User Comments - changye
changye
Posted on: Dog Personalities
May 1, 2009 at 1:54 AMHi timbendersis
There are mainly two explanations about why "a dog" is translated as 一条狗 in Chinese. I believe that dog lovers would prefer the explanation (A) ! Anyway, Chinese measure words are very "visual".
(A) The "一条" represents a dog tail. The same holds for 一条牛 (a cow).
(B) The "一条" represents a shape of a dog body hang at a meat shop in ancient China.
Posted on: Getting Old Isn't Easy
April 30, 2009 at 1:47 PM当代中国老人的生活条件其实还算可以，因为他们一般都有好几个孩子。每个孩子都掏钱抚养父母可以减少一个人承受的负担。其中就一个孩子成功发财的话，家庭经济问题就容易解决了。与此相反，最可怜的是二十年后的中国老年人。他们一般只有一个孩子，孩子的经济负担极大。独生孩子如果没有出息，父母晚年生活就会完蛋了。毛主席曾说过一句名言，“人多力量大”。
Posted on: Describing Travels
April 30, 2009 at 8:10 AMHi timbendersls
待 and 呆 are interchangeable when they are used in the sense of "stay".
Posted on: Getting Old Isn't Easy
April 29, 2009 at 7:45 AM少年易老学难成
一寸光阴不可轻
未觉池塘春草梦
阶前梧叶已秋声
Posted on: How Far Away are You From Understanding 离？
April 29, 2009 at 5:54 AMThere are some convenient words for describing distance, 相距 (xiang1ju4) and 相隔 (xiang1ge2). You don't need to bother about the usage of 离, hehe.
这两个地方相距(相隔)三公里。
The two places are three kilometers apart.
这两个地方相距(相隔)很近。
The two places are close to each other.
Bonus, 相距 and 相隔 can be used not only for place but also for time, like 这两个历史事件相距一百年。
Posted on: Renting a Bike
April 29, 2009 at 3:22 AMHi wsrbro01
"怎么租？" virtually means "how much are rentals?" in Chinese conversation, but at the same time, it also connotes "How is it rented?", as miantiao explained above. The same goes for the phrase "怎么卖？" (How much is it?). This phrase is often used when buying, for example, meat and vegetables at a market, but not so often used when you buy electric appliances at a department store.
Posted on: 《杜拉拉升职记》
April 28, 2009 at 11:51 PMHi chuck and rjberki
Here is the answer.
http://www.du8.com/books/nov1638.shtml
Posted on: Renting a Bike
April 28, 2009 at 11:13 AM租 (rent) 我租了他的汽车。
租 (rent～out) 我把这辆汽车租给他了。
借 (borrow) 我跟他借了一本书。
借 (lend) 我把这本书借给他了。
Posted on: 《杜拉拉升职记》
April 27, 2009 at 9:16 AM我一个朋友曾这么说过，“我小时候很单纯。我以为只要多读世界名人传记，我也就能成为伟人”。我很能理解他的话，其实我也读过爱迪生传，爱因斯坦传等不少伟人传记。很遗憾，这个“战术”对我一点作用都没有起。最近我的一个同事对我说了类似这样的话。他家有一个高三的女儿，今年六月份要参加高考，但是他女儿却天天只看《如何考上北大》《哈佛大学留学记》等所谓“成功记”，根本就不想做备考。我同事无可奈何地说，“光看这种书可以让她考上好大学吗？我女儿的想法是一个本末倒置的典型例子，简直就是白日做梦。” 很讽刺的是，他女儿看“成功记”越看成绩越下降，不成功的可能性越大。
Posted on: Getting Old Isn't Easy
May 1, 2009 at 3:04 AMHi kdombros
你说的很对。中国父母对孩子抱有很大期待。为了让孩子成龙成凤，父母不惜投资培养孩子，很愿意付出高价教育费用。当然孩子承受巨大压力，有时甚至导致精神崩溃。很讽刺的是，父母管得越多，孩子的自立心越弱。过分的爱情却很容易把孩子宠坏。这种父母往往培养出“只有学历没有修养”的人。所谓的“小皇帝”长大成人以后，谁伺候他呢？