User Comments - chenlei

Posted on: Buying a Plasma TV

It can be used in the way that your teacher has said. If you look at this sentence:

我正在听对话呢

Now, 正，在 and 呢 are all used in this sentence to convey that present continuous sense.... 'I am in the process of listening to the dialogue (right now).  In theory what can happen is that you can use all 3, any combination of them or just one on their own to convey the same sense. (You will usually see one or both of 正 and 在 though.)

With regards to other meanings of 呢, it seems like your explanation covers most of it. It can be used at the end of a sentence to indicate "what about...." as well though, in case you didn't know.

I hope that helps.

Posted on: Buying a Plasma TV

奥巴马 - 美国新启发性的总统！

Posted on: Buying a Plasma TV

I've just realised that reply may sound really patronising.

Sorry if it reads like that!!

Posted on: Buying a Plasma TV

lanshala

促销 comes from 促进销售 which is more literally to 'promote sales'

搞活动 if taken more literally would mean to hold an activity. 活动 is an activity, but in context this means to have a sale.

I suppose you could say

为了促销而搞活动 - promoting sales by having a sale.

(correct me if im wrong, but i think thats right.)

Posted on: Buying a Plasma TV

你们向我们挑战找的词human plasma应该是‘血浆’吧！

我获得了什么奖品呢？

呵呵！

Posted on: Taking the HSK

Haha! Yes, i can only imagine.

I haven't tried the test at all actually. Im back in the UK and i believe my university is holding one at the beginning of next year, so I will most probably take a stab at it... if not just for practice.

I know that I will have to face the music one day and do it properly .... but perhaps I'll wait until im back in China!!

Posted on: Taking the HSK

Having read that back Henning, I may have misunderstood what you meant by "following a university class".

Do you mean it measures your ability to understand a lecture, and is therefore aimed at measuring the proficiency of Chinese learners who want to enter Chinese universities?

I thought that the test was a reflection of your abilities whether your goal be to enter university or go onto employment. If what you say is correct, then I would probably agree that it would be useful to the universities in determining whether or not you could cope with a course delivered in Chinese, but I think as more and more employers become aware of the HSK as a measure of proficiency it does give a slightly biased/ false view of competency in some areas - ie, spoken.

Posted on: Taking the HSK

I don't have any issue with mastering 汉字, quite the opposite in fact - i think they are absolutely essential to being able to say 我会讲中文。

I was never suggesting that the HSK should be a reflection of our 口语 abilities, but I do think that 口语 is as much a part of being able to communicate in Chinese as reading a newspaper or understanding a broadcast and that should be included in a proficiency exam.

Now, I am more than able to cope in a University class reading newspapers, studying texts and writing essays, but where my strengths lie is in the spoken language, and I genuinely believe that is a different skill. I don't think i'll ever be able to write an essay as well as some class mates, and I don't think they will ever be as proficient in the spoken word as I am (provided we all continue to study!) and so to take an exam which takes account of their strengths and ignores mine doesn't seem to work.

I guess Im just selfishly advocating the inclusion of 口语和听力！

Posted on: Taking the HSK

I had the opportunity to take the HSK a number of times at 南大 but never did, generally believing it to be better suited to Korean and (especially) Japanese students. That is not to say that they are necessarily superior in learning 汉语 but that the ways in which they tend to go about studying the language tend to be different to ours.

Whether its their work ethic or a greater social pressure placed on Asian students to study harder, I find that they are generally more likely to be learning 哑巴汉语. I found my European and Western classmates far more inclined to learn by immersion and thus achieve a greater competency in spoken chinese and in listening comprehension as well.

I did have a classmate who was the opposite though - incredibly book smart due to hours spent in the library, and she scored well on the HSK, but unable to really communicate with Chinese on even quite a basic level. I know which I'd prefer if i was an employer!!

Im all for a test which can give an indication of your level... i think its very important in fact, and I will be taking the HSK in due course, but I don't think they have it right just yet.