getting full marks

嘟嘟考一百分

DuDu is the little girl and her mother is a tiger mum forcing her to do well at school but she is unable to perform. Her mother wants her to get a 100 marks.

Here is a list of words / sentences so you can follow the conversation. Those said in Mandarin will just have an English translation.

no3lag8	努力
No3lag8 is a Mandarin word said in Teochew. It means to put in a huge effort or to try hard. Our Teochew word is lah8loh8.
lah8loh8	力落	to work hard
kao2 zêg8 bêh4 hung1	考一百分	to achieve full marks
kao2 bêh4 hung1 is sufficient – In Teochew, there is no need for the zêg8 – In Mandarin they say 考一百分 unless of course you want to speak a type of Mandarin Teochew.
gai5(7)gai5 bê6(2)bho2	個個父母｜个个父母	every parent
bho5 i3se3	無意思｜无意思	has no meaning
Le2 lêng5zêng1 tian1 ho2
汝靈精聽好｜汝灵精听好
DuDu said a very Teochew sentence. Lêng5zêng1 has a couple of meanings – one of them is clever and the other is to be awake. So DuDu has asked her mother to be attentive and listen carefully to what she is going to say and she then said the following in half Mandarin half Teochew

第一進步的空間 – Firstly, my room for improvement

第二沒有競爭力 – Secondly, do not have competitive strength

doin6san1 ua2 bho5biang3

第三我無變｜第三我无变

Thirdly, it is impossible for me. [Implying that it is impossible for her to improve her performance in school.]

I was English educated and I was very reluctant to speak Teochew when I was young. Similarly, the children in our homeland are Mandarin educated and they speak in broken Teochew mixing in Mandarin words into their conversation. However, Dudu has a better standard of Teochew compared with her younger sister. Her elder brother’s standard of Teochew is better than her.