User Comments - douglasboyle
douglasboyle
Posted on: I Said COLD Cola
August 30, 2013 at 6:20 AMI'm in zhuhai. Could be area specific.
Posted on: I Said COLD Cola
August 30, 2013 at 6:20 AM我想要一罐可乐。一般他们知道是可口可乐，如果没有，他们会说百事可乐可以吗？
Posted on: I Said COLD Cola
August 30, 2013 at 6:11 AM@yanglu....
Thank you. I didn't know. Been living in china for nearly a year now. Been in and out of Chinese restaurants with my Chinese girl friend for about two years. I've never heard her once order coke any other way than 可乐。我想要可乐...
Anyone else? How do you ask for coke?
Posted on: I Said COLD Cola
August 30, 2013 at 5:59 AMHaha. Yeah. It's still a healthy vice. :)
Posted on: I Said COLD Cola
August 29, 2013 at 7:19 PMHi. Yeah. 可乐 If you ask for this in a shop or restaurant you will get normal coke.
红牛 This is another one I need sometimes.
Redbull. :)
Posted on: I Said COLD Cola
August 29, 2013 at 6:53 PMAhhhh coke my life saver in china. Though I prefer this one....
零度可乐. Coke zero.
Cool lesson. :)
Posted on: B.O. in the Library
August 28, 2013 at 4:46 PMWell with the weather these days this wouldn't be unusual. So hot. Have to shower twice a day.... 谢谢啊
Posted on: Add Me on WeChat
August 27, 2013 at 6:43 AMWechat rocks. Tried line and what's app overall for me 微信 is the fastest. Of course line has awesome emoticons. Bit weixin is starting to come to the party.
Posted on: College Kid Expenses
August 27, 2013 at 2:50 AMAwesome. Thanks guys. Appreciate all your efforts.
Posted on: How have you been?
September 1, 2013 at 5:13 PMYeah before I came to china I thought i could say 你好吗 to Chinese people and think I was cool. They probably laughed at me. Now I've lived here no one really says it.
They mostly say 去哪里啊 or 吃饭了吗 and now I also say this.
qu4 na3 li3 a, short for ni3 qu4 na3 li3
Where are you going?
吃饭了吗 have you eaten?
But you dont really say this to a stranger in China. This is like a secondary level after you sort of know someone a little. 你好 is first and foremost. Depending on the person you will know if you can go further. Just because we are learing mandarin doesn't mean someone should speak to us I'm learning.
Its interesting cause where I'm from no one asks this. We normally start like
hey man how's things? Whats been happening? And so on.
With children in china I often say
在干嘛啊 after the other two options above. What are you doing?
The people here have taught me these things. I watch how they interact and copy. And try to use what I learn here at cpod. I think it's also important to speak with confidence and loud if your game. Because trying to be dainty and polite doesn't seem to wash for me. If i speak loud and clear and with confidence I'm often understood. Which is tricky living in Zhuhai. There are many people here, who's mandarin is not the best. Because many here speak 粤语.
I love learning things in mandarin when you don't expect to learn something. Like from kids.
I remember a while ago playing 乒乓球 a little girl 小妹妹 was getting bitten by mosquitoes and she says 走开蚊子 which was basically go away Mosquitos.
But she taught me how to say to someone annoying go away man.
Many other examples but I'm rambling. But I wonder how one would learn these subtleties if one were not living or has not spent time in China.
But in the end its all about communication i suppose. Not perfection. Situation dependant also. Im trying to be happy with my progress rather than focus on how far from fluent i am. I think its amazing, absolutlely amazing that i can communicate with mandarin speaking people. Even if its rough and bad grammar i know ive reached them.
no one says 那里 better than a native. :)