Vocab Tour - Street Food Buffet

Can any poddies tell me how to add the vocab tour videos to my ipod? It's an mp4 file but my ipod doesn't seem to recognize it. Can one export the file to ipod format and then sync it to ipod? Thanks!

SiYao

It just arrives in my (subscriber) feed, and the ipod just handles it with no extra steps, so I'm spared any importing hassle.  I have: a Cpod subscription (i.e. custom feed), Mac, and iPod classic 4th gen. First check whether you have the latest software on itunes and on the ipod - there might have been some video-handling updates. Then, verify that itunes on the computer plays the file.

Thanks auntie,sushan,and sebire for your replies.Yes auntie,I think you're right in that it makes a difference on the purpose of your trip and how long you are there for.

I have no problems with audio files, but the new video vocab tour files (.mp4) don't seem to show up when I sync with Itunes. Is there something I'm not doing right? I have a 5th generation Ipod with 80 gb capacity.

SiYao

Siyao

Make sure you have selected both audio AND video for synchronsation within itunes.  I had the same problem when cpod first started this video series and it was driving me crazy.  I think itunes' default setting is just to sync audio files to your ipod, so you have to make sure you also tell it to sync video files.

Hope this helps!

chris

when i lived briefly in 西安 there was a street vendor who sold the most divine pancake sort of things, but they were more a puff pastry, rolled with pork mince and cabbage and then deep fried. have totally forgotten what they were called.

perfect hangover breakfast!

light487,

By now you've probably discovered the answer to your question a couple of days ago about asking what's in the buns,but in case you haven't ,it was the final question in the expansion section:

这个小笼包是什么馅儿的？
(What kind of filling is in these steamed dumplings?)

I just bought a plane ticket to Shanghai yesterday.  I will have to be sure to do a good job of studying this lesson, so that I can eat some of this good stuff when I get over there.

Cool video guys!

How about doing a vegetarian 'street food' video.haha

 I'm guessing its non existent from what i've seen in China. The only two vegetarian street food i can think of are the sweet potato and the bread barbeque :) . Could someone tell me what they are both called in chinese

Hi cPod Team,

Another great Vid, all the food made me hungry and reminded me of trip in '07.  I plan on returning for spring 09.

Keep up that great work Everyone.

Warmly,

Kolohe

Vikram

First off, I think it's awesome you're sporting the Iron Maiden CPOD composite art I put togehter well over a year ago (or was it two?!!!).  Thanks man!  Sounds like the insdie of your iPod might be alot like mine.

I'm also vegetarain and found there are street foods available.  You might check the lesson on 糖炒栗子 (sweet roasted chestnuts).  I was told that I was one of the only foreigners who actually enjoyed eating 臭豆腐 (stinky tofu) which is also a popular street food found in many parts of China.   In fact, considering fruits, sweets, and the plethera of tofu options vegetarian street food is quite accessible if you're willing to look.  I even found that vegetable 包子 (stuffed buns) were easy to find in Beijing.

Hey Rash!

The inside of my ipod might EXACTLY be like yours!

Cpod and Iron Maiden

I remember reading the caption of this pic you had put up on flickr .

Have been privileged enough to watch maiden twice in the last 12 months.Both in India. Bangalore and Mumbai where the 'somewhere back in time ' tour kicked off.

Up the irons \m/

Sweet! I always thought peeking into someone else's iPod is a little like looking into their diary or medicine cabinet...  you might find things you also have, but maybe a few surprises.  My iPod is full of Maiden, Priest, CPOD and some late 90's metalcore, and possible some unmentionables.. or should I say guilty pleasures.  The CPOD lesson on sound check was OK, but what about a lesson on heavy metal?  Might have a narrow audience I suspect...

Yeah a lesson on heavy metal for the cpod metalheads... haha

Cool...can share my recent metal downloads with you.

Learning Chinese is now easier with the help of Chinese pinyin (hanyu pinyin). In China, children learn the Chinese language by using pinyin.

I'd like to commend a free website http://www.speakchinesonline.com to you guys as a useful tool and subsidiary material in learning Mandarin Chinese pinyin.

Initials: http://www.speakchinesonline.com/initials.htm;

Finals: http://www.speakchineseonline.com/finals.htm;

Chinese pinyin syllabary: http://www.speakchineseonline.com/syllabary.htm;

watsonqu,

re:

"In China, children learn the Chinese language by using pinyin".

Is that right? I was surprised by this.This brings many questions up;how widespread is this and for how long has this been the case? Is it because they're trying to learn some English at the same time [by getting familiar with the alphabet ] ?

