2006-12-04 18:00:00 Sandra
Five? Seven? xiao lin monks live in an apartment in San Francisco and earn money by teaching and fundraisers. Their spokesman, who is also their foundation director and lives with them in this apartment, says they are the last of the Xiao Lin monks. My Chinese teacher says she doesn't believe it. (I'm not sure why she believes that.) I know Marc went to Xiao Lin over the summer and thought maybe some others had too and could comment on this. Thanks,]]> Sandra
Five? Seven? xiao lin monks live in an apartment in San Francisco and earn money by teaching and fundraisers. Their spokesman, who is also their foundation director and lives with them in this apartment, says they are the last of the Xiao Lin monks. My Chinese teacher says she doesn't believe it. (I'm not sure why she believes that.) I know Marc went to Xiao Lin over the summer and thought maybe some others had too and could comment on this. Thanks,]]> Connie
Some difficult words in the podcast: 河南 (Hénán) Henan province 发扬 (fāyáng) develop; carry on 修行 (xiūxíng) practice Buddhism or Taoism 合二为一 (hé'èrwéiyī) be made one; merge into a single 注重 (zhùzhòng) pay attention to 门派 (ménpài) sect 和尚 (héshang) Buddhist monk]]> Connie
Some difficult words in the podcast: 河南 (Hénán) Henan province 发扬 (fāyáng) develop; carry on 修行 (xiūxíng) practice Buddhism or Taoism 合二为一 (hé'èrwéiyī) be made one; merge into a single 注重 (zhùzhòng) pay attention to 门派 (ménpài) sect 和尚 (héshang) Buddhist monk]]> Chip
Kung Fu Lessons are cool. We need to bring kung fu into other lessons to spice them up, especially the nice – but boring- couple, Zhang Liang and Li Li. The lessons are useful but not very exciting. I suggest making it like a soap opera, each time ending with a cliff hanger – to be continued. Here‘s my suggestion： Zhang Liang is passing by and shockingly discovers LiLi is a prostitute. He confronts her in a rage. She tearfully pleads with him that she was kidnapped and forced into prostitution as a young girl. Zhang Liang ends their relationship right there. But later, he decides he truly loves her and wants to marry her. LiLi is glad but claims she has to keep working or her evil pimp will kill her. Zhang Liang must formulate a plan to rescue her from his evil clutches。This builds up to a climactic confrontation between ZhangLiang and the evil pimp in an episode that is bound to include, at least a little, Shao Lin Kung Fu! But really, this type of vocab is useful. I just took a Chinese oral proficiency exam and did very well, for many reasons (thank you C-Pod), but it didn’t hurt that I could drop cool vocab like “FBI” and “nuclear weapon.” Also, I’m amazed at how often I use Chinese words for “illegal drugs” and “transvestite” in regular conversation. So, come on Chinesepod! Let’s break out the chuang yi!!!!]]> Chip
Kung Fu Lessons are cool. We need to bring kung fu into other lessons to spice them up, especially the nice – but boring- couple, Zhang Liang and Li Li. The lessons are useful but not very exciting. I suggest making it like a soap opera, each time ending with a cliff hanger – to be continued. Here‘s my suggestion： Zhang Liang is passing by and shockingly discovers LiLi is a prostitute. He confronts her in a rage. She tearfully pleads with him that she was kidnapped and forced into prostitution as a young girl. Zhang Liang ends their relationship right there. But later, he decides he truly loves her and wants to marry her. LiLi is glad but claims she has to keep working or her evil pimp will kill her. Zhang Liang must formulate a plan to rescue her from his evil clutches。This builds up to a climactic confrontation between ZhangLiang and the evil pimp in an episode that is bound to include, at least a little, Shao Lin Kung Fu! But really, this type of vocab is useful. I just took a Chinese oral proficiency exam and did very well, for many reasons (thank you C-Pod), but it didn’t hurt that I could drop cool vocab like “FBI” and “nuclear weapon.” Also, I’m amazed at how often I use Chinese words for “illegal drugs” and “transvestite” in regular conversation. So, come on Chinesepod! Let’s break out the chuang yi!!!!]]> Colleen
