<![CDATA[Comments on: Studying Chinese]]> 2011-05-30 18:00:00 <![CDATA[By: rampage89]]> 还可以 should be "alright" instead of "all right" . No Chinglish, please

]]> 还可以 should be "alright" instead of "all right" . No Chinglish, please

]]> <![CDATA[By: JasonSch]]> Actually, although 'alright' is so ubiquitous these days that it's quickly becoming the norm for this usage, it's still technically incorrect, and 'all right' remains the standard for most publications regardless of usage. There's a lot of discussion about it online, but here's one particularly helpful link: http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/all-right-versus-alright.aspx

]]> Actually, although 'alright' is so ubiquitous these days that it's quickly becoming the norm for this usage, it's still technically incorrect, and 'all right' remains the standard for most publications regardless of usage. There's a lot of discussion about it online, but here's one particularly helpful link: http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/all-right-versus-alright.aspx

]]> <![CDATA[By: menglelan]]> Another reason why English is such a stupid language.

]]> Another reason why English is such a stupid language.

]]> <![CDATA[By: watyamacallit]]> You stupid, STUPID language.

]]> You stupid, STUPID language.

]]> <![CDATA[By: rampage89]]> I don't think this makes English a stupid language. "Alright" is already in most dictionaries, and there are far more cases like this in Chinese than there are in English

]]> I don't think this makes English a stupid language. "Alright" is already in most dictionaries, and there are far more cases like this in Chinese than there are in English

]]> <![CDATA[By: minghuiguangbodiantai]]> No language is 'stupid', that would be an adjective reserved for some people that speak whatever language.

]]> No language is 'stupid', that would be an adjective reserved for some people that speak whatever language.

]]> <![CDATA[By: rjbrown85]]> This is a rough newbie lesson.  Add a couple sentences and you probably could bump it up to Elementary.

]]> This is a rough newbie lesson.  Add a couple sentences and you probably could bump it up to Elementary.

]]> <![CDATA[By: carpol]]> Excellent!  Wish I had heard this last week before my Chinese class.  My teacher asked me how my HSK exam had gone and I managed to answer in my first genuine conversation without a text book.  I agree with John "xué zhōngwén hěn nán"  but lots of fun:-)

]]> Excellent!  Wish I had heard this last week before my Chinese class.  My teacher asked me how my HSK exam had gone and I managed to answer in my first genuine conversation without a text book.  I agree with John "xué zhōngwén hěn nán"  but lots of fun:-)

]]> <![CDATA[By: mizugori]]> "all right" is technically the correct form in English

]]> "all right" is technically the correct form in English

]]> <![CDATA[By: xiao_liang]]> Oh I dunno. There's been a few times I've been known to comment on the stupidity of a certain character-based language ;-)

Of course I'm really talking about my own lack of intellectual nous, but 差不多 :)

]]> Oh I dunno. There's been a few times I've been known to comment on the stupidity of a certain character-based language ;-)

Of course I'm really talking about my own lack of intellectual nous, but 差不多 :)

]]> <![CDATA[By: apung]]> "Dunno" is not the exactly the correct word to use when discussing the propriety of words. I see it used quite frequently by some of my Chinese pen pals. Who is doing this to the English language over there? :)

]]> "Dunno" is not the exactly the correct word to use when discussing the propriety of words. I see it used quite frequently by some of my Chinese pen pals. Who is doing this to the English language over there? :)

]]> <![CDATA[By: mizugori]]> Apung, read your first sentence again, you have an extra 'the' in there. Sorry but I can't resist correcting someone when they're correcting someone else...

]]> Apung, read your first sentence again, you have an extra 'the' in there. Sorry but I can't resist correcting someone when they're correcting someone else...

]]> <![CDATA[By: paulanthony]]> never forget newbie :)

]]> never forget newbie :)

]]> <![CDATA[By: apung]]> That is quite all right. No need for sorrow, there are enough tears in this world. However, the correction was not aimed specifically at the previous writer. I suppose the use of words/phrases such as dunno, wanna, u r, and the like, are the result of the proliferation of texting with phones, as are accidents. Did you see the one on the news of a woman texting in a mall and falling into a pool?

]]> That is quite all right. No need for sorrow, there are enough tears in this world. However, the correction was not aimed specifically at the previous writer. I suppose the use of words/phrases such as dunno, wanna, u r, and the like, are the result of the proliferation of texting with phones, as are accidents. Did you see the one on the news of a woman texting in a mall and falling into a pool?

