<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss version="2.0" 
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    <title><![CDATA[Comments on: Time to Go]]></title>
    <link><![CDATA[http://chinesepod.com/lessons/time-to-go/discussion]]></link>
    <description><![CDATA[No, this is not another in our 'taking the classroom to the bathroom' series of Mandarin lessons.  Rather, this lesson is about having to get going.  So, next time you're waiting as your significant other is performing their getting ready ritual, you will have the words to get him/her rolling.  Listen to this podcast and learn to nag a little, a la Chinese.]]></description>
    <pubDate>2007-08-30 18:00:00</pubDate>
    <item>
        <title><![CDATA[By: brian85]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://chinesepod.com/lessons/time-to-go/discussion#comment-17580]]></link>
        <author><![CDATA[brian85]]></author>
        <pubDate></pubDate>
        <guid><![CDATA[#comment-17580]]></guid>
        <description><![CDATA[As i know,in the west ,many people can speak second language~but in china there is a little people can。Amercian is a immigrant country.Many emigrant isn't from natural eglish country.They speak different lanuage.So Amercian student  have an  opporunity of practice.]]></description>
        <content:encoded><![CDATA[As i know,in the west ,many people can speak second language~but in china there is a little people can。Amercian is a immigrant country.Many emigrant isn't from natural eglish country.They speak different lanuage.So Amercian student  have an  opporunity of practice.]]></content:encoded>
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    <item>
        <title><![CDATA[By: brothergerr]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://chinesepod.com/lessons/time-to-go/discussion#comment-17586]]></link>
        <author><![CDATA[brothergerr]]></author>
        <pubDate></pubDate>
        <guid><![CDATA[#comment-17586]]></guid>
        <description><![CDATA[I have this conversation a few times alright in Chinese. Had to learn it the hard way too! :P]]></description>
        <content:encoded><![CDATA[I have this conversation a few times alright in Chinese. Had to learn it the hard way too! :P]]></content:encoded>
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        <title><![CDATA[By: user3764]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://chinesepod.com/lessons/time-to-go/discussion#comment-17593]]></link>
        <author><![CDATA[user3764]]></author>
        <pubDate></pubDate>
        <guid><![CDATA[#comment-17593]]></guid>
        <description><![CDATA[brian85.
China is as big as US and Mexico together. With many different dialects, some of them as far from each other as English and Spanish. Many Chinese can speak one or two, a little or fluent. A third language outside China is not needed in this huge culture, as wast an interesting as the western world.
Leiferik. ]]></description>
        <content:encoded><![CDATA[brian85.
China is as big as US and Mexico together. With many different dialects, some of them as far from each other as English and Spanish. Many Chinese can speak one or two, a little or fluent. A third language outside China is not needed in this huge culture, as wast an interesting as the western world.
Leiferik. ]]></content:encoded>
    </item>
    <item>
        <title><![CDATA[By: changye]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://chinesepod.com/lessons/time-to-go/discussion#comment-17599]]></link>
        <author><![CDATA[changye]]></author>
        <pubDate></pubDate>
        <guid><![CDATA[#comment-17599]]></guid>
        <description><![CDATA[Japanese Kanji
have very close ties to 
ancient Chinese characters
in meanings and pronunciations.

…………….现代汉语…..古代汉语…..现代日语
走(zou3) ……walk……..…run……..…..run
跑(pao3).……run………...dash…..….…×
步(bu4)……..step……......walk…..……walk
去(qu4)………go………….leave………leave
来(lai2)…..…come…….....come………come
]]></description>
        <content:encoded><![CDATA[Japanese Kanji
have very close ties to 
ancient Chinese characters
in meanings and pronunciations.

