1. Notice how many words in Chinese have more varied meanings than their English counterparts. In this lesson, we see many uses of the word 特别 to describe : 建筑物. However in English, we are more likely to describe buildings as being “interesting” rather than “special”, as we see in 好特别的建筑物.

2. We can learn more about the usage of the word 曾经 in the sentence 这曾经是一位有名作家的家. We can see how it extends here to meaning “used to be”.

3. When a situation is known in context, we can get by with using the related measure word by itself without directly referring to the object. In the dialogue, the two people are looking at photographs. The woman then says 那这张呢？ If we didn’t know they were talking about photos, we would have to guess what flat, sheet like object she was referring to.

4. Notice how the literal meaning of 梦想永远都不会变成真的 is “dream forever all will not become true”. In the English translation, the negation is put up front, making it “dreams never will come true”.