User Comments - Tal
Tal
Posted on: A Mouse Upstairs
August 31, 2009 at 11:40 PM@light487
Hi Luke, 害怕 just means to be afraid, the 害 doesn't really impart a special meaning, so I guess you are 'reading too much into the characters'!
怕 by itself has pretty much the same meaning. I would say just to use this by itself is more informal, everyday style language. (It's possible I'm not 100% right here of course. If that's the case I'm sure pete or connie will put me right.)
Posted on: A Mouse Upstairs
August 31, 2009 at 12:39 PM*bows*
Posted on: A Mouse Upstairs
August 31, 2009 at 11:16 AMOr how about:
A: 老公，有老鼠！
B: 在哪儿？
A: 在你的办公桌上，电脑键盘旁边。
B: 老婆，别傻了！那不是老鼠，就是鼠标！
A: Lǎogong, yǒu lǎoshǔ!
B: Zài nǎr?
A: Zài nǐde bàngōngzhuō shàng, diànnǎo jiànpán pángbiān.
B: Lǎopo, bié shǎ le! Nà bù shì lǎoshǔ, jiùshì shǔbiāo!
A: Husband, there's a mouse!
B: Where?
A: On your desk, beside your computer keyboard.
B: Wife, don't be silly! That's not a mouse, that's a mouse!
Posted on: A Mouse Upstairs
August 31, 2009 at 7:36 AM
Posted on: A Mouse Upstairs
August 31, 2009 at 6:59 AMAin't that just the story of man? 写得好 阿皮.
A: 老婆， 醒吧！ 有老鼠!
B: 在哪儿？
A: 在街上，我们窗户外面。
B: 大的还是小的？
A： 很大，而且真奇怪，它穿衣服了，走像人类。
B： 老公，你这个笨蛋，那就是米老鼠。你又喝醉了，对吧？
A: Lǎopo, xǐng ba! Yǒu lǎoshǔ!
B: Zài nǎr?
A: Zài jiēshang, wǒmen chuānghu wàimian.
B: Dà de háishi xiǎode?
A: Hěn dà, érqiě zhēn qíguài, tā chuān yīfu le, zǒu xiàng rénlèi.
B: Lǎo gōng, nǐ zhège bèndàn, nà jiù shì Mǐlǎoshǔ. Nǐ yòu hēzuìle, duì ba?
Posted on: A Mouse Upstairs
August 31, 2009 at 5:50 AMHow about 'love rats'? ；）
Posted on: A Mouse Upstairs
August 31, 2009 at 4:37 AMThere seems to be no commonly used way to differentiate between mice and rats in Chinese, am I right?
Back in the UK I had a mouse in the house once, it ran across the carpet one evening as my then g/f and I were watching the box. She almost hit the ceiling, I nearly died laughing. It upset me to have to put a trap down, but really what else can you do?
Told this story once (in Chinese) to my (now) wife, she was horrified. She really thought a big rat had been running around my living room - lol.
Yes, you see lots of rats and coackroaches down here in hot and humid Guangdong. "Gotta love hot and humid climates"? 没错, phil, especially ones where all the cheap restaurants and fruit sellers pile all their garbage in the street on a daily basis. The rats and roaches love it dude!
Posted on: Lao Wang's Office 14: The Finale
August 30, 2009 at 11:43 PMjoe, perhaps this is similar to the way sounds are dropped or spoken differently in informal English speech. For example all we English speakers (I would say) occasionally say 'gonna'. e.g. My wife's gonna drive me to drink, My boss is gonna kill me. Native speakers understand this naturally of course, but imagine how confusing it might be for an English learner.
In my experience of teaching English to Chinese people, one thing I've noticed gives them no end of trouble are contractions, (I'm, you're, he'll, they'd, etc) which native speakers use so naturally. Even when words written on a page in front of them use a contraction, and you then explain and demonstrate how it should sound (repeatedly) Chinese learners will still try to use a full form, will frown and struggle with the concept.
Perhaps for effective language learning one handy trick is to 'loosen up the ear', (and our concepts!)
Posted on: Lao Wang's Office 14: The Finale
August 30, 2009 at 1:02 AMYep! Good point. ;)
Posted on: Love Tangle 2: A Lover Returns
September 1, 2009 at 2:22 AMOh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practise... err, giving titles to CPod lessons.