That was hands down, the best post I have ever read. I agree, 'a minor fight whilst shopping?' comon, lets see them doing some 'flying around in the air' fighting, as all Chinese movies lead us to believe is possible. I like your plot idea, what about if the pimp was ALSO Zhangliang's long lost father and an undercover FBI agent sent to investigate Lili (for unknown reasons)! But Zhangliang only finds this out after he has beaten the pimp to within a hairs breadth of death, and sees his family tattoo peeking out from the remnants of the pimps shredded kung fu uniform and beneath the gold chains which had so cleverly disguised him as a real pimp! Lili only likes manly men however, so seeing Zhangliang crying over his now dead father turns her off so much that she forsakes her life as a)ZL's wife-to-be AND b)a low class prostitute and heads for the hills of Xinjiang province where she ends her days growing raisins to ship to Shanghai and raising sheep. I'll try to run that idea by Ken and see how it goes.]]> Colleen
That was hands down, the best post I have ever read. I agree, 'a minor fight whilst shopping?' comon, lets see them doing some 'flying around in the air' fighting, as all Chinese movies lead us to believe is possible. I like your plot idea, what about if the pimp was ALSO Zhangliang's long lost father and an undercover FBI agent sent to investigate Lili (for unknown reasons)! But Zhangliang only finds this out after he has beaten the pimp to within a hairs breadth of death, and sees his family tattoo peeking out from the remnants of the pimps shredded kung fu uniform and beneath the gold chains which had so cleverly disguised him as a real pimp! Lili only likes manly men however, so seeing Zhangliang crying over his now dead father turns her off so much that she forsakes her life as a)ZL's wife-to-be AND b)a low class prostitute and heads for the hills of Xinjiang province where she ends her days growing raisins to ship to Shanghai and raising sheep. I'll try to run that idea by Ken and see how it goes.]]> Aric
Chip. You just secured yourself on any Saturday show you want - we like the way you think. (You can't tell, but Colleen is totally acting the entire thing out right now for everyone in the office, quite moving, actually). A]]> Aric
Chip. You just secured yourself on any Saturday show you want - we like the way you think. (You can't tell, but Colleen is totally acting the entire thing out right now for everyone in the office, quite moving, actually). A]]> Dave_DJY
This is hilarious stuff! You will have to include an MPEG to go with the Lesson as well! But surely Zhangliang could not just stand by and watch as the love of his life walks away. How about... ...as luck would have it Zhangliang's sister in law is friends with Lili's best friend who Lili had confided in before she upped and left for Xinjiang. Lili's friend spills the beans and the information gets back to ZL. Slightly hurt by Lili's assessment of his manhood, but resolute in his desire to win back his love, ZL trains in the Shaolin Temple so that one day he may become the sort of manly man that Lili likes. His father, deeply remorseful at the seemingly irrepairable damage he has caused to the young lovers' relationship follows his son to the temple where he studies hard, vowing to be ordained as a monk so that he can reunite and marry Zhangliang and Lili. Finally, the head monk decides they are ready and there is some kungfu flying through the bamboo forests on their long journey to Xinjiang...no, actually, they both have personal clouds like on "Monkey". They finally reach the raison farm and Zhangliang sees Lili in the doorway. He walks towards her, she smiles, but then from the darkness emerges another shape in the doorway. Lili's new husband has joined her at her side. Zhangliang's heart breaks (literally) and he dies there on the spot (even all his training at Shaolin had not prepared him for this). But then we find out that Lili's "husband" was an old friend of ZL's Dad when he was on the force (they were partners) and had travelled to Xinjiang to look after Lili while they trained at ZL's Dad's request. As luck would have it he has also trained in the ancient ways of Chinese medicine and he prepares a pultice to mend ZL's broken heart. When he comes to, Lili is impressed by ZL's newfound manliness (after he shows her how he can punch a large nearby tree to the ground) and agrees to marry him. They all live happily ever after :)]]> Dave_DJY
