By the way, in Australia, the item showing in the lesson photograph isn't typically called a sandal. Sandals in Australia refers to thongs - I think you have a different word for them in the US. What is the Chinese word for thongs?

In the US we would not call the pictured shoe a flip flop or a sandal. I think simply an open toe high heel, or have I been out of the States too long?

Update: I just did a web search and saw that kind of shoe is indeed occasionally referred to as a sandal. I don't know why I never noticed. I always thought of sandals as being more casual.

I would still call the shoe in the picture a sandal.

Thongs usually means ones you slip on rather than strap in. Some types of shoes referred to as sandals by the manufacturer, are called thongs in everyday use, but usually they do not have high heels.

Thongs in Britain, and I think the US, refer to bikini bottoms, so there are many jokes about the potential mistranlations of Australianisms.

Another shoe term I have heard recently is "scuffs" which refers to thongs but without the bit between the big toe and the rest of the toes. They are useful if you are a "no shoes inside" household.

On the flipflop issue, when I was a kid they were called thongs. So it isn't that far off base. A friend of mine was once asked what she thought of thongs. She replied "They are fine as long as you don't mind your big toe showing!" We've been teasing her for that for over a decade now.

Anyway, I recall one Australian here, bo... (oh never mind), who said that he thought it was funny when Americans say "root for such-and-such team." I guess this is our revenge :-).

I had a coworker who left the company to join a startup in Vietnam. They developed this cool technology that lets you point at a picture of something and it will find something similar for sale. It only works for women's shoes, handbags, and men's watches. Anyway, these are marketed as "strappy sandals", and they look to me like pretty much the same thing:

http://www.heels.com/womens-shoes/carve-heel-white-snake.html

You might sometimes hear a southern lady say "thong shoes" as a kind of workaround, but it does sound kind of prudish.

为了让美女喜欢你，一定要穿袜子和凉鞋！

Wèile ràng měinǚ xǐhuan nǐ, yīdìng yào chuān wàzi hé liángxié!

(To get pretty women to like you, you really should wear socks and sandals together!)

深色的袜子和那么毛茸茸的腿很性感！

shēnsède wàzi hé nàme máoróngróngde tuǐ hěn xìnggǎn!

(Dark socks and harry legs are so sexy!)

We also use 'Durex' meaning (a brand of) 'sticky tape' (perhaps you call it something else). Apparently Durex means the American 'rubber' in England.

However I disagree with go_manly that "thongs" (footwear) are the same as sandals.  Thongs don't have the strap around the ankles; in fact they don't have any ankle support.

Here is a pic of Aussie (footwear) "thongs".

I think Kiwis call them "jandals".

拖鞋 tuōxié = flip-flops and/or slippers. (from the supplementary vocab)

i admire you !!! i'm new here and am going to china next week !

you and jenny are doing such a great job ! i've been learning chinese by myself for 5months till now and it's the first time that i'm going to write in chinese , hope you guys will understand

well , 我已经拿到了中国的签证，我明天去订机票，估计会订7月15号的机票，我会在

中国待10天，3天在北京，3天在临沂，3天在上海，保持联系！

http://www.souvenirsaustralia.com/images/kyliethongsyd2000.jpg

So when we refer to thongs, yeah it is more likely we're referring to the footwear. However, we Australians are well aware of the bottom undergarment called a thong and you hear that being referred to here also and it would thus depend on context as to which one is being used. I agree with brendaninaus. Sandals have a strap that holds the ankle in place [ I tend to think of something like in the lesson picture except without the high heel]. As thongs lack an ankle strap they tend to make a flip/flopping sound/action as you walk in them. Slippers refers to footwear you can slip into and I always think of them as winter bedtime footwear to be worn around the house at night to keep your feet warm and are thus usually made of some soft[sometimes fluffy] material [that folk wouldn't wear outside the house generally]. I'm surprised to see there is no distinction made between slippers and flip flops though some style of slippers would have the same action/sound.

你有没有笔

In the background of the recorded voice, there is a strangely familiar sound - a kind of electronic, bass-pitched vibration. After multiple listenings, I have concluded that Chinesepod is so rich these days, that employees now enjoy company-sponsored, light saber training in their spare time!  Very jealous!

But let's face it, if I try 3 brands in the US, I might be a 12 but sometimes have to go to 12 1/2 or 11 1/2. Then throw in the width which to be honest, I don't think Chinese use.

-c

http://www.arcamax.com/cathy/s-751025-244831

Seriously though I have been noticing annoying extraneous noise (and intermittent poor sound quality) on expansion sentences for ages. There was a time when I'd have complained about it, but these days what's the point?

But 谢谢麻烦你!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPsDDr0n9AE

"So I went out and raised the money, but my grandmother died as well, so that helped..."

LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL

Shànghǎi tiānqì zhème mēnrè de shíhou, ràng wǒ de jiǎo liángkuai

When Shanghai weather is so humid and sticky, they help keep my feet cool!

(not sure if the Chinese is correct, but you get my drift!). The less straps, the cooler my feet.

Yě yǒudiǎn kěái a! Na, wèile chuān ren2zi4tuo1, jiǎo yīdìng yāo hǎokànde.

http://www.tinyurl.com.au/dyc

I live in Michigan, so, not West Coast :P