User Comments - chand

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chand

Posted on: April Fool's
April 1, 2008 at 4:25 AM

>> the aforementioned is just a joke as it is you know what day it is I mean the entire script, not just the one preceeding like...gotcha ya..heehee

Posted on: April Fool's
April 1, 2008 at 4:21 AM

To my dismay, I've discovered that the 64K download of this lesson has a trojan horse ET102 (the Norton anti-virus name) embedded in it. Unfortunately it was not caught my my virus scan, and shortly after downloading I received the dreaded Windows blue screen, that usually manifests upon a fatal system error. Apparently the virus disables functionality in svchost.dll, which is needed to launch and stop WIndows programs. The only viable solution is to wipe the hard drive and re-install WIndows, which took me most of the night. For those that have Windows 98 or later operating system, it also negates your machine registration with Microsoft that was instantiated when Windows was first installed on there. In other words, upon re-installing WIndows, you need to contact Microsoft to obtain a new machine specific registration key. You'll enjoy the hour or two on hold before getting a real person. This whole experience has been unbelievable ( the aforementioned is just a joke as it is you know what day it is), and I would encourage that these downloads be guaranteed virus free before putting the clientelle through this mess.

Posted on: Knitting a Scarf
March 20, 2008 at 3:38 PM

OK, maybe it's too risque...but how about a lesson devoted to "real" swear words. What could be more high frequency and colloqial and common than that. At least I would like to know when I am being sworn at.

Posted on: Where are you going?
March 19, 2008 at 9:00 PM

In my opinion, language learning, unlike say learning about the solar system or memorizing multiplication tables is a more right-brained type of experience. Therefore, people who perhaps by nature are more right-brained will be more geared to quickly learn the language. But the folks who make the beginner lessons have to assume that everyone starts at square one, and may have had no exposure to the language, and no particular penchant for right-brained learning. Therefore, I believe the level of the difficulty of the beginner lessons is perfect. Those who quickly acquire the basics always have the option of pushing ahead to higher levels.

Posted on: Dublin
March 17, 2008 at 3:21 AM

I have found the recent trend towards more knowledge-based specific lesson topics such as Dublin, London, Qin Dynasty, Theory of Relativity, Singapore, Japanese dishes, Planets, etc very refreshing indeed. And obviously the Chinesepod team has worked hard to retain the human interaction/humour/debate element in most of these lessons so as not to become a purely academic exercise. Excellent work! Your lesssons are highlight for me each and every day.

Posted on: Relativity
March 16, 2008 at 1:27 AM

very cool!!!!!

Posted on: Saved by the Gong: History
March 1, 2008 at 5:07 AM

Superb lesson!!!! Historically interesting, some great new vocab not see in previous lessons, and some wonderful colloqial banter to boot. One of the best lessons in an already impressive portfolio of language gems.

Posted on: London
February 26, 2008 at 11:49 PM

thanks Rich!

Posted on: London
February 26, 2008 at 3:55 AM

Hi Chitty...thanks, really appreciate the info. So, if we use the verb 吃 as an example: 吃了 - ate (most likely recent past) 吃过 - ate (at some point in my life) 吃到 - started eating and completed the task 吃好 - started eating and completed as expected Does that sound reasonably accurate? I still find almost no distinction between verb+了 and verb+到 though?

Posted on: London
February 26, 2008 at 3:04 AM

In this dialog, the speaker uses 吃了 (chi le) to describe something that has happened in the past. As well, the speaker uses 去过 (qu guo) to describle an event in the past. WHen speaking of past events, are 了and 过 totally interchangeable? Also, I have see past events using 到 and 好, such as in 吃到 (chi dao) 吃好 (chi hao) They also seem to give a sense of sucessful completion of some event. It's all a bit confusing. Are all these 4 past event indicators 了, 过, 到 and 好 convey the same meaning?