User Comments - idesofmarch2010

Posted on: Working at the United Nations

I thought 牛 was slang for "cool" or something positive.  Can someone explain its usage here as "tough?"

Posted on: Mother's Day

I've been told that there is a qualitative difference between 做饭 and 做菜 - the latter implying more skill and technique. Is this still the case, or are they completely interchangeable?

Also, you guys either need to hire an actual child for the children roles, or tone down the shrillness of the modified-pitch adult voices. Yick.

Posted on: Haggling Like a Local

No more Friday lesson?  Will Shanghainese be every week?

Posted on: An Introduction!

...and any plans to post the hanzi/phonetic transcription for the vocab that was mentioned?

Posted on: An Introduction!

No qingwen this week?

Posted on: Hungry Traveler: Shanghai

Jenny,

How do you say "come to think of it" in Chinese?

Posted on: Discussing Contract Renewal

Without getting too personal...I'm curious if health insurance is a normal benefit at companies like Chinesepod?

Posted on: Travel by Tour Group

duplicate comment

Posted on: Travel by Tour Group

Thanks for the useful 尿尿 verb phrase ellen, but can you tell us in what context this character is read as "sui"?

I'm also curious about the how do distinguish 吗 and 嘛 in speech since they're both neutral tones. Do they sound exactly the same? 什么吗 of course sounds grammatically incorrect to me...

Thanks!

I have another tip for the 3-2 tone pair (a tip that I think John himself has mentioned on his blog): The first third tone syllable is NOT a full third tone! Rather, if you listen closely, you will realize it is simply a dip to the bottom of the vocal range, without the rise up again. This may make the 3-2 combination easier: just dip down to the bottom of your vocal range and then come back up with the second syllable.