URLLesson Introduction
Confidence, confidence, dry and secure... raise your hand..... raise your hand... if you're sure you want to drop a hundred kuai on your favorite stick, spray, or roll-on at the fancy supermarket. The laowai demand has caused the supply to shift in our favor. Or maybe the locals finally realized the western world actually invented something awesome before they did. Either way, it's here! Albeit in a limited supply.... Learn the Chinese to get it in this podcast.
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guolanusa says
June 30, 2008
我的城市有一家商店有时侯卖speedstick!
可是,是一个比较新的现象,五年以前能止汗的东西是完全买不到的.
guolanusa says
June 30, 2008
Sorry, I forgot the pinyin!
wode chengshi you yijia shangdian youshihou mai speedstick!
keshi, shi yige bijiao xinde xianxiang, wunian yiqian neng zhihande dongxi shi wanquan maibudaode.
johns says
June 30, 2008
This lesson was cute but I didn't know we had this issue I am always taking several showers a day in China because air conditioning is not so common.
Anyway, now I can buy condoms and antipersperant with confidence in China thanks to Chinesepod.com! Thanks!
pangxiucai says
June 30, 2008
http://www.languagex.com.cn/
中文学习软件
很好啊 你也来学啊
derek says
June 30, 2008
Can 乱 luan4 be used for excessive use of antiperspirant, eg:
别乱喷止汗剂. bie2 luan4 pen1 zhi3 han4 ji4
or
你把香水乱喷. ni3 ba3 xiang1 shui3 luan4 pen1
Also is 抹 mo3 the verb used for stick or roll-on products?
yagekmarvin says
June 30, 2008
say what?
jpvillanueva says
June 30, 2008
For those of you too young to get the reference in the intro, here's the original commercial.
jennyzhu says
June 30, 2008
I was pleasantly surprised by the surge of antiperspirant and deodorant in Shanghai this summer. In my recent trip to a local supermarket, the problem was choosing from a plethora of offerings rather than nothing to choose from .
jerseyguy says
July 1, 2008
When I lived in Sydney I couldn't get my usual US brand. I would bring back 6 or so sticks on my visits to the US or ask for them in care packages from my parents.
Seems like the newer intermediate lessons are not as hard, which is good since I thought the step from Elementary to Intermediate was mighty big. Or maybe I'm getting better, or some combination?
pinkjeans says
July 1, 2008
嗯。。。这个课很有趣。
I'd like to find out how to say the different types of bad smells in Mandarin. I know a lot of them in Cantonese that I don't even know how to say in English other than to describe them as stinks. I'll provide a few here in the way I say it in Cantonese, and perhaps some Cantonese/Mandarin expert like auntie68 can help (sorry, using a sort of pinyin-phonic combi, the only way I know to romanise it...I know I'm going to get flak here because I posted a comment about not needing to to learn romanised spoken Cantonese. Gulp!).
"sok" (the smell you get when wet things don't dry properly and bacteria breeds)
"sou" (gamey smell of meat)
"ngaat" (urine smell)
Feel free to add to this list too. Thanks.
changye says
July 1, 2008
出大汗 (chu1 da4 han4) sweat a river
出冷汗 (chu1 leng3 han4) break out in a cold sweat
出盗汗 (chu1 dao4 han4) have night sweats
汗牛充栋 (han4 niu2 chong1 dong4)
have a large quantity of books
(enough books to make the ox carrying them sweat
or to fill a house to the rafters)
汗马功劳 (han4 ma3 gong1 lao2)
war exploits, one's contributions in work
汗颜无地 (han4 yan2 wu2 di4)
be very deeply ashamed
"汗"语 (han4 yu3)
The language mainly spoken in China.
