Thank you, Changye!
xiaophil
October 09, 2010 at 06:55 AM posted in General DiscussionWell, at least for the moment, it appears that Changye is out of here. Because of this, I just want to say a few sentences.
Changye often placed a lot of energy into answering my more difficult questions. There were also many times when he was the only soul who braved some of my more out of the blue 中文巴 posts. In my book he counts as one of my most important Mandarin teachers (along with much of CPod's staff, of course).
Thank you, Changye! Good luck with German! Hopefully you'll check in from time to time as a free user? (No pressure.)
zhenlijiang
October 11, 2010 at 04:41 PM
Thank you for that Henning.
But I was going to say--how is it that Changye hasn't just been given honorary lifetime membership by now? I mean how come he has this subscription that runs out and has to be renewed every year? Cheap? What would it cost CPod, really, to just let him have that access to come and help us? Doesn't CPod think the value of what he's given is way more than any 12-month or 24-month subscription they could give him?
chanelle77
October 12, 2010 at 07:59 AM
Zhen, that is exactly what I was thinking. I would even go further and wonder why Changye does not have his own show :-).
Joking aside, I wish Changye all the best and I am very grateful for his excellent book suggestions and help.
henning
October 11, 2010 at 04:28 PM
Has CPod already tried to offer Changye a free subscription again? It has worked in the past so maybe it works now. Nobody here would deny that he deserves it. Changye has always been more a teacher than a student and at his level he surely doesn't need any language services. Indeed, a free subscrption is already cheap considering the additional layer of insights he brought to this site.
We need a "Changye corner". It is the feature I miss the most.
zhenlijiang
October 12, 2010 at 06:16 AM
Perhaps he wanted out a year ago, but was so touched by the support the community gave him that he came back in for that reason only.
I don't think so Xiaophil.
Option 3 Bodawei--CPod were too busy and didn't think of this. What do you mean by "ChinesePod (at some level) has already considered the free subscription angle."? How do you know this?
I repeat, why doesn't he just have lifetime membership by now? What's with a subscription that he has to have renewed every year?
Yes I reckon CPod teachers have been better about answering our questions recently. The thing with Changye, he's always contributed in ways even our teachers can't or just don't have the time for. And who else among us is proficient enough to question (yes some of us may question the explanations sometimes, but with nowhere near the same kind of knowledge or authority) our teachers on the rare occasion there is a need for that?
bodawei
October 12, 2010 at 06:10 AM
ChinesePod (at some level) has already considered the free subscription angle. Let's say if this was not the case, ChinesePod is a bunch of people who just love learning Chinese and love helping other people learn Chinese. :)
So there are only two options:
1. Considered free-subscription - decided against it.
2. Considered free-subscription - offered it, and Changye declined.
As he could accept it and still not come on the boards because he is too busy (I doubt that they write a contract for free subscriptions) I think option 1 is most likely. Before anyone jumps on me I admit that Changye is likely to feel some obligation to appear on the boards if given a freebie. But still, option 1 is more likely.
As an aside, I reckon that the ChinesePod teachers have been more active since Changye left - what do people think? (If go_manly was still here he would have combed the boards for statistical evidence.)
xiaophil
October 12, 2010 at 05:21 AM
I cannot help but wonder if Changye wants out. Perhaps he wanted out a year ago, but was so touched by the support the community gave him that he came back in for that reason only. If that is the case, it might be best to just let him go. Then again, maybe he is secretly hoping for a free subscription, hehe. I wouldn't blame him.
rods
October 09, 2010 at 06:08 PM
No more Changye! It won't be the same around here without him. I'd hoped he was just away on vacation, maybe on a safari. Okay ... I can deal with this ... how about ... ? Okay, got it: Changye doesn't have much spare time these days, no time for us. But that's alright, because he is the new head of the Science Patrol (科特隊) -- saving the world from various aliens and monsters. There, now I feel better.
bababardwan
October 11, 2010 at 10:29 AM
漫游...kind of like a walkabout!
