User Comments - greggygate
greggygate
Posted on: 会 (Huì) and 能 (Néng) Face-off
August 25, 2008, 10:01 PMHow would one say "I want to be able to speak Chinese very well."? Would you even use 会 or 能？
我想会说中文很好。
or
我想说中文很好。
or is neither correct?
Posted on: Chinglish in Reverse and University Culture
August 18, 2008, 03:48 AMWhile studying in Beijing, my friends and I started using 什么in place of "#$&%!"
As in: "What the 什么?!?" instead of "What the &$*%?!?"
Posted on: Accents and Subway Survival
October 01, 2007, 01:21 AMHelen, The last tip about saying it with a nice smile is perfect! I get it! 谢谢您！
Posted on: Accents and Subway Survival
September 30, 2007, 11:56 PMHelen, I have always had a hard time pronouncing "ri." My Chinese teacher from Beijing always had a hard time pronouncing "usual" (and an even harder time with "usually," which often came out as "yur-uh-lee." And now you say that "ri" sounds like the "s" in "usual." So now I'm really confused!:) Do you have any other "sounds like" examples for "ri" ?
Posted on: Li Yan's Diary: Love and Italian Food
September 27, 2007, 02:06 AMOK, is there any difference between when 但是 and 不过 should be used? What about 还是，which I think can sometimes mean "but"? Or any words for however? Maybe this is a good topic for 请问？ If so, can i get a shout-out when it gets made?
Posted on: Li Yan's Diary: Love and Italian Food
September 27, 2007, 01:30 AMTo Date = 谈恋爱 谈 (to chat) + 恋 (Looks like a person flapping his arms like wings, over the heart radical, so let's call it "heart's a-fluttering") + 爱 (love). SO, 谈恋爱 ＝ "talking with hearts-a-fluttering about love"
Posted on: Li Yan's Diary: Love and Italian Food
September 27, 2007, 01:03 AMTo Resemble = 像。 像＝人＋象 “这个人像一个象因为他很胖。” "That man resembles an elephant because he is so fat!" It may not help you remember it, but I always thought it was fun to make up ways to try to remember characters.
Posted on: Li Yan's Diary: Love and Italian Food
September 27, 2007, 12:08 AMbut in this case 土 is a word, and here it's translated as "dorky," but also "unsophisticated" or "country bumpkin." I think if we knew what the opposite of this word was, it would help.
Posted on: Li Yan's Diary: Love and Italian Food
September 26, 2007, 11:28 PMDoes 土 have an opposite? I think if we knew what the opposite of 土 was, the definition would be clearer.
Posted on: Traffic
September 01, 2008, 09:45 PMI was told that 面包车 was named such because it was shaped like a loaf (or bun) of bread.
I love the videos! Great work!