User Comments - calkins
calkins
Posted on: Christmas Promotion
December 7, 2008 at 6:59 AMharkannin, you could download the mp3 and listen to it in iTunes (or any media player), then you'd be able to control the volume.
Posted on: Using 除了。。。以外 (Chúle... Yǐwài)
December 7, 2008 at 2:35 AMQW request: I love QW and always want to study the latest lesson as soon as I see it. But I don't like studying the lesson until the sentences are posted by Connie.
A PDF has been requested for QW, and that's fine if CPod doesn't want to provide one for it....but is there anyway that the sentences could be included in the Lesson Introduction?
That way, we QW junkies can get our fix ASAP! Thanks.
Posted on: Often: Using 常常，经常，通常 (chángcháng, jīngcháng, tōngcháng)
December 6, 2008 at 12:10 PMThis is probably insignificant, but I'm curious. I always thought that when a word was duplicated, like 常常
chángcháng, that the tone on the second word becomes a neutral.
Is there a rule for this?
Posted on: Good, Bad and Otherwise
December 6, 2008 at 11:27 AMmikeinewshot, I've noticed that a lot of Chinese in Taiwan say 你好吗？ That surprised me a lot, since I had always heard it was a Western-coined phrase.
It sounds like it might be a southern thing (Guangzhou, Taiwan, Singapore). Too bad Auntie68 is banned, she could confirm about Singapore.
Posted on: Stupid Doctor
December 6, 2008 at 9:57 AMHere are the vocabulary files for this video lesson, if you want to import them into HanziHelper, ZDT or PlecoDict (just right-click the links below and "Save Link As").
HanziHelper (Traditional only)
ZDT
Pleco (Traditional)
Pleco (Simplified)
Posted on: Stupid Doctor
December 6, 2008 at 9:44 AMdunderklumpen, I think it means "How could you take me to the doctor?"
This lesson seemed to be a bit more on the Elementary side, which was a nice change from the few previous ones that were pretty difficult (for me at least).
Great job Joy!
Posted on: Good, Bad and Otherwise
December 4, 2008 at 12:00 PM超好的QW！
I hear 干吗 gàn má a lot in Taipei, for "What's up?" I've also heard a few mothers yelling 干吗 at their children for "What the hell do you think you're doing?"!
Posted on: Going to the Gym
December 4, 2008 at 8:40 AMThanks lujiaojie, these will be very helpful! I did some more research and found another one that is good for "how long" (referring to time):
多久
duōjiǔ
how long
I think it would work well with my sentence above:
你多久没有吃肉？
nǐ duōjiǔ méiyǒu chīròu？
Posted on: Going to the Gym
December 3, 2008 at 9:41 AMRegarding the following expansion sentence:
你每天坚持健身多长时间？
(How many hours do you work out everyday?)
I assume that 多长时间 duō cháng shíjiān (literally "how long hours") asks the question in this sentence.
Could you use 多长 duō cháng to ask the question "how long" in other contexts, for example:
你多长没吃牛肉？
nǐ duō cháng méi chī niúròu？
How long have you not eaten meat?
Thanks!
Posted on: Table for Three
December 7, 2008 at 2:59 PMA couple of the sentence patterns in this lesson threw me for a loop, based on the position of the "time when" phrase. I always thought the position was:
subject + time when + predicate
...like in this expansion sentence:
我们多久没见面了？
wǒmen duōjiǔ méi jiànmiàn le?
How long has it been since we saw each other last?
...then the "time when" position in these sentences threw me:
要等多久？
yào děng duōjiǔ?
How long will we have to wait?
你学了多久汉语了？
nǐ xué le duōjiǔ Hànyǔ le?
How long have you been studying Chinese?
In these sentences, the "time when" phrase comes after the verb (or predicate).
Would someone please explain the reasoning? Thanks.