User Comments - oiman

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oiman

Posted on: Choosing a Chinese Name and Safety
January 18, 2008 at 9:03 AM

i gave it a stab and tried to find me a chinese name, following roughly the sound of it. my name is alberto, one syllable gets cut off, so it's either like erbei or beituo beiduo, but it's been so far discomforting to find out that the only combinations available are: 耳背 er3bei4, hard of hearing 悲痛 bei1tong4 grieved so i'm picking an entirely new one and i think it's gonna be 恐龙 kong3 long2, dinosaur, which is infinitely better!

Posted on: Bumming a Smoke
January 17, 2008 at 3:33 PM

@ aphaia: of course i've got pages filled with characters in crooked calligraphy, since visualizing is the best way to remember. and thanks for the true etymology, i appreciate it. but my point is: sometimes creating wrong patterns to memorise is just more effective. e.g: i'll always remember 逛 guang4, stroll, as the king with his dog taking steps. no way i will associate it with 狂 kuang2, crazy, though being it's real etymologic source :) i'm just 狂 like that.

Posted on: Bumming a Smoke
January 16, 2008 at 5:24 PM

mnemonic tricks are so intriguing. i spend hours trying to figure out whether i can find an unorthodox way to remember a character.. to me 烟 yan1 looks like 火 huo3 fire coming out in puffs from a 口 kou3 mouth. you should definitely do a podcast on memorising patterns tips!