User Comments - ElshaYiu

Posted on: More customers please!

Hello: thank you for writing in!

開發新客戶 and 挖掘新客戶 mean the same notion, i.e. to find/develop/explore new customers.  But linguistically, 開發 and 挖掘 evoke two quite different images. 開發 has 開 meaning to open and  發 to discover.  It is a favored term used in China in the process of modernization and industrialization to explore and exploit new resources and unknown ground. 

挖掘 has two words that are both with 手字部，"the hand radical".  It evokes the image to "grab" new customers. 

Both are very commonly used, but they can be used in more distinct contexts. For example, if you want to express "identifying new customer group or target customer," you can use 開發.  If you are talking about competing for more customers (getting a larger market share), then 挖掘新客戶 is perhaps more accurate.  Hope this helps!

Posted on: Ways to say Interesting: 有兴趣 (yǒu xìngqù) and 有意思 (yǒuyìsi)

Hi Marcopesce, 

Thank you for writing in!  I am the academic director, and I would very much like to know more in details about what troubles you in the lesson.  Does the mix of English and Chinese words on the sentence level create more confusion than clarity?  In our lesson design rubric, our teachers are advised to use 50% English and 50% Chinese in the intermediate level lessons.  However in this particular one, when the two languages are mixed WITHIN one sentence, it does sound to me that it starts to get confusing.  Am I correct?

Yours sincerely,

Elsha

Posted on: My boss is younger than me 打破论资排辈──上司比我年轻

Thank you for your very encouraging words Migellan, truly appreciated!

Posted on: Internet celebrity: Fresh made tea 崛地而起──现制茶饮成网红

世纪是计算年代的单位，一百年为一个世纪。

纪元是纪年的开始，耶稣诞生的一年我们称为元年。

Posted on: More customers please!

Hello: Thank you for writing in! “喂” is pronounced as the second tone when you're in a phone call.  But its original tone is fourth tone.  Throughout the ChinsePod lessons, we always mark the original tone of the word in the pinyin, as suggested by the standards of the publishing industry.

Posted on: 得到、获得、取得的用法

Hello, thanks for writing in and offering your expert comments.  Chinese native speakers know, by pure exposure to the usage of the three terms: 达到, 取得， 获得, that there are not necessarily hard rules to separate the use of these three terms.  For foreign students, we do find it very helpful to provide some general rules when learning to use these words.  In this lesson we make explicit the three main differences, but we know that there is an overlapping area in which two terms may sometimes be applicable.  But in the case of  Aladdin's example, 永生 is not a reward based on hard work or active efforts, and therefore it is not consistent with our generalization.  Furthermore, when we say 获得永生, we usually mean that there is something we have to do in order to "achieve" it.                                                                                                                                                     And thanks for pointing out 老妈子!  We found that 老妈子's use is spread from modern Chinese literature, and yes, in the literature, it does refer to an old maid of a household.  However, more and more often among the younger generation, we hear so much, especially in the Southern regions, that the youngsters would call their mothers "老妈子".  We also notice that when they use this phrase, they generally express some kind of dis-satisfaction or complaints towards the mother.  This is why we introduced this phrase in the dialogue. But thanks much for bringing it up to enrich the cultural flavors of the lesson.  Given time constraints, we often cannot put in all the interesting cultural nuisances in the discussion.  

Posted on: Emojis 脑洞大开—表情包

Hello: thanks for writing in! Currently, our system doesn't support the publishing of texts other than the ones we are already providing. And to tell the truth, publishing the conversations between the hosts would be a MASSIVE task!

Posted on: More customers please!

Hi washingtondcmandarincooperative, dorothycowling, yinyue and elijah,

Thanks for writing in!  It's great to have a chance to discuss standards and we do follow the guidelines of "Basic rules of the Chinese phonetic alphabet orthography" published by 中国标准出版社， which states that tone marking should follow the original tone, and not mark tone change.  

In the disputed example, 喂 is not a 多音字 in the dictionary (a multiple of them) that we refer to.  

But we would love to continue the discussion if this can help you and us to safeguard this learning ground with standards.  

Posted on: Ways to use 倒。 你倒是试试呀──“倒”的用法

Hi Yingyue, agreed here: many Chinese words are 双音词.  And we can be more explicit when we are explaining this category of words.  It does cause confusion if this is not pointed out.  

Posted on: Ways to use 倒。 你倒是试试呀──“倒”的用法

Absolutely correct Earls. Thanks and we have changed it.