User Comments - emmaleeson

Posted on: Making Comparisons in Mandarin

Really helpful lesson. I don't know if this is very useful feedback, as it might not be an issue for other users, but I personally cannot keep up with the speed at which Constance is speaking - although looking at the dialogue the language itself isn't too difficult. It might be fine for more advanced learners but this qing wen was labelled elementary level, so perhaps for videos pitched at the same level in future thing could perhaps be slowed down a little?

Posted on: Making Comparisons

Super useful lesson! 

Posted on: Avoiding The Gym At All Costs

I miss the videos. Are there not going to be anymore?

Posted on: How Far From Here to There?

That's much clearer! Thanks

Posted on: How Far From Here to There?

Another great lesson! I have a few feedback comments on changes to the video format though.

I can see why you chose to include it, but there is too much information in the text boxes - I can't work out what i'm supposed to be reading quick enough before its gone (perhaps traditional and simplified characters could be presented in different colours so its easy to quickly see which one you want to read?). Also personally i find it unhelpful having the english translations in the first dialogue as it takes away the opportunity to try and figure out as much as you can of what is being said on your own first. Being able to piece together meaning on the basis of the words you do know and the context of the sentence is a really important skill to develop.

I loved the slowed down dialogue however, and would love to see that in all new videos. 

Posted on: What Did you Chat About?

here "dou" means both - like 'what did you and her both talk about?' It means the same as 'what did you talk with her about?' but implies that they were both actively involved. 

Posted on: Lost Wallet and Passport

In the expansion sentences, 'she lost her keys' is 她的钥匙丢了， but 'my luggage is missing' is 我的行李丢了.

But as the structure is the same I would have read 他的钥匙丢了 as her keys are missing. Is it the case that this sentence could mean BOTH 'her keys are missing' and 'she lost her keys'? How can you distinguish between whether or not she was the one who lost her keys? as 'she lost her keys' seems to imply that it was her fault...

Posted on: Where's Shiny The Cat?

I don’t understand why there is a 了 at the end of sentences such as 该喂亮亮猫食了, or 十点了, 你该睡了. I thought 了 was used to show completed actions but here it is used when someone is being told they should do something that hasn't happened yet? Do you always use 了 when you are saying someone should do something?

Posted on: Introduce Your Name Like a Native

我姓李， 我叫爱玫。 Thanks to this lesson I now know how to introduce 李， but can anyone help me on how to introduce the rest? The teacher who gave me my name said that 玫 came from the mandarin for rose (based on my english middle name) but I don't know what the actual word for rose is. 

Posted on: Telling a Joke in Chinese

When I was last in China, we saw some chickens being thrown into the air and my friend shouted 飞机 (fei1ji1) which means airplane. This sounds like the chinese for fly 飞 (fei1) and chicken 鸡 (ji1). The Chinese locals watching the spectacle laughed out loud at his pun, and were very surprised to turn around and see it was an american who had made the comment.

I think once you can make puns and engage in word play in a foreign language, that's very impressive indeed. Plus humor is always great at breaking the ice in conversations, so it'd be great to have more lessons like this, even if they are a bit silly.