User Comments - agentchuck
agentchuck
Posted on: The Second Tone
January 29, 2008 at 4:19 PMAnd I just realized! How could you have a conversation about second tones and uprisings without talking about Mao Zedong? 毛泽东 has two second tones and his name was truly portentous because he led one of the greatest uprisings in China's history. Interestingly (or not...) 毛泽东 is two second tones, followed by a first tone. He was followed by Zhou Enlai (周恩来). 周恩来 is two first tones, followed by a second tone. From this can we infer that Mao was two-thirds responsible for China's rise to become a major power, while Zhou was one-third responsible? And they were followed by Deng Xiaoping, whose name's tones would seem to indicate having a roller-coaster start, but ending with a rise. Which, some would consider accurate... Maybe there is more to these tones than meets the eye? I wonder if there is some sort of fortune telling niche for analyzing tones in ones name.
Posted on: The Second Tone
January 29, 2008 at 3:25 PMOh my God, I think this lesson has to take the cake for the best lesson introduction. There is plenty of fine imagery there if anyone needs a mnemonic for the second tone. For me, from now on, the second tone will always be a neighbour waking rousing climax. This may, unfortunately, lead to a difficult to explain grin on my face when I hear someone achieving multiple second tones in a row. Although it doesn't really go with the picture of the lady in a business suit alone and confused in a field of wheat... Or maybe that's a metaphor for mixed gender roles creating confusion about sexual identity? You ChinesePod types are too deep for me.
Posted on: Parking Lot Rage
January 22, 2008 at 8:13 PMMan, I love this lesson. It has the best ending, "Everyone knows your name is Wang. Wang the jerk."
Posted on: #33
January 21, 2008 at 3:28 PMAlright, so this is just a straight-up dork question... but why is there an 8 at the end of the http address for the Movie Madness episodes?
Posted on: #32
January 16, 2008 at 3:41 PMDamn it. I was right about this movie, but I was thrown off by the 粗俗的妈妈。 I thought the character must have been a mother!
Posted on: Superman
December 12, 2007 at 7:14 PMIs 超人 also applicable when discussing the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche?
Posted on: World Records
December 12, 2007 at 6:55 PMHey Alwingate, I think that 'The Fix' is a great name for this kind of segment. "Getting a quick fix" is a common coloquialism that I've heard having lived in various places around Canada. You're right that it probably started from drug use, but it now has more banal usages. People like to get their caffiene or nicotine 'fix' in the morning. Just a quick, intense shot of something that will slake their cravings for a while.
Posted on: Winter Fun
December 3, 2007 at 7:54 PMI really liked this lesson. Unfortunately I looked like a bit of an idiot because I laughed out loud when I heard the punch line. And if anyone honestly harbors beliefs that Canadians are better skiiers than Chinese, they have but to see me on the slopes. I'm sure that a newborn giraffe on skis, legs akimbo, would be more graceful.
Posted on: That's enough tea
November 19, 2007 at 3:24 PMI don't know about that, Bazza. She seems to be a little too eager to pour that tea. You might end up in a relationship with an OCD-mad-scientist-tea-hostess... And let me tell you, that's just going to lead to heartbreak... and scaldings in some hard-to-explain areas. Better hope there's a little aloe in that tea.
Posted on: #35
January 30, 2008 at 5:32 PMSweet! Thanks a lot, guys. I'm excited to try out all these previously forbidden buttons...