This is hilarious stuff! You will have to include an MPEG to go with the Lesson as well! But surely Zhangliang could not just stand by and watch as the love of his life walks away. How about... ...as luck would have it Zhangliang's sister in law is friends with Lili's best friend who Lili had confided in before she upped and left for Xinjiang. Lili's friend spills the beans and the information gets back to ZL. Slightly hurt by Lili's assessment of his manhood, but resolute in his desire to win back his love, ZL trains in the Shaolin Temple so that one day he may become the sort of manly man that Lili likes. His father, deeply remorseful at the seemingly irrepairable damage he has caused to the young lovers' relationship follows his son to the temple where he studies hard, vowing to be ordained as a monk so that he can reunite and marry Zhangliang and Lili. Finally, the head monk decides they are ready and there is some kungfu flying through the bamboo forests on their long journey to Xinjiang...no, actually, they both have personal clouds like on "Monkey". They finally reach the raison farm and Zhangliang sees Lili in the doorway. He walks towards her, she smiles, but then from the darkness emerges another shape in the doorway. Lili's new husband has joined her at her side. Zhangliang's heart breaks (literally) and he dies there on the spot (even all his training at Shaolin had not prepared him for this). But then we find out that Lili's "husband" was an old friend of ZL's Dad when he was on the force (they were partners) and had travelled to Xinjiang to look after Lili while they trained at ZL's Dad's request. As luck would have it he has also trained in the ancient ways of Chinese medicine and he prepares a pultice to mend ZL's broken heart. When he comes to, Lili is impressed by ZL's newfound manliness (after he shows her how he can punch a large nearby tree to the ground) and agrees to marry him. They all live happily ever after :)]]> Sean Bayless
Not quite ready to tackle an Upper Intermediate class anytime soon, but I had to comment. I love the topic that was chosen for this lesson. Shaolin Kung Fu is extremely important to me (in that II am a student and do some teaching in a local studio) and it was even in a comment I put when I subscribed to ChinesePod. Thanks for putting up this lesson!]]> Sean Bayless
Not quite ready to tackle an Upper Intermediate class anytime soon, but I had to comment. I love the topic that was chosen for this lesson. Shaolin Kung Fu is extremely important to me (in that II am a student and do some teaching in a local studio) and it was even in a comment I put when I subscribed to ChinesePod. Thanks for putting up this lesson!]]> Chip
Colleen, You are quite the creative writer!! So, we all know now that there’s no excuse if we don’t see some your ideas in future casts. Also, Dave, your additions were great, too. The only flaw I see so far in the story is the pimp being an undercover agent. Why then did he force LiLi into slavery several years ago? That’s a little shady. Perhaps it could be a person who works under him that is undercover trying to bust the big guy, kind of like Tony Leung in “Infernal Affairs”. This could form a love triangle between him and ZL. Aric, Thanks, you have my contact info if you want to chat more (I’m a premium subscriber). Also, I was wondering since there are so many creative ideas out there, maybe C-pod could harness this into a contest. Poddies could submit an outline for 6 episodes/casts of the ZL and LiLi saga. A panel of judges could evaluate them based on an various criteria: appropriateness (not too spicy), feasability (not having 300 characters or an epic battle of 200 ninjas or something), and of course the creative/exciting factor. The winner could win a free month’s premium subscription and the joy of having their story outline turned into C-pod reality! What do you think?]]> Chip
Colleen, You are quite the creative writer!! So, we all know now that there’s no excuse if we don’t see some your ideas in future casts. Also, Dave, your additions were great, too. The only flaw I see so far in the story is the pimp being an undercover agent. Why then did he force LiLi into slavery several years ago? That’s a little shady. Perhaps it could be a person who works under him that is undercover trying to bust the big guy, kind of like Tony Leung in “Infernal Affairs”. This could form a love triangle between him and ZL. Aric, Thanks, you have my contact info if you want to chat more (I’m a premium subscriber). Also, I was wondering since there are so many creative ideas out there, maybe C-pod could harness this into a contest. Poddies could submit an outline for 6 episodes/casts of the ZL and LiLi saga. A panel of judges could evaluate them based on an various criteria: appropriateness (not too spicy), feasability (not having 300 characters or an epic battle of 200 ninjas or something), and of course the creative/exciting factor. The winner could win a free month’s premium subscription and the joy of having their story outline turned into C-pod reality! What do you think?]]>