User Comments - cinnamonfern
cinnamonfern
Posted on: What's in a name?
February 1, 2011 at 2:44 AMMy given name is Rebecca, but I generally just go by Becky because it's fairly easy for Chinese people to pronounce. My last name is three syllables, so I don't share it with people. So often people think my last name is "Bei" and my first name is "Ki". It's very funny.
My friends helped me pick my Chinese name, 高碧珂 （Gāo Bìkē). 高 sounds like the beginning of my last name. And 碧珂 has a nice meaning (blue-green jade-like stone), sounds like Becky, and isn't the common transliteration.
Posted on: Marco Polo in China
January 28, 2011 at 1:14 PMInteresting lesson! Not what I was expecting when I heard the term "Marco Polo Syndrome".
Well, I've been in rural China for three days and attended a Chinese wedding, and at first everyone stared and many wanted to talk and find out about me and where I'm from, whether I "tīng de dǒng Zhōngwén" (understand Chinese) and some wanted to take pictures together. I guess this is because there are no other foreigners around and I am perhaps the first one they've ever met. But it's not because I'm special...just different.
I guess that's MPS? You start thinking that being different/unique makes you special...and when you're not unique anymore you lose your sense of value. Any other foreigners threaten your sense of self-worth.
Well, thank heaven my Chinese is so poor or I might get MPS too. Hard to feel special when you can't carry on a conversation. Ha ha. :P
Posted on: Flu Vaccination
January 15, 2011 at 12:22 AMThanks toianw! Now that you mention it, I think I remember hearing in a lesson once that you only use 几岁 for kids younger than 10 (single digit ages). :)
Posted on: Flu Vaccination
January 14, 2011 at 4:14 PMHi LeLili - here are two podcasts about the zodiac. I've listened to the first one, but not the second.
And to ask for someone's Chinese zodiac sign you can say - 你属什么？ [nǐ shū shénme?]
属 (shū) = to belong to some zodiac sign
Elementary: http://chinesepod.com/lessons/whats-your-animal-sign
Intermediate: http://chinesepod.com/lessons/birth-by-chinese-zodiac
Posted on: Flu Vaccination
January 14, 2011 at 4:10 PMWell...you have to keep in mind these podcasts are not scripted. I think all Dilu was trying to say is - don't take the Dr.'s use of 小朋友 to mean that she is friends with the kid or even knows her. I don't think it was a statement about the word etymology. :)
Posted on: Flu Vaccination
January 14, 2011 at 9:55 AMYou're welcome! That was my impression - that you can use 多大 for anyone.
What I can't remember (and maybe someone can comment on) is whether you can use 几岁 for anyone who is younger than you, or if it is solely reserved for kids under a certain age.
Posted on: Flu Vaccination
January 14, 2011 at 6:18 AMAccording to the QingWen episode I just listened to yesterday, you can use 几岁 for young people, particularly people who are younger than you. For older people you use 多大. This can be used for everyone.
http://chinesepod.com/lessons/how-long-has-this-been-going-on
Posted on: Playing Ice Hockey
January 13, 2011 at 3:00 AMI've noticed this mindset too. My fiance is Asian-Canadian and his heritage is Chinese-Malaysian - I think it was his great-grandparents who emigrated from China. Though he is rather western (with Asian tendencies) and speaks and understands only a little Chinese - I think most of our Chinese friends still consider him Chinese. I think the view is kind of like being part of a (very large) family. No matter whether you speak the language or not, or whether you were born in the same place or not...you're still part of the family. That doesn't change. It is a very interesting.
Posted on: Chinatown Diary
January 13, 2011 at 2:44 AMI was about to ask if you could also use the 和 pattern for future events. Then I noticed that your third and fourth examples are the same...did you mean for the third example to be "我们要吃a, b, 和 c." ?
And can you drop the 有's in the 有 pattern?
我们有 a, b, 和 c.
我们有a, b, 还有 c.
Posted on: What's in a name?
February 1, 2011 at 1:33 PMOne thing that might be helpful, if you don't have Chinese friends who can help you pick a name, is to double-check before you finally decide by searching for the name under google images. If weird things start popping up, you might consider switching. :)