User Comments - kien

Posted on: The Final Show

All the best in New York.  You have a wonderful personality.  I always enjoy listening to Dear Amber. 

Posted on: Early January News

Happy 2009 to ChinesePod (and its community).  Welcome to Matt.  Here's my suggestion to the new management - don't raise your price!  :) 

Posted on: The Good Husband

Hello ChinesePod - thank you for making it so easy to learn Chinese.

In the transcript, "luosuo" is represented by only one character.  Is this a mistake?  If it is not a mistake, it is the first time I have ever come across a single character that represents two syllables.

Posted on: To bag or not to bag?

I like to carry a 250 ml bottle of water with me when I go out.  Whenever I see a water fountain, I fill it up. 

I like those Nudie bottles which started selling in Sydney a few years ago.  They have a nice design, the right size (250 ml is light), and are firm but flexible. 

Posted on: Get in line!

Queing is fine so long as there is a single que.  Sometimes I am confronted with two or more ques and have to decide which to join (very stressful).  The words "que" and "choice" should never come together.  To all "que designers" out there, please banish multiple ques.

Posted on: Catch the Train

Hi - could we have a QingWen on the "X de ji" vs "X bu ji" formula?  Are there any combinations that don't use "lai"?  For instance, does "qu bu ji" or "qu de ji" have any meaning? (qu = go)  What about other verbs like "kai" (open), "guan" (close), "kan" (see), etc?

Perhaps there are already examples in the expansion section (which I can't access as I'm not on the premium subscription) in which case please feel free to ignore this suggestion.

Cheers

Posted on: Birth by Chinese Zodiac

The dialogue seems to be the age old tussle between a gal keen to procreate, and a reluctant guy, with the gal's opening salvo being "It's auspicious to have a baby in the Pig Year", and ending with "It's equally fine to have a baby in the following Dragon Year".  The guy thinks this the gal is being "irrational" but doesn't realise that it's a ploy for him to get on with procreating.

Perhaps I'm reading too much into the dialogue.

Posted on: Salt and Pepper

Changye's version of the idiom is the way my parents put it: "We've eaten more salt than the amount of rice you have eaten".  I thought that Jenny's version was perhaps wrong but hesitated since she's the expert!

Posted on: Come on up!

On reflection, I might be wrong about "yao" as well. A Chinese would say "yi ge", rather than "yao ge" to count. Perhaps the cardinal/ordinal distinction applies only to "er" and "liang". The difference between "yi" and "yao" might require a different explanation.

I need help from a mathematician!

Posted on: Come on up!

I made a mistake about "er".  The cardinal term for "2" is "liang".  "Er" is the ordinal term. 

Therefore, the ordinal series would be "yi", "er", "san" (first, second, third).  The cardinal series would be "yao", "liang", "san" (one, two, three).