User Comments - changye

Posted on: Sneezing

打喷嚏 (da3 pen1 ti4) sneeze
打嗝儿 (da3 ge2 er) hiccup, burp
打呼噜 (da3 hu1 lu) snore

Actually, it's not so easy to only sneeze once, and maybe that is why I didn't have good younger days!

Posted on: Taking the HSK

Hi guys,

Benson’s comment is, in a sense, very suggestive. I also admit that handwriting (repeatedly) is one of the best (?) ways to memorize Chinese characters, but this doesn’t automatically mean handwriting is absolutely essential in HSK.

TOEFL already introduced iBT, an Internet-based Test a few years ago, and I’m wondering when HSK will introduce it, and whether or not they have an intention of going online. What you need is to type Chinese Characters on the online test.

For your information, you are not required to handwrite on the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (日语国际能力考试) at all, even on the highest level test. Of course, Japanese people also put great importance on Kanji characters.

Lastly, I don’t think it’s wise for Taiwanese authorities to stick with handwriting on their own Chinese proficiency test, from “a marketing standpoint.” Traditional characters are really difficult even for native Taiwanese.

P/S. I feel that HSK reflects, good or bad, the tradition of 科举！

Posted on: Taking the HSK

Hi martian2,

＞ the point is everyone needs a goal,
＞ otherwise they lose motivation

You are very right, and my goal (or aim) happens to be other thing than HSK. If learners can’t find things that help them keep motivation, I believe that HSK should be one of good and handy motivators, especially for guys who live outside China. I admit that learners need to concentrate on their study at some point. 

Posted on: 成语俗语

Be careful. 百花齐放百家争鸣 is sometimes a clever trap to catch dissidents here in China.

Posted on: Do You Remember....

Hi hanfeiyi,

Don’t forget 以后 and 然后. Anyway, a good 同义词（tong2 yi4 ci2） 词典 is a must in learning Chinese. A good Chinese dictionary also usually shows how to use a homonym properly. Learning homonyms is much more important than learning 成语 (cheng2 yu3).

Posted on: Taking the HSK

I’m a guy who never takes an IQ test simply because I fear to know THE FACT, which is also the reason why I have no interest in HSK. Thankfully I don’t need a HSK certificate, and therefore I have no plan to take the test in the rest of my life. I want to spend time on learning things that interest me.

As for speaking speed, Chinese people actually speak fast. In particular, news announcers and emcees speak very fast. You can say that amount of information in Chinese news shows is very big, at least the number of words is very large, although censored news is not necessarily informative. 

Posted on: The Mean Boss

Hi seekeroftrugh,

Exactly speaking, you can also say 很多学生们 or 有些 (you3 xie2) 学生们, and I think they are often shortened to 很多学生 and 有些学生. But you can’t use 们 together with a numeral, so, for example, the phrase 十个 (shi2 ge) 学生们 is grammatically incorrect, at least according to one of my dictionaries. You don’t have to care much about that since it is not a fatal mistake anyway, as long as you don’t take a HSK test.

Posted on: The Mean Boss

Hi seekeroftruth,

The usage of “们” is a bit tricky. For example, you can say “学生们” (xue2 sheng1 men) to mean “students”, but you don’t need to add “们” anymore in the case of 很多学生 (hen3 duo1 xue2 sheng) because 很多 clearly suggests plurality. Chinese is a very word-saving language.

Posted on: Taking the HSK

汉语水平考试 is targeted for foreign learners, so using HSK, instead of Chinese characters, is a good marketing strategy. On the same token, TOEFL is beautifully translated as “托福” here in China. It’s very clever.

The funny thing is that HSK is the acronym of “pinyin”, but not the acronym of “Chinese Language Proficiency Test”. Which do you think is “cool”, HSK or CLPT? I imagine that the word HSK was invented as an analogy of TOFEL.

As for acronyms such as UN or ICBM, I don’t think they are frequently used in Chinese, except for computer jargons. Even NATO is represented as 北约, and I respect this attitude of Chinese people toward their language.

Posted on: Hungry Traveler: Macao

卖完了 (mai4 wan2 le) sold out
卖没了 (mai4 mei2 le) sold out
卖光了 (mai4 guang1 le) sold out