…………….现代汉语…..古代汉语…..现代日语
走(zou3) ……walk……..…run……..…..run
跑(pao3).……run………...dash…..….…×
步(bu4)……..step……......walk…..……walk
去(qu4)………go………….leave………leave
来(lai2)…..…come…….....come………come
]]></content:encoded>
    </item>
    <item>
        <title><![CDATA[By: maantonette]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://chinesepod.com/lessons/time-to-go/discussion#comment-17602]]></link>
        <author><![CDATA[maantonette]]></author>
        <pubDate></pubDate>
        <guid><![CDATA[#comment-17602]]></guid>
        <description><![CDATA[it's really interesting to learn Mandarin....]]></description>
        <content:encoded><![CDATA[it's really interesting to learn Mandarin....]]></content:encoded>
    </item>
    <item>
        <title><![CDATA[By: goulnik]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://chinesepod.com/lessons/time-to-go/discussion#comment-17603]]></link>
        <author><![CDATA[goulnik]]></author>
        <pubDate></pubDate>
        <guid><![CDATA[#comment-17603]]></guid>
        <description><![CDATA[re: user3764/brian85 - my perception is there are significant differences between China, the US and Europe in that respect. The US in a immigration country, and it seems to me that until recently most communities were eager to melt into the culture and ended up forgetting their respective dialects. But American-English borrowed a lot of from them, that's certainly true of early-mid 20th century immigrants. 
In many European countries by contrast, national languages are political constructs, imposed from the center, some of them fairly recent. In France, local dialects are looked down upon, they've been almost eradicated, and actively so - one of the ways this was done throughout the 19th-20th centuries is by displacing school teachers and other civil servants to make sure they didn't have any local root. In the areas bordering Germany, speaking a dialect that was shared with folks across the border was downright prohibited. The very name used to describe dialects is still derogatory, as if these weren't fully fledged languages that only the illterate would speak.
One country that ddidn't do this is Switzerland, still multi-lingual and kept its dialects in the German speaking parts. The fact that many people in Europe do speak more than one language (outside the UK that is, though immigrant communities there seem to keep their languages) is different, it's got to do with country size, mobility, business etc. rather than family ties and dialects as such I would say.
And of course there is no analogy to Chinese were mutually incomprehensible languages can share the same written characters and read their respective newspapers!]]></description>
        <content:encoded><![CDATA[re: user3764/brian85 - my perception is there are significant differences between China, the US and Europe in that respect. The US in a immigration country, and it seems to me that until recently most communities were eager to melt into the culture and ended up forgetting their respective dialects. But American-English borrowed a lot of from them, that's certainly true of early-mid 20th century immigrants. 
In many European countries by contrast, national languages are political constructs, imposed from the center, some of them fairly recent. In France, local dialects are looked down upon, they've been almost eradicated, and actively so - one of the ways this was done throughout the 19th-20th centuries is by displacing school teachers and other civil servants to make sure they didn't have any local root. In the areas bordering Germany, speaking a dialect that was shared with folks across the border was downright prohibited. The very name used to describe dialects is still derogatory, as if these weren't fully fledged languages that only the illterate would speak.
One country that ddidn't do this is Switzerland, still multi-lingual and kept its dialects in the German speaking parts. The fact that many people in Europe do speak more than one language (outside the UK that is, though immigrant communities there seem to keep their languages) is different, it's got to do with country size, mobility, business etc. rather than family ties and dialects as such I would say.
And of course there is no analogy to Chinese were mutually incomprehensible languages can share the same written characters and read their respective newspapers!]]></content:encoded>
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    <item>
        <title><![CDATA[By: ronk]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://chinesepod.com/lessons/time-to-go/discussion#comment-17605]]></link>
        <author><![CDATA[ronk]]></author>
        <pubDate></pubDate>
        <guid><![CDATA[#comment-17605]]></guid>
        <description><![CDATA[I have heard the expression 'Gan Ma!' explained as "What the hell?".  Is this the same Gan (干) and is it considered as rude as it seems to be.  If it is a colloquial expression, where is it usually heard? ]]></description>
        <content:encoded><![CDATA[I have heard the expression 'Gan Ma!' explained as "What the hell?".  Is this the same Gan (干) and is it considered as rude as it seems to be.  If it is a colloquial expression, where is it usually heard? ]]></content:encoded>
    </item>
    <item>
        <title><![CDATA[By: excuter]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://chinesepod.com/lessons/time-to-go/discussion#comment-17606]]></link>
        <author><![CDATA[excuter]]></author>
        <pubDate></pubDate>
        <guid><![CDATA[#comment-17606]]></guid>
        <description><![CDATA[it´s the same. :-)]]></description>
        <content:encoded><![CDATA[it´s the same. :-)]]></content:encoded>
    </item>
    <item>
        <title><![CDATA[By: wande]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://chinesepod.com/lessons/time-to-go/discussion#comment-17609]]></link>
        <author><![CDATA[wande]]></author>
        <pubDate></pubDate>
        <guid><![CDATA[#comment-17609]]></guid>
        <description><![CDATA[dear Amber, in the expansion we read 他在干吗？
(What is he doing?)Would  他在干什么？be identical?
Walter
]]></description>
        <content:encoded><![CDATA[dear Amber, in the expansion we read 他在干吗？
(What is he doing?)Would  他在干什么？be identical?
Walter
]]></content:encoded>
    </item>
    <item>
        <title><![CDATA[By: sparechange]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://chinesepod.com/lessons/time-to-go/discussion#comment-17611]]></link>
        <author><![CDATA[sparechange]]></author>
        <pubDate></pubDate>
        <guid><![CDATA[#comment-17611]]></guid>
        <description><![CDATA[In the US, immigrants usually end up in urban areas. Once you get outside of a well-populated area, your opportunities for mingling with foreigners diminish substantially. 

The town where I work is a bit of an anomaly due to the technological university located there. This makes for a large international population for a town that size. 

Other than that, the only foreigners you are likely to see outside of major cities are Mexicans, and that has only become more common within the last 10 years or so. There is even a small community of Mexican immigrants in the town where I live (which has a total population of about 4800). And yet, I chose to learn Mandarin....I must be a glutton for punishment. :)]]></description>
        <content:encoded><![CDATA[In the US, immigrants usually end up in urban areas. Once you get outside of a well-populated area, your opportunities for mingling with foreigners diminish substantially. 

The town where I work is a bit of an anomaly due to the technological university located there. This makes for a large international population for a town that size. 

Other than that, the only foreigners you are likely to see outside of major cities are Mexicans, and that has only become more common within the last 10 years or so. There is even a small community of Mexican immigrants in the town where I live (which has a total population of about 4800). And yet, I chose to learn Mandarin....I must be a glutton for punishment. :)]]></content:encoded>
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