]]> <![CDATA[By: apung]]> I wanna know. Then I'm gonna tell everyone who it is. :)

]]> I wanna know. Then I'm gonna tell everyone who it is. :)

]]> <![CDATA[By: lemoncool]]> hello，I am a Chinese~~~

]]> hello，I am a Chinese~~~

]]> <![CDATA[By: Dorayaki]]> The hardest part for me studing chinese is writing the chinese character. any suggestion how to improve the writing chinese character skill?

]]> The hardest part for me studing chinese is writing the chinese character. any suggestion how to improve the writing chinese character skill?

]]> <![CDATA[By: cinnamonfern]]> I recommend using Skritter if you want to improve your writing ability. It's not very expensive ($9.95/month) and it helps a lot. It also helps with character recognition - as you write more, you recognize more. You can also directly import from your CPod vocab list into Skritter - very useful!

]]> I recommend using Skritter if you want to improve your writing ability. It's not very expensive ($9.95/month) and it helps a lot. It also helps with character recognition - as you write more, you recognize more. You can also directly import from your CPod vocab list into Skritter - very useful!

]]> <![CDATA[By: mizugori]]> If you are going to use Skritter, better invest in a quality writing tablet for use with your pc - using the mouse or the touchpad on a laptop is NOT even remotely close to writing characters with a pen or pencil. I like the wacom bamboo tablet (the $70 one works great for me.)

]]> If you are going to use Skritter, better invest in a quality writing tablet for use with your pc - using the mouse or the touchpad on a laptop is NOT even remotely close to writing characters with a pen or pencil. I like the wacom bamboo tablet (the $70 one works great for me.)

]]> <![CDATA[By: AnJieLi27]]> Actually, English speaking people switch between writing "alright" and "all right," so really I don't see what the difference is. Both are okay, since they're the same meaning.

And before you tell me the subtle differences between the two, please know I am already aware of them. However, the two can be used interchangeably, and therefore using "all right" is no such thing as Chinglish, but rather standard English.

]]> Actually, English speaking people switch between writing "alright" and "all right," so really I don't see what the difference is. Both are okay, since they're the same meaning.

And before you tell me the subtle differences between the two, please know I am already aware of them. However, the two can be used interchangeably, and therefore using "all right" is no such thing as Chinglish, but rather standard English.

]]> <![CDATA[By: apung]]> Thanks mizugori and cinnamonfern. I googled those, and will be getting both of them.

]]> Thanks mizugori and cinnamonfern. I googled those, and will be getting both of them.

]]> <![CDATA[By: rampage89]]> sorry, I don't understand Chinglish

]]> sorry, I don't understand Chinglish

]]> <![CDATA[By: versicolor]]> Hi! I've got a qeustion about this dialogue. In the lesson zài is translated as "currently" so that "Nǐ zài xué zhōngwén ma" is translated as "Are you currently studying Chinese." I've also been taught that xiànzài means currently.

So my question is: When can you use zài alone to mean "currently" and when do you need to say xiànzài?

]]> Hi! I've got a qeustion about this dialogue. In the lesson zài is translated as "currently" so that "Nǐ zài xué zhōngwén ma" is translated as "Are you currently studying Chinese." I've also been taught that xiànzài means currently.

So my question is: When can you use zài alone to mean "currently" and when do you need to say xiànzài?

]]> <![CDATA[By: xiaophil]]> Good question (CPod, there is a question here)

I always think of zài as 'be verb+ing', i.e. the present continuous.

As for xiànzài, that is pretty much like the word 'now'.

My question is if they both can be in the same sentence, e.g. nǐ xiànzài zài xuéxí zhōngwén ma? I have found very few occurrences of this, so I wonder if it shouldn't be done.

Another question I have that is related to yours is if it would be okay to answer a question with zài

For example:

Q: nǐ zài xuéxí zhōngwén ma?

A: zài

It seems wrong to me, but I don't know if it is.

]]> Good question (CPod, there is a question here)

I always think of zài as 'be verb+ing', i.e. the present continuous.

As for xiànzài, that is pretty much like the word 'now'.

My question is if they both can be in the same sentence, e.g. nǐ xiànzài zài xuéxí zhōngwén ma? I have found very few occurrences of this, so I wonder if it shouldn't be done.

Another question I have that is related to yours is if it would be okay to answer a question with zài

For example:

Q: nǐ zài xuéxí zhōngwén ma?

A: zài

It seems wrong to me, but I don't know if it is.

]]> <![CDATA[By: podster]]> Here is my interpretation:

In the example (你在学中文吗？nǐzàixuézhōngwénma? ）refers to somebody who is currently a student of Chinese. In other words, an ongoing condition, not merely at this moment. The second case (你现在学中文吗？nǐxiànzàixuézhōngwénma? ) could mean the same thing, but would also be the more likely choice if you walked in on someone who was looking at a book, and you wanted to ask "are you studying Chinese (just now)" (as opposed, for example, to studying a chemistry book, because the speaker can't see which book it is.)

