User Comments - daizi
daizi
Posted on: I forgot your name
June 28, 2007 at 12:56 PMalexyzye, generally when one uses 贵姓 guìxìng (esteemed surname) one precedes it with the polite form of 你 nǐ. That character is formed by adding the heart radical 心 xīn to the bottom of 你: 您 nín (you with heart;->). 您贵姓 Nín guìxìng? What is your (esteemed) surname? 你叫什么名字 Nǐ jiào shénme míngzi? Can mean either What is your name? or What is your given name?, depending on context. 怎么称呼 zěnme chēnghu also has a bit of a formal or stiff feel to it and can also be used to address someone directly. In that case, though, I'd precede it with 您 nín: 怎么称呼您? Zěnme chēnghu nín? How shall I address you?
Posted on: 教书育人
June 28, 2007 at 12:31 PMYes, AZERDocMom. I show that film to my students because of all the great vocabulary. robertk, get a Mac ;-)
Posted on: 教书育人
June 27, 2007 at 5:14 PM大概不是怕学生反而是怕被开掉的。;-)
Posted on: She's Easy
June 27, 2007 at 1:36 PM我看Collins先生是非靠的不可。不該把宗教和科學混在一起。看過了"God is Not Great" (Christopher Hitchens)或 "The God Delusion" (Richard Dawkins) 這兩本書沒有？得先看才完全了解我所參考的。 我看Collins先生是非靠的不可。不该把宗教和科学混在一起。看过了"God is Not Great"(Christopher Hitchens)或"The God Delusion"(Richard Dawkins)这两本书没有？得先看才完全了解我所参考的。 Wǒ kàn Collins xiānsheng shì fēi kào de bùkě. Bù gāi bǎ zōngjiào hé kēxué hùn zài yīqǐ. Kàn guò le"God is Not Great"(Christopher Hitchens) huò"The God Delusion"(Richard Dawkins) zhè liǎng běn shū méiyǒu？Děi xiān kàn cái wánquán liǎojiě wǒ suǒ cānkǎo de.
Posted on: Two Little Tigers Song
June 26, 2007 at 6:34 PMThere're a whole bunch of translated kids songs. Here's another (after the first part, just substitute other animals and their Chinese calls): 王老先生有块地 Wáng lǎo xiānsheng yǒu kuài dì Old Mr. Wang he had a farm 依啊依啊哟 yī a yī a yo 他在田边养小鸡呀 tā zài tián biān yǎng xiǎojī ya by his fields he raised some chicks 依啊依啊哟 yī a yī a yo 这里吱吱叫 zhèlǐ zī zī jiào with a zi zi here 那里吱吱叫 nàli zī zī jiào and a zi zi there 这里吱那里吱 zhèlǐ zī, nàli zī here a zi, there a zi 到处都叫吱吱 dàochù dōu jiào zī zī everywhere a zi zi 王老先生有块地 Wáng lǎo xiānsheng yǒu kuài dì 依啊依啊 哟 yī a yī a yo
Posted on: She's Easy
June 26, 2007 at 4:13 PM"Hmm, the world's most intellectual societies..." More like the world's most uptight and hubristic societies, cultures that place humans at the top of an imagined animal hierarchy and ignore facts like evolution. I say better sexually free than repressed by ancient supernatural and superstitious religions where women were chattel and god was malevolent sob who praised ignorance and mindless devotion alike. The students who died on the Avenue of Eternal Peace had it right with their emphasis on liberty AND science.
Posted on: Dog Personalities
June 26, 2007 at 2:27 PM养狗就像养孩子这句话我不以为然。孩子会养但不该吃。 Yǎnggǒu jiù xiàng yǎng háizi zhè jù huà wǒ bùyǐwéirán. Háizi huì yǎng dàn bùgāi chī. I disagree with the statement, "Raising a dog is just like raising a child." We can raise children but we oughtn't eat them.
Posted on: She's Easy
June 26, 2007 at 1:29 PMI agree with much that Bill and user44749 (have you considered an actual name?) say. This dialogue's treatment of female sexuality certainly reflects American, British, and Chinese sexism and sexual prudery. This sort of prudery and sexism always exists in sexually repressed societies. That said, in spite of it's cattiness and sexist slant, this scenario is probably fair game for a dialogue as it's probably fairly representative of many actual Chinese interactions. Pay attention, and next time you eavesdrop on pub gossip, you’ll be prepared with all the essential vocabulary. And maybe also ready with a few smart words of enlightened rebuttal. 老戴 （年紀挺大的男人）
Posted on: Please Speak Chinese
June 25, 2007 at 3:54 PMOne could,executer, for emphasis. Even more emphatic would be adding a 是：但你是没有帮助我的。Dàn nǐ shì méiyǒu bāngzhù wǒ de. I took the 是 off 但是 because it sounds better to me. However, a native speaker might have other ideas.
Posted on: Please Speak Chinese
June 28, 2007 at 1:08 PMI think generally that 学 is used transitively (it needs an object) but 学习 can be used either transitively or intransitively. Thus you can say: 我在学习。(I'm studying.) but not 我在学 unless the context makes an object understood.