Auntie Wang is bringing up her grandson, whose parents work far away. His class teacher sees her after school.
Mr Zhang, the teacher
您好，您是乐乐的奶奶吧？
Nínhǎo, nín shì Lèle de nǎi nai ba ?
Hello, you must be Lele's grandmother?
Auntie Wang
是。他爸爸妈妈都在外地，平时是我带。
Shì. Tā bàba māma dōu zài wàidì, píngshí shì wǒ dài.
I am. Both his parents work out of the province, I am the one bringing him up.
Mr Zhang, the teacher
乐乐这个学期进步很大。
Lèle zhè gè xuéqī jìnbù hěn dà.
Lele has made great progress this term.
Auntie Wang
老师，他上课还说话吗？
Lǎoshī, tā shàngkè hái shuōhuà ma ?
Laoshi, does he still talk during lessons?
Mr Zhang, the teacher
少多了。我把他的座位调到第一排以后，好了很多。
Shǎo duō le. Wǒ bǎ tā de zuòwèi diào dào dìyī pái yǐhòu, hǎo le hěn duō.
Far less. Since I moved his seat to the front row, it is much better.
Auntie Wang
他不但话多，而且坐不住。在家也一样。
Tā bùdàn huà duō, érqiě zuò bù zhù. Zài jiā yě yīyàng.
He not only talks a lot, he cannot sit still either. It is the same at home.
Mr Zhang, the teacher
这个年龄的孩子都这样。不过作业他交得很准时。
Zhè gè niánlíng de háizi dōu zhèyàng. Bùguò zuòyè tā jiāo de hěn zhǔnshí.
Children of that age are all like that. But he hands his homework in very punctually.
Auntie Wang
作业我看不懂，只能看他写完没有。
Zuòyè wǒ kàn bù dǒng, zhǐnéng kàn tā xiě wán méiyǒu.
I cannot understand his homework, I can only check whether he has finished it.
Mr Zhang, the teacher
那就够了。内容由我来管。
Nà jiù gòu le. Nèiróng yóu wǒ lái guǎn.
That is quite enough. The content is my business.
Auntie Wang
还有一件事。他看黑板好像有点儿费劲。
Háiyǒu yī jiàn shì. Tā kàn hēibǎn hǎoxiàng yǒudiǎnr fèijìn.
One more thing. He seems to have some trouble seeing the blackboard.
Mr Zhang, the teacher
那要带他去查眼睛。很多孩子三年级就近视了。
Nà yào dài tā qù chá yǎnjing. Hěn duō háizi sān niánjí jiù jìn shì le.
Then you should take him for an eye test. A lot of children are short-sighted by the third year.
Auntie Wang
好，这个周末我就带他去。
Hǎo, zhè gè zhōumò wǒ jiù dài tā qù.
Right, I will take him this weekend.
Mr Zhang, the teacher
查完了请告诉我，我再把座位往前调一调。
Chá wán le qǐng gàosu wǒ, wǒ zài bǎ zuòwèi wǎng qián diào yī diào.
Let me know once he has been tested, and I will move his seat a little further forward.
把他的座位调到第一排: the 把 takes hold of the seat, 调 moves it, 到 says how far. The sequence 把 A verb 到 B is one of the commonest in both official and everyday language: 把车开到门口, 把桌子搬到那边. Without 到 the sentence would not say where the thing lands, and the 把 would hang unresolved.
内容由我来管: the content is for me to see to. 由 introduces not the author of a past action, as 被 does, but the person to whom it falls. You read it on every official notice (由物业负责) and you hear it in every sharing out of tasks. The 来 that follows adds nothing to the sense and merely makes the sentence sound spoken.
Tens of millions of Chinese children live with their grandparents while their parents work in a richer province. So it is the grandmother who goes to meetings, signs the homework and talks to the class teacher. The teacher adapts his requests accordingly, as here: he does not ask her to mark anything, only to check that the work is done.
