User Comments - chris

Posted on: Golf

Some really interesting comments above - I particularly enjoyed Zhanglihua's and Chanelle's.

Chanelle, I would be really interested to know how your husband's Chinese speaking ability compares to yours?  I know lots of expat couples here in Shanghai, mostly where the husband is working and the wife not (although there are some exceptions to the rule) - and where the wife has made the effort to use the spare time to study the language, they are simply streets ahead of their husband.  Having said that, many of the non-working halves of the relationships also seem to have fallen into the "brunches, shopping, afternoon teas, shopping, dinner" trap and don't appear to be making any productive use of their time at all.  My hat off to you for being so dedicated with all those hours of studying and lessons a week!  I am very impressed.

I have to admit that after an initial rush of learning when I first arrived in Shanghai (Jan07), my studying essentially stopped for over a year due to work demands.  However, I've now reassessed my priorities and learning Chinese is fully back on the agenda - so much so that I keep stealing half hour or so here and there during the working day where I'll study a few CPod lessons instead of work!

Chris

Posted on: Morning at the Office

I enjoy diving into the Newbie lessons from time to time.  A quick question, which I'd never really thought about before, the "shang5" in "zao3shang5" is the same character as in "Shang4hai3".  Why, therefore, is it neutral tone in "good morning" yet 4th tone in "Shanghai"?

Thanks, Chris

Posted on: Here she comes

I echo John's closing comments - I think this is a perfect Intermediate lesson for those that are just transitioning from Elementary.  Perfect length, perfect complexity and some useful grammar.  Could I suggest that if CPod haven't already done so, they create a "set" of such Intermediate lessons.  I appreciate that you don't want to formally introduce a "lower intermediate" and "upper intermediate" channel - but an informal set would be useful.

One grammar/vocab point on the dialogue - the version of "always" that I have learned before is "zong3shi4".  Could the "lao3" in the dialogue be simply substituted with "zong3shi4" without any loss in meaning or grammatical correctness?

thanks, Chris

Posted on: Hungry Traveler: Sichuan

Amber, thanks so much for the quick response.  Very clear.

Chris

Posted on: Hungry Traveler: Sichuan

Apologies if this is already covered in a QingWen - but can anyone explain when to use "qu4" and when to use "dao4"?

For example (borrowing one of the expansion sentences), to say "I want to go outside to eat today".  Are both of the following acceptable:

1) Jin1tian1 wo3 xiang3 dao4 wai4mian4 chi1

2) Jin1tian1 wo3 xiang3 qu4 wai4mian4 chi1

thanks, Chris

Posted on: Fat Camp

Thank you Lostinasia and Goulniky.  That's certainly helped a little - although I agree it probably warrants a QingWen!

Chris

Posted on: Fat Camp

Grammar question - what on earth is the "ba3" that appears in several of the expansion sentences?  Is it a measure word?  It appears to be totally redundant in the "Where did you hide my games console?" sentence.  For example, why can't we just say "Ni3 cang2 wo3 de you2xi4ji1 zai4 na3r?" instead of "Ni3 ba3 wo3 de you2xi4ji1 cang2 zai4 na3r le?"......

thanks, Chris

Posted on: Olympics and more...

Would be interested to know from the more advanced members of CPod which of the level jumps they found the most challenging.  I am currently stuck in the twilight zone of Ele to Intermediate.  I can handle any Ele lesson, however, a majority of the Intermediates I struggle with - although they do get better when Jenny reads the dialogue since she speaks so clearly!

Posted on: Taxi Small Talk

Going back to the earlier posts above - I rarely use the construction of "wo3/ta1 lai2 le" to announce arrival - I usually use "wo3/ta1 dao4 le".  Based on my experiences in Shanghai, the use of "dao4" is more common than "lai2" in these situations.  Anyone else experienced this?  Perhaps different around the country?

Posted on: The 是...的 (Shì...de) Pattern

Good show!  A quick question - is the "shi...de" actually even needed?  It struck me when listening to the show that in every example you gave, the "shi" and "de" could've been omitted and the sentence would've still been grammatically correct?

Thanks, Chris