User Comments - boran

Posted on: Using 看 (kàn) and 看起来 (kàn qilai)

dongni,

Feeling lost is definitely understandable and a pre-requisite for learning Chinese!  Even if you don't understand any of the Chinese, listening to it will help you start to really hear it - that is, you will eventually start to pick out words here and there amid all the new sounds.

Take a listen to some of the newer Qing Wen episodes (the last 20 or so).  The newer episodes are a little more gentle in the Chinese they use.  Also in the comments, they provide transcripts of all the key Chinese sentences that are spoken.

Posted on: Hiking

inland,

太(tài)...了(le) is a pattern you can wrap around adjectives to denote extremeness.  太贵了(tài guì le) - too expensive, 太客气了 (tài kèqi le) - too polite.  Think of 了(le) in this context as part of the pattern and not how its used in other situations to denote a completed action.

Here are some other examples.

Posted on: What's Your Name?

lyanne01,

If you want to know how to write Chinese characters (Hanzi) on your computer there is a help section on this.

ChinesePod currently focuses on understanding and speaking Mandarin so there are no specific lessons on reading or writing characters. 

If you are interested in writing characters, you can try posting your own message asking for advice.  I'm sure there are plenty of CPoddies willing to give you some pointers on getting started (I'm still Chinese illiterate myself!).

Posted on: Chinatomy: Chinese Gods and 'Shanghai Diaries'

The increased scrutiny over China will not go away.  This is the price you pay for being globally recognized.  Other countries deal with operating under a microscope, now China needs to get used to it as well.  Sure there will always be unfair criticism but it's important to not let it consume you and recognize that not all foreign news on China is negative or unfair.

My anecdotal evidence: Since the earthquake, there have been many front page articles about China in my local newspaper (The Philadelphia Inquirer).  Some stories are factual of the who, what, where, when variety; some discuss "negative" aspects (parents protesting over the condition of school houses that collapsed); and some discuss "positive" aspects (tales of heroism and resiliency, relief worker efforts etc.).  I have not noticed any biased efforts in reporting.  Sure, if you only cherry-pick the negative stories or emphasize comments made by a few individuals you may believe there's bias but it's important to look at a variety of reports and not give any credence to what some insignificant yahoo (i.e. Sharon Stone) might say.  

We are going through the initial growing pains of China stepping up to the word stage so those of us outside of China are still trying to understand and form our opinions on it.  Therefore, some awkward moments are bound to happen. 

And just for the record so folks not think I'm picking on China: other countries stumble through this scrutiny as well ("freedom fries" anyone?).

Posted on: Seoul

Thanks Changye, Auntie and Clay. 

I figured there was some subtle differences between "人家 (rénjiā)" and "大家 (dàjiā)".  Of course, searching for some sample usages also brought up "每个人 (měi ge rén)" which made it more confusing!

Posted on: Chinatomy: Medical Treatments and Marriage Registration

shensw,

Chinatomy is not a real word.  It is a clever combination of two words "China" + "anatomy".  So Chinatomy means "an analysis or dissection of China".

Posted on: Seoul

Was that JP "singing" Depeche Mode in the intro? 哈哈

Posted on: Seoul

Ken, 我也不喜欢购物 (wǒ yě bù xǐhuan gòuwù).

This is the first time I came across the word "人家 (rénjiā)".  Is "人家都 (rénjiā dōu)" roughly equivalent to "大家 (dàjiā)"?

Posted on: The New Site and the Guided Plan

Thanks Light for the review.  It was helpful.  Perhaps some day when I run out of local courses to take I'll look into the Guided Plan.  Although, the thought of speaking Chinese over the phone does make me nervous.  Then again, I won't have to see my teacher's face when I mean to say "我今天去超市 (wǒ jīntiān qù chāoshì)" but instead say "我今天去潮湿 (wǒ jīntiān qù cháoshī)".   

Posted on: Barbecuing

Thanks Jenny for helping us bridge the gap.  You did manage to add just the right amount of Chinese in your discussion.  Well done.  I understood most of it which made me feel like a "big boy" sitting at the ChinesePod grown-up table!