User Comments - amber
amber
Posted on: Sailing
November 27, 2007 at 8:56 AMfeng4huang2, The site has a few technical difficulties with some of the older lessons at the moment, but this is only temporary. They will all be fixed asap!
Posted on: Just Say Yes
November 27, 2007 at 6:09 AM是、对、嗯、行、可以、好的、好吧 Shì, duì, ng, xíng, kěyǐ, hǎo de, hǎo ba 你吃了吗？吃了。 Nǐ chī le ma ？Chī le. 你参加马拉松比赛了吗？参加了。 Nǐ cānjiā mǎlāsōng bǐsài le ma ？Cānjiā le. 你跑完了吗？跑完了。 Nǐ pǎo wán le ma ？pǎo wán le. 你得奖了吗？得奖了。 Nǐ déjiǎng le ma ？déjiǎng le. 你是光头吗？是的。 Nǐ shì guāngtóu ma ？shìde. 是天生的吗？是的。 Shì tiānshēng de ma ？shìde. 我们骑自行车去动物园。行。 / 可以。 Wǒmen qí zìxíngchē qù dòngwùyuán. Xíng. / Kěyǐ. 我可以喝冰水吗？行。 / 可以。 Wǒ kěyǐ hē bīngshuǐ ma ？xíng. / Kěyǐ. 我们下班回家吧。好的。 Wǒmen xiàbān huíjiā ba. Hǎo de. 不过，你要加班。好吧。 Bùguò, nǐ yào jiābān. Hǎo ba.
Posted on: Adventures in Chinese Learning
November 26, 2007 at 8:23 PMYes Bob, but... if your gimmick was that the Ayi would not only clean the house but practice Chinese with you while she worked, then you definitely could charge more!
Posted on: Adventures in Chinese Learning
November 26, 2007 at 8:59 AMhi RJBerki, 阿姨 (āyí) Yes, 阿姨 (āyí)s are one of the best things about living in China, I think! Yes, our lesson on "Interviewing an Ayi" basically answers all your questions. The best thing is, the hourly rate. The worst thing is, if I ever go back to the western world, I will actually have to do my own cleaning again. Horrifying thought! So spoiled!
Posted on: Adventures in Chinese Learning
November 26, 2007 at 8:57 AMhi nicolas, Those two DA episodes are back on the site now, in the Extras tab under "Culture". :)
Posted on: Interviewing an Ayi
November 26, 2007 at 8:48 AMhi chittywangwang, 我每天学差不多两个小时中文. Wǒ měitiān xué chàbuduō liǎng ge xiǎoshí Zhōngwén. Is also correct, and yes, is perhaps a little more natural, though Bazza's sentences aren't grammatically incorrect.
Posted on: Forget It
November 26, 2007 at 8:19 AMhi chearim, 你去吧 (nǐ qù ba) is a suggestion, as in "how about you go" When you see the 吧 (ba) particle, it usually indicates a suggestion. 你去了 (nǐ qù le) means 'you went'. The 了 (le) particle here indicates the completion of the action.
Posted on: Forget It
November 26, 2007 at 8:14 AMhi rsmith91, 算了吧 (suànle ba) is a set phrase in Chinese, meaning 'forget it', so the 了 le and the 吧 (ba) don't have a particular meaning. The 吧 (ba) definitely softens the tone here though.
Posted on: Ordering Office Supplies
November 26, 2007 at 8:08 AMhi huan9, 得不到时间上的保证我们是不会走的。 Débudào shíjiān shàng de bǎozhèng wǒmen shì bu huì zǒu de. If we don't get a time commitment (guarantee) we won't leave.
Posted on: Interviewing an Ayi
November 27, 2007 at 9:02 AMHi Art, You can also just say: 多远? (duōyuǎn?)