I can think of an expanded version of this question that might make a good Qing Wen topic, but don't want to muddy the issue here.

]]> Here is my interpretation:

In the example (你在学中文吗？nǐzàixuézhōngwénma? ）refers to somebody who is currently a student of Chinese. In other words, an ongoing condition, not merely at this moment. The second case (你现在学中文吗？nǐxiànzàixuézhōngwénma? ) could mean the same thing, but would also be the more likely choice if you walked in on someone who was looking at a book, and you wanted to ask "are you studying Chinese (just now)" (as opposed, for example, to studying a chemistry book, because the speaker can't see which book it is.)

I can think of an expanded version of this question that might make a good Qing Wen topic, but don't want to muddy the issue here.

]]> <![CDATA[By: AnJieLi27]]> And I don't understand your comment. Did I use Chinglish?

]]> And I don't understand your comment. Did I use Chinglish?

]]> <![CDATA[By: instantcalmer]]> In this lesson the bu in the middle of nan2 bu nan2 has no 4th tone (as the vocab list says). I thought it was a typo and then when I did the exercises I saw a similar x bu x pattern with no 4th tone.

What's up here?

]]> In this lesson the bu in the middle of nan2 bu nan2 has no 4th tone (as the vocab list says). I thought it was a typo and then when I did the exercises I saw a similar x bu x pattern with no 4th tone.

What's up here?

]]> <![CDATA[By: xiaophil]]> The bu is said so quickly in this pattern that the 4th tone is dropped to neutral.

]]> The bu is said so quickly in this pattern that the 4th tone is dropped to neutral.

]]> <![CDATA[By: rodsrandomnumber]]> "Well it's alright, even if they say yer wrong ... " End of the Line -- Traveling Wilburys.

]]> "Well it's alright, even if they say yer wrong ... " End of the Line -- Traveling Wilburys.

]]> <![CDATA[By: bababardwan]]> haha, jingcai [brilliant]...alright but not necessarily all right.

]]> haha, jingcai [brilliant]...alright but not necessarily all right.

]]> <![CDATA[By: rodsrandomnumber]]> What gets me every time is I try to spell Traveling with two Ls, but who am I to argue with Bob? Hmmm ... I wonder if George and Jeff had that problem.

]]> What gets me every time is I try to spell Traveling with two Ls, but who am I to argue with Bob? Hmmm ... I wonder if George and Jeff had that problem.

]]> <![CDATA[By: bababardwan]]> daan wo pengyou shi nage "l" zai lan2fengli

[the answer my friend is that "l" is blowing in the wind]

]]> daan wo pengyou shi nage "l" zai lan2fengli

[the answer my friend is that "l" is blowing in the wind]

]]> <![CDATA[By: rodsrandomnumber]]> 哈哈 Good one Baba.

Seriously though, maybe we should try doing what the Germans did with their Rechtschreibreform. We could get representatives from all the English speaking countries (and maybe some from those countries where English is a close second) to sit down together and agree on one standard set of spellings, pronunciations and so on. You know, I think it could work. Altogether now ... er, I mean all together. ;-)

http://german.about.com/library/blreform.htm

]]> 哈哈 Good one Baba.

Seriously though, maybe we should try doing what the Germans did with their Rechtschreibreform. We could get representatives from all the English speaking countries (and maybe some from those countries where English is a close second) to sit down together and agree on one standard set of spellings, pronunciations and so on. You know, I think it could work. Altogether now ... er, I mean all together. ;-)

http://german.about.com/library/blreform.htm

]]> <![CDATA[By: keyclick]]> I thought we had all moved to using "Aight" for "All Right"! no? ;-)

]]> I thought we had all moved to using "Aight" for "All Right"! no? ;-)

]]> <![CDATA[By: bababardwan]]> btw , have you spotted how 答案 [dáàn..answer] must be a shortened transliteration of "da answer" as in "da answer my friend"....it even has the same tones as in English. Maybe it's short for 答案死【/儿。。northern version】..as in, wait for it, the answers gonna kill ya...

]]> btw , have you spotted how 答案 [dáàn..answer] must be a shortened transliteration of "da answer" as in "da answer my friend"....it even has the same tones as in English. Maybe it's short for 答案死【/儿。。northern version】..as in, wait for it, the answers gonna kill ya...

]]> <![CDATA[By: bababardwan]]> I thought that might have been Scottish, but I see you're American...is that regional in the US?..or are you kinda kiddin' ?

