User Comments - greasy8
greasy8
Posted on: Hungry Traveler: Taiwan
June 5, 2009 at 5:37 PMThanks Calkins (sorry I'm so late to the party). I've seen those two pages before, but I had forgotten about them. That book looks really great - I just ordered a copy.
Posted on: Hungry Traveler: Taiwan
May 22, 2009 at 5:06 PMIt was interesting to hear Ken's comments on the Taiwanese accent. The only native speakers that I come into contact with frequently are actually from Taiwan (or raised in the states by Taiwanese parents).
So most of the mandarin that I hear IRL has a Taiwanese accent. It's frustrating because every learning resource out there teaches "proper" mandarin, but then when I try to talk to my friends I sometimes get confused (and sometimes they even have trouble understanding me).
I understand that basics of the accent have to do with not curling the tongue for the zh, ch, and sh sounds, but does anyone know of any resources to help me understand the difference better? Anything online that will help me get used to listening to Taiwanese speakers?
Posted on: Outrageous Power Bill
January 17, 2009 at 1:34 AMfangaili - pera-kun rocks! Thanks for the tip.
It is firefox-only, but other firefox users can find the plugin here:
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addons/policy/0/3349/31515
Posted on: Afraid of Dogs
September 11, 2008 at 7:15 PM
da jia hao!
I have a question about this sentence: "它想跟你玩儿呢！" (ta1 xiang3 gen1 ni3 wanr2 ne!)
First, why is 玩儿 (wanr2) used here instead of just 玩 (wan4)? Does the 儿 change the meaning at all, or is it just a regional accent? Would it be incorrect to leave it out here?
Also, what does the final 呢 particle indicate here? I thought it usually indicated some type of question, but that doesn't seem to be the case in this context.
Thanks!
Posted on: Directory Assistance
June 15, 2009 at 9:03 PMCan anyone elaborate a little more on the usage of 为(wei4)? Specifically, how is it different from 給 (gei3)? The show mentioned that it's more formal. Is that the only difference? Can they be used interchangeably other than the formality aspect?