i think it's just assumed that you know about sina (sina.cn) which is the chinese site where you can find blogs （博客), and "microblog"s（微薄）like twitter.com.

难道你不知道推特是什么... :)

Any recommendations for a Chinese site for next semester?  I want one that can both blog and micro-blog.     

As near as I can tell, Youku is the Chinese equivalent to YouTube, although Youku looks a bit more professional. I did casually observe that no one suggested a lesson on youku, but no one suggested a lesson on sina's microblogs either.

如果我要跟一個朋友一起去打毽子, 也可以說: "去踢球嗎?" 或是需要說: "去踢毽子嗎?"

how about other sports like american kickball or aussie rules football?

also, can I use 登記 interchangably with 註冊 here in the context of registering for a twitter account?

謝謝!

If you find these 'small' topics distressing, you could write a whole book and link it to your post on a micro-blog. (There are ways of avoiding the constraints of 140 characters.) But some people would prefer your 140 word version.

登记 比较像 log in (what you do each time you use the service)

注册 比较像 register (what you do once, when you first sign up)

对不对？

A Chinese 'version' is in the works though and if I remember correctly, it will launch next month.

Connie wrote this dialogue, and I feel like she injected a little bit of humor into it by purposely including very mundane events (which, uncoincidentally, are also composed of high-frequency words). Obviously, you can write whatever you want on your microblog, and you only follow people who are interesting to you.

登记 (dēngjì) is normally for when you actually have to sign in on paper, like at a hotel or something.

Also, just wanted to point out that computer terminology is almost always different in Taiwan. (maybe southern mainland too?) for example,

blog: 部落格

blogger: 部落客

login: 登入 is more common

Thanks for this clarification between 登记 (dēngjì) and 登录 (dēnglù).

不好意思..... is it better to say China (中國) instead of Mainland China (中國大陸) for the sake of many of our more Taiwan sensitive/sympathetic poddies? or is this too political to debate here? some of my Taiwan friends really, really don't like the expression 中國大陸 when referring to China. It makes sense for someone in Hawaii or Alaska to called the contiguous United States the American mainland(美國大陸), but in the case of Taiwan.........

maybe there is a podcast on this issue? although my search for Taiwan only came up with two Qing Wen episodes:

* Qing Wen - Mainland & Taiwan Lingo: Transportation

* Qing Wen - Mainland & Taiwan Lingo: Electronics

謝謝!

what is your best guess?

我是差不多先生 -- I'm Mr. Good Enough?

我的差不多是天生 -- My equality is innate?

but that's just a guess

"jiu ti qiu,haha"

"zao gao,A jiu ti yi ge mubiao"

"aiyo,wo de yanjing huaile,wo huijia"

http://www.east-west-connect.com/microblogs/chinese-microblog-roundup

this is a pretty good article i read in school, i felt like after reading it i at least understood one aspect of 差不多。from what i gather most chinese people were "forced" (saying this lightly) to read this article in school。probably where the mc got the idea for 差不多先生 being that the main character in that article's name is 差不多先生。i think the author is also Taiwanese... probably just means something like "nothing special".

Youku's accessible from Switzerland. Is 土豆网 just tudou.com? Somehow, English sites popped up.

But I still don't get it. If you want to converse with someone interesting, why not send them mail or, god forbid, actually get on the phone and talk to them? I don't understand why you would want to broadcast your daily life for all and sundry to read. I just don't understand - what do people achieve by using twitter that they can't achieve by normal means? - what will I have achieved by twittering with someone who I could have just talked to instead?

Once I did notice a video but not the website itself was blocked while using a VPN that was directing traffic through America. After turning of the VPN, I could watch the video in China.

Twitter, like email (and these comments), is asynchronous, and thus less intrusive. The other side replies when they have time to do so. It can also be very close to realtime, depending on how often you check replies and respond. But that's entirely up to the users.

...which reminds me. There has been a lot of concern about the effect of modern communication on attention span in kids and the developing brain. In short you could ask...is twitter creating twits? Have you noticed a change in your students during your teaching career? I hope they're not up the back microblogging like the example in this lessons dialogue [well being the excellent teach I'm sure you are you may not be the best to ask,hehe].Any comments?

..fair enough.I understand entirely..sorry for bringing up a work related subject.

What I find strange is that the Chinese who speak of being hit tend to be the most obedient and polite students, but the reverse is true for the Koreans.

At a previous school, there was a story of an incident that occurred before I arrived. The mother of a Lebanese kid was called up to the school to discuss a problem with her son's behaviour. She led him into the principal's office like a dog - on all fours, with a leash around his neck. Needless to say, he did not turn into a particularly nice kid.

PS Even my chubby dog hates wearing a leash.