User Comments - AuntySue
AuntySue
Posted on: Eileen's Big News
November 16, 2007 at 10:20 AMEileen, it won't feel the same without you around, I feel like we're losing a sister. You will pop in and say hello sometimes, won't you? You'd better at least check that we're not giving Donleen a bad time, and rough us up a bit if we don't treat him right. It'll be so hard for him stepping into your shoes, assuming he's never worn high heels before, or are you leaving him your boots? Thanks for the song, it was ni... no, I hate that song, but it was fun hearing your version for a few seconds. Once. Once is enough. :)
Posted on: Nakedness and Thieves
November 16, 2007 at 10:09 AMTaipan, is that a photo of you in your avatar? If so, someone please pass me the scissors... :-)
Posted on: Eileen's Big News
November 16, 2007 at 10:09 AMTaipan, is that a photo of you in your avatar? If so, someone please pass me the scissors... :-)
Posted on: Good Morning!
November 16, 2007 at 6:46 AMThe word hen is pronounced differently by different speakers at different times, but not very different. Sometimes we hear a definite "hen" like the English word, and often it is that neutral sound like in the final e of "happen" or just "hn". But I've never heard it sound, to my ears, as open as the hun in "hundred". I wouldn't try to pin it down too much, because Mandarin speakers vary just like English speakers do.
Posted on: Where are you from?
November 16, 2007 at 6:45 AMNobody is trying to sell anything to anyone, so whatever you want to use, whatever you decide to do, that's fine, it's up to you. Now could we please allow the Newbies on their third introductory lesson to have their lesson discussion space back? There's a lively student forum if you want to talk about other things http://forum.chinesepod.com Seeya there. As for Chinese people wanting to know where we come from, it's very handy that they do. See, if you just learn how to respond well to those questions that you know they'll ask for sure, and then you have an opportunity to show of some of your Chinese with confidence, even if that's all you know how to say! :-)
Posted on: Good Morning!
October 30, 2007 at 7:53 AMI was going to translate all that talk in Chinese to English, so that the newbies wouldn't feel ostracised within their own introductory learning space, but I can't do it. Even with dictionaries, your Chinese is too hard for me to work out. Sorry. I did pick up that agni777 can't speak English, I think that's what he said. No problem, there's lots of other places around here where Chinese chat will be understood and appreciated. d1blackmogul, don't try to rush. Some people seem to jump in with both feet and manage a lesson per day or more, but it took me two weeks to get my head around the first lesson, and the speed only slowly picked up. So you're not alone! Don't sit still with the lesson you're working on, though. You can "play with" several lessons each day while you "work on" one for several days. The main thing you need to do for the first few weeks or months is get used to the sound, without trying to remember or speak anything. Especially if you memorise as slowly as me! There's hundreds of newbie lessons. Take the pressure off yourself for a while, just load up your mp3 player or computer and let it run. These podcasts can become your entertainment, like listening to the radio. They're all really fun to listen to if you don't "try to study" them just yet. Only give the honour of study to your favourites. Judge for yourself whether my approach will work for you or not, and do whatever feels right, because we're all different.
Posted on: Good Morning!
October 26, 2007 at 10:06 AMHi agni777, welcome to the best group of Chinese studying friends on the net! You seem to be enthusiastic about learning, which is great to see. This particular lesson is for newbies, and happens to be one that many choose as their very first experience of learning a couple of Chinese words. That means they might not yet be able to see your Chinese characters on their computers, and certainly wouldn't understand them, so I'll try to help out. You said you think the young woman in the picture is very beautiful. I agree with you, she's lovely! I hope you enjoyed listening to the lesson as well. A lot of us more advanced students listen to the newbie lessons, because they are always entertaining and we pick up a lot of cultural information too. Jenny and Ken also provide a good model for when we want to help other students. agni777, you might like to try some of the higher levels too, because you seem to have quite a talent for Chinese! You will find a lot of interesting material and students to share ideas with. Attention Newbies: At the ChinesePod Students Forum, we've been talking about linking up via Skype. I'd like to encourage any newbies, no matter how new, to join us. You'd be very welcome, and you could even try out your first few words with any of the more advanced students, or just say hello in English first time round. Just remember that we're all students, your classmates, and we all make mistakes sometimes. OK, a lot :) http://forum.chinesepod.com/viewtopic.php?t=2317
Posted on: Describing Athletes
October 14, 2007 at 10:06 AMWhen talking about bodies, buff refers to nakedness here, like "in the buff". The only other buff I know is what jewellers do to polish things up. Also in Australia you should refrain from using the word "jacked" in any manner in any context. I never realised this foul word was used elsewhere until a rather reserved and proper Canadian lady announced with pride that when she used the Internet she always jacked off when she was finished. She couldn't work out why the whole room was stunned, and we couldn't fathom what (else) she could have been talking about. Take care with your words when they cross borders!
Posted on: Lesson
October 1, 2007 at 2:05 PMIt's an easy mistake if you don't know either language! A few of us Mandarin students are also interested in Cantonese, and we hang out at http://cantonese.chinesepod.com which is a forum you can join. If you're going to learn Cantonese, come over and have a look at what we're doing there, we might have some ideas for you.
Posted on: Nakedness and Thieves
November 16, 2007 at 10:20 AMEileen, it won't feel the same without you around, I feel like we're losing a sister. You will pop in and say hello sometimes, won't you? You'd better at least check that we're not giving Donleen a bad time, and rough us up a bit if we don't treat him right. It'll be so hard for him stepping into your shoes, assuming he's never worn high heels before, or are you leaving him your boots? Thanks for the song, it was ni... no, I hate that song, but it was fun hearing your version for a few seconds. Once. Once is enough. :)