]]> I thought that might have been Scottish, but I see you're American...is that regional in the US?..or are you kinda kiddin' ?

]]> <![CDATA[By: podster]]> all right, all right, already!  Can we learn some Chinese?  I would be interested in examples of words are phrases that are in very common usage but not "technically correct," along with an exmple of the way it's supposed to be.  I have come across a few of these, but can't call any to mind just now.

Thanks, CPod community, for making me so edumacated!

]]> all right, all right, already!  Can we learn some Chinese?  I would be interested in examples of words are phrases that are in very common usage but not "technically correct," along with an exmple of the way it's supposed to be.  I have come across a few of these, but can't call any to mind just now.

Thanks, CPod community, for making me so edumacated!

]]> <![CDATA[By: cinnamonfern]]> A'ight is a very Southern (U.S.) way of saying alright (or all right). :)

]]> A'ight is a very Southern (U.S.) way of saying alright (or all right). :)

]]> <![CDATA[By: bababardwan]]> oh, a'ight then, thanks for letting me know cinnamonfern :)

]]> oh, a'ight then, thanks for letting me know cinnamonfern :)

]]> <![CDATA[By: podster]]> @cinnamonfern,

all right, I'll take the bait -- which part of the Southern US? I've spent lots of time in the South and never come across it, but I know that there are pockets of highly differentiated dialect.

]]> @cinnamonfern,

all right, I'll take the bait -- which part of the Southern US? I've spent lots of time in the South and never come across it, but I know that there are pockets of highly differentiated dialect.

]]> <![CDATA[By: bababardwan]]> I tend to hear "alrighty" or "right oh"...I prefer the former ...I think it's more positive and can be said enthusiastically.

]]> I tend to hear "alrighty" or "right oh"...I prefer the former ...I think it's more positive and can be said enthusiastically.

]]> <![CDATA[By: rodsrandomnumber]]> Southern? I always associate it with Ebonics.

]]> Southern? I always associate it with Ebonics.

]]> <![CDATA[By: rodsrandomnumber]]> So, all this time he's been speaking Mandarin? It's all so clear now.

]]> So, all this time he's been speaking Mandarin? It's all so clear now.

]]> <![CDATA[By: bababardwan]]> exactly...here's a rare snap of him learning it from a young age:

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/purple_jenny/JoelOrange01.jpg

]]> exactly...here's a rare snap of him learning it from a young age:

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/purple_jenny/JoelOrange01.jpg

]]> <![CDATA[By: cinnamonfern]]> Well, I thought it might be Southern...but I'm from Michigan, what do I know? I stand corrected. :D

]]> Well, I thought it might be Southern...but I'm from Michigan, what do I know? I stand corrected. :D

]]> <![CDATA[By: Dorayaki]]> Thanks Cinnamonfern, definitely will get this to practice!

]]> Thanks Cinnamonfern, definitely will get this to practice!

]]> <![CDATA[By: passam]]> In polite English-speaking circles, 'All right' is generally regarded as the standard written form.

]]> In polite English-speaking circles, 'All right' is generally regarded as the standard written form.

]]> <![CDATA[By: watyamacallit]]> Could you define more clearly these "polite English speaking circles"?

I am not sure how to interpret your use of 'polite'. What is the antonym of 'polite' when it is used in this sense?

Further, where do these circles exist? Are they peculiar to a particular country?

Do you belong to one of these circles?

]]> Could you define more clearly these "polite English speaking circles"?

I am not sure how to interpret your use of 'polite'. What is the antonym of 'polite' when it is used in this sense?

Further, where do these circles exist? Are they peculiar to a particular country?

Do you belong to one of these circles?

]]> <![CDATA[By: nickybr38]]> I find that Skritter helps me a great deal even without a tablet. But I don't JUST use Skritter. First I write the characters on a piece of paper, THEN I input them in Skritter, then I finish by writing them again on paper. Skritter helps me more with remembering tones and pinyin but it also helps to reinforce character recognition.

]]> I find that Skritter helps me a great deal even without a tablet. But I don't JUST use Skritter. First I write the characters on a piece of paper, THEN I input them in Skritter, then I finish by writing them again on paper. Skritter helps me more with remembering tones and pinyin but it also helps to reinforce character recognition.

]]> <![CDATA[By: abrock]]> If you have an iPhone or iPad, then the "Pleco Dictionary" app is great - it is free but you have to buy the 'add-on' to practise writing the characters.

]]> If you have an iPhone or iPad, then the "Pleco Dictionary" app is great - it is free but you have to buy the 'add-on' to practise writing the characters.

]]> <![CDATA[By: byronmeinerth]]> 要说啥?

]]> 要说啥?

]]>