User Comments - maktubhelou

Posted on: Nearby Tea House

Useful lesson. I'm wondering, what's more common in big cities in Mainland China, 茶馆 (cháguǎn) or 咖啡馆 (kāfēiguǎn)? Oh, it looks like Jenny just answered that in the dialogue as I'm writing.

Also, I was wondering how you would say a café or teashop with a terrace.

I have a few other vocabulary questions if anyone can answer. How would you say espresso, café latte, cappucino, americano? I guess these are not tea-related questions, but if Chinese teashops are anything like Korean ones then usually they serve just as much coffee as tea.

Sorry, another question: is there any particular area in Shanghai or Beijing that are known for nice coffee shops and/or teashops?

Posted on: Into the Sandstorm

Yeah, exactly. They carry over here to Korea in the form of a suspended, slow-moving pseudo storm cloud of sandy polluted goodness. My lungs will never be the same again.

Posted on: Finishing Work for the Weekend

Hi Changye,

Actually, I don't think it's really possible to translate "先" or "먼저" As they're used in these expressions in Chinese and Korean. I'm not sure about the Japanese word because I've never heard it used in context - I regretfully don't speak any Japanese. My "I'll go first" was a literal "word for word" translation. The phrase, or any translation of it is not usually said in English in the same situations. We'd never say "I'm leaving before you" or "I'm leaving first."

If you're leaving before other people you'd simply say "Well, I'm off", "I have to get going", or something similar.

Posted on: Food Flavors, Shanghai Style

I was thinking it was make with "五花肉". Thanks for the tip Jenny.

Posted on: Food Flavors, Shanghai Style

I forgot: 老载呃！

Posted on: Food Flavors, Shanghai Style

Great. In response to some who've questioned whether it's useful, I'd agree that doing an accent series on a small city wouldn't really be of much use to a lot of people, but it's Shanghai! Ditto for the Cantonese lessons to come.

I think going to Shanghai or Hong Kong as a foreigner and speaking exclusively in Mandarin is a bit like going to France or Germany and speaking English. While becoming fluent in the local language/dialect may not be in the cards, learning a few phrases for day-to-day interactions will certainly be appreciated.

Great job! These lessons are fun.

Posted on: Food Flavors, Shanghai Style

Looks heavenly indeed! With or without the fat. I don't suppose anyone has a recipe...?

Posted on: A Chinese-Style Contradiction

Well, that depends. Does the strongest spear pierce the strongest shield, or does the strongest shield stand up against the strongest spear?

I would have said: "That depends on who's using the shield and the sword. How about you take the shield and I take the spear and we try and find out?" ;-)

Posted on: Blown Fuse

The plaid pyjamas and Hello Kitty slippers must be a pan-Asian phenomenon, ha. Don't we love it? ;-)

Posted on: Blown Fuse

This reminds me of the big power outage that affected the Eastern Seaboard and parts of Southern Ontario, Canada, a few years ago.

I was teaching an English class at the time, with two Korean students. We were on the 10th floor and decided to continue class, figuring it was just a small blackout and we could see because the room had a huge window.

An hour later we walked out together and started noticing that other buildings, then other streets, then the whole city had no power. Finally I called back home and my mother, living in another province, informed me that and entire two states and one province was affected.

Who needs old buildings with fuses when you can have an entire electrical system that's out of date?