User Comments - changye

Posted on: Getting to Know CPod Teacher Helen (and exciting content news)!

The relationship between Mandarin and Cantonese might be similar to that between Korean and Japanese. Korean and Japanese are grammatically very similar to each other, and they are mutually intelligible (to some extent) if you write them down using Chinese characters, but their pronunciation systems are different from each other. You can find some Chinese characters that have the same (or similar) sounds both in Korean and Japanese, but it won't help much for listening comprehension.

古代中国人の生活は困難でした。(Japanese)

古代中国人의 生活은 困難했습니다.(Korean)

The life of ancient Chinese people was difficult. (English)

Please be noted that modern Korean doesn't use Chinese characters anymore. They abandoned using Chinese characters a few decades ago.

Posted on: Asking for a Raise

Hi raymondc

“合同” is "contract" in a broad sense. “单子” is "list, form, bill", and it figuratively indicates "contract" in the dialogue.

Posted on: Getting to Know CPod Teacher Helen (and exciting content news)!

Hi go_manly

Mandarin and Cantonese are completely non-intelligible to each other.

Hi bababardwan

FYI, Vietnamese had been written using only Chinese characters until recently. The languages began to use Latin alphabet only after the war. In ancient times, Japanese was also written ONLY in Chinese characters.

Posted on: Getting to Know CPod Teacher Helen (and exciting content news)!

Hi zhenlijiang

Please tell me who "Shiina Ringo" is! As you said, I know almost nothing about Japanese singers/actors/actresses who came out in the past ten years, but please don't hesitate to ask me about Japanese animes, hehe.

Posted on: The Customer Comes First

Hi sydcarten

Does Indonesian also have a saying "The customer is God"? Apakah ada pepatah Indonesia yang mengatakan bahwa "Langganan adalah Tuhan"?

Posted on: The Customer Comes First

Hi ruishiredbird

I thought European people wouldn't say "The customer is God" because it seems to be a little disrespectful toward God. (Probably) by the same token, Japanese people don't say "The customer is Emperor", because, in a sense, Emperor (天皇) is generally deemed holier than gods are in Japan, hehe.

Vielen Dank.

Posted on: Getting to Know CPod Teacher Helen (and exciting content news)!

Hi matthiask

Thanks a lot for the info. "The rolling "r" on the tip of the tongue" seems to be easier for most Japanese, me included, than its northern "back" version is.

Posted on: Getting to Know CPod Teacher Helen (and exciting content news)!

Hi chanelle77

Thanks a lot！Looks like the linguistic environment in Europe is very "economical", hehe. On the other hand, languages used in East Asia are all non-intelligible to each other, unfortunately. In short, it's not "economical".

Please say hello to the Japanese guy for me!

Posted on: The Customer Comes First

《哪里有压迫，哪里就有反抗！》这个说法就让我联想到文革时期的一个口号，“造反有理”，呵呵。

Posted on: The Customer Comes First

Hi ruishiredbrid

“顾客是上帝”这个句子的德语翻译不是"Der Kunde is Koenig"而是"Der Kunde ist Gott"。问你一下，德语有没有跟“Der Kunde ist Gott”一样的说法？Darf ich Sie fragen, gibt es ein sprichwort "Der Kunde ist Gott" im heutigen Deutsch?