Chen Hao would like to go away for a semester. Xiaoyu, just back, tells him what has to be prepared eight months ahead.
Chen Hao
小雨，你去年去交换，手续麻烦吗？
Xiǎoyǔ, nǐ qùnián qù jiāohuàn, shǒuxù máfan ma ?
Xiaoyu, your exchange last year, was the paperwork troublesome?
Xiaoyu
不麻烦，就是要早。我提前八个月就开始准备了。
Bù máfan, jiùshì yào zǎo. Wǒ tíqián bā gè yuè jiù kāishǐ zhǔnbèi le.
Not troublesome, it just has to be early. I started preparing eight months ahead.
Chen Hao
学校要哪些材料？
Xuéxiào yào nǎxiē cáiliào ?
What documents does the university ask for?
Xiaoyu
成绩单、语言成绩，还有一封老师的推荐信。
Chéng jì dān, yǔyán chéngjì, háiyǒu yī fēng lǎoshī de tuī jiàn xìn.
A transcript, a language test result, and a letter of recommendation from a teacher.
Chen Hao
推荐信找谁写比较好？
Tuī jiàn xìn zhǎo shéi xiě bǐjiào hǎo ?
Who is best to ask for the letter?
Xiaoyu
找教过你专业课的。不要找只见过两面的。
Zhǎo jiāo guò nǐ zhuānyè kè de. Bùyào zhǎo zhǐ jiàn guò liǎng miàn de.
Someone who has taught you a subject in your field. Not someone you have met twice.
Chen Hao
在那边上的课，回来以后学分能换吗？
Zài nàbian shàng de kè, huílai yǐhòu xué fēn néng huàn ma ?
The courses I take over there, will the credits transfer when I come back?
Xiaoyu
能。不过出发以前要把课的名字报给教务。
Néng. Bùguò chūfā yǐqián yào bǎ kè de míngzi bào gěi jiào wù.
They will. But before you go you have to declare the course titles to the academic office.
Chen Hao
要是忘了报呢？
Yàoshi wàng le bào ne ?
And if you forget to declare them?
Xiaoyu
那就换不成，白读一个学期。
Nà jiù huàn bù chéng, bái dú yī gè xuéqī.
Then they do not transfer, and the semester is studied for nothing.
Chen Hao
钱方面呢？宿舍贵不贵？
Qián fāngmiàn ne ? Sùshè guì bù guì ?
What about money? Is the hall of residence expensive?
Xiaoyu
宿舍比外面便宜。除了宿舍以外，吃饭和交通都要自己出。
Sùshè bǐ wàimian piányi. Chúle sùshè yǐwài, chīfàn hé jiāotōng dōu yào zìjǐ chū.
A hall is cheaper than renting outside. Apart from accommodation, food and transport are down to you.
Chen Hao
我今天晚上就把要准备的东西写下来。
Wǒ jīntiān wǎnshang jiù bǎ yào zhǔnbèi de dōngxi xiě xiàlai.
I will write down tonight everything that has to be prepared.
换不成 says the transfer cannot come off: 成 is the complement of the result achieved, and its negative in 不 says the aim is missed. You find it in 说不成 (the deal does not come off), 去不成 (the trip falls through). It differs from 换不了, which would state a material impossibility, and from 不换, which would be a refusal.
白读一个学期: to have studied a semester for nothing. The character meaning "white" serves as an adverb and cancels the fruit of the action in advance: 白跑一趟 (a wasted journey), 白花钱 (money spent for nothing). It is one of the most used adverbs in spoken Chinese, and has nothing to do with the colour.
见过两面 translates as "to have met twice". 面 serves here as a measure word for meetings, which 次 would not render in the same way: 见过两次 counts occasions, 见过两面 stresses that you have barely seen each other. The whole of Xiaoyu's advice hangs on that shade.
