我爸妈砸锅卖铁送我上大学
“My parents sold everything to send me to college.”
THE DIALOGUE REEL
阿姨 我也不是故意的
“Auntie, I didn't mean to either.”
我爸 妈 砸锅卖铁 送我 上大学
“My parents sold everything to send me to college.”
我平时家里面就很穷
“My family is poor to begin with.”
“Please have mercy on me, my family has sacrificed everything and cannot afford to lose this chance.”
Higher education is seen as the primary vehicle for upward social mobility in China, often justifying extreme collective financial sacrifices by the entire family.
LEARNING CHUNKS & PARTICLES
to sell everything one owns; to sacrifice all assets
A vivid four-character idiom describing desperate measures to fund a crucial endeavor.
to support/send someone to university
A standard phrase highlighting familial investment in higher education.
VOCABULARY & EXPRESSIONS
Parallel Spoken Cinema Scenes (语义近邻切片)
“We can't afford it no matter how hard we try!”
“we sold everything and borrowed money”
“you should've sold everything and bought better cloth.”
“But deep down, I knew I was almost completely broke.”
“but came here to learn blacksmithing instead.”
“was the kind of secure job that made my parents proud.”