It is not so easy to master, therefore
you have to "sweat" at learning it.
rich says
July 1, 2008
Mikeinewshot,
Just guessing at the answer to your question if John and Jenny even heard the sound effects, I am doubtful they did as it has been pointed out by Bazza (why do we not see comments from him any more? Hope I didn't miss something) that they don't even listen to the dialog when they saw we are going to listen to it when recording, and also there has been a few lessons when John refers to "he" when it was a "she" talking in the dialog, showing that either the dialog recordings aren't done when the J&J record or they just never get to listen to it. Long answer....
dima says
July 1, 2008
.
bazza says
July 1, 2008
Yeah, when I sat in a lesson, they just has a short break where the dialogue is and that's added afterwards.
BTW I can confirm that Jenny smells nice. ;P
rich says
July 1, 2008
Okay, was about to check out your posting history to see why I didn't see posts from you, but then again, I haven't even been posting much or reading much myself.... ChinesePod just lives on my cell phone (and not mobile web, just downloaded MP3s)
And yeah, I can verify Bazza's claims... 2 witnesses, case closed.
rich says
July 1, 2008
BTW, nice avatar bazza... maybe I was also used to seeing you mug wearing sunglasses or something.
As for my new one, with just my Chinese and English name, got tired of people not knowing why I picked 以明... seems to have nothing to do with "Rich" they say. And I say "I picked it because it looked like Rich" (keep in mind this was before I had even studied Chinese, where I didn't even know those two simple/common characters), and they stare at me blankly.. and I say "What, can't you see it? The R-i-c-h are right there"... *still blank stare*. Decided to spell it out...err... colour it out for them...
(My name was actually picked by a Chinese literature teacher from Taiwan, 以明 is from a quote from 庄子, but was given the choice of 3 different names, and so I picked this one cuz it looked lik a "Rich" scrambled up... and what this all has to do with antiperspirant is beyond me... except i was sitting here sweating in Tianjin when I made that graphic... yum yum)
auntie68 says
July 1, 2008
hi pinkjeans: I'm no "Cantonese/ Mandarin expert", but I'd like to contribute one Cantonese "smell word" in the hopes that it will be translated too by some kind person who really IS an expert:
"sairng" -- as in "fishy-smelling, and not in a good way"
Sorry, I'm such a newbie at jyutping, so I had to improvise.
bazza says
July 1, 2008
It's my Wii Mii. :)
simongrant says
July 1, 2008
Are intermediate lessons getting both shorter & easier? Is this a policy decision? Some good vocab though. Structures are really quite simple.
pinkjeans says
July 1, 2008
Hehe! Re: Bad Smells, I have another one.
"horng" - unpleasant smell of poor quality or old rice or grains.
pinkjeans says
July 1, 2008
"yik" - rancid oil smell
s0395617 says
July 1, 2008
剂跟药有什么区别呢？谢谢，弗朗克
What's the difference between 剂(ji4)and药(yao4)? Thanks, Frank
cagster says
July 1, 2008
Nothing to do with deodorant, but has anyone watched the show "Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations" on the Travel Channel?
In the Shanghai episode (downloadable on iTunes maybe), Anthony Bourdain travels to Yangchen Lake to eat these ludicrously expensive Hairy Crabs ... I can empathize because I splurge for my favorite seafood, the lobster, which my Chinese dictionary says are called "Dragon Shrimp."
High tech crabs, the authorities laser etch the crabs with identifying numbers because copy crabs crawl all about.
Maybe a Hungry Traveler lesson? I searched for "hairy" and found an upper intermediate lesson called "Choosing a Wine" that mentions the Hairy Crab.
pulosm says
July 1, 2008
I stopped using antiperspirant/deodorant when then didn't have any in Taiwan. At first, I felt like I smelt bad, but then I think my body adjusted. Now I don't smell bad. I think deodorant is unnecessary when you shower twice (or even once) daily. Seriously, that stuff is toxic!!
dave says
July 1, 2008
I can't make this lesson play in either explorer or firefox. I've recently been having this problem with many lessons. What's the deal?
cagster says
July 1, 2008
If I hadn't just posted and didn't have this post-posting adrenalin rush surging, I might have not commented on, "Now I don't smell bad." Okay, keep in mind this is written with a smelly sense of humor in mind ... pun intended.
pulosm, I personally haven't smelled your armpits and please don't offer, but the offenders are typically the last ones to notice. Maybe you should ask a few people for their opinions?
