User Comments - Andy
Andy
Posted on: Paying a Bill
May 18, 2007 at 11:07 PM賬/账 is a variant of 帳/帐. 帳/帐 is more common.
Posted on: Cold Beer
May 16, 2007 at 5:26 PMmost ppl here (Chinese inclusive) don't know Wade giles either.. but for the uninitiated Wade Giles is still easier than Pinyin. What does one do with the q and x?
Posted on: Cold Beer
May 16, 2007 at 5:21 PMI was in Xi'an and had a Bittermelon beer 苦瓜啤酒 (P:ku gua pi jiu). It was the best thing I ever had. I asked where to buy it, but they said it was specifically brewed for that restaurant only. doh! I'm not sure about Wade Giles being more tricky.... Wade Giles is a lot easier to pronunce in Engrish for ppl who don't study Chinese (lay people). Most ppl have no idea how to pronunce pinyin (most Chinese ppl here inclusive) Thus many people will romanize their names in Wade Giles or Wade Giles like system even if they are from the PRC. Most restaurants (even if they are mainlander owned and operated) will adopt a Wade Giles or a Wade Giles-like romanized name. Not to mention many decide to romanize their names to sound like their own native dialect instead of Putonghua. Just imagine the PRC govn't having a fit over that!
Posted on: Chinese Wedding Customs
May 15, 2007 at 8:27 PMGreat lesson, I loved it immensely. Is 白頭偕老 as common as saying 百年好合? Interesting, but in the PRC the table is only 10 ppl. In Hong Kong, the table size is 14 ppl and in the States the table size is 12 ppl. What I find interesting is most classroom courses, the jump from elementary to intermediate is just as drastic. It's the difference from asking "where is the bus stop" to talking about how "bus emmissions burdens the society and and environment". It seems alsmost if in elementary mode, the grammar is so basic and simple you can't do much with it. but then there is seemingly no lower imediate point and the grammar suddenly intensifies to the point where you can use it to become expressive and use it in creative literary ways. If Cpod could bridge that gap, I think that would be revolutionary. Anyways, I think the banter is actually more entertaining and more educational than the dialogue. The dialogues are scripted and always seem a bit strange to me..... the media lessons are the best IMHO. just straight talk and some explanation of key phrases and words.
Posted on: Ordering Xiaolongbao
May 10, 2007 at 8:08 PMSmithy, 籃 is a basket or coop. basically anything that resembles a weaved basket used for holding things. 籠 is a cage most of time, but it is also used for a "cage-like" steamer basket. perhaps better understood in the compound 蒸籠 (P:zheng long), steamer basket. That is probably the only time outside of a "cage/coop" does 籠 take meaning. Does 蟹粉小籠包 usually have crap meat vs. crap roe? I mean, in typical Zhejiang style food, 蟹粉 equates to crab roe, but in the case of 小籠包 isn't it rare to have 蟹粉 and more commonly has 蟹肉 instead? But even when 蟹肉 is present, it is still is called 蟹粉小籠包. Then again, I haven't spent much time in 浙江 province...
Posted on: Buying a SIM card
May 7, 2007 at 10:02 PM很奇怪。 我以爲買手機卡的時候平常沒有選擇。 我以爲只簽合同能可以選號碼。 That weird. I thought you usually can't choose a phone number when you buy a sim card. I thought you can only choose a phone number if you sign a contract
Posted on: 盗款买彩
May 7, 2007 at 6:08 PMooopsss... I didn't mena to type that last sentece....how embarassing....
Posted on: 盗款买彩
May 7, 2007 at 6:07 PMthese media lessons are great. the dialogue is much more natural. 很可笑。如果這個小偷買了馬票就比較好。中馬票的機會比較高一點。哈哈哈。 我覺得賣馬比買彩票好。
Posted on: Subway Announcements
April 25, 2007 at 10:55 PMinteresting lesson... it was great to actually learn what 乘坐 means.. they are everywhere in buses, and train stations. I'm quite a fan/critic on subway systems and this really hits home. One question. Would they actually pronounce "yi hao xian" or would they pronunce "yao hao xian" because of the "yi" "qi" confusion? Perhaps on a following lesson, you guys can expand on the secondary annoucements. Such as the announcemetnat that's made when the train stops in the tunnel.... or even better, record the annoucements and use them in the lesson. that would be spectacular. Jake. it's unfortunate but the government would like to stamp out 上海話 so no Shanghainese is presented. It's quite a shame. In Hong Kong and even surprizingly in Shenzhen metros, announcements are triple broadcasted in Cantonese, Putong, and Engrish in that order (except fro the Airport Express line). Note the slight differences between Canto and Putong Canto: 請勿操跟車門 Putong: 請不要操跟車門 Engrish: Please Stand Back from the doors the following is very similar to the Shanghai annoucements. Shanghai uses 到站 vs. 到達. Canto: 往中環列車即將到達. Putong: 往中環列車即將到達. Engrish: The train to Central to is arriving. and of course everybody's favorite announcment as mentioned by WeiXiao Canto: 請小心月台空隙. Mando: 請小心月台空隙. Engrish: Please mind the gap. now if you guys could only do a lesson on the Beijing annoucements. Their speakers seem to be the semi-functional high static noise type.
Posted on: 是飞碟吗？
May 21, 2007 at 7:45 PM爲什麽飛碟的碟字沒有簡寫？ 葉 簡成 叶 碟 應該變成 石+叶