User Comments - istara

Posted on: Blind Massage

Check out what one of BWBs former students, Kyila, is doing now too!

http://kikikids.org/

Posted on: Blind Massage

Check out this organisation transforming the lives of the blind in Tibet: www.braillewithoutborders.org

Yes, they have students who have trained in massage and opened their own school, run and operated by the blind. But they also have amazing initiatives like a blind printing press, which translates school textbooks into Braille so that blind students can study in regular school alongside sighted students!

Posted on: Check Your Spam

I'd never heard the term "rubbish" or "garbage" mail before. Don't people usually say "junk" mail?

Posted on: A Tour of Xi'an

从2008年西安博物馆是免费的。

Posted on: Daddy Changes a Diaper

I don't see that many Chinese babies wearing nappies, at least not when they go outside. Are those slit pants unique to China or used in other Asian countries too?

Posted on: Travel by Tour Group

In English自由行 would probably be translated as "independent travel".

What's the reason that 你还不赶紧做作业？doesn't require a 马?

This sentence I also found quite tricky:

都怪我不好

Without help I would have translated it more like "You can't blame me for everything" or "It's not good to blame me for everything".

Also 今天要做完这些事的话. You can just say 要。。的话 without the 是?

Posted on: The Red Spectrum of Meaning

How do you say the name of the ballet Red Detachment of Women in Chinese?

How about Red Square in Moscow?

Red Army?

And on a non Chinese note - in case anyone is interested in Russian, Red Square is not actually called "Red" because of the colour red or any communist connotations. It's called that because the Russian word for "red" also meant "beautiful" many years ago!

Posted on: Chinese Zodiac Birth Year

why is it that when you enlarge the font to view the exercise page (I find the characters too small to read well other wise) the audio drill no longer works?

Posted on: Mailing a Package at the Post Office

I always found Chinapost to be quite good value and very efficient. Certainly much better than Russia where I lived before.. I also love the way they pack everything so neatly, resize the boxes if needed and have that great machine that wraps the plastic tape around the boxes to hold it together tightly!

Posted on: End of the Year Bonus Surprise

good one! I found the story behind this chengyu on nciku:

Someone who easily changes their mind

朝三暮四

zhāosānmùsì

It literally means three in the morning and four in the evening

The Story:

There was once a man in the State of Song who raised monkeys. The monkeys could understand the words the man spoke to them, and as the man became poorer, he decided to reduce the amount of food he gave to the monkeys. At first, he proposed to them that he give them three acorns in the morning, and four in the evening. When the monkeys heard this, they were upset and protested angrily, so the owner proposed a new idea. "How about I give you four acorns in the morning and three in the evening?" The monkeys were then satisfied.

Moral of the Story : A fool changes his mind easily.

I agree, they could work for a Chinese company and not have the same culture, atmosphere and experiences that we can offer if they chose to!