Oh, too early for Shanghai Disney 2012 lessons or Expo 2010 lessons?
amber says
July 1, 2008
Hi Frank,
剂 (jì) is used for pharmaceuticals or chemicals in liquid form:
药剂 (Yàojì) drug
杀虫剂 (Shāchóngjì) insecticide
and, in this dialogue, since the anti-perspirant used was the spray/liquid type, it is called 止汗剂 (zhǐhànjì).
药 (yào) is also for pharmaceuticals or medicines, but can be used for liquids or solids：
药片 (yàopiàn) tablet (of medicine)
药水 (yàoshuǐ) liquid medicine
amber says
July 1, 2008
hi derek,
For applying the solid anti-perspirant, you can use 抹 (mǒ) or 搽 (chá).
If you want to tell someone not to use so much, you would say:
别喷那么多止汗剂.
(Bié pēn nàme duō zhǐhànjì.)
goodgoodstudydaydayup says
July 1, 2008
满头大汗 (man3 tou2 da4 han4)
a common expression here in the south of china
be careful with the pronounciation or you'll be talking about sweaty bread
clarsen says
July 1, 2008
check out my cartoon on the COMMUNITY
http://chinesepod.com/community/conversations/post/2198
dave says
July 2, 2008
The ability to play lessons seems to go on and off for me. Is this a website issue?
amber says
July 2, 2008
hey dave,
We are not sure why, but we have had a few reports from users in Taiwan saying they've been having the same problem. Apparently there is some server connection issues at the moment between our US servers and Taiwan. We hope it will be resolved soon! Sorry for the pain :P
davoslamos says
July 2, 2008
Yo dudes. A couple of quick ones for you.
"流汗" 和 "出汗" 有什麼不同??
而且可不可以說 "你很臭" 呢? 還是 一定 要 說 "你身上很臭" 嗎?
謝謝!
trevlu says
July 2, 2008
What's with the surgery to stop people from sweating?? What sort of surgery would it be? Take bum tissue and put it over the armpits? haha
Geez, yet people that sweat the most do so because they need to! Surely it can't be healthy to take away one of the body's natural cooling mechanisms
daolin says
July 2, 2008
A delicate subject, as most Chinese (consider themself to, and really) sweat and stink less!
Question:
Is there another word for armpit than 胳肢窝 gézhiwō
which sounds like guajiho(r) ? (perhaps as a joke or pun?)
I heard this, but cannot find something like this in dictionaries.
cagster says
July 2, 2008
daolin,
wo3 ting1shuo1 diet factors into human odors, hai2 mei2you3 ting1shuo1 shen2me of scientists isolating a stink gene. Whoa! Gene therapy is much better than surgery.
Maybe Chinese dishes "ferment" differently in human bodies. I live close to Gilroy, CA, which claims to have some of the best garlic around. I know for sure garlic odors leak through the skin / sweat glands.
My poor chicken gets not respect.
s0395617 says
July 2, 2008
thanks Amber
chillosk says
July 2, 2008
great and useful episode!!
how do you say, "your armpits stink"?
amber says
July 2, 2008
hi davoslamos,
流汗 (liúhàn) means you are sweating more. 出汗 (chūhàn) is more like 'to perspire.'
And yes, you can just say: 你很臭。(Nǐ hěn chòu.)
amber says
July 2, 2008
hi daolin,
胳肢窝 (gāzhiwō) is the most common word for 'armpit', however you can also say 腋窝 (yèwō) and 腋下 (yèxià).
amber says
July 2, 2008
hi chillosk,
Your armpits stink:
你腋下很臭。 (Nǐ yèxià hěn chòu.)
sushan says
July 3, 2008
Panda, we do not wash our pits in the Pool of Sacred Tears.
