User Comments - daniel70
daniel70
Posted on: You've been everywhere!
September 2, 2010 at 9:21 PMBaba, I'm probably a pretty unimpressive intermediate. There are some good resources available these days. I can pm some info to you - I don't want to clog up a lesson thread.
Posted on: You've been everywhere!
September 2, 2010 at 1:31 PMHi Baba, I'm glad you enjoyed it. It's a charming short. The complexity of Irish grammar is a striking contrast to the elegance of Mandarin grammar -- enhances the appreciation of both.
Posted on: You've been everywhere!
September 1, 2010 at 7:17 PMEndangered languages are not easily revitalized. There is a lovely short film on YouTube about a Chinese man learning Irish. Yu Ming Is Ainm Dom (Yu Ming is my name) tells the story of a young man, who decides to move to Ireland for a change of scene. After reading that Irish is an official language of Ireland, Yu Ming learns to speak Irish and jumps on a plane only to find himself misunderstood wherever he goes .... Yu Ming Is Ainm Dom
Posted on: Food Flavors, Shanghai Style
May 15, 2010 at 1:18 AMI can assure you, I'd eat it -- it looks delicious, and frightfully decadent. Here's to a short happy life!
Posted on: Getting to Know CPod Teacher Helen (and exciting content news)!
March 16, 2010 at 2:38 AMI didn't know Korean and Japanese were so similar. Here is another example syntax comparison from Wikipedia. This example has Chinese, Korean, and Japanese.
Posted on: Getting to Know CPod Teacher Helen (and exciting content news)!
March 15, 2010 at 11:36 PMAs far as I know, standard written Chinese, which is used by both Cantonese speakers and Mandarin speakers was based on spoken Mandarin. Thus, a Cantonese speaker will read and write with the grammar and vocabulary of spoken Mandarin. The sounds attached to each character does differ, but these differences tend to be systematic. So 是 in Cantonese would be pronounced si6, and 事 in Cantonese will be pronounced si6 (Yale). A mandarin speaker would have no reason to be exposed to colloquial Cantonese vocabulary and grammar. So, when a Cantonese speaker tells me that he understands mandarin, I have no reason to doubt him. If a mandarin speaker tells me that he does not understand Cantonese, I'm OK with that too.
Posted on: Getting to Know CPod Teacher Helen (and exciting content news)!
March 15, 2010 at 4:01 PMThe Cantonese speakers I know claim to understand mandarin. They're going to be disappointed to find out that they don't.
Posted on: 郑和七下西洋
February 24, 2010 at 1:49 PMha, sure, everyone knows America was discovered by a Kerry man, Saint Brendan of Clonfert. ;-)
Posted on: Introduction to Pinyin
January 30, 2010 at 3:40 AMChangye,
The pop-out effect of the Kanji never occurred to me ... that is way too cool ... thanks for bringing that to my attention.
Posted on: You've been everywhere!
September 2, 2010 at 11:12 PMAlthough I haven't lived there since 1991, I am Irish, and a product of its educational system, which features the holy trinity of Irish, English, and Matz as its core rite of passage.