User Comments - bodawei
bodawei
Posted on: Mending Clothing
May 26, 2011 at 3:45 AM哈哈。。
Posted on: Mending Clothing
May 26, 2011 at 3:42 AMHi sdoxx
You can certainly soften the tone with 点 (not 一点); you can think of it as a substitute for saying 请.. (please..)
Your sentence sounds a little strange to me only because it sounds like you are asking your house help to order dishes in a restaurant. :) You could avoid ambiguity by asking them to 买点东西。。I use 菜 to refer to dishes prepared in a restaurant, not buying fresh fruit and vegetables, meat etc. I would also probably say 帮我买点东西。。but I'd be interested to see what others think.
Posted on: Mending Clothing
May 26, 2011 at 3:33 AMvery funny Baba, but they already think foreigners are weird without giving them supporting evidence. I would say that the argument is a well-worn routine.
Posted on: Mending Clothing
May 26, 2011 at 3:30 AMHa ha, point taken, there are plenty around to try. :)
Posted on: Mending Clothing
May 25, 2011 at 2:42 AMWow - this is super useful for those of us who like to live in China on the cheap. :) But they are not always so accommodating as in the dialogue. Recently my wife went and said 这条裤子的拉链坏了，帮我换条新的拉链 or something to that effect and the guy said 不行，太麻烦了。
Another job we had done, there was a long and protracted argument between husband and wife, in front of us, over whether we should be charged 10 rmb (wife) or 8 rmb (husband) - the wife won out.
Posted on: Movie Theater Seats
May 24, 2011 at 12:20 PMJason answered this question succinctly in that 'earlier lesson' - see his post in Discussion dated Feb 6.
Posted on: Surfing the Internet
May 24, 2011 at 12:09 PMHi pauley
babyeggplant has a very good point. When I buy inkjet cartridges for my printer, the list price is 120 rmb. If I stand and debate the point for a couple of minutes I get it for 100 rmb. But I can buy the identical product on Taobao for 30 rmb, or perhaps 50 rmb from a more reputable vendor (vendors are rated by users.) All of these options remain available, and viable (even for commodities), because different people like to conduct their business in different ways. Some people like to browse. Some people like building relationships with a shop keeper you can see. But even on Taobao you build relationships - you have a discussion with the vendor before you buy. It's the rich tapestry of commercial life in China.
Posted on: Ordering Fancy Coffee
May 24, 2011 at 8:56 AMHow to make coffee on a home machine (for those who don't get excited by the Starbucks sign):
http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/homestyle/blogs/tried-and-tasted/tips-for-a-top-coffee-20110523-1f07l.html(Sydney Morning Herald, 2011 May 24.)
Posted on: Ordering Fancy Coffee
May 24, 2011 at 8:31 AMThe staff at our favourite cafe just started wearing name tags.
Me: 那个名字的东西中文怎么说？ 胸卡？
Her: uum, uum, er...
Me: 胸牌？
Her: er..
Me: 名牌？
Her: er..
Me: 标志？
Her: 不是。
Me: 胸卡？
Her: 可以，还是..胸牌.
Me: 胸牌？
Her: 胸牌..
Me: 胸牌.
Her: 对对对。。
Posted on: 康熙来了
May 26, 2011 at 7:51 AMI better put in a contra view - I like this format. Don't change it! Or at least if you provide extra supporting material as requested here, don't drop the 'naked' version. :)
Even though I'm an intermediate learner I like some material that does not have the usual props. (I have commented before that I think there is too much English translation - I would be happy without it at the higher level lessons.)
I have had only a quick listen to part of this. The 繁体字幕 are okay - I have never formally studied them but you have to be able to read them from time to time, and so this is good practice. We also get them occasionally on mainland Chinese TV. (Not that I read sub-titles much - I prefer to listen and find it hard to do both.)
This show is familiar in the sense that I watch a bit of Chinese TV, but the advantage here is that Connie and David discuss the show. So it serves a learning purpose for me. It is not the same as channel surfing on Chinese TV, an admittedly slow way to learn.
I have listened to easier Media lessons before - where I already have some context and some knowledge. I have found them helpful and, while difficult (I don't understand everything, but that is not my goal), I always get something out of it. (Like I always get something out of an elementary lesson.) This one is harder because the context of this particular show is foreign to me.