熊猫, 我们不能冒这麽大的险啊
xióngmāo 、wŏmen bùnéng mào zhème dà de xiăn ā
Very unhelpful subtitle; translated back it would be, "Panda, we do not take such a big risk!"
bryan says
July 3, 2008
I'm really surprised that nobody else has mentioned this yet, but I found speaker A to have a very interesting accent. His inflections, sing-songiness and pacing are quite different than what I'm used to hearing. Take for example how he holds onto xi1 and really shoots up high on (yong4) in 东西有用. Also, his exaggerated first tones almost sound like high sliding 4th tones in 很多 and 老说. Finally his pronunciation of 香水 seems quite non-standard. Can anyone elaborate as to whether this is a regional thing? I find this very interesting and can't make myself stop listening!
billm says
July 3, 2008
Bryan,
I listened directly to the dialogue a couple of times. I can only guess this is a younger brother's questioning mode.
Regards, Bill M.
pinkjeans says
July 4, 2008
Bryan, I've always found difficulty in differentiating 1st and 4th tones (incidentally another Cantonese speaking classmate of mine has the same problem) but my children see no difficulty whatsoever, instead their difficulty lies in 2nd and 3rd tones which to me are super clear, so I think it's just getting used to hearing different pitches of the same tone (does that make sense?). I think the degree of inflexion one offers in his speech is also quite individual.
maoxian says
July 5, 2008
I've never heard "汗臭" but I frequently hear "狐臭" a term I've always liked: smelly like a fox (not sure of the etymology).
jojje says
July 16, 2008
jenny!
在这课里你说在中国有些operation为了挡汉是不是? 我的某国也有，可是特别贵，我想问一下你知不知道在中国哪里可以做这个operation,价格多少等。。可能你也知道一个网页或什么的，从那边可以研究一下。。
对我来说出汗的问题特别多，在中国夏天时无法出门，而且紧张时也会流汗的。情你回答，我会很感谢的!
e-mail; angkaloeu@yahoo.se
profdogma says
July 23, 2008
Hey - any plans to have a version of the pdf transcripts that have the pinyin stripped out? This would be really useful for testing reading when reviewing lessons (I know it's possible to do this oneself using cut and paste, but it's pretty time consuming). It would be a very simple but very useful addition.
john says
July 23, 2008
profdogma,
No specific plans, but we're looking into ways to further personalize the service. Thanks for the suggestion!
odaneng says
August 12, 2008
In English anti-perspirant is usually considered a subset of deodorant. So somethimes you say deodorant, but mean anti-perspirant. Is it the same in Chinese?
Also what's the word for solid anti-perspirant? Does止汗剂cover that?
Somebody one recommended using yogurt in your pits instead of deodorant. Claimed the bacteria in the yogurt ate up whatever was causing the smell. I didn't try it.
chris says
September 7, 2008
Hi all,
Quick question on the first expansion sentence.
"Bie2 xiao4 le, xiao3xin1 ba3 fan4 pen1 chu1lai5"
"Don't laugh, be careful not to spit out your food"
In English we use the negative after instructing to be careful, i.e. "not to spit out".
I think the literal translation of the Chinese is:
"be careful to take food spray out".
Why is the Chinese not also in the negative, e.g.
"xiao3xin1 ba3 fan4 bu4 pen1 chu1lai5"?
Or is this a case of just accept the difference between the two languages and move on?
Thanks, Chris
auntie68 says
September 7, 2008
Hi Chris. I'm not a real teacher or a native speaker, but the sentence means, "Be careful [of] spit[ting] out your food." Well, that's how I understood it. HTH.
auntie68 says
September 7, 2008
Eg. 小心碰到他的头。。。千万不要碰到宝宝的头。
= Xiao3xin1 peng4dao ta1de tou2, qian1wan4 bu4yao4 peng4dao1 bao3bao de tou2
= Be careful of hitting his head, whatever-it-is don't hit the baby's head.
But do please get a proper second opinion from a native speaker!
chris says
September 7, 2008
Thanks Auntie68, I'm having a re-think about the various ways we could say such sentences in English now. For example, "be careful of....." or "be careful not to......".
I've never really been a linguist - so taking up Chinese has been great because I often find myself giving my native tongue further thought as an unintended consequence!