You know what would be really useful? If the Chinesepod fixes, or "Audio Reviews" as they're now called, were videos that displayed a slideshow of the incoming words, like flash cards in a way. Honestly, I rarely read the PDFs, and having the characters displayed to me via ipod would be awesome. Also, I hate to say it, but sometimes I don't understand what you're saying in the fixes Amber: eg. "laconic" in 妈妈在哪里 or “a red mole" in 张爱玲经典名句. For the longest time I thought you were saying "iconic", and "I read 'em all." So this would provide a good visual cue as well.

bababardwan ,

Chinese Pinyin is the Romanization of the Chinese "written sound" only; Romanization approximates Chinese Mandarin pronunciation with Western spellings and includes a tone mark to signify the Chinese characters.

In China, children learn the Chinese hanzi/characters by using pinyin.

Hi bababardwan,

As watsonqu said, Chinese children learn 汉字 with the help of pinyin. Interestingly, when children can't remember how to write a 汉字，they often write it in pinyin instead.

In the past, pinyin was for "children only" and not important anymore for adults, but the situation has changed. Most Chinese people use pinyin-input methods now.

watsonqu,

Yeah;I understand what Pinyin is.Sorry ,my last post was obviously pretty unclear.I was just surprised that Chinese children now learn this way.After all Pinyin has only been around since about 1956 and before that Wade-Giles since 1859 I think.So traditionally I'm presuming that Chinese children did not learn this way.I was obviously erroneously under the impression that these systems of Romanisation were developed purely for the benefit of westerners/foreigners trying to learn Chinese.Not the case ,hey? But I am very interested in how Chinese kids learn their Mandarin ,and what such an insight could give me to my own learning.

This was also very surprising for me to learn.  I just learned this a few days ago from my friend from Beijing.  She's in her late 40's (has lived in US for 20 years) and told me that she had learned pinyin as a child.

This blew me away because one, I thought pinyin was developed to aid Westerners in learning Chinese, and two, because it meant that Chinese would have to learn the Roman alphabet and its sounds.  I could understand now, since so many Chinese children learn English, but I was surprised to learn that children learned pinyin 40 years ago!

Also, the majority of my Chinese friends have been from Taiwan and they don't seem to know pinyin at all.  So this makes me wonder if it's harder for them to learn Chinese growing up (aside from the trad. character aspect).

___________________________

bababardwan, get out of my head!  Basically our posts are identical.

changye et al.

watsonqu is a spamer.

Hi changye,

We were obviously writing at about the same time ,'cos I've only just got your post now.Thanks for elaborating on what watsonqu was saying.Very interesting.Also ,very nice to hear from such a CPod guru,taking the time to explain to a newbie.Thanks again :)

calkins,

Yeah,likewise.But with regards to Taiwanese not knowing pinyin,you may already know this but I think I read on a recent post that they were using a different method of Romanisation [ ?was it Wade-Giles ] until recently switching to Pinyin.Obviously they would have would have learnt the alphabet for that.

ps .just read your added bit.Yeah,bit freaky.Maybe in some other dimension..Did I mention that I'm also very interested in photography ? [Though once again,at a much lower level ;It's just an interest for me ,whereas you're a pro I note ]

billm,

Maybe I shouldn't be asking this ,but you've got me curious.I know of course what is usually meant by spamming.But I'm wondering what you mean in this instance ,how you know,and how it might affect me? If you don't want to post it,perhaps you could send me a PM ? Thanks .

Hi bababardwan,

You can see how Chinese children learn 汉字 and pinyin by seeing the following web page. Actually, textbooks and readers for children are very beneficial for us foreign learners, especially Tang poems or history books, since they have pinyin readings above all the Chinese characters.

http://images.google.cn/imgres?imgurl=http://images.joyo.com/b/ban_lwk_070410_tgee6052612.jpg&imgrefurl=http://buy.mp4cn.com/2/24/2008-06-30/138868.htm&h=503&w=400&sz=18&hl=zh-CN&start=33&um=1&usg=__yVl5WP0S66KjtU3lGuCCml_tU10=&tbnid=Hx4yW6FUblHjQM:&tbnh=130&tbnw=103&prev=/images%3Fq%3D%25E6%258B%25BC%25E9%259F%25B3%26start%3D20%26ndsp%3D20%26um%3D1%26complete%3D1%26hl%3Dzh-CN%26newwindow%3D1%26sa%3DN

http://images.google.cn/images?ndsp=20&um=1&complete=1&hl=zh-CN&newwindow=1&q=%E6%8B%BC%E9%9F%B3&start=0&sa=N

Thanks changye,

Yes,I'd love to have some of those resourses not only for my kids,but also for myself.Those colourful flashcards look great;and childrens readers could be fun for all the family.

