User Comments - chris

Posted on: Recovering a Cell Phone Number

I've never had my mobile phone lost or stolen in Shanghai yet (touch wood!), but I have been pickpocketed after coming out of the bank.  Not only did the pickpocket manage to lift RMB5,000 from my inside jacket pocket, but also managed to replace it with a ward of Starbucks serviettes so that when I did my regular "pat-down" checks I thought the cash was still there!  Didn't even realise it had gone until I got home......

Oh well, chalked it up to experience!  An investment in a money belt for my subsequent bank visits has certainly been worth it!

Posted on: Using 'Almost'

Hi all,

When referring to "approximately" or "roughly" I always use "chabuduo" and "zuoyou (left right)" interchangeably - although noting that the position in the sentence does change.

For example, if someone asks me how long it will be before I return, I will say either:

"wo chabuduo huilai 10 fenzhong" or "wo huilai 10 fenzhong zuoyou".

Are both of these responses ok?

Thanks, Chris

Posted on: Around the Office

Great vocab tour, as usual.

I was wondering - and apologies for being off topic - but I assume there is a significant CPod member community here in Shanghai.  Do the Cpod team ever hold any informal Cpod events to give the Cpod community here a chance to meet the masterminds behind the website?

It's clear from a number of comments on various threads that the team is very welcoming when overseas Cpodders visiting SH drop in at the office.  However, I assume it could get a bit much if all the Cpodders based in SH suddenly dropped by!  Hence, would it be possible to organise maybe a bi-monthly get together for the Cpod community and Cpod team in one of the many great bars in SH?

Perhaps there is already a Group set up in the Group section for this?  I think it would be great to actually meet face-to-face all the personalities who we admire so much!

Thanks, Chris

Posted on: Introducing a Friend

Pretzellogic,

I love the "melonhead" post!  For your suggested translation of "I hope this melonhead is better than the last one you brought home" I think you're missing a "hao3".

My Chinese is only lower intermediate - but I think that when you use the "bi3" (comparison) construct, if you want to say the first thing is better than the second thing you need a "hao3" at the end:

e.g.  X bi3 Y hao3.

Regardless of the grammar - very funny.

Chris

Posted on: I'm pregnant!

BillM,

That vendor situation made me laugh!  I presume he was trying to sell you a watch?  I find it hilarious that they try it on, even though you're already actually wearing one which they can see clearly!

What is the best way to actually say "I already have one"?  I usually just reply with:

"Ni3 mei1you3 yanjing ma?  Wo yi1jing1 you3 le" - which I hope means "Don't you have eyes? I already have one!".

I presume "wo3 yi1jing1 you3 le" doesn't also mean "I'm pregnant"!!

Thanks, Chris

Posted on: A Very Special Day

Not sure what happened to the editing in my previous post.  Anyway, to repeat the question:

"Jintian you yi ge hen tebie de ren yao lai"

"Today someone special will come".

Is the "you3" necessary?  Is there a grammar rule here?

Thanks, Chris

Posted on: A Very Special Day

Posted on: Lesson Preview, New Team Member

Jim Parker

Thanks for the very informative posts - I understand what you're suggesting in your second post and will give it a go later today.

gaoya,

take a look at Jim's posts above.  They look promising!

Thanks, Chris

Posted on: Booking a Plane Ticket

Is it just me, or are the Expansion sentences in this lesson significantly more challenging than those in the more recent Intermediate lessons (I note that this lesson was first aired back in June 2007)?

Practically every Expansion sentence had two or more words that I'd not come across before, whereas the more recent Intermediate Expansion sentences I normally understand upon first listen to the audio.

Thanks, Chris

Posted on: Lesson Preview, New Team Member

bababardwan,

no worries, happy to help.

However, unfortunately my extraction technique seems to be failing on my laptop at the moment - talk about ironic!

If there are any techies out there, when I try to export into excel via XML file, I'm now getting the following error message:

XML Parse Error - "Reference to undefined entity "Eacute".

Any ideas??  I have never had any problems before.  And yes, I've already tried the "turn it off, turn it on again" solution....

thanks, Chris