Just Friends?
我们是朋友吗?

BREAKTHROUGH LEVEL (150 unique characters)
Dapeng and Wendong are best friends attending the same college. When the beautiful Zixin arrives on campus, they soon discover they both share an interest in her. To preserve their friendship, they make a promise not to pursue her. However, when Wendong sees Zixin going for a ride in Dapeng’s car, the truce dissolves into a battle between the two friends trying to gain the affection of Zixin. Whom does she really like, or are they “Just Friends?”
Adaptation Notes
Any learner that has managed to learn 150 Chinese characters knows it is not an easy task, and the prospect of reading a real text in Chinese seems discouragingly far off. Typically textbook dialogs are the only reading material available for years on end. That’s why being able to read an actual story with only 150 Chinese characters is a very big deal, and a huge help to the fluency development of early-stage learners.
The stories told at this 150-character Breakthrough Level are special, however. Nouns, verbs and adjectives at this level are in short supply, and the stories revolve around the limited vocabulary by necessity. This is why Breakthrough Level stories are not adaptations of western classics. They are original stories co-written by John Pasden and Jared Turner, specifically designed to be engaging to readers despite the limitations.
Since the limited vocabulary of the Breakthrough Level does include quite a few words relating to students and school, this gave birth to the idea of a story based on a simple love triangle. Set within a new corner of the “Mandarin Companion Universe,” these are all new characters although you might find one or two familiar faces if you look hard enough.
Finally, a note about the title. The English title Just Friends? is not an exact translation of the Chinese title 我们是朋友吗? (Wǒ-men Shì Péngyou ma?), and yet each title is relevant to the story in its own way. We don’t want to give any spoilers here, but after finishing the story, you should see how the two titles work together to frame the story.
Characters
- 钱大朋(Qián Dàpéng)
- 谢文东(Xiè Wéndōng)
- 周子心(Zhōu Zixīn)
- 谢妈妈(Xiè Māmā)
- 谢爸爸(Xiè Bàba)
星期四1晚上2,很多学生都在一起3说话4。谢文东不在。
两个男生5问钱大朋:“大朋,你是不是喜欢6周子心?”
“没有……你们听7谁说的?”大朋说。
“没有人说,可是8,大家9都知道了。”两个男生5笑10了。
“好了好了11,不要笑10了。对,我是喜欢6她。那又怎么样12?”钱大朋也笑10了一下13,“我出去14走走。”
这时候15,钱大朋看到16了周子心。
“周子心,这么17晚18了,你一个人19去哪儿?”钱大朋问她。
周子心看了看:“钱大朋?”她笑10了一下13,“我要去书店20。”
“那个很大的书店20?”钱大朋问。
“对,这里有车可以去那个很大的书店20。”周子心笑10了笑10。
“你回来21的时候22都要9点23多了。你一个人19回来21不行24……我开车25带26你去吧。”钱大朋笑10笑10说,“周子心,我们走吧。车在那里。”
- 星期四 Xīngqīsì tn. Thursday
- 晚上 wǎnshang tn. evening
- 在一起 zài yīqǐ phrase to be together
- 说话 shuōhuà vo. to speak (words), to talk
- 男生 nánshēng n. boy, male student
- 喜欢 xǐhuan v. to like
- 听 tīng v. to listen (to)
- 可是 kěshì conj. but
- 大家 dàjiā n. everyone
- 笑 xiào v. to laugh, to smile
- 好了好了 hǎole hǎole phrase all right, all right
- 那又怎么样 nà yòu zěnmeyàng phrase so what?
- 一下 yīxià adv. briefly, for a second
- 出去 chūqu vc. to go out
- 这时候 zhè shíhou phrase at this time
- 看到 kàndào vc. to see
- 这么 zhème adv. so…
- 晚 wǎn adj. late
- 一个人 yī gè rén phrase alone
- 书店 shūdiàn n. bookstore
- 回来 huílai vc. to come back
- 的时候 de shíhou phrase when…
- 点 diǎn v. to order (food)
- 不行 bù xíng phrase not OK
- 开车 kāichē vo. to drive a car
- 带 dài v. to take
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