Seeing the 小笼包 makes me want to take another trip to Shanghai!

calkins and sushan,

'What filling is in the xiaolongbao?' is:

小笼包里是什么馅儿？
Xiǎolóngbāo lǐ shì shénme xiànr？

yeah, but that's a little too specific for all the zillion filled, stuffed,and wrapped things you might find along the street. For anything you can use 里面 是 什么 to ask what's inside and 叫 什么 for what is this called.

flaky, puff pastry with spicy (or sometimes sweet) fillings sound a lot like guo kui but these are more regional to Sichuan.

These videos are great -- specifically, they may encourage me to continue my subscription.  I am using them in my Chinese classes (I teach kids) and they are an unreplaceable way to introduce a Chinese environment, though in a small way, to the classroom here in the USA!

Nice job.

I want some of that marijuana flowers.

I've tasted that burger in Xi An, but I much prefer 泡馍 (paomo, crusted pita bread over a lamb stew).

My least favourite 小吃: cocoon on a stick. Scorpions are fine.

@eyux, potstickers are one af my favourites, you should try them ! I think 饺子are often translated as dumplings , because that is the Western food they can be best compared to. 锅贴 have that yummy 'potsticking' crust at the bottom and the upper part is steamed....mmmhhhh. Those lucky North Americans can get them deep frozen at supermarkets, at least I remember getting them like that in San Francisco...there, people are even so lucky to be able to eat at  Dim Sum restaurants....life... so unfair...Oh, and eyux, I will never forget the character 锅 again ;)

Potstickers are my favourite. anyways whats a cold noodle. I heard something about Xi'an is related to them.

Ken and Jenny, can you do another vocab tour of like a farm or market where you point out different animals

speaking of food, will the taikonauts eat freeze dried shaomai and other dianxin in space?

Was wondering why Chinese astronauts are called taikonauts and found this for those who like me didn't know and are interested:

The term was coined by Western media based on the term "taikong" (太空 in pinyin: tai4 kong1), Chinese for space.

This video makes me want to live in China again.

@ linfeng2008

I went for a street food binge over the weekend. Not recommended to have it for 6 meals in a row. The first couple of meals were good though :S

bababardwan,

That's great! 太空 (too empty or too much vastness)! What a perfect word for space.

frances,

yes;this is just one of the many things I love about this language;the interesting derivation of the words and what it tells about the way things are viewed.I note there are some really good things being done in the groups looking at the etymology of words.mandarinboy has been doing some great stuff.But I feel like a kid in a candy store exploring this website ;I don't know which way to turn as there are so many cool things to check out and only so much time in a day.

frances & babardwan,

one of the many things I learned from changye is that for many seemingly funny collocations which form Chinese words you find sober explanations when considering the vast array of meanings most characters carry - including older or even ancient readings.

太 for example obviously has the additonal meaning of "big, vast" - without a superlative connotation.

For mnemonic reasons, stranger explanations are of course more helpful which is why I also apply them wherever I can.  :)

Thanks henning.Can you direct me to where it is explained how to put those links in that you do like "obviously" in your post above.Very cool.Also,when it comes to adding photos,I can only work out how to load photos that are on the web as it asks for a url.Is there a way to load your own photos if so desired?

You select the text that you want to transform into a link and then press on that little chain icon in the toolbar on top of the editing window. A new window will open where you can enter the URL.

Images always need to be stored elsewhere, e.g. on your personal flickr space.

As to where this is all explained: Good question.

henning,

Thanks a lot mate.I just got the link to work in another post [on topic of Government].Certainly makes it a lot tidier [some of those url's are long and I had a problem with a couple of posts because of that;it would chop off some of the post ],and also easier for people to click on.Well explained.

I miss 小笼包 much. According to Anthony Bourdain it's one of Shanghai delicacy.

Once I ate octopus and fried tofu on the streets. At dinner,my stomach felt bad.

The slowed down pronunciation can be helpful I suppose.  But, especially when the pinyin is already there to see, I would rather hear the names said at regular, fluent speed.

More Videos please  :-)  Like the Dmode song  I just can't get enough

哇。 好想中国 ！！！

John, what song did you use for the background music? 哪首歌？

大家好！

我是新的chinese pod user， 我觉得chinese pod 非常好！！ 我有一个问题， 饺子和锅贴的区别到底是什么呢？ 看起来很像。

谢谢！