但我今天上外面找报社来着
“but I went out looking for newspapers today.”
THE DIALOGUE REEL
他一直在写申诉书
“He's been writing letters of appeal,”
但我 今天 上外面 找报社 来着
“but I went out looking for newspapers today.”
“'Central Daily News' has already withdrawn to Wuhan.”
“I tried to help, but all our efforts are completely pointless now.”
Seeking public justice or redress through major publications was a standard civil defense strategy in modern Chinese history.
LEARNING CHUNKS & PARTICLES
go outside / go into town
A colloquial Northern Mandarin phrasing used in place of '到外面'.
did earlier / was doing just recently
A spoken sentence-final particle in Northern Mandarin indicating a recent past action or event.
VOCABULARY & EXPRESSIONS
Parallel Spoken Cinema Scenes (语义近邻切片)
“how will the newspaper office deal with me this time?”
“We should even invite comrades from Jiangcheng Daily.”
“Father, we can go to the newspaper.”
“Can you give me the paper? Not now.”
“I finally found a job today.”
“I have things to do at the newspaper office. I'm leaving now.”