User Comments - maktubhelou

Posted on: Insecticide

Just to point out minor error, in the dialogue 味道 reads as "small" in the translation...

Posted on: Insecticide

I'm wondering, would 杀虫剂 also apply to pesticides used on farms? Is it possible to find produce grown without 杀虫剂?

Posted on: A New Jug for the Water Cooler

Where does one go about purchasing a few of these house fairies? I could study Chinese so much more if I didn't have to do housework. LoL.

Back to language questions: 精灵 relative to "Fairy Godmother"? What would you call the Fairy Godmother in Chinese? How about "Tinkerbell"?

Posted on: Dealing with Praise

I get the fact that saying you do something well is "bragging" in Chinese culture, and acknowledging one's strengths in a Western (only North American?) way would be considered arrogant, but I'm wondering two things:

(1) Do friends and family "brag" for you? In Korea, it's similar to China, but any gap in tooting your own horn is filled right in by the people who know you. Is it similar in China?

(2) How do you respond in that case? How could you say something like "He's exaggerating" or "You know that's not true"? What would sound natural in Chinese?

Posted on: Nearby Tea House

I agree with the "not watery" imperative. I once drank three cups of coffee my Korean friend had brought on a picnic:

ME: "This tea is delicious... but, kind of unique. What flavour is it?"

FRIEND: "It's coffee."

ME: "Coffee flavoured tea??? That's different. Why would you do that?"

FRIEND: "Ummm..."

Posted on: Shanghai Expo Pavilions

Is that 70-million from beginning to end? What if people go twice? I'm curious what the number is up to now. All I get here is "Hero" a Korean-subtitled Chinese channel that seems to show nothing but historical dramas either originally in Mandarin or dubbed... that and Korean infomercials. Oh the lengths I go to in order to get a little listening practice, ha.

Posted on: Nearby Tea House

Well, Canadian... spent most of my formative years straddling the border between French Canadian and English Canadian culture, so I like a good European style coffee. Nothing against American coffee, it's just not my "cup of tea."

Posted on: Nearby Tea House

Thanks. Any idea which one is more common or widely understood? (埃斯普雷索 (āisīpǔléisuǒ) or 浓咖啡 (nóng kāfēi)?

Posted on: Nearby Tea House

Really?! Nescafe is a life-saver? That's... kinda scary. I might have to bring a few bags of real European coffee before heading to China, ha.

Posted on: Nearby Tea House

Thanks. Now this, this is what I call a good response! :-) Fantastic! And, to quote a previous idiom Jenny used, I'm going to be all over this lesson for two reasons: (1) I love coffee; (2) Following reason number 1, I've had like four cups since I came to work... I'm speaking English so fast my students have asked me to stop speaking Chinese, lol.