User Comments - Tal
Tal
Posted on: Passive Verbs and 被
March 25, 2010 at 7:54 AMThe Jealous Friend comes to mind.
Posted on: Passive Verbs and 被
March 24, 2010 at 11:15 AMWell I think you just need practice Liliana 
I was charmed by that snatch of Irish! Didn't know what you were saying, but it sounded lovely!
Posted on: Passive Verbs and 被
March 24, 2010 at 8:27 AMAnyway I wanna hear more of Liliana's Irish accent. I think I loved it, but needed more of it to be sure. Liliana can you do the whole of the next few 请问s using a different accent each time, that'd be great. And just imagine the fun of suddenly going back to your normal voice and surprising everyone! Seriously though you're great, let it rip!
Posted on: The Customer Comes First
March 17, 2010 at 7:41 AM在一家宠物店
A: 小姐，嘿小姐，我有事，想投诉。
服务员: 呃，你是什么意思说《小姐》？
A: 哦，不好意思，我感冒了。
服务员: 算了。
A： 我要投诉。
服务员: 对不起，现在我们休息，吃午饭。
A： 呃，小弟对不起就算了，我想跟你说话，三十分钟以前在你们这家服装店，我这只鹦鹉买的。
服务员: 啊对了，挪威蓝...... 什么问题？
A： 我告诉你有什么问题呀，它死了，那是问题呀！
服务员: 不会吧，它休息。
A： 嗯，小家伙，我一看死的鹦鹉就知道它真的死的，而且我正在看到这种鹦鹉。
服务员: 话不能这么说，它休息。
A： 休息？
服务员: 是啊，休息...挪威蓝那么漂亮的鸟，是吧，全身羽毛好看死了！
A： 羽毛没关系呀！它足足死了！
服务员: 不对，它休息。
A： 好吧，如果它休息，我就把它唤醒 （他向鸟笼喊了）你好鹦鹉先生，醒来吧，我要给你真好吃的乌贼要是你就醒来呀，唉哟鹦鹉先生！你看，它死了。
服务员: 他大概很想挪威峡湾马。
A： 想挪威峡湾马？你这个人怎么会这样？我一回家它就摔下来了，为什么？
服务员: 挪威蓝更喜欢躺下休息。哇塞，那么漂亮的鸟，羽毛真好看。再给他一次机会。
A： 小伙子，这只鹦鹉去世了！它现在不存在，它不能继续它的生活，它去见到天神！它是之前的鹦鹉！
服务员: 好的，我最好给你换货吧。
A： 啊呀，在这里呃，要成功就要怒气冲冲呀！
Posted on: The Customer Comes First
March 15, 2010 at 4:36 AM呵呵，对话肯定搞笑，但是如果人说：《顾客是上帝》，我不能相信服务员要回答：《我是无神论者》！呃，在中国，可能吧！
Posted on: Asking for a Raise
March 14, 2010 at 7:19 AMIt's rather easy surely to draw up a list of 'esoteric' lesson titles like that (Zombies, Beauty Pageants, Jewish Holidays, etc) and say: I'm not interested in that stuff! What use is such language to me!
If you actually study the content of most of those lessons though, (simply with a view to increasing your knowledge of the language), it's my opinion that there's very little truly 'esoteric' language to learn, that you are in fact learning common words, expressions and patterns which just happen to be presented in a colourful 'frame'.
Anyway as to your list of desired vocab, I'd say that you've definitely learned (or had the chance to learn) ways to say just about every one of those, (in a way that Chinese people would actually say it I mean, rather than as a kind of literal translation from English.)
As I go through, the following occurs to me: paint the ceiling, (err... how often do you do that? Anyway Chinese people almost never do that. They're not into DIY.) Lay the carpet, (very few Chinese homes even have carpet.) Clean the oven, (they generally don't have them either. Or telephone books.) And in every Chinese home I've ever been in you're expected to remove your shoes at the door. Only rich people in China have gardens, so you don't hear chit-chat about lawnmowers much. And most homes only have one door to go in and out anyway, so no need to say 'front door'.
I don't plan to eat 臭豆腐 either, but it's an integral part of Chinese culture! You need to know what it is, don't you?
Posted on: Asking for a Raise
March 13, 2010 at 1:15 AMRight changye, it's important to bark in the right language. So it occurs to me that western dogs have a wider choice in their barks. Bow-wow, woof-woof, ruff-ruff, all seem acceptable choices. How about Japanese dogs?
Posted on: Let's Just Be Friends
March 10, 2010 at 4:39 AMAnyway what I always heard was: Let's still be friends...
and you can be friends with people you never see, right? 
Posted on: Flying a Kite
March 9, 2010 at 3:41 AM嗯，早恋 means falling in love while still young.
It's the second half of the English translation I can't quite accept. Is the "...it certainly can't be ignored" implicit in the Chinese here?
Posted on: Blog Posts, API's, Announcements and Gloria!
March 29, 2010 at 2:17 AMAll the best John, 树挪死人挪活，对吧？