User Comments - amber
amber
Posted on: He's Not In
April 9, 2008 at 7:12 AMhi light487, Basically, the meaning of 好吧 (hǎo ba) can change in different situations, and depending on tone of voice. Here it's more of an "all right", with maybe a little reluctance to it.
Posted on: What is this called?
April 9, 2008 at 7:10 AMhijackfrombelgium, 箸 (zhù) is a very ancient word for chopsticks. It is not used now.
Posted on: April Fool's
April 9, 2008 at 7:00 AMhi light487, Yes, it's correct! you can say: 我笑死了 Wǒ xiào sǐ le
Posted on: April Fool's
April 9, 2008 at 6:58 AMhi dpro, 干吗 (gànmá) is sometimes written as 干嘛 (gànmá), but it's not really correct. 'What is the difference between A and B' in Chinese: A跟B有什么不一样？ A gēn B yǒu shénme bù yīyàng? or you can also say: A跟B有什么不同？ A gēn B yǒu shénme bùtóng?
Posted on: Tomb Sweeping Day
April 7, 2008 at 8:28 AMhi bazza, Yes, 清明节快乐 (qīngmíngjié kuàilè) would be a little weird.
Posted on: Detroit
April 7, 2008 at 8:13 AMsushan, They don't really have an equivalent for the 'soul food' concept in Chinese, but you can say: 家乡菜 (jiāxiāng cài) and/or 家常菜 (jiāchángcài) for home cooking.
Posted on: Chinese Parks and Working as a Tutor
April 7, 2008 at 1:43 AMpartygo, A translation for that sentence (a bit hard with no context) would be: 像说汉语一样说英语 Xiàng shuō Hànyǔ yīyàng shuō Yīngyǔ (I would like) to speak English the same as I can speak Chinese. (as in, as good as)
Posted on: Chinese Parks and Working as a Tutor
April 7, 2008 at 1:35 AMhi cueball, I think that that's not a bad deal, if it includes room and board. Even for the fact that you wont have the hassles of trying to find a place to stay, putting a deposit down, finding your way around, etc. etc. Not a sore deal, i think!
Posted on: Chinese Parks and Working as a Tutor
April 7, 2008 at 1:34 AMhi mikeinewshot, Actually, the kind of tutoring we are talking about, as we mentioned, is not really even 'English teaching'. It's more just giving people a conversation partner to practice with. Which any native speaker of English is more than qualified for. You will find that most Chinese people here already know all the grammar and constructions perfectly themselves, they have learned it well all through school and university, and don't need a teacher anymore. They just need to practice. And when they do, they progress really really quickly. It's quite rewarding, actually, to witness.
Posted on: Please speak slowly
April 9, 2008 at 7:29 AMhi triphazard, There is a little difference in the usage. Here are a few set sentence patterns, to show you how they are used differently: V + 一下 (yīxià): 请你等一下。 Qǐng nǐ děng yīxià. 我可以试一下吗？ Wǒ kěyǐ shì yīxià ma？ V + 一点 (yīdiǎn) + N: 我会说一点汉语。 Wǒ huì shuō yīdiǎn Hànyǔ. Adj + 一点 (yīdiǎn): 有大一点的衣服吗？ Yǒu dà yīdiǎn de yīfu ma？