User Comments - christian

Posted on: The Door

Came upon something interesting while researching "门“。 It turns out that "layman" is "门外汉“, literally "man outside the door".

Posted on: Seeing off a Monk, Returning to Japan -- 送僧归日本

I think this (librivox) is the link Pete meant. Correct if I''m wrong.

Interesting that China's name used to be 上国, the "above country". When and why did it change? Not being an expert I can only speculate, but I see that the Tang preceded the Qing, which united China and whose name is the root of the word "China" we use today. Maybe they named the kingdom "中国"?

Also, I know others have asked about PDFs, and you've said they're on their way, but I can't help nudging a bit for them as well. I only recognize a handful of the 汉字 in your poems, and like to take a shot at reading the text before listening to the program, but your explanations are sometimes hard to follow when I don't know what signs you're referring to.

Posted on: Man or Woman?

Thanks, Changye! That was really helpful :)

Posted on: Man or Woman?

但是 and 不过 both mean "but", so how can I distinguish when to use one or the other?

Are they perfectly interchangeable?

Posted on: Going to Church

There is an interesting story of Jesuit missionaries trying to read a primal Christian revelation into old Confucianistic texts, in the hopes of setting the foundations for a "Sino-Christian" civilization. I found this on Wikipedia.

A French novel "The white Mandarin" tells the tale of a priest sent to the emperor's court with the task of converting him, only to find himself under the influence of Chinese ideas. It's a really interesting story with basis in history, but unfortunately the writing is really mediocre.

I found the vocabulary for this lesson a bit confusing. Sometimes you seem to be using adjectives and sometimes nouns (for example you tell us that 佛教徒 is a Buddhist, but then how do you say Buddhism?) 

Posted on: Watching the Sun Go Down -- 登乐游原

Bodawei, a little research has led me to discover "How to read Chinese poetry" by Zong-Qi Cai and perhaps even more interesting "Chinese through poetry" by Archie Barnes. Both look interesting but I've never held either of them. I'm planning to look for them next time I stop by the library.

If anyone has or has seen them, I would like to hear what you think of them. Do you recomend them?

Pete, your shows are really great. I would love to be able to read Chinese classics unaided, but in the meantime, your shows give me a glimpse of what's out there. Keep them coming! :)

Posted on: I miss you!

There seems to be a strange bug with this lesson. It's as if each vocabulary item is repeated four times in the vocabulary tab. Anyone else seeing the same thing?

Posted on: After You

In the expansion you translate 他先说 as "he spoke first", but isn't the verb 说 actually in the present tense?

Posted on: Using Verbs 不出来 , 得出来

Amber, to avoid that problem with boyfriends, just call them all "honey" or "love". It's easier than remembering names ;)

Posted on: #31

I always suspected Jenny rules ChinesePod with an iron fist.