last episode to put the ending in a positive light). And how could any woman ditch Dr Su? And not just once but twice?

More links ->

http://www.tudou.com/playlist/id/518766/

http://www.tudou.com/playlist/id/117825/

http://www.tudou.com/playlist/baisejuta/ and http://www.tudou.com/playlist/baisejuta2/

Yesterday I went shopping and couldn't decide, which Chinese language I should watch next. I ended up buying 白色巨塔 Báisè Jùtǎ. Hopefully, I won't be disappointed.

I like "The White Tower" more than "The Hospital".

Shooter.cn site has subtitles but I am not sure if this is the Taiwanese or Japanese movie (The title is: 白い巨塔/白色巨塔). The equivalent Japanese drama 白い巨塔 (Shiroi Kyotō) is older. Can anyone help, please?

http://www.shooter.cn/xml/sub/15/15604.xml

http://wiki.d-addicts.com/The_Hospital

I've blogged about this series. Take a look ->

http://blossomingsky.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!CE0A89B492538653!304.entry

OR

http://voidsky.blogspot.com/2007/05/blog-post_20.html

Thanks Skylee.

Unfortunately, I was a bit disappointed - there are no English subtitles at all, although the cover says there English and Mandarin subs. The Chinese language subtitles from shooter.cn are for the Japanese series: Shiroi Kyotō.

The series on DVD has built-in traditional Chinese subtitles.

Try the links at #3. They have Chinese subtitles. Watch them on line whenever you want and train your listening and reading skills at the same time.

Reading subtitles extracted from its source is IMHO a fairly boring affair.

Thanks for the link and the advise. That's what I do (listen and read) but the progress is slow. Actually, I've got the whole series on DVD, no need to go online.

I don't just read subtitles, usually subtitles can be attached to the movies (e.g. .srt or .sub can be used with RMVB files) and watched. I like soft subs, as you can look up some words.

Bump for an older show that Skylee recomended.

Some vocab I gathered:

飼料 饲料 sì liào * feed / fodder

餅乾 饼干 bǐng gān * biscuit / cracker / cookie

聯大 联大 Lián Dà * United Nations General Assembly / abbr. for 聯合國大會|联合国大会

化療 化疗 huà liáo * chemotherapy

總統 总统 zǒng tǒng * president (of a country)

治療 治疗 zhì liáo * to treat / to cure / (medical) treatment

狀況 状况 zhuàng kuàng * condition / state / situation

苜宿芽

護理 护理 hù lǐ * to nurse / to tend and protect

內科 内科 nei4 ke1 * "internal" medicine

外科 wài kē * surgery

靜脈 静脉 jìng mài * vein

输液管

併發症 并发症 bìng fā zhèng * complications (undesired side-effect of medical procedure)

血球 血球 xuè qiú * blood corpuscle / hemocyte

數目 数目 shù mù * amount / number

注射 注射 zhù shè * injection / to inject

要命 要命 yào mìng * to cause sb's death / very / extremely

插頭 插头 chā tóu * plug

开刀房 operating room ?

冲出 rush/dash out ?

主任 主任 zhǔ rèn * director / head

飯桶 饭桶 fàn tǒng * rice bucket / useless person

麻醉 麻醉 má zuì * anesthesia / fig. to poison (sb's mind)

護士 护士 hù shi * nurse

協調 协调 xié tiáo * to coordinate / to harmonize / negotiation

烂摊子 làntānzi * mess

I don't know if there is some Taiwanese regionalism in here, or if parts were too technical, but I really struggled during the first 20 minutes or so. The blurred traditional characters and mushy sound + Taiwanese accent didn't help at all. I haven't felt this helpless for years.

Some of the more difficult lines/phrases:

迷迭香口味的

你又睡过头了是不是

低因减糖全麦这是你的早餐

轻皮肤穿制内植式中央静脉输液管的装置急性并发症处理

急性白血症患者

The beginning of this was quite terrible, I have to say, but it's starting to look like it might be interesting. It's certainly somewhat more serious than many other Taiwanese shows we've covered, and the hospital power struggles and alliances look like they could be interesting if they focus on them more in the coming episodes.

I don't understand why the main character always has to be a 21 year old pretty boys with the 80s haircut, though. He'd be fine as a comic relief intern or something, but definitely not a genius surgeon. I guess I'll never fully adjust to Taiwanese TV.

The language is mostly intermediate, but there were parts that completely stumped me.