..well yeah, I guess so. This 漫游 sounds a bit more like a pleasure trip, whereas with the Australian Aborigines I think it was much more culturally significant.
bababardwan
October 11, 2010 at 10:18 AM
。。and billabongs are a type of yummy iceblock [or brand of boardies ] ...j/k it's a patch of water left when a river changes course....like a little lake
..so I guess their translation was 分流...meaning bypass....well yeah, there is the bypass concept in there but it seems a bit incomplete. 河分流 might have been closer to it.
jen_not_jenny
October 11, 2010 at 09:52 AM
Try this on for size...http://translate.google.com.hk/translate?hl=zh-CN&langpair=en|zh-CN&u=http://www.elyrics.net/read/s/seekers-lyrics/waltzing-matilda-lyrics.html
Should be good for some obscure vocabulary! Although they seem to have had some trouble with "swagman" and "jumbuck," and I'm a bit dubious about their translation of billabong...I guess if I knew more about billabongs I'd be a better judge...
bababardwan
October 11, 2010 at 03:06 AM
can you hum it for me then to get me started [ I like the idea of seeing if a toad [or is it a frog?] can hum ]?
rods
October 11, 2010 at 02:57 AM
No problem. Piece of cake! Oh, but wouldn't it be more appropriate for an Australian to do that? Yeah, I think I'd better leave it up to an Australian. :-)
bababardwan
October 10, 2010 at 11:56 PM
your next assignment...translate Waltzing Matilda into chinese...well, while it's playing in your head you may as well turn it into a Chinese learning op, right?
rods
October 10, 2010 at 11:24 PM
Hey Bababardwan, I'm thinking ... not too very much at all (correct). Hmmm. Now I've got that "Waltzing Matilda" tune playing in my head.
bababardwan
October 10, 2010 at 09:14 PM
well mate, I have no idea how correct your Chinese is there, but I must say I like it, I really like it. Great words like 漫游 【didn't know that one, and what an appealing word it is...漫...free,unrestrained, and 游..to travel/roam..] and you've got the 一边...一边 structure in there. Jiayou
rods
October 10, 2010 at 08:14 PM
Ah yes, Tintin. I can see that. Well, it's way, way beyond me, but I'll take a shot in the dark:
他漫游在世界，一边扶正祛邪 一边解决奥秘.
Tā mànyóu zài shìjiè, yībiān fúzhèng qū xié yībiān jiějué àomì.
Which Google translates as:
He roams the world, while eliminating the bad side to resolve the mystery.
My dictionary defines the phrase fúzhèng-qūxié as meaning fight for justice against evil.
OK, I think I just broke Chinese. I think I'll go to Amazon and order a copy of The Blue Lotus.
bodawei
October 10, 2010 at 05:13 AM
'Science Patrol'想起了《丁丁历险记》。。
我想到‘Changye and the chubby dog'作为丁丁和白雪。。:)
Science Patrol brings to mind 'Les Adventures de Tintin'..
I can see Changye and his chubby dog as Tin Tin and his little companion Snowy..
(wandering the world solving mysteries and righting injustices.) :)
Sorry, that is beyond me in Chinese, but I'd appreciate someone else having a go..
xiaophil
October 31, 2010 at 08:16 AM
At any rate, good luck with the tutor! You come back around sometime, ya hear?
orangina
October 30, 2010 at 08:52 AM
No! not German... I have enough trouble with the various "u" sounds in Mandarin. I had to make the torturous choice between c-pod and private tutor... and private tutor won this round. But I still check in from time to time. obviously not too frequently these days!!! And I'm sure I'll be back. Thanks for checking on me!
xiaophil
October 11, 2010 at 07:44 AM
Hey Orangina, you're still around too, eh? It seems to me I haven't seen as much of you around either. I take it you aren't studying German, hehe.
bodawei
October 09, 2010 at 02:03 PM
I love Changye's dry sense of humour .. yeh, I'm assuming he was joking.
He also posted 1,000 useful guides to speaking and understanding Chinese - maybe we should lobby for a special tab for easy reference?
Tal
October 09, 2010 at 01:44 PM
Yes, thank you changye. You really are missed. I can quite understand that you feel you've run your course here, but it's not the same without you. Anyway 多谢，保重！
zhenlijiang
October 09, 2010 at 08:19 AM
Hi Changye, hopefully this isn't coming across like a eulogy. I have to say I really miss your knowledge and humor and helpfulness in the community; it's been a significant part of the value of CPod for me.
When I first came here nearly two years ago I was delighted to find a fellow Japanese like yourself. I've really enjoyed learning from you and talking about stuff in English, Chinese and Japanese. 谢谢 (^^)/
paulinurus
October 30, 2010 at 02:10 PMAll the best Changye！ You've been a great help to me and as others have said here, to them too, at Cpod. Everyone needs a change of environment after some time. However, do come back when you feel like it. I'm pretty sure Cpod would welcome you back with no strings attached and 免费.