User Comments - Tal

Posted on: A Creepy Guy

哈哈，yeah, that definitely sounds like the set I studied. It clearly had a bad influence on me. But Rachel's comments make me wonder if the lessons were later revised both to give ladies more refusal power and to get the hapless foreign men used to being turned down!

Posted on: A Creepy Guy

Cool, I might even pitch in on this one! ;)

Posted on: A Creepy Guy

I agree. As we're on the topic of this movie I've never seen, I can't resist noting that Roger Ebert's review affords more chuckles. And just for you RJ, Mr. Stiller holding his blue steel like a hero.

Posted on: A Creepy Guy

LOL, Ross Jeffries is one of those self-appointed pickup 'gurus'

, maybe the original one, and probably really is a creepy guy. Even Neil Strauss in The Game seemed to think so, and he's another one of the gurus now I guess.

Oh yeah, maybe there is a double standard about these things. Or maybe we get a creepy girl lesson next month. We did recently have both Disgusting Man and Disgusting Woman after all, so we know Cpod at least is even-handed about these things, right? ;)

Posted on: A Creepy Guy

Indeed, I myself wondered momentarily if the lesson prologue could conceivably be referring to a mix of ecstasy and Viagra, but now I just have another (dated?) movie to add to my "to see" list.

Posted on: A Creepy Guy

Well spotted and good question!

Posted on: A Creepy Guy

Hey pretz, it's the stuff of life, no? lol

It occurs to me that the difference between being perceived as creepy and being perceived as seductive may simply be another of those subjective things. Or at least that's what Ross Jeffries says, so it must be true, lol.

Posted on: A Creepy Guy

哈哈, I don't recall that particular line, but then maybe my memory is being selective. Or have those Pimsleur courses 'evolved' in the last few years? (lol) Pimsleur was my introduction to studying Chinese back in 2003, and I did notice (perhaps it was just my subjective take) that so many of the dialogs did seem to focus on how to... er, get to know a lady. I mean by inviting her to tea and so on. I decided that this must be a common desire amongst gentlemen learners of Chinese, but then a friend who had studied several Pimsleur courses told me the same situation(s) cropped up in all of them, lol.

呵呵, haven't even taken a proper look at this current lesson yet, but I think I'm going to enjoy it. I have a feeling it will be an entertaining retread of The Pickup Artist.

For cheesy and/or amusing pickup lines take a look at this wonderful list on nciku.

My personal favorite: 你相信一见钟情吗? 或者我该再次从你身边走过？

Nǐ xiāngxìn yíjiànzhōngqíng ma? Huòzhě wǒ gāi zàicì cóng nǐ shēnbiān zǒu guò?

Do you believe in love at first sight, or should I walk by again?

Posted on: Noisy Eater

It seems to me that in China, being seen to touch your mouth, (or god forbid, actually put your finger in your mouth) is perceived as disgusting. In a culture where spitting, nose-picking, smoking anywhere and everywhere etc, is OK, I never really got it, but there you go.

Posted on: Your Mandarin Is Really Good!

Strictly speaking the 'wén' in 'Zhōngwén' refers to written Chinese, as does the 'wén' in 'Yīngwén', yet you do hear it used often in everyday spoken Chinese to simply refer to the language(s) in general. I guess this is just something people do in everyday life when they don't have to be so precise about it.

As for 'Pǔtōnghuà' not being generally used to refer to Mandarin, I feel sure that's not quite right. There is actually a sign on the wall in the school where I have been working these last few years (in Guangdong) which asks people to please speak 'Pǔtōnghuà', (though of course it is generally ignored by locals who always speak the local language.)

Perhaps its true that you don't hear the term used frequently by Chinese people, but everyone knows what you mean if you say it. Maybe the other names for it are used more often: 国语 guóyǔ, 汉语 hànyǔ, or simply 中国话 zhōngguóhuà.