User Comments - garry
garry
Posted on: How have you been?
March 10, 2008 at 11:42 PMHi heart! The 4 tones are represented with a mark over the strong vowel sound to indicate how it is pronounced. For example the 3rd tone for 好 means it starts-goes low-and then comes back up again. Not long ago there were 5 excellent podcasts on the tones. In January I think.
Posted on: Embrace your Fears! 怕 (pà)...Adj
March 10, 2008 at 11:32 PMHi Amber,Connie, and Clay! It seems from this lesson that you can use 怕 for things that you are afraid of, but also for things that you don't like, or hate. Why not just say 我不喜欢.....? Also, what about being somethingaphobic? For example, if someone is afraid of water, they are aquaphobic. Or you can say they have aquaphobia. Is there a similar construction in Chinese?
Posted on: How have you been?
March 10, 2008 at 4:31 AMHi! I think that the English greeting 'How are you?' is widely used, but you usually find that nobody is really interested in 'how you are' anyway. The Chinese dialogue here indicates to me that there is a latitude embedded in the language to indicate that things are not always just 'good', and so the person asking is showing a certain amount of interest in your well-being. The dialogue here is refreshingly different from the normal Chinese greetings described in text books.
Posted on: Flowers and Bugs
March 7, 2008 at 1:56 AMHi everybody! I'm an elementary level Cpodie, but I like to listen to lessons up to upper intermediate. The intermediate level is the most enjoyable as the scripts are long enough to get a bit of a story-line happening and the scripts and the stories are great. These lessons go beyond the scope of an educational institution and into the realm of pure entertainment. I was learning, laughing and my spirit soared. By the way, 我也不喜欢毛毛虫！
Posted on: Stargazing
March 5, 2008 at 4:49 AMDear CPod, I agree, this lesson is great. We get to find out about the planets in Chinese and what not to do when trying to impress your girlfriend. Make sure you know more than her! An interesting thing I discovered is that the Chinese word for mercury, (the element), is 水银, and you can see the similarity to 水星 This lesson could easily been in the 'Saved by the Gong' series. Maybe we could find out more about the stars and constellations in the future.
Posted on: My Scooter Won't Start
March 3, 2008 at 11:35 PMHi Changye, I am not at this level yet, but I think I understand the gist of the text you presented, and I think this might be a good topic for a lesson. I think most people ride bicycles because that is what they can afford, and would probably happily ride around on a motorcycle or drive a car if they could. What really is the Chinese attitude on pollution and the environment? What do the people think? Not 'What does the Chinese government think'?
Posted on: 一...就... (yī...jiù...) pattern
March 3, 2008 at 11:25 PMHere is my attempt at an example; 我一听了棵﹐我就投入了它对用途。 As soon as I heard the lesson, I put it to use.
Posted on: My Scooter Won't Start
March 3, 2008 at 2:42 AMThank you CPod, Forget 'Zen and the art of motor cycle maintenance', we have 'Chinesepod and the art of basic 'scooter maintenance'. Great vocabulary and the guy with the scooter is so honest in his lack of knowledge of things mechanical.
Posted on: Behind the Scenes at the Beauty Pageant
February 20, 2008 at 2:31 AMHi amber and arasa, I was being studious and looking up the meaning of the words and my dictionary lists 走着瞧 as meaning "wait and see", but it does not link 等着瞧 as a word. Is the latter a regional dialect expression? Also there seems to be some extra english translation in the Lesson PDF, where A says 真不要脸. Gritty stuff! it sounds like the script for a great reality tv show.
Posted on: Embrace your Fears! 怕 (pà)...Adj
March 11, 2008 at 12:27 AMThanks Henning, I had not seen this one as it is upper- intermediate. I will go through it and see if I can cope. I am afraid of upper-intermediate lessons....