User Comments - dedsall78

Posted on: Ordering Chinese Take-out

Ok, I have a couple questions on the expansion:

这件事千万不要告诉他。

Can this also mean "I definitely don't want to tell him about this"?  Or would you use a different expression?

给你添麻烦了

Why is 添 used here?

Posted on: Los Angeles

From what I know, I think you guys are pretty much on the mark about everyone trying to get into the movie industry there.

I had a couple of college buddies who used to live there and one was trying to get into the industry.  Not surprisingly, it's all about connections... from what I heard he made it sound like just about everyone was trying one way or another to get that lucky break and meet that connection that breaks them in.

I went to visit my friends a few times but also never went to hang out in Hollywood... although they drove me through it just to see what it was like.  I didn't really mind since I was much more interested in the beaches and the bars back in those days :-)

Posted on: Prescription Drugs and Overseas Chinese

Interesting discussions here.  I, of course, would like to go into the medicine a bit though.

It would be interesting to hear everyone's opinion but I am especially interested in the Americans here.  Do you all take western medications often?  I mean if you have a headache, a cold, or just don't "feel well", do you take medication for that?

And in regards to Chinese made medications, I would be careful about them.  I know that herbal balls made in mainland China were tested, by the National Fish and Wildlife Forensics Laboratory (in the US),  and 8 out of 9 contained high levels of arsenic and mercury in them.

I found this out, luckily, when I had bought some herbal balls to help with my sleep.  I was looking how to prepare them (since we use more pills in the US) and found this information.  So, I threw them away!

Since China does not have the same testing requirements as other industrialized nations, you may want to be wary.  This would be true of any type of medication.

Posted on: At the Hair Salon

Damn, amber, you have it tough, I must say...  having your own online talk show, getting paid to get your hair washed while getting video taped.  And now getting hit on after everyone sees how 可爱 you are.

It must be difficult :-)

Honestly, though, nice work for all involved in this.  It's good to see that you all enjoy what you do.  It shows.

Posted on: Hanoi

And great lesson!  New words and new grammar on this one... really enjoyed it.

Posted on: Hanoi

Happy Birthday, Chinesepod!  Keep up the great work.  I don't know what my studying would be like without you all :-)

Posted on: Traffic

Nicely done, very professional looking!  Definitely makes learning new words a bit more interesting.

I'm sure that adding the visual element will help with retaining the information.  I'm sure there's been a study somewhere that proves this :-)

Posted on: We're going to miss the plane!

Nice lesson - very useful!

However, I have been a bit disappointed with the length of the expansions in some lessons lately.  It may just be my imagination but have they been shorter lately?

I remember doing past lessons with long expansions.  I really enjoy those as I learn a lot seeing the new words used in different contexts.  It also helps a lot with my listening and grammar skills.

Posted on: On Location at the Beijing 2008 Olympics

On a brighter note, Beijing had more frequent nice days in the springtime, when I arrived.  I'm hoping that, once the summer heat dissipates, we'll see nicer skies more often.

But that is more on the hopeful side.

Posted on: On Location at the Beijing 2008 Olympics

Xiaohu,

You seem to have brought the nice weather with you on your visits to Beijing!  Rarely can you ever see the mountains here.  One American, who had been living in Beijing for about a year, commented on how clean the air was when he returned to LA.  First time I have ever heard someone call LA clean :-)

If you want to see a picture of typical Beijing day, you can go to my blog at dedsall78.blogspot.com.  I just recently put pictures of what it looks like on a nice day and one on a more typical day.

Fortunately for us living in Beijing, it does have good days, but that's been pretty typical this summer (save for the Olympics).