User Comments - byronmeinerth
byronmeinerth
Posted on: 一下，一会儿，and 一点儿
November 24, 2011 at 10:04 AM1）Did anyone else feel like Jenny was saying 一会儿 with 会儿 as the third tone? I'm not trying to be critical here - I'm just trying to listen closely. It sounded like she was trying to draw the word out, which seems impossible with a fourth tone or second tone word. I know that some people do this in English, especially if they're detailing a list and thinking as they say it. For example, "We often watch moviiieeesss, go to reservoooiiirrr, and sometimes study during the summer." I've never heard this done in Chinese, and I think that's because it's impossible with a tonal language. Try saying a fourth or second tone as long as you can, and you'll see why. I think it's only possible with the first tone.
2) Do southerners really not say 一会儿?
Thanks
Posted on: Thanksgiving Turkey
November 24, 2011 at 6:40 AMI think it's interesting how the distinguishing factors between animals and animal meat are different in certain languages. In Mandarin Chinese, there's a clear difference between 喜欢吃狗 and 喜欢狗, whereas in English it would be expressed by saying "I like dog" or "I like dogs". However, there aren't too many settings where one would need to use "I like dog".
Posted on: Visa Issues
November 23, 2011 at 3:28 AM谢了！
Posted on: How to be Negative
November 23, 2011 at 3:15 AMAgreed. I had a little trouble in the beginning at :40 with the following: «没»的主要是否定某种行为已经发生了. I couldn't tell if the second character was 的 or 呢 or 了. I'm still not sure, but 的 seemed to make the most sense. I'm also not sure if 主要 can be used how I wrote it, so perhaps that's wrong.
In contrast, all the other phrases in the dialogue were relatively easy to pick up, especially with a coupled explanation.
Posted on: How to be Negative
November 23, 2011 at 2:57 AM武当！武当！武当帮。。。。。。
Posted on: A Good Book
November 21, 2011 at 6:36 AMI have the same discussions about buying books with my roommate here. One Dorling Kindersley (DK) book cost twice as much at the 大众出版 in 南京 than it did online.
Posted on: Measure Words for Animals
November 19, 2011 at 9:33 AMIsn't it still incorrect though? My dictionary (A Chinese one, not a foreign one - 现代汉语规范词典) has the following entry: [名] 鳗鲡的简称。不读màn。In English, most North Americans (笔者 included) say "clothes" just as they say "close". Common? Yes. Accepted? Probably yes. Preferable to the correct pronunciation? Probably not. Correct? No. (Apologies for the last eight and sentences and current one, none of which include verbs.)
Posted on: Visa Issues
November 8, 2011 at 2:40 AM要问一下Jenny在8:40说«我想好多外国朋友可能在中国你都会»后来说什么？我听不清楚。
I'm wondering what Jenny said around 8:40 after she said, "我想好多外国朋友可能在中国你都会." I couldn't hear very clearly.
请纠正我的错误。Please correct any errors I make.
Posted on: Living in Nanjing
October 26, 2011 at 10:06 AMI'm glad that you two both find this to be an important issue. People often say the only point of language is communication, which is inaccurate. If that were true, we wouldn't need to learn phrases for going to the bathroom. Simply making a motion of urinating or defecating, and then a "where?" type expression would be sufficient.
I can often be analytical of language and language patterns, because it helps me learn more. Still, if this turns into an obsession of what is acceptable or not, one can lose sight of what natives actually say.
I should end this comment by noting that I have not heard people in 东北 use the term 小姐. 服务员儿 is undoubtedly more common.
Posted on: A Disappointing Delivery
November 24, 2011 at 4:31 PM没事儿。我以前不认识用中文怎么说那些品牌也不知道卓越啥意思。现在知道是1号店，凡客，卓越亚马逊。卓越跟优秀相像，对吧？
哎呀我在13：30停了，没听见最后的解释。写号码的时候，用全角比较合适吗？比如说 １３：３０替13：30或者13:30。第三个是用外语标点写得。你们中国人用啥？
请纠正我的错